A Holly Jolly... July

Today I made the awesome bag from the following link:

http://versusmag.blogspot.com/2011/04/awesome-bag-tutorial-with-guest-meg-of.html

Here is the final product. 

Don't you love the Christmas material?!?

Ho, ho, ho merry summer!

I wish the tutorial was more detailed but I managed my way through it.

The actual bag turned out great! Everything matched up- yeah!

And when it didn't I cut it- :)

The thing I am really excited about is the button holes.

I learned how to sew them on my machine.

It's so easy!! 

On this bag, the strap is held in place by buttons running down the sides.

This bag is suppose to be reversible as well but I didn't fool with it since I won't really use this bag.

Here is a close up of the buttons with the strap.

That was tricky sewing on the buttons!

I used some of my great grandma's buttons from her sewing kit.

I love the old design and that buttons use to be 29 cents!

Here is a close up of the button holes. 

I love how the button holes turned out. I'm amazed that I did that or watched my sewing machine do it :) 

There you go! 

A Christmas bag in July :)

 Next challenge....zippers. 

Odd Ball

Today was one of those odd ball days.

Not sure why- maybe after 2 weeks of being spoiled with family I'm having withdrawals (I miss milkshakes!!!), maybe it's cause I'm a girl and have "moods" as Chad would say, maybe it's cause the crazy weather...rainy...sunny...rainy....sunny- come on weather- stop being indecisive! 

Anyway- odd ball day...

So on this odd ball day I made a reversible bag...

Side note: since I'm a beginner sewer and poor and don't have a Dave Ramsey envelope for sewing, I am using scraps given to me by family. For most of these patterns, I would choose more colorful and "in" fabric but the fabric I have now does great. And I am finding a trial run works out a lot of kinks. 

Here is one side of the bag.

Oh wait... 

It's reversible!!

Other side

The challenge for this was learning to do darts.

The mistake of this project was my sides did not match up when I turned it out and are a little lumpy- not sure how I did that but will be more careful next time.

This is going in my home living center for my kindergartens. 

Instructions on how to:

http://youcandothatdotme.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/reversible-bags-make-one/

This I made in Wichita Falls-  it is known as a pouf or more commonly- a floor cushion...but come on- pouf is more fun to say!

Pouf!

The challenge of this was piping (all the black stuff outlining it)!

It wasn't too bad though. I had trouble sewing straight on curves and next time I would stuff it more than the instructions say.

This is also going in my classroom (the joys of teaching- re-use all the stuff that isn't good enough for your house!). My teacher assistant for the day gets to sit on the pouf! I have the feeling they will love the power of the pouf. 

Instructions how to:

http://www.livingwithpunks.com/2010/05/tutorial-land-of-nod-inspired-floor.html

I haven't posted of a pic of Georgia in a while...

And who better to post her with than my hot ginger:)

I'm excited for tomorrow- all day date! We plan to use a lot of our anniversary gift cards that we have.

Reservations have been made for Rudy and Paco :)

oh. yeah.

Also on this odd ball day we watched The Breakfast Club.

Why you ask- well first we watched Pitch Perfect (funny movie- I was surprised I liked it. Acca-what?!) Any way they referenced The Breakfast Club and ever since then I've wanted to see it.

Not sure how I feel about the movie... 

But now this song has been stuck in my head.

um oh yeah- it was made in the 80's. Enjoy!

 Odd ball days...they happen.

What I've been reading...

Oh summer- 

how I love you and the endless hours of reading you offer!

Its been one of my favorite things to do this summer- read.

And by read I mean uninterrupted reading for several hours. 

It. has. been. wonderful.

I still have 4 more books to read before the end of the summer to complete my summer reading list.

Here are the ones I have read so far:

Wow. A great book. At first I did not like it...death is the narrator but as I kept reading I really enjoyed it- in fact one of my favorite things about the book is that death is the narrator. The book is so uniquely written. I loved how the emotions were conveyed. The book takes place in Germany during WWII.

Great read- would recommend it! 

I had heard about this book and seen it at Barnes and Noble.

I'm still not sure how I feel about it all. It is set in present day which I always have a hard time reading. I view reading as an escape from the world I'm in. Therefore, I don't like reading about the present day.

I did like how it made me think about other cultures and things that happen in the world that we might be unaware of. This wasn't one of my favorite reads but I'm still glad I read it. 

Love the show and now the book! 

The book just explains more but the stories and characters are just like the show. :)

Great read!  

This book was outside of what I usually read. 

I still really liked it and the main themes in the book. 

I'll admit I did have to look up cliff notes to get it all straight. 

The movie Blade Runner was based off this book so after I finished reading it I watched the movie.

Whoa- the movie was weird and of course not near as good as the book. 

Overall, enjoyable read if your into sci-fi.

This was our book for book club.

I didn't expect to enjoy the book that much but I ended up loving it.

In fact, its one of my favorite books now. 

I love the characters and humor of the book.

It's quirky and weird and an overall great read that's happy and full of adventure.

I can't wait to watch the movie now after reading this! 

I just started reading this yesterday and have a feeling it is going to be great!

I do love reading! :)

Here's to books and all they offer!

What have you been reading lately? 

Sewing Projects

As an early birthday present I got a Brother sewing machine. 

And I love it! 

This past week in Amarillo has been full of sewing projects.

Mom has passed on her sewing skills and wisdom to me and I can't wait to try many more sewing projects!

The people who I use to be a nanny for are expecting their second baby.

So our first project was a baby rag quilt.

I got the instructions from pinterest.

The instructions expected you to know a little bit about sewing- actually quite a bit. Thank goodness Mom does know a lot and when in doubt we googled video tutorials.  I spent $20 on fabric, thread, and yarn for both blankets I made. Everything was on sale! :) For 2 blankets I think I made out pretty well.

Here is the baby rag quilt. One side is smooth and the other side is frayed. 

I really liked how it turned out and would love to make another one. 

The second time would be way easier! As with anything new- a learning curve is involved.

My aunt had a pattern for a frog so I made one for the little boy I use to be a nanny for.

It's filled with rice. I'm going to say it is a red eyed tree frog. ;)

This was tricky learning how to turn fabric while sewing it. 

I ended up having to throw my first one away.

The second one turned out way better!

Mom made one too! (For Dad! ha!)

So thankful for a great teacher who stayed up till midnight sewing with me! :) 

 I also made another blanket for the baby. I bought flannel and my aunt surged it for me.

I then made holes in it and crocheted a border around the blanket.

It added an extra touch and was super easy to make!

I love how everything turned out. 

Overall I think I will really enjoy sewing! 

I did learn sewing takes time, a lot of patience, and thought

but that's part of why I like it!

There is something about being crafty and creating something that refreshes your soul 

and makes you proud to say, "Yep, I made that!"

My next project is this:

http://www.livingwithpunks.com/2010/05/tutorial-land-of-nod-inspired-floor.html

A floor cushion for little kids- I hope to use it in my classroom.

I plan to complete this one in Wichita Falls with my mother-in-law who also sews!

Here's to creativity and needle and thread!

Camp Blue Haven Weekend

Camp Blue Haven

I grew up going to Camp Blue Haven.

It is an amazing place located in Las Vegas, NM. 

The camp is smack in the middle of beautiful pines, mountain air, and God's creation.

I would always go for 2 weeks and enjoy Blue Sky Sodas (ah- so good!),

 all day hikes, and fellowship with other campers. 

It is also the place I found God.

I was baptized in the creek at Blue Haven.

It has and always will hold a special place in my heart and 

a connection to God I can't find any where else.

My sister is up at camp this summer working the ropes course. We went up for the weekend to visit her.

I am so proud of her! She knows all the ropes course lingo, safety rules, and does an excellent job at encouraging young campers to face their fears on the ropes. 

While we were there she made, strongly encouraged us, to do one of the hardest ropes course challenges: The Leap of Faith 

Oh so scary.

You climb up this 25 ft. telephone pole, stand on the top- holding nothing, and jump...

yep jump!

Did I mention you were standing on a telephone pole?!?

The goal is to jump and hang on to a metal bar that is out in front of you. 

Oh the nerves, but the whole family did it!

I have to say I have the coolest parents.

What other parents do you know that would climb the pole and jump?

We have pictures to prove it! Way to go Mom and Dad! Y'all are awesome!

Here is Mom jumping towards the bar. 

 Her famous line she yelled after she did it was:

"I didn't wet my pants!"

Ha! Way to go, Momma!!!

Here is me:

I didn't want to jump but the ropes director said he had to see tears before they let me down-

so I jumped!

Here is Dad:

Chad did it too- twice actually but we forgot to take pics. So sad :(

We all touched the bar! 

Abby has had to climb this and stand on the top for 10 minutes.

Now I would pee my pants if I had to do that!

We also got to go to Santa Fe for the day.

I really enjoyed Santa Fe. We only got to spend a couple of hours there but it was worth it.

Santa Fe is now on our list of vacation places we want to go to in the near future.

We ate at Blue Corn- so yummy!! 

It helps when you have parents to spoil you :) 

We went to church at Blue Haven on Sunday.

All I can say is I have really missed that place.

I loved getting to share this special place with Chad. I showed him the creek I was baptized in and relived many camp memories. 

I loved seeing my baby sister all grown up- she truly is a servant of God. I see her using her gifts to bless many people at Blue Haven and it makes me so happy!

I loved being with my family- Taco Bell at midnight and laughing till I'm crying- memories that I'll cherish always!

A wonderful weekend :)