Home EC Class: Project 5

Supplies Roll-up

Lessons learned:
   creating sections (albeit uneven :)
   working with thicker material and heavier needle
   installing an adjustable strap

open with the flap closed...

open with the flap open...

open & filled with my sewing supplies...

closed (rolled) up...

closer detail of the ribbon closure...

It's cute, right?

I made a few modifications to this project:

1) I couldn't get my hands on oilcloth specifically (which is what the project called for though they said we could use a few other materials) without ordering some and I wasn't patient enough to wait for it so my (wonderful) husband picked up some vinyl for me at Hancock Fabrics.  It worked just fine.

2) I couldn't find O-rings very easily so I chose some (too large) D-rings that worked.

3) I didn't have any matching ribbon that was 1" thick but I had this really cute ribbon "that matched and everything" so I decided to use 2 strands of it.  THAT was a challenge.

As was sewing the straight lines to form the sections inside.

Home EC Class: Project 4

Round Bunting

Lessons learned:
   creating fabric circles
   machine applique

my sewing area...

This project took a really long time but I'm so happy with the way it turned out!  The circles aren't perfect by any means, but I think for my first time ever doing something like this, I did good.  :)

I used the font "Impact" and typed it out in the appropriate sizes (I made the "t" a bit smaller than the other letters) using Photoshop 7.  I printed them, cut them out and traced them backwards onto my felt to cut out.

I did use individual ribbon strips in between the circles since I didn't have enough ribbon to use continuously.  I was worried about the drape of the letters, even as I sewed everything* together but it seemed to work out fine.

*The tutorial said that if you were using individual ribbon strips, that you should sew your circles and then hand-sew your ribbon to the back (meaning that that would be seen if you hung it where both sides could be seen).  Well, we all know how I feel about that hand-sewing business, so I just pinned them into place and sewed everything together so the ribbon strips are sandwiched in between the felt backing and the fabric, just as if it were a continuous piece of ribbon. 

Home EC Class: Project 3

Reusable Grocery (Tote) Bag

Lessons learned:

   making a larger bag

   straps

   strong "x-joint"

   corner technique

I used an old pillowcase for this project...

a close-up of my x-joints...

I LOVE the x-joint technique! It's relatively easy and it looks really great.  I thought I might get this monogrammed with a fun color...

Home EC Class: Project 2

Drawstring Gift Pouch

Lessons learned:

   making a bag

   joining 2 fabrics

   drawstring casing

   square corners

   strong slit

*the fact that I will probably NOT make another one of these in the same way again...

open (i.e. not tied up)...

closed (hypothetically w/gift inside)...

I have a couple of notes about this one:

The main fabric is hawaiian fabric that Jeff picked up for me on one of his business trips over there (so I've had it for awhile) so when I say "hawaiian", I mean authentic.  :) 

The top band is actually fabric from a bed skirt we have no need of anymore so I ripped out seams, squared it up and used it for this project.  I think the colors match perfectly.  :)

There was a part in this project that we had to hand-sew and if I learned nothing else from this project, it's that I'm not into that.  At all.  I did what I needed to but not without a few tears of frustration, some impatient outbursts and a vow to NEVER make one of these bags again.  Not unless I can make it without that hand-sewing business.

It's a good thing the fabric is cute.

Home EC Class: Project 1

Single & Double Layer Napkins

Lessons learned:

   squaring up fabric*

   simple hemming

   adding ric-rac

*it's questionable that I've learned this yet...

starting out...

my single layer napkins...

my double layer napkins...

really proud of these... :)

the double layer napkins on my kitchen table...

I'm sew excited!

Look what I'm participating in!

I discovered this class through another blog that I read (she's a sewer) and clicked on the link to see what it was all about.

I've been wanting to get into sewing for awhile now -- maybe the last 3 months or so.  I think that skill could come in pretty handy with all kinds of things.  So I sent Jeff the link to see what he thought of it and he was all for it, saying, "If you really want to get into sewing, this looks like an excellent opportunity."

My sentiments exactly.

So for $60 (+ my materials since it IS an online class), I registered to take this class and learn how to make 26 projects -- each project teaching a new technique and building on each other to take us "from beginner to confident"!

The class started this past Tuesday and while they post a new project each day on the blog, there are no deadlines and they will have the information up for a full year online so we can take it at our own pace.  Thank the Lord for that because it has crossed my mind a time or two that maybe I've stepped outside my mind to try to take this on at this very moment in my life.

With that being said, however, I couldn't WAIT for this class to get started!  Jeff got our sewing machine out last Thursday and set it up in my craft room on its own separate table with a lamp and everything.  Friday night, I didn't have any plans and the machine was calling me so I went online to just see what kind of simple projects with tutorials I could find.

I ended up sewing my very first thing that night!  A cute little drawstring bag made from a heavy green/brown/cream striped material (we had some material and other notions from when we got the machine in the first place) with a wide brown ribbon for the "drawstrings".  I can't even TELL you how tickled I was that I made it!  I just kept looking at it and giggling.  Jeff was proud of me, too.  

The next day, Saturday, I found a tutorial for a weighted pin cushion -- how convenient since everyone who sews needs a pincushion!  :)  So I made that, too, out of that same striped material plus some other green & yellow fabric & felt.  It came out pretty well, too.  So I had 2 projects under my belt already!

Well, as it turns out, I've not been able to even start the first project for this Home EC class due to other obligations each night this week.  But that all changes TONIGHT!  I'm going to sew tonight, if it's the last thing I do.  :)

Being the organized person that I am, I got a spiral notepad that I can use to keep track of things I learn, supplies I need, etc.  Being the crafty person that I am, I decorated the front of it.  :)

I am ready!  Bring on the fabric & thread!

Now you may be wondering why I would post this information (and any subsequent info/photos) on this blog and the MAIN reason is so that I don't have to start a FOURTH blog, hello.  But the other reason is because I think it can kind of be related to the home -- a lot of the things we're learning to make will be for our home so I plan to make them useful.

So you may or may not care about how it goes with this class, but this is where I'll be posting my progress for the class for awhile.  I know it's been QUITE a while since I've posted anything here and I'm thinking I'd probably be pretty lucky if I still had any readers who check this blog of mine, but whatev.

Okay, wish me luck!

harvest...

My husband has a "garden".

He is growing peppers, all kinds, and strawberries.  We found these hanging baskets at Bed Bath & Beyond and Jeff decided he wanted to try his hand at it.  As you can see, the plants are flourishing!  And do you see my husband's brilliant mind come to life?  The way he waters the plants -- because they are to be watered slowly -- is to freeze a cottage cheese container filled with water and sit the ice block on top of the baskets each morning.  Then through out the day, they melt slowly and water down into the baskets.  Ingenius.

Here is a close up of the strawberry plant:

We actually have harvested just a couple off this plant but we ate them before I took a photo.  Well, we were curious about how they tasted!  They were okay -- not too flavorful, but boy, were they a pretty red!

Here's a closer look at the pepper plant:

He's planted about 6 different kinds of peppers out there (in the one basket).  He harvested a couple this morning:

This is a jalapeno pepper and a banana pepper.  Funny thing is, he planted both sweet banana peppers and hot banana peppers.  He's not sure which this is so I'll guess it'll be a surprise!  :)

So proud of him.  I would've killed the things in the first week.  No green thumb here.

exposed!

I feel exposed. Lots of things are happening around our neighborhood -- trees coming down, dirt being moved here and there, houses going up at an alarming speed. They're clearing everything behind our house now, all up and down that street over there.

THIS is what it looked like just a couple of months ago when we had snow in February...

And NOW?

I'm thinking maybe we need a fence now.  What do you think?

do you have the time?

Ya'll, my husband has got some mad skills.  I'm just sayin'.  Look what he's done now:

Is that not the coolest clock you've ever seen??  Jeff decided he wanted to build a rather sizable clock for this wall in our living room -- the one that the entertainment center sits on.  He had an idea in his head but it wasn't really what I pictured so we got online and began to look at different clock styles.  I found one very similar to this style and said, "Oooh!  That one!  I LOVE that!".  I'm a fan of funkiness.  :)

So, of course, that's all my fabulous husband needs -- a picture and some materials with which to work.  Here's a link to more information about how the clock came into fruition.  Some of you might want to know, and some may not care -- like me, you're only concerned with the final product.  :)  However, it is a pretty neat story about the materials he used and how everything came together so I would encourage you to take a look.  There are also more detailed photos of the clock there.

Here's a closer look at the clock:

wall 'o' verbs...

We've been in our house for almost 3 years (this August) and we have a total of 3 things hanging on the wall.  In our living room, we have a picture that Jeff framed hanging over our couch.  We also have a mirror hanging on the small wall that you see when you walk in the front door.  We just recently hung that but I didn't take any photos because it's not real spectacular -- it was just the mirror we took down in the master bathroom to put up a mirror with cabinets.  I wanted to do something with it, so that's where we put it.  For now.  The only other thing we have hanging is the canvas photo of us that Jeff got me for my birthday last year -- that's hanging above our bed.

Until now.

Look what we just hung in the kitchen on our long accent wall:

Pretty cool, huh?  I found it at Bed, Bath & Beyond and though it was a pain.in.the.butt. to hang (just due to the nature of the thing -- you know, a collage), I LOVE the finished product!  I thought it would be the perfect thing to hang right there since 1) I love photos and 2) it's a long/landscape style thing.

snow in our neck of the woods...

Well, we got snow this winter, just as we did last winter.  But this time it was a pretty good amount!  We have had several winter storms hitting northern parts, and even the southern most parts, of the coast this winter -- enough to really incapacitate certain parts of the country.

I wondered if we'd see any and we finally did get a good dose.  4 inches!  It started on a Friday night around 9pm and continued through the night to reveal 4 inches by 7:45am the next morning.  It was so beautiful!  And it was cold.  So as opposed to the photos from my last post on snow, I didn't bundle up enough to leave the house to take photos -- I only took them from the comfort of my back door or porch.

Take a look!

Thought this was a cool shoot...don't know that I could've done that with my point-n-shoot... :)

laundry room...revised!

Since we've moved in (29 months ago), Jeff has been wanting to utilize all the space above our washer & dryer in the laundry room.  If you will recall, we started out with one single wire rack relatively high above the washer/dryer -- that's what the builders included for us.  Well, there's a lot more space along that wall and even on one of the side walls that Jeff had a "vision" for.

So today, while I was out (he knows how I love surprises :), his vision came to life!  When I got home, he was just screwing in the last screw...perfect timing!  And boy, was THIS project perfect timing...

Here's what we had before:

And here's what we have now:

See the difference??  So much more storage space!  I am so very excited about this because I can use part of this as a pantry for some of our larger things.  People.  The amount of room I have to store food items is really just pathetic.  Really.  So this is just absolutely awesome to me!  Things will probably get rearranged a little from what this photo looks like because Jeff said he just basically threw stuff in there but you get the idea.

I do want to point out one other difference here...do you see the difference in the photos themselves?  The top one, the before shot, was taken with my Kodak point-&-shoot.  The second photo?  Well, I took THAT with my brand new (5-day-old brand new!) camera!  Yes, I FINALLY got a new camera after seriously saving and considering for about a year.  I've had my Kodak for about 4 or 5 years and it's been a great camera but I was ready for an upgrade.

**If you'd like to hear the story of how I came to have this camera and see more photos, check out my other blog here.**

Merry Christmas to ME!

I had a fantastic Christmas, ya'll! I mean, really. REALLY. My husband is always so good to me but especially at Christmastime. :) He loves surprising me with stuff and this year was no exception.

The main thing was my gorgeous handmade jewelry box. For about the last month and a half or so, I've not been allowed in the workshop. Well, I haven't been allowed to look in the workshop, for that matter. Top-secret stuff and all that.

THIS is why...

Is this not absolutely beautiful??  My.husband.made.this.  For.me.  He never ceases to amaze me with his skills and talents.  I can't tell you how many times I've told him how proud I am of him.

He got a few photos of me with it on Christmas morning...

But that's not all!  Well, that was PLENTY for me but THIS is what I found when we got home from Lexington Saturday...

A brand new kitchen table and chairs!  I TOTALLY didn't see this coming.  No, Jeff didn't make this himself (although he COULD).  We saw this set at Sam's when we were there recently and it was severely marked down, peeps.  I mean, it was a steal.  But we were there for something else and decided not to get it.  But I SO wanted it!  I mean, I really, really wanted it.  Jeff did, too.  This style is exactly what I've been wanting.  And it was so cheap.  But we didn't get it.

Little did I know that my husband had other plans.  God love him.  :)  While we were out of town, he had one of his friends come in and set it up so it would be set when we got back into town.  I was SO surprised!  REALLY surprised.  And so happy!

I hope that your Christmas was just as blessed and full of fun times and love from family & friends as mine was.  My prayer is that your new year, 2010, will be just as full of blessings and love.

'tis the season!

It's time once again for my annual Christmas decorations post. As is usually the case, I've had my decorations up for awhile and have taken photos here & there of different things. And I'm just now getting around to posting them. Better late than never, I guess.

I have a couple of *new* things this year so I really only took a few photos of those things to share. This photo shows a paper craft that I picked up here for only $5 -- I thought it would be a fun thing to create myself to put out for Christmas. I think it's really cute and I had really hoped that it would last through Christmas and maybe for a few years at least. However, I've been observing it slowly come "unraveled" -- by that I mean, every day there are a few more ornaments that have fallen off the slowly lowering "branches" and the ornaments themselves are slowly separating (they are just 2 stickers stuck back to back). I just keep *fixing* things here and there but I can't imagine how I'm going to store the thing until next year. We'll see.

My tree is not new however the beautiful tree skirt underneath certainly is. I have been looking for a few years now for just the right tree skirt -- something that fits me and my style and more importantly, my tree's style.

Yes, my tree has style, peeps. As if you couldn't tell, duh. :)

So when my mom & I were out shopping the day after Thanksgiving this year, we came across this tree skirt that is SO me, and it very nearly screamed to be chosen to go home with me. And so it did. Go home with me. It's hard to see in the photo but the lime-ish green has small "scrollies" all over it and the red & white parts are kind of like Santa's hat -- velvety and all that. Isn't it perfect?

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the BEAUTIFUL bow that tops my tree this year. I typically have a gold star on top but this year my mom made this bow for me with ribbon we found on our shopping spree the day after Thanksgiving. Is it not the prettiest thing? She's so talented. :)

The other thing I acquired this year was this sweet little wire tree that my mom picked up for me "because it's your colors and it was just, well, you". My mom is just the best. :) Cute, huh?

I hope you guys are getting everything all ready for your Christmas gatherings without all the stress that inevitably comes with the season. I, for one, have been trying to really keep my focus on what Christmas is all about and what Christ really did when He came as a baby in the manger all those many years ago. May you be blessed this Christmas season!