A Zipper Bag

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I love this bag! Everyone's always opening the zippers and asking "which one opens it?" And I just say "Pick one!"

What starts out like this
Get as many zippers as you want, an even number. I used 10 different colors. And I chose 9" because when you sew the ends up and fold it outside in, it's still long enough for my makeup pencils and mascaras.

Soon becomes this, just sew the sides together.
(you can get a zipper presser foot for around $4)... *Sew every other zipper right side up and upside down in an ABAB pattern.

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This is what you'll see
The top of one zipper meets the bottom of the next, and so on.

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Next (forgot to take a picture) I trimmed up the ends of the zippers and *with it inside out* sewed some white fabric across the end seams to keep them from fraying, and to close up the ends. I sewed over the metal clasps to keep them tucked inside the bag. This is in the *inside of the bag, so you can use any color fabric.
And flipped rightside out this is what you'll have.
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You can see the white fabric below.

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Wanna use the purple zipper? Go ahead! Pick anyone you like!
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Here's the front and back of mine.

And it's done!
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The original I got in Malaysia one summer. It had to be retired when the green zipper busted after 3 good years. It's dirty and broken, but I still heart you buddy

Product reviews....

It's the second ice storm of the winter here, and I've been stuck at home, and loving every second!

I must share with you some products I've found!

Unfortunately this college town has no BodyShop, and I am an avid customer.

I go to the city for my BodyShop needs, but my little convertible is in no shape to battle this weather.

So alas, while I was stocking up on groceries for the storm, I found some drug store products that I actually love!

Now I am picky! I'm very selective with my beauty products. And I'm infatuated with products. I love perfume, I have baskets of nail polish, and there are 18 different mascaras currently in my make up bag. I should work for a magazine and just try everything out!

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But what I found, I love!

Skin- Winter weather dries your skin. Jergen's has several lotions, but I found this in particular to be amazing. It's deep conditioning really lasts. I hate lotions that disappear a minute after you've rubbed it in. But this stuff isn't greasy either. My hands feel like they just had a manicure. The smell is pretty light, and there is a whole line to choose from. Try it!
It's only $5

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Body- After only using The Body Shop bath wash for years, I've grown accustomed to my favorite scents. But with this storm, and my being out of body wash, I had to buy something, and I found this: Caress' Glowing Touch body wash. Surprised at the delightful scent, it's not fruity, not strong, I can't really describe it, but it's not bad!

And only $4

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Face- Cleansing Wipes! For those of us who sometimes forget to wash the make up off before bed. Which I learned from a make up artist: one night of going to bed with your makeup still on, ages your skin a week!

I think $5

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And of course Burt's Bees Pomegranate! Loveeeeee...

I sleep with it on the nightstand. And there's a second one in my purse always.

It's about $3

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In fact, the whole Burt's Bees line: just buy it!

Also you should know that Bath&Body (although I rarely shop there because their scents just remind of being 15 yrs old again) has this stuff and it's the best! Aromatherapy SLEEP collection, love the whole line, but the Detoxify Black Chamomile night lotion is divine! Smells amazing, feels amazing, and helps you sleep better to boot!

Around $12

Decorative fabric balls

I found a post about these decorative fabric balls and think they're fun, and surprisingly easy to make. Wanted to share it here...

(I played around with some scrap fabric, so they're not matchy matchy)

But if you've got 15-20 minutes, you've got time to make one. I made them watching an episode of Ugly Betty :)

All you need is a Styrofoam ball, small straight pins, a ruler/cutting mat with a grid, and fabric. Oh! And a thimble! to save your fingers!!

You can get the free detailed tutorial from Knitty Gritty Thoughts and you should check hers out because she has a really cute basket full of these!!!

But basically it's a few steps.

1) Cut a few dozen 2"x2" squares. 2) Pin down a base square for the top

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3) Fold a square in half _______ 4) Then again so it's abt 1"x1"

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And then you start pinning them on!

Take your 1st folded square, (with the folded point pointing upward) pin it's left side over the top.

Make the 1st row, by overlapping the folded squares like so...
Then you just shift the next row a bit, and pin them down like before.

It's kind of hard to see on my busy fabric, but the Knitty Gritty Thoughts blog has up close pictures of every step! so you can see it better.

When you get to the end, you just use 1 pin to put a square on the direct bottom.

I used Malaysian batik fabric on the bright colored ball and the navy ball, and the gray was some IKEA fabric which was a bit heavier material so it looks more like paper.

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I love my new little artichoke balls. I want to make some that match my living room...

Happy Birthday to my Pops!

Happy Birthday

to my wonderful Dad!

(I'm a total daddy's girl)

Now we're off to dinner and

the movie theater

TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2010

2 More Months

I am so-ooo looking forward to this...

March 5, 2010

Thinking of Spring, so I made an apron!

Spring is coming up, and the bright colors are whirling around in my head. So I made a kitchen apron. Yay! My first *completed* project of the year! Stayed up all night to make this (insomnia helped) and I am so excited to post it! Without further ado...

Following patterns is not my strong suit, but I managed to stay fairly close to the plan. I added a 5th layer,(art professors are always tellin me things in odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye, and it stuck) and I made the tie straps pointy as apposed to flat, just looks more finished to me.

It started out like this
at first I couldn't figure out what I wanted to mix and match

I have a bit of a collection of clover things. And I scour the fabric aisles around St. Patrick's Day because I love it. Love the holiday, clovers, green, and my birthday's in March. So although my fabric choices may not be what you would call "cute", this apron was just something I wanted to have fun with for me :)

We don't have a lot of fabric stores around here, so I have to sift through hundreds of granny quilting prints to find a decent one. Ergo I thought the watermelon print was amusing.

My new sewing machine from Christmas has become my new best friend! I haven't used these newer machines before, and the Singer Simple is great (for me anyway). It's very basic, 22 stitches, arrows showing you how to thread it, and best of all---> The thing THREADS ITSELF. Maybe I've just been missin' out, but I've never seen it before :) You just press this little lever

and whooop! It's done. Which makes switching thread colors a breeze.

Okay, you may not think that's as cool as I did, lol. But I've already made 2 knit tops, 3 scarves, and finished this apron, so the easy threading has spared me some time. Anyway!

So that's the final productAnd I'm playing around with floral brooches I made to coordinate, maybe a little off center...
I will post the tutorial for this if you like, soon. And take pictures of every step. I thought it was a cute apron, and I'll make more, so you don't have to go buy the pattern.

Hope you liked it :)

It's New Year's Eve

Goodbye 2009, you were a wonderful year!

You taught me a lot, brought new friends into my life, sent me to NYC again (thankyou thankyou), turned some "Misses" into "Mrs.", took some good people with you, but all in all it was a really good year.

I just read a blog talking about "522,600 minutes... [the song from Rent] how do you measure, measure a year" It was quite an eventful year for headlines!
I think by now most of America is sick of the names John & Kate! Kanye became like the most hated man in pop culture, well second to Chris Brown who beat up our beloved Rihanna. Twilight exploded! and sunk into even more hearts around the world [yay!]. Miss California stuck her foot in her mouth, and then got really stuck when her little private videos surfaced. And now it's Tiger Woods on every channel, sheesh... We lost Michael Jackson :'( Farrah Fawcett, Brittany Murphy, and many others from Tinsel Town.
... And now, looking back over My Year, there are things that I wish to take with me into the new year, and things I would like to leave behind in 2009.
I'd prefer to leave behind...

1) dirty ol' landlords, 2) my unfortunate case of insomnia :( 3) those "friends" that turn out to be anything but a friend :( 4) my naive judgement that led me to believe they were good friends in the first place, 5) wisdom teeth! Thankfully no more aches and pains! and most importantly 6) grudges (because I have learned in '09, it's healthiest for you to just let it go, and leave it to God).
What will follow me into the New Year...

1) Ugly Betty (which I hope keeps going strong), 2) my desire & ability to cook! 2009 turned me into a Kitchenista! 3) Bentley, my 2yr old scottie. I lost my 5yr old cat a few months ago, and he was the coolest cat ever. I can't imagine if I lost Bentley too, 4) my new found love: GLEE, it's so funny, and the music is so good. 5) the crafty projects swimming around in my head just waiting to be made 6) my Youth! I don't want to be sad when I turn the big 2-4 in March. 7) strength, which I know sounds cheesy, but this passed year had many bumps (and potholes) and I surprised myself with how I got through it all. Sometimes you just don't know your own strength til it's been tested. 8) Most importantly is my relationship with God. It's ever growing, and I just want to learn more, and get closer to Him. People may let you down, disappoint you, and leave you, but God is always there. I also want to get more involved with the kids and the food drive at church.
... Although this list doesn't really look like it, I did have an amazing year! I'm very lucky. I had an eventful year full of many blessings which I am so thankful! And I get to round out the year with one of the best Christmas' I've ever had. I hope you had a wonderful 2009 as well, and think about what will follow you into this new year...
Cheers to 2010!!!
It's a new decade!

It was a White Christmas!!!

Sunshine all week, and then Thursday... Christmas Eve morning it was the craziest blizzard we've ever gotten!

60 mile/hr winds beating against the house, our back fence got torn down a bit! Snow so thick I couldn't see the neighbors' houses.

I'm sure this is totally normal for say Colorado or the Northeast part of the country, but we haven't had a white Christmas in at least 5 years.

This is what I found when I opened the front door... that's my dad's truck, mind you, an F-350 with a lift kit, and the snow is up by the tires.

BUT Christmas Day it was beautiful! A blanket of fluffy white snow, some parts of my yard as high as my waist!!! And I'm 5'6!

My short little Scottie dog kept falling into the 4ft deep snow. Poor thing was so confused, he couldn't manage to go potty outside. So we had a few accidents in the house...

My first ever Snow Angel!

I was so excited about the snow. The kids all over the neighborhood were out building snowmen and having snow ball wars. It was so cute! And I've rarely had snow in my 23 yrs so I couldn't resist :) I tried to make a snowman, but the snow wasn't sticking together... I didn't get far with it before I froze and had to run inside.

Looks like Bigfoot's been around. . .

I have had the loveliest Christmas, comfy at home, stuffed full of food, and watching movies all day long. I love my Cricut!

And have a million projects for my new sewing machine!-- thanks Dad... and I hope he likes his GPS :) I'm not ready to take down the tree... maybe after new years lol.. Jesus is the reason for the season and I thank Him for everything! I hope you had a very merry Christmas and enjoy the rest of 2009! It was truly a great year for me, one of the best Christmas'.

For now I'm ending the night in my new Christmas Footy PJ's...

Merry Christmas to all!

And to all a good night!!!

Smells Like Christmas!!!

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, you may be up permanently...

The shopping is *done*, the presents are wrapped, and the groceries are ready to go! whew...! My tree this year is a chaotic mess but I love it. I recently acquired several ornaments from my childhood Christmas trees and when mixed in with the ornaments I've bought over the years, there was hardly enough space! But this is my first tree over 3ft tall since I was 16 and I am loving it! It's 6ft tall with a red feather tree topper, popcorn garland (courtesy of my Big sis, myself, and a long movie night), and my most favorite ornaments ever.

This year's favorite:
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I love it!

absolutely

love it!

The trees,

the garlands,

the food, the

holiday cheer,

the weather (could be colder), the movies, the lights, the sneaky gift shopping, and the dirty santa games. Wish December was 3 months long.

We had carriage rides at church this week! And Christmas songs outside on speakers, carolers singing in the halls, family pictures by a faux fireplace, hay rides, and kids trolleys. It was really great.

Me showing off my dazzling popcorn garland, in my Footy PJs :). Making popcorn garlands like charlie brown with my Big Sis. I just got other Footy PJs especially for Christmas Eve heheh, can't wait. The pictures are going to look so funny

All I want for Christmas is You...

Dear Santa,

..... I've been told, I'm a hard one to hunt down gifts for. I beg to differ! But in case you've been too busy to watch me this year... I've been a very, v e r y good girl! Take my word for it ;) God has blessed me with so much more than I deserve this year, I have so much to be thankful for! BUT :) it would be nice if you'd send some of that North Pole weather down south. We haven't had a white Christmas in years! And since I haven't made it to Macy's to mail in my wish list... I just know you'll find it here.

* If you could please wrap up * R o b . P a t t i n s o n * smack a little bow on his head, and leave him under the mistletoe for me, I'd be mighty grateful!!!!

If you'd like my list of * things * that I would want, along with my previously mentioned request... well ok, lets see... (i'll keep it interesting so you're not delivering another wii or guitar hero)

As always, I'd love another Starbucks mug.

Bath&Body is running empty on their aromatherapy line's Sleep Detoxify lotion in Black Chamomile.... Santa please scour the globe for any leftovers! I must have this at my bedside!!!

I've been in a cozy reading mood lately, more Jane Green books would be nice...

Hallmark seems to be all out of the good keepsakes ornaments... if you find any wizard of oz, where the wild things are, or snoopy... I've been goin hallmark to hallmark for weeks.

I do love mittens! They're so cute!

I hear HP 6 and Inglorious Bastards are out on dvd this week. (if you cough up a New Moon, you're as good as gold to me, I'd clean reindeer poo for a week!)

And I guess, gift cards in any amount to Hastings for my ever growing dvd wish list (i've got like 57 I want) or to Michael's so I can put it towards more cricut cartridges.

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You're the Best, Santa!!!

But don't be mistaken: I want the first request more than anything!!! And I'll be running to the tree Christmas morning to see if you follow through! And so you know, I don't just leave you milk and cookies, I'll leave a gourmet meal! MmMmm

Say hello to the Mrs. for me. And Vixen... she's my favorite :)

December Movie List

Sooo I just got my new holiday Scentsy pot! They're limited edition so I couldn't resist :) my house smells sooo good! Anyway, like in October, I have a ritual of holiday movie watching, that just gets me in the December mood! Here is my list of 25 Days of Christmas Movies you should watch this winter!
1. On top of my list I plan to watch It's a Wonderful Life, beginning to end!
2. Love Actually is one of my all time favorites
3. The Santa Clause
4. The Holiday
5. Holiday Inn (1942 black & white and oh so good! Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire)
6. Home Alone 1 & 2
7. While You Were Sleeping... oh how I love this movie
8. Of Course the Grinch - both new & old
9. A Charlie Brown Christmas
10. Elf - looove zooey daschanel
11. You've Got Mail (christmas is in there!)
12. Nightmare Before Christmas - classic
13. Preacher's Wife ... love old whitney :)
14. White Christmas with Bing Crosby too...
15. Family Stone
16. Polar Express loved this book as a child
17. Shop Around the Corner - the 1940 JimmyStewart original You've Got Mail
18. Serendipity
19. Hook - it's christmas time when he goes back to england
20. Some form of a Scrooge movie, like a Christmas Carol
21. Miracle on 34th Street
22. I'm suppose to watch Little Women this year
23. Babes in Toyland
24. Harry Potter Series (i love how I incorporate this in anything)
25. And of course! America's #1 Movie right now, bringing in $143 Million just in the US on opening weekend... and over $240 worldwide: NEW MOON
although it's a very sad Christmas for Bella, october... november... december... nothin.

Tis the Season of giving!

I'm the kind of person who loves getting homemade gifts! And I love making gifts for people even more. Ever since I worked in a craft store, I've gotten so many ideas for mini albums, and holiday craft projects that could be Christmas gifts or projects you might like, so I thought I'd post some pictures. Most of these are unfinished, but maybe they can help you come up with some gifts you could make this season!


I love all the colors, a bright take on a "Winter Memories" chipboard album.

25 Days of Christmas

It's not done yet... but a lot like the 13 days of halloween I posted earlier, this is made of 25 toilet paper rolls, decorated with scrapbook paper, stickers, ribbons, etc... I still need to number each roll.

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Here's a shorter version:

12 Days of Christmas

completed, with mismatched tissues and paper and embellishments.

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Another count down to Christmas! This Advent Calendar is made with a 24 count Mini Muffin Pan. Magnetic strips hold each "cover" on, and you can fit little candies, or strips of paper with messages in each cup. I want to make another one of these, but with red and green coordinating papers and embellishments. This one is a little chaotic

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A Glass Block you can get at craft stores or hardware stores, filled with Christmas lights, tied up with glittery ribbon like a present, and I added some scrapbook paper to the front and back to dim down the lights a bit. I've seen people monogram initials or last names on the glass, that can be cute for newlyweds... I like putting this in the window or on a mantel...

This is a brown paper bag mini album. You can tuck tags, photos, souveniers, etc. in the "pockets" each brown bag opening has. I just fiddled around with left over scrap paper, but I like the idea.

Above is a brown paper bag Christmas Planner I found online. You could keep recipes, and magazine clippings in the pockets. Christmas planners are helpful, I'm making one right now [ shown below], to store family holiday recipes, pictures, and traditions in, so I'll be sure not to forget them!
I'll add more pictures soon.

Oh how I love the holidays!!!

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sewed up some popcorn garland
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And here is a tag shaped cardboard display we had in the store I work in.