Graduation Week

Well, I'm preparing for my daughter's graduation party, so the crafty part of me has been put on hold while I weed the garden, mow the yard and clean the house, preparing for the upcoming event.   .....But I thought I'd share my musings from this past weekend.


I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend.  Our's was full of Baseball...  :-)  Which is so fun, but dressing for the weather I've learned has become very tricky.  It isn't so bad when you're in town, not far from home, but this weekend we were out of town and miserable.  ;-)


You see when we left our home it was close to 90 degrees outside, so we were sporting shorts and tank tops.  My husband and I had been cleaning the pool, so I even had a bit of sunburn.  We then got cleaned up to go to my sons (evening) game which was an hour and a half away and guess what?




The temps had dropped almost 30 degrees and we were freezing.  My youngest daughter (13) was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt like her dad...so she was curled up in her chair like a little cocoon .  In all fairness to myself...I had warned that everyone bring a jacket and warmer clothes....but no one listened.  I was the only one wearing long pants and I had brought two jackets.  Which my youngest daughter benefited from a little.


I was very thankful that we had some extra blankets in the van and we tried to stay warm wrapped in them.  Although one of them was not very big as it was a handmade lap quilt that we had purchased at a garage sale years ago.  This all inspired me to make more blankets to take with us.  

I bought a pack of already cut squares at Walmart and started sewing them all together.  (I've decided that my least favorite part of quilting is cutting the fabric )  So this is a pic of what I've started and I'll have to show you the finished project after the graduation party.

I think I'm going to put white borders between them and I still have one square to sew on each row.  I'm hoping to get this done next week...we'll see how it goes.  I have so many "started projects" it's not funny....and every summer I say "I'm gonna get these done" and we're always so busy that it never happens.

It's funny that the very next day was about 98 degrees and again we were at the ballpark.  Can you say.....Sunscreen!!!  


My oldest daughter said that she learned her lesson and will come with a change of clothes for whatever the "opposite" weather is.  She is so funny.  She also had been sitting on her dad's lap wrapped in a blanket the night before trying to keep them both warm (because they were both in shorts) and she had no chair.   So the next day she said...."We really need to stop and buy another chair, because today (98 degrees) I don't think Dad's gonna want to cuddle".  hee hee..  and she was right because by the time we got to the ball park....his knees were burnt to a crisp.


We have learned to always keep blankets, umbrellas, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, wipes and snacks in our van..and I'm sure there are more things that I haven't figured out yet.

Marker Holder

From This..... 

To This.....

I love easy projects that take something you might throw away and  instead....re-purpose it....

I just took my 11.3 oz plastic coffee container and wrapped some scrapbook paper around it and ribbon at the top and bottom and added a little embellishment and Voila' you have a new pencil/marker holder.  You can be as extravagant or simple as you choose.  I love that it's just the right height for these markers....

You could also use contact paper if you'd like....but I don't get along with contact paper so good... lol.

Clothes Pin Bags

So what do you do at the beginning of your summer season of hanging clothes on the line, when you realize that your clothes pin bag has been left out there all summer last year and all winter and now it is rotten?.....basically disintegrated....gone...history... 


Well, I guess you try to figure out how to use the spare parts from the last one...aka...the plastic wire thingy and the metal hanger, and you try to figure out how to make a new one.   


So, the first one was kind of cute, but really didn't work out so well.   It does work, but just doesn't look very "professional" (not that I was claiming to be a professional clothes pin bag maker.... lol) 


 What I did for this one, was I used a denim jumper that I bought at a garage sale, cheap and cut it so that the pocket was on the front and sewed the bottom so that it would sit flat....don't think that part was necessary...oh well.

 I took a clothes hanger from the dry cleaners that has the little cardboard bar at the bottom and took the cardboard off and bent the hanger around to fit in the grommet holes.  That makes the part that hangs on the line :-)   

The second bag I made turned out the best.  I took a piece of material that was 22" long (which will be your width) and cut it to be 12 1/2 " high and then added a 2" border at the top (of a coordinating fabric).

 Put right sides together of the border and the main body of the bag. Sew a 1/4 inch seam.

Press the seam open and then fold in half, put right sides together and sew up the side and the bottom.

 Also, fold the border over to the back side and stitch down to the seam, to make a pocket for whatever you choose to put in there to hold the bag open.  I used the plastic wire that came in the old bag.  But, I have used, in the past, the plastic strapping that holds cartons of computer paper together or other cartons like that.  My husband got me some of that from the shipping dock at work.  You could even ask at Walmart of at an offfice supply store if they would have any scraps of that in the back.  Just slide it in the slot and Voila' your bag stays open.

So here is the finished project.  I'm not sure that I like the height of it.  I guess it depends on how many pins you have.  Maybe when I get more it will be just right.  You don't want it to be too shallow that the pins will fall out,  :-/  that would be bad.

So, if you have any questions let me know.  I may post another version or a video when I get this pattern perfected.  lol

Teacher Appreciation

My Niece is sooo cleaver.  This is an original idea of hers for her children's teachers.

Bottles wrapped with a pretty piece of scrapbook paper, tied with a ribbon and little card with a poem or note.  She attached some candy in a bag and Gave an apple with it...  You could also either do the paper flower on the top or buy little sprigs of silk flowers to attach with the ribbon or hot glue.


Note:  she and the kids wrote the little poem....how cute!  So Creative and what lucky teachers they are!


Thank you Terri for letting me post this very cute and original idea!  :-)

Lunch Bag Scrapbook

 This is a fun craft to do with your kids and they really have a good time doing it.  Some other options for boys could be pictures of bugs that they think are interesting or their favorite sports players.

Do an album for a friend of pictures of them or leave bland spots for them to insert their own pics.

What's your hobby?  Make an album of that.  Whatever it ends up being....Have fun!

Eyeglass Holder out of a Water Bottle Carrier

Well this is what happens when things go awry.....again....