Refashion July Month at House of Estrela

When I found out I will be starting nursing clinicals this fall I had to admit that my life is going to be very different. Class, studying, and not much else.
I started to fret, “How am I going to work on my 31 by 31 list?” The only reasonable answer I could come up with is to finish as much as I can in the next two months.
Magda from House of Estrela is hosting a Refashion July Month. One of my 31 by 31 goals is to do 31 refashions by May 11th. Initially I had planned on 2-3 refashions a month for the next year. Then Magda invited me to join in with her fabulous guest line up.

There are 31 days in July….. I have a goal to refashion 31 items…. can I get it done?
Pop on over and visit Magda and her guests. (She has an awesome guest line-up!) Refashion along and post to the Flickr group. Lastly, stop back here to see what I am up to. (And if you feel I am slacking PLEASE give me a little guff!)
Are you in? Stop back today to see refashion #1.

Guy Gift, Camo Blanket

Today’s project was an Easter gift for my husband. And, if we are getting all technical and honest; it was supposed to be a Christmas gift. Oops.

The week before Thanksgiving hubby was dropping hints vividly describing a blanket that would be “so cool.” And whining because, “Nobody makes me anything.”

Determined to be the best wife in the world I ventured to JoAnn Fabric. The weekend after Thanksgiving.

I knew better. I have been there on that crazy weekend before. I had vowed to myself and anyone listening that I would never step foot in that store Thanksgiving weekend for as long as I shall live.

But fleece was on sale….and hubby wanted a fleece blanket.Specifically a camo fleece blanket, with our last name and school in our school colors. He was even dreaming of using this blanket at football games. It went a little like this, “Hey man, that’s a cool blanket.” He had planned on replying, “Thanks, can you believe my wife made it?”

Long story short, Christmas rolled around, and I still hadn’t touched the fleece. But then while making these Easter gifts for the older kids, I thought, “I can use this same method for Bri’s blanket.”

And so I did.

*So sorry I didn’t take any process photos. Here’s a short summary though:

First I found a font I liked, and printed it at the largest size possible. Then I traced the letters onto fusible web. *Remember to reverse the image, either when printing or while tracing.

Next I ironed the letters onto the colored fleece. Cut out the letters (this is pretty time consuming, thankfully we have a short last name and school initials). Arrange the letters onto the top layer of fleece and iron in place. *You may want to stick with a few pins also. The fusible web doesn’t adhere to fleece very well.

Once you have the letters in place, slow down the speed of your machine. Zigzag around the letters. I choose to use contrasting thread (red thread for blue letters, and blue thread for red letters).

Almost done! The last step is to bind the blanket. I used this method. Not my favorite method for a blanket this size. The corners ended up a bit wonky for my taste. Next time I’ll try the method I used here.

*IMPORTANT: Before you put another project under the needle, clean your sewing machine! Fleece tends to produce a ton of lint. Nothing’s worse than having your next project get tangled up in the sewing machine.

Are any of you die hard Black Friday shoppers? Personally, the thought of stepping into a store that weekend sends fits of anxiety through my body. As always, I love to read your thoughts!

Getting Back on Schedule

I would like to start this post by thanking you all for the loving comments on my last post. Thank you so much for including my family in your thoughts and prayers.

Now lets talk about the exciting news… I start nursing clinicals this fall! I have been on the waitlist for three years. (In Michigan, or at least our area the waitlist is a few years. First you complete the prerequesites. Then you sit and wait. Three years later, you complete the clinical portion (2 years). Finally you are ready to take your state boards.)

My husband and I actually had ourselves convinced that I probally wouldn’t get in until next Janurary. Needless to say, we are excited (a little anxious about the changes we have to adapt to, but excited).

My to-do list grew ten-fold overnight. So expect to see posts of freezer meals, sewing, and organizing my routine in the next two months.

Here’s what we plan on eating this week:

• Monday- Chicken Fried Rice
• Tuesday- Crockpot BBQ Ribs
• Wednesday- Roast in the crockpot
• Thursday- Leftovers
• Friday- Homemade Pizza
• Saturday- Tacos
• Sunday- Grilled Chicken

I have some fun stuff to share, hopefully all goes well and I can jump back into my regular posting.

Again, thank you so much for your support (and patience) while I spent time with my loved ones.

Life…

Life is short.

If you have followed this little blog for a bit, you know my father died very unexpectedly at monumental time in my life.

For the last three years my mom has been lost, trying to patch a huge hole.

Since my dad’s accident, my mom has lost her grandma, an uncle, her dad, and just this morning her mom.

My husband’s grandmother passed Memorial Day weekend.

Life is short.

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, and they will be for a little bit longer.

I need to be there for my mama; the hole in her heart just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I need to hug my boys longer, and hold my husband tighter.

Because life is short.

Thank you so much for understanding.

Week Goals…Keep the Family Fed…

Happy Monday, I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

This week is going to be an extra busy week. Our town wide garage sales start Thursday, run through the weekend, and are also next Thursday and Friday. Needless to say, I am not as prepared as I wanted to be. (Hopefully I can share a garage sale tips post later this week.)

I also have a test to take and clinicals to register for (hopefully this is my semester to start). We also have four softball games, and three baseball games.

My goals are actually to-dos this week. Things that I have to do. I’m not even going to pressure myself with anything extra this week.

Weekly To-Dos

• Garage Sale (this involves a huge list of to-dos)
• C.N.A. test
• Keep up on housework, and keep the family fed.
• 2 blog posts.
• Write guest post for July.

The same goes for the menu, Keep It Simple Silly. This week we are eating from the freezer, and utilizing the crockpot.

Menu

• Monday- Crockpot Turkey Legs
• Tuesday- Turkey/Rice/Veggie Casserole
• Wednesday- Tacos
• Thursday- Steak and Potatoes
• Friday- Meatloaf
• Saturday- Leftovers

Do you have those weeks where ‘feeding the family’ is on the to-do list? If so, what are your simple meals? I feel a little stupid putting this on my to-do list, but I also know myself. Busy weeks like this week, I forget about dinner until six or so, half an hour after we usually eat. Then my poor family is stuck eating peanut butter and jelly for dinner five nights in a row.

31 by 31

I’m sorry for the sporadic posting lately. Between illnesses, games, end of school year events, warm-weather chores, a death in the family, etc. life has been chaotic. (Honestly that is an understatement, life has been CRAZY!) Hopefully things are getting back to normal- or I am adjusting to the new season of chaos.
Remember my 30 by 30 list? No? Well, I’ll fill you in. Last year I made a list of thirty things I wanted to do before I turned the big 3-0. It was a bucket list of sorts. Nothing crazy or extravagant, just a list of things that I never would have gotten around to if they weren’t on a list.
Well, I have been thirty for three weeks now. Although I didn’t manage to mark everything off of my list, I still enjoyed the process.I enjoyed it so much that I want to do it again. This time its 31 to-dos before I turn 31.

Want to see my list? (I may change it within the next few weeks, so this is a draft of my list.) Without further ado…
Home
1. Paint, and decorate dining room.
2. Build a display shelf for hubby’s decoys.
3. Finish piano project.
4. Build a piece of furniture.
5. Plant garden. Can/preserve.
6. Put together 31 meal binder.
Family
7.Potty train boys.
8. Go on a family vacation.
9. Make a new chore chart.
10. Mail Christmas cards.
11. Have Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving.
Marriage
12. Have 12 date nights.
13. Go on a mini-vacation with hubby.
14. Go to a Tiger game.
Personal
15. Read 12 books.
16. Start nursing clinicals.
17. Get a 100 bowling average. (Don’t laugh! I have been working on this for five years now. This IS my year!)
Money
18. Whittle down debt.
19. C.N.A Recertification, start working part time.
20. Sell crafts (somehow; etsy/farmer’s market/craft fair).
Cleaning/Purging/Organizing
21. Clean out and organize garage.
22. Find a system for paper. Tackle paper clutter.
23. Go through cookbooks.
24. Organize photos.
25. Work on blog organization.
Creative
26. Sew everyday for 31 days, only using stash.
27. Crochet a hat a day for 31 days.
28. Make a quilt.
29. Work on one photography skill a month.
30. Complete 31 pins.
31. Do 31 refashions.
What a list!
I’m curious, do you set birthday goals, or are you a New Year’s goal setter? The holidays are so busy that I feel like a failure trying to set goals at the beginning of the calendar year. I love setting new goals in September (back to school time), but have really liked the birthday deadline also.
Have a wonderful weekend! I’ll be back Monday (if all goes as planned).

Handmade Love

Growing up, we went to my Great Grandparents’ for a visit every Sunday. Towards the end of our visit Grandma would tell my brother and I to pick out a dishcloth or potholder from the dresser she stored her finished knitting projects in.

I still have these knitted creations. I use those beige knitted cloths in my kitchen everyday. Each dish I scrub, my heart is filled with the love Grandma poured into every stitch. I imagine warmth pouring from her heart, to her hands, out through the aluminum needles as she click-clacked out another dishcloth.

The devastation in Oklahoma tears at my heart strings. I hug my boys a little tighter, and wish there was a way I could help. Suzanne of Winter Wanderings and Whatnot collaborated with some other bloggers for a solution. They have put out a request for sewn clothing, bags, and stuffed animals. And you know what? I can sew.

As a mama, seeing my boys wear a garment or carrying a toy made by hand would fill my heart just like washing the dishes with Grandma’s dishcloths does.

This weekend I am dedicating some time to sit at my machine and pour my prayers and love out over the hum of my machine.

Can you find the time to pour some love into just one garment/bag/toy? If you are inclined to pitch in, click the button, or head over to Suzanne’s blog. There is an address posted, a Flicker group, and a few patterns. If you don’t sew, just help spread the word. Thank you!

*I apologize for the rambling of this post. I want to let all of my beautiful creative readers in on how they can help, but God is prodding me to sew. Please let me know if you have any questions.