Hello 2012!

Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with your loved ones! I can't wait to see what this year brings!! I've got so many new goals, ideas and projects planned that I'm just bursting to work on everything right this second!! But first things first. Back to blogging!! :)

So I'm going to try to follow along with Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day Challenge this month and see how that helps with me blogging regularly!! Here's the plan!

I hope everyone can follow along! Use hashtag #JANphotoaday on Twitter and Instagram! :)

Here is my first photo!

My FIRST Sewing Projects!

I'm falling behind in posting again!  GAH!!  But at least I've been busy lately and have something to show for it!! ;)

If you follow my sporadically updated blog, you know that for my birthday this year, my parents got me a sewing machine! :) WOO!! You can read all about that here.  Well I haven't really gotten to use it much since then, but I whipped up one project a few weeks back, and then I got busy and made something else last night!!  Want to see?? :) 

Here is my VERY FIRST project.  It turned out a little crooked, since I'm just learning, my lines weren't very straight.  But I did use my button-holer!  (After, having to go to Mom's and have her show me what in the heck I was doing wrong!) ;)  But we figured it out, and I came straight home and got it to work!! YAY!

Do you like my crooked stitching?? :) haha

more crookedness ;)

I used a tutorial from Sew4Home that is used as a gift card or business card holder. I did change it up a little by using a button and creating a buttonhole instead of the elastic loop, but I used the exact pattern for everything else. I also didn't put ribbon on mine either.

Check out the tutorial below! :)

Source: sew4home.com via Beth on Pinterest

For my next project, I've been wanting forever to try my hand at making a cute pouch with a zipper. Yes, a zipper. ;) Althought confusing at first, they are actually pretty easy to sew in. (If you sew straight, and follow your 1/4" foot that is. If you don't, you'll have to rip out 2 seams and re-do it.) ;) Not that any of that happend to me. *wink* haha :) But overall, I think it turned out pretty cute. The fabric was SUPER CUTE to begin with! It was just a fat quarter, and the interior is a white with brown polka remnant I found at Joann's for cheap! :) I ended up using felt for the batting, since that's all I had at the time, but it worked out really well. I was able to cut a 9 x 12 piece of felt in half, and it worked out perfectly since my makeup bag was 9x6!! WOO!!

Here it is!! :) 

 

I actually used a tutorial from YouTube!  It made installing the zipper so much easier being able to see it 3D. I setup my iPad, and probably re-watched the same sections 20 times. haha :) I did change a few things from the tutorial. I used 9x6 fabric and felt. I also did not quilt the bag, instead I straight stitched some ric rac along the front. I didn't pin it down or anything, I just positioned it where I thought it looked ok, and sewed diagonally down and across the front.

Also, I used a scrap piece of fabric for the wristlet part. It was supposed to be 2" x 10", but my piece only ended up being about 1.25" x 10". I think I like the look of the skinnier wristlet anyways.

I did have some trouble sewing over the zipper on the edges, but I think I've figured out how to avoid that next time. I'll be cutting my fabric the actual length of the whole zipper, ends and all. So It would be about 10" wide fabric with a 9" zipper. This gives some room to sew over the flat ends of the zipper and you won't run into the metal parts. I'll post about how that works next time. Oh, and another tip. If you jam your needle while sewing, don't panic like me. Just turn the handwheel, it lifts it right out. ;) hehe

Oh, and don't forget to BACKSTITCH!! This is SO important!! It locks your stitches in so they won't rip out!! :) Trust me, just do it!

Here is the YouTube tutorial from Crafty Gemini!

That's all I have for now!  I just wanted to quickly share my first sewing projects!  I can't wait to make something else!! :)

PS -- Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to my Mom for not only buying me my first sewing machine, but for always being there to help when I have questions. :)  YouTube and books are great, but you can't beat having a "sewing sensei" in the family.  hehe :)  I know that Grandma would be so excited that I'm finally sewing.  She always used to say, "Oh I wish you could sew."  Well now I can Grandma, and I can cook too.  So thank you for being you and for passing down your special traits to us.  And thank you Mom for always being supportive and for going on this adventure with me!  :)

And of course I can't forget Gussy at Gussy Sews.  I found her blog earlier this year, and she is SO INSPIRING!!  If you haven't been to her site yet, you need to GO NOW! :)  She has the sweetest story about how she got started, and she makes AMAZING products!!  Trust me I have an iPad case that I LOOOOOVE!  See below! :)

Plus, she is just an amazing lady! :)  You can't read her blog without smiling!!  She has such a passion for her life and her business.  And her words just exude happiness and inspiration in every post she writes.  Here are links to her blog and her shop! :) 

Hope everyone has a great day!!  Get busy and go make something!!! :)

Happy Thursday!

I am so ready for the weekend!! :)  I sit at work everyday and think and plan all the fun things we can do on the weekend.  But then when we do have free time, we are usually tired. LOL :)  Not this weekend.  I plan to be a busy bee!!  We are planning a vacation for sometime in October, so we've got to start working on the details.  At least we don't have to rent a car!!  WOOOOO!  That is always such a hassle to me, because you never know what you'll end up with, and it will either smell like cigarettes, UGH, or a "toilet cake" as Adam lovingly refers to as the deodorizer they use.  haha

Anyways, on to some updates.  Adam's birthday went great yesterday.  I think it was a good day for him, even though he had to work.  I had this plan to bring cupcakes to work for him.  When I picked him up for lunch, he hopped in the car, and said oh I think they are getting me a cake because they just asked me what kind I like.  I was like, wellllll, nevermind. :)  haha  I'm just glad I hadn't ordered cupcakes already.  We definitely do not need 24 cupcakes at our house. 

So that plan didn't work out, but I was able to make Adam's card with my Silhouette.  It turned out pretty good considering all my screw-ups. ;)  I resized the card before I cut it out, but deleted it, and then didn't have a guide to resize all of the other elements for the card, so I kind of had to wing it.  I'll get a picture of it when I get home today and add it to this post.

Since Adam had key lime pie (from Bonefish), brownie bites to celebrate with his parent's, and ocolate cake at work I decided to just get him some ice cream.  He LOVES chocolate chip cookie dough.  So when we got home yesterday, after he opened up his presents from me, we ran to Publix and grabbed some ice cream.  And doughnut holes.  ha  Adam saw them, and since it was his birthday I of course said ok.  LOL :)  They were gone before we got home, and keep in mind we live less than 5 minutes from Publix.

So, all in all, yesterday was a good day. :)

We will be continuing his birthday celebration at the shooting range, when he finally picks out a gun he likes.  ;)  Should be fun!  I'm looking forward to it, because I've never been before!!

Ok, what else, what else?? 

I got a cinnamon broom at Publix finally.  It's currently hiding out in our laundry room until I find a place to hang it up.  Since we have 4 brats cats in the house, I have to find a place that is high enough, but not over any furniture they can climb on to get to it.  I know they would enjoy tearing it apart and leaving me a mess to clean up. ;) 

I have to take the Tahoe into Pete Moore at some point this month.  UGHHHHHHH.  When we had that lovely Tropical Storm blow through over Labor Day weekend, the Tahoe got beat with water and ended up leaking through the hatch.  Sunday afternoon I found a puddle of water in the back of it, wet carpet, wet headliner (complete with water stains), even the sides behind all the little grooves were wet.  GROSS!  Anyways, they repaired the gasket, the supposed cause of the leak.  But now since the headliner is stained and looks like a watercolor painting of mountains, it has to be completely replaced.  Oh joy!!  So hopefully that will go well as soon as the new one arrives and gets installed.

I'm hoping to get all of my Fall cleaning and decorations up this weekend.  It was supposed to happen last weekend, but um, it didn't. ;)  hehe 

Our linen closet in the master bath will be looking like this very soon!!

Source: closets-organizer.com via Beth on Pinterest

And I LOVE this cleaning chart!  Adam will HATE it!  ;)

Source: amygregson.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

I waste too much time doing this...

Source: None via Beth on Pinterest

And don't get anything accomplished. ;) bahaha When I saw this, I died laughing. :) 

And if you're in need of some more laughs, check out these two cute kitten videos.  I guarantee you'll laugh out loud more than once. :)  A co-worker sent this one to me.

Then my Mom found this one. :)

Have a great day everyone!!

Happy Birthday Adam!

So today is Adam's 29th Birthday!! :)  He thinks he's old, but I just look at it as one more birthday we get to spend together! :)  This is the......8th birthday I've gotten to share with him!  Even though he has to work today, I've got a few special things planned for him, including cupcakes at work. ;)  Shhhhh.  Don't tell!  (He never reads this blog, so don't worry, he won't find out.) haha

I Love You Lots!! :)

Since he was off yesterday we celebrated with his parents early.  We went to dinner at Bonefish, YUM!! :)  If you haven't been there, you need to go immediately! :) haha  We LOVE eating there.  The Bang Bang Shrimp is so YUMMY!

After that we went by their house so Adam could open his presents, and we brought over some reese cup brownie bites for dessert!!  (Even though Adam got a free dessert at Bonefish, since we were celebrating his birthday.  BONUS -- They don't sing there. haha). :)  Free dessert + no singing = a happy birthday boy

Here is the recipe we followed from Bakerella.  They turned out GREAT!  We weren't able to find the 2" foil baking cups, (I called Reynolds, and no stores within 100 miles of us carry them) but I had some baby white ones on hand, and those worked fine.  I think they are 1" maybe?  Not sure, but they are the super small ones, and I used a 24 cup muffin pan to make them in.  Plus, we used the new Reese Mini's for the candy part!  They are so teeny, but super yummy!!

photo credit - Bakerella

Hope y'all have a great day!!

Burlap Pumpkins Tutorials

Last week I blogged about a giveaway for one of D. Reyne's CUTE burlap pumpkins here.  Even though I didn't win one, I still want to try making some for myself!  ;)

Add another DIY project to my ever-growing list!! ha :)

Anyways, so I've been searching around looking at all kinds of different tutorials for making burlap pumpkins so I of course wanted to share with y'all!!

Here is the original one from D. Reyne

Source: etsy.com via Beth on Pinterest

This one is super cute!!

Source: home---made.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

A few more!
(These are all on from the same blogger, but I love how she customized them!)

Source: team-t-adventures.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: team-t-adventures.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

Source: team-t-adventures.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

And here is a template to get started!!

Source: team-t-adventures.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

When I make mine, I'll be using a combination of these different techniques, so I'll be sure to put together my own tutorial!!

And then these are adorable too!! And I could easily use burlap!!

Source: pinksuedeshoe.com via Beth on Pinterest

I'm so ready for FALL!!! :)

Already Time for the Weekend AGAIN! :)

I can't believe it's already Friday again, but I am so ready for the weekend AGAIN!! :)

Last week I posted about working on some sewing, crafts with yarn and fabric, working on some DIY projects and reading my library books.  Well, some of that got accomplished last weekend and some didn't. :)  I didn't get to sew, but Mom and I made several new scarves that we listed in our shop!  One of them already SOLD! :) WOO!

Here they are in case you're interested!

Skinny Scrappy Scarf Ohio State
(We'll have another one available this weekend!!)

Skinny Scrappy Scarf Notre Dame

Skinny Scrappy Scarf Alabama

I also was able to get some flower pins put together!  I'm working on incorporating fabric and yarn into them, and this is my prototype so far.  Still working on the finished product. ;)

Don't mind the houndstooth felt in the background.  I was too lazy to crop these this morning! :)

Instead of working on my DIY projects last weekend, Adam and I worked in the yard since he was off on Sunday!  It looks SO MUCH BETTER!  I didn't take any befores, but just imagine a scary, over-grown field with unwieldy bushes, a thousand sticks, and gross weeds.  We worked for most of the day on Sunday, but still fit in some time to run to the library!  I needed to renew a book, and we got Adam a library card.  WOO!  He checked out 2 books and 1 is on beading and one is about boutique bags.  haha :)  Of course, those books are for me.  I'm already at my limit of 15 books, so he was nice enough to get them for me.  ;)

A few afters:

Before, the grass was high, growing over the curb, the bush behind the mailbox was bigger than our house ;), and front beds were full of weeds and pots scattered everywhere, so basically it looked terrible!!

We still need to blow the leaves and sticks out of this bed so you can actually see the river rock, but it's MUCH better than it was.  The bush in the center of the pic was growing up over the roof and I took out 2 half dead bushes that never have grown right.  Mom and I think the one might grow back out nicely now that I cut it down to the ground. ;)

Yikes!!  This bed was overgrown with grass and a few weeds.  Thankfully we put down a layer of plastic, then a layer of landscape fabric underneath all of the rocks, so the weeds in this bed have been kept to a minimum. WOO!! :)

Oh this front bed is the bain of my existence. HA! :)  Thankfully our pond is gone, and most of the weeds are too.  I can't wait til we get it all cleaned out, get another load of large river rocks to match the other beds, and get it all cleaned up once and for all!

After the library, we came home and crashed. haha  We were so tired from all that yard work!!

This weekend, I'm hoping to have some more time to work on my new sewing chair and my ironing board cover.  I'll be sure to post an update as soon as I get anything done! ;)

Ready for the Weekend!

I'm so excited for the weekend!!  It's supposed to be SUNNY, cooler, lower humidity, and 0% chance of rain!!! WOOO!!!! :)  Maybe I'll get to be in my 1/4 of the way done sewing/craft room with the windows open!!  PLUS, Adam is off on Sunday!!! Yippeeee!!! :)

I suspect our weekend will involved some sewing for me!

lots of YARN for new scarves

Source: None via Beth on Pinterest

lots of felt/fabric for new flower pins

Source: rattydaddydinkdum.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

lots of fabric for new scarves and flower pins

Photo found here

and I hope I get around to doing some re-upholstering ;)

(I got something FUN at the last Olde Mobile Antique Gallery Monthly Estate Sale!!  I can't wait to show it off!!)

Source: designsponge.com via Beth on Pinterest

and possibly making one of these; ours is kind of sad looking after being used for almost 9 years

Source: u-handbag.typepad.com via Beth on Pinterest

Oh and one more thing, I'll probably be going through the mound of library books I checked out about sewing, crafting, felting, and all kinds of fun things!! :)  The pile looks something like this:

Source: 3191.visualblogging.com via Beth on Pinterest

I have LOTS to read!!!! WOO!!

What kind of plans do y'all have for the weekend? :)  I like comments so leave me some to read, and I promise I'll respond!! ;)