CHRISTMAS LIST

Copying the girls at Eighteen25, I turned our summer to do list into a Christmas to do list.

MUG RUGS

You know that I have a cup (LARGE) of hot chocolate every morning, right?  With whole wheat toast and peanut butter or a whole wheat english muffin?

EVERY single morning.

So, have you seen the mug rugs EVERYWHERE in blog land?

 

I had a bunch of CUTE fall scraps from a failed project last year and when I saw these I knew what to do!  First, I just made one for Rachel. Then, I admit, I got a little carried away and started thinking of people who would also enjoy one.

 

Perfect size for a mug and a muffin or cookie (or three).

Mine are about 6"x9".  I think I'm in love.

I HATE hand binding.  I am so over that.  I am not doing it again!  (But I did watch the whole season of Sister Wives while doing it.)  I'm going back to the cheater way of machine binding.  SO much easier on the fingertips!

HOOKER HALLOWEEN

I was addicted to making these and these (to name just a few).  When I saw this on the Lion Brand website I knew what I would be making.

Here's the pumpkin and ghost.

The bat and the spider.

The mummy and the candy corn.

They crochet (hook) up pretty quickly which is perfect for my short attention span!

FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE THIS YEAR

I think my kids were pretty much over another round of BINGO and word finds and so forth.  Then I saw this idea on Sugardoodle and again on A Bushel and a Peck of FUN and I was hooked!  I bought several of these at the neighborhood Walmart:

In PowerPoint I printed up the newest apostle, taking the image from Google by Googling their names and making them 1" wide and 1 1/4 " long (or so). The rest I printed from Sugardoodle.  Some were made black and white and some color and I was super frustrated but moved on.  There's the perfect project and then there's the completed project.

Using clear packing tape, I caught up the picture and stuck it on the side of the page so it tabs:

 

and folds over to secure it to the back.

The kids wrote in what they learned from the BIG FIFTEEN at General Conference. 

 These pictures are all of Daniel's book but Joseph and Jack filled their books and Matthew wrote in his, too.

 

After each successful summary they got a couple of candies to get them through to the next speaker.

 

I am for sure continuing to do this.  My kids are old enough to pay attention and take notes, not just argue about and count who has the most blue m&ms and whether or not someone ate one to look like they have less, and so forth.  (Not that that sort of thing EVER happens at my house.)

WOOD and VINYL

 

While I was in SLC I went to the Wood Connection and picked up a couple of crafts to get me through the Fall that is nonexistent here in Louisiana (and I really wouldn't care about that, except I love Fall most of all - the smell in the air, the sweater weather, the football games where you stomp your feet because it's too cold to take off your gloves, etc.).  These are just 2x6 blocks in different heights with vinyl letters of differing heights splatted down.  I painted the wood white, put down the letters, stained it hickory, then sprayed it with a finishing spray. I also painted my boring bulletin board sparkly turquoise a week or so ago and now I LOVE it.  Makes me happy every day.

This took second place for easiest because it had two vinyls which required some lining up.  It is HUMONGOUS - 12"x24".  My friend Julie is in charge of Relief Society education in my old ward in Spokane.  They do fun stuff ( here we don't - although I am not complaining - I have plenty of unfinished projects to finish. Plus, complainers get put in charge and I say "no, thank you" to that!). Anyway, Julie had a left over and hooked me up.  I love it, too.

Doing stuff like this makes me feel better about not doing other stuff, like laundry and dishes.

SEWING

I've been working on this:

Sorry, not my story to tell, but I do get to sew it and it's been fun. I'll let you know when you can take a looksy!

And in relation to the above, I made this. I wish I could remember where I first saw it, but it's been a few years. I was going to make one for Joseph but didn't - since we were moving and all. Now it's for Emme DeGraff who is getting baptized on Sunday.

Here's the full length shot.

There's more things I've been sewing, I'll post about the others soon.

STAMPED METAL WASHERS

SOMETHING NOT TO DO IF YOU ARE TRYING TO QUIT SAYING THE OCCASSIONAL CURSE WORD

even if they are in the Bible.

As you may have heard, we are going on a little roadtrip hur (here) in a few weeks. I have been wanting to make washer necklaces since last summer, but never got around to it.

I have all things roadtrip on mah (my) mind and realized it was my perfect excuse to make some of these rill cute things. (Plus everyone has been making them for more than a year, and now they are practically out of style, so it's time for me to jump on the wagon!)

I went to Harbour Freight and picked up the stamps. They look like this:

The store smells bad and the back tire on Svetlana was low. I filled her up at a scary gas station nearby.

I went to Lowe's and combed through 25 drawers to find 30 frickin' same size washers that were below knee level so I had to bend over the whole time and it killed my back.

I spent twenty minutes measuring the holes and diameter and trying to figure out what size they were so I would know what code to put on the plastic baggy. When I went to check out I was chased away by a checker at the first register who was waving his arms yelling, "NO! NO! Big order! No!"

I was like, I have 30 washers ....

Then I realized maybe he meant the guy already checking out.

Don't worry, I finally found someone who would take mah (my) money.

Then I went to WalMarche and bought knee hi's to make the necklace part. I stood in line for another 25 minutes while I waited for the checker to exercise her right to take as long as she wants as she slides the items over the scanner.

You've seen these, right?

If you factor in mah (my) time it's the most expensive 33 cents I've ever spent!

All that previous stuff leads up to ... setting (sitting) on mah (my) carport floor in 103* heat and bein' glad (for the 1000th time) that mah carport is behind mah house and not facing the street.

Take a hammer and put the greasy, slidey stamp on the washer and start banging the snot out of it.

Check out mah letter - perfect!

Next letter - slip!

Dang it!

Repeat.

Curse.

Remember you aren't cursing and curse when you remember.

Repeat.

Get 15 useable washers out of thirty.

In the air conditioned house, get a big drink of ice cold water and stick your head in the freezer 'til it cools down.

Take a Sharpie marker and smoosh the sharpie ink into the letters (some will get around) and then wipe it off with a baby wipe. It makes the letters more noticable.

Now go ahead and cut up dem (those) knee hi's into 1" strips.

Loop them on the washers and here you go:

Some things to note - the stamps are greasy - I guess the keep them from rusting - so if you are prone to wiping your hands on your legs, like I am, be sure not to! 'Cause when you do, you might be tempted to profane.

Check your box to be sure you have all your letters AND that they are deeply cut. You can see that the "R" on "roadtrip" isn't very deep. I wish I had looked at more sets. I have heard of people not getting all the letters, or the letters being deformed.

The stamps also slide around. GRRRRRRRRR Repeat after me - washers are seven cents each.

DO NOT stamp on tile or carpeted floor, your table top, or counter (especially if it's granite!). The table and carpet aren't hard enough and if you hit tile or granite just right you can crack it. It's best to use good old fashioned concrete.

If you have broken yer (your) tailbone 5 times, take a pillow out for yer (your) tuckus.

If you have a bad elbow on the arm you use to hammer, plan on the elbow hurtin' the rest of the day.

And yer shoulder.

And yer head.

And yer booty.

And yer back.

Use a wide Sharpie and just really smoosh in the ink into the letter grooves. It's so satisfying! You can do a couple before using a wipe to wash the extra off several at a time.

If you want a tutorial that makes it look easy-peasy I suggest this one.

* No actual four letter words were used in the making of dem (these) necklaces. But there was a lot of "dang, fetch, ohmyheck, what the holy scrud, h - e - double hockey sticks, that's frickin, flippin crud!"

WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE SUMMERTIME WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS GREEN ...

Whenever I talk to my friend CiCi she asks me, "What are you looking forward to?" I've found making lists of things I am looking forward to can help me get through a rough patch (and honestly, the last 10 months have KICKED MY BUTTOCKS).

I saw this over at Eighteen25 earlier in the month and knew this crafty was a better way to display my summer plans, instead of a page in my planner ... haha!

("Planner" makes it sound like I PLAN stuff!)

I finally finished mine up. I didn't follow her craft exactly. For one thing, I DON'T HAVE A COSTCO (thanks for asking) to get fabulous prints but I had clearance paper from the WalMarche that matched the list topper so I just cut strips and glued them on. I wrote on the paper, not the glass.

And I'm planning on updating this in the "Fall" which comes around in January, with winter things to do, too.

So, that's a few of our summer plans (and yes, I even put on the stuff we've already done, as soon as I find my dry erase markers, I'll mark them off.

Because I do like to check things off. Me and Franklin Planners used to be REAL TIGHT.

Oh, and by way of warning, go to Eighteen25 at your own risk. They have TONS of cute stuff!

BIKE BASKET FOR THE LITTLES

This is Joseph's. Matthew's has an orange top and inside.

I saw this tutorial and thought - that is so for me! Little cost. Little time. Little boys. Perfect!

I made it, and this is what I think ...

It looks great on the outside but the inside? Bleck.

The problem is in the double sided heat fusible interfacing. I just cant get the corners and bottom of the fabric hot enough from my iron barely reaching to make it fuse. So the inside is all sloppy.

That said, it went together fast. It holds a water bottle, a water gun, and light saber so my boys are hooked up. Best of all - it cost $2. For the velcro.

I'VE SEEN THAT SMILE SOMEWHERE BEFORE

One year ago I stumbled across some amazing embroidery patterns from AllSorts. I knew instantly what I wanted to do!

I decided to make quilts for my daughters using these as the center of the blocks!

I finally got around to it. I had my girls pick their favorite twelve, out of eighteen patterns and I embroidered the girls from different countries on white cotton over the winter.

Last month when my mom came to visit she brought me some stuff from her basement. Among some treasured vintage sheets was this:

I started to laugh. I had COMPLETELY forgotten that 33 years ago I had done a similar project!

Here's another one:

I can't believe that I basically made the same quilt for myself! Looks like my mom had my great idea years ago! I remember working on these blocks and I think I even painted some in our white camp trailer with the orange stripe down the side.

Any ideas for Rachel's quilt?

Anyone recognize the song in my title?

TOLD YA I WAS KNOCKING THEM OUT

I made this table runner from my beloved and protected Hunky Dory by Chez Moi stash.

The only thing that would make it better is if I painted that table. Or stained. Or something. I am so over orange oak.

I not only LOVE the name Hunky Dory, as it turns out, the fabric like butta.

I asked Sari to take a picture of the runner and here's what she did. Always an artist's eye, that one.

AMY BUTLER BIRDIE SLINGS

I made four of these Amy Butler Birdie Sling bags for my graduating Laurels.

Then I realized I had THREE graduating Laurels.

I took Math 97 FIVE times in order to graduate from BYU.

Anyway, I did my own thing on the inside. Like a key loopy above the slide in pockets. (Large enough to hold an assortment of pens, because REALLY, I need at least 4 colors of pens to function.

On the other side I put a LARGE zipper pocket (because sometimes you have a secret) and a cell phone pocket.

Looking at these pictures, I realize I need to iron the bag.

More to come! I am knocking off projects at an astonishing rate.

AND ANOTHER ONE

Shenandoah Elementary is having a fund raiser and every class has to make a basket that they are auctioning off.

This apron is going to Matthew's teacher's LSU basket.

I hate hate HATE the pattern! It is made by the Apron Lady and I have to say, stay away from it! The pieces don't match, the instructions are not clear, and basically, I think it was a big waste of money.

APRON

I have been needing another apron like another whole in my head.

Also, I had a yard each of this fabric because I was going to make a nursing cover for my friend's daughter. (Sorry Allison and Jan) The baby is close to a year old so I decided to make an apron with it instead.

It's the Emmeline apron by Sew Liberated. And brace yourself, it is REVERSIBLE!

And this is the other side.

Yes, it's pretty much turquoise and red and pink, my three favorite colors for about 2 years now. Thank goodness the fabric is getting easier to find. (Which probably means I'll be changing my mind soon - haha!)

I just remembered that I made one for my sister from another Mister (Utah) about two years ago. You can see it here.

BACON POTATO SOUP

This is from my friend, Julie Grover, in Spokane. And this recipe has become my go-to meal for winter wonderfulness.

3 - 14 1/2 oz chicken broth
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 brick Cream Cheese cut up
Crumbled bacon (I use the kind that comes in a big bag from either Hormel or Kirkland (for you lucky ducks with a Costco) and it is already cooked and crumbled. I just add what looks good.
1/3 cup chopped onion (I use onion powdered because we don't like the way onions feel when you bite them but we like the taste.)
8 cps. potatoes, peeled and cubed (I fill my crockpot up - it nearly fits a 10 lb bag and I double everything else.)

Put it in the crockpot all day, on high. Stir it occasionally. It will look really bad - chunky yuck - that means it's not done, when it's all creamy, it is done.

We like it with my friend Elizabeth's Fast Rolls:

I just took the sticky note she wrote the directions on and stuck it on the cupboard next to my mixer. You don't want to know how many times a week we make these!

And I love that I see my dear friend's handwriting!

It reminds me of when we were missionaries and she put little quotes and inspirational thoughts up all over.

So cook some up - the way I make the dinner makes it SUPER THICK. If you like soupier soups, for sure only put in about 8 cups of potatoes.

Enjoy!