Totes in Process, Bad Day

I am not the most "Green" person in the world and I don't think I ever will be. I do try to reuse and save what I can, but being green can take over your life and your house!

I did decide I could use the reusable grocery/shopping bags. There was only one problem. I can't stand the feel of the ones you buy at the stores! They give me the WILLIES! I have the same feeling when I touch one of the blue heating pad covers. That is why I started making covers for these myself.

I thought buying totes I liked would be simple. I would buy the canvas totes at Michael's. I knew you could buy these in bundles and save some money. But.....................is all they had was white. The size wasn't exactly what I wanted either. They did have colored totes, but they were pretty pricey and not the size I wanted. Hmmm maybe I could dye them so the dirt wasn't visible. That is what I decided to do. I used my 40% off coupon and purchased a package of three. When I got home I decided they were definately not going to work - too tall, not wide enough, blah blah blah.

So I bought some brown duck cloth at Walmart. I decided to cut some circles out of pink fabric scraps to decorate them with. I am now in the process of making my own grocery/shopping bags.

It seems like a simple little thing always turns into a major deal. I really don't think I am that picky. Then again maybe I am, because this happens all too often!

In other matters, I wonder what the world record is for a family losing cell phones down the toilet? This has never personally happened to me, but this is the third incidence in my family. Not a good day around here! They will give away the phones that have internet service, but the other ones you have to pay an arm and a leg for!

Thrift Find

I saw this floral shower curtain in the thrift store about a week ago. It was new, out of the package, made by Waverly Home. I thought about buying it, but the line was long, I didn't know what I was going to do with it and I had to get Jessie, so I passed on it.

I kept telling myself I have enough fabric I didn't need more. Well, I kept thinking about the curtain. Still I didn't know what I would do with it. Then it hit me...........the boy's bathroom! I had made tartan plaid shower curtains for the bathroom a long time ago. I wonder what the floral curtain would looked paired up with the plaid? Hmmm, only one way to find out. Would it still be there? I kept telling myself, if it was still there it was meant to be.

Over a week went by and I stopped today. It was still there! Half off so I paid $1.99. FATE! I took it home and washed it. Waited until "24" was over and hung it up. I like the way it adds warmth to the bathroom. I only had a white plastic liner hanging behind the plaid curtains so this adds warmth, coziness and a little feminine touch.

Besides it is no longer the boy's bathroom even though we call it that. Well this weekend it will be that, but normally..........

Important Things!

Sometimes the littlest things in your life mean the most to you. This little item was given to me by my sister Tami almost 27 years ago. I thought I had lost it and I was sick. I do have another one that is purple, but this one is my favorite. It is my favorite bookmark EVER! I have tried to find others when I thought I lost it. My Google search turned up nothing. Ebay was a wash.

Well this weekend we found it in the car. It made my day, week, month and year! I can now read again!

I hope this will not be one of the things that end up in the trash when I am dead and gone, because it is truly one of my treasures!

Pink Goodness

Two new baby dresses! I finished these this weekend. I am obsessed with these little dresses! I can't decide which one I like better. I used some of the tiny pink polka dot fabric I found at the thrift store for the bottom and the top fabric is from a "Simply Shabby Chic" Sheet.

I used bias tape for the hem in this one with a little matching bow.



This one I used white grosgrain ribbon for the hem.


I think I am going to move on to bigger things. Like a "Juliet" tunic for me. I finally bought a zipper today.

Be Back Soon!

What is it?

I was painting this object the other night. (I like to paint when I am watching t.v.) This was a gold color and I have been meaning to paint and distress it.

My husband asked what it was. I told him it was a pineapple. It meant welcome to our home in colonial times. He said it didn't look like a pineapple. I just kept painting. Now, that got me thinking....................after 3 years of sitting in my living room, I think it is an artichoke! I can't believe I haven't seen this before! What do you think it is?

I have been working on more baby dresses! I enlarged the pattern for a 6-9 month old. After many tries I got it right. Jessie took this picture and I should have told her to get a close up too.


The bottom of the dress is a white and purple checked fabric and the top is a floral with purple flowers. I am going to give this to a neighbor of ours that has a new baby girl. I will probably make another to give them too. I still haven't taken out my basting threads and it needs some pressing.

In other news......my daughter Amber will be glad to know I got rid of (put in the garage) 3 silk plants from the living room. Time for a change. I am going to get a couple of little real plants and see how long I can keep them alive. I guess the spring weather has gotten to me!

Be back soon!

Playing with Fabric

I found a free pattern on the internet for a baby dress. I can't remember where I found it right now. It looked so cute and so simple, I thought I would make it from some of my scraps.

Do I have anyone to wear this? No. This is for a newborn to three months. I was just playing! I do have an enlargement of this pattern for a size 3T. I think it turned out so sweet!

It was so simple too! I used the bottom edge of a cribskirt I had cut up. It had a pretty crocheted lace with ribbon laced through it on the bottom. The top is made from scraps of a Pottery Barn Kids pillowcase.

Jessie's dolls can probably wear this. If only she still played with dolls!

Be back soon!

What To Do With Sheets That Don't Sell on Ebay

We have been having sleet all day long. The temperature has gone down to 32 degrees or less.


Last night I threw this sheet on my Hydrangea bush. It had little buds on it and I wanted it to survive! I had to wait five years for this little baby to actually bloom! There was no way I wanted it to suffer! ( I am being totally selfish here) It is a gorgeous plant! I checked this sheet it is so stiff I couldn't move it. Hopefully my bush will survive!

By the way I did sell 6 of the 9 I listed on Ebay. Things are slow on Ebay, but at least I got rid of some! Still haven't tested the space bags. I think that is a Sunday job.

Be back soon!

Dog Trouble

One/both of these two lovely dogs are upset that tax season is here. We have been getting home late due to tax season and they have let us know this is not okay with them! The first day they ate one of my daughter's shoes. I thought what the heck? Well, the shoes had seen better days, no great loss.

The next time we came home late they decided to eat my memory foam chair cushion. Of course I decided they needed to be put up when we left in the morning. Did we remember? No....................but luckily they decided to attack the same cushion.

This picture is after the first time. I have needed to make new cushions for the kitchen but I have never taken the time to do it. I guess I will have to now!

I think Max (the black and white dog) did it. He is only one and a half years old and still has some rebellion in him. Charlie, the brown rat terrier, is pretty grouchy and growls constantly. He is about 5 1/2 years old. I just can't see him doing that. Maybe I need a hidden camera!

Be back soon!

This and That

Amber (my daughter) had suggested that I should try Space bags for all the vintage linens I have. I thought that was a Great idea! I thought I should try one and see how they did before I purchased allot of them. On Monday I was at Walmart and they jumped in my cart. It was trying to tell me something! I brought them home anxious to try them out, but we were going to our granddaughter Abby's birthday party and then "24" was on. No testing that day!


Today I stopped at the Goodwill because I had time to kill before I picked up Jessie from Volleyball practice. Guess what was sitting on the counter. I thought it was some body's merchandise that was still shopping. The worker at the Goodwill asked the clerk next to her what that was doing on the counter. He said somebody decided not to purchase it. I jumped on it! $2.99 for the box of 3 large I bought at the Goodwill. $10.00 for the box of 2 large I bought at Walmart. Now I will test with the box I purchased from the Goodwill. If I don't like them, I will take the one I purchased at Walmart back. I hope they work though and I fill them all up. I will let you know what I think of these. I think it's fate! I need to get control over my clutter!

On another note I thought I would show you my completed White letter F. My sister Tami asked why I didn't just use spray paint. I told her it was too cold to use spray paint and I just love to hand paint on smaller items. It is relaxing to me.


I did spray paint on Sunday. It was gorgeous out. I spray painted this grill I have in front of my fireplace. It was a cream color which bugged the heck out of me! I took it out to the garage and threw down a shower curtain I have for spray painting and now it is a bright white! I feel better already. Except for my sore hand from pressing on the nozzle.

I now call my living room the music room. Jessie has an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar permanently on the hearth.

Be back soon!

Crafty things I do while I watch T.V.

Tonight while watching TV I worked on some projects. First I took this letter F off the mantle. It was a tarnished gold but it didn't really show up very well against the brick of the fireplace.

Don't you just love my dropcloth for painting? This is a vinyl placemat that I purchased just for painting projects. It gets used alot! This is the perfect size for small projects. I gave the letter F a couple of coats of white paint. It still needs at least one more coat and then I will distress it a little. I will have to finish it tomorrow.

It's looking better!

Then I revamped this lampshade. I added the pearl dots. So simple! They had a sticky back on them. Thank you Martha Stewart! I cut roses off a rosebush I had. Got out my new hot glue gun (thank you Julie!) and went to town glueing the roses on the bottom edge. I love the little green sticking out from the back of the roses! I put the lampshade on an estate sale lamp and ................here it is!

This is going up in my "Shabby" Guest bedroom. There is a dressing table in there that it will look great on! (I think that is "CSI" on the TV in the background.) Here is a closeup of the shade.

I LOVE IT!!

Pink Polka Dot Day at the Thrift

I ran into the thrift store today. I haven't been to one in weeks. I have been too busy with tax season. I only had about 5 minutes in there today. I found this beautiful fabric right away. Around 12 yards of the mini pink polka dot fabric for $2.99. Around 5 1/2 yards of the larger pink polka dot taffeta fabric for $2.99. I have no idea what I will make with this. I'll have to see what comes up.


I have been working on a tank top pattern. I should have finished it tonight, but "24" was on. Maybe tomorrow night I can finish it up.