Spring Top Contest

Hey everyone, I entered a sewing contest on Made By Rae and 2 of my tops are featured on her blog today! Even though this doesn't mean I'm a finalist, I just thought it was cool. Check out some of the entries. They are guaranteed to inspire.

New patio and the finishing of some other projects

Phil and I put our tax return dollars to work and finally had a patio cover built. We also had enough money to get patio furniture. We LOVE our new patio. On most sunny days, we've eaten dinner outside. The kids love playing out there and I love having a place to relax while I hang out with them.

I also received some strawberry plant seedlings so I borrowed my sister's strawberry pots and planted them. I didn't think they'd survive, but already some leaves have grown. Hopefully we'll get a few strawberries too.

For some strange reason, when our builder poured our concrete, he wouldn't pour it up to the side of the house. So the boys and I went down to Lowe's, filled our cart with 22 pavers and other gardening supplies, then I pushed all of this, along with 2 little boys, up to the register. I put the pavers in the non-cemented area, and voila, a finished patio was born.

Ryan and I also started a little science experiment with some seeds this week. We bought this tray with little circles of peat moss in it. Each circle has a tiny divet in the center. First you add enough water to make them double in size. Then you plant a few seeds in each one and cover them with peat. Last, you cover them with a lid, making them look like a tray of brownies (which is what Phil thought he was coming home too).

We did this on Monday and today we had some seeds sprout. We will transfer the herbs to pots outside once they get bigger. I think I will also do this with my class when we study plants. These have all been fun projects and I'm glad I get to enjoy the results.

Sewing Room Make-over

Well, the notion that family was coming to town and needed a place to stay lit a fire under me and I finally tackled the sewing room/guest room. I used fabric I already had from redoing the church nursery, some old cardboard from diaper boxes, and a can of white paint that's been on the shelf in the garage for a couple of years. I also used a lot of elbow grease and time, but here's what my sewing room looks like now.

Phil gave me permission to take his old desk and paint it white and make it my new cutting table. I love it all so much. The colors make me happy and the white looks so clean. And speaking of clean, no, my sewing room will never, ever look this clean, ever, ever, ever again. I think this is the first time I've cleaned up and put away the ironing board in months.

Once the air mattress is inflated and linens are put on, I think it will be a very nice guest room.

New Old Shirt

On Fridays at school, we have color day. We don't have to wear a staff shirt, but we try to wear our school colors. Our staff shirts are men's t-shirts, which are never flattering. I was tired of mine, and I wanted to revamp this shirt into something I would like to wear. I found this website that has several tutorials on embellishing t-shirts, which helped me to make this shirt.

• I first decided to cut off the bottom edge of my shirt. I tried it on and and folded it up until it hit where I felt it was flattering, and cut it off. It was 3".
• Next, I pulled out my patterns and found a scoop neck that I liked. I cut my neckline to that shape. I did this both on the front and back, but then thought I ruined it because the back of the neckline should have been higher. I finally realized I could gather the neck edge which would also bring it in so the sleeve seams would actually be on my shoulders. I also finished the neck off with a strip of binding to make it more secure.

• Using the cut off edge of the t-shirt, I cut an 1 1/4" strip, then gathered it down the middle. I arranged these strips on the front of the shirt to my liking, which also hid the logo.
• Next I cut a 1" strip and gathered it down the middle and wound it up to make the flowers. More details for making the flowers can be found on the website I linked above.

• I still had a bit of the remaining logo on the back of the shirt. I cut a little strip of the leftover ruffle and sewed it over the logo. You can see a bit of it peaking out in this picture.
• Last, I finally tried it on again, rolled the sleeves until they fell where I like them, measured, and cut them off. Again, it was 3".

Now I have a shirt I would be happy to wear anywhere on any day of the week. I'm now shopping in my closet and in my scraps to revamp more of my wardrobe. I can't wait to redo another shirt.

Just so you know...

Jack is a really big boy. Today we finally went in for his 9 month check up and found out that he is 31 inches long and weighs 23 lbs., 10 oz. He is also a busy boy. He is crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. He is waving hello and goodbye to people and sometimes, himself. He also claps, especially for himself (and when he burped really loud). This morning, he said, "dada" to Phil and "mama" to me. He just melted our hearts. I just love that boy and can't get over just how fast he is growing.