For Cecelia

Previously, I made a purse out of dish towels. Cecelia had asked me how I did that. So, I thought it would be easier to just blog the directions.
Find any two dish towels or any two pieces of material. Make sure your material is
20 x 28, this is a standard towel measurement.

Fold each towel and lightly press. Press vertically and horizontally. Match up all pressed lines. Pin in place.

Pin towels and stitch vertical line through both towels. Stitch horizontal line through both. This will form pockets.


Trim the excess fabric from towel you used for the outside. I stitched the sides together before I put the handles on but the pattern directs you to stitch the sides after you attach handles. (Here is a pic of the actual pattern.) Click on picture to enlarge and get a better idea of how it is done.
Almost finished.

At one end of bag body, insert handle in fold, pin and sew close to edge. Back stitch
at each end.

Turn the bag right side out and wha-laa. This took a little less than an hour to complete. Now, how easy is that?

Here is a pic of the actual pattern. If you would like to embellish the purse with a flower here is the pattern. Or, you could use a pretty brooch. (I am thinking of making use of the material you trim off from one of the towels.) I might give it a try.

Just a little twist now. I found this cute night lite today, since I collect, and have a love for teapots, I thought this would fit into my decor.

Sew Much Fun!

There is so many things that I have wanted to blog about but I find no time. So, today I am going to post a few pics of the things that have been keeping me busy. Since I have that new Bernina, I find myself getting crafty again.
This is what I worked on this afternoon. You can make this cute purse out of two tea towels.
I found a whole stack of them at Costco for around $12.00. You don't have to use towels, you could use any material, as long as you have the right measurements.

It took about an hour to put this together. The hardest part is attaching the material to the handles. I have been wanting to make some of these but couldn't find wooden handles. Well, Dore' and I finally hit the jackpot at Joann's. Believe me, if you attempt to make one, don't use round handles, these were hard enough.

Isn't it cute. It holds a lot too.

I happened to look over at Tom, while I am sitting here blogging, to see what he was doing, doesn't he look relaxed???? He is watching football.


TIME FOR A FACE LIFT!
This little piece of inspiration is what started the minor face lift in my house. I found this adorable dresser on Craigs List a while back and wanted it, not needed it, for one of the bedrooms. The woman whom I purchased it from had her home decorated in Shabby Chic style, it was so cozy. So, I came home and did some minor decorating.First thing I did was redo the mantle. Added a lace runner, put some cute dishes and cups I had, added a few candles and pictures.Found some Shabby Chic panels at Target, added those to my front window. Now, you can't see what I am doing in the living room.
This is what my curtains looked like before I got crafty.

Added a border from the left over material I used to cover my kitchen chairs.

Let It Rain

Here in Cali, at least where I live, we don't get any snow, just rain. But it was a welcome site this year, we had a long summer. I think most of us are ready to usher in Fall. It finally rained last week.
Lawren came to visit us. She saw the water in the gutters and wanted to walk it them. Kathleen found her some rain boots and I found an adorable raincoat for her. She is all set for some more raindrops.

She loved walking in her new boots back and forth in the gutter.

I think she really likes her raincoat.

Here is Seans version of hair. I would not want to comb that.

Keirans version of hair...like father, like son.

FYI

Just wanted to let anyone know, who might be interested in making Pumpkin Butter. I discovered a few short cuts. Actually, Tom and I made 8 more pints this morning before I left for work....but-I-was-late-getting-here.
Don't skin the pumpkin, clean it out, cut into big chunks and boil with skin. Drain, let cool and then peel..so much easier.
Don't use a sieve, I mashed mine prior to putting it in my Vita Mixer. Saved a lot of time and elbow work.
Hope you have as much fun as we did making this yummy spread.

Pumpkin Butter

Today, I thought I would get a little domestic, so I decided to cook one of the pumpkins I had purchased a while back. I bought five. Will tackle one at a time.I planned on canning or freezing it so I could have fresh pumpkin to use for my pies this season. Well, I decided to tackle Pumpkin Butter. It was easy except for skinning the pumpkin. I think I will search the internet for an easier way other than using a knife, since a potato peeler won't work.
After cooking the pumpkin down, which only took about 15 minutes, I used my old sieve that I used when I was a real domestic woman.

I found a recipe that called for pure maple syrup. So far, so good.

I ended up with only 5 pints of butter. Well, I do have 4 more pumpkins to cook.

Field pumpkins aren't the best for pies, if you can find sugar pie pumpkins, they have a better flavor. These will do for now.

Pro Bass Shop

Last Friday, after I got off of work, Tom and I made a trip to the new Pro Bass Shop that opened up here, a week or so ago.I am not into hunting or fishing, but do enjoy the outdoors, love to camp, would-prefer-a-motor home, but a tent trailer will do for now. It was quite impressive and not at all what I expected. This is the outside of the front, soothing stream with fish in it.Above the entrance of the door is this gorgeous display. Feel sorry for the poor animals but at least these didn't end up on someones dinner table.

Never seen a flying turkey before, this one gets to escape the oven this year.Rock climbing doesn't look so hard, I would climb this mountain side.Can't leave out the Grizzly Bear, closest I've ever been to one.Looking up it is this gorgeous scene of the outdoors, the water falls into a huge aquarium, shown below.Here is Tom and other site seeker looking at the huge fish in the tank.A couple of fishermen standing in a stream inside the store, real fish in the water too, Tom decided to be brave and hug this bear.Didn't take a picture of the market inside...it has a FUDGE SHOP. You could smell the sweet aroma of candy too. I was strong, I stayed out of the shop..but I did take a peak to see all of the different variety of candy.

Dancing with the Stars

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Oh, Where Is My Hair Brush

There was a little girl who had a little curl...well, you know the rest. Lawren's hair is finally getting a-little-longer. Thought these pics were so cute. It made me think of the veggie-tale song, The Hairbrush.

Fire Station opens with a Big Bang

While visiting with our daughter, so grandpa could get another load of wood, we went to the local firestations open house. It was quite interesting. They had lots of fire and safety tips.

Lawren got to help one of the firemen hold the hose while it sprayed water.


Lawren riding on the old fashion firetruck with her mommy and grandpa murphy.

She really enjoyed watching the Arsen Puppy get ready for the performance that they were showing later.

Lawren liked Smokey the Bear but she did not want him touching her.

I think the highlight of the the whole day was Lawren in the jumpy house. She just loves them