Projects

Well, I didn't win the serger. Oh well, I'll be ok. :-)

I am going to participate in this:



I've also been working on my bedroom. Don't worry- I took before pictures. I'm just still too embarrassed to post them. I have a couple more things to get rid of, but it's looking much better.... dare I say, clean?!

Oh to win a serger!

Sew, Mama, Sew! is giving away a beautiful Husqvarna Viking s21 Serger.
I have a serger and I would love to replace it! Actually, if I were to win... there is a sweet girl about 5 blocks away that just got married and she has sewn all through high school, she stopped by our house a while ago and saw my serger sitting out and asked what it was. So, I would bless her with my perfectly good, but older serger. I know she would appreciate and use it.

A new serger would help me while I'm working on things for my etsy store. I opened the store to create extra income when my husband was laid off this spring. I couldn't do it without a serger to finish the seams- what a difference it makes to have the right machine for the job!! My husband has found a job, not at all near his white collar profession and I have continued the shop and it helps by things that are a blessing to have, but I wouldn't spend the money on because it's not in the budget.

I love creating clothes for my kids by repurposing fabric and sheets found at yard sales and thrift stores.
Having a serger makes it possible for me to make quality items and with them I can barter for food, babysitting, etc. I've made pajama pants for a friend who makes kefir for us and I've made bibs and clothes for young moms who need a little extra help.
Having a new serger would just allow me to make more things and add more of those special touches to the things I do make.
It would make my life easier by giving more sewing options instead of 1 basic stitch.

PLUS! I'm Swedish, so if I get a Husqvarna I would be in heaven!

AND! All the men in my life would be extremely impressed because it says "Husqvarna" on it. (My husband laughed at me saying I wanted one- he thought they only made power tools!)

I am now off to make some book covers for my kids school books- thanks to Sew, Mama, Sew! I will be using my mom's serger, which I borrowed until I could get mine fixed.

Repurposed Sheets... Boxers!

I have been looking at garage sales for fabric and I have found alot of old sheets, they normally aren't marked very high and some funky patterns. So, here's my latest: Boxers. All the boys needed new boxers. They sleep in them, not fans of pajamas, and they did request that I not add the fly, so I just folded that part of the pattern in and sewed them up really easily.
I love the polka-dot fabric. And I think sheet fabric is really comfortable. I was even able to get some PJ pants and shorts made for little Titus. 1 sheet has alot of fabric in it!


My mom is the queen of patterns. :-) So I just barrowed a boxer pattern from her. It had all the sizes one could wish for from size 6 boys to Men's XL, all seperate, so I didn't have to trace anything! Yay for me!



Jesse loves the color orange, (can you believe someone had something that bright on their bed, do you think they were even able to sleep??) and I found an orange sheet. I made him a couple boxers and added a little mushroom to one of them so he could tell somewhat of a difference. I picked a mushroom because I catch him drawing mushrooms alot.

Going to Bed With a Shiny Sink!

This is how I am ending my evening. I ordered a friend Flylady's book and read through the first chapter. I decided I should do what she said and I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed that sink. But it's pretty isn't it?! I know, the wall behind it needs... a wall. But hey, at least the sink is shining.



I'm having a garage sale on Saturday. I hope we get rid of a ton of stuff so I don't have to haul any of it away. Well, much of it away. LOL, people heard we were having one and keep dropping stuff off... because they were just going to take it to Goodwill, but this is better. :-) Whatever works- maybe we'll get some money for their stuff. :-)

Summer is Here

Brian has been working longer hours, which means I have alot more time to be bored. But I've been putting that time to good use. I am proud of myself. Oh, I have alot more to go, but it's going better. I've been reading Flylady's messages again (I get them on my email and also on Facebook). And I've been doing what she says. Not with everything- I know I can't start everything at once, I have to do a little at a time. I've been working on keeping the sink shiny... I have been fairly good at keeping the dishes done, they don't pile up. But at the end of the day there might still be a cup and plate in the sink. So I've been trying to even wash the last couple before bed and buff the sink. It is nice to wake up to.
I think my sewing projects have helped lift my blue mood from a few month ago. It does help to see things get finished.
I'm planning to have a yard sale next week, we've been working on building the boys some bunk beds, so I have a bed frame and mattress that needs to go. I also got a new cabinet at an antique store down the road, we got a small TV to fit in it (and it is small- not the smallest, but 2nd to smallest we could find. :-) I love it- I can hide the TV!! And the cabinet is narrow as well, so it doesn't take up much space in our living room. So I have a big old entertainment center and TV to get rid of as well.
Some friends got married last week and need a couch, so they are taking our big couch and chair. I have a metal frame and am planning to build a couch, with storage. Because, sadly, World Market no longer has the storage futon that I had wanted. But it's ok, because building it ourselves, I can make it have more storage than the futon would have.

Upcycled, Repurposed, Whatever- it's fun

I think sewing is a coping mechanism of sorts... The boys room is all torn up right now, we took down the lowered ceiling (we have awesome high ceilings that someone lowered at some point in time), patched, painted, etc. and are building bunk beds. But right now all the boys stuff is in the livingroom and on the front porch. It really bothers me- there are no clear empty spaces right now. But today I have sewn 1 night grown, made 1 t-shirt for Naomi (oh, I forgot to take pics of it), sewn a pair of pants for Titus and a pair of shorts plus have 2 other nightgowns almost sewn. So I can see what I got accomplished today and it makes me feel good.
The other night I was making my bed and my mom had given me a bunch of sheet sets, I pulled on out and there was a ratty old sheet that was sewn together and had holes in it- my mom probably would have tossed it, but I don't think she even looked in the bags before she gave them to me. So I decided I would try out Naomi's new nightgown pattern. The last one I made her was pretty big, but this one came out great and it was so cute (especially since I had to add that patch) that I decided to cut out 2 more from the old sheet and even got a pair of PJ pants for Titus and a pair of shorts. What fun! All free!!
I did some fish appliqué on Titus' PJ's along with "mr. titus", made them look less like scrubs. I had alot of fun doing it.

Sewing with thrift store fabrics

I have a new love. Bad, I know. Thrift store fabric. What fun! I can make all kinds of things for only a couple dollars! My most recent fabric is this green- I love the color! I have inherited a bunch of bias tape from someone who passed away at church and so I felt like I was really "reducing, reusing and recycling" with these aprons.

I find that I feel really good and energized when I accomplish something. So... a clean house and creating things.

Summer is Coming!

Life is going pretty good, Brian's new job is going well and I am finding a couple hours a week to work on creative things- like these tie bibs. Cute, eh? I love Titus in them! I did make some to sell, but I kept some for him too and mailed one to my nephew. Little boys in ties are just cute!
I found some amino acids at the health food store and have been taking them through my "emotional" time in my cycle and it really helps, I'm fairly normal, so what a huge blessing!
We got our garden planted a couple days ago and then yesterday I was at a clients birth. The boys just have a few more days of school and I am so looking forward to an easier schedule!! I've been keeping up with the house pretty well, still going through and getting rid of stuff. Had a garage sale with some friends last weekend and got rid of more as well as making $60 (which is a fair amount considering I didn't take that much to the sale!).
It's been nice to get out during the day after all the snow we had this winter. Titus is enjoying the outdoors and wants to be out there all day... so I might get some reading done this summer too just sitting out there with them.

Our Etsy Shop

(Visit our Etsy Store here)

I've been on a creative kick lately... maybe since I'm staying away from refined sweeteners I'm so oragnized that I have time to be creative. LOL Or, it could be that my husband has been out of work so I have more time to play around while he chases after Titus (who gets into everything!) I don't know. But I've been having fun! (BTW, he has found a job and I may fill my time with this type of stuff instead of those darn facebook games... and continue my creative kick!) So I wanted to make a photo collage for this post, but our MAC is so old it doesn't run Picasa. Sad, I know. So I searched online for a collage maker and found one, but it made it too big and chopped half of it off when I published it on Blogger. I can't win. So I just uploaded some photos and here's my "sampling:"

So, please stop in and see the cute little aprons and baby things I have for sale! Illusarts Quality Handcrafts

What I've been up to...

So... I have avoided this blog. I quit my bedroom challenge. I beat myself up for it and felt guilty and I just quit. My emotions have been up and down, the desk looks bad again- though, only 1/2 as bad as it was before I did the desk challenge. I was depressed alot in the last 2 months, and I'm not exactly sure why. So I went out and chopped my hair off.
That's right- that's what I do. When all else fail, chop the hair off. :-)

I have been working diligently on the kitchen. I have kept the dishes done, mostly and the counters clean. If I don't I start feeling down again and beat myself up about it. I am my own worst enemy.
I finished reading Real Food: What to Eat and Why which was absolutely wonderful and I recommend it to everyone. But now I am clueless as to what to feed my family! I will get there- we've changed some things, and left overs the same. I will change eventually, but in my perfectionist disposition, I want to have everything done and figured out now.
So, several times throughout the day, I find myself sighing and trying to justify to myself why everything I want hasn't just happened.

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 9

Well, I've managed to make the bed most days, but not always in the morning. And I haven't even gotten close to that big pile of boxes in the corner...

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 8

Last night went well, the boys were around so I put them to work and we got alot of stuff done. I went to bed with a huge pile of clean dishes drying and the other sink empty and clean. I felt much better at the end of the day about getting more of the house clean. I got Brian to help me put the Christmas boxes downstairs and a few other things that needed to go down but were sitting in the kitchen. I went to bed early but it took a while for my mind to slow down, which isn't normally the case, so I felt like I wasn't completely exhausted. I get more energy when the house is picked up.

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 7

So, a week into the challenge. Not quite- I skipped a couple days and I feel horrible about it. This is what the whole house looks like and I'm so tired of it. I know we need better storage- we need alot of the stuff that is around, other wise I would toss it. We don't have cupboard and stuff can't be hidden away. The dining room looks awful and I see it all the time and the kitchen is so hard to keep on top of and Titus is sick and wakes up when I do the dishes in the morning, but he's been napping in the morning because he doesn't feel good. I'm depressed about the house. Though, I have read a book- which was a great accomplishment for me. I had to make myself sit down while Titus was napping. Naomi happily played near me in the livingroom while I read, it was really nice.
The desk is starting to pile up again... so I have a cycle. I don't clean something, feel lousy about it so I don't clean whatever I'm supposed to clean and then I feel lousy about that... I know this, so the last couple days I have straightened the livingroom and diningroom each morning and I feel better, but by evening it's messy. I know it's part of having kids and I know it helps when the boys chip in and get their chores done. It's times like these I really just want to bull doze the house down.
Flylady calls the way I'm feeling a crash and burn- you wait until you can't stand it and then you go crazy cleaning and then you don't feel like cleaning it for a month- by which time it's driving you crazy again. Ugh.
I'm going to get off the computer and clean something.

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 6

Notice Brian peeking out of the closet? lol

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 5

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 4

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 4

Not much going on... but the bed got made again. This is a good thing.

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 3

Ok, I got off my duff and posted some pics. It's improving- slowly, but still improving.

Delayed posting

So, I realize that I am behind, I was ahead of myself a couple days and then didn't post and spaced it out, working on other things (other than blogging) so, I do have pics of my challenge, I just have been working on other ways to produce an income as I see blogging is not going to work well for that, unless I have 500-1000 readers.
My house is still a huge goal, and I'm working on my 40 day challenge, I'll do a catch up day here pretty soon and post it. Just figured I'd give you guys an fyi. :-)

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 2

So... I didn't do much, I did hang a couple jackets up. I had a busy day... it was the day I had the car, so I did some grocery shopping and then took the boys to piano lessons, then in the evening we went and spent some time with friends.
I find that when I'm gone in the evening it's alot harder to stay on top of things. In the evening both little ones are sleeping (bedtime is 7pm) and they don't wake up if I make noise. They do wake during the day if I make alot of noise. So, I do play catch up in the evening.

40 Day Challenge: Bedroom, Day 1

Ok, lest anyone forget- here are the "before pictures."

And then we move on to "Day 1" of the challenge.

Sadly, very little difference.

But this is just the beginning.

I haven't worked on it at all.

I didn't try to improve so that people wouldn't think I'm such a slob.

I'm being honest.

40 Day Challenge: Desk, Day 40!!!

WOW! I can't believe I have another 40 day challenge under my belt! I'm excited and dreading the next one at the same time. I'm excited because I see how much of a difference it can make... dreading because the bedroom seems like more work then the rest of the house! Well, maybe not more work than the kitchen... but still.

2010 in 2010... up to 18!

Go here for your own 2010 in 2010 chart.