It's All In The Bag

Remember when I told y'all about the tote bags I was making fr my mom to sell at her church Christmas Bazaar? Well, I finally got the pictures edited and I can show them to y'all. I stumbled across the idea of these bags made out of jeans a while ago and dressed them up a bit for the holidays. All the bags are fully lined with Christmas fabric and the straps are denim on one side and Christmas fabric on the other. I love the little embroidered details and fancy stitching and I especially love that I didn't have to do any of it. I just bought all the jeans with bling on them from the local Goodwill store.

Do you love this idea as much as I do?

*I don't know why the colors are off in the second to last picture. The last picture shows the true color of that bag.

A Long Overdue Commitment

Most days I have great follow through. Most days, if I say I'm going to make/do something for someone, it gets done rapidly. Every now and then, something slips off my radar and life gets in the way. Then, when I remember it, I am usually shamefully behind and past due on the thing (whatever it is). Well, I finally finished one of those shamefully behind projects and I want to show it off to y'all. I finished the tote bags for the previous winners of my Book Challenge drawing. Mrs. Gamgee of Hobbit-ish Thoughts and Ramblings was the 2009 winner and Rebecca (aka Idgie) formerly of A Long and Winding Road now titled The Road From There To Here is the 2010 winner. I have Mrs. Gamgee's address and will need Rebecca's so I can get the tote bags in the mail.

I made a 3rd tote bag which was originally going to be mine but I decided it had my mom's name on it instead.

There is two outside pockets, front and back, and one interior compartment. I hope everyone likes them and I promise (bwahahahahahaha) to really, really try to be more timely next time.

Projects Galore or can I have more time?

First of all, sorry I've been scarce...with both the posting and the commenting. These wild weather swings have been doing a number on my head. A couple of times in the past few days my head has felt eeeeevil bad enough that I resorted to some *Vitamin V. When my head is that bad, it zaps all my energy and I just feel totally drained. I finally started feeling a lot better late today and, well, I'm here.

Since I'm feeling so much better, I've decided I need a few new projects. To complete them all I figure I'll need to add about 6 or 7 hours to my day. I'm going to be making roman shades for our living room, the master bedroom, and Gabe's room. I have no clue what color they are going to be. Eventually, I'm going to paint our walls and I was fretting about making that decision so the shades would coordinate. Then I decided, what the hell, pick fabric I like and coordinate wall color to the existing shade color. It may be b-ass-ackwards but it works for me.

I also think I am going to end up making my new bras. Yeah, you read that right...making bras. See, until last year, I had mine custom made. Then, I thought I hit pay dirt because there are a few companies that actually make bras in my size and they are available through many online stores.  The custom made company was pretty fast but was **pricey. The commercially available ones were half the price of the custom made ones but, it was a crap shoot as to when you would get them after ordering.  See, the online stores don't keep my bra size in stock and, while they would accept an order, they wouldn't actually order the bras until the company placed it's next big order...it could be tomorrow or it could be months. I need new bras and was going to go with the custom company but, sadly, the Suzanne Collection is no longer being manufactured unless they find a buyer (fuck the economy). They still have a retail operation selling and customizing other bras but they are no longer making their own bras. I do NOT want to wait months for new bras so I started thinking and looking at my bras. So, I decided they looked fairly easy to make if you had a pattern (and, the bras fit so they are their own patterns) and I even found a web site that explains how to reverse engineer a pattern from an existing bra.  I may just end up doing this.


*Vitamin V = vicodin
**I've since found out that, while expensive, the bras were cheap for custom made items.

Crafts Galore

I hope you don't mind indulging me a bit. I've been very bust doing crafty stuff and want to share it with y'all. This post is very picture heavy so feel free to skip it if you are on a slow connection or browsing via smart phone.

I finished this first two hats close to the first of the year. The first one is my own variation of the Divine Hat Pattern from Rheatheylia. The second hat is a newborn version that was added to the original pattern by the designer. I also used this pattern to make the hat I showed y'all back in October.

for Ben

for Doing Good In Her NameThis next hat is my very own design called Mimi's Hat. I originally designed this hat for a friend based on a hat her daughter has (and I NEED a picture of her wearing it...hint, hint) and I named it after her daughter. This version was made for my mom and I added a little shamrock to it. I sucked it up and decided to be brave and enter it in a contest.
Mimi's Hat for my mom

close up of shamrock

shamrock highlightedI designed this cowl, the Mobius Cowl, to go with the hat I made for my mom. I also entered it in the contest.
the Mobius Cowl

close up of the Mobius Cowl stitch pattern

me wearing itFinally, I helped a friend figure out this quilt layout. The colors are NOT representative. I just had to pick something to show the pattern. The dark lines represent how she will be quilting it. The machine embroidered piece after it goes in the center of the quilt.
quilt layout I helped friend with

the machine embroidered piece for the centerI hope y'all enjoyed my craft indulgence. Thanks for looking.

And, don't forget to enter the CSN giveaway.

Random and scattered...

Not only does the kitten climb the Christmas tree but he sleeps in it. Evidently, he has spent a considerable chunk of time in it because he has a sticky, tree sappy spot on his flank.

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Just got a text message that made me grin from ear to ear. I made a dress for someone based solely on measurements, she got it today, and she LOVES it. I am thrilled. Hopefully, I will have pictures to show you of it soon.

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I'm adjusting to Vic being back on night shifts. It's not horrible anymore but it's not wonderful. On the plus side (and this is a HUGE plus), since he has been out of the office and back in front of a 911 console, his blood sugar levels have been much better.

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It's going to be a weird Christmas, schedule -wise. Vic will be working those nights but we will be able to open presents together Christmas morning.

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Remember that quilt I was talking to y'all about? It is about 90% assembled and I will hopefully have the machine quilting done by the weekend and next week I can start the hand quilted motifs (a leaf, a squirrel, a turkey, an acorn, a pumpkin, and either a corn on the cob or an apple).

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Go over to Wistfulgirl's World and sign up for the ornament exchange. I'm making some absolutely FAB ornaments for the person I get matched with.

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Anyone want to go climb up on my roof with me so I can have help putting up the Christmas lights and fixing the spot around the fan vent that is letting in water? I can do it but I get very nervous on the part of the roof with the steep slope.

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What are you baking for Christmas this year?  I make Spritz, sugar cookies, rum balls, and fattigman (a Swedish version of gingerbread).  I also make coffee cake.  I'm debating adding a new, fun cookie to the mix but I just can't decide.  And, no, all the baking isn't just for us.  When I was little, my mom use to bake up a storm and take plates around to friends.  I do that now and I try to always have a plate of goodies to take to our local fire station for the guys that are stuck on duty Christmas Eve.

It's reversed...and some randomness...

Once again, my week seems to be reversed. My weekend is far, far busier than my week and it all started tonight. Joey got Tae Kwon Do sparring gear from my parents for his birthday and the last of it came in today. That meant I got to spend 2 hours at the studio tonight...1 hour for regular class and 1 hour for sparring. Then, Joey and I came home and worked on his rocket for the Cub Scout space Derby which happens to be tomorrow morning. Right now, I have a cake in the oven and, at some time tomorrow, I need to vacuum. So, tomorrow morning, I get to get up at 7:30 (oh yuck) so Joey and I can be ready and at the derby by 9 for the Webelos race at 9:30. I'm praying we will be completely done and home by noon (hopefully 11, bwahahahahaha) because I have to finish frosting and decorating the cake for Joey's birthday party with his friends. The party starts at 2:30 and we'll be officially done at 4:30 but I can guarantee the kids that live in the neighborhood will probably hang around later.

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Is it wrong to admit that I was kind of hoping the sparring gear would take a bit longer to get here? I wanted to go hang out with my crafting group tonight but I had promised Joey I would take him to sparring class when the gear came in.

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I just finished the newest book by Rick Riordan, The Lost Heroes. This is the first book in another series that focuses on the demigod children of Olympus. The story is just as captivating as the original 5 Percy Jackson books and it promises to be a hell of a lot of fun.

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If you live near a Kroger and still need a turkey, they have turkeys on sale for 39 cents per pound. You have to buy $25 worth of groceries including the turkey to get that price but, since I needed things anyway, it was a great deal for me. I got a 22+ pound turkey for about $8.

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Why do children going through puberty pick one parent to be the enemy? When Marty was in the throes of puberty, Vic was the Eeeeeeevil Dad. Now, Marty says "Dad is pretty cool to hang out with." It's Joey's turn now and he has elected Vic to the evil Dad position too.  If it wasn't so frustrating to deal with, I'd be laughing my ass off.

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I offered my services as a seamstress to a friend who needs a bridesmaid/party dress in early December.  She, being the awesome individual that she is, offered to pay me. While I love the idea of being paid for doing something I love, I had the hardest time asking for a decent price.  I asked a friend who is a major fashionista and an incredible seamstress what she would charge (including materials cost) and just about croaked at what she mentioned.  I finally settled on a price and, even though it felt really weird to ask for it, she didn't hesitate. I am totally looking forward to doing this.  She has promised to show it off after I finish it for her.

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Hehehehe, one of my kids' friends made a funny crack this week.  He asked my boys if they knew who he routed for in car races...and then cracked up and said he routed for the wall.

Perfect Moment Monday: Bling for Mama

Lori over at Weebles Wobblog says that "Perfect Moment Monday is more about noticing a perfect moment than about creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between."

I've had a series of perfect moments while getting ready to go to BlogHer. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to wear and was trying to save money so I decided to deconstruct and remake an outfit I had. I was given an outfit made of beautiful blue material but the cut was totally unflattering. The shirt was a long sleeved shirt with a boxy cut and. the pants were kind of shapeless.After a few days work, I ended up with this (please ignore the poofy hair)...Then I went to Avenue's web site to check out some boots Miss Tori from The Winding Road to Parenthood bought and stumbled across their sale. With the coupon code, I got this dress for under $30...The, I found this awesome watch and bracelet...
and this costume jewelry set...and, I got both the watch bracelet set and the costume jewelry set for under $10.

Go check out the other perfect moments at this week's Perfect Moment Monday on Weebles Wobblog.

The Stroke of Brilliance completed...

I actually finished it last night which tells you how quick a project it was...the idea hit around 3 pm and I finished it last night before bed. The only materials I had to provide were thread and a needle (and, of course, a sewing machine). After making the memory quilt, I had a maternity shirt and three bibs left over. I was trying to figure out a way to use them creatively without having to make another whole quilt. Then it struck me, what does every mother need? A laundry bag. And, this is what I came up with out of one repurposed maternity shirt and 3 bibs...
The long sleeves were used to make the handle and the bibs were hand appliqued on there. The open necked area is on the back and I added hook and eye closures so laundry or whatever is stored in here won't fall out. I am really thrilled with how it turned out. What do y'all think?

Carrie mentioned that she couldn't see how it worked and I didn't think to explain since I had it right there in front of me. You just can't see the opening from the front of the bag. The little bit of white you see at the top it the collar which is attached to a v shaped neckline. I've attached fasteners to the neckline so it can be shut so the clothes don't fall out.

A stroke of brilliance...

I'm so excited. I told y'all I was working on a memory quilt for a special someone. I was trying to figure out what to do with the few items that didn't get used in the quilt and I had a crafty stroke of brilliance. I should be done with the extra project by either tomorrow or Monday and I'll show it to y'all then. I think this is one of the better ideas I have had.