Right Now lately

I found a cord to hook up to my computer and now some pictures to show of these past couple of weeks.

 Went to a seedling sale and I'm going to be daring this year and try growing yellow watermelons.

 Went home to the garden to put down the plants for later. I know have 20 plus tomato plants waiting for me at the end of the week and leeks, broccoli, watermelon and possible kale.

 Great yard sale finds an Ikea frame a book on making wraps and a book on gardening with recipe all for $5!!Yes score. 

 My favorite 3 words when I'm home. 

 Yay for sun tea.  This 52 fl oz pitcher is from Ikea.

 Trying to make my own yogurt popcicles.  The popcicle molds are also from Ikea.

 Cleaned one shelf in my kitchen for all my cookbooks.

 Curbside find it's bench/table.  Perfect for summer a little cleaning, replace a piece of wood and some paint and it will be as good as new.  Haven't started it but I am seeing the potential.

Oh orange juice pops they seemed to be hit.

Well that's the catch up for now friends so glad I found my cord and hope I don't lose it.

Thrifty Finds Books & Puzzles

Lately I have had some good luck thrifting I haven't been hunting for anythimg in particular but came across these and couldn't pass them up.

I love puzzles but don't make the time for them and I hope to change that soon.  I've had on my wish list Christmas puzzles.  My intent is to start a holiday tradition of having Chrismas puzzles around.

Of course some children's, dictionaries.  I'm think of starting another collection children's dictionaries in foreign languages.  Love this Daring Book for Girls. My girls already have a copy this one is for my library for now...  never too old to collect childrens books.
These next finds I came across last night.

I had a couple of very happy kids playing with this dollhouse this morning.

Table Runner Activity Bags

Way back in the fall I found a table runner I really liked at the thrift store. I bought it knowing it was too long for my table but loved the embroidery on it and thought it would look much nicer as a bag. Actually it turns I could make 5 bags!

After I cut the 5 squares I kept the left over strips to save for another project. For the top of the square above the flowers I undid the stiching to make an opening. The cool thing is the bottom is already stitched together.

Now for the straps I had a green table cloth I'm not fond of but I thought would go well with the bag. So I folded over a piece to the width I liked and cut. Then put the two good sides together and stitched it. Then turned it inside out.

The straps then get sewn on to the sides of the bag. I pinned it to the good side of the bag and sewed it on and and then did the same with the other side. Because I just made this up I didn't follow a pattern I'm not sure how to explain the directions it's easier to just show the pictures.

This project should actually be called the 3 season bags. Bought it in the fall, cut it over the winter and started sewing and pinning in the spring.

I'm hoping to finish the other 4 bags before summer so this doesn't turn into the 4 season bags. lol :)

Bits of Spring

What we saw on a walk....

Latesty thrifty find asain tea cups.


Daffodils and god's eyes for our table.
Trying to get through another rainy spring day. What is your favorite spring day like lately?

Jewelry Finds

Why am I showing jewlery from the thrift store? Lately I've looked at my wardrobe and thought it needed a spruce up. Instead of going out and buying brand new clothes or accessories I wanted my own personal touch. I wanted to add pieces to my life and wardrobe that actually meant something like homemade scarves and thrifted jewelry. I think women when they become moms life changes drastically and can be unexpected. We can lose ourselves rather quickly by always putting our little people first. Then we can't go back to what we used to wear before children or wear things that don't bring out our best. Instead why not bring something to ourselves that can be unique, thrifted (with a story behind it), something new from something old. A little something to add a little pizzaz and smile. It will certainly make our little ones smile too.

New Activity Bag

Most days not all I'm on the go and I have hours of wait time on benches and in the car so I ususally bring something to do in a bag. I call it my activity bag. My dilemna has been I put away my summer activity bag but I don't have a sturdy one for the cooler seasons. Now I could have easily just went out and bought a canvas tote or pretty bag but I thought I need another crooked sewing challenge. So here goes refurbished from a shower curtain from the thrift store.

Some of the inside seams are not so pretty. Made 2 inch handles 36 inches long and then cut them into 1 inch because they were too wide. One of the handles got so frayed and torn up I had to cut another strip to make the handle. Good thing there was a lot of shower curtain left. I gave you a close up of the handles because well why show not show you the not so good raw edges. I'm not so sure about how I spaced the handles. Oh well. The bag pattern I used is from Handmade Home. The straps were inspired from the most recent Joann Fabric flyer. The straps are stitched right on to the top before assembling the bag.

In the bag right now books for reading and quiet time inspiration and canvas bags waiting to be embroidered. What you can't see in the bag we carry around here are thoughts and prayers to Haiti .

My Journal Page

Well we are already well into November and I forgot to write my month in review. It started about a year ago when I was writing in my journal and I thought to myself what is it I do again? Yup I cook, clean, laundry, do lots of dishes and change never ending diapers. So what else do moms do? I thought well why not keep track of what that is in my journal. Around January I made a list of what I'd like to accomplish this year but then it just seemed like another New Year's resolution. So what I came up with is A Month in Review. At the beginning of each month I write a list of Accomplishments and a list of Possiblities. The accomplishments are things that I completed the previous month. The list of Possibilities are things I would like to have completed during the up coming month.

Example of Month in Review for November
Accomplishments
-Started sewing-made Halloween skirts
-Tuned up the sewing machine
-Maintained blog...
Possibilites
-Finsih canvas bag
-Read
-Crochet a baby blanket...

Why do this? Because I think for any of us it's easy to see the pile that's not cleaned up, something is not sorted or a project still waiting. Well if the messes are so obvious why not make the accomplishments even more obvious. It's a gentle reminder of things I have completed or learned. Sometimes there are unexpected accomplishments which is nice. Other times like last month I made a list of possibilites that was too ambitious and absolutely knew it would never be completed. Doing this Month in Review keeps me in check of things that I actually did complete and feel good about even if there is a pile that remains.

Happy Weedkend!

Thrifty Find

I found this at a tag sale yesterday and I really like the print on this skirt. But I have a different vision. I see cutting it up into squares for a summer quilt for the beach. I plan on making a quilt for the beach hopefully in the next 1-2 years. :)

Today's Fun Finds

Ok is it wrong to post twice in one day? I say no way. Just couldn't wait to show you our fun finds from today's yard sale.

Where the Wild Things Are, The Polar Express, Happy School Year, Goldilocks, The Paper Bag Princess, Happy Thanksgiving Biscuit. We were lucky to meet the illustrater of Happy School Year and Goldilocks. The kids were excited about these books.

All this yarn for $5! I know some may think why buy someone's leftover yarn? Well lately I had ideas about what kind of yarn and how much I need for a couple of crochetting and knitting projects. So when I was digging through this bag and found more than I needed I looked at it and said I know what to do with each of you.

Today felt really good to be out with just the 3 oldest talking, yard sailing, look at artwork from local artists and having lunch together at a fast food place. What was nice about all these finds is that someone was getting rid of these and there I was ready to pick them up along with a few other items. What I hope to show my kids is yes we can buy new things but we can also buy old and recycle which saves the planet. I'm new to this concept recycle and reuse. I have been doing it about a year now going to thrift stores and yard sales. It was a little hard at first and some things I still buy new. It seems lately there has been less new and more recycle.

"Waste not, want not."

Now off to make my kind of homemade chicken soup (the broth is from a can) and laundry.