Mama has a new bag!

Pattern Simplicity 2617 Purse B

I have been dying to make a purse for the fall. And to my luck Hancock Fabrics had a huge sale on patterns. Picked one out and I almost couldn’t wait until I got home to start.

I have some what of a fabric addiction right now so I had plenty of material at home. Just picking the perfect one took the longest.

For some reason I got a thing with green right now so I went with it. Green and brown seem like great fall colors.

This is the best project I have done thus far. I am truly in love with it. This pattern really let me explore some techniques I haven’t used before.

I have never sewn a pocket like the one in this bag. And to my amazement it was soooo easy. Also, I bought a sewing machine that has 89 stitches and had yet to find anything to use the decorative stitching on. So when the instructions said to use decorative stitching, I about peed in my pants.

It was “sew” much fun. It’s not a beginner pattern, but for someone looking to take the next step, it is perfect.  

My craft room.

This is my very first tutorial. I had so much fun making this that I really felt like I need to share.

My home is space challenged. And my pocket is money challenge. So I had to figure out a storage plan that was cute and inexpensive. This was my solution. I made this small chest of drawers for under $20.

All you need:

1 sheet of plywood – around $10 at Lowes or free from your man’s garage like I did.

Wood glue

Stapler

Fabric of your choice for the drawers

Paint for the chest

Glue of any kind

My chest of drawers was 8 inches deep by 29 inches tall by 21 inches wide. Because that was all the space I had.

So I first cut out my pieces for my drawers. (2) front and back 7 ½ inches x 20 inches and (2) sides 7 1/2 by 7 1/2 and the bottom is 71/2 by 19 ¼ . Glue and nail all those pieces together to make a box.  Do this for as many drawers as you need. I had three.

Now cover the drawers with the fabric. Cut the fabric to fit and glue it to the drawer. Make sure to spread the glue so that it doesn’t soak through the fabric. Cover the inside too.

Make the chest out of the plywood (may require your husbands help). Glue and nail it together and then paint. I spray painted to save money and time.

Add some cute coordinating drawer pulls to the front of each drawer. I got mine on clearance at Hobby Lobby and Lowes. I paid $1 for one and $.50 each for the other two.

Place drawers in chest once it dries and you have yourself a great place to store your crafts.

Garden 2011

My 2011 garden was bigger then ever. Four above ground beds!

I started a little early because I was so excited that I just could not wait until the suggested April 15.

I started with lettuce and boy did I love growing these. You can really taste the difference in just out of the garden lettuce. It totally amazes me how God created these veggies to grow. I really enjoyed going out everyday to see how the leaves had curled into the other leaves.

This is my Tomato patch. I had tomatoes growing out my ears. I tried to can some but found freezing them to be much easier. Next year, I think I will stick to around 4 or 5 plants though.

I tried my hand at canning and fell head over heals for it. I love to make bread and butter pickles but no thanks to canning tomatoes. It just takes way to long.

OK, this is my pride and joy, my okra. Not only was it a huge success but I really enjoyed picking, cutting and freezing it. I can't wait to make some soup with it this winter. Of course fried okra is a big hit at our house.

I tinkered around with a few different types of peppers. I really don't know why because I only like bell peppers and banana peppers. The others are just pretty. But I think I will pass next year and save the real estate for something I will eat.

I planted a few pumpkins and got only two out of it. But they were they cutest things ever. They had to go though. They were the main attraction for the squash bugs.

I ended up going at war with squash bugs and they won. I hate those darn things.

Another new one this year was Peas. They were good but just eat that many of them. I'm pretty sure I will pass on these next year as well.

2011 garden's winners were - Tomatoes, Okra, cucumbers, bell peppers, banana peppers and squash.

2011 garden's losers - pumpkins, peas, winter squashes, any peppers other then what is stated in the winner circle, any herbs (I don't use them).

2012 garden to be's - potatoes (reg and sweet), onions and red bells.

Year 35! Come and Gone....

Well tomorrow I turn 36. I started gathering pictures for this post and boy have I had an eventful year. How I did it all I will never know.

Started my 35th year with an adventure in my favorite place Bryson City. I so badly wanted to ride a horse and Zip line. To sum that up I have had my fill of horse back riding.

Another first was to fry a turkey. And the picture tells it all. Believe it or not it was good.

I started and ended 'Hiking 4 Jesus'. This was a hiking bible study that just would not take off. We would go on a hike and then have a snack and bible study after the hike. With gas prices and the distance of the hike, it just wasn't something anyone could manage. We had about 4 or 5 great hikes.



I met little miss Esme'. She is just the prettiest little girl.

Had the best Christmas of my life. We rented a cabin in Bryson City for 4 days. We got there and opened presents and hit the sac. Woke up to 6 inches of snow. It was just me Scott, Hayden and Austin. I truly believe this trip was a gift from God.

With a huge snow in the beginning of 2011, I had to take a trip down the big hill. Schools and work closed and everyone had a blast for two full days.

Spring has sprung and time to get outside and get gardening. Biggest ever this year.

First time to bike week in Daytona FL. Bought a bike three weeks later.

Time to hit the mountains again for a little R&R with the hubby. We had a blast and can't wait to go back.

As if we haven't had enough nature, it camping time.

Then we bought a pop-up camper.

My garden was amazing and now it was time to do something with the fruit (or Veggies) of my labor. I thought I would try my hand at some bread and butter pickles. Now I have 20 jars. And they are awesome! Yummy.

Now off to summer vacation in June. Destination - Clearwater FL. Wonderful condo but really nothing to do for the kids. We still had a great time and woke up to dauphins every morning.

Last but not least, it's time to see if Sammy can swim.... and he can. YAY! Go Sammy.

I had a great 35th year and can't wait to see what my 36th has to offer.

My husband the surfer

I snapped this picture of my husband because this is what he looks like 90% of the time. The shinning light of the Web on his face, his eyes locked on Craig's list for hours.

Squash Bugs

I have one known enemy and that is the squash bug. My first year was bug free. Last year is when I first discovered the little buggers. But it wasn't a huge deal. I still had a good crop. This year was a huge difference. It started when I planted the pumpkin plants. (I won't be doing that again). After about a month I started to see more and more of them. More then I could pick and kill. They were mating faster then I could keep up.

Today I pulled up all my plants. Just couldn't take it anymore. It is very unlikely I will plant anymore squash or squash family plants again.

Update

Well it’s been a while since my last post but I am ready to start up again.

In my last post I talked about last year. Well we are well into March (boy time flies) and I have thought a lot about what I want to do this year and boy is it jammed packed.

First and foremost Hiking 4 Jesus is getting a new site. I could no longer afford the $45 every three months for the meetup site so it has moved to www.hiking4jesus.blogspot.com for now. We will see how that works out. I just created it so nothing is on there right now. I have the other site until May 10th. We had a good hike this month, five seekers including me.

I was fairly discouraged last month and wanted to quit but I am trying to quit quitting. Ok, that was just too funny.

As most of you know I am very good at quitting. I have decided to rename that and call myself a tryer not a quitter. I mean really, if you don’t try something how will you know if you like it or not. I have to admit I try a lot of things and decide I like it but just don’t have time for everything in my life.

One thing I know I love is my garden. And we all know it’s almost that time again and yes, you will see many many pictures of my garden on facebook. I already have my lettuce planted and going to put more in the ground this weekend.

Another thing I am really into is my couponing. LOVE it! I have saved a ton of money. And now that I am good at it I am going to put a twist on it. My freezer, fridge and pantry are full. So I am creating a $5.00 a week challenge. Try and see how much stuff I can get for $5.00 and at the end of the month donate it to a food kitchen, woman’s shelter or some other place that is similar. So from here forward I will clip and take all the coupons I can for anything. I am excited to see what I can turn my 20 bucks a month into to help others.

Please tell me about any places you know that can use this sort of stuff. I know if a few but and advice is welcome.

I’m going to take a picture every month and post it on here. I challenge all my friends to do the same. Let’s see who can give the most! This starts this weekend.