Fly, baby, fly!

I was meeting with a ministry coordinator at church this morning and after we were through our business, we got to chatting. I shared with her the news I received last night. And now I share with you...
Friends of ours, a couple we've known for years, may be in need of temporary housing for a few months. We have room. They may be staying with us.
Eeek!
I am so gratified to be able to help out in their time of need, as we've done for others in the past, but oi....my house...disaster...yeah.
Well Katrina, who I met with this morning pointed me to Flylady.net and I am SO incredibly grateful! I have a few weeks before our friends move in and I also have no employment in sight so guess what I'm going to be doing in the next couple of weeks?

Flylady is a free online resource designed to help you declutter, clean, organize, be encouraged, etc. and it's going to save my sanity!

Note to Self: 4th Edition

1. It's important to have goals, and it's important to have them in front of you. Since my blog has pretty much become my personal Internet-central, I've decided to post my goals here. But since this is contradictory to a previous lesson - that I really need to declutter my sidebar - I've also decided to take other simplifying measures and post some of my lists in actual posts and just have links on my sidebar. So over the past week, I've moved my my bucket list, my collections, my reading list, and things I don't want to forget to someday talk about, (as well as my goal setting). Hopefully this will help to alleviate some of the visual clutter and make the blog more welcoming!!

2. Tanaya challenges me. Stretches me. I don't just relate to her, I am inspired by her. In contrast, I also relate all-too well to Jana's Emotional Hangover.

3. I dug out the paper making kit I found at a yard sale this summer. I want to make my own paper for Christmas cards this year, and am thinking about getting a head start. The packaging had some very interesting facts about paper usage statistics in North America. The kit was manufactured in 1991. This lead me to hop online and look for more current stats on how much we rich North Americans use! I found this old information from 1994; this site (which markets "green paper"), the average year of their references was 2001; this was a particularly interesting site which made me think beyond paper and garbage but more about the garbage trucks, salaries, taxes...you see where I'm going.


It didn't take long until I said to myself: self, it doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of difference whether I find an accurate number or not, the truth is we use and throw away a heck of a lot of paper that could be recycled. And I have the tool to recycle it myself. I continued reading the paper-making kit box and saw that I'd been assuming some wrong information. I figured I'd be able to recycle envelopes, newsprint, etc but not glossy paper like many fliers in the mail come. Wrong. I can use it all! Then I thought about my garbage can at work. Paper bags from fast food restaurants, envelopes, fax cover sheets, the glossy back of sheets of labels...it can all be used!

4. The deeper I dig* and the more I learn, I am astounded at the waste I create just by going along in my day to day life. I've never considered myself an extravagant person, but in contrast to the majority of the rest of the world that lives in unimaginable conditions, I am indeed living an extravagant life! So now I've found yet another expense I can withdraw from my budget - new paper! And can appreciate what paper I DO use (then recycle) a little more. Now I'm shredding everything at work...even non-confidential paper, (and paper fast-food bags) and bringing it home. I may ask for a non-homemade item for my birthday this year - a really good paper shredder for the house!

I'm most excited to share this site which talks about how they used to make paper in 1889; and Elizabeth's Flowers has kits to sell. (I'm not endorsing it, it just seemed like the lowest priced kit I found so far...) and I discovered that Elizabeth herself has a great blog as well!

I think it's important to note - the first link there has directions that make it sound REALLY complicated and pretty cumbersome! It's not. It's not as easy as going out and buying a ream of paper, but it's not that hard either!


*every SINGLE time I read "the deeper I dig," I read it the digger I deep. It's the strangest thing!

5. My hubby and I are fans of the sci fi channel shows Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International. This is odd in one sense because I'm NOT a fan of horror or sci fi flicks of any kind. Granted, GH and GHI are nothing like a horror flick, but I generally stay away from any shows involving the paranormal. Not that I don't believe in the paranormal - I do believe, I just don't tend to want to purposely watch it.

So getting back to the point - we're fans of the show and often times will discuss the cases during commercials and later on. There's the interesting differences between the residual hauntings and intelligent hauntings, the debate over what constitutes proof, criteria used for declaring a site as haunted, etc... A residual haunting is like a tape that plays over and over again. It comes back seemingly without reason. You can't prompt it or make it "play," neither can you make it go away. It does it's thing whether you're there or not.

Now stay with me here...

I'm a little bit concerned about my plastic cup. If you haven't been "watching," it's stinky. Real stinky. It actually smells like skunk. *shiver*

I tried a deodorizing method I found online, to no avail.

I asked for input and got a great suggestion to use peroxide. It soaked for 13 hours. I emptied it out, rinsed, sniffed and *grin* it smelled like a clean plastic cup! So I set it on the drying rack and headed to work, got back home and went to happily sniff my newly deodorized cup and got a nasty surprise.

The stink was back.

Remember what I said about a residual haunting?

I think I may have a dead skunk haunting my plastic cup.

Any suggestions on how to exorcise it?

And an extra-freaky tidbit. I have another identical cup.

The other one now stinks too.

Weird.

6. I took the Multiple Intelligences test and "Park Ranger" popped up in two categories as possible career matches for me. Hm...maybe a career change is in store for me?


7. I have friends of all ages. Well, not ALL ages. I don't have many (if any) friends MY age. A few years ago I went on a search for a friend my age and I discovered I am the only person born anywhere near 1976 in my little corner of the world! Then I became obsessed with this search...to no avail.

Fast forward to sometime this week and it occurred to me I hadn't thought a lot about this obsession in quite awhile. This idea that I had to have a friend my own age. One night I was sitting up, checking in on y'all and it hit me while surfing from a 20-something's blog to a 60-something's blog, with SAHM's, career women, crafty women, sustainable-living women...it doesn't matter what age you are.

A friend is a friend is a friend.

8. "Silly."

I use the word silly often in not-so-silly situations. Like when I want to call myself stupid, but don't want to ACTUALLY call myself stupid. I say "Silly," like - duh.

Awhile back, my counselor Bill caught me on this and I couldn't explain why I did it.

A few weeks ago I was at my folks house, walking around the patio, snapping pictures and I twisted my ankle. Dad came outside a few minutes later and I explained why I was hobbling.

"Tsk," *shaking head,* "Silly."

Imagine my shock-awareness-aha moment.

And I realized my Mom does the same thing.

So when they were telling my brother and I growing up not to call each other stupid, they were essentially giving us permission to do just that - under cover.

I haven't learned all that I can from this lesson yet, I'm still pondering it over and over in my mind, but I thought I'd share this aha moment with y'all.

Now I think it's important to note here though...I'm not one to say "It's all my parents' fault!" (insert winy cry-baby voice here) and that's not my message. Rather, what can I learn from it, what can I take away, digest, and discover about my own self-talk and how can I grow.

9. I'm learning that one of our greatest resources just might be each other, so I'm going to throw this out there because one of you just might be able to help me.

When I was born, someone gave me a stuffed bear with a music box inside. It played rock-a-bye baby and I LOVED listening to the music while I tried to fall asleep. I can remember holding it close, feeling the clicking as the music box made it's music. The round thing turning, the pins clicking over the nubs. And then it would go slower and slo.w..e...r..... until it stopped in the middle of the song. As it turned and clicked and played it's music, it would create small vibrations though and I loved thinking about, picturing in my mind, what the music box inside looked like.

I still have the bear, but I threw him across the room at my brother in a fit of rage at the age of, of course, 13 and broke the stem/key off the music box. So alas, Benny plays no more music, but the memories are there and I can still hear the tin-y clinking of it in my mind. Benny is also so beat up and worn out, I can't even imagine what he must have looked like the day I was born and he was given to me. As my Mom tells it, he was the first gift I ever got.

When my brother's wife had their firstborn, I started a tradition. Or so I intended. At my SIL's shower, I gave the baby a stuffed bear that played rock-a-bye-baby. We didn't know then whether it was a boy or a girl, but it didn't really matter. It was SO hard to find a bear with a music box inside, but I managed to find one at a music box specialty shop.

Now that my hubby's brother is expecting, I want to do the same, but the music box shop I went to originally is now gone.

My question is this: Does anyone know of a source for teddy bears with music boxes inside? I don't care if it's online or by mail or international or WHAT. And I have until November. LOL.

Interestingly enough, "Benny" is pink.

Benny, a pink bear with orange eyes.

Amend that: Benny, a thoroughly loved pink bear with orange eyes.


10. I continue to find connection after connection with people all over the globe. It reminds me of the six degrees of separation. I go to some one's blog, see another interesting link, click on that link and so on. Fabulous! Take for instance The Country Doctor's Wife, who I cannot visit from work because I always find myself laughing hysterically. I discovered her from the Pioneer Woman, who I found from the Farmer's Wife, who I found from Shelly at the Happy Hut, who I met on Wardrobe Refashion. It always comes back to Wardrobe Refashion!!Okay, that was only five, but you get the point. (Unless Yahoo! counts, which is how I found Wardrobe Refashion!)


11. We're going camping again this weekend...this time REAL camping...in tents and everything! Except, we're expecting rain all weekend, so we're thinking of putting the blow up mattress in the back of my hubby's truck and sleeping there instead of in a puddle. An option anyway!

So I'm bringing lots of rags because we tend to use lots of paper towels while camping...but I thought "how can I transport the rags in a compact and user-friendly manner?"

Result:

Tissue box style container...all of the rags are folded together just the same as tissues are in tissue boxes and I tried it out to make sure it worked...and it does! When you pull one rag out, the next one pulls through just a little!

I'm so darn proud of myself it should be illegal!!

I'll end this post with some shots of my big backyard. Ihave been having a bit of trouble with my camera as the LCD display is shot. *shaking head* if it's not one thing, it's another! I just got it back from the repair shop! So anyway, a few of the shots are really over exposed, but I'm working on it! Enjoy...
Concord Grapes (unripe)
Cone Flower (over exposed) antique roses (I think)
Still haven't id'd these.

Slow Progress

Decisions:

I've been considering starting a separate blog for just crafting, but have come to realize that there's just one me. There's so much overlap of my inner mind, my crafting, my eating habits, my craziness...it's all intertwined. So I'm keeping the blog as-is right now, in sort of a "Wholistic Approach to Personal Growth."

Empowerment:

I had a hard discussion with a good friend last night. A lifelong friend, to be exact. My hubby and I have both known Keith since grade school/junior high. He introduced the two of us at the age of 20, and as long as we've known him, he's not changed a bit. He's still that rambunctious grade school kid having a blast on the playground! Good in some ways, not in others.

We talked for almost an hour and it was tough. There was confrontation, having to be assertive, and anxiety that he'd be his normal aggressive/defensive-by-being-offensive self. It was a little touch and go there for a little while, but in the end, I think it worked out well.

I learned a lot. I learned that I can say what I need to without apology because standing up for yourself then following it up by apologizing for it isn't standing up for yourself at all. I said some hard things and he said some hard things and at first I think he was just slashing back, trying to defend himself by deflecting the attention and being hurtful, but in the end we hit the middle ground and the things that were said were still hard to hear, but less hurtful and closer to the truth. I'm really surprised by that and proud of him for it. It could have really gone bad quickly.

I think part of what saved it was that I prayed first, (and during), and really held my tongue a lot and let him talk for about 8 minutes straight at one point. I remember sitting there, thinking to myself: I have so much to say back, I can think of some real zingers that would be so clever, but I don't want that. I want to preserve this friendship if possible, but with healthy boundaries. I can't let him walk all over me, but I'm not going to walk all over him either.

The thing is, I've been trying to be more assertive and establishing boundaries for over a year and this is the first time it's really been tested where I've held my ground instead of just removing myself from the situation in order to preserve the boundaries. Talk about slow progress! But I think it's revealing that it's with Keith and not someone like a parent. It's going to be a lot more difficult to do this with my parents. Even though we have a "good" relationship, it's almost like it's too good. It's too open, it's too. It's expected that my life is an open book to them, and that's not healthy either.

All in all, this was a good starting place, and a good confidence builder.

Wardrobe Refashioning:

I had my second fabric dyeing experience last night with some success. I turned a blah tan polo into a nice soft teal. I'm wearing it today! It also had a orang-ish stain on the collar that is no longer there, so I'm a very happy woman! (doesn't take much, does it?) Does anyone know where this comes from? I also have a few other shirts with similar stains and they all seem to be around or near the neckline. At first I thought it might be iron in the water, but why would it only be around the collars? Now I think it might be makeup but I really only use powder anymore.

Light bulb moment...I use a benzoyl peroxide cream from time to time for acne...I bet that's it!

Okay, never mind...(Thank you for touring the inner recesses of MJ's mind. The tour is now over, if you'll kindly exit to the left. Leave nothing behind, we will not be responsible for lost or stolen articles. )

*Ahem*

I also finally got around to refashioning my hubby's old work coat into a bike jacket. Phases one and two were to 1: cut out the heavy winter lining and ragged edges of where the pockets used to be; and 2: dye it some other color in the off chance the difference in the faded and non-faded colors wouldn't be so noticeable.

I roughly cut out the lining. I just wanted there to be less material for the dye bath and I wanted to do it quickly because I didn't want to be up all night, so I plan on touching it up later. Then I took the time to pretty up the remaining material where the pockets used to be. This is an old coat we've used as a "donator jacket," using the heavy canvas material for patches on his work pants and other heavily worn items. Both front pockets have been repurposed, but that left big dark areas that used to be the insides of the pockets.

Needless to say (you probably saw this coming), the dye bath did little to disguise the dark areas.

(But look, we get that "distressed" look people pay big bucks for!)

Phase 3 was to attach heavy duty snaps since the zipper no longer works (thus the reason for retiring it and getting another jacket.) I've since found out we can actually mail the coat to Carhardt for zipper repair...the zippers have a lifetime warranty! Alas, I never did so and here we are...I'll do the snaps tonight.

My hubby asked me last night what I was going to do for a bike jacket. Hmmm. What he doesn't know (and I haven't said yet here either) is that I'm going to use this old coat for my bike jacket and surprise him with another one! I'll have to make a few alterations though, so it won't be a complete surprise...See I'm 5'1" and he's 6' tall! Slight alterations necessary...plus I'm thinking of taking some faded jean material to make pockets with. Maybe even an applique. Or not. I'm going to be a biker girl after all, not a place for cutsie.

Remember that busted zipper? Well, it's no surprise that Carhardt has a lifetime warranty on them because they must know it's an issue...we have another old coat with the same problem. All I have to do with that one is take out the winter lining and attach the heavy duty snaps and my hubby gets a new bike jacket! I haven't harvested any scraps of material from the pockets on that one yet, so there's no reason to play with dye. (And that way we won't be so matchy-matchy.)

We already have matching helmets (which we hadn't planned on,) and he's not the type to do that kind of stuff, so I don't want to go too far with it! (The helmets we found together on craigslist for a fantastic deal and were barely used, so we couldn't pass them up!)

Crafting/Organization:

Sunday I laid out all the embroidery floss skeins that would fit on the table...over 200.

I did some figuring, took into account the limited space I have, did some more figuring, and decided to store the skeins in the stitchbow/binder system. Then I ran out and bought out the nearest Michael's supply of binders and bows.

I managed to get a few of the skeins into the first binder before retiring Sunday night...and I went back to work on it last night.

(Monday's starting shot: the laptop and bag systems are sitting gingerly on top of more skeins!)

I made more progress last night, but I have more floss still in the floss-a-way baggie system since I couldn't fit those onto the table so I have to always check to make sure I'm not skipping some of those (which happens with frequency!) Oi. It's like filing two stacks of papers into one stack. It gets complicated. Especially if you're dyeing fabric at the same time... ; )

(I love just looking at my floss! It's like studying the menu at the ice cream shop!)

But I did manage to get the first of the four rows completed, so I'm a happy woman! I'm just really frustrated that it could take me eight solid nights to get them off my table so I can do some sewing! *sigh*

(Monday night's ending shot)

In over my head? or brave enought to attempt it?

Okay, I have a new idea. I was thinking about my open shelf unit for the sea shells I have collected and was feeling a little precarious about the whole thing. The thing is, our property directly abuts the railroad and our house shakes just a little every time it goes by. Thankfully it creeps by at about 20-30 mph, but still...it's enough that we are very carefull about properly hanging pictures and breakables.
So here's a free tour of "How MJ's Brain Works:"
Without a glass front to the shelves, I'm thinking the shells may not be so safe inside the shelves.

Then I got to thinking about securing them within the shelves or on/in something different than the shelves, which lead me to recalling how I sewed my hubby's aunt's weaving to a canvas which I painted first.

Except not all of the shells have holes in them which will lend to being attached to some material by simply stitching a loop around it.
Then I recalled one of my favorite beaders' work. Triz is a magician with beadwork! The technique I'm thinking of now is called Flatwork. Check out her site as well as her Etsy shop... absolutely incredible work!
Now I'm thinking...I'm a baby beader. Flatwork is like WOW, way ahead of my level. Do I dare attempt it? Or do I plunge in and learn as I go?
Still mulling it over...

Getting organized...

Last night my hubby and I went out to eat for our Eighth Anniversary even though today is the actual anniversary day. We used to go out to dinner all the time until we plunged ourselves into debt and wondered what we'd spent all our money on!
Now the rule is that we only go out to eat when we have a gift certificate to the place. Personally, I'd never previously heard of giving a gift of dining out, but apparently it's a big thing in his family because that seems to be the gift of choice among them. So we took one of our gift certificate and went to a favorite Italian place on main street and ate WAY too much! One of my hubby's favorite deserts is a plain canoli and he gets it every time we go to this particular restaurant. I chose the molten lava cake ... mmmmm! (But with whipped cream, not ice cream!)
Another highlight of our dining experience was the table side Caesar salad for two! They bring this cart out and the server makes the dressing in the wooden bowl with fresh anchovies, "egg product," worcestershire sauce and everything else that goes into it, then adds the lettuce and serves it up! It's a fantastic experience! The first time we did this was on our honeymoon at Peppe's Ristorante in East Stroudsberg, PA. Now, it's a special thing we splurge on from time to time...like on our anniversary!
I promised pictures of my newly reorganized craft space, so here they are! This reminds me...the large rose painting in the middle of the wall was a total find! I was driving home one weeknight and it was just sitting on the side of the road...not 10 houses away! I grabbed it up, dusted it off and hung it on my wall! I also scored two stools for my breakfastnook in the kitchen. They are perfectly well constructed, not falling apart or needing touch up paint at all! Just cast offs for no obvious reason! Very cool scores...but back to my space...
The ironing board is usually folded up against the wall, but my hubby had taken it out to iron his shirt for our dinner out. (yes, I'm so blessed...he knows how to use the iron!)





Part of my reorganization project was to find a place for all our NASCAR themed hats. I think there's a Red Sox one in there too, but for the most part, it's all NASCAR! We already had a couple nails holding a hat or two on this beam, so I just added a few more in uniformly spaced intervals and voila...a place for the hats out of the way and it also is another element delineating mantown from craft corner! (Note the two rolls of duct tape on the top of one of my shelves...still waiting for a time that we can make my duct tape dress form!)



I also used clear packing tape to hold down an extension cord leading under the bureau and straight to an outlet. The sewing machine power cord is taped under the table top to reach the power cord. I still haven't decided if I'll keep the iron on the table all the time. I think the next project I do will be a cover for the bureau top so I can use that surface without being paranoid about ruining my hubby's family heirloom any more than I already have!



My next organizational project will be getting my shell collection...





into my new shelf unit. I think I mentioned this in a previous post but didn't have a picture of it yet. I found it this weekend for $1! I'm a little concerned about dust control in this type of novelty shelf unit, but I'd picked up a can of air (lol...for real!!) for my desk at work awhile back and I think it'll be usefull for this too.




And lastly, I'm so excited about my gas savings efforts! I thought I'd have lower gas mileage than last fill-up because I found myself frequently going over 70 mph on the highway, but in fact I made better gas mileage! Last fill-up I was at 31.2 something and this morning I calculated it at 31.9!!


Plus, we have it so good...the gas station right by our house is typically a few cents lower in price than the other stations in the area. I got gas this morning for only $3.93/gallon!

Success!

Sunday was a success! I was to facilitate a meeting after services for a group of prospective volunteers for the furniture ministry, but only one person showed up. It actually worked out really well because it was the friend I've mentioned before that is studying poverty and really getting involved in a few ways on her own. She's going to India in October to visit the child she sponsors. I'm quite moved by her story and how she's being led in some interesting directions. We ended up brainstorming ideas for increasing awareness of the ministry because I think the majority of members at the church are unaware of what exactly we do!

I also consider yesterday a success because I did a little rearranging of my craft area in the basement. As new as it is, I was already feeling the growing pains and realizing some things just weren't working for me! Like the clothing rack. It's pretty flimsy and old (a hand-me-down from a relative) and was about to keel over from the strain! I had found a shelving unit with a closet pole in the beginning of the summer for $5 that I had meant to give to the furniture ministry for organization but just had never gotten around to bringing it over. I snatched that and put it to work for myself instead!

I neglected to take any pictures, but I am so pleased with myself! I'll take pics tonight, because I simply LOVE the area now! I love being there, looking at my new shelves; the orderly rack that doesn't make me nervous about it's precariousness; the completed feeling it has; the orderliness and uncluttered feel. Granted, I haven't worked on anything since it's been rearranged, but I'll examine that issue later!

And a bonus: my hubby approves! He's not really into change. It's totally not his cuppa tea. His reaction when I said I stopped at the thrift store on the way to the barbecue was "great, more junk." *sigh*

So when I dragged the shelving from it's hiding place and did even more re-arranging to his donated section of man town, I held my breath, anticipating the worst. And prepared to brush it off. Except he surprised me with 100% approval! Who'd have thought? Maybe he's simply in a generous spirit since it's almost our anniversary. LOL

I had a twinge of discomfort Saturday while I was driving out to the country and back. I passed about four ice cream stands. You know the kind. Homemade ice cream. Fresh, sweet ice cream. The kind you pay out the wazoo for; but then again, they pile that cone so high you don't know how you'll ever finish it. That kind. The little stand by the side of the road that doesn't sell anything else but ice cream kind of ice cream stand. Yeah. *sigh* Eight chances to have ice cream. Just this once.

And yet, I still didn't dip into the sherbet or the super rich gelato when I got home. But then I think about August. Technically, the month will be over and the challenge will be new. But my intention is to kick all lactose in August which unfortunately includes ice cream. What a dilemma. I was also going to kick the "snooze button habit" in august, but I may have some rethinking to do on that score as well!

We'll have to see what happens in 10.5 days!

Lunchcapades...I did good!

I went to the craft store because I had to make sure the material I was going to use to back the baby blanket was machine washable...and it isn't!! I'm so glad I checked. I don't want it to be one of those blankets that gets tucked away or hung on a wall. It should be used! What new mom is going to want to hand wash the silly thing? So I got a flannel backing in a yellow print to coordinate with the yellow stripes on the front. I was going to need to get the satin blanket binding anyway, I was just waiting until I knew for sure what color the back was going to be. So I got that and a couple ribbons in coordinating colors for the small square I'll also make. (The materials I was planning to make the blanket are in this post, but you have to scroll quite a way down to see it.)

What I hadn't planned on in today's crafting trip was the addition of another new hobby.

: s

I was in search of sewing technique books and passed the "learn to crochet" booklet section. Hm. Those pictures look gorgeous! I'm not talking about the sweater-type crocheting, though it's beautiful, I'm talking about the lace trim type of crochet. The thread crochet. So I priced out the thread/yarn and the hook and away I went! I decided not to spring for any of the $7-$19 learn-to-crochet books because I'm pretty sure I have a book about crochet, embroidery and something else already. (And then I was looking through the sewing techniques books and remembered I already have two of those somewhere at home too!)

Considering I planned to get most of what I got and I didn't get a lot of what I saw and wanted to get, (still with me?) *deep breath*, I think that was a minor victory. Or at the very least it wasn't a complete failure!!




In an aside, I thought I'd share one of my organizational techniques I'm currently using. Actually, it's not so much organizational as it is "in-car clutter maintenance." It's just a small box sitting on my passenger seat. I put my lunch bag in there, loose papers, directions; anything small that would otherwise just be floating around the place, getting lost in nooks and crannies and such. It just keeps it contained. I have to make sure I empty it out at least once a week though, otherwise I'll simply end up with another "box 'o stuff." And it's not a trash bin! That's behind the passenger seat! Can you tell I hardly ever have passengers?!

I don't think I posted these pics from my MIL's garden...

Wardrobe Wednesdays and other assorted projects and comments

Yes, I know it's Thursday, but I never seem to have the energy to boot up the laptop when I'm done sewing. Here's what I accomplished last night on my wardrobe....
Nada, Zilch, Zero. *sigh*

I got home with all kinds of energy and expectations ... and fizzled! At least where the wardrobe is concerned. I think I'm a bit discouraged with my previous refashioning attempts, but I did work on sewing projects, for which I'm greatful.

I used to keep the projects which were small enough in a large ziplock bag in a bin under the table, but to me, out of sight really is out of mind, so I've been hanging them on a rack in plain view. The only problem with that is where to put the little extras like the perfect thread, etc...

Which is how I came up with these Project bags, or Notion bags. This way, when I haven't completed the project, I can hang it back on the rack and keep all the appropriate notions with it so I don't go back later and say - now where did that zipper go? or What size buttons was I going to use?

I started out with quarters I can't imagine using on anything else and which are so old, I think they may have been handed down to me through the generations... ; )



I was so pleased to find thread and ribbon from my stash that actually coordinated with both fabrics which I'd chosen!



I decided on a small loop to go over the neck of the hanger. But then I was thinking that the rest of the bag would gape open, so I considered a button hole, but didn't want to get into that, so I simply attached a smaller loop on the other side of the bag to thread the original loop through.





I made the bags approximately 5" deep by 7" wide, but I'd make them a bit narrower next time, maybe 6" wide by 6" deep.


I also keep one hanger that I just attach clothes pins to, so I hung the extra notion bags over the neck of that hanger, and now it's pulling double duty!


I then told myself I couldn't play any longer, it was time to do something from my to-do list, so I *yawn,* cut up an old t-shirt to make my kitchen rags (in lieu of paper towels). I got 10 good size rags out of a men's large tee. At zero cost, since it was one of my hubby's work shirts, provided by the company! Woo Hoo.




Then I picked the fabrics for the baby blanket which needs to be completed by August 7th, and cut it out. It doesn't need to be heavy, because it's going to Baton Rouge, Louisianna which has rather mild winters. I decided on the measurements and cut out the two fabrics, then decided I really do need to go back to the craft store to make sure the "short hair poodle" is washable.




By that time, it was rather late, but I wanted to take some long-overdue pics of some of my favorite yard-sale finds from this past weekend, so here are my unexpected treasures!

4 vintage buttons and a cuff link on a vintage safety pin.


2 beautiful scarves, age unknown.



Vintage beaded trim. Wow!

This piece is circular, as if the lower half of a shirt was simply cut from the top. It has one tear and a few stains, but is otherwise Gorgeous! It has a scalloped trim. the fabric is so thin, I hesitate to touch it! I'll probably carefully fix it up, tighten some of the loose beads here & there and frame it. The second picture is more representative of the acutal coloring.




And it was with this piece of lace. I didn't think to get the dimentions, but it could be made into a cape of sorts. It's not long enough to be a wrap. I almost didn't take it, but I'm so glad that I did!!


And of course, I finally found a scrap jar. Remember I'm sharing my craft space with my generous hubby's "Man Town" and it just works better in the flow of the basement to have the trash barrel about 5 steps away. Not a big deal, until you're snipping off thread ends and teeny pits of fabric. Then that 5 steps becomes an irritation. Then the table stacks up with all these threads and scraps. Then it's not nice and neat anymore. I don't work well with clutter...enter the scrap jar. I had etched it years ago and it landed in the craft trunk to while away it's years. I've rescued it from boredom and a life of unfulfilment!



And lastly...

This morning I had to stop for gas. But since the last fill-up I've really been conscious of my aggressive driving style and have tried to implement some hypermiling techniques. I drive a standard transmission and one of the neat things about my car is that it gives you a signal when you should shift. In the past I've always ignored it because it tells you to shift way before I used to and you'd loose torque that way. Well, I gave it an honest 345 miles (for the most part...sometimes I slipped before I remembered my intent,) and guess what...


31.229 miles to the gallon!

It's rated to get 26 city/ 33 highway but the most I've gotten is just squeeking into the 30 range. On this tank, I've done a LOT of city driving and I have to say - I'm impressed! What a difference driving style makes!