5 thing Friday - wine, roses, crates, brownies, cat

Is it ridiculous that I bought this wine just because it has my name on it?  Ok, how bout cause it was $1.62 on clearance at Walgreen's?  

It was decent. And I got some new library books - they are so-so.  I really need a good novel.  Suggestions?

My Valentine's roses from Hubby.  When he saw that I had left a sussie in his chair on V-Day his exact words were "Oh. Crap."  I take it he forgot.  But he made good with roses and a nice Chinese dinner out.

I am so glad every time I get rid of something from my kids' babyhood.  I want the memories, not the cargo.  

These brownies were delish - not the least of which because I used dark chocolate chips and added pecans.  They were full of brown sugar and butter.  Warm from the oven they were diabolical.

Sweet Sugie.

Gina

Cubicals storage and closet clean-up for Scout

Looking into Scout's closet made me twitch:

I don't know how he ever finds his clothes. I told him I would get him a bookcase for storage so he could reclaim the closet for clothes.  And here is the perfect space:

I had a disc chair at the foot of his bed, but he moved it to over by the window, leaving a space that can be put to better use.

 I started by emptying the closet out and giving the shelves a fresh coat of paint, then vacuuming the carpet.

 I think the Cubicals system by Closetmaid is perfect in here.  It's not fancy furniture, but Scout will not mind. I chose the espresso color with two beige fabric bins and a seagrass bin, just to make it interesting.

 Look at all that glorious hanging space!

 Three of the stacking baskets can stay in the closet, since they do not obstruct the hanging things.  And the basket on the floor is his dirty clothes hamper.

Everything got dusted, trash emptied, bed made, the room got vacuumed.  He's old enough to do all of that for himself, but I love having it all spiffy for him when he gets home.

Gina

Mealplan Monday #99 and Bubbie

On my days off this week I thought I would spiff Bubbie's room a little - it looks stuck in middle school land.

November 2012 

The boy himself:

 Playground, Aug. 2012

Some of these are from my camera, some from Scouts'.

Elgin Tree Farm, Dec. 2013

 What a treasure Bubbie is!  Smart, funny, still lets me hug him...

Monday - (freezer) Chicken Marsala, pasta, green beans
Tuesday - Quesadilla Casserole, salad
Wednesday - BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza
Thursday - Million Dollar Spaghetti, broccoli, garlic toast
Friday - Chipotle Chicken Tacos, Mexican rice
Saturday - Camporee Weekend
Sunday - Hamburger Helper, corn (yes, I am phoning it in, but everyone will be tired including me!)
Dessert this week is Pecan Bars

 Independence Day, 2013

 Port Aransas, 2012

 Self portrait, 2013

Spiderman, 2012

Gina

Beautiful custom greeting cards

Scout got a deal from Shutterfly for a free 100 prints.  I could not resist buying some of them from him to make my own unique greeting cards.

I bought these craft paper cards and envelopes at Michael's with a 40% off coupon.  I think the color is great as a background for the vivid prints.

Then I gathered a ruler, utility knife, glue stick, and a cutting board.

I spread the photos out before me.  Some of them will be lengthwise, some crosswise.  The cards are smaller than the prints, so they must be trimmed up a smidge.

When I was done trimming and pasting I had quite a pile of scraps.  I hate that they had to be trimmed, but the next size card was huge.  These are just the right size for birthday cards, thank you's, etc.

 

 

On the back of each of them I wrote the name he uses for his photography:

Gina

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Mealplan Monday #98 and sewing my stash

On one our recent inclement weather days I did some sewing for the den.  See that little remote control caddy on the coffee table?  It was a Christmas gift.  Perfect since I wanted to stop using the dough bowl which was getting more wear and tear than I liked. It isn't thrifted, handmade, or upcycled - but it is handy for this table.

It's just the right size with a swivel base.  And it had that center slot that was the perfect size for some coasters.  So I made some out of my fabric stash. 

Monday - (freezer) Rosemary Chicken, rice, carrots
Tuesday - Taco Skillet, salad
Wednesday - Tilapia Tacos, cabbage slaw, black beans
Thursday - Apple and Sage Pork Chops, masheds, peas
Friday - Sloppy Joes, chips
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Hamburger Helper (Bubbie cooks), corn
Dessert this week is a Chocolate cake with s'mores frosting and vanilla ice cream

No two are exactly alike, tho all of them have a natural color fabric on the back.  Go here for a short tutorial - they're really simple to make. Kinda like a tiny potholder.

Sometimes these little sewing projects help chase the boredom away on dreary days.

Gina

5 thing Friday - pillow, hair, cookies, beans, and funky days

I found a perfectly sized piece of fleece that became a toss pillow for Bubbie in about 15 minutes.  Cozy!  I don't know why I hadn't done that before - he loves that kind of stuff.

 Apparently, hair is a hot button topic in my family lately.  These two got haircuts recently and you would think something HUGE had happened.  

Stop the presses, The Girl now has bangs and Scout now has ears. 
Aren't my peeps pretty?

 Cookie Dough Oreos are straight from the Devil. 

We ate them on a day off from school, due to "inclement weather".  What a laugh.  Not a drop of precip that day.  We enjoyed laying around and doing nothing.  Thank you, AISD.

And then homemade cookie dough happened.  This was a darn tasty cookie recipe that I added Valentine M&M's to. This tub was destined to be baked for for a February Team party at work.

Well, except for a small amount that found it's way onto the pan of brownies I made that evening.  My bad.

The best dinner ever:  the ham bone from Christmas cooked with navy beans in the crock pot all day.  An aromatherapeutic welcome at the end of a long workday.  

I'm feeling weary of the drab days - even with missing blinds, there isn't enough light in here to shake the feelings that come from Winter Funk.  Is is too early to look forward to Spring?  Or at least some sun?
 Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Hubby and I plan on going out for Chinese.  
What do YOU have planned?

Gina

Burlap Valentine Treat Bags

I made some cute little burlap bags to hold treats for my peeps.

I've seen ideas for these on other people's blogs - but they always involved pre-made bags and fabric paint.  I may as well do it from scratch; it's therapeutic for me to sew anyway and it made for a frugal project.

I pulled out my burlap stash - I had some white leftover from the re-do of the memo boards, and some natural leftover from the tree skirt.  

I made a heart template out of cardboard, then ironed a bit of fusible interfacing on small squares of pretty fabric scraps before tracing and cutting out the hearts.  This made them less flimsy and easier to sew onto the burlap. 

I just eyeballed the burlap and made the bags all the same size.  I figured if they were bigger than the ones you find at the crafts store, my peeps could use them to store other things later on.

I pinned the heart about 2/3 of the way down on the crease so it would be centered in the front, and the back of the bag would have the seam - not the sides.  I just thought that would make it nicer looking, and it was easier to center the heart that way.

Then I used a tight zig zag stitch all around each heart to applique it to the burlap, and stitched up the middle of the bag, then across the bottom with right sides together.  I clipped corners, turned it outside out, and pressed.  Wa -La.  A mini burlap bag.  Sweet.

For the top pf the bag, I stitched a mini zig zag a half inch or so from the top edge,  then pulled the extra threads out of the way to make a fringe-y top.  The zig zag will keep it from raveling further.

 

They are pretty and pressed and ready to fill - but I placed the candy on a zip loc first to keep it from smelling like burlap.  I wasn't sure if that was something that could happen - but the sewing room was pretty smellyful and I want to make sure the treats stay fresh.

The one is for The Girl.  I am sending it to her with a card and lots of love and a couple of other sussies, like hopefully a winning scratch off Lotto ticket so she can take a nice vacay over Spring Break.

Gina