Apron Re-con

I found the coolest Skirt Apron at Repurposed Clothing last November. I thought it was so adorable... and I had a jeans skirt laying around... just waiting to be re-conned!



I modeled my skirt almost exactly like the one I had seen. A ruffled bottom and reversed applique. I wanted mine to stand out a little, so I used two fabrics for the apron ties. One side matched the ruffle on the bottom. The other matched the applique.



I love the way the apron turned out, but I knew I wasn't going to keep it for myself. The skirt was a size 6 and the front of the apron was too narrow for my "child bearing" hips. Luckily, I had a Girl's Night Out White Elephant Gift Exchange in December. I wrapped up my apron with a nice candle... And it was a hit!

Valentine's Giveaway

Go check out the giveaway over at bitty bits & pieces to enter for some Valentine's treats!

Be sure to tell her I sent you. :)

A Day in the Life of a 9 Year Old

When you turn 9, you get to have lunch (Sonic!) with your grandma, mom & dad, favorite aunt, and your friends at school.




Your baby brother will sleep through the whole thing.



Later your grandma and aunt will bring cupcakes for your whole class.



Then its party time with the family. Cake!



And presents. Like... Guitar Hero!





Best present? Your new quilt made from your old baby blanket. Even though you miss the old blankie, this new one will be even better.



Love you Kate! With all of my heart.

Doing fine in 2009

I can't believe January is almost over! December flew by... probably because I spent a half of that on vacation!

We drove across three states and put 1200 miles on my car driving over the holidays, but it was well worth it. My boyfriend & I got to visit both of our families for the holidays and we stopped to see some friends too.



We spent four days leading up to Christmas with my family. My little nephew is still a little cutie pie! He never cries and is always happy to see you!





My other nephew is now six AND A HALF. That half is really important right now. He's so sweet. All throughout our trip he was very thoughtful and always making sure we were comfortable. "Would you like some hot chocolate? Are you hungry? I could make chicken noodle soup." He's a master of hot chocolate! And the microwave. Here's his hot chocolate recipe. Fill a coffee mug with milk (yes, he can pour the gallon jug all by himself now!), microwave for 1 minute, and add as much Swiss Miss as needed. He's lucky Grandma and Grandpa buy Swiss Miss by the gallon at Sam's Club. You never know when company's coming and they might want a warm drink.





And my niece! She's going to be nine tomorrow! Very grown up, but the girl still believes in Santa. Heck, I'd still believe in Santa if he brought me awesome gifts!





Early in the morning on Christmas Day, we were on the road before 7 a.m. We wanted to be in El Paso for Christmas dinner by 3 p.m. It was still dark as we drove through the desert. My favorite part of southern Arizona is the drive between Gila Bend and Casa Grande along Interstate 8. There are so many giant saguaros! That's pronounced "sa-war-o" for all you non-Arizonans.

And if you ever need to stop to use the bathroom around Las Cruces, I highly recommend the rest stop on the west side of town. Its high on a cliff with a giant road runner sculpture that overlooks the valley below. Warning: its windy up there! Careful not to blow off the edge!




We made great time on the drive. We arrived in El Paso half an hour before the other guests were scheduled to arrive. Perfect! Just enough time to freshen up and grab a cold beer after our 8 hour drive.

All three of Dave's nephews are into Transformers and Star Wars this year. Is that a boy thing? I'm not sure, but we heard this a lot during our visit...


"Are you a bad guy or a good guy?" and "Uncle Dave, can you transform this for me?"

Our time in El Paso flew by. Besides nursing colds we caught in Yuma and taking time to rest (oh, and watch Veronica Mars!), we spent a lot of time with family. Playing with Christmas presents, family get togethers, seeing the Eastridge lights, a few rounds of Continental, and lunch at Cattleman's.







The last leg of our trip was an overnight visit to see friends Odessa. We got to play rock band all night! And if you are ever in Odessa, you MUST stop at Daylight Donuts for a sausage roll. Good stuff!

Obama!

Make your own here!

And did anyone see the website http://whitehouse.gov today? Goodbye Dubya!

Apron Strings

This is supposed to be a crafting blog! I haven't posted anything "crafty" since November. I have been crafty! Just haven't had time to blog about it.



I made this apron for my new cousin-in-law Donnalee as a post wedding gift. I had SO MUCH FUN at Ryan and Donnalee's Newfoundland wedding and was really excited to send her this gift. Their wedding colors were brown and pink. Very hip. In 2007 I had a hard time trying to find brown and pink fabrics. They are all the rage these days!



The apron is reversible: brown & pink flowers on one side, brown & pink polka dots on the other. I made a set of coordinating pot holders too. I used the tutorial at A Feathered Nest, but modified it by making the apron wider. I love her tutorial, but after my Apron Swap Apron, I feel the apron needs to be a tad wider in the hips.

My favorite part of the apron? I finally figured out zig-zag stitching on my sewing machine. I used zig-zags as decorative stitching on the apron strings.

Breakfast of Champions

Ah, the Saturday morning ritual. Eggs, toast, orange juice...



and SPAM.

Okay, so SPAM is NOT part of my weekend breakfast cuisine. In fact, I had never eaten it before in my life. At least, I don't THINK I had. My parents liked to serve the real deal. Fat, juicy bacon. BACON! Its the best.



Sometime last fall, our friends were making fun of my boyfriend and I. Because we had never eaten SPAM before. Like eating SPAM (and liking it) is something to brag about. But my boyfriend got curious -- what's the big deal. So he bought some to try it out. And it sat in the pantry for four months. But that's the beauty of SPAM, right? It can sit there as long as needed and it doesn't go bad.

This morning we went to make breakfast... and there was NO BACON. The audacity, I know. I guess we had no choice... we would try THE SPAM.

It wasn't so bad. Kind of tastes like bologna. But really... I'd rather have bacon. I like my meat non-processed. Especially if I'm going to be eating cage free organic eggs.