Easter baskets for the girls

I've been a sewing maniac lately. I made the girls' Easter dresses last year, so this year I had decided to do the same. They took me a while - I used the same pattern for each and was quite sick of it by the third dress. =) I don't have pictures yet, because I want to take the girls out for spring pictures in them. But, while I was researching what I was going to do for the dresses, I ran across a picture of a cute little fabric basket that linked back to the tutorial for it. I fell in love with it and promised myself if I finished the dresses early, I would make baskets for the girls. I'm pretty sure that is what got me through the third dress. This time I worked on all three at once so I wouldn't get to the third one and be tired of looking at them.

So without further ado...


It is a little bigger than I thought it would be. I'm a horrible judge of measurement. The original design started off with 2" squares, and I made 4" squares. 3" squares would have been perfect, but these will work. I'll just add some extra tissue paper (I hate Easter grass). I decided against pastel Easter-y fabric, wanting to make something they could use and keep forever. And I changed the handle from the original design. My favorite part is the lining:


I love this fabric. I had bought some to bind a quilt (that still is just a quilt top...) and when I ran across it again looking for basket fabrics, I had to use it again. It reminded me of grass. Of course, I meant for the stripes to go up and down, but when I cut the fabric, I was so giddy that I had all three girls down for a nap at once, I forgot to pay attention to that. I bought way too much of all my fabric (again, that whole bad judge of measurement thing), so I have about a yard and some decent sized scraps left over that will most likely make their way into being a dress or something for the girls.

Now that I have the basic technique down, I may in the future make like a tote bag or something. They were fun to make and I wasn't sick to death of them by the end of it. Of course, I was anxious to move on to some other projects because I am a bit obsessed right now. It's probably a good thing Easter is next weekend so I didn't get too distracted by the dresses and other goodies I am wanting to make. =)

Oh no, they didn't!

I just recently finished reading the entire Ramona Quimby series to the girls. And I just have to say that it was mostly for me. They slept through at least half of it. I adore Ramona. Heck, I have 2 Ramonas. Zoe is just a Roberta right now, but I'm sure she'll turn into a Ramona.

So when I heard that they were making a movie, my first reaction was "Woo hoo!!" I don't know why. I hate movies based on books I love. They always, ALWAYS suck. There's no possible way for them to capture the true essence of a good book on film. It might be really good to those who have never read the book, but die-hard fans of the book are never satisfied by the movie version. I usually don't even watch the movies any more. And when I do, like when my friends dragged me to see Twilight, I spend the whole movie making fun of it. I mean, come on... Jasper really did look like he had a serious case of gas throughout the entire film.

And Ramona and Beezus will be no exception. I could post a link to the trailer, but I don't even think it's worth the trouble. In just a 60 second glance of clips of the movie, I can tell you - without a doubt - that it will not hold a candle to the books. I'm going to go so far as to say that it's just plain WRONG for it to even say "based on the series by Beverly Cleary."

Both Ramona and Beezus are too cute. Selena Gomez? Beezus is girl next door, sensible... not Disney-cute. And Ramona... well, I could probably find a quote in each book where Ramona marvels at being called cute because no one ever calls her cute. She's not cute. She's a mess. She's awkward. Not Toddlers and Tiaras cute with uncombed hair.

I recognized a few scenes in the trailer, even spotted some ways it's going to deviate that will be very irksome, but most of the trailer looked like the screenplay was just someone writing a movie with characters kind of like Ramona and Beezus, all Hollywooded up, with Ramona-esque antics. Bah. And the casting director OBVIOUSLY never read the books. OBVIOUSLY.

Oh well. I don't need a movie anyway. I live it every day with my Ramonas. My toothpaste-in-the-sink, wearing-pjs-under-the-clothes-to-school awesome kiddos. Hollywood can't possibly recreate something that amazing. You have to live it to get it.