OK, I might not be posting again till Monday. We are leaving for Vegas in about 2 hours (I really should be packing).
As soon as I get back I will post a TUTE to explain how to do the wellness kits so you guys can make some in time for Christmas.
Oh and I decided that I am going to do a giveaway to some of the people who comment on my blog during this challenge. I will do a drawing after the challenge is over (Dec. 15) and winners (yes that is with an *s*) will receive something that I have been working on. I know for sure one of the prizes will be a wellness kit. Might throw in a crayon roll, and some other goodies. Each comment you post will get you an entry so the more comments the better! Oh and if you link to my blog in a post you will get 3 entries. (You will have to comment that you linked to me so I can verify it to be entered). Comments that qualify will start from my 10 presents down post.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Cameron is going to be SO happy!
See what I made out of this.
2 old Halloween shirts I bought 2 years ago for .99 each that have been worn a lot and are starting to get too small. I shirt I got for free (my ward had a trading table type of thing. I brought about 7 tubs full to get rid of, and only came home with 1 full in return, so not too bad for me! Most of what I came home with is clothing to recon.) Some dinosaur fabric I got last year when it was on sale 40% off and my friend who works at that store let me use her 30% employee discount. Cameron has been eyeing it in my stash for so long, and keeps begging me to make him a blanket out of it. Well since Kathryn is making my kids some amazing blankets I thought I could turn it into something else. Oh the fleece in the background was going to line the shirt to make it more of a sweatshirt, but I decided not to do that yet.
So here it is. the reason why the sleeves are striped is because there was writing on the shirt, so I had to be a little creative, but I wanted to work with what I had.
I used this pattern- Raglan Hoodies to which I added a pocket to break up the pattern in front. I have about 7 more of these to make. These instructions are amazing. These are not like anything you will find in a store. You can actually follow these. They are very clear and explain in detail and have pictures of each of the steps. They also go very into detail about working with knits, which with the exception of hemming a fleece blanket once, this was my first time working with them, and with her explanations it was super easy. I definitely recommend this pattern, Carla is an amazing pattern writer.
2 old Halloween shirts I bought 2 years ago for .99 each that have been worn a lot and are starting to get too small. I shirt I got for free (my ward had a trading table type of thing. I brought about 7 tubs full to get rid of, and only came home with 1 full in return, so not too bad for me! Most of what I came home with is clothing to recon.) Some dinosaur fabric I got last year when it was on sale 40% off and my friend who works at that store let me use her 30% employee discount. Cameron has been eyeing it in my stash for so long, and keeps begging me to make him a blanket out of it. Well since Kathryn is making my kids some amazing blankets I thought I could turn it into something else. Oh the fleece in the background was going to line the shirt to make it more of a sweatshirt, but I decided not to do that yet.
So here it is. the reason why the sleeves are striped is because there was writing on the shirt, so I had to be a little creative, but I wanted to work with what I had.
I used this pattern- Raglan Hoodies to which I added a pocket to break up the pattern in front. I have about 7 more of these to make. These instructions are amazing. These are not like anything you will find in a store. You can actually follow these. They are very clear and explain in detail and have pictures of each of the steps. They also go very into detail about working with knits, which with the exception of hemming a fleece blanket once, this was my first time working with them, and with her explanations it was super easy. I definitely recommend this pattern, Carla is an amazing pattern writer.
Monday, November 24, 2008
10 presents down
So I have finished my first 10 presents. I really have 6 more of these to do, but they dont need to be done by Thanksgiving, so I am not worried about them, plus the extra 5 are almost done, I just need to sew the covers together for them and they will be complete.
*Any white spots are just because I was impatient and took the pictures as the sun was setting and shining into my window, and didnt feel like taking them again. There arent any marks on these*
The whole set. Hot pack (big one), Cold pack and Eye pillow.
Different eye pillow patterns.
Different Hot pack patterns.
These can be done super cheap and super fast, which are 2 of the goals of this challenge.
Breakdown of Materials--
1. I am really bad at buying tons more fabric than I actually need for a project because I hate running out in the middle of a project (everytime I walk into a fabric store- even if it just for a spool of thread I walk out spending at least $100 so a trip in the middle of the project can be very bad for me- plus it increases the chances that that project will never get completed) or the store running out of what I need. I buy WAY more than I need when the fabric is super cute too. So I had tons of cute scraps laying around, and thats really all you need for the decorative part of the fabric.
2. I also used a bunch of muslin I had gotten when it went on sale for 30% off, and it is just the super cheap kind that is only .99 to begin with.
3. Then I used some cheap canvas type material that I had gotten with a 40% off coupon.
4. Thread- I always buy the really big spools of thread when it goes 50% off and I always stock up on black and white. Even though the fabric I used was cream, I used white thread because thats what I had, and it still looks great. I think it even probably looks better than cream would.
5. Velcro- I bought a really big roll of this at Walmart about 2 years ago, and it has mostly just been sitting in a cart. It isnt necessarily the kind you sew with (it has a very sticky back, and kept jamming up my sewing machine with gunk) but hey- it was stuff I had and money I didnt have to spend so I made do.
6. Essential oils- In the cold packs I used a 1/3 a bottle of Peppermint oil that I didnt have on hand, so I did have to go buy this. It was 5.99 a bottle so I ended up using about $2.00 worth, and yes I will use it for other things in the future so I am not including the entire cost in my final costs. I also had a room diffuser of Lavender Vanilla from Bath and Body Works that I plied the top off and used for the heat packs and the eye pillows. This was awesome since the lavender scents run about $50.00 a bottle at the store- that would have been my whole budget.
7. rice- about 40 lbs for all 16 or so I ended up making. This came from food storage. (You can get a 20 lb bag at Maceys for 9.99 I think.)
8. Buckwheat- I think I used about 10 or so lbs- also from food storage. But this is very cheap I think it is 1.50/lb at my local health food store.
9. Flax- I have about 50 lbs of this that I grind up 2 T from everyday and add it to my food, so I had tons of this, and it was nice to see it being put to use faster. If you buy this I would recomend the brown flax as it is cheaper than the golden- also found in a health food store.
I think thats about it, so 16 presents for $2.00 equals about .125 each- NICE! Of course there are a lot of people who read this that are getting these as a present this year- in which case I spent a lot more *wink wink*. And I dont think it is necessarily what a present costs, but the thought and effort, and biggest of all is if you like it, and I would LOVE to get one of these.
**If anyone wants to know how to make these I can post it later- just let me know.
*Any white spots are just because I was impatient and took the pictures as the sun was setting and shining into my window, and didnt feel like taking them again. There arent any marks on these*
The whole set. Hot pack (big one), Cold pack and Eye pillow.
Different eye pillow patterns.
Different Hot pack patterns.
These can be done super cheap and super fast, which are 2 of the goals of this challenge.
Breakdown of Materials--
1. I am really bad at buying tons more fabric than I actually need for a project because I hate running out in the middle of a project (everytime I walk into a fabric store- even if it just for a spool of thread I walk out spending at least $100 so a trip in the middle of the project can be very bad for me- plus it increases the chances that that project will never get completed) or the store running out of what I need. I buy WAY more than I need when the fabric is super cute too. So I had tons of cute scraps laying around, and thats really all you need for the decorative part of the fabric.
2. I also used a bunch of muslin I had gotten when it went on sale for 30% off, and it is just the super cheap kind that is only .99 to begin with.
3. Then I used some cheap canvas type material that I had gotten with a 40% off coupon.
4. Thread- I always buy the really big spools of thread when it goes 50% off and I always stock up on black and white. Even though the fabric I used was cream, I used white thread because thats what I had, and it still looks great. I think it even probably looks better than cream would.
5. Velcro- I bought a really big roll of this at Walmart about 2 years ago, and it has mostly just been sitting in a cart. It isnt necessarily the kind you sew with (it has a very sticky back, and kept jamming up my sewing machine with gunk) but hey- it was stuff I had and money I didnt have to spend so I made do.
6. Essential oils- In the cold packs I used a 1/3 a bottle of Peppermint oil that I didnt have on hand, so I did have to go buy this. It was 5.99 a bottle so I ended up using about $2.00 worth, and yes I will use it for other things in the future so I am not including the entire cost in my final costs. I also had a room diffuser of Lavender Vanilla from Bath and Body Works that I plied the top off and used for the heat packs and the eye pillows. This was awesome since the lavender scents run about $50.00 a bottle at the store- that would have been my whole budget.
7. rice- about 40 lbs for all 16 or so I ended up making. This came from food storage. (You can get a 20 lb bag at Maceys for 9.99 I think.)
8. Buckwheat- I think I used about 10 or so lbs- also from food storage. But this is very cheap I think it is 1.50/lb at my local health food store.
9. Flax- I have about 50 lbs of this that I grind up 2 T from everyday and add it to my food, so I had tons of this, and it was nice to see it being put to use faster. If you buy this I would recomend the brown flax as it is cheaper than the golden- also found in a health food store.
I think thats about it, so 16 presents for $2.00 equals about .125 each- NICE! Of course there are a lot of people who read this that are getting these as a present this year- in which case I spent a lot more *wink wink*. And I dont think it is necessarily what a present costs, but the thought and effort, and biggest of all is if you like it, and I would LOVE to get one of these.
**If anyone wants to know how to make these I can post it later- just let me know.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Getting old?? What?!?
So in my mind 26 isn't old. I like to think I am still pretty young in the whole scheme of things. I mean, I can still run around, climb trees and read a book without special glasses, all that fun stuff. Young people dont wear bifocals or get gray hairs. Or do they. Well I am here to tell you that 26 must be old, because you CAN get gray hairs at that age. I know because I just pulled 5 of them out of my head.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Challenge #1
**How about take pics of your stash without any neatening, cleaning, or organizing! I've seen lots of pictures of perfectly arranged sewing rooms and lovely stacks of fabric...I want to see if anyone has a mess that is WORSE than mine - LOL!**
OK so, even though my first thought was, "Well if I work really hard tonight, I can post pictures of my room clean and perfect looking tomorrow, and then people will think that I always have a clean craft room..." I resisted. The sad thing is I HAVE been cleaning in here. Well at least there was a week after Halloween and before I started to think about Christmas that I STARTED to clean/organize my room. It's like I have heard before- really creative people just have messy homes. I must be UBBER creative let me tell you!
So on to my stash. This is all stuff I have to work with- so if I were to make something from this it wouldnt cost me anything since I already have it!!
Paper storage under my computer desk. Left side has solid paper, middle has patterned and right has chipboard sheets, vellum, textured, 12 x 12 page protectors, holiday and seasonal paper, and unsorted paper as well.
Some paint, glitter, beads, and other goodies. These were originally flower boxes.
This is one of my favorite things my MIL ever gave me! My cart full of supplies. Drawers have 1- tools, 2- ink and chalk, 3- stamps and embossing patterns, 4- buttons, 5- adhesives, 6- punches, and the last has some textile medium, modge podge, felt glue, and embroidery thread.
Boxes full of fabric. Mostly jeans.
To the right (behind my monitor) is a wall mounted hardware drawer unit full of sewing notions (elastic, bias tape, snaps, etc.). The big white cart of drawers holds my bigger notions like zippers, my needles, tracing paper for when I alter or make up patterns, velcro, etc.
Cabinet full of things to alter. Plus empty mini albums that were so cute I couldnt resist buying them.
Full cabinet system. These are actually deeper than they look, and you cant really see things that are lurking behind, but most things are 2 deep. Right upper top has random fabric that I havent folded to put onto my bookshelf yet, and my batting, oh and some jewelry making supplies. The closed cabinet below holds all my office supplies and lots of empty formula containers to alter, plus most of my store bought sewing patterns. The closed cabinet in the top middle is the one from the previous picture. The open cabinet below it contains paper scraps sorted by color and pattern/solid. There are also embelishments in tackle box inserts and drawers. The bottom shelf is unfinished wood, mostly frames. The 2 cabinets on the left are full of idea books and things to scrapbook.
This is my sewing desk. You can see my sewing machine that I am constantly fighting with (and yes, I do yell at it- quite often in fact.) The built in filing cabinet is full of thread and bobbins. Clothing to be repurposed, and rolls of stuff I applique with. Ribbon on spools is shown. Loose ribbon is in containers sorted to color in the right cabinet. Unsorted ribbon, flowers, fraycheck, and hairclips are in the open cabinet. All my bow making supplies pretty much at this station.
This is my cutting scrapbooking table. It is an old kitchen island, but it has a granite countertop so it works great for pounding eyelets and cutting on. Plus it is just the perfect width for my big cutting mat.It has 2 drawers on the other side (that you cant see). One is full of pens, pencils, and markers. The other one holds all my tools that I use while I am at the table, (well the ones I use most often at least). In the cabinets are containers of fabric scraps, cutting/glueing/painting mats, a box of sewing notions that I still need to give back to my mom (I used it when I borrowed her machine in college- YIKES!), a bedazzler (Mom gave it to me, still havent cracked it out of the box yet, maybe I can come up with a project to use it on...), About 300 sponge paintbrushes that I ordered in when they were on sale for 5 cents each all in containers, and finally some unfinished IKEA wood drewer sets. There are containers in the front right of this picture that contain scrap fabric and scrap paper that hasnt been sorted yet. A couple of unfinished projects stacked on top. There is a mirror that needs to be hung on the wall behind my sewing machine, 2 magnetic chalkboards, 1 will go on the wall next to my monitor, the other one will be hung on the empty space on the left side of the cabinet in the picture. In the grocery bag are baking sheets for a project and silicone snowlake molds to make crayons in. On the table is the project I was working on today. Yes that is a disco ball. My husband has to hang it for me. I absolutely love when the sun hits it in the afternoon and throws light all over my ceiling and walls.
Pebboard with embellishments. In the metal containers are some of my paints, and my eyelets in the little round MM containers. Under the ironing board you can see part of the project I am working on now, as well as on the ironing board.
Bookshelf of mostly folded fabric. There are about 5 quilts in various stages of completion as well.
File cabinet. Bottom drawer has all my kids craft supplies. Top drawer has sorted embellishments. There is a bunch of random fabric piled on top. To the right (which you cant see is a cart full of felt and fabric scraps as well as a few Christmas presents waiting to be wrapped.
OK so, even though my first thought was, "Well if I work really hard tonight, I can post pictures of my room clean and perfect looking tomorrow, and then people will think that I always have a clean craft room..." I resisted. The sad thing is I HAVE been cleaning in here. Well at least there was a week after Halloween and before I started to think about Christmas that I STARTED to clean/organize my room. It's like I have heard before- really creative people just have messy homes. I must be UBBER creative let me tell you!
So on to my stash. This is all stuff I have to work with- so if I were to make something from this it wouldnt cost me anything since I already have it!!
Paper storage under my computer desk. Left side has solid paper, middle has patterned and right has chipboard sheets, vellum, textured, 12 x 12 page protectors, holiday and seasonal paper, and unsorted paper as well.
Some paint, glitter, beads, and other goodies. These were originally flower boxes.
This is one of my favorite things my MIL ever gave me! My cart full of supplies. Drawers have 1- tools, 2- ink and chalk, 3- stamps and embossing patterns, 4- buttons, 5- adhesives, 6- punches, and the last has some textile medium, modge podge, felt glue, and embroidery thread.
Boxes full of fabric. Mostly jeans.
To the right (behind my monitor) is a wall mounted hardware drawer unit full of sewing notions (elastic, bias tape, snaps, etc.). The big white cart of drawers holds my bigger notions like zippers, my needles, tracing paper for when I alter or make up patterns, velcro, etc.
Cabinet full of things to alter. Plus empty mini albums that were so cute I couldnt resist buying them.
Full cabinet system. These are actually deeper than they look, and you cant really see things that are lurking behind, but most things are 2 deep. Right upper top has random fabric that I havent folded to put onto my bookshelf yet, and my batting, oh and some jewelry making supplies. The closed cabinet below holds all my office supplies and lots of empty formula containers to alter, plus most of my store bought sewing patterns. The closed cabinet in the top middle is the one from the previous picture. The open cabinet below it contains paper scraps sorted by color and pattern/solid. There are also embelishments in tackle box inserts and drawers. The bottom shelf is unfinished wood, mostly frames. The 2 cabinets on the left are full of idea books and things to scrapbook.
This is my sewing desk. You can see my sewing machine that I am constantly fighting with (and yes, I do yell at it- quite often in fact.) The built in filing cabinet is full of thread and bobbins. Clothing to be repurposed, and rolls of stuff I applique with. Ribbon on spools is shown. Loose ribbon is in containers sorted to color in the right cabinet. Unsorted ribbon, flowers, fraycheck, and hairclips are in the open cabinet. All my bow making supplies pretty much at this station.
This is my cutting scrapbooking table. It is an old kitchen island, but it has a granite countertop so it works great for pounding eyelets and cutting on. Plus it is just the perfect width for my big cutting mat.It has 2 drawers on the other side (that you cant see). One is full of pens, pencils, and markers. The other one holds all my tools that I use while I am at the table, (well the ones I use most often at least). In the cabinets are containers of fabric scraps, cutting/glueing/painting mats, a box of sewing notions that I still need to give back to my mom (I used it when I borrowed her machine in college- YIKES!), a bedazzler (Mom gave it to me, still havent cracked it out of the box yet, maybe I can come up with a project to use it on...), About 300 sponge paintbrushes that I ordered in when they were on sale for 5 cents each all in containers, and finally some unfinished IKEA wood drewer sets. There are containers in the front right of this picture that contain scrap fabric and scrap paper that hasnt been sorted yet. A couple of unfinished projects stacked on top. There is a mirror that needs to be hung on the wall behind my sewing machine, 2 magnetic chalkboards, 1 will go on the wall next to my monitor, the other one will be hung on the empty space on the left side of the cabinet in the picture. In the grocery bag are baking sheets for a project and silicone snowlake molds to make crayons in. On the table is the project I was working on today. Yes that is a disco ball. My husband has to hang it for me. I absolutely love when the sun hits it in the afternoon and throws light all over my ceiling and walls.
Pebboard with embellishments. In the metal containers are some of my paints, and my eyelets in the little round MM containers. Under the ironing board you can see part of the project I am working on now, as well as on the ironing board.
Bookshelf of mostly folded fabric. There are about 5 quilts in various stages of completion as well.
File cabinet. Bottom drawer has all my kids craft supplies. Top drawer has sorted embellishments. There is a bunch of random fabric piled on top. To the right (which you cant see is a cart full of felt and fabric scraps as well as a few Christmas presents waiting to be wrapped.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Yay! So excited!
So the website that is my favorite resource for patterns (youcanmakethis.com) announced the other day that they are having a "Thrifty Under 50" challenge/contest. And guess what, I was picked as one of the 50! I am so excited right now. I always spend WAY too much when I am making things, and we have always spent WAY WAY too much on Christmas, so this is going to be great. No way is my whole list going to come in under $50- lets face it, it has already far exceeded that and I have just barely starting buying things. But I think that this will help me to spend less overall and get to be creative at the same time, by having a chunk of my gifts put into this category. I am not sure of all the rules yet, if I will be mainly posting here on my blog, or on their special one or what, but I will keep everyone informed of where to go. Who knows maybe you will be inspired and come up with some thrifty Christmas gifts of your own.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Adelles Halloween Parade
Adelle wanted to be Cinderella, so I totally Frankensteined a pattern I had, and totally remade it. This is what we came up with. She loved it. Other than walking up the stairs. She had 2 sets of pettiskirts on, and she would get all tangled in them.
Boys Halloween Parade
Ok so I dont know who was in charge of taking pictures this year, but we didnt get a lot in costume. About the only ones that I can find of the boys in their costumes are from their school parade. They are from far away, they were moving fast, and they only came by once before it even started, and we were just barely sitting down.Ugh! I will have to put them in their costumes again to get pictures of them. Anyway here these ones are.
Cameron. He wanted to be a bumble bee transformer. So I looked at his toy we bought last year and made a pattern out of it.
Here you can kinda see the back. The bottom panels on the legs have red tail-lights that actually work. I made them by sewing in flashing luggage tags for the tail-lights. He had to show everyone this feature.
From the side again. I really need to get better pictures of this one, especially with all the sweat and tears put into this thing.
It was even harder to get a good picture of Ryan. He was shark boy and all I had to go off of was this. The outfit that was SUPPOSED to go underneath it was of course dirty because
1- He didnt take it off after Trick -or- Treating on Main Street on Saturday like I asked (or after the ward trunk-or-treat-again like I asked).
2- When he finally did take it off he did not put it into the dirty clothes like I asked so I could wash it.
I am trying this new thing with them that if they dont have clean socks because they did not put them into the laundry basket, (and not on their floor) then they will have to rewear dirty socks, clothes, etc. I should not have to pick their clothes up off the floor every time I do the wash. They are learning- slowly!
So he has on a pair of church pants and one of his shirts on inside out so it would be all the same color. They is why it looks so funny. Also because he had put it on himself and not situated it quite right, and some pieces are upside down, and/or missing. Oh well nothing I can do about it now. I dont know if you can see the quilting on it or not?
Cameron. He wanted to be a bumble bee transformer. So I looked at his toy we bought last year and made a pattern out of it.
Here you can kinda see the back. The bottom panels on the legs have red tail-lights that actually work. I made them by sewing in flashing luggage tags for the tail-lights. He had to show everyone this feature.
From the side again. I really need to get better pictures of this one, especially with all the sweat and tears put into this thing.
It was even harder to get a good picture of Ryan. He was shark boy and all I had to go off of was this. The outfit that was SUPPOSED to go underneath it was of course dirty because
1- He didnt take it off after Trick -or- Treating on Main Street on Saturday like I asked (or after the ward trunk-or-treat-again like I asked).
2- When he finally did take it off he did not put it into the dirty clothes like I asked so I could wash it.
I am trying this new thing with them that if they dont have clean socks because they did not put them into the laundry basket, (and not on their floor) then they will have to rewear dirty socks, clothes, etc. I should not have to pick their clothes up off the floor every time I do the wash. They are learning- slowly!
So he has on a pair of church pants and one of his shirts on inside out so it would be all the same color. They is why it looks so funny. Also because he had put it on himself and not situated it quite right, and some pieces are upside down, and/or missing. Oh well nothing I can do about it now. I dont know if you can see the quilting on it or not?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Not quite right...
OK you know something is wrong when your Husband calls and says he has bad news, and you think- Oh no he lost his job. Then he tells you he has to go out of town for 4 days and you think that was worse.
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