My keychain coin purse...

So once I got home from work I had to make one of those coin purses! Here is how it turned out.

I thought it was super adorable! Here is the back.

Not too bad for a first try. Not perfect but definitely cute!

I will be making more of these.

Oh so Cute!

I found this tutorial on dollarstorecrafts.com for a coin purse keychain made from dish towels. They are adorable!

So while I was out and about yesterday, I stopped at Deals to see if they had anything cute that I could use to make my own. I did find one cloth placemat that I think will work and 2 dish towels that are good for an every day coin purse. I may get started on them tonight. I would like to make one for my gift exchange at work as a filler and that is tomorrow!
Ahh...so much to do, so little time.

The Holidays are Upon us...

I am not prepared at all! I have shopping to do and decorating and baking and my daughters birthday party...Oh my where am I going to find time for all that and to clean my house. LOL!!

We went this past weekend to pick out the perfect tree from the tree farm. It has rained the night before and therefore was muddy!!!

After 3hrs and two farms we found THE tree. Ok so I thought it was the tree and my husband was just tired of walking so I basically said whatever and walked away. I come back and it is cut down, thanks to my son.

We get it home and yep it takes up a 1/4th of my living room and is 10ft tall! I think it looks great! It still needs all the trimmings put on and we are doing a blue and white theme this year.

Christmas is at my house on Christmas eve and I have to work that day...SOOOOO I need to get super duper busy. Between now and next Thursday I have soccer practice, choir concert, birthday party, bowling leagues, soccer game and orthodontist appts. Does it ever stop! NO. My husband will be in charge of the soccer and bowling stuff so I can go to choir and prepare for a house full of teenagers.

My lovely wonderful beautiful daughter has invited about 25 of her friends to come over. I am not sure where they will be going besides the basement. So I am thinking of cheap and fun decorations for her 14th bday party to liven up the unfinished basement. Martha Stewart has a tutorial on how to make tissue paper pom poms on her website. So I am going to do those and string some christmas lights and get out the disco ball and get some ballons and let them have at it.

Here is my first tissue paper pom pom, hung from the entry way light.

Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration

Major Frustration...cute end product

Every year my company provides dolls for you to dress for little girls for Christmas.
So this year I decided to make the outfits. I have had the dolls in my possession for oh only about a month and they are due on Monday Nov 30th. So I waited until 2 days before to actually start making them.

I have never made doll clothes before and not sure if I ever will again.
I used a pattern from Simplicity's Archives #4707. Very adorable and retro/vintage looking.

Here is the end result...

I WON SOMETHING!!

Yeppers....I won a $50 gift card at work today. It was to a place of my choice too.
So after about 15 min of hemming and hawwing I decided on Wal-Mart. I couldn't think of a better or more creative place. I thought about JoAnn Fabric but I didn't know if my boss (a man) would actually go in there to get a gift card.

So I am going to apply that $50 to my Black Friday shopping or groceries or maybe something for myself. More than likely it will be BF shopping.

I bet tomorrow I will wish it were a different store! Maybe I should tell him to give me a night to think on it and I will spend the evening debating.

WOW!! What a SLACKER!

It has been darn near 5 months since my last post. I am not shocked though.
I have thought about this blog many times in the past 5 months but haven't taken the time to actually write anything.

So my goal is to put the procrastinator in me aside and step back up and get it all back together!

I have done a couple projects but nothing big. A retro style apron with some vintage retro fabric from 1979 and a damask print I just bought.

My greatest thrill lately was coming across some vintage patterns at an estate sale!!! I was so tickled. I bougth them all, 2 boxes of them for $20! I will have to take some pictures to share. A lot of them are from the 1940's and 1950's then it goes up from there. Expect some pictures very very soon.

I am starting a list of to do's on sewing or rather to make's.
I have found several fun websites lately that I will share as well.
Until next time....Hopefully not 5 months from now...LOL!

Vacation came and went

It has been too long without a post!

In a nutshell, vacation got off to a rocky start but we made it there and back in one piece and had a decent time. My laptop cord is dead so I can't upload my pictures to share.
The suburban never made it there, the transmission was the culprit for all the noise. So we packed into my car and made it a little less comfortably than we hoped.
The big issues were a stripped out oil pan (temp fix was done so we could drive it) and a blown out tire....Yeah we made it thankfully! The oil pan got fixed once we got back at the expense of Walmart. And the blow out was fixed while on vacation, thankfully we had a spare. Had to break out the owners manual to find out where it was on my car!

The good stuff though: We saw manatees and dolphins and also Space Shuttle Atlantis coming home. It was a nice time! I am ready to go again and look forward to the day just hubby and I can go.

How irritating!

We leave for Florida in 2 days! We have an older suburban that has some issues that hubby was going to fix. Well I was on him all last week to please fix that noise on the suburban.
Me: Oh and Hey I think the a/c needs charged.
Him: No it worked when we bought it a few months ago.
Me: Okay whatever...just please fix the suburban so we have a roomy ride to FL (18hrs)
Him: Okay I will look at it I promise.

Fast forward a week and lots of fishing time later. He is just getting to the suburban! We leave in 2 days! It has an appt for tomorrow to have the a/c charged and my fingers are crossed that is all that is wrong with it. It makes a vibrating noise and he believes that to be a caliper or a break line so he is working on that. He also wants to do a tune up and check out this leak on the radiator. Yeah I just hope we get to FL and back without any major repairs.
I have a car that would get us there and back no problem, but there is no leg room. So we bought a 98 suburban for $2000, that really is in good condition, just for vacation and camping trips or any long road trips period.

Despite the irritation; I am excited to have a week of relaxation here soon!!!

Goslings...

I love Spring and all that it brings, including those adorable little goslings.
At work we have a walking trail around a pond and it is nice to get out and enjoy the outdoors and just take a break from working. Well that is until there are goslings around. Those parent geese can be so mean! No I wasn't attacked or even close to it! Lets just say it puts a little pep in your step when they are near by.

At lunch today, a co-worker and I went for a walk. Half way around the pond the geese sat. They were honking and such at a man that just walked past. It is almost frightening to walk past them! We went anyway. Instead of walking on the sidewalk we veered off into the grass and they didn't honk or even get up. I guess we gave enough space they didn't feel threatened. Then they moved up the hill! We had to walk past them again as they were grazing under the trees! Again we made it without a honk.

So on my break I have 15 min to go take a quick walk. It all started off good and I got a warning from another fellow walker..."Stay away from those mean geese." So I was only going to walk half the trail, but they moved! So I decided to give them some time to get further away from the walkway and went for another loop across the road. Time is running out so I had to run a tad so I wasn't late back to my desk and phone! I get back to the shortest distance to the doors and there they are, just grazing. I just walked as fast as I could and scooted right past them again without a honk. Thank goodness!
You know it is my biggest fear in the spring to take a leisurely walk on a beautiful day and it turn it to an arm swinging, yelling run as I have a goose chasing me with its wings flapping....Hopefully that never happens! And if it does lets hope no one is around to witness it!

**picture from: Geese Wranglers LLC **

Creative and Busy night!

Last night after work I come home to a huge dinner prepared by my hubby! We had steaks on the grill, twice baked potatoes, corn on the cob and baked beans. YUM!
So after dinner, I mowed the grass since hubby didn't feel up to it after cooking. I don't mind since we have a rider. It still takes about an hour, but I just enjoy my thoughts while mowing.

After that was done I came in and watched my soap as it was being replayed and I cut out some fabric to make a childs apron. I found a really cute tutorial for a Childs Classic Apron. From start to finish it only took me about 2.5hrs. Of course I still consider myself a novice at all this too. I am thrilled with the results! I didn't have time to take a picture this morning but will add one tonight when I get home.

We are having a garage sale on Sat and I don't think I am prepared enough! I have went through some items and have stuff laying everywhere! My hubby is supposed to set me up some tables in the garage but I imagine it will be a late night to get everything done. I thought about taking half the day off at work today but chose not too. I need my vacation days for other things like Florida in 2wks!! So any money we get from the garage sale will go for extra spending cash while in FL.

Have a Fantabulous Friday!!

Massive Sweet Tooth attack...

So after a long days work...I get home and it is super quiet. My hubby took our son to bowling leagues, my middle daughter is at a friends and my oldest daughter is in her room napping.
So I get out the good ole Betty Crocker cookbook and get to baking. I had 2 zucchini that had to be cooked before they went bad. So I made a pan of zucchini bread and 12 zucchini muffins. While that was in the oven I made a batch of banana muffins with my too brown to eat bananas. Yum Yum!! Then to top that all of I made chocolate chip cookies! I know if my husband came home and saw the bread and muffins he would be upset there were no cookies. He doesn't eat the muffins and such.

I am thrilled to have some grab and go breakfasts in the mornings for the next few days. I was running late this morning and had no breakfast.

I was just hoping to link to Betty Crockers website to the recipes I used. Unfortnately they are not on there...Looks like I need to type it all out and maybe add some pics of the end product.

Zucchini Bread
Prep 15min; Bake 1hr
Makes 2 loaves, 24 slices each
-3 cups shredded zucchini
-1 2/3 cups sugar
-2/3 cup vegetable oil
-2 teaspoons vanilla
-4 large eggs
-3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour (I did 2 all purpose and 1 whole wheat)
-2 teaspoons baking soda
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts (I omitted)
-1/2 cup raisins, if desired (I omitted)

Heat oven to 350 and grease the bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2x 4 1/2x 2 1/2 inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches, with shortening. (I myself used an 8x8 foil pan and then did 12 muffins--took less time to cook as well)

Mix Zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pans.

Bake 8-inch loaves 50-60min, 9-in loaf 1hr 10min to 1 hr 20min, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days. You can also freeze these as well.

Since I used different pans I adjusted the cook times. I let mine cook about 30 min tops. Just check and test to see when done.

Banana Muffins
Prep: 10 min; Bake: 15 min; Cool: 5 min
Makes 12 muffins

-1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 medium)
-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
-1 large egg
-1/3 cup sugar
-2 cups Bisquick Original Baking mix (I used the Heart Smart variety)
-1/2 cups raisins or chopped nuts, if desired (I omitted)

Heat oven to 400. Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups, 2 1/2x 1 1/4 inches, with shortening, or line with paper baking cups.

Beat bananas, oil, egg and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Stir in baking mix and raisins (if used) just until the baking mix is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake 15 min or until golden brown. Cool for 5 min in pan; remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm if desired.

These also freeze well!


Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep: 10 min; Bake: 40 min
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-3/4 cup packed brown sugar
-1 cup stick margarine or butter, softened
-1 large egg
-2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 cup coarsly chopped nuts (I omit)
-1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Heat oven to 375.

Mix sugars, margarine, and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (I use a cookie scoop) about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 min or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.


I know I said I may take pictures well....The cookies were gone in no time and I just didn't get a chance to take pictures of anything. Maybe next time!

Mothers Day Apron

I spent lots of time and frustration at my sewing machine this weekend on top of all the fun stuff I did this weekend.

I made my mother an apron for Mother's Day. It was rather simple but I made it difficult.

Here is the end result...

Happy Mothers Day!

This has been a great weekend! Yesterday morning started with a trip to the gym, it felt soooo good to sweat. I felt refreshed and energized. Then after a shower and some freshening up, my sister in law picked me up and we went to a friends resell shop. She just opened last week and we had to pay her a visit. I was able to pick up 2 pairs of shorts and a polo for $14. Not bad! Her store is adorable!!

From there I treated my sister in law to a pedicure for Mother's Day and then she went with me to get my tattoo. I have been wanting one for months!
I wanted something to symbolize my children and the four girls I gave birth to as a surrogate for two amzing women! So each butterfly has the child's birthstone in it and my three children's have my birthstone mixed in. Then the other four have their mother's birthstones mixed with theirs. Sounds a little confusing when I type it out.

Here is what it looks like....




Today we had a BBQ at my sister in laws house for our mother in law and my mom. It was soo yummy!!

Step away from the CHOCOLATE!

Please someone hurry and take this candy bar before I eat it....



TOO LATE...

Where I work they do fundraisers for the March of Dimes. So they sell candy for a $1 a candy bar. Well usually I am good and avoid the temptation. For whatever reason today was not so good. I walked past them to go get some ice and water and they were calling me....Tonya....Hey TONYA...you know you want one of us....Come on TONYA buy me! Next thing I know my hand is going for my pocket and out comes the money...Before I realize it there is a candy bar in my hand!!

Good way for me to work on that weight loss....If only Chocolate were considered a fruit or veggie, I would be good.

TGIF!

What a long week! Work has been super slow which makes the day utterly long, but gives me a chance to update here and there!
Too bad I couldn't bring my sewing machine to work with me. I would get a lot accomplished!

This week I worked on my first ever Apron...It turned out soo cute. It isn't perfect but I like it. I am self taught on sewing so I am always wondering if I am doing it right.

My sweet daughter is modeling it for me.

So for Mothers Day, I am making yet another apron for my mom. Just a waist down apron. I was at Walmart last night getting lunch for my son's track and field today and happened to end up in the fabric section...I could so get myself in trouble! So I limited myself to 2yards of coordinating fabric. I will share a pic of that later.
Oh and the track and field day is cancelled today because of the rain...

Rain Rain Go Away...

My first post!

So this blog will be just as it says....A Day in the Life of me! My adventures to be handy with my sewing machine. Or in my journey to weightloss. Or just my rants about being wife to my hubby. Follow me along with my children and life in general!