I'm a flake

You see, the good thing about the fact that I know I am flake is the fulfillment of recognizing my downfalls. For the longest time I chose to ignore the fact that I am not perfect. Man life is hard when you realize something so profound. I have flaked on my blog this month. I would apologize but sickness ran through our house like a tornado and now I am spending my time cleaning up its damages. My house is a wreck and I had to go and buy new pants because the holidays haven't been nice to my waistline. Gosh I can't say waistline because I haven't had one of those for years. My tire in the middle has upgraded from truck size to semi. Boy it is getting heavy to lug around so what better time of year to reclaim my waistline! I went to the thrift store to buy my "new to me" pants because no way am I commiting to my bigger size with a brand new pair. I just need to breathe until I downsize that tire in the middle. Can you believe I have actually considered making new sweats to wear out of the house? Ewww. Well, I will go with what I know works to lose some weight. Weight watchers points system. I will be holding off on too much excercise until I get my ~ Facet Rhizotomy ~ done. Excercise really flares up my neck pain and hopefully I will be a new woman after February 11th!

Got some Christmas money! You would think a craftymama would spend her money on materials. I really am a crafter at heart but against all odds I splurged on a kitchen appliance. Check it out! A pressure cooker!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000CFH7X

Shipped it was $99.99. What can I do with my last penny????

You see I can't stand being in the kitchen but my creative and thrifty self doesn't let me get by on pb&j all of the time so the only thing left for a crafty girl to do is to cook. I want more time. I want more time for my crafts. I want to eat healthy. I am a thrifty person and have not had the heart to turn the crock pot on all of time. Hopefully this little beauty will satisfy those needs. If not, at least I will be able to can tuna fish and soups for those lazy days I have been having too many of lately.

Cristmas Crafting

What I have been working on....

Christmas Lights Garland.
Simple as pie to do.

Here's how:

If you want to tear the fabric, use a woven. Mine used approximately 1/3 yard of each color. I like tearing because it is so much easier than using the rotary cutter and mat. Use as many colors as you like. I used four different prints and like the simplicity of it all. I have seen them really full but I just wanted simple.

1. Tear a strip 1 1/2 inches long down the length of the woven fabric. Your first tear will not be straight but needs to be done to straighten out the fabric. How many strips depends on how many lights you have. I just tore and figured it out along the way.

2. Cut your torn 1 1/2 strips into 11 inch pieces for the look I have or shorter for a fuller look.

3. Tie on. A single tie will do and my 5 year old had a blast. Mine has three strips tied on between each light.

4. Plug in and enjoy a simple and fast project on a rainy day.







What else I have been working on....

I love this blog Allsorts and then I came across her advent calendar pockets tutorial.
Jennie B Harris's look way more elegant than mine. I am terrible at embroidering. I wanted this done fast so I used the machine to sew the pockets together. They are filled with 2 chocolate gold coins for the kids.



A Terrible picture of our tree....

This is my second real quilt that I have made. There is still a lot of hand quilting left to be done and I suck at that. Just figured I better hang it up and work on it a little bit at a time so I can enjoy it and fill the blank space on my wall. The dimensions are around 3ft x 3ft.

I bought two of these foot stools from Ikea in their clearance section for $5. The cover was an offwhite muslin. So, of course I had to add my own. They came out nice and not wonky like the picture. Wish I would have gotten a pic of it with the whole couch. Maybe next year or the year after.

Sewing for the boy

My boy is into aliens and space. I usually don't sew anything for him but pj's because he has always hated me sewing for him. Well, he is finally coming around because he has been pouting about me not sewing for him. So what is a sewing mama to do? Sew the boy something he will love and love he does.

Smile

We saw this on the way home from getting our christmas tree. I had to smile to remember that life really is beautiful.