My first purse from a pattern!

I consider myself to be a decent seamstress, but patterns have always been a thorn in my side.  How do you lay them out?  Pin and trace, pin and cut?  Taping them together or laminating?  UGH!  So when I've made purses in the past, I just sort of made them up.  A couple of squares, a long rectangle, a zipper and voila!  A purse is born. 
Well, I found this cute FREE pattern and decided to give it a try. I think it turned out pretty well.

You know what else stumps me?  Lining the inner and outer pieces to sew together so they come out the right way.  It took me three attempts to get it right.  Thank God for seam rippers!

"Feminine Product" Storage

Okay, so we've all had those moments where we go to the restroom, sit down to do our thing and realize we need a "change."  But...OH NO!  My "items" are under the sink in the cabinet.....over there.

So I always kept mine in a basket next to the toilet.  But my fiance thought that was a little too.....on display.  So I came up with a more discrete solution.

An empty tissue box! 

All my little lifesavers fit neatly in the box in easy reach, but aren't quite so "look at me, look at me!"

Win, win!

Refilling your automatic soap dispenser

A while back, I bought a fancy electronic automatic handsoap dispenser for my daughter's bathroom.  So far, it has worked out wonderfully.  She gets a kick out of the soap coming out into her hand by itself and encourages her to wash her hands more often, which is a plus.  Well, when the original soap ran out, I realized that the refills are EXPENSIVE! $$$$$  So, I set out to find a way to refill it with a less pricey soap.

My empty container and the dispenser.

Store brand hand soap and this little condiment bottle I picked up at the dollar store.

Fill up your condiment bottle with the soap.

 

Press the tip of the condiment bottle into the original container until it goes past the rubber piece.  Then squeeze the bottle to transfer the soap.

Once full, return the original container, now refilled, back to the dispenser. 

And there you go.....refilled soap dispenser for a fraction of the cost of the name brand.

Mini Christmas Tree

The Christmas season always puts me in the mood to create.  Unfortunately, like most people, I am on a very limited budget.  So, I'm making what I can with what I have.  My post today is for this adorable Christmas tree tabletop decoration I made.

 

Isn't it cute??

I found this styrofoam cone at the $1 store and wrapped it with green yarn I already had in my stash.

Wrapped and wrapped and wrapped.....

Then I made little dots of glue with good ole Elmers and sprinkled them with glitter.  Voila!  My tree is "lit"!

Now for ornaments, I used these tiny little buttons I had.

The star was a little yellow button I had as well that I anchored with half a toothpick at the top.

And there you go, my finished Christmas tree.  My baby pigeon was quite impressed. :)



My hair miracle!

Okay, so I don't know if this really counts as a "miracle", per se, but I have always had naturally curly/wavy/FRIZZY hair.  Always.  Over the years, I have learned to manage and somewhat tame this mess on my head.  This usually involves moisturizing shampoo, lots of conditioner, blow drying and straightening with a flat iron with lots of spray on heat protectant.  And then, even after all that, the slightest hint of moisture in the air and BOOM! Frizzy mess.

Well, like everyone else in the English speaking world (and elsewhere, who knows?)  I am addicted to Pinterest.  So I've tried lots of the hair ideas I found there.  One was going No-Poo (SHAMpoo that is).  The instructions were to use a light conditioner to "wash" your hair and then follow up with a heavy conditioner on the ends.  I tried that for a few weeks, but always ended up going back to shampoo when my roots got greasy.  I figured I just had to find that right combination that would keep my hair clean without drying it out.  I planned on splurging on some of the expensive stuff you see in salons, but my wallet disagreed with me.  So, in the meantime, I picked up some lesser priced conditioner at Wally World and figured Eh, I'll just go back to the old routine until I can afford the "good stuff."  Well, guess what.  The cheap stuff turned out to be the good stuff. 
I've been using this for about 2 weeks now and have not had to use shampoo once. 


I put a good amount in my hands and massage my scalp thoroughly for a few minutes.  Then, put a little more on and spread through to the ends.  I leave it on there while I do all my other shower stuff, then rinse really well.  And that's it.  My hair is light, soft, not greasy, and not frizzy.  I'm weeks overdue for a trim and you can't even tell.  I can even let my hair air dry and it still doesn't get frizzy. 

A quick fix that's cheap, too?

I'm hooked!


UPDATE 11/26/12: I have started using this method/product on my 3 year old daughter's extremely curly hair and am soooooo happy with the results.  No more tears when it's time to comb and her hair is so soft.

In Memory...

Today, October 24th 2012, marks the one year anniversary of the untimely death of my father. He passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack that occurred in his sleep. I am comforted by knowing that he simply fell asleep in a warm, comfortable bed and woke up in Jesus's arms.

 

 

To mark this day, I am sharing with you a picture of the tattoo I had done on my left wrist in his memory.  It is a small dove that I chose to remind myself that he is free from the troubles of this world.

 

 

One of Dad's greatest joys was being with his grandchildren.

 

 

And being silly whenever possible.

 

I love you Daddy.  Rest in peace.

 

 

Home made Cheez-Its

Yesterday was an off day for us.  My daughter and I overslept and neither felt like getting ready to take her to play school.  So we spent the day together, working and hanging out.  It felt like a snacking kind of day, so I went in search of a new recipe to try.  Enter....Pinterest.  Of course.  Our chosen nom noms came from this blog.

Ours came out pretty good, I think.  I will take her advice and use sharp cheddar next time instead of pre-shredded mild cheddar.  And I will also roll them a bit thinner to get more crisp.  But, all in all, a successful venture, I think.  And it was a good project for my daughter to help with.  She had fun rolling, cutting, and placing them on the pan.

Pizza Beer Bread

This beautiful fall weather always puts me in the mood to bake and one of my favorite things to put together is beer bread.  It's so simple and quick, but so warm and delicious.  And of course, since everything in my house has to be "custom", I am constantly coming up with new variations on the basic recipe.  This latest concoction tastes like those gooey bread sticks you get at the pizzeria.  I love it!

Pizza Beer Bread
3 cups SIFTED self-rising flour
1/4 cup sugar (based on taste)
12 oz beer (your choice, my favorite is Bud Light but I'm still experimenting)
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp pizza seasoning spices (adjust to your taste)
2-3 tbsp butter/margarine
Garlic powder


Preheat oven to 350. Mix flour, sugar, pepperoni, cheese and spices so seasoning is well distributed.  Pour in beer and stir gently, just until moist.  Pour into greased loaf pan and drop pads of butter on top.  Sprinkle with garlic powder.  Bake for 50 minutes. Allow to cool before removing from pan.  Enjoy!

Jute wrapped vase

I am seriously addicted to Pinterest (along with the rest of the world)
This is one of many ideas I found there that involved materials I already had.

It was pretty simple.  I just used an old vase, some jute (like twine, available at hardware stores usually in the gardening section) and some regular school glue.

Here is the finished product on display in my kitchen.







I'm pretty happy with it!

1st Post....Finishing up an old project

So I crocheted this purse over a year ago with the intention of lining it with fabric and using it.

Well, time passed and I got a little lazy with my projects.  But, better late than never....here it is!

 Fully lined with zipper. 

While I love love love this bag, I don't think I'm going to use it because I've bought a bunch of new purses recently.  So lucky for you, it is going to be put up for sale in Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/101881358/navy-blue-crocheted-purse-with-tan