I feel like I've really learned a lot this week in the area of domestic arts, and I feel the need to share some of this newly discovered information.  Sort of like Hints From Heloise, except that they may not actually be all that useful to anyone but a momma like me:

1.  Making cupcakes out of a box of angel food cake mix, then topping them off with frosting is a bad idea.  Eating just one will put you into a sugar induced coma.  Giving one to your kids, then turning your back for a moment while they scale the cupboards to reach the cupcakes and inhale another, will turn them into the Tasmanian devil.  They won't sleep for hours, so it's an especially bad idea to serve those up around dinner time.
2.  Buying sweatsuits at WalMart then trying to dye them using Rit die in pots on the stove creates a really big mess.
3.  Just because a fabric is Scotchguarded doesn't mean that it can't be dyed.
3.  Dying fabric is much like dying hair - it works best if you actually follow the instructions and don't disregard things like timing and mixing instructions.
4.  Just because you think you can make a costume, doesn't mean that it will turn out to look like anything good.  Even if you've gotten away with making a wig out of yarn and a piece of wrapping ribbon in the past, it doesn't mean that it looked good even then.  Remember, costumes always look better when everyone is drunk, and that's not the case for your children.  Those days are gone (for you, they're still ahead for the kids).
5.  Using "no sew fabric glue" because you can't remember how to wind the bobbin on the old sewing machine means that you can't wait until the last minute to whip up a costume.  This goes against everything that you might normally think about glue, but you'd be wrong because if you had read the label earlier you'd know it takes 7-10 days to cure.

Domestically yours,
Jennie