"A Fun Summer Purse" Tutorial

My mother-in-law's birthday was at the end of June. A week or so before the big day I heard her comment that she didn't have a "fun summer purse." I immediately thought "I can fix that!" I don't know if this is what she had in mind, but hopefully she found this purse to be fun for summer!

I bought this plain white bag at Walmart for $10.

I gathered ribbons in bright summer colors (this picture makes them look kind of dull). I used lime, orange, turquoise, hot pink, pink, and yellow.

I created flowers out of the ribbon. I stitched along the edge of the ribbon first.

Pull the thread to create a ruffle.

Gather the ruffle to make a flower. I pin the ends together in the back, stitch them together and cut off the excess.

I made two flowers of each color in different sizes.

Attach the flowers to the bag. Since I am the queen of hot glue, that is what I used.
(By the way, thanks for tips about the fabric glue on the last refashion project. I will check it out for sure!)

I created two clusters of flowers on the bag a

And there you have it! A simple, fun, summer purse!

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Refashion #3 Flower Tank

The inspiration for this shirt came from this tank from Alisa Burke. But since I can't draw, paint, or really even sew her project was hopeless for me! Instead I had to create my own method to (hopefully) achieve the same effect (although hers is much prettier!).

I have had this pink tank in my closet for a long time and I rarely wear it. I bought it to wear under a hoodie, but then realized that wasn't smart because I couldn't take the hoodie off if I get hot (I don't wear tanks without something under or over them). I decided to try to spice it up a bit so I can wear it again.

First, choose your color scheme. I went through my paint collection and chose shades of pink, purple, and orange. I used acrylic paint which may or may not have been the best choice. I don't know that much about paint. I just won't be throwing this shirt in the washing machine!

Because I can't paint my own flowers I used these foam stamps from Memory Makers.

I stamped a variety of flowers in a variety of colors onto a t-shirt I got on clearance for a few dollars at Walmart (using a t-shirt instead of just white cotton is a good idea because the t-shirt won't fray).

I tried the tank on with the cardigan I was going to wear with it and pinned where I wanted the flowers so they would show the best. (No picture of this.)

Cut the flowers out and arrange them on the shirt. I had to go back and stamp and cut out more flowers a couple of times to get enough.

I realized as I was arranging the flowers that the tank would stretch when I wore it and may look funny. The best thing I could think to do (actually I think it was my husband's idea) was to stuff a pillow inside the shirt to make it stretch out.

The most professional thing to do would be to hand sew each flower on the shirt. But, I had already spent a lot of time on this shirt so I took the easy way out and hot glued the flowers on. Like I said, I won't be throwing this in the washing machine.

All done!

Oh yeah, check that out!

I am so pleased with how it turned out!

I have several more refashions coming!

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Flaming Gorge

Last week we spent a few days with my family at Flaming Gorge Resevoir in Utah. Here a few of my "artistic" and scenery photos from the trip. Enjoy!

Just a Note

Hi everyone! Happy Monday!

I have been out of town for several days, hence the lack of communication and posts. (The meal planning post was scheduled while I was gone.) I spent last Wednesday-Saturday at Flaming Gorge in Utah at a family reunion. It was a lot of fun. I will try to share some pictures a little later.

Thanks sooooo much for the fabulous feedback to my patriotic headband! I am floored with the reception it received. I have been featured on several blogs and websites (see my sidebar for featured buttons and check out those fabulous blogs). I am just so excited!

I have a fantabulous (yes I made that word up) refashion tutorial that should be up tomorrow. I just need my husband to help photograph it. I am very excited to share it with you.

I am adding a few new things to the shop today so check it out.

Thanks for following and reading!

Love,
Aubree

Meal Planning

A few months ago I was reading Dinner Dilemmas over at Tatertots and Jello and realized that I really needed to make a change in my meal planning. It's only the two of us and it's still hard! I usually would (try) to think of a week's worth of meals right as I headed out to the grocery store. I would pick up what I needed and then may or may not actually cook those things. I was shopping once per week and we were wasting food and money.

SO this is what I did... and it has worked wonders!

-At the end of every month I print off a calendar for the upcoming month.

-I look at my events calendar and cross of days on my meal calendar that I won't need to make dinner (like this month we have a family reunion, wedding dinner, birthday party, and 4th of July parties that I don't need to plan a dinner for).

-I fill in every single meal for the whole month on the calendar- yes a whole month!

-I think carefully about what leftovers can be used the next day or two. For example, if I am going to make hamburger tacos I will only use 1/2 of it, so I plan meaty lasagna for the next day.

-Sometimes I even write on the calendar when I need to take food out of the freezer to thaw for a meal.

-I shop at the first of the month and buy all non perishable foods for the whole month- including those that can be frozen. I also by fresh food for the first two weeks of the month.

-Halfway through the month I return to the store to buy the fresh ingredients for the rest of the month. Even though I end up running to Walmart for something random during the month, it really cuts down on my grocery shopping time and as far as I can tell- money!

Etsy Shop or Blog Monogram Letters

Since I have written about monogram letters here, and here I thought I would post a tutorial on how to cover the letters with paper. I usually make the letters for a family name, but this time I thought it would be fun to make YB for Yellow Blackbird for my craft room. It would also be fun for a blog name put on a computer desk or something.

I did this tutorial at night so the pictures aren't that great- sorry! Here we go!


You can buy letters at any craft store. I sometimes use wood, but found these paper mache letters at Hobby Lobby for $1.77 each.

The first step is to choose patterned paper. Choose something that matches your shop or blog name. You can see that I chose a gray paper with yellow birds! Trace the letter on the back of the paper. (Make sure you put the letter face down so it isn't backwards.)

Cut out the paper.

Next paint the edges of the letter a matching color. I usually use the paper background color, but decided to go with an accent color this time.

You can see by the pictures that I messed up and painted the letter first, then traced it. If you do this you will have to repaint the letter to cover up your pencil marks.

Let the paint dry.

Use Mod Podge to attach the paper to the letter. Swipe a coat on really fast, attach the paper and smooth with a bone folder or side of a credit card. If you get the mod podge too thick it can cause the paper to wrinkle and even tear.

If you want extra protection and shiny-ness add another coat of Mod Podge. : )

Embelish letters as desired. For the B I hot glued a flower and yellow button on the edge. I wrapped the Y in yellow ribbon.

Ta da! Display proudly!

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