"American Apparel" Headband

Rip-Off American Apparel Headband

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right.

This quote was a thought that came to me this week while I was running (YUP! Still running, up to 17 minutes at a time!).

At first, I thought this was a great thought to share with my students. Then, after thinking about how I felt while writing last week's post, I realized this thought was a good thought for me. 

And, with that thought, I had a much better week.

On Monday, I saw my crafty friend, Cathryn, and her daughter, Emma. I hadn't seen them in MONTHS (since I was a Ms. instead of a Mrs.). Emma is now 10 months old, barking at passing dogs and waves at unfriendly strangers. In short, she's adorable!

On Tuesday, I spent time with little Miss Sofia. Look how big she's getting! Here's her 2 month picture, with the iron ons I mentioned in this post.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I was busy with work, home visits, knitting, and making a delicious lasagna.

Friday I went to (an extended) Happy Hour.

Saturday was a busy but successful day. I went to a couple home visits (yes, it's what it sounds like. I visit my students' homes twice a year.) Then, it was a day of football, catching up with friends, and crafting. I worked on my knitting, my craft for the week, and my  football pants (all of the fabric FINALLY came in). Mosby was a BIG help.

Saturday night, Jeremy and I had a date night that included a pre-dinner drink at The Whistler and dinner at The Real Tencochtitlan. It was nice to have a night out just by ourselves.

When I woke up this morning, I wanted to get started on finishing up my craft. Then, it didn't look right. It didn't turn out at all. I won't go into the details. BUT I remembered by saying for the week. And then I KNEW I could make something else, something better.

I used the a scrap from the week's project. I started with a scrap about 20 inches long and 5 inches wide.

Then I cut it length-wise into three strips.

 I sewed a line width-wise about an inch in from one side.

Then, I braided it until it wrapped tightly around my head while it was stretched out (this material is part cotton, part elastic, so it has nice stretch). I sewed another width-wise line and cut off the excess, so I was left with another inch or so.

Then, I sewed the two excess inches together.

When they were secure, I cut off the excess inches.

And, it was ready to wear.

Now, here's the coolest part. I got a 3 pack of these type of headbands from American Apparel for about $10. I made this one from the scraps of an $5 piece of fabric (bought with a coupon, of course).

You can see mine is wider, but all I'd have to do to make in more narrow is cut thinner strips!

Now, I off to watch the Lions with my boys.

Mosby's new jersey

Then, later we are off to the Zac Brown Band concert with friends! HOORAY! Happy Sunday, everyone!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Dress Alteration

Dress Alteration

Uff da.

This phrase pretty much sums up my week. It also reminds me of my grandma on my dad's side. It was a favorite phrase of hers and it makes me smile and miss her all at the same time. (Incidentally, I use her sewing machine to sew. It's my greatest inheritance from her and I used it this week. More on that in a bit.) 

This week was an overwhelming week at work and at home. I usually feel pretty confident that I do a good job keeping up with what needs to be done and with the people I love.

But, this week, as I caught up on cleaning and organizing and rest, I realized that I haven't talked to my best friend from high school in at least 6 weeks, I haven't seen my best friend from college in over a month,  my niece hasn't gotten nearly enough squeezes from me, I haven't called my aunts or grandma in awhile, I had to pass on going to my home town for Homecoming to see some of my other best friends, I haven't talked to my in-laws since Labor Day, I have SO many other friends I want to call/see, and Jer and I haven't gone out on a date night in forever.

See, my problem is that I have TOO many wonderful people in my life. Rough problem, huh? (To all my loved ones, I haven't forgotten about you. I will call/see/text you as soon as I can.)

Anyway, I digress.

One of my MOST favorite people, Lindsay, asked me to work on a little sewing project for her. She was my first friend at my work (less than two weeks into PD our first year).

Don't we look SO young here? It was our first county concert together.

And, we have become close friends in the four years we've worked together.

Isn't she pretty? And fashionable? (OK, maybe not in the Country Thunder picture.) She's very fashionable. Sometimes, she wears outfits that look like they belong on Pinterest. I'm not kidding.

Anyway, she got this dress online. 

Mosby LOVES having his picture taken.

The only problem is that Lindsay is a little taller than me. And this dress is slightly short on me. So, she wanted me to add an extra layer of black.

That's where I came in!

I measured the dress's stripes. And cut stripes out in the length and width.

The material is VERY stretchy, so it took me a few tries to get the fabric cut right. Then, some more tries to get the fabric sewn correctly. 

So, after walking away from the project for a couple days and a lot of flying by the seat of my pants, here's my final project.

It turned out pretty good. There were definitely some things I wish I would have done differently, but you live and learn, huh? I'll bring it to school tomorrow to see what Lindsay thinks of it. 

If she doesn't really like the changes I made (it's by no means perfect), it looks like I just bought myself a new dress. Shucks!

I'm off to start another week!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Bachelorette Party Invites

Bachelorette Party Invites

Hey All! Oh boy, it has been quite a week! The week began with me succumbing to the little flu bug that had been bothering me for a few days. I spent Monday and Tuesday mostly on the couch.

There's nothing like being totally useless and sick to:
1. Make you wish you still were little and lived with your mommy & daddy, so they could take care of you. (Is it ridiculous that I wish I could ask Jeremy to stay home from work and bring me popsicles when I'm sick?)
2. Put you SUPER BEHIND on so many things that you have to do!   

Even though I was sick/still recovering this week, I managed to get a lot done!
I finished our wedding thank yous (finally), got them sent out, went shopping for gifts for my sister's wedding shower, went shopping with my sister for my bridemaid dress for her wedding, went shopping AGAIN for the dress, because they didn't have my size at the first store, made Friday Treats for work (with Jeremy's help), made my craft for the wedding, ran 4 times, and finally went to my sister's wedding shower in Michigan yesterday.

Is it any wonder that I slept 14 hours last night and took a 2 hour nap today? Yup, that happened.

BUT it was totally worth it to spend 6 hours in the car looking at this yesterday.

Isn't she getting so big and beautiful?

And snapping this picture after the shower.

Cute little family

So, now, onto my craft for the week.

The week before the wedding, I am throwing my sister a bachelorette party. Of course, we needed invitations. So, I looked at some online and in a couple stores. They were all pink and black and just a little too "bachelorette party-y". Since Em wants this to be a lower key affair, they just didn't seem right.

So, I headed over to The Paper Source (I went to a store, but their website is great too) and picked up some fall colored supplies to go with the theme of their wedding.

And then I gave my sister about 5 options of neighborhoods/businesses were we could go get mani/pedis and sushi (I MAY have gone overboard).

Then, I was ready to print.

I am pretty impressed with myself for coming up with a printing idea. I wanted to have cute fall paper to print the invitations on, instead of plain white. So, I looked up a picture of fall leaves on google images. Then, in Microsoft Word, I went to "edit background" and inserted the picture of the leaves. I had to monkey with scale of the background and if I wanted it "muted" or not (I chose not). But, overall, it was an easy and inexpensive way to get patterned paper!

I started with two different colored big envelopes to put the invitations in. I also got little envelopes for the guests to send back their RSVPs. As you can see from the photo, if the guest had a big yellow envelope, they get a small red one and vice versa.

Next, I tackled putting together the RSVPs. The salon that we are going to wants to know ahead of time which services guest are getting. So, I added that to my RVSP. 

I also added a purple card. I put a note of explanation for the guests, but didn't take a great picture for you guys to see. The guests will use the purple card to write out their wildest, craziest, most bachelorette worthy moment with Em. Then we will all guess who wrote what.

I know my sister didn't want too many silly games, penis straws, and stuff like that, so I thought this would be a fun alternative. PLUS, I have never had my CRAZIEST moment with a friend at her bachelorette party. I have been to a bunch, they have all been fun, but usually by the time it's your turn to get married, your craziest days are behind you. I thought this might be a fun way to have my sister relive hers. 

Then, I put together the front. I added some twine to the edge, because I thought it made the card look a little more "fall-y".

And then, the inside spread. I used little pieces of masking tape to tape the front side of the pre-stuffed envelope (that already had my address) to the card, and then the RSVP instructions to the envelope.

And, then I was done! I was really happy with how they turned out! 

I'm off to run some errands and spend some time with Jeremy!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

A Bed for Mosby

A Bed for Mosby

Our dog, Mosby, has always had a bit of a strange relationship with his bed(s). When he was a baby, he couldn't quite figure out how to lay in it.

As, he grew out of his baby bed, he also grew into a horrible habit of digging, scratching, biting, and "adjusting" his bed. So, from a combination of being too big and the bed looking pretty rough, we upgraded him to a bigger bed.

The bed adjusting continued. But we could tell that he took comfort in his bed when he was sleepy, scared, or (in the case of the picture below) mortified/furious.

After the traumatic incident shown above, in a fit of compassion/confidence, we decided to let Mosby stay out of his cage & just be gated in the kitchen while we were at work. Those of you who know Mos are probably shaking your head, laughing, and wondering why we would like our VERY rambunctious puppy do this. Why indeed...

This happened in about 5 HOURS. Jer came home from work to find Mos looking VERY guilty.

So, in a fit of frustration and good sense, I decided that Mosby needed a bed he couldn't destroy. So, I found him this WONDERFUL bed. 

Can you see the only problem with the bed? That's right...Mosby won't lay on it. Apparently, he only likes CUDDLY things to lay on. See Exhibit A, B, and C.

Do you notice he's laying ON his bed in the last picture? But he HAD to have a blanket over it. 

So, that's when I decided to sew a cover for his bed. It's the only way we'll get any use out of the bed at all.

I bought two yards of fleece. It's cuddly, durable, and it was on sale. After all, this is for a DOG BED.

I measured his bed. The surface of the bed is 32.5 x 26.5, so I cut a piece that was 34 x 28. This gave me some fabric to sew and some wiggle room for error.

For the bottom, I cut two pieces that were both 23 x 28. I made sort of a flap by making the two pieces overlap. That way there really not too much Mos can pull on and it's easy for ME to get the bed in and out for washing (I show pictures of the flap in a bit).

On a quick side note, I like to use a scrapbook when I'm cutting. It give a nice, long, straight line and also provides some weight so the fabric doesn't move while you are cutting.

OK, back to the project. 

Then, I cut out the sides. The long sides were 34 x 6.5 and the short sides were  28 x 6.5.

Then, it was time for sewing. First, I sewed together a long and short side.

Then, I attached the other long and short sides to my first two. It makes a little rectangle.

Then, I sewed the top piece onto the four sides. You could make this one continuous stitch. However, because this was for Mosby, I wanted to make sure the corners were really reinforced, so I stopped between each side.

For the next step, on each of the bottom pieces, I sewed a hem into one of the 28 inch sides. I did this because they were the sides left exposed for the little flap.

Then, the trickiest part. Attaching the bottom pieces. I had a lot of material already sewn together and wanted to make sure I was sewing the right piece to the right side. 

I started by sewing the 28 inch edge that wasn't hemmed onto the side of the bed. Then, I sewed on each of the 23 inch sides. 

I did the second piece the same way. I made sure to sew the overlapped parts onto each other so it's trickier for Mosby to get the cover off and on.

The red makes it all hard to see, but the flap turned out great! 

And here's the finished product.

I know Mosby doesn't look too comfy in this picture, but that's because I dragged him away from playing with his buddy, Fate, to take this picture. As I was writing this, Jeremy and Sean (Fate's owner), came into the room to report that both Mosby and Fate were laying on the bed.

SUCCESS! 

On a quick side note, I had a WONDERFUL weekend full of friends, food, and fun. One of the highlights was going to see my friend, Lizzy, who is due with her first child at the end of the month.

She had forgotten our gift when she came to Michigan for the wedding, so she gave it to me yesterday.

Among other things, she gave us FOUR POLISH POTTERY CUPS! I LOVE Polish pottery, and LOVE drinking my hot beverages from unique cups. Lizzy knows this about me, and gave this very thoughtful gift!

I took at picture with the little tea pot that my friend, Karrie, gave to me (she is also VERY thoughtful and knows I ADORE Polish pottery). And look, one of the cups matches the tea pot perfectly!

Gotta love the little things, people!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

A (Late) Quick Post

Work Out Rewards

SO...another busy, fun weekend up north. Labor Day weekend is always bittersweet for me. On one hand, it's a long weekend up north, enjoying good company and good weather (hooray!). On the other hand, it's always the last weekend of summer weather and boat rides (boo!). Jeremy dreads the Labor Day rides home; I've been known to cry about leaving my family/summer behind.

We got up to my parent's place late Friday night, and spent Saturday and Sunday hiking, boating, spending time with family and friends, and most importantly baby watching. My sister, her fiance, and Sofia were up at the lake, too. We all enjoyed passing the baby around, even if Mosby was a little jealous when "Mom" and "Grandma" held the baby and talked to her JUST like they talk to him.

On Monday, we got up and headed to the campground where Jeremy's parents have spent the last 27 summers vacationing. They have a wonderful group of friends, and a great tradition of "Big Breakfast" every Labor Day. Everyone gets together around the campfire in the morning and the guys make up a big skillet of eggs, meat, and potatoes. YUM! (My thoughtful in-laws even scooped some meat and potatoes out before the eggs went in, since they know I'm not a fan.)

Then, we headed to Jer's parent's house for some relaxing and an early dinner/late lunch. It's SO nice that we get to spend quality time with both sets of our parents when we go back to Michigan!

So, since we got back around 8:00 last night, I only have time for a quick craft this week. I debated sharing this craft, for one BIG reason.

I started to run a couple weeks ago. Now, while that's something I'm not embarrassed to share that, I have an unfortunate habit of getting into a GREAT exercise routine for about 3 or 4 months, then completely dropping it. It's always a little embarrassing when someone asks how it is going, and I have to admit that I have stopped working out. So, I've been keeping it a little hush-hush, only telling a couple friends and my parents.

Then, my loving husband started to brag to our family and friends this weekend that I wake up before work to go running. Very sweet, and now the cat's out of the bag. 

I've been running...and here's what it looked like on Sunday morning.

Isn't it beautiful? It's my parent's road.

So, my quick craft. I decided that every time I run or go to the gym, I'll give myself a dollar to spend on a special treat later. So, of course, I needed a place to put all of my dollars.

So, I just grabbed a little mason jar and some letter stickers.

And, viola! I have a little piggy bank!

*For the sake of total disclosure, you should know, this was a Pinterest rip-off (but it was too cute not to share!). 

I'm off to my FIRST WEEK OF KNITTING CLASS! So EXCITED! Thanks to everyone who helped fund my crafting habit! And for everyone else, I found a (cheaper) supplier of fabric! If you are still interested in some team fleece pants, let me know. I can now make them for $30 any day! Hooray!

Wish me luck with knitting!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB