The Easiest Re-fashion EVER!!!

You know when you have one of those weeks???  The ones where the kids each wake you up about 100 times a night, there are no clean clothes, and the only thing you feel like making for dinner is pizza.  The ones where you wake up in the morning with no covers on three square inches of your bed and look over too see your kids all piled up between you and your husband.  The ones where you contemplate running away, but it just seems like it would take more energy than you have.  Yeah....well multiply that by 10 and that about sums up the way I have felt this week. 

THEN by some miracle sent from above, the stars aligned and the kids took a nap AT THE SAME TIME.   I should have made a dent in the dirty clothes mountain or cleaned the sticky goo off of my kitchen floor OR taken a nap....but I decided to sew.  Crazy I KNOW!!! 

I needed something simple and mindless AND with instant payoff.  I chose to dig out my re-purpose box and see what popped out at me.  I have had THIS

shirt around since I was PREGNANT with Emersyn....so over 3 years.  I thought it had potential, but never quite knew what to make of it.  I decided to go easy and make a simple skirt.  SOOOOO I cut off the bottom below the waist, added an elastic waist and SMILED!!!!

I KNEW Emersyn was going to like it.  WHY????  Because it would look great with a pair of cowgirl boots.....and this girl LOVES her cowboy boots!!!

I don't know if it is because they are pink or because they are adorable or if it is because they tap when she walks, but SHE LOVES HER BOOTS!! 

So we both got what we wanted.  She got a cute comfy cowgirl skirt and I got 1 hour to myself with no crying, pooping, or BUT WHY'S. 

And in my opinion a twirly girly skirt is about as good as it gets.  Maybe even a little therapeutic :)

Hitting the Books!!

I finally got back into the reading groove this month after a LONG time away.  I have started off strong though with a few good ones.  The last two books I read I REALLY REALLY enjoyed.  They are right up my alley actually. Love stories that take place during WWII.  Just so you know...that SCREAMS Jessica :)

This is a 3 book Christian series called THE WINGS OF GLORY by Sarah Sundin. I have read the first two so far.  Book 1, A DISTANT MELODY, is about a very wealthy girl (Allie) who is engaged to her father's business partner(unhappily) when she meets a military pilot (Wally) at her friend's wedding.  They hit it off and she "forgets" to mention her boyfriend.  They write back and forth from the war and each tells lies to the other and to their friends and family.  They both get caught in multiple lies and have to sort through to the truth. I kinda loved it...not gonna lie.

Book 2, A MEMORY BETWEEN US,  continues on with Wally's brother (Jack) now being the main character.  He is a pilot in the war and gets shot.  He meets Ruth, a nurse in the hospital who REFUSES to date.  She is an orphan who is working hard to send her money home to her siblings so that they can stay out of the orphanage.  She does not want the distraction of dating, plus she has some horrible things from her past that keep her from making friends or having relationships.  Although Jack takes it slow to try to win over Ruth, he cannot compete with her terrible memories.  He has his own demons to get past, AND is trying to make the decision about whether to become a preacher when he returns home.  Drama Drama Drama.  I am ready to read book 3 about the 3rd brother.  It is called...

BLUE SKIES TOMORROW.  I love the mixture of History and Fiction.  I cannot get enough of WWII.  I know it was a horrible time, but it sure makes for some good reading:) 

 I am off to the library website to reserve book 3!!!

Burning the scrambled eggs....

Is anyone else a super messy cook????  NO, just me. Hmmm??!!! Well I cannot deny that EVERY time I finish cooking my stove looks pretty much like this...

 I am not sure if it has anything to do with my need for speed and dislike of low cook setting or what.  BUT WOWZA what a mess!!!  So I was so thrilled when I read about HOW TO CLEAN A FLAT/CERAMIC STOVE in one of the cleaning books I recently read ( not sure which one because they are already back at the library...oops!!).  Anyway...normally I use a special stovetop cleaner and a little elbow grease and get my stove pretty clean....when I manage to get the time to clean it at all that is.  BUT I found my new found tip so helpful I thought I would share.  HERE GOES....The answer is Baking Soda. YEP.  Worked WAY better than the stuff I bought in the store.  You just sprinkle it on (I use enough to cover the whole yucky mess) and then sprinkle some water over it. Then I used a toothbrush to scrub off the yuck.  I took a picture after just a few weak scrubs---comes off super easy. 

I also read that if it is REALLY cooked on.  Do the same thing but throw a little vinegar on top of the baking soda.  It is neat....it gets all fizzy...but I am not sure it worked any better than straight backing soda. 

In case you cannot tell...this totally rocked my world!!!!  Simple pleasures in the day of a stay at home mom I guess:)

Boy shorts

Yesterday I told you about this cute vest tutorial at B is for Boy....well I could not let the poor boy wear his cute vest WITHOUT some matching shorts!!!  I was a little bummed that the shorts I bought to re-purpose ONLY had enough fabric for the vest (I didn't realize it would be fully lined).  SOOOO I had to improvise.  I grabbed a brown skirt out of my GOODWILL pile and got to work. 

I followed the same steps as from over HERE when I made bandana shorts, except this time I used the pockets from the skirt to make the pockets of the shorts. 

It worked great.  I just cut the pockets RIGHT off the skirt.  I even cut the bottom layer of fabric and kept the button.  That means inside his pocket is a button that is only attached to a small circle of fabric, but since he doesn't REALLY use his pockets, I think we are safe:) I just sewed the pockets onto the front side of the shorts BEFORE I attached the 2 sides together.  I sewed them on by top-stiching and left the edges raw.  I think raw edges scream BOY, but I guess you could turn them under and have finished edges too.  ANYWAY....quick easy addition to our CHURCH attire and probably the last pair of shorts of the season.....now  on to making coats and pants:) 

B is for Boy!!

 Pheww...Summer is kicking my tail.  So  many things to do before the weather gets cool again.  Fairs, parties, birthdays, and this week....pre-school orientation.  How do I have a kid old enough for pre-school???  When did that happen???  Anyway...I did manage to get a little ALONE time amongst all of the chaos...and of course I headed to the sewing room.  I have REALLY been wanting to make something cute for my little Ethan boy for a while now.  It seems like there are TONS of cute girl things to make, but boy patterns are few and far between.  THEN I ran into THIS cute vest tutorial from B is for BOY.  I INSTANTLY knew that this was the tutorial for me.  So I headed to Value Village for some pants to re-purpose. 

Actually I found SHORTS to re-purpose, but I SHOULD have looked harder for pants.  WHY???? Because then I could have made him a matching pair for pants.  As it was, I only had enough fabric for the vest.  SOOO I guess I will have to make another one:) HMMM..better head to Value Village Again!!!

 This tutorial was great.  Easy to follow and well explained with pictures.  I LOVE PICTURES!!!!  There are only 2 things I would do differently. Both having to do with the top of the vest.  It tucks under the onesie flap, which works great.  BUT when the neck moves or gets pulled, the raw edges of the top of the unfinished vest show.  I did not like that...so I sewed a few stiches on the top flap through the vest...just to keep it all closed up.  I should have either made the vest tops narrower or folded them under and finished the tops off.  That is my only complaint.  I guess that is REALLY only 1 thing I would change...

 I think this would be SUCH a fun baby shower gift.  Quick and easy.  PLUS who doesn't love to dress their baby up:)

So for the sophisticated 6 month old....SUCCESS!!!!  Perfect for a morning at church, and comfy enough for an afternoon in the yard.  BTW....I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!!!!!