Hooray for Ice Skating and Leather!

Okay so the title of this post may have really thrown you for a loop...unless of course you're figure skater Johnny Weir. But, for the sake of this post we're going to separate the two :)

We signed A.R. up for ice skating lessons this yr. She is only 3, but we decided the younger she learns the better she'll get. Plus, she is in desperate need of a structured learning environment so we thought some type of lessons would do her good. She's doing really well, and has only had two lessons so far. So I had to share this sweet photo of her on the ice all by herself!

Ok....so now to the crafting aspect of this post :)

My crafting budget is $0.00 except once in awhile when I can sneak some craft supplies from walmart in with the groceries (shhh!) So I have to rely mostly on other people's unwanted stuff, which is just fine with me. My mother just gave me an old black leather coat of hers...I've never worked with leather and I have to admit I'm a little intimidated.

Cathe Holden over at http://justsomthingimade.blogspot.com/ has worked with leather though, and she has made some incredible things with it. Here is a picture of a leather, monogrammed Ipod holder she made...I'm seriously considering giving this project a try (if I can gather the courage to cut apart this jacket)

 Here is the link to her tutorial on this project: http://justsomethingimade.blogspot.com/2009/12/simple-leather-ipod-touchiphone-case.html

Happy Crafting!

Love Food Hate Waste

I have found the ultimate website for tips and ideas on being frugal with groceries and food, http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/.  As many of you know I am a big fan of canning and freezing foods to preserve them, but this website has taught me so many other cool tricks to reducing the food waste we create. It is sickening to think of the garbage dumps all across the country and how much food waste those heaps represents. I'm a firm believer that we not only eat too much as Americans but because our portion sizes are so out of wack we prepare too much food to be consumed at any one given time. When was the last time you walked away from a holiday dinner, office party, or catered event and there weren't mounds of food left over and eventually trashed? Not to mention the trashed leftovers from the meals we prepare every day for our own families. So this is my challenge to you: try to reduce the portion of food you cook for your family this week. Even if it doesn't look like its going to be enough food for your family's dinner - fight the urge to prepare more and just see how far the food spreads at the dinner table. Worse case scenario your family has room leftover for a healthy dessert of fresh fruit. There are so many benefits to planning meals like this :
1. Nutritional : When there are unhealthy portion sizes present, many people will continue eating past the point of being full
2. Financial : I have found that I can serve 1/2 the portion of meat at dinner than I was, and my family is still satisfied after the meal. The only difference is I'm not throwing away the extra 1/2 portion after it has gotten old in the fridge as leftovers. I have significantly cut down on grocery expenses!
3. Environmental : Whenever we can reduce unnecessary waste in landfills, it is a good thing!

 Leave any helpful tips in the comment section and lets see if we can do something to reduce food waste within our individual families.

Part II, Re-purposing Clothes: Baby Dress to Big Girl Skirt

When we found out our second (and final) child was going to be a boy I spent a lot of time going through all our stored baby girl clothes and dresses. I found so many summer dresses that brought back the sweetest memories of my little girl as a baby I knew I wasn't ready to give them up...but the idea of refashioning them into something she could wear now was very appealing to me...so even though there is no picture tutorial, I will walk you through what I did so you can see your little girl's once again in their sweet baby girl prints. I had a size 18 mo. halter dress. it was not this exact one (because I didn't think to take a picture of the dress before) but a very similar style to the pictured one here:

You can see where I 'm going with this, right? I cut the top portion off of the dress, leaving enough of at the top to fold over and run elastic through as a waistband. I usually deduct 2 inches from my child's waist measurement for the elastic to get a good snug fitting skirt. Fold over and sew a "tunnel" for the elastic leaving a small opening to thread the elastic through. Once the elastic is through I like to sew up bothes sides of the waist to keep it in place. Hem if needed. And Voila your little girls new skirt already full of old memories!

Happy Crafting!

Part, I re-purposing clothes : Jeans to Skirt

We have gotten LOTS of snow this winter and it has given me good excuses to stay indoors and get started on repurposing the kid's clothes for spring and summer.It is so much fun to design re-design children's clothing and much easier than you may think. I'm going to get to work on A.R's clothes and see what I can come up with. Here's a picture of a skirt made from too the tops of a pair of jeans she outgrew and some scrap fabric I had lying around...

Snow Day Craftiness

I've also discovered Mod Podge...that stuff is awesome! I had some pages of pretty scrapbooking paper and chose two coordinating designs to mod podge to the tops of some plain wooden stools we had in the house. I love the way they came out and am planning out something to do with the table that matches the chairs...it was a great way to add some character to some very boring pieces of furniture...unfortunately now, no flat surface is safe in my house.
I also made a plaque out of an old photo of my grandfather and his army buddies during WWII. I love the way it looks with the black and white...I'm sure I'll be doing more photos in the future.


Last of all....what kind of blogger would I be without an impromptu photo shoot with my little girl...

handmade just for them...

I love, love, love making clothes for my children. It makes me feel so good to be able to take clothes that would otherwise have been donated or thrown away and turn them into something useful for my family. I'm going to post pictures of some of the clothes I have made for my children in hopes that people come to realize how easy it truly is and maybe we can reduce some of the waste we generate and save ourselves money in the process...

Home...

Looking around my house it seems crazy to remember what this place looked like when we bought it. I would have NEVER thought the crazy mess of a house that we bought would one day seem so peaceful and cozy. Now we are trying to sell it and I get so sentimental about places I've lived with my family that looking around I'm already getting sad at the prospect of moving. This kitchen was a labor of love and turned out so old-fashioned I could pretend I was standing in an old farmhouse on acres of land while I prepared meals...

The mess I made trying to paint the bathroom vanity...

decorating the nursery for my little girl...and then for my little boy...
the hours spent in the rocking chair rocking little ones to sleep. All of the arranging and re-arranging of furniture trying desperately to make more room in our little living room. Countless hours in the backyard garden discovering I do not have a green thumb...
Then I'm reminded Home truly is where your heart is...and I look forward to turning another house into our heart's dwelling place