My new sewing chair

Anyone have an easy slipcover tutorial?

My favorite elf

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

More scarves

I didn't have much time to make gifts this year, but I did manage a few.

Pleated wool scarf for my Uncle. (From Simple Gifts To Stitch)

Another Button Scarf, for my Aunt. I found a cute Dragonfly button at Joann's. It's just the right color. (Also from Simple Gifts To Stitch)

Where have I been?

Well, there have been a few things occupying my time lately.

These two, for instance.

And these two. (The aprons, not the bears.)

And spreading Christmas Cheer Chocolate, of course.

I finished a sewing project!!!!

My Mom gave me this lovely book for Christmas last year and I have to admit that I have finally finished my first project from it.

I decided to donate a Christmas gift to a Senior Citizen through a local program called Santa for Seniors. The person I chose wanted a scarf. I included a store-bought Christmas themed scarf and this....

A Button Scarf from Simple Gifts To Stitch.



The inside is Minky, which is super soft and cuddly. The outside is part of a thrifted pillowcase and a thrifted vintage(?) button.

I'm very happy with how it came out. I hope the recipient enjoys it!

Ready for Winter

What do you get when you tell a six year old boy to go put on something warm?

Quite the fashion statement!

I'm thankful for many things....

but these guys top the list!

Wishing you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving!

Pizza Making and Thrifty Thursday

As promised, here are the pizza making photos.....

Dough made from scratch, waiting to rise.

Dough after being punched down. Waiting for second rise.

Roasted tomato pizza sauce.

The finished product. (The hungry mob got to it before I snapped the photo.)

Now on to the thrifting....

I found this interesting scarf last week. It's by Diane Von Furstenberg. I think it'll look nice with my ivory winter coat. (Hopefully I'll get a chance to wear my winter coat!)


A pair of camo shorts for Nathan and a patchwork skirt. I think most of the squares are vintage fabric. It's not sewn very well, so I'll be taking it apart and repurposing the squares.

And you might be wondering what's in that big box underneath......

Why, fabric of course! Lots and lots of fabric. There is some not-so-nice stuff in here that will be redonated to the Goodwill. But there's also quite a bit of nice vintage pieces. Nothing too big, but enough to do something with. I'll sort through it and share any extraordinary pieces I find.

That box is 24" long, 15" tall and 15" deep. All that fabric loveliness only cost me $3!

Ummmm.......

Last night, Hubby asked me why I hadn't posted for a while and I had no good answer. I guess I just haven't felt very bloggy lately.

So, tonight I was going to post about the yummy pizzas we made on the barbeque. (Yes, on the barbeque......I live in California and it was 80* here today.) I made the dough and sauce from scratch. And I baked a Chocolate Chocolate Chip cake for dessert. I even took pictures.

But when I came to post, I realized that I missed my own blogiversary!

Yep, I missed it.

As of yesterday, November 17th, this blog is 2 years old!

And this is my 200th post!

So, Happy Blogiversary to me.....and I'll post the pizza photos another time. :)

Crafting With Intention - Repurposing With a Purpose

Turning thrifted tee shirts.....

into cap for newborn babies in Haiti.

Amanda, of Soulemama, has launched a wonderful new website, Mama to Mama. It's all about "crafting with intention". A way to link crafters with mothers, children and families in need.

The first Mama to Mama project is Caps to Cap-Hatien; A Partnership with Konbit Sante. Creating caps for newborn babies in poverty stricken Haiti. The caps will be included in Safe Birthing Kits, distriubted by birthing attendants.

There are also other craftivisim opportunities listed on the Mama to Mama site. If you'd like to get involved in the project or see what other opportunities are out these, go take a look at the website.

I'm excited to be a part of this project and can't wait to send off my first batch of baby caps!

Happy Halloween

This week's happenings.....

Nathan choosing a pumpkin at the school "pumpkin patch".

A field trip to a local dairy. (Yes, Nathan's holding his nose!)

Mama cows waiting to be milked.

Watching the milking process.

Baby cows relaxing after being visited by 100 First Graders.

And Nathan, as Optimus Prime.

Hope you all had a safe and happy halloween!

My Little Pumpkin

Sweet as Pumpkin Pie!

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger. I've neglected my blog for a full two week. Evidently, I was taking an unscheduled blogging break.


Never fear, I'm back and will try to be more regular in my posts.


A few things to catch you up....

We've been to the Pumpkin Patch.

We've had visitors from our neighbors yard.

I've had great mail from my friend Cindy.

Lots of great mail.

And Nathan's been camping in the back yard.

I've been doing a little more sewing for hospice. I'll have photos up in a few days.

National Sewing Month - Week 3 & 4

I'm a bit behind in posting, but it is still September, so here's my final post for National Sewing Month.

Another four hospital gowns for the hospice group. (The lavendar/white one was finished earlier in the month.)

Next up are adult size bibs for the hospice group. I've drafted a pattern and have some ideas for fabric combinations. We'll see how these come out.

Thrifty Thursday

Just a few things I picked up earlier in the week.....

A brightly colored duvet cover, detined to be lap blankets. And a couple pillowcases which will be made into something. Someday.


A set of valances from IKEA. I really like the print and can't decide if I should make them into something or keep them for when I have a sewing/crafting room.


A cool basket. It reminds me of the kind of basket you keep fish in after catching them. Don't worry, this one hasn't had any fish in it. The latch doesn't lock, but that's okay. I'm sure this'll be put to use as storage sooner or later.


And a few pieces of fabric. Of course!

Kids say the darnedest things

Last week, Nathan brought home a permission slip to join the Cross Country team. (Yes, they do that at his school.)

I was pretty sure he wouldn't want to do it, but thought I'd better ask him. Just to be sure. I explained about the practices, the meets and how far he'd have to run. He was all fired up about joining the team.

Today was the first practice.

When I picked him up, we had the following conversation:

Nathan: "What are you doing here?"

Me: "I came to pick you up."

Nathan: "I want to quit Cross Country."

Me: "Why? Didn't you like the practice?"

Nathan: "Parts of it were good."

Me: "Which parts were good?"

Nathan: "Taking a break. Getting a drink. Getting ready to leave."

Me: "Well, which parts weren't so good?"

Nathan: "All the running."

Coupon Giveaway Winners

Thanks to all those who left comment to enter my Coupon Giveaway. I "found" a few more inserts, so I've decided to pick 2 winners!

I asked my lovely assistant, who looks less than thrilled, to pick two numbers between 1 and 48.

His first number was 30, which is Nanci of Brambleberry Cottage.

Second number was 25, which is Kathy of Life on Goshen Point.

Congratulations ladies! I'll be contacting both of you for your mailing info.

Coupon Giveaway

A few months ago, I started clipping coupons. There are some great blogs/websites devoted to saving money by using coupons. I have been inspired to give it a try and I have already saved quite a bit. Hubby has been surprised at the things I've been able to get for free or nearly free.

On Sunday, I hit the jackpot on coupon inserts at the recycling center. I found at least a dozen of them. Unfortunatley for me, there weren't a lot of coupons for products that I buy. This turns out to be a good thing if you're a couponer and leave a comment on this post.

Yep, I'm giving away a pile of coupons.

And I do mean a pile. I stopped adding up the values when I hit $200. There are coupons for groceries, cleaning products, pet food/treats, paper goods, and health and beauty items. There are no internet printable coupons. The earliest expiration date is 10/11/08, but most of them are 10/31 or later.

If you'd like to enter, please leave a comment and make sure that I can get in contact with you via email. The giveaway will end at 12:00 pm Pacific time on Friday, September 19th, when I'll randomly draw the winner.

One of the inserts I found was old and all of the coupons had expired about 2 weeks ago. I wondered if there was anything I could do with them and went looking on the internet. Turns out that military families overseas can use coupons for up to 6 months past their expiration date. If you're interested in sending coupons overseas, check out My Precious Pennies blog and request information on donating. (She's also hosting a coupon giveaway!)

And check out the other giveaways listed at Money Saving Mom.

National Sewing Month - Week 2

September is National Sewing Month and during the month, I'm trying to keep up with my friend Christina, who pledged to complete 2 projects each week. She is definitely surpassing that quota.

I, on the other hand, am not.

My sewing projects this week:

• Sewed button onto Nathan's shirt
• Sewed button onto Hubby's trousers

Hey, it involved a button, needle and thread, so it's sewing!

Hopefully this week will yield a few more creative sewing projects.

Instincts

I had no plans to go thrifting today. I went yesterday. There was no need to go again so soon.

But, I had breakfast with some friends and found myself near my favorite thrift. (Yes, within 3 miles is near.)

A little voice told me I should stop and go in. Call it a Thrifting Instinct, telling me there was something good waiting for me.

And really, why not just take a quick peek while I was in the neighborhood?

There wasn't anything spectacular and I wondered why I was wasting my time there. Then something colorful caught my eye.

A nice piece of vintage faric....


And then a few more pieces.....


And after digging through the entire bin, a nice little pile! (I even have an idea for a project already.)


This interesting man's shirt also caught my eye.


Especially when I looked at the tag. I don't know what I'll do with it, but it's Versace for goodness sake! I couldn't leave it there.


And my last little treasure. A vintage Snowman apron.

Have you found any treasures lately?

Thrifty Thursday and Good Mail

I obviously had a pink thing going on today. I found 3 flat sheets and a pillowcase. All destined to be gowns or blankets.


Can't beat books for .25 each. I can't wait for the weather to cool down so I can jump into the baking book.

And the Good Mail....
My vintage fabric/sheet squares from the swap that Katie hosted. Each stack has 20 6" squares in it. Don't ask me what I'm going to do with 200 6" sqares. I haven't figured that out yet. Thanks to Katie for organizing this swap.


And a box of goodies from my friend Cindy. She always keeps an eye out for things to send to me and Nathan. (He's making a house with the craft sticks and sticky tape right now. ) Thanks Cindy! Your gifts are always much appreciated.