Goodbye my LOOOVE!

We said goodbye to an old friend on Thursday...

I must say not a single tear was shed...

Cruel?!

No... For weeks this monstrosity has been haunting our driveway. Blocking my otherwise perfect view of what everyone else in the neighborhood is doing. (Yes, I am nosey)

At first it was fun. We acted as though there was something exciting inside. I told the kids that if they could guess what was inside, it was all theirs...

some guesses:

~1 million hula hoops

~ a bike

~ a bed

~ a car

~cookies

~ a puppy

Nope, sorry folks... the box is empty and we can't even play in it because we need a crow bar to open it.

So there it sat for weeks. People would drive by nice and slow, but nobody would take the darn thing. Finally, on Thursday a very interesting man came to get pick it up. Thank you very interesting man and equally interesting wife.

I don't care what strange thing you are using this for just drive safe and be on your way.

Wedding fun...

Sometimes they are just too fun. Kiley and Tate never want their pictures taken. So I am constantly trying to get a good shot of them together. Here they are at a wedding I begged and bribed for ONE nice shot. Tate said, "Fine, but you can only try once." I said, "Deal, but it has to be a good one."

In his efforts to assist in making the shot a "good one," Tate posed like a "model."

In focusing on really making it a good shot (and praying that Tate would not wreck it), Kiley froze up and forgot to smile...

Tate trying to walk a "very dangerous" ledge, while pretending to be a secret agent.

A random dance move by the dancing queen.

A sweet moment between daddy and Kiley.

I think I'll just stick to the candid shots.

Jazzed Up Swim Suit Coverup

I had an idea...

So, I found myself some fabric...

OK this is a shirt that I fell in love with for fifty cents and realized I do not look good in. I refused to get rid of it because I love the fabric. Duh- use it for something!

Added ruffles to the pocket and drew up a birdie for the applique...

Next I used wonder under to attach the bird and a zigzag stitch to finish the edges...

Finally, I used embroidery floss to create little birdie legs...

All done. Well not quite...Need to redo the stitching on the applique. Our Home EC teacher always warned us that she would give a speeding tickets for sewing too fast. It turns out you have to go slow when you are doing curves with a contrast thread!

The top is looking pretty plain. What to do??

Apron Love

I am in love with all of the beautiful aprons all over Bloggy world, and finally decided to give it a shot... Here is what I came up with.

It is a modified version of Amy Butler's apron from In Stitches.

I had a little problem attaching the waist band. It ended up looking lumpy. (Pleats are a new adventure for me. )

The ruffle had a small hole in it so I made a little flower to plop on top. Sweet, isn't it!?

Check out the tutorial at Ruffles and Stuff to learn how to make chiffon flowers.

This kind of reminds me of a person who doesn't know how to cut hair trying to trim her own bangs. They just keep getting shorter and shorter trying to even them out. My projects just keep getting bigger and bigger trying to cover up my mistakes! :)

Check out some "fabou" apron tutorials below!

I Have to Say's Dish Towel Apron

Creative Little Daisy's Craft Apron
50's Apron From Crafter.org