Moving to a NEW BLOG!

I have come along ways in the last few years and I felt it was time I changed the name of my blog as well. My focus is now on Traditional Real Foods and minimalistic living. I would love for you to join me at:

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.