Wednesday, February 29, 2012

I am blessed...

...that my Ma & Pa love each other!
Click here to listen to "Home" by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros*

(may I also say that this is their only song that we like?...hmm...may I add that we love it too?!)

These are "Bloodroot" flowers~ aren't they pretty?!?!

*Disclaimer: I have not ever actually watched this video all the way through (we just listen), so please don't be mad at me if you object to the video footage. =) Link

Monday, February 27, 2012

A Party for me!

(we found this image over at: www.freeprettythingsforyou.com)Link
(please forgive me the LONG post...I did not even use all the photo's that I took...if you click on a photo, you can view them in the larger, proper size)

Thank you sweet friends, for coming to my sewing bee party! =)
And thank you Mom, for hosting it, feeding us, cleaning up after~ and helping out here and there! =)

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Place markers, for lunch...
...a little spool of thread, a big button, and a ribbon to hold it together!

I got this idea from the "Big Birthdays" book...I would not want to own the book, but it is nice to get from the library... (inter-library loan is really nice!) ....and of course I had little bags of party favors for everyone too!

~~~~~~~~~~~Rachel's project~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had started a dress for Rachel Blair's wedding, and it did not turn out right, so I took the bodice off and put a new one on, and added belt loops....but it was a bit too big... So Rachel helped take it up and she installed an invisible zipper! I have never had one in my homemade clothes before- this will be fun! =) I can't wait to wear it! (this fabric came from the Shetlers YEARS ago!)

Rachel also cut out another dress for me (like this one), that is just waiting for me to sew it up!
P.S. I sewed the new dress: see it here!
~~~~~~~~~~~~Katherine's project~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Katherine ironed almost 11 yards of bias tape, that I had cut out & sewn earlier in the week, AND ironed up the edges of 3 new aprons, AND sewed the edges of 2 of the aforementioned aprons! (I sewed the binding/straps on.) I think that she did a very good job, especially for a "non-sewer")

This is the one that Katherine picked out for me to finish before she had to leave.

Left to right:
pink sparkly with cupcakes, birthday cakes and "Happy Birthday!"; the blue fruit is a birthday gift from Mom & Dad, and the last one is pink with cupcakes and cherries!
...What fun! I need more aprons like I need another hole in my head...I just can't help myself...
(All fabrics were bought at Jo Anns, with the exception of the red- that was from Hobby Lobby.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~Mom's project~~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch! We had butternut squash soup and green salad. Brittany made the salad dressing, and Elizabeth made the pumpkin bread. (Katherine cooked & canned the pumpkin for the bread...)
You can find the recipe that Mom started with HERE. among other tweakings, she omitted the caraway seeds & and used gala apples, a huge onion, extra bacon drippings, curry powder & cayenne.

Link~~~~~~~~~~~~~Elizabeth's project~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth copied a shirt of mine, and made a paper pattern for me! AND she got out & used my (not so) new serger! It makes me feel like I too, could learn to use it. =)

Why was I grabbing for E's face like that?!?

I had to finish the hemming later after Elizabeth left, that's why she is not in the picture with me. =( (The fabric came from the Hutchins...scrap from one of Mrs. H's jumpers?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~Brittany's project~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brittany is cute even when she is fuzzy! =)

Do you remember this skirt? Elizabeth cut it out for me (I gave her some fabric & she made a skirt too), I made mine, but I could never get the waist right...I tried like 3 times...

Brittany was such a dear~ she added a yoke, and a zipper and it turned out really cute! (it was a retro metal zipper, that came (along with the fabric) from an estate sale (thanks Lisa!)....)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~my project~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dad did a whole house remodel (and clean out) after the client's Mother had moved out, and he brought home an entire closet (or so- there was quite a lot), of petite little shoes...like 3-5's and ever so many clothes from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's! A lot of it was just ruined, but I was able to keep some things, and we cut the buttons off everything else!

One thing I kept was this home-made green corduroy jumper, that was well fitted (but not for me!) just about my size, but I could never wear this color around my face! (I actually saved it to give to Elizabeth for pillows but never got around to it...) And while I was cleaning out the sewing room last month, I said a skirt! I'll turn it into a skirt!

So I did...this is what the waist looks like. I can't believe that I forgot to take a before photo...

...shocking, absolutely shocking!
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(after everyone left, Brittany checked my blood type- I am O+ )

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I do hope every one had a fun time~ I'll come help you sew sometime! =)

Monday, February 20, 2012

REALLY cute t-shirts~


Question: Is there such a thing as having too many Birthday Parties?

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I stumbled across Vintage Lucy's Etsy shop awhile back....I don't remember how, but they do have some really cute vintage stuff!

A lot of their duds are only in children's sizes~ that's sad...but then maybe you know a child that would love them! But some things, like this shirt:
(click here to buy!) are available in ALL sizes. =)
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I've been keeping my eye out for a birthday
t-shirt for a while.
What do you think~ should I make one, or buy one?

If I made one, maybe I could stencil or stamp the writing and stencil or applique the motif.... =)

Sunday, February 19, 2012

"This is the day the Lord hath made...

...let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118:24


Sometimes I find it nice to have a "refresher" (so to speak), on hard topics...just in case I get a quiz, or just to remind myself before I have children to think about.

Link: (part 1) Why Baptism by Pouring or Sprinkling is Biblical

by Pastor Andrew Webb
embedded:

Friday, February 17, 2012

Look what we saw!

We were driving by on HY 24/50 this morning, on our way to Paris, TX....

...and I saw these guys...

...and asked "Who are you!?!?"

Mom did a U-turn...

...so I could take these pictures and following video:



....migrating, I guess!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Our Valentine Tea Party

We decided that an after Valentine's Day party would be better, and I think that it was...only next time I would make it more than just one day after...so we could take better advantage of the after sales! =)

As people arrived, we decorated lunch sacks to collect our goodies in! That was fun!

~Partners in crime. Thank you girls for helping out with the younger ones! ~


"Mimi" (Mrs. Bee) explaining to K how to "lick & stick" the old-fashioned stickers I had...K was like "she's out of her mind...this tastes nasty!"

It was a cute lesson...I almost said like licking stamps. Duh, Adrienne! What color is you hair? This is a 4 year old you are talking to! =)
It really made me want to quote from "You've Got Mail": "Oh, my! Do children not know what handkerchiefs are?!?!"


I just wish that I was "with it" enough to have taken photos of everyone with their finished bag! =( At least we got pictures of 3 of us! =)

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Right after Kelli came in and greeted & hugged me, she said "My your hair is getting redder, isn't it?!" I said, "Yes, redder and frizzier in my old age!" =)
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And coloring after tea~


We want to thank you all so much for coming and making such a pleasant party!

This lovely photo of Jessica & Mom is the only one taken during the actual tea party... I did not get any pictures of the food either. =(

We had 2 kinds of hot tea, cold peppermint tea, apple juice & water, heart shaped cheese, 2 kinds of mini muffins with cream cheese frosting* (and candy hearts on top), homemade spiced pear sauce, and a ton of good dill pickles (from Costco)!
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...and Kelli stayed after, and helped clean up~ thank you Kelli! And we watched "Cars 2", before she went home! =) (I must say that I found the 2nd movie much better than the first!)
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*Cream Cheese Frosting
1- 8oz package of cream cheese (soft)Link
1/4 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
a dribble of vanilla

Whip it up good, dab it on top of you food, and eat it up yum! =)
~Happy eating!
Adrienne

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine fun~

I'm sorry, I meant to post this yesterday, but too many things happened....but, better late than never! =)

Use cooky cutters to cut your cheese into heart shapes! I'll bet that you could cut lunch meat too....or why not your whole PB&J sandwich? =)
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Have you ever had a DARK CHOCOLATE CHERRY CASHEW + ANTIOXIDANTS, KIND (www.kindsnacks.com) candy bar? I have not*, but my Mom said that it was so good- it could certainly be given as Valentine Chocolate! I think that I have seen it (and KIND's other candy, bars & snacks) at lots of health food stores. We got ours at HerbMart.

*because I'm allergic to chocolate
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embedded videos:
"To a Wild Rose" on a saw


And...
Storybook Love (Theme from The Princess Bride)


...One last one:
Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis- THAT'S AMORE'


Happy Valentine's Day!
I got this little lady over at: www.freeprettythingsforyou.com