Beads

Yesterday, my niece was baptized. My sister and her husband asked me to be Sofia's godmother (or as my sister says, fairy godmother).
Yesterday was a wonderful day, spent with family and friends. We started at church. Sofia was dressed in a gown that my sister, mom, all of our aunts and uncle, and I all wore. She enjoyed all having her head dunked in the fountain, but did NOT care for all of the oil that came next.
Emily and Tony hosted a lunch after the mass. It was delicious and we had a great time watching Sofia's every move.
As Sofia's godmother, I wasn't sure what to get her. I decided that, when in doubt, go sentimental. Emily and I traveled around Europe together when I was studying aboard. We ended our trip in Rome. When we were visiting Vatican City, we both bought rosaries. I passed mine along to Sofia.

As for my craft this week, I decided to stay with my beads theme. I have a necklace I LOVE that I bought on my trip to Mexico City to see my friend Whitney a few years back. But, the strands kept breaking. I decided to make a bracelet (and save most of the beads for future projects).

I secured the beads onto the strands by knotting the strings. Then I tied the strands onto the bracelet clasps.

Voila! New bracelet.

On my last day of being 27, I declare my list officially list officially finished!

1. Finish changing my name on all documents. (I sort of stalled mid-change)-some progress MORE has been made
2. Write four three two one more blog posts featuring a craft.
3. Finish a knitting project for a friend's new edition. 
4. Run 27 22.5 14 6 miles.
5. Update information for my Illinois teaching certificate. -some progress has been made
6. Four three two one weekly visits to the dog park with Mosby.
7. Use a new pattern to make a fun Spring skirt for myself.
8. Clean out my (and Jeremy's) closets.
9. Donate items to Goodwill.
10. Try one new food. DISASTER! I tried a chicken foot. It was HORRIBLE.
11. Call Haley.(Hal, hopefully this weekend!!)
12. Do some landscaping on the back patio. (Even though we rent, it's nice to maintain for guests.)
13. Purchase the graduation gift I've been eyeing for a certain grad.
14. Catch up on Mad Men.
15. Visit Maggie (and Michael and Grace).
16. Organize my craft room.
17. Purchase a few needed items for our home (including a new pillow for Jer).
18. Take one instagram photo a day. So far, so good.
19. INSIST that I watch Sofia while my sister and Tony go out on a date. 
20. Formally introduce Jeremy to Moscow Mules. (I mentioned them here.)
21. Ask for a recommandation, buy, and listen to an album of a new band. (Feel free to leave me a comment with a recommandation!)  Thanks, Lizzy, for recommending The Civil Wars. They are awesome.
22. See The Godfather. 
23. Call my Gram.
24. Finish The Paris Wife. SO GOOD! 
25. Change my blog heading. 
26. Start our honeymoon photo album.
27. One random act of kindness. I gave a Dunkin Donuts gift card to a homeless woman so she could buy a few meals.

27 was a wonderful year. I am looking forward to what 28 brings me.

Until next time, keep crafting,

SB

Spring Skirt

Happy Monday Everyone! 

This past week I have been thinking about friendship and how friendships grow and change. I often write about how lucky I am to have all of my wonderful friends.

I was spending time with a new(ish) friend last night. (We have just started hanging out outside of work.) I, of course, was bragging about all of our mutual work friends when I realized that I have known/worked with/drank a few too many beers with/LOVED some of these women for five years. FIVE.

I decided that I should no longer consider them new friends.

I have been lucky to have a lot of different types of friends throughout my life. Friends that I have known my entire life, friends that came into my life for just a season. Friends that I was SURE that no matter what happened, we would always be close, only to realize that time and distance have separated us. And friends that I thought were just "seasonal" friends who I've come to love as long time friends.

In thinking about all of this, I realized that there is a WHOLE other class of friends that you can only hope to be lucky enough to have. The friends that become family. 

These people are the people who you no longer choose to have in your life, they just are. The friends that you no longer worry about keeping in touch with, because you know that you could no more stop talking to them than you could your sister, aunt, cousin, or mother.

These are the people who help your husband pick out your engagement ring. The people who ask for your permission to marry your best friend. The people who become ordained to marry you, come to your sister's wedding, visit you in the hospital, go to your grandparent's funerals, adopt your friends and family as theirs.

They are the people in your life that want you in the hospital when their children are born. Whose children think of you as aunt and who you have loved since the day they were born.

I have two of these friends, Haley and Maggie. 

Maggie is married to Mike and they have Grace. Maggie is pregnant with babies two AND three right now. Maggie's having twin girls.

Jeremy and I went out to see everyone yesterday. We had a great time basking in the mundane, as only lifetime friends can. We went out to eat, went to Target to run some errands, and played with Grace. 

In just a few short weeks, Maggie will bring two more little lives into the world. I'll be there, in the waiting room, wringing my hands and anxiously waiting to meet the two newest members of my "family".

In the meantime, here's a look at my new spring skirt.

I modified the pattern shown below.

And here's a look at the finished product.

Don't mind Mosby in the background. Now that's it's nice out, he spends all of his time looking for dogs.

And now, a quick update on my 27 list. I have been making good progress.

1. Finish changing my name on all documents. (I sort of stalled mid-change)-some progress MORE has been made
2. Write four three two one more blog posts featuring a craft.
3. Finish a knitting project for a friend's new edition. 
4. Run 27 22.5 14 6 miles.
5. Update information for my Illinois teaching certificate. -some progress has been made
6. Four three two one weekly visits to the dog park with Mosby.
7. Use a new pattern to make a fun Spring skirt for myself.
8. Clean out my (and Jeremy's) closets.
9. Donate items to Goodwill.
10. Try one new food. DISASTER! I tried a chicken foot. It was HORRIBLE.

11. Call Haley.(Hal, hopefully this weekend!!)
12. Do some landscaping on the back patio. (Even though we rent, it's nice to maintain for guests.)
13. Purchase the graduation gift I've been eyeing for a certain grad.
14. Catch up on Mad Men.
15. Visit Maggie (and Michael and Grace).
16. Organize my craft room.
17. Purchase a few needed items for our home (including a new pillow for Jer).
18. Take one instagram photo a day. So far, so good.
19. INSIST that I watch Sofia while my sister and Tony go out on a date. 
20. Formally introduce Jeremy to Moscow Mules. (I mentioned them here.)
21. Ask for a recommandation, buy, and listen to an album of a new band. (Feel free to leave me a comment with a recommandation!)  Thanks, Lizzy, for recommending The Civil Wars. They are awesome.
22. See The Godfather. 
23. Call my Gram.
24. Finish The Paris Wife. SO GOOD! 
25. Change my blog heading. 
26. Start our honeymoon photo album.
27. One random act of kindness.

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB

Helping Hands

Two weeks ago, Jeremy and I were heading back home from spending time at my sister's house with my grandma and aunts. I was looking forward to an afternoon nap, Jeremy was looking forward to watching some basketball.

I was driving south on Western Avenue, which is one of the busier streets in Chicago. We were almost to the Western/Diversey/Elston intersection when we spotted a beagle running down the street, heading right for this very busy intersection. 

I told Jeremy to hop out and try to get to the dog before he got to the intersection. By the time I parked the car, the dog had safely made it through the intersection, but Jeremy was stuck at a red light. 

When we made it across the intersection, we found the dog in a gas station parking lot, where two guys were trying to corral him. I bought a stick of beef jerky and we calmed the dog down enough to lay down and let me pet him. He was terrified, and wet and cold from running through the slush.

The guys called animal control, but had to leave. Luckily, a girl getting gas spotted us and had a friend who works for an animal rescue shelter, Furever Rescue. She called her friend, Natalie, and Natalie started working to find someone to pick up the dog. 

We waited about an hour and a half with that little guy. People were so kind. Everyone asked if he was OK. People gave us towels and blankets and helped us wrap him up.

Natalie couldn't find anyone to pick him up, so she came herself. She asked us to name him, and we chose Elston, after one of the streets in the intersection. 

Natalie brought him to the vet and sent us pictures and updates throughout the evening. The next day, we agreed to foster him until a family could be found.

Then, fate (and social media) stepped in. Jeremy had shared the story of finding Elston with some people from work. When he shared it with one girl, she said that her husband follows a Facebook group, Lost Dogs Illinois (see link here). A beagle named Snoopy had broke out of his collar in her neighborhood, just north of where we found the dog.

Jeremy checked the picture, and sure enough, Elston was actually Snoopy! Jeremy called the owner. She was so relieved! She started crying, thanking Jeremy, and telling Snoopy's story.

Snoopy had just been adopted 3 weeks earlier. He was an abused dog that was abandoned because he wasn't good at hunting. He was so scared, he wouldn't let anyone but his new owner near him. 

Natalie brought Snoopy home. I spoke to the owner a couple days later. She said that Snoopy was doing great. Through the whole ordeal, he had actually become LESS nervous, and was letting others pet him.

Jeremy and I were so glad that we were able to help, and feel so grateful to Furever Rescue and Lost Dogs Illinois for getting Snoopy home safely!

Now for helping my hands stay warm on our SLOW transition from winter to spring, I knitted some fingerless gloves this week. I used the leftover yarn from my scarf.

I followed the directions from this youtube video.

They were pretty quick and easy to whip up. Each glove took about 2 hours for me to do. They turned out pretty cute!

I am on Spring Break the next two weeks. I've already enjoyed the slower pace, and am looking forward to sleeping in, seeing friends, and visiting my parents.

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB

Love: Infinity Scarf

During the month of February (and now March), I've decided to create a series of posts based on the different real life love stories that inspire me. I'll be featuring friends and family, and their different types of love.

Without really thinking about it, I picked the perfect month to feature love on my blog. The theme started off because February is, of course, the month of Valentine's Day.

What I hadn't considered at the beginning of February is how much I would be seeing my family and how they carried me through a very difficult and stressful month at work, simply by being around.

I started working on this scarf in January, right about when things started to get stressful at work. I actually started working on it the last time we saw my parents before they went on their yearly winter trip (this time to Florida and Dominican Republic).

I continued to work on the scarf as we took our trip to Texas to see Jeremy's sister and family. I took a break from the scarf and the stress of work on this trip. 

I feel so lucky that I ended up with a second family (in-laws, if you will), that make me feel so at ease, relaxed, and carefree.

My cousin, Kristen, and her son, Colton came to stay with Emily, Tony, Sofia, Jeremy, and I the next weekend. I picked Kristen and Colton up from the airport after a particularly disastrous meeting at end of a Friday. Had Kristen and Colton not been in town, my weekend probably would have been spent wallowing.

But, after Kristen, Em, and Tony lent a sympathetic ear, the weekend was spent having fun, hanging out together at Emily's.

And spending time at the Children's Museum at Navy Pier.

I also have been helping out a couple evenings a week with Sofia. Tony is out of the country with his family, and it's truly been the highlight of my weeks to spend evenings with Sofia. (Plus her early bedtime has given me a lot of time for knitting.)

Last weekend, I spent time with friends that have become family.

Maggie's husband, Mike and daughter, Grace, with Sofia.

And my Gram, Aunt Cindy, and Aunt Judy came into town for the day on Sunday. Emily hosted with a fabulous brunch. We spent time laughing at Sofia grabbing ice cubes out of Aunt Cindy's drink and enjoying watching Sofia grow.

And all month (really almost two months now), there has been Jeremy. Always quietly stepping up to the plate, ready to back me up when I need it the most. Taking care of the dog, grocery shopping, making meals, always there, quietly helping.

Things are getting better at work; they've just started looking up this week, just as I was finishing my scarf.

Fittingly, the scarf has some unexpected twists and turns (from a knitting error I made, it's more of a figure 8 than a circle), and things at work has taken an unexpected twist with a slightly different role than I was expecting.

But, with the love of my family, everything turned out just fine.

Thank you family!

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB

Easy Infinity Scarf

Happy Hump Day, All! I wanted to share a quick mid-week post to share a quick five minute project with you.

I have many fabulous fashionistas in my life. On Saturday, I went out with some of my favorite fashionistas from work to celebrate the birthday of one of my favorites, Nicolle.

We had an awesome time being together outside of work, away from kids, and with drinks in our hands.

After a beer or two, we all agreed that we HAD to surprise Nicolle with a fish bowl full of punch accompanied by a huge sparkler. Silliness ensued.

After seeing these very fashionable ladies outside of work, I decided that I need a little wardrobe up date myself.

I have been seeing a lot of infinity scarfs this winter. I am knitting myself one, but decided I couldn't wait for some cold weather fashion.

I started with an old scarf I had laying around. My friend's mom made it for him, and he decided it wasn't quite masculine for him. He passed it on to me, and it was a little too long to become a favorite of mine.

Pardon the picture. I had just returned from the gym. 

So, I decided it was the perfect candidate for my project.

I cut off all of the fringe but three pieces. 

Before and After

Then, I trimmed off all of the fringe on the other side.

I matched up the two sides (making sure the scarf wasn't twisted) and used the fringe to sew the two sides together using a darning needle. You can find darning needles where knitting supplies are sold.

1. matching the sides 2. beginning to sew 3. tying off one of the strands 4. the finished product "wrong side"

Then, just flip it off to hide the sewing.

 Wear it and enjoy!

One last note. Speaking of fabulous fashionistas, Kelle Hampton, the writer of one of my favorite blogs, Enjoying the Small Things is having a fundraiser in honor of her daughter's third birthday. Her daughter, Nella, was born with Down Syndrome. Click here to pop over to add a bit of sunshine to your day. If you feel so inclined, click here to donate to her fundraiser. All donates go directly to the National Down Syndrome Society. 

As you may have guessed (based on my career), children, especially children with special needs, hold a special place in my (and Jeremy's) hearts. The National Down Syndrome Society is a cause we both felt great about donating to this month. 

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB 

Chilly Weather Headbands

Headbands Galore!

Hi Everyone! I'm a little late in my post this week. The funny thing is, I was a busy little bee this week, with lots of completed crafts. I had my final (we thought) knitting class, I completed 8 pairs of pants, and a new craft, all by Thursday night. But THEN, I came up to my parent's place, got completely distracted by the beautiful fall colors of Michigan and completely forgot to write my post.

So, let's go back to my knitting classes. I will confess, at first, they didn't go well. I want to give you my true impression, so I will leave off the name/website of the shop where I took the classes. The first class (and part of the second class) were very frustrating. Now, you should know, I don't like HATE when I am bad at things. During this first week of class this was coupled with my instructor yelling "NO" every time I made a mistake. I came home and told Jeremy I was not going back to class. He said OK, then reminded me that I told him the same thing after my first sewing class. 

I may be slightly dramatic.

It got better. I got better at knitting and not wincing when my instructor yelled "NO" at me.

Anyway, last week was our fourth and final class. I decided that I wanted to make a headband to wear in colder weather while running. I worked my little fingers off to make sure that my project was ready for finishing touches for that last class. I FINISHED all the knitting! When I got to class, my instructor helped me with binding the two ends together for a finished product. 

Here it is! My first knitting project!

It turned out WAY better than I had excepted! AND, I have another knitting class to learn how to do my next project. All of the lights went out on the block that the knitting store is on, so we get to take another class! I have a new special new project in mind. I can't wait to share it with you when it's done!

On to the pants! I FINALLY got all of the fabric in for the pants. They all turned out really well! A shout out to the top salesperson for SB's Sweatshop of Love, my husband, Jeremy! He sold 5 pairs of pants! And when he brought the finished product in, he got 2 more orders!

Also, thanks to my most loyal customer, Michelle! She bought 2 pairs for her dad and cousin, and just put in another order for a pair for her brother. (Part of my project this week was a "loyal customer gift" to her!)

And finally, onto my project for the week. As I was sewing, staring at, and surrounded by fleece this week, I started to form an idea for the scraps.

Apparently head wear has been on my mind this week, because I thought to make a warm headband for the cooler, outdoor tailgating and games.

I started with a scrap of fabric.

Then, I cut it so it was about 5.5 inches wide and about 20 inches long.

Next, I folded one side of width in on itself and sewed. This gave me a clean line. (Make sure you are working with the "wrong side" up for this step.)

After that is completed, fold your fabric hotdog style (long ways), and sew into a tube.

Flip it so the "right side" shows.

Then, make the fabric into a circle. Insert the side that was not sew into the side that was sewn.

Sew the opening closed.

And TADA! It's ready to warm your ears!

Now, you may have noticed that the fabric magically changed when I put it on my head.

The Cubs fabric is Michelle's "loyal customer gift". She purchased a pair of Cubs pants for her dad. They like to go to games together, so I sewed her up a headband to wear during the home openers and playoff games (if the Cubs can ever get there).

The BEAUTIFUL Michigan State headband is a gift for my parent's friend, Ann. She and her husband, Craig, are loyal MSU fans with season passes. Ann also helped out with some of our wedding plans, and I thought this would be a nice little thank you.

I have TONS to tell you guys about my days up in Michigan. There are lots of beautiful colors, cute little towns, pumpkins, seeing friends and meeting new ones, and crafts going on up here! BUT, that's a post for next week! I'll leave you with a sneak preview of the beautiful colors I am seeing!

Don't worry, I pulled over to take this!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

 

"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