Lets party with The Dollar Tree!

My daughter attends school year-round. Yep, you heard right - no summer break.
The Parents Group at her school host a Friday night dance once a month.
 As a member of the Parents Group, I was asked to put together our beach themed door prizes for August.
We give out two door prizes - one for a girl and another for a boy.

I started at The Dollar Tree thinking I could pick up a couple cheap containers.
Well.....
Look what I ended up with!
 



I purchased two of everything on my list (and the containers) at The Dollar Tree with the exception of the beach towels.

(The Dollar Tree beach towels are pretty cheesy)

 

I checked the clearance isle at Walmart and (lucky me) found two nice beach towels to include.

 

All wrapped and ready for the beach (themed) party.

 



Hope they like um!



Linking today to:
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/



Church Ladies' Apron

 

A few days ago I posted my Miss P. Pod apron.

 I never once thought about giving the information about the pattern itself until Terri asked if I used a pattern, or designed my own.

I wish I could say this little vintage inspired apron was my design, but no.

 

I purchased this Mary Mulari pattern many years ago from Nancy's Notions.

This pattern only takes two - 1 yard pieces of fabric to make.

 

The best thing about the Church Ladies' Apron is - it's reversible!

 

Looks like Nancy is still offering the Church Ladies' Apron pattern on her site.

If your interested you can find it here.

 

Happy Monday!



Monogram Challenge

Each week CSI Project has a specific theme challenge where everyone competes for the guest judge's top pick.
This week it was a monogram challenge.
I actually entered a few projects...

Colin's monogram tie.



Mr. Fisherman's iPad sleeve.




Braelynn's basket.



My iPad sleeve.



And the winner was....


Mr. Fisherman's iPad sleeve.



Thanks Dee for such a fun weekly challenge and a BIG thank you to this weeks guest judge, Emily from The Benson Street.

Minding your P's and Q's

 

"Have a good time and mind your P's and Q's" my mother would say.

I heard that saying many times growing up.

I never knew exactly what P or Q stood for, but I knew what it meant...

"behave yourself" and "mind your manners."

Funny, I never heard my mother say that to either of my brothers.

Did she think they didn't need to be reminded to mind their manners because they were always on their best behavior (NOT!) or did she think the boys wouldn't listen anyway?

I am thinking she thought the latter...

 

I love Loralie Designs and when I came across Miss P. Pod in her Fresh Picked Follies design pack, I just had to have her.

 

 

I purchased the design pack and got to work on my mother's birthday gift.

I do of course realize the "P" in "P's and Q's" doesn't stand for - the peas ya eat, but I couldn't resist.

 

Apron front

 

 

 Look closely, all her clothes and accessories are made of peas!

 

 

Isn't she cute?

 

 

Since the apron is reversible I needed to find fabric to use on the reverse side.

Can you believe I found fabric with peas on it!

 

 

Apron back

 

 

 I added a couple pockets on the reverse side and it was complete.

 

Have a great weekend everyone - just remember - whatever you do - mind your P's and Q's!

 

 

Linking today to:

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

http://www.thethriftinessmiss.com/

http://diyshowoff.com/

http://www.scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/

 

Snack Time



School is starting soon and some of you may prefer using reusable snack bags in your child's lunchbox.

 I have a tutorial here for an easy eco-friendly bag if you're interested.

The snack bag below was sewn out of boredom one afternoon, so I have no tutorial.

I purchased the pretzel design here.

 

 

Truth be known, I went into my sewing room that day to clean.

As I started putting things away, my mind starts to wander...

My mind immediately goes to "Hummm... what can I do with this little scrap?"

I have a yard or more of this polka dot fabric, but for some reason, I just can't seem to let go of this little piece left from another project.

 I keep going back to this scrap thinking, "There has to be something I can use this for."

 Is it possible I have a form of OCD? 

Should I be in therapy for this obsession?

I really can't be the only one this happens to.

 Or...

 am I ?


Linking today to:
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
http://gluedtomycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://www.seven-alive.com/
http://mothersniche.com/
http://sparklesandastove.com/
http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://www.sew-much-ado.com/
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://diyshowoff.com/

Mason jars -not just for canning anymore.

 

I love Mason jars, especially the old ones.

 

source

 

 Unfortunately, I have no antique jars, but I do have cases of the new ones - all different sizes.

I love to see all the creative ideas people come up with using Mason jars.

 

In the photo below, I am using the larger jars to hold candles on my fireplace mantel.

I'm using rice to hold my candles in place however, I have used sand or dried beans in them also.

 





Notice the old wooden box they are sitting in?

It's actually a new box made to look old like the ones I have posted here.

Mr. Fisherman made them for me last year from leftover scraps from another project.

I love them. I can switch out the contents and make them look totally different. 

 

Okay, back to the Mason jars.

I searched the web and found oodles of creative ways to use and decorate with all different sizes

 of Mason jars.

Here are just a few ideas:

 

First up is from my blogging buddy, Terri at Fresh Cut Flours.

 

Isn't it beautiful....

 

You can check Terri's post out here and see how it's done.

~

What about some pretty storage in the ladies room.

 

 

Jenn at http://www.cleanandscentsible.com/ has not only transformed these jars into what looks like antique, but found a creative way to use them.

Jenn's Bathroom Storage Jars can be seen here.

~

Here's a new idea I had not seen before from Plathsadventures.

Who knew a Parmesan cheese lid would fit a Mason jar?

 

~

This is a great idea for a picnic or party from Kimba at A Soft Place.

How convenient; your glass, flatware and napkin all in one!

 

Check it out here.

~

I am sooooo gonna try this next one...

Mason Jar Pies from Kate at Foodbabbles.

 

Aren't they the cutest things!

Your own little pie.

You can find the recipe and all the instructions here.

~

How convenient would this next one be?

Scoop your ice cream out in serving size BEFORE the party - no mad rush cutting cake AND scooping ice cream.

 

What a great idea!

You can read about this and Jessica's other fun party ideas here at Pen N' Paperflowers.

~

I know everyone has seen this idea by now, but it's just so darn cute, I wanted to show it again.

This photo is courtesy of Country Living and can be seen here with all the instructions.

 

~

Another - Who Knew?

I had no idea you could use a Mason jar with your blender, did you?

 

 

Real Simple shows you how here.

~

The ideas just keep getting better...

 

Now, this gal really has it all together!

 

 

RobinSue from Big Red Kitchen shows you how to make and store Mason jar meals.

You can see her posts (part 1 and part 2) starting  here.

These were just a few of the thousands of ideas I found using or recycling Mason jars.
Do you have any new or unique ways to use Mason jars?
E-mail me or send me your link, I would love to hear about it.

Thanks Terri, Jenn, Kimba, Kate, Jessica and RobinSue.


Linking today to:
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
http://mothersniche.com/ 

I have a couple questions...

 

Back in April, Debbie came to visit and we decided to try our hand at a few crafty ideas we saw floating around the Internet.

Since I already had a variety of Sharpie markers we thought we would start with something quick and easy.

 

 

Using Sharpie markers we decorated our mugs and baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

 Everything I read said after baking your design becomes permanent.

I hand washed my mug about three times and found that the black seemed to be okay (just okay) but the colored markers started coming off after the first wash.

 

 

Rather than using it for my morning coffee, I decided to make it my new Sharpie holder.

 

 

My question is....

Have you tried this, and if so, did your design wash off ?

Is there something else we should have done to make it permanent; maybe some type of sealer?

Linking today to:
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

 

~ A fishing hat for Kyle ~



Don't all two year olds need their own fishing hat?

 



According to Mr. Fisherman... 

 ABSOLUTELY!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Just in from shopping Walmart...

 

and look what I found.





These cute little 9" x 11" totes are made from the same fabric as the reusable grocery bags.

Because they are fabric, I think they will make great gift bags to embroider on.

They are a perfect size - not too big - not too small.

I found these reusable totes in the wrapping paper section for a mere $.97 each.

 

There were others with cute designs like cupcakes and hearts, but I like to stick to the "generic" so I can use them

 for any occasion.

As you can see in the picture below, the bottom of these bags are squared; making them able to sit on their own.

 

 

I'm thinking I may embroider the recipients names in pink on the black and white totes and black on the blue one. I am also seeing a sweet little pink flamingo on the black and white polka dot.

Whatcha think?

 

Wouldn't these be perfect wrapping for a co-workers birthday gift?

 The tote (with their name on it) could recycle into a lunch bag afterwards.

Two gifts in one!

Meet Lily

Isn't she cute?

She was a gift from my best bud, Debbie.

 

Lily is a tiny little kitchen timer.

She keeps me in line.

In the morning she sits next to my computer and reminds me it's time to finish my coffee, get off the computer and get my day started.
Don't let that sweet face fool you - when she says it's time - it's time!
Not another minute.
What helps you manage your mornings?
 

Thank you, thank you and thank you....

 

Remember my Grab and Go Baby gift?

 

 

(You can see the original post here.)

 

At the time of my original post I could not remember where I had gotten the idea for this clever little gift.

Since I actually stole this idea, I wanted to give credit where credit was due, so I started searching.

The hunt was on... 

 

After a million hours (that may be a bit of a stretch) of rummaging around the internet...

 I found my inspiration!

It was Amy at Inspire Co who posted the photo below that caught my eye.

 

 

You can see Amy's post here.

 

I wrote to Amy to thank her for such a unique and useful baby gift idea.

 I then asked if she would mind if I wrote a post referring back to her blog.

 

Here was her response:

 

"Hello, Lucy! I would love that. I do want to mention that I got the idea from Pinterest, from this blogger: http://www.erinlincoln.blogspot.com/2011/09/follow-up-baby-to-go-bags.html so I can't take all the credit for it. Do you mind giving her link as well as the source for my inspiration?"

 

Well, of course I don't mind!

Here is the photo of Erin's Baby-to-go-bag.

Can we say...ADORABLE?

 

 

I am also sending a shout out and thank you to Ladybird Ln who featured my Grab and Go bag on her

 Weekend Show off Party.

 

Don't we just love creative bloggers who love to share?

 

Thanks again, Inspire Co., Procrastination Station and Ladybird Ln.


Linking today to:
http://mothersniche.com/
http://www.shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://www.sew-much-ado.com/

My next door neighbor drives us crazy!

 

In a good way.

Frank always has something cooking on the grill or in his smoker every weekend.

There is a privacy fence between us so we have no idea what he's cooking most of the time; we just know it smells delicious. On occasion, he or his wife will "throw us a bone".

A few weekends ago his wife brought over a container of pork for us to sample.

As always... it was delicious!

My mother always taught me never to return an empty container.
(You can read about Miss Amy Vanderbilt here.)

 Rather than fill the container with the same ol' thing like homemade cookies or other treats, I chose to fill it with something different.

 

 

An appropriate dishtowel!

Monday's lunch

 

It can't get any better than this, can it?

 

YUM.

 

Unless

 

 of

 

 course

 

you

 

 add

 

a 

 

slice

 

of

 

 THIS!

 

(source)

 

Hummmm...

 I'm thinking maybe - Tuesday's lunch?





My favorite place to be.

  

Lucky for me, I live 1/2 mile to the water on my West, 2 1/2 miles on the East and 3.9 miles to the closest beach to the South - all within 7 minutes or less from my front door.
I dream of living in a little shack ON the beach one day, but for now,
 7 minutes or less will have to do...

I hope everyone is having a great weekend !




Quick Southern-style baked beans

 

If you're in need of a side dish for your next BBQ these would be perfect - recipe serves up to 18 people.

 



 I found the recipe here on The Pioneer Women.

I only made one change.
The recipe calls for regular ol' pork 'n beans.
Not wanting to make a trip to the store, I used what I had on hand.
 I used 1 can of Bush's Vegetarian and 2 cans of Homestyle baked beans.

 

 I'm not sure about "the best EVER", but they were pretty darn good.

(I will definitely make them again.)

 

I made these Quick Southern-style baked beans for our 4th of July get together with the family.

There were only seven of us so I had plenty of leftovers for dinner last night.

In fact, we had a little of everything leftover.

BBQ ribs, homemade macaroni and cheese, baked beans and deviled eggs.

 

Sure beats Friday night pizza!

For the grandbabies.

 

With so many other projects going on right now, I needed to come up with something quick and easy for my grandbabies to wear for the 4th of July.

 

 

 

 

 

 I purchased the outfits and just added the applique with their names.

Quick, fast and easy!

Red White and Blue

My mother was a quilter and taught me the art of hand quilting.

Even though I have never been quite brave enough to make an entire bed quilt, I have dabbled a bit in smaller projects.

I made these several years ago when I was in my "country" decorating phase to hang on the wall.
Same pattern and fabrics - different looks.

The one on the left I quilted by hand, the other I quilted by machine.
 

Now I will use them as table mats for the 4th of July.

Happy Wednesday!


Linking today to:
http://thecsiproject.com/