I know I’m showing my age (how young I am, duh!) but I just can’t help sharing the items that us pre-teens just had to have in the 90′s. The toys and games that made you cool in those days. Like how essential it was to have a tube of pogs and slammers even though no one really knew how to play. Or how devastating it was when your Giga Pet died because you couldn’t sneak it into class to feed it and clean up its waste.

So here’s an ode to the nineties…the days of butterfly hair clips and roll-on body glitter. The days where you were either a Backstreet Boys fan or into NSYNC. Life was easy, fun and colorful!

hair scrunchies

Pogs

Backstreet Boys

Beanie Babies

butterfly hair clips

Furby

Giga Pet

NSYNC

Roll-On Glitter

SNICK

Do you Recycle?

How many of you recycle the empty containers, boxes or wrappers?

I had always wanted to cut down on the packaging and packing materials used to mail my clients their purchases. I try not to do excessive packaging. The biggest part that I want to eliminate is the use of plastic sealing bags. Then what is stopping me? The rain. I cannot think of anything better than plastic that does a good job of protecting the merchandises from water. Do you have any suggestions on how I can do away with plastic bags?

Christmas Wrap for Scrunchies

Last Christmas, I launched my first batch of sew with love hair scrunchies. The next part was to get suitable packing materials, sufficient and not excessive. The first thing I did was to look around for materials I can recycle. I printed a number of boxes of business cards just a couple of months before. Just as I was fretting over what I should do with all the empty name card boxes lying around after the business cards are used up, I decided to recycle them as packing materials for the hair scrunchies! The size was just right. I could also add a ribbon to the packed boxes for the festive gifting season or a ‘Thank You’ label on the box to decorate it. I think the idea was brilliant and I also received good comments from my clients on this packing method.

What do you think?

Looks like a squished and very simple-minded robot.

Looking at that piece of genius has inspired me to make a list (yay!) So here are some of the best things about the 90′s.

Best things about the 90′s!

1. Obviously, it has to be the Playstation 1, as illustrated above!
2. Beanie Babies! Everyone had them!
   

   Still adorable!

   3. The “Goosebumps” books! (The best title has to be “Say Cheese and Die!” Hopefully this was not set in a taking-a-photo situation.)
   4.  Massively thick hair scrunchies. We all had them. We all relied on them. It’s okay to admit it.
   5.  Boy bands. The best were Five! and *N Sync!

   

   Bye, Bye, Bye! Tune.

   6. GRUNGE!
   7. Tamagotchi. We all had them and we all loved them. Even when listening to them as they became increasingly malnourished, or when they were uncomfortably surrounded by their own poo. When I was at school I used to leave mine at home, expecting my mum to look after it. Subsequently it died soon after.
   8. SPICE GIRLS! And the Spice Girls dolls! I had Baby Spice and Ginger Spice.

   

   Gotta love their iddy-biddy microphones!

   9. Rugrats! Best childhood cartoon. Tommy, Phil and Lil, Angelica, Spike and of course Chuckie.
   10. Last but not least, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air! You are a true 90′s kid if you can rap that theme tune!

   “Now this is a story all about how, my life got twist turn upside-down…”

    

“Among the beautiful flowers at the botanical gardens, I saw a very rare, thought-to-be-extinct species this afternoon: a woman wearing a banana clip in her hair.”

Yes, a banana clip.

In case you missed the five minutes they were popular in the ‘80s, a banana clip is a cross between some type of comb and a ponytail holder. It allowed you to pull your hair back from each side, with the clip (in its banananess) following the contour of your head in the back.

If you were lucky, the effect was like a mane of hair running down the middle of the back of your head.

As I recall, actually getting the banana clip in your hair was a tricky maneuver, especially if you had stick straight hair (as I did.) You had to flip your hair over and slide the banana clip into place slowly, flipping your hair back at just the right moment.

It took me forever, mostly because I usually had straight hair and banana clips kicked butt only if your hair was curly. Plus, I was completely uncoordinated even at an early age, so trying to simultaneously “work” the toothed banana clip before my hair fell out of it resulted in a convulsive dance of head flipping and fashion futility—the first of many.

Once I did actually get it clipped, my straight hair would refuse to hold it in, resulting in a crooked style that looked like a bastardized side ponytail/Joker’s smile. But when I had a perm or crimped my hair—both options that resulted in the smell of noxious fumes, singed hair follicles and a decade of pictures that could now be used as blackmail if ever unearthed—I had a much better relationship with the banana clip.

And while my relationship with the banana clip was turbulent at times, a constant in my childhood was the scrunchie.

The scrunchie needs no explanation or description, as it simply speaks for itself. I will admit that I had about 3,532 of them strewn about my drawer when I was younger, just in case I had to coordinate my scrunchie with my socks or my Swatch watch.

Even if I didn’t have a scrunchie in my hair, I would often wear one on my wrist (the one not covered in plastic bracelets or aforementioned Swatch watch) just in case.

Today a banana clip sighting is much more rare than the appearance of a scrunchie, but it’s still a rare treat to find a woman with a scrunchie—especially if it’s patterned and coordinates with her Day-glo leg warmers.

But even though we laugh about the absurdity of these hair accessories now, let’s be honest— have we really come that far, people? Today we have the Bump-It and feather hair extensions, and people wear them on purpose.

The only way I will wear something called a Bump-It is if it promises to bump up my chest, not my hair, but to each their own. This is coming from the girl that gets wine and hair color from a box, so take it for what it’s worth.

And if it’s a banana clip, it’s probably worth about 75 cents at a garage sale—and a good laugh.

Were you Team Banana Clip or Team Scrunchie? What other hair accessories were you rocking in the past?

(Or now. No judgment, of course…at least not that much.)

Even I have to draw the line.  

I remember when our oldest daughter  was in 5th grade and she came home from school in tears because “all the girls had scrunchies” that they wore in their hair and on their wrists and she had none.  Our money was tight (of course), but we went out that evening and bought scrunchies in many colors and designs and her tears and pain were soon gone.  Fixing her problem was that easy and I felt so good about my abilities as Mom.  Ah, if only life’s problems were that simply again???

So what is a Mom to do when she can’t go out and buy scrunchies, or in other words fix her child’s problems.  There is only one place to turn — our Heavenly Father.  When you find yourself in despair for your child, remember this plan  - turn to God’s Word, God’s people, good books and prayer. My dear friends - cry out in prayer for your child and yourself (because I know that your heart is broken as well).  The best advice is to cry out before the throne of God, because it is your Heavenly Father who loves both your child and you so much -  more than you can possibly know.

Oh Father … You are so aware – aware of the struggles our children are going through, aware of our hurting hearts, aware of all the pain.  You have not looked away from our children or us.  Yet, Lord we cry out why – when – where???  Lord reveal Your love, Your care, Your peace and Your plan.  Remind each of us of Your heart for us – how You love us, because the enemy’s lies scream that You don’t care.   Give each of us  hope in Your goodness.  Hold our children close, so close Lord that they feel Your breathe, Your presence. Keep us faithful to the end as we know You will be faithful. We believe …help us Lord in our unbelief.  Amen

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast  and have no compassion on the child she has borne? …I will not forget you!”  Isaiah 49:15

1. Hair Scrunchies – made with either acrylic or cotton – these fabrics provide the maximum “give” to work with the elastic band that I crocheted over. I’m using the large size elastic bands, so you should be able to tighten it in your hair as much as you’d like.
2. Hair Bands – to give maximum hold in your hair, I’m crocheting over a large hairband in a unique shell design. I’m using either acrylic blends or cotton since they will conform to the band the best and provide maximum “give” to conform to almost anyone’s hair thickness.
3. Kitchen Scrubbies – these are one of my favorites! I’m crocheting them in either wool that will be felted (they scrub well & retain their shape longer) or in a tulle fabric. Tulle is a tough fabric that makes great scrubbies and holds up well over time.

Pick your favorite – or pick all three. These three items will be shipped by regular US mail in a bubble pack envelope – FREE! They’re so small that I didn’t feel I could justify shipping on them.

I hven’t derived my final cost – they will likely be priced between $3-6 each! At that price, you can afford several of each & shipping is on me!

Happy Crocheting!

We thought Sarah Palin had finally fallen off the radar and we would no longer have to hear about Alaaaaska, ice-fishing, hair scrunchies, the word “maverick” and quitting.  Unfortunately, to our horror she is releasing her book called Going Rogue and will appear on Oprah to promote the “memoir” the day before début on November 16

.

A new progressive publisher has put together a collection of essays about Sarah Palin that will serve as a book to counteract SP’s rubbish and will come out the same day as her paperweight.   Please see adjacent graphic and note the perfect storm in the background.  This opposing account explains what Sarah has done to America and regards her as an “American Nightmare”(probably has given a good amount of night terrors too).

Sarah Palin’s editors are damn good with words as they try to repair SP’s reputation by attempting to make one feel sympathy for this woman.  Let this serve as a warning in advance: if for some odd reason you feel sorry for her when she puts on a show on Oprah, you should immediately revert back to your feelings of irritation.  Some say SP has been misrepresented, but I’m not too sure how a person could be misrepresented by the words straight from her own mouth.

On to Levi (who?):  Levi Johnston, the father of Palin’s grandchild has received a lot of press recently by announcing that he has secrets of Palin’s but won’t share them with us.  This guy is clearly a class act by publicly trying to hurt his son’s grandmother and family just so he can have the opportunity to leave Alaska and obtain a life he could never have even dreamt of in Wasilla (where?).

Levi has told us some small, not so surprising secrets.  For example, SP calling her child with Down syndrome her “retarded baby”.  Not so PC SP.  Also, Levi reports Sarah and her husband were constantly fighting about a potential divorce in front of the whole family which he actually thought was the wrong way to go about it.  Vanity Fair is one of the many media outlets that has indulged Levi by giving him his very own glamorous photo shoot, spread and interview, which must be extremely foreign to a dingy hockey boy from Alaska.  I watched the footage of the photo shoot and have concluded hockey players should never strike a pose other than on the ice, especially Levi who was shipped from the frozen tundra to the urban jungle.  Let’s just say it was extremely uncomfortable for the viewer.

Levi could have never imagined that impregnating a girl would eventually turn into a modeling career, let alone for Playgirl (yes, he’s doing Playgirl next).  Levi is a sweaty hockey goon but it’s almost as if he was an undercover spy within this family.  He had the misfortune of hearing pretty much everything that Sarah Palin said behind closed doors amongst her family.  He told Vanity Fair that after she lost the election, he watched SP “turn into a different person”.  Wow Levi, that is shocking!  What kind of person could Sarah Palin possibly turn into?  Levi explained what he heard and saw to Vanity Fair: “Sarah was sad for a while. She walked around the house pouting. I had assumed she was going to go back to her job as governor, but a week or two after she got back she started talking about how nice it would be to quit and write a book or do a show and make ‘triple the money.’ It was, to her, ‘not as hard.’ She would blatantly say, ‘I want to just take this money and quit being governor.’ She started to say it frequently, but she didn’t know how to do it.”  Well, way to be greedy SP but your book is already being preordered for a pittance of $9 on Amazon.com and the thing hasn’t even come out yet!  Looks like there’s more pouting in SP’s future.

For those that live by the phrase “Country First” (which believe it or not both parties do, they just have a different way of going about doing so,) why on earth would you think Sarah Palin was a great way to put your country first!?  As much as I appreciate rising women in politics, next time please choose your women a little bit more wisely.  Thank you in advance for sparing me along with the rest.

First up is something I fogot to get photographed for last week.  These hair ties will be a part of my neices gift.

As another part of their gift they will each get a chapstick holder with keychain.

My sister-in-law has a birthday today and for part of her gift I made her this apple scrubbie.

Front of Apple Scrubbie

Back of apple scrubbie

Now let’s see.  I guess next I will show you the boa I made for a giveaway.  The giveaway will be on a fellow SheTeam member’s blog the 3rd week of August.  I will share more details when I have them.

I also made a bath puff.

And two baby hats (well 1 newborn and 1 preemie).

Newborn hat

Preemie hat

And last but not least.  School Spirit Scruncies.  I made these for the SheTeam August Challenge.  They will be a custom order (so that you get your school or team’s colors) and will be available in my shop on Monday.

I hope you enjoy seeing my creations and will come around again to see what I have been working on.