Thursday, May 31, 2012

Saved from the trash

During the school year I make lunches for my kids everyday. I don't think they've bought their lunch even once since they started at the Jr. High two years ago.

As you can imagine, we go through quite a few of these.


I hate throwing away these big plastic containers so I try to find something else to do with them.

I'm starting to run out of things to put in them quite frankly. So, I've been wanting to try growing some sweet potatoes and the other day it finally hit me that I could cut the top off of these and use them. They're plenty deep enough.

See...

The reason I've been trying to figure something out is because I needed it to be a container that was in the house. Even though we live on 5 acres and the back yard is fenced separately from the rest of the acreage, we have a doberman that climbs over that fence and uses anything he can find int he front to play with. If I tried to plant anything out there, he would have it torn up in a matter of minutes. Leaving wet or muddy shoes on the porch to dry isn't an option either. Those are some of his favorite things to play with.

Hopefully I can keep the cats inside the house from eating the plants.

It's all just a juggling act isn't it?

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Flip flop dress up

I bought a pair of red flip flops some time back because they were on sale for less than a dollar. They were very plain and I knew I wanted to do something with them, but wasn't sure what.


I got a pair of flip flops for one of my daughters on whoopdwhoop and they inspired me.


I found some cute fabric and started with this...


 I tore my fabric into strips about one inch wide. I didn't measure, I just tore to make them look about the same. Also, I tore my strips because I wanted my flowers to be frayed on the edges.

Then, I ran a gathering stitch along one side and gathered the fabric up. I took that gathered fabric and formed a circle to make my flowers. I stitched them together on the back and then took tiny stitches through all of the layers so that they would stay in form. I used hot glue to attach a button in the center to cover my gathering stitches.




Then I hot glued them to the straps of my 'designer' flip flops. The red felt is to put on the underside of the straps and the flower just to give them a little extra support.

Here they are all done...


(don't let the shadows fool you, the flops are brand new)

I'm thrilled with the way they turned out. Do you think I can convince Dax that I need something new to wear with them?

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Handmade with love

For Mother's Day Kirsten (my daughter that is wild about crochet) made some jewelry for me.


She made both the necklace and the bracelet. She used two different patterns to make the necklace. I was really impressed that she did it all without any help.

I'd better get busy practicing my own skills or I won't be able to teach her anything more.

But then she can always teach me, right?

Thursday, May 24, 2012

It's a wrap....

It' been a couple of weeks since I made this swim suit cover, but couldn't get a decent picture. So I just gave up and went with what I had. I do apologize because we had already been down to the pool when I had Dax take these (and had a couple + drinks).




Anyway, this is super easy and only took a few minutes to make. I found the original by looking on Pinterest. (I know. I know. I may need an intervention.)

You can find the original post and tutorial on La Vie En Rose  here. She has several variations with tutorials.

Seriously, I don't think it could be easier.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Quick get away

Dax and I were able to get away for a couple of days last weekend.

Thanks to my wonderful parents and their willingness to come stay with our kids, we were able to spend the weekend in San Antonio. It was nice and relaxing. We didn't make any plans other than hanging out and relaxing.

It was wonderful and so very needed.

On our way home, we stopped at Lulu's Cafe to have lunch and bought a cinnamon roll to take home to the kids.

One cinnamon roll for four kids seems a little cheap doesn't it?

Not this one, though!!


These cinnamon rolls weigh 3 pounds each!

THREE POUNDS, people!!

Oh, and if you click on the name above, it will take you to their website where you can order one of your own.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Joint project

One of my daughters (Kirsten) really likes crochet. I taught her some basic stuff and she made a few scarfs and is working on an afghan. I just have to say that the afghan is really long and she's doing it all in single crochet. By the time she's done with it, it's going to be too heavy for her to lift up onto her loft bed. LOL

Anyway, when we were at the library not too long ago she checked out a book on crochet and chose a bag to make.


She chose her own colors and got started on the bag right away.

I say it was a joint effort because there were a couple of rounds on the flowers where the instructions were pretty confusing so I did those. Then, she put all of the squares together and crocheted the rest of the bag.

We went to the quilting store and she picked out a fabric that I used to line the bag for her so that she could use it at school without pens and pencils falling through.

I had some concerns about the crochet on the strap being tight enough to hold much weight without stretching. After her first day of carrying it at school, she came home and said that it had stretched down to past her knees. LOL So, I took the excess and stitched it together to make a bow at the top and then lined the rest of the strap with the same fabric that the bag is lined with. It seems to be working and she's carrying the bag everyday.

I'm just so proud of her for stepping out and trying new things without being afraid of it being too hard.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Fun with soap

Have you seen what a plain old bar of Ivory soap will do in the microwave?



If not, you should try it!!!


Before you do anything, though, go watch this video over at Our Best Bites. It will show you what to do to get your soap looking like this (which is really just putting it in the microwave) and then what you can do with it after you've done this.


Okay, even if you don't do anything with it afterwards, it's totally worth buying some Ivory Soap just to watch it puff up like this.


And it makes your kitchen smell really good too.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Lunch time

I found this really cute tablecloth on clearance at Target (my home away from home) and thought it would be great to make some cute little lunch bags with.

I had a free pattern for a lunch bag from All People Quilt. The construction looked easy enough so I decided to give it a try.

I made about three changes to the pattern as written.

For one, I added a handle/strap to it.

Now, mind you, I thought I was making a lunch sack. I figured one of my girls would probably use it and I wanted to make sure that their lunches (including their drink bottle) would fit so I opted for the instructions for the large bag.

When I was cutting out my material, I thought the 18 X 22 inch size seemed a little big but assured myself that with the sides and bottom of the bag it would work out to the perfect size.

That leads me to the second change I made. I changed it from a lunch bag to a picnic lunch bag because it's freakin' huge!!

But it's still pretty cute...


I used a piece from a pink gingham sheet for the lining and the handle.


Okay, I'm sure you're wondering what the third change I made is. I guess if you weren't already you are now, right?

Well, what the directions say is that you need an outside and a lining piece of fabric which are 18 X 22 each. Those are then to be cut into two 10 X 11 inch pieces for each fabric. DOH!  If I had really been paying attention to what I was doing my bag would have been exactly what I wanted it to be and not some lunch sack for a giant.

But, since I still have plenty left of both fabrics I guess that now I can make smaller lunch bags and have a complete set. LOL