Monday, March 28, 2011

Making things cute for my house

I've seen tons of these jars, well, canister sets.


And I decided to add some color to my white set.

Here is my set BEFORE.

And AFTER!

I couldn't just do 2 colors! I had to do all 3! Ready for a close up?

That's what I got done last week. Little did I know, that my SIL Heather put vinyl on some of her containers, she used brackets too. :)

I also made another jean skirt. I added lace to the hem on this pair. It's so cute. I love my new shirts! ♥

Love to those who are so busy being bored, they can't find time for anything... ♥

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Good deeds

So, this morning, Shark woke up and started getting ready. We let Bandit out of our room (well, we didn't LET him do anything, he just does it) and he went upstairs and started barking at the door. I walk upstairs, peek out the window. There's a truck in our driveway {No, not our trucks!}!!! I run downstairs (I was in my pj's!) told Shark who went upstairs and no one was there. After I decided to get up (about 2 hours later) Shark had left for school, and I checked the mailbox, thinking if someone was in our driveway, they probably dropped something off and put it in our mailbox. And there, in all it's awesomeness, was Shark's ID cards for work. I didn't even know he lost them. I called him, and he said he lost them yesterday on his way to work and that he figured they were lost forever on the freeway. He already told his boss he lost them. So, thank you stranger who scared the crap out of our dog and me, thank you for bringing back his ID cards. Thank you for knowing where we live and being awesome and bringing them to us.

Ok, here I am, on my 3rd day off this week. I'm trying hard not to be bored out of my mind. Don't get me wrong there is plenty to do around the house, part of me is lazy, the other part just doesn't really want to do anything. For the past week, I've been hurting. Like cramp hurting. Which sucks but is also good. I wish the cramps would go away and everything would just go back to normal. I find solace (and no pain) in watching Netflix and cutting things out on my Cricut. {Speaking of which, why is it cutting sooooo slow?!} I also have my plans made for Christmas. Not things made, just the plans. I will hopefully get them done by Christmas this year. Again, I will be making them. I'm pretty excited. I'm glad I'm getting the ideas early this year. I have everything ready for Easter. I even made a new wreath on Sunday.

I have everything bought for our little baskets. I tired not to go crazy, I know Shark's family gets us an Easter Basket. So I got a few things for us.

Anyways, I gotta get cracking on somethings. Getting more plans together so I can just sit down and work. :)

Love to all who wake up early even tho they don't like it. ♥

Monday, March 21, 2011

What a week

Ok, so for the past week or so we've been watching a friend's dog. Bandit has been so excited all week! All they do it play.



It's been absolutely crazy. If we thought Bandit was sneaky and smart, he is nothing compared to this new one. Daisy snuck out no matter how hard we tried to keep them in.




Daisy came with a kennel. And when Daisy started climbing on Bandit's bed, Bandit climbed into the kennel.


They were pretty cute.




Shark put in the garage door this week. It's been a pretty crazy week. It's been raining and windy all week. But the doggies have been cute and somewhat good.

Today I was driving around town and stopped at WinCo food, I got some bulk food, which is awesome because it's cheap and I get tons of food!!! Right around the corner from WinCo is this vinyl place. I've been meaning to stop in and check out their vinyl. I got tons of scraps.

I got all this for $20. Freaking awesome! I put my shoe in there so you could see just how awesome it is.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Jean Skirt

I have long dreamed {envisioned, if you will} of making a pair of jeans into an awesome skirt that I would love forever and ever. Plus, it's totally one of my goals!! Woot woot!


TA DA!!

You need :
  1. Jeans (that still fit around the waist & butt)
  2. Seam Ripper!!!
  3. Sewing machine
  4. Thread, matching or contrasting, it depends on how *flashy* you want it.
  5. Scissors

First thing first!


Measure up the hem of the jeans to a length that is good to work with. This is NOT the final length. I measured up 12 inches. Draw a line across the legs of the jeans with a pen, and CUT the legs off.

Now to rip stuff :

Ok, turn the pants inside out, find that inside inseam, (the inseam is the seam that goes from inside ankle to crotch.)

and start ripping.

Now turn the pants outside out, and start ripping that next seam!

Ok, there is a THIRD seam, go attack that one too.

Rip all the INSEAMS on both legs!

Now, you're going to want to rip open the front seam. Rip it up to the bottom of the zipper. Don't destroy the zipper, that's still needed. And flip over the jeans and rip the back seam up to the belt loops/pocket hem.

This needs to be done so the jeans will lay flat.

Now that your jeans are completely open. Go get the legs you cut off, and start seam ripping those. Start with the bottom hem.

I ironed my seams flat, it makes them easier to work with, I highly suggest it.

Once your entire denim material is flat as can be, put your "flattened leg" under the open "leg seam". Pin in place. {I centered my leg seam with the peak of my open seams}
Next, start sewing outside out, so you know where the edge of your seam is. I used white, cuz I had white on my machine I'm flashy.

Flip it over, flatten out the crotch crease and pin in place then pin the "flattened leg" out under the open seam.

Sew up the back!

**I double-stitched. I make 1 running stitch on the edge of the seam, and then did another one just inside the first one.

You'll probably have excess "leg" on each side of your skirt. Find a length you like, and trim the extra length off. If you have a skirt that you LOVE where it falls, length-wise, use that one to measure the length of the skirt you're making. (I used my old jean skirt, I lowered it a bit for a better length.)

Flip it inside out and trim off the extra demin on the inside.

Make sure everything looks good inside out, and double check the hem, make sure it's what you want.

Now, put in a running stitch to hem it a little. I again, did a double stitch.

Now you're totally ready to rock your skirt!! I'll post a picture once Shark gets home to take one of me!

Love to those who try new things, and find out they aren't as hard as you imagined!! ♥

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Fondant and a week

So, I've had plans to make fondant for a while. And it's been on my mind more lately, well, ever since my niece's 1st birthday. My SIL made a cake for my niece with fondant snowflakes. So I picked out a few recipes for fondant, and picked the easiest/quickest one. If I have learned anything in my baking and making, it is this :

NEVER USE THE EASIEST RECIPE!

It never works out. And in this case, it was true. The recipe I used sucked big time. BUT! I made fondant, and for the most part, it worked the way fondant is supposed to. Mine was more pliable and flexible, droopy, and heavy than I wanted it to be. I would have liked if it held it's form better, more of a sheet of paper than a wet washcloth. It filled in every crevis and divot in my cake, and let's be honest, I'm not THE best at frosting cakes.

 And, my stove cooks things oddly. {Now I'm just making excuses} My stove leans forward, so all my cakes (and cupcakes) are lopsided, and I still haven't figured out how my oven cooks. Sometimes things need more time, and others times I burn stuff! It's awful.

So, it really has been a while since I blogged. For some reason, I just haven't been feeling like blogging. {Weird, I know} But lately, it's just been work and clean. Shark has decided to start working late again. We have discussed it, and decided it was best to work hard now, so later in life we can take it easy {please cross your fingers for us!} Also, it feels like we can't go anywhere {ok, I can't go anywhere} without spending money. So, I have been staying at home, watching TV and trying not to feel too lame and useless. Someday I rock at not feeling lame, others, eh, I don't even worry about getting dressed.

I just started taking the medicine twice a day, and I'm still not used to it yet, so my stomach still hurts and I still get dizzy and feel tired. So, yeah sitting in front of the TV and making food (I try to make dinner every night, even if it's mac'n'cheese.) is the perfect way to spend a day. Hopefully as I get used to the medicine, I'll start to feel more like myself.

Also, like usual, we're trying to get a hold of our finances. For some reason, month after month, we still cannot seem to grab our bank account by the reins. It really is frustrating to have more month at the end of the money, even after we keep setting a 'game plan.' I took out my Dave Ramsey book {AGAIN!} and have it next to my bed. I found a "One for the Money" pamphlet at my in-laws, and am going to read thru it and apply it. I keep feeling a prompting to go to Provident Living.org and work on that site to get things figured out. Shark and I have made a pact to stay within the budget.

Here's to making things work. Love to those who keep trying... ♥