Monday Ramblings ~

Where did the weekend go? Just another fast and furious weekend for us! I had to go to the bank friday to sign off on some paperwork because....SOMEONE STOLE OUR CHECK CARD NUMBER! Hubby found some fraudulent charges on our online banking last week and sent me a email wanting to know what i have been buying online? Ummmm....nothing. So i checked into it and there were several recent charges on there from Belize. So in 8 to 10 business days we should have our money back. What a pain....well i guess i should count my blessings that we can get that money back.


Saturday was a glorious day! The hubby was hard at work on the fireplace so the kids and i took a lovely stroll. I wish the weather would stay like this year round! Who needs cold weather and snow???? :P After the kids went down for a nap i went in the Master Bedroom and did an overhaul! Got up some stuff to take to Goodwill {yippee} and cleaned, dusted and rearranged! I also got ahold of our closet again. It feels so nice to walk in there and not step on toys or shoes....i LURVE it!! Saturday night i made mini slider burgers....Yummy!! Sorry no pic...we gobbled them up super fast...hehe! But let me tell you they were good. Then me and little girl made some Halloween sugar cookies. She kept wanting to eat the raw dough {can't blame here}. But she was in heaven baking with mommy.


Moving on to Sunday. Woke up late and had like 15 min to get ready for church! We did pretty good with our time. Got in the car and CRASH!! OH NO!! I knew exactly what that crunch was...my little girls favorite riding toy. And it is now under the back tire of the Expo! You see mommy didn't put it back after our fun day outside Saturday.... :o( I'm so sorry!! Now i have to go to the consignment sale and look for you something new to ride. Now back to church. The little girl is usually pretty good. Little man not so much! Well they both gave us a ride for our money. We were completely exhausted when we walked out the church doors. We made our way to Costco and had our cheapo lunch. I picked up diapers. We continued to look around...grabbed a free cup of coffee and looked at Christmas gifts. I found several things i'm going to have to go back for, for the kidaroos. :o) I also bought a gift for ______! I know she will love it! I want a set too!!! I officially started my Christmas shopping....YEA!!!!

Sunday night after church {exhausted again}...really i feel so bad because i don't hear a word of the sermon cause my children are getting so rowdy!! Anyway...we get dinner in the kids tummies and give them a bath and get them to bed. Hubby has a new show to watch. Swamp People on the History channel....have you seen it? For some reason it is pretty entertaining to watch. I think there is only one more episode this season.

And on to last night. I was having this incredible dream. It was like a movie. Don'tcha love those? We were living in Hawaii and it was an APOCTOLIPIC dream. Something big happened and all the sudden i remember i was running thru the house grabbing the kids up and running down to the basement cause all i could hear was heavy growling of this cloud coming overhead and everything was turning grey. I had this overwhelming feeling of being scared. Then BAM!!! I wake up {in real life} to hear this loud clap of thunder and see the strobing lightening. Then seconds to follow...the tornado siren going off! Talk about a wild awakening...i thought i was going to have a heartattach!! HA! Well i can laugh about it now that we are all safe and no tornadoes hit the house in the middle of the night!! The kids actually slept through the whole thing {thank you, thank you, thank you}.

Now it is Monday. My house is clean and i'm off to play with the kids...and maybe do something crafty. Well when the kids go down for a nap anyway. :)

Hope you had a great weekend/safe weekend!!

Rag Quilt Tutorial ~

This weekend i finally sat down and completed a rag quilt for my son i have had cut out for quite some time. Before i started i thought that this would make a great tutorial because it is super easy. Rag quilts are great for gifts or yourself. You can use any fabric you choose to make a cute baby quilt, a TV throw, or a warm camping blanket! These blankets are so easy to make and customize to your needs. The nice thing about these quilts is that unlike "real" quilts, they don't have to be perfect! Now that's my kind of quilt! This tutorial is easy for beginners! If you have a sewing machine then hopefully you know how to thread it...hehe! OK....so here it goes!

First you will need to decide how big you want your quilt. The one i made is for my 1 year old son measures 32 inches by 48 inches (crib size). So the amount of material i needed was pretty simple. I chose 4 different materials for the front and i got half a yard of each (i always buy more than i need...you will have some left). The back required about a yard and a half but i got 2 yards. Mistakes happen and having alittle extra material is always good. Side note i always keep my scraps for future "scrap" quilts! :o)

Here is what you will need.

Cutting tool. I use a rotary cutter and it is the best thing EVER!!

Measuring square

Cutting Mat

Thread

Material of choice {i used flannel}. Flannel is nice and snugly warm on its own. If you choose regular cotton fabric you will also need to use very thin batting or broad cloth. Two layers of flannel is as thick as i wanted my quilt to be. Since i had alot of pattern on my material i chose for the front of the quilt...i went with a solid red for the back coordinating color.

My cutting square is a 10 inch square. I decided to go ahead and use a full 10 inches. You can make your squares any size.

Now once you get all your squares cut {i had 20 for the front and 20 for the back} you go thru and put your front squares to your coordinating back squares.

Then you sandwich {quilt} the front and back together with a "X"...see example above.


Here is what the back will look like.

If you use batting or broad cloth in the middle of your quilt this is what it will look like....

Just make sure that the batting is smaller than the top squares by an inch. {pic from old quilt}.

Once you have all your squares "sandwiched"...start laying them out in a pattern. This is all you. You make it how you want to see what were. :o)

Now here is were you get the "rag" look. Once you get your quilt laid out like you want you pick up the first square {start with the top left corner}. Then pick up the one right beside it on the top and put them back to back. This means that the two front sides are visible. Now sew the two together on the right side with a quarter inch seam. When you are done open it and it will have the seam in the middle. Keep repeating this step all across the top. Then move on to the next row. When you are done with each row make sure to put it back on the floor like you originally had it laid out. If you use my exact dimensions and squares you will have 5 rows of 4.

After you finish all the rows go back and pick up the first top 2 rows and sew them back to back like in the beginning. Same quarter inch seam. Continue with the remaining rows. And what you will end up with is this.......

See how all the seams are on the top and not on the back. Once you finish this part you are almost done. The next step is easy. You sew a quarter inch seam all around the outer edge of the quilt.

You are almost done! Now grab a good pair of scissors and plop down in front of the TV. You are going to snip those seam allowances about every 1/4 inch. It won't matter if they are perfect. The intersections of the squares can be tricky, but it won't matter which way you cut them. I just cut along the rows, but whatever you do will be fine. Make sure you cut around the perimeter of the blanket as well.

And now for the easiest step of all! Wash the blanket in the washing machine. That's how you get this cute frayed up look. Make sure you clean out your lint filter before you dry it- you will have a lot of fuzz from this quilt.
Every time you wash it it will get more and more frayed. And the better it looks. :o)
And that is it! You have made a warm snugly rag quilt!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you make a rag quilt of your own.....please email me with pictures!! I would love to see how yours turn out!

Tuesday...Just one of those days.....

It is Tuesday and it has been a long morning! I did some crafty stuff this weekend and this week has been deemed "Clean Up Week"! I told the hubby that i would try to keep from sneaking down to my new bonus {slash sewing/crafty} room and work on scrubbing this house. Kids toys are EVERY where and i know that bothers him. Also i have this closet. It keeps haunting me. It is a closet of well....everything that doesn't have a proper place in the house. I know, i know i need to go thru it and purge...but we are not done with the house and i just know i want to use some things that are in there. But right now it is the one place that i just close the doors and walk away. Do you have a closet like that? Kinda reminds me of this.....



Do you remember this episode?? Monica's secret closet! HAHAHAHA!! Oh friends...how i miss you!! Ok back to what i was saying. I have normal day to day stuff that needs to get done...BUT...
Problem is...the bonus room is right off the laundry room. And everytime i go to do a load of laundry i see all the crafty goodness calling my name....hehe!! But if i get this house in order it will feel oh so much better and i can focus on a few upcoming projects i can't wait to get done. And by projects...i mean STUFF FOR CHRISTMAS!!! :o) More on that in a bit...

It is getting alittle cooler and cooler these days and that means STEW! I love stew. My grandmother-in-law has a quick and easy recipe that she gave to me. And i have been making it that way ever since. And it is great for days were you have tons to do and don't want to spend all afternoon in the kitchen. Here is a picture...it is just getting started.....yummy......

Easy Grandma's Stew:

2 bags of frozen veggies

2 cans of chili with turkey meat

2 cans of diced tomatoes

stew meat

Put it all together in the crock pot and there you have it!! Yep, that easy!! Hubby and kids love it.

I also was in the mood for some of these.....

Hello Cinnamon goodness! I think i will sneak a few right now with my coffee. :o)

And what is that hiding under my afternoon treat?

Well it is one of my favorite books that i love to collect every year! I pulled it out last night and started drooling over all the holiday yummies. Got me in the mood for .....CHRISTMAS! Then i was like oh my goodness...it is almost November!! So i whipped out my daily planner and started on my Christmas list. Ummmm...I don't think it is to early....do you??? HA! I have a few things i want to make for the kids this year. And i can't wait to get that started for them.

Well i'm off to partake in my sweet treat! But first i wanted to let you know....Ladies if you want to start learning to sew i have a tutorial just for you tomorrow! I made something oh so easy this weekend and i thought it would be good to share and maybe get a few of you sewing! :o) Sound good?? If so make sure to check back tomorrow! Have a great Tuesday!!

Baby Clark ~

Remember THIS post? Baby H...... is now Baby CLARK! Welcome to the world! :o)


Mommy and Daddy are over the MOON!



I love this one of Mommy and Clark.

Nothing sweeter than baby feet!

Mommy is a big Superman fan....so that where his name came from. Funny story....while at the hospital and after delivery one of the nurses had asked the new daddy what his name was and he said {in pure exhaustion} Clark Kent....i mean Clark Evan! HAHAHA!!

3 generations! So sweet!

This photo shoot was wild. I had to bring my 1 and 2 year old with me and they were running circles around me. I got a few good shots in and had to share. :o) Baby Clark is so sweet. I thought i would have baby fever when i got to meet him but to my surprise i didn't! I was glad to load up my sweet 2 babies and come on home with no fever...haha! Hubby was glad to hear that. :P

******************************************************************************

Quick note: I'm out of the pre cut pumpkins {great big thanks to everyone} but i still have some material if anyone else is still interested. :)

Also a great big THANKS to http://havescrappydays.blogspot.com for giving me a shout out today on her Feature Friday!!

Going to the Pumpkin Patch ~

It's that time of year. Time to load the kiddos up and head to the pumpkin patch to pick out some "punkins" and visit with the animals and maybe run thru some corn mazes! Fun, FUN!! I wanted to make the kids something cute to wear when we go. I went thru my "thousand yards" of fabric and found some cute orange polkadot {my daughter calls them poopadots...hehe!} fabric. Once i picked out the fabric i then went on to draw out my pattern for the pumpkin. And here is what i came up with......

I was very happy how they turned out. My daughter couldn't wait to get her hands on hers....see her little hand right there about to snatch hers up. :o)

Here is a closer look. I used a new stitch around the applique and i love the way it turned out.

I even took a pair of jeans that were a little to short for little miss and turned them into ruffle pants to match! They also look great with her Tennessee Shirts {GO VOLS}! So she can keep wearing them after the holiday. And guess what else i'm gonna do with these new pumpkin tee shirts????? I'm going to MONOGRAM them with their sweet name. :o)

I have a few of these pumpkins cut out and are ready to iron on any t'shirt! If you would like one just send me a quick email for pricing!!

I have a monogrammed halloween trick-r-treat goodie bag i'm making this week. Make sure to check back to see the "Oh so cute" fabric i use. :o)

MUM's The Word ~

I LOVE MUMS!! Don't you?? I love how they give such a dense punch of color. And are pretty easy to take care of. Can you believe the price of mums though? A nice big one will run you $15 to $20 these days. So i always have stuck to getting the smaller more "wallet" friendly ones.

Sunday afternoon after church we headed to Lowes to pick a few things up. Lowes is our home away from home these days....HA! While the hubby was looking for what he needed i headed out to the flower section. I wanted to see how much the small potted Christmas tree looking plants {ehhh....pine? spruce??} for my front porch this winter holiday. I found a few that i liked and they were around $25 each. I wanted two {one for each side of the front door} but i may just get one this year. Depending on price later on.

The kids were loving looking at all the flowers and plants and so was I. As we started out i passed a large plant cart that had some mums. So i stopped and was enjoying the beautiful color. Then i saw something on one of the pots.....a orange price tag. It looked like a clearance price tag. It said $2.00!! WHAT????? So i started looking and all the mums on this cart had $3 and $2.00 price tags! They looked totally fine! So the kids and I went back in to look for the hubby and had him come out and look too. He gave the OK to get a few. I came home with 4! Big ones at that! They had several clearanced carts full of nice plants. The hubs said that a co-worker said that Lowes marks down there plants on Sundays and he always gets good deals on nice plants that have nothing wrong with them! Did you know that they clearanced plants like this??

So incase you didn't know...check out your local Lowes on Sundays for some good deals!! :o) Here is a house plant i snatched for $2 buckaroos!

Speaking of plants.....i was also givin a ton of plants this weekend! 57 to be exact! 17 Amaryllis, 20 Iris and 20 mixed color day lilies. LOVE!! I'm all about free flowers! The MR. that gave them to us had been "thinning" his out cause they had got to thick. So the hubby tilled up the yard in a few places and i got to work planting them. They are all hardy plants and should do just fine planting them this time of year. Then we did some outside clean up work and made the yard look pretty nice. It has gotten NO love since we moved here. We have been so busy working on the inside of the house that the outside has gotten neglected. BUT this weekend it got some well needed love. Got the leaf blower up and running so that job will be WAY easier this year. Cleaned up all the patio furniture...and actually enjoyed sitting in it for a bit. :o)

All in all it was a glorious holiday weekend! Hubby got an extra day off of work....gotta love that!! What did you do on your Columbus day weekend??

Bonus Room Phase 1 ~

Ok. Today is the day....REVEAL DAY! While we are not done {no where near done} i did want to go ahead and show you our progress. What?? What was that word i just used?? Progress...yes PROGRESS!! Now with that being said i'm going to be keepin it real. Like i stated above...we are not done. So now i'm going to channel my inner Niecy Nash and take you in the bonus room and show you all the foolishness!

Before... this room was a HOT MESS! It was a catch all of everything unused and still boxed up after the move.

The walls were grey...the trim and bass boards were grey...the doors were GREY! BLAH!


Just a big room full of JUNK! Believe it or not there is a treadmill in there somewhere!!

I wanted to go bold in color for this room. I have been seeing this color everywhere and wanted to use it in a room so badly. So i went to Lowes and Picked it out. Valspar Jalapeno Jelly! :o) I LOVE IT! The picture doesn't do it justice at all! Here it is all painted. We used Bright white for the built ins and doors. And charcoal grey for the counter top. I wanted it to be a contrasting color. And i love the way it turned out.

And yes that is a dishwasher still in the middle of the floor. HA! Unfortunately that will live there till we finish the kitchen remodel. But just look at all that room. All that great storage!
I have a place to sew, paint and craft. The kids will eventually have a table to craft their little hearts out too! The hubby has a place to do ...whatever he wants to do. Exercise?
Can you spy a sweet little girl in the picture?? :0) You don't even know how excited i am to have my treadmill out from under boxes.


Here is my side of the built in. I have more hobbies than a person needs...hehe! My side houses all my fabric and notions for sewing, paint and brushes and canvases. And some photography things. And TONS of crafty things. I'm in need of a few cute baskets to organize. Ummmmm hubby can i have one or two of your shelves??

Yes i know. Hi, i'm ________ and i have a problem...a fabric problem!! :P The hubs banned me of buying any fabric till i use half of what i have. I just can't help myself....when i see a pretty fabric and it is on sale. Trust me though...while going through and folding all this fabric i got tons of inspiration from it. Lots of late night sewing coming up.....

And this is the hubmeisters side! Total man cave stuff. Stereo {check}, CD's {check}, car collections {check}, plane model {check}...he still has some things to put on his side that he will be adding later.

This room is large. But you can't tell it from the pics. I was standing in front of boxes that have yet to be gone though. Here is the other view. Still kinda a hot mess. But atleast it is a more organized mess. Goodwill i have a few boxes for you! Aren't those plastic brown room dividers just tacky!! Can't wait to put up real doors there! And get a curtain up on that other door. Behind the ugly brown dividers is our laundry room. Not ready to expose that room to the world yet...HA!

Well there you have it! Livable/workable bonus room space. Can't wait to get up curtains and artwork and family photos. Got tons of projects coming up so keep a watch out!!

So what else have we been up to? Lots! But today is devoted to the "Changing out of the Closets". Once we got back from our beach vacation it turned COLD! Yep, cold! I can't believe that i'm uttering those words. So i pulled out the diaper boxes that i keep to throw outgrown clothes in and 2 of the storage totes that i emptied from the bonus room and started going though the kids closets.

This time of year is hard. It can be chili cold one day and warm and nice the next so i pulled a few things out of the closet and folded them in a drawer. Other than that their closets are all ready for fall and winter. I couldn't help myself from drooling over all the cute stuff they have to wear this upcoming season.

While i was cleaning out their closets they entertained themselves by....

Hiding in boxes and......

Undoing all the hard work i put into cleaning the closets..... :o) Oh bless them!

And lastly i wanted to show you what i snagged at a yard sale this past weekend.

I found this and knew i wanted the frame. Wasn't to sure about the painting. So i asked the little old lady how much she wanted for it. She smiled and looked at me and the kids and said "Oh, how about $10.00"? I said sure...cause the frame was well worth that. I asked her if she was the artist and she said no but she did know the artist. I just couldn't remember the name she told me and i can't make out the signature....but she said that he was an Engineer and he worked with Wernher Von Braun. How cool is that. I feel like it is a piece of history now. And so i will proudly display it over our mantle. :)

Now i have to go and finish up some laundry that i have neglected!

Have a great Tuesday!!!

xo

~Cool Kid Stuff ~

Every once in awhile when i'm shopping with the kids if they act good i splurge and get them alittle something. The other day i ran across this......


I picked it up and read what it had to say. Looked cool enough + price was right = Bought it for the kiddos! :o) THE KIDS LOVE IT! Little girl thinks it is so cool to take a bath in Blue water! HAHA! I have to admit the red can be alittle scary {kinda looks like blood} and the yellow {kinda looks like pee}! But you can mix colors for other colors. All in all pretty neato. Has anyone every used these? Do your kiddos love it?

Looks like it is gonna be a great weekend...weather wise. Can't wait to spend most of it outside with the family. :o) Someone wants to roast marshmallows!! Have a great weekend!!

xo