Grad School Starts Tomorrow!

Monday is my first day of Grad School. Haven't been in school since May of 2006.

Hubs told me tonight that he forgot to get me a backpack and colored pencils. I assured him it was ok. Since its an online program and all.

However, I did let him treat me to one last treat before school starts...ice cream!

Craft Monday: Home Made Decorative Pillows

Sewing. Not really my thing. Now my mother in law...she lives to sew. I think.
I don't like to sew so much that I always pretend that I don't know how to sew a button so my mom will still do it. If I pretend not to be able to sew a button, then I definitely don't know how to use a sewing machine.

We are in the middle of remodeling our den. Paint is done. Frugal Wall Art, done. New chairs put together. Furniture re-arranged. I was on the search for some decorative pillows, but couldn't find any I liked. But I had seen fabric at Living With Punks house.

So I did the unthinkable. I got online and ordered this fabric from Quilthome.com.

I love the shade of blue, white, and different shades of red.

I bought an 18" square pillow form.

I decided to go with the standard square pillow. Since the pillow is 18", I made my cut at 19"x19" twice (since there are 2 sides to the pillow...)
Then I pinned the two sides together inside out. I know there is a name for that, but can't recall it.

This is a picture of my mom's 18 year old sewing machine. The first night, it didn't want to play nice. I even considered going to buy one! GASP! Hubs convinced me that I didn't need to buy one considering I wasn't sure if I would even like sewing...good call on his part. Tonight, it worked just fine.

I sewed the fabric together a half inch in.

I sewed the three sides together, and left one side un-sewn so I could put the pillow form in it.

After putting in the pillow form, I pinned the un-sewn side under a half an inch, then pinned it together. After I pinned it, I basted it (apparently this is a loose stitch to hold the fabric in place). I don't know who came up with that, but it was genius.

I then sewed the last side by hand.

I couldn't be more thrilled with how they came out.

My amazing mother was patient with me and taught me how to sew! Here she is showing off my new pillow.
The pillows look great in our den!

I'm still on the fence about sewing again. Using the machine was fine, it was definitely the hand sewn part that I disliked the most!

I am sharing these decorative pillows on ALL of these link parties!

Summer Swimming Doggy Style

We taught Madi how to swim this summer. When getting in the pool, she doesn't just step in. She jumps in. Every time. And it's hilarious.

Craft Monday: Frugal Wall Art

A couple weeks ago, I saw this amazing idea to make wall art on a blog titled Frugal Life Project through a link up party at Keeping it Simple. I knew this was the first thing I wanted to make when I got back in country as decoration for our newly remodeled den...and I loved making them.

First stop, craft store to get canvases and scrapbook paper. I got a great deal on 12"x12" canvases that were different depths. This is the exact size of the large scrapbook paper.

Had to show off Hubs new garage cabinets...this was a purchase made while I was gone...it makes the garage look much cleaner.

Brown spray paint to paint the edges of the canvas.

I sprayed them twice with the canvas side up, then flipped them over and sprayed one more coat to make sure I got the edges really good.








The dogs wanted to help.


I found this all purpose spray adhesive. Didn't work quite like I wanted. Had to put some Gorilla Glue on it to make it stick.

After I placed the scrapbook paper on my canvas, I let it dry before putting on a clear enamel coat.



Instead of putting holes in our newly painted den, I decided to use the Command Damage Free Hangers. I think I may have found a new love in my life. These things are amazing!


Hubs got out the level and helped me put them up. I love the way they turned out!


New wall art for our den, $23, plus leftover materials...can't beat that!

I am sharing this Frugal Wall Art on ALL of these Link Up Parties! Go check them out!

Guatemalan for Downtown Park

Salvadorian for Popsicle

Home made strawberry popsicle...

So. Good.

Craft Monday: Its a "G" Thing

We have a bunch of random things from our wedding that I am not sure what to do with (like the garter...what the heck am I suppose to do with it now?!?). I decided to put all of these things in a shadow box. But it looked kind of plain...until I saw the white "G".

So I bought these paints.

And started painting it.

And found some randome items from our wedding...


Picked out a picture that the Hubs said was acceptable.... (he likes how he is holding my neck, says its romantic...he's cute)

And put it all together!

I'm still in the process of trying to find a home for it in our house. Maybe it will go in the newly remodeled den...

These are the Link Parties I link up to! Check them out!