Scrap happy bookmarks

I recently pinned a cute tute on making use of tiny scraps of fabric by creating bookmarks. Since I'm an avid reader, I thought I would whip some up.

I used a bookmark I already have, as a guide.  Just laid my fabrics out in the order I wanted, stitched, ironed on some interfacing,  sewed right sides together with another fabric for the back, then turned right side out and stitched around the edges.  Easy peasy.

I added a loop of ribbon to the tops and stitched my initials on one side of my "artwork". Once I got the hang of it, each one took me less than 10 minutes. 

Bubbie came home from school while I was in the thick of it and asked for his own.  Which got me to thinking:  there's a lot of people I could make these for, including his brothers, sister, aunt, grandmother...good thing I have plenty o' fabric scraps!

Gina

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Spring sprucing

Along with working on the yards this week, I am sprucing up a little indoors.  

The den re-do is high on the list.

Yesterday I worked on the mantel:

I would have loved to get something else to hang on the wall, but for now this is where it stands.  Something about having the house clean and Spring-y makes me feel a little less stressed...

I also got busy on spray painting a couple things in oil rubbed bronze..

It's a good thing I did it yesterday as for the next two days it's supposed to rain.  

I plan on measuring for the curtains today and using my 

40% off coupon for Joann Fabrics.  

I came up with something I thought might work to hang them:

 ORB drapery hooks.  AKA tiny curtain rods.  I'm a little nervous about drilling the holes and buying all that fabric.  Whatcha think?  I think it might work, but I am feeling procrastination hitting me like a ton of bricks.  So hard to make myself get going!

A good breakfast helps:   two eggs over easy with leftover pico, cheese, guacamole and Greek yogurt from last night's Cafe Rio Chicken rice bowls, which were delish.  

Wish me luck getting this project complete!

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 and

Mealplan Monday #1 - cut yourself some slack!

Last week was rough - no doubt about it.  Between my job, my family, and helping my mother with her cornea surgery, I felt like taffy - pulled in all directions.  So I purposely made sure that the menus for this week were easy so I could do some stuff I had put off!

Monday - Crock Pot Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday - Cafe Rio Chicken Bowls with rice, pico, black beans, guacamole

Wednesday - Stouffer's lasagna, mixed veggies (Freezer meal night!)

Thursday - Homebaked Mac and Cheese, oven carrots

Friday - Buffalo Chicken Sammies, sweet potato tots, coleslaw

Saturday - Dad grills

Sunday - Leftover Beef and Beans from freezer*, Cheesy garlic bread, salad

Gina

Hippity hop

I hopped into my favorite Salvation Army Family Store on Spring Break and found a couple of cute treasures:

 I paid $2.50 for the pair of them.  I so love terra cotta.

And I love that this little one wasn't white or pink - but what's up with those bright red eyes?

A dab of dark brown nail polish and he found a home in the china cabinet with a lot of other bunnies - 

guess I didn't realize how many I had...

The terra cotta bunny got a bow and is perched on a bookcase.  He makes me smile every time I pass him!

I don't decorate for Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day - but Easter, that's something else entirely.  The Girl will be home, I will be off, and we can all go to church together and share a nice meal.  Time to get the house spruced for Spring and make the menu for Easter Sunday. 

******

What are your plans for that day?

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and

The mama that could

I feel like the cat must feel in this picture - everyone leave me alone for a little while so I can relax and recharge...I've got a hard week coming up... worked all weekend, working tomorrow, house is a mess, laundry and post Spring Break food shopping to be done, Brenham on Wednesday to pick up my mother, taking her to eye surgery and follow-up appointment on Thursday, work again Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Blerg.

 

 I don't want to sound ungrateful or whiny.  After all, I CAN get 'er all done.  And, as a matter of fact, I am looking forward to a girl's evening out on Friday night, seeing Hunger Games with my niece, sister, and some friends.  So I will have something to look forward to....a fun evening and a big bucket o' popcorn!

And this weekend, there was also this cake, from The Country Cook, which was a hit for a co-worker's birthday.  Umm....the frosting was divine.  Worth baking on Saturday night, and a big hit.  And... it wasn't such a bad weekend at work.  Probably the week will turn out just fine.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Teenagers are so good at this

I think Scout is so used to me bugging him, he's become immune to it.

It doesn't faze him for me to point the camera at him.  Maybe because he thinks if he doesn't look at me, it doesn't count.  And he knows I'm not a serious photog, so he humors me.

 But it doesn't matter to me whether he looks or not.  It's just fun catching a little slice of his day.

When he gets home from school, the first thing he does is grab a snack and sit at the kitchen table.

 

He likes to drink the rest of his morning coffee and catch up on texting.  If you forget to save the rest of his coffee from breakfast, , and toss it while you clean kitchen, you will regret it when he gets home.  It doesn't matter to him that it's not fresh.  Or that it's cold.

It only matters that he has this little bit of down time at the end of the school day.  

A creature of habit, he is.  

And one who can ignore distractions, apparently.

Ready for Spring

I guess Spring is here - if the calendar didn't say Spring Break, I wouldn't be looking for it. 
Seems like we never had Winter.

And since we have a dull week planned, I thought I would venture out there to see what needed to be done. The patio, which I though would need a LOT of cleaning up, was not in such bad shape.  

 It mainly just needed a good sweep and rearranging of furniture, 

some cleaning of the table and chairs, and storing the fire pit.

When the oaks stop dropping leaves and pollen, we can power wash the slab.  

I'd like to get a rug to go under the table, and pot some plants for the deck.

In the meantime I gussied up my herb garden  and cleaned up the table for Spring dinners outside.  

A little TLC prettied the space without spending a lot.  

My kind of "before and after".

Spring Break un-plans

In years past I have kicked off Spring Break, and any other holiday from school, with donuts.  And a plan.  

But this Spring Break, all I have are the donuts.  And a loose idea about what I would like to do this week.  I'm trying to keep it un-planned so the teenagers feel like they have more of a say in what they'd like to do.  But at the very least I want to:

*Go to Alamo Drafthouse for lunch and a movie

*Get the yards raked and some weed and feed sprinkled on

*Sew a little on that skirt

*Buy groceries, get a handle on laundry, make some yummy dinners

*Sleep in

*Visit the library and read some good books

I think Scout also wants to go see a free SXSW show.  Bubbie wants to glue himself to my iTouch.  And The Girl is all about staying out late with friends.  Firstborn and hubby will be working - no Spring Break for them, but at least mornings will be quieter and evenings more relaxed.  A far cry from the days I had activities, lunches, snacks, and rest time planned down to the T.  But that's what happens as they all slowly grow up...and out.

Project Fail

Sooo... several months ago I painted the inside of the bookcase a color to coordinate with the rest of the den:

 

 

It actually worked fine until anything bumped up against the paint.  Then stuff like this happened:

 And once I saw it I had to see if more would just peel off. The answer was yes.  Drat.

 In big wads.  Windex helped get it all to loosen up and come off easily.  And here I thought I was so smart using a paint with primer.  At least I got smart removing it with my widget and the Windex.  It was like removing wallpaper - except that it was stretchy.  Doomed from the get-go.

 Sigh.  At least all of it came off without damaging the wall behind it. 

 So I just pulled everything out, cleaned it up, put things back like I thought they would work better...

 Reed baskets hold the DVD's - I couldn't find Sea Grass in the right size, but these are pretty near perfect.  They weren't cheap - which is odd for Wally World.  $10 each.  But they add texture to the bookcase.

Wish I could get rid of the VHS tapes.  Not yet, not yet...

I just left the Italian Olive spray painted basket on bottom.  It matches the room.  And the owl.

I can't work on this again until Spring Break.  Maybe I'll just leave it. 
The slick paint in the back of the bookcase apparently doesn't want to be painted!