One Monthly Goal Finished

It's been a long time in the works, but I finally finished this wallet. It was inspired by Dave Ramsey and our desire to get our finances in better order. I know you can do that through apps and more techie methods, but as Dave says (and I agree) it's good to feel the money leaving your possession; it makes you think twice about a purchase.

I got the pattern here: 

The Colorful Chicken

 With some plastic that I had left from another project I was able to make little label pockets on each cash "envelope."

The pattern simply and clearly guides you to make six "envelopes" plus two more pockets which I'm using for my personal spending money and our family entertainment money.

A nice zippered pocket (don't worry it wasn't too hard to make, even if you've never done zippers) holds coins.

Of course I have a category for Books. Doesn't everyone?

I am especially eager to use this since my current wallet is ripped and the coins just go whereever their little hearts desire.

This pattern was quite well-written and easy to follow for an experienced sewist. I think a beginner could do pretty well, too, though the final few steps were challenging. Very worth it, though.

New Blog

I've started a new blog on which I hope to post more regularly and to focus on beauty and being grateful for the many blessings with which God blesses us though we do nothing to deserve the blessings.

Here it is: Purring Cottage. Please visit.

Monday I'll have some thoughts there on this book.

One Monthly Goal for September

Well, since I didn't make my monthly goal for August, I'm just going to keep that goal for September.

I want to finish up this cash wallet for my budgeting. I do have it started now.

Linking up to:

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2018/09/one-monthly-goal-september-goal-link-up.html

Flimsy Finish

Well, I didn't work at all on my August goal. Big sigh! It's been a very rough month here with some family difficulties and I've alson been trying to get everything ready to start up homeschooling again on the 4th.

So, this weekend was a treat in that I did get to sew some. I got a harebrained idea to suddenly make a baby quilt for a baby shower this coming Thursday evening. Silly me!

It's not so hard to piece a flimsy (quilt top) in that little time, but it's qoing to be interesting to see if I can get someone to machnie quilt it in two days. Where we used to live, my quilter would slide in a little baby quilt for me between her big quilting jobs. Not sure if that will work here. And since today is a holiday (Labor Day), I don't want to try calling the quilter till tomorrow morning.

So, what is the gem that needs quilting? Here it is, just finished:

This is where I found the tutorial: Cross My Heart Quilt

The keys for me to be able to finish it so quickly were that I already had the 2/3 yard of white fabric and that I have a good collection of 2.5 inch squares right beside my sewing machine with which I use Bonnie Hunter's Leaders/Enders technique.

And I also have a box of those squares already sewn together into what I call "two-bies" so they can be grabbed and put into whatever I'm working on.

Yes, this is a Sky Flakes Crackers box. I grew up in the Philippines where these are made and they are a treasure to me.

So, wish me luck on getting this quilted and bound before Thursday evening. 😊

And wish me luck on finally getting my August goal (the cash wallet) done.

Linking up at: 

http://www.create-with-joy.com/2018/09/inspire-me-monday-week-346.html

http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/2018/09/monday-making.html

http://emsscrapbag.blogspot.com/2018/09/moving-it-forward.html

https://www.cookingupquilts.com/mcm-128-back-from-vacation-rested-and-rejuvenated/

August Monthly Sewing Goal

I just discovered Elm Street Quilt's One Monthly Goal link-up, so I'm going to post a second time in one day! I need motivation to get some projects done, so this will help me along.

My goal for the month of August is this wallet:

I bought the pattern at The Colorful Chicken on Etsy just after we finished our review of Financial Peace University and got recommitted to living on a budget.

I plan to use these fabrics:

I love me a beautiful pen so this will be a pleasure to carry around. The pattern has pockets for various cards, too, so I'll have my rewards cards with me.

Happy sewing to you!

Terrific Tip Tuesday - On Tracking Water Consumption

I often see the fancy bullet journal people blogging about tracking their water consumption and I wonder how they have the time to mess with that (and make such gorgeous bullet journal pages). Here's my simple way of tracking how much water I drink a day.

Caveat: I am a stay-at-home mom, so this might be more difficult for people who have to do their tracking while on the go or at a job.

My secret: Parmesan container lid, a straw (reusable), and a quart jar.

First fill of the day: the straw goes in the left-most hole.

Side-note: the jars in the background hold monarch chrysallises on their way to becoming butterflies.

Second fill: the straw is in the middle hole.

Third, and usually final, fill: the straw is in the right-most hole. I also drink water in a glass with meals and with my vitamins and supplements, so I actually get closer to a gallon of water a day.

Simple, and beautiful. If you like the blue lid vs. the green or black or red usually found in grocery stores, look for the Great Value brand at Walmart. And washable straws are everywhere, some include a skinny brush for scrubbing the inside, too.

Sewing Again

While I haven't had quilting time yet, I did get to sew something recently.

A summer dress. For me.

I hadn't made clothing in quite a long while because my kids don't like the homemade stuff anymore. So I  enjoyed making this for myself.

I got several compliments on it at church yesterday and my husband likes it, so I'm happy.

Here's the Simplicity pattern:

It's very simple. I did make French seams, though I want to learn how to make less ravelly edges around the zipper. So, I'm planning to make another one soon and will work on that.

The pattern envelope is cut open because I staple it to a regular file folder and use that for my pattern piece storage so I don't have to fold the pieces so precisely to make them fit back into the envelope. (That's my tip for the day. 😀)

Hope you've had some sewing fun.

Cement Leaf Candleholder

Last week I had fun taking my niece-once-removed and daughter to a local nature preserve to make a craft of cement leaf candleholders.

After mounding up a pile of sand in a box or aluminum tin, they sprayed a large leaf with cooking oil, front and back, and then placed it on the mound of sand with the veins up.

                             

Then they used the little tin candleholders to cut into the leaf in various spots, cookie-cutter style and upside down.

Then, using large tongue depressor-type craft sticks or paint stirrers, they spread some wet cement over the leaf, shaping the edges according to the edge of the leaf. The teacher compared it to spreading frosting on a cake.

We brought our creations home and waited patiently for two days before we tried to lift them from the sand. This is what it was supposed to look like:

This is what reality was:

We learned the hard way that you have to frost this cake rather thickly. We just didn't have thick enough cement for it to hold together.

But...now we know the technique and we can try it again if we want to. So, all is not lost. 

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

No one wins the great contest who has not won many seemingly insignificant ones first.

Jay E. Adams in A Thirst for Wholeness: How to Gain Wisdom from the Book of James

Cool Enough to Bake

July came in with a vengeance around here. Despite living "up-north," we got hit with temperatures in the mid-nineties (F) which translated into 98 degrees in our very unbreezy living room. We hope to put in some kind of attic ventilation to draw off some of the heat, but that's still in the "hope-to" category of life. So, we've been eating food that doesn't require any oven use. (Crockpots are a wonderful thing!). Taco salad is also wonderful.

But today was finally cool enough to actually enjoy baking. So I made a batch of zucchini muffins using frozen zucchini from last year's gardening, and I made a batch of dairy-free chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were the traditional Tollhouse kind with coconut oil instead of butter and dairy-free chocolate chips from Costco. They turned out very tasty.

The zucchini muffins are a recipe that I'd gotten from a friend way back in my college days and is so tasty and simple that I want to share it with you today.

I think the key to their simple deliciousness is the cinnamon.

Print recipe

Simple Zucchini Muffins

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease or paper muffin pans.
In large bowl, beat:       4 eggs
Add:                                      3/4 c. oil (I used olive oil)
                                                1  1/2 c. white flour
                                                1  1/2 c. whole wheat flour
                                                 3/4 tsp. salt
                                                  2 tsp. cinnamon
                                                 1  1/2 tsp. baking soda
                                                3/4 tsp. baking powder
                                                1 tsp. vanilla
Mix well with mixer.
Add:                                    2 c. grated zucchini (if frozen, drain off most of the resulting liquid)
Optional:                         1 c. chopped nuts

Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop batter into prepared muffin pans and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Do not overbake.  Makes about 22 medium muffins.

You can also make loaves or mini-loaves by baking them a little longer, like 45 minutes for the mini-loaves.


I hope you try them.

Finally Back

I have definitely been missing in action on this blog, but that's because there has been so much action elsewhere.

We have lived in this house for over a year now and had planned to do a bunch of remodeling to make a larger living room and give the girls bigger bedrooms. Well, reality has set in - we just don't have the finances to do that and we're certainly not going into debt to do it.

So...the focus now is to beautify and make do with what we have. Home Depot loves how much paint I've been buying from them, even if we're not yet buying the big stuff like windows, dry wall, and flooring.

When we moved in, the whole house (and I mean everything!) was painted tan. Good rental property color, I suppose. But it seemed dull and depressing.

I lived with it till we signed on the mortgage and then out came the paintbrush and roller and my bedroom became a clean and cheery off-white.

Then I tackled another bedroom in the same color and then went on to the living/dining room. Here's how it turned out:

Much brighter and cheerier in my opinion, even with the everyday-life-clutter.

And Princess beautifully decorated the hall doors with Morning Glories.

I've also tackled the basement, which isn't done, but has progressed a lot. It is divided into two long sections with a little bitty room at the end of one section that was used as a firewood storage room and I converted into a storage room with my husband's desk and work related stuff.

The other part of that section was pretty cluttered with stuff that I hadn't yet unpacked or didn't have a place for yet. The first three pictures were taken after I had moved some stuff into the new storage room.

The yellow and blue wall became light yellow and a little accordianing divider made of ReStore closet doors covers the water and electricity clutter in the corner. 

Eventually I hope to put up drywall, but...

...when we put up more shelves, you almost can't tell there's a wall there anyhow. 😉

 So I have my sewing area at one end; the Princess has her painting area in the middle; and Poobah has her card-making and other crafting in the corner. It's not real fancy, but it serves us well and I was able to get the sewing stuff out of my bedroom - much more space for a reading nook.

Now I hope to have time to sew and to share what I'm sewing.