A Bag for Bags

Made this in sewing class tonight. It's a plastic bag holder (you know the Walmart kind) so that you can save and reuse. Put the plastic bags in the top and pull them out of the bottom when you need them. BTW that's a W that I appliqued on the front.

Here We Go Again!!!

Okay, so we've been renting our house for about 8 months now, and we LOVE it!!!!! We were actually hoping that our landlord might want to sell it once we got ready to buy a house (I hate saving for down payments). Anyways, long story short, the landlord got a divorce, the wife got the house, and now she wants to move in - meaning we have to move out!!! We are not quite ready to buy a house especially since I can't make up my mind about where I even want to live. I LOVE living in Laurel and have always dreamed of owning a historic home, but you never know if the neighborhoods around here are going to still be good neighborhoods in the next few years. Anyways, we are apartment hunting at the moment. We will put a lot of our furniture in storage, the girls will share a room, Bo will not have a home office, we will save up money, and hopefully buy a house within the next year. I know God has a plan for everything, and in the end this will be a blessing to us. How can I complain? I have an awesome husband, two gorgeous girls, good health, food to eat, and more stuff than I need - All's Well that Is Well!!!

My First Quilt

Okay, now you know I said I would never sew and now that's all I do....well I really never thought I would make a quilt, yet, here it is - my first quilt. The squares of this quilt were completed by my students from last year. We read the book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt which is about the legend of quilts being used as maps for the underground railroad. The students brainstormed important places in Laurel that would be good to include in a quilt. Each student created a painting on cloth that represented one of those important places in Laurel. And thus we have a Laurel quilt complete with Laurel High School, Sawmill Square Mall, Lauren Rogers Museum, Walmart, Eatza Pizza and much more. I'm going to show this quilt off when I present lessons at a conference this week. I think the quilt turned out really well. It's not perfect, but it is definitely FUN!!! I can't wait to make another one for home!!

I Love Auctions!

We had an auction today at church to benefit some upcoming mission trips to Chicago and Uganda. I loved it!!! I've been to some auctions before, but I've never participated in the bidding before - I think I could get addicted. I won a gift certificate to get a spray tan. I've never had one before, but I'm excited to get it done. I also won an old gossip chair that I'm going to paint and recover for my classroom. I think it's going to be a real fun piece. I'll post pics of it later when I get it finished. My absolute most favorite item that I won was a cross that our pastor's wife, Shauna Stockstill, creates using old wood, curly wire, and beads. These crosses are gorgeous!!! I've always wanted one, and I finally got one. Below is a picture...it's even more beautiful in person. I can't wait til' my next auction (I probably need to let my pocketbook rest though!)

Leelou Swag and Cameron

Leelou Swag is giving away three CD's by this new music artist, Cameron Rafati. I really like his music, he has a very cool sound. If you win, he will autograph the CD to you directly. How cool is that!! Click on my Leelou Swag button to check it out!!

Blue Jean Bonanza

I've been wanting to turn an old pair of Kennedy's blue jeans into a new creation, so this week I did. I put a ruffle at the bottom of the jeans and appliqued on a few patches to the legs. Then I made a shirt to go with it. The shirt is gathered with tie straps on top. I think it all looks really cute. I can't wait for her to wear it soon. This was a very easy outfit to make, and is one of my favorite style-wise also.

Lee Lou Swag Giveaway

I follow this great site called Leelou Swag. They give away awesome stuff all the time. This week they are giving away a free swimsuit that is both fabulously fashionable and amazingly modest. I know that almost seems like an oxymoron (sp) to most of us, but it's true. Check out the giveaway at www.leelouswag.com and the swimsuits at www.limericki.com. My favorite swimsuit was the Lizzie tankini...it has turquoise and white polka dots with yellow accents. I HOPE I WIN!!!!!!!

Traveling Wild Style

So, I've been looking for a large duffle bag to take on weekend trips (since I'm going on a lot this summer :)! ) but I haven't been able to find one large enough. I looked into Vera Bradley, but by the time I bought one from there I could take another vacation. I mean, are those bags really worth all that. Anyways, I decided I'd be crafty and make my own duffle bag. I used some leftover fabric from some other projects, and voila! I have a zebra stripe duffle bag with red and white polka dot lining. It turned out great. I can fit about a week's worth of clothes, shoes, and jewelry in it and still have room leftover. I didn't put a zipper in because I was too lazy to go to Walmart, so I just put tie straps in the middle to help keep it closed. The tie straps are working good so far.

Lip Smackin' Smoothies

McKenzie has been begging to make smoothies for the past few weeks, so I thought we'd attempt it today. They turned out soooo yummy. I just used whatever we already had in the frig. We made a strawberry/watermelon smoothie. We used fresh strawberries, Trix watermelon burst yogurt, skim milk, and one packet of splenda. It turned out really well. I'm glad we finally tried it, and now the girls can have a simple, healthy snack anytime they want.