Personalized Back Packs

Our school district had a back-to school night sponsored by a company who donated back packs and school supplies to everyone who attended. There were about 5 colors to choose from, but my kids both picked out pink backpacks (of course!). I knew I 'd have to personalize them just because of that, but also I was thinking about all the other little girls who attended that also picked pink.

I immediately thought of making my own iron-ons based upon this craft a while back found on Joy's Hope.

So I took these plain pink (FREE!) back packs and let the girls pick out their fabric for their personalization.


I printed out their initials using the same font as I used on the word art (Pharmacy). I carefully cut it out and used the template to cut it out from fabric and iron it on to the Heat n' Bond.

Then I ironed them on to the back packs.


I just LOVED how they turned out!

However; the Heat n' Bond would not hold it tight enough to the canvas-like material of the backpacks. ARGH! They started peeling off almost right away. Easy fix, though! I just sewed them on with embroidery thread and it worked out great!

It was a nice project to work on the day before school. It kept my hands busy and it just felt right to be busy doing something special for the girls before school.

Sharing this at these parties:

Fibers on Friday: I Have a Button!

A button! A button! I have a button!

And no, not a button to sew onto my sweater, but a button for my Fibers on Friday party! Check it out:




It's in my sidebar for all to grab! I'm so excited about it, can you tell? I made it myself following a couple of awesome tutorials starting here.

The progress on my February Lady Sweater is not worthy of a new picture, but that's not to say I don't want to see YOUR current knitting or crocheting projects!

So, grab my button and let's test this baby out! Link away!

A Craft! Head Band Holder

Well, guys, I made it! I put my darlings on the school bus for the first time this morning. It wasn't easy. There were tears for 2 days. Tears at 5 this morning. And tears when they drove off. All the tears were mine (mostly). Even though there have been times that I've longed for more time to myself, time to craft alone, I'd gladly take 5 more years of having my girls by my side.

The girls had to answer a little survey for their teacher. One of the questions was, "Name 3 things you like to do." One of Paige's answers was "Water the garden". Hold me.

At the beginning of summer, I wrote here that I would not blog so much or carve out time for time consuming projects so that I could have more time with my kids. I stuck to it and I'm so glad. But, now.....it's on like Donkey Kong!

Here's a little craft to help organize the obnoxious headbands that end up flopping around all over the place:



Take an empty oatmeal container and some fabric:

I covered the container with the pretty paisley and had this shrunken shirt in my fabric stash. It was the perfect color for rosettes, plus it had that lacey band around the chest which happened to fit perfectly around the circumference of the container!


It's so perfect! It hold the bands tightly and it's so pretty! I set out trying to make the main fabric pleated, but it just wasn't working, so I hot glued it on flat and tight. It's just fine and still pretty without the pleats. I used this tutorial for the roses.

Meatless Monday! Pretty Peppers and WMD's

Time to do something with these beautiful little peppers from my garden. They are Chinese Five Color peppers. But my Dad calls them Weapons of Mass Destruction!

They're sooooo purdy! But they're soooooo HOT! I merely licked one and my mouth was on fire! But it occurred to me that perhaps I could use them in small doses and maybe they'd be edible. So, I tried it in this pepper jelly recipe.

I finely chopped some red, orange, and yellow peppers. The recipe only calls for red and green, but this works.

Glove up, Buttercup! You do NOT want to take your contacts out later after handling these babies with bare hands. Not that I would know or anything.........
Lots of stirring and lots of sugar......

......you've got yourself some delicious pepper jelly that has the perfect amount of heat and the perfect amount of sweetness. Grab yourself a brick of cream cheese, pour this over the top, and spread on crackers! You've puttin'near got yourself a meal for Meatless Monday!

This Moment

{this moment}
one image
no words
a tidbit from the week
held close to my heart

Fibers on Friday: February Lady Progress

I got several inches knitted this week due to a three hour drive to and from camping. It would have been more, but when the sun flickers through the trees, it makes me sick. So, I can only knit when we're driving though wide open spaces :-) We should plan accordingly next time; account for the position of the sun and direction of travel!

Anyway I can't wait to wear this baby! I'm loving it!

Now it's time to show me what you've been working on.

Wandering Wednesdays

Here I sit submersed in history on the Strasburg Rail Road.

*************************

This is the final week of Wandering Wednesdays by Garden Mama. I've had the pleasure and challenge of submitting three. Thank you, Garden Mama, for inspiring me to pay attention to where my feet take me and to revel in the moment.