Adventures in sewing: The potholder reveal

I forgot to take pictures as I was making hundreds (more like 16, but still) of potholders as holiday presents. I was on a mission to get them done! Luckily I took a couple pictures with my cell phone:

For the ladies:

For my brothers:

I made sets of two for everyone. I tried to find a a potholder pattern I thought would be easy. This one was relatively easy after I amended it slightly, but they took forever to make! Either way, I'm proud of them and kept a set for myself. :) And everyone seemed to like them, so they were a success!

The nephews

Mom and I took them shopping at the Dollar Store for Christmas presents. I tried on these sunglasses and they informed me that I shouldn't wear them, but they had to try them on, of course.

Nicolas (with my mom in the background):

Ethan (with Nicolas in the background):

Cleaning, learning, optimism

This past weekend's motto (and probably next weekend's as well):

I didn't do my typical Sunday cleaning routine. This is momentous. I'm usually OCD about it. And ironically, I'd say I'm even more clean than my mother. But a quick wipe down and vacuuming is in order this evening. (Oh, and I love Dove chocolate!)


From The Daily Love:

"There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go." - Richard Bach, writer

"I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door - or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present." - Rabindranath Tagore, author

Old pictures and mason jars

When my parents came to visit, they dropped off a few boxes of what they like to call "my stuff." I prefer to call it "mementos of my youth that they saved over the years and don't know what to do with." I now have quite a collection pictures, awards, drawings, certificates, trophies, news clippings, etc. Great. More boxes of stuff that I feel obligated to keep.

But I do have to say that some of the pictures gave me a good laugh and inspired me to want to actually do something with them (at least for the moment). So I took a tip from Young House Love and A Beautiful Mess and used some mason jars to come up with a little display. I love the idea, but I'm not completely happy with the way I have them set up, so I need to work on that (and don't mind the inspirational quotes plastered to the fridge).

Here are some of the images up close (and some that aren't in the jars).

 

  

The pups: Lizzy, Benji, Tracey

Here are some pictures of the pups from The Parental Invasion. I, of course, took no pictures of my family, just the dogs. Go figure.

Lizzy awaiting their arrival (and enjoying a nice fall breeze)

Benji lounging

More lounging

Seriously?

Tracey doing what she does best

Lizzy reclaiming her spot

Lizzy watching to make sure I put all of her toys in the correct spot

Hawaiian shirt and purple Crocs

That's my nephew, Ethan. He's on the riding lawn mower. In a Hawaiian shirt. And purple Crocs.

I have a feeling he's going to be the tan old man kicking it on the beach without a care in the world. He's 9 and loves Hawaiian shirts. Who knew?

Care package from the Texans

Since my trip to Texas in April, my cousin, Nick, has been tasked with sending me care packages. I only requested one, but I received the second one last week!!!! I'm loved. All I really wanted was fresh, REAL tortillas since Indiana is kinda lacking in the cultural foods arena and the things I get here just weren't cutting it. So I got those and then some!!!

My other cousin, Nathan, made me the "survival" bracelet. I just thought it looked cool, so I was excited to see it mixed in with the goodies. I don't know the back story behind the bracelets, but I think you're supposed to wear one when you go hiking and you can do lots of different things with it to "help you survive". Clearly I would be no help in figuring out what any of those things are.

And those shopping bags? Amazing! They are awesome for getting groceries because they hold a ton. After this package, I now have three of them so I should be set for a while. I love anything that cuts down on the number of trips that I have to take from the car to up and down the stairs in the apartment.

I've already eaten way too many tortillas to keep track of. But I have to be careful, my Aunt Irma made it very clear to me that I was going to get fat if I ate them all the time. I'm pretty sure she said it just like that. I guess there's no need to wonder where I got my direct-ness from.

(Lizzy decided she needed to be part of the photo shoot.)