Our trip to Sacramento, plus a fun video

The day after we got to Sacramento, Elizabeth and Lexi came over to visit us.

We walked over to Hagan Park and looked at the, like, three animals in the petting zoo.

...and went on the swings...

...and played on the playground equipment.

Here's a really cute one of Jamie and his Uncle Rob.

Jamie apparently got hungry on the way to the Jelly Belly Factory.

I really like this one of us. (We don't have many pictures of all three of us.)

On the Saturday before we left, we went with my whole family to the Folsom Zoo--a small wildlife reserve, if you want to get technical.

When we were trying to get a glimpse of the bears, we rested on and off on the benches by the display. This peacock was a really friendly guy who hung around and wasn't afraid to get close, looking for food handouts.

And, finally, playing with a bowl.

We sure had a good time in California, and we were really sad to leave. We're looking forward to going back at Christmas.

Credit for nearly every single one of these photos goes to my brother, Rob. I'm pretty lazy about taking pictures, so instead of us each taking our own and then exchanging like we usually do, I asked him if we could just copy the ones he took.

By the way, Rob, we finally bought an external hard drive with a TERABITE (that's 1000 gigs, for those who don't know--like me before Jason told me) of storage. You proud?

Another story I forgot to mention: the Sunday before we left (Aug. 15), we went to Rob's stake conference, because Elder L. Tom Perry, one of the twelve apostles of our church, was going to be there. We arrived about an hour early, and Elder Perry was actually standing right there in the foyer! (Boy, is that man TALL!) He went into a meeting, though.

Then, when I was taking a turn letting Jamie wander while we waited for the meeting to begin, he wandered out to the foyer. (I promise, it was his choice--but I didn't mind!) While we were there, Elder Perry came out of the meeting he'd been in, and I got to shake his hand! But more importantly, he gave Jamie a pat, said, "What a wonderful youngster!" and asked him if he had his mission papers in yet. :)

It was such a treat getting to be in the same room as an Apostle of Jesus Christ. I could just feel his goodness; it was sort of like sitting next to a fireplace in winter--a cozy, warm, happy glow. :)

I actually did know that Elder Perry is 6'3" and had just forgotten--below is how I found out!

Little rascal

The other day, I was doing something, like maybe the dishes, and while doing so I told Jamie that in a few minutes it was time to change his diaper, or for him to take a nap, or something. (Fuzzy on details.) I saw him turn around and walk away.

When I was done and I went to get him, I didn't see him. I called for him, heard a rustle, and went to look behind one of the stuffed chairs in our living room.

There he was--calmly sitting, doing nothing, and clearly hiding from me!

Crafting frenzy: Coin purse

I went on a crafting rampage there, for a couple days after we got back from Cali. (Pictures of the trip are coming.)

This one, though, didn't go exactly as I planned, and I decided to come clean with you guys and let you laugh with me (not AT me, please! ;)).

***Note: I'm still getting the hang of this tutorial thing, and when I go to put it in a post, I invariably realize I didn't take enough explanatory pictures. Sorry about that. (I'm kind of of the mind that "hardly anyone reads my silly blog, anyway, so why am I trying to play like I'm a craft expert?" But hey, gotta start somewhere, right??

How to make a
Non-Reversible, Non-Magnetic

Velcro-Close Coin Purse

...that will eventually take five hours and a lot of smacking your forehead to make, if you follow these instructions exactly...which I would not recommend this time.


Can you tell I started out with a different idea of the finished product? Lol.

First, decide how big you want your coin purse to be, add about 1/2 an inch on all sides for seam allowances (don't worry about being exact), then cut a piece of paper or cardstock that size.

Place it so the bottom of the "coin purse" is on the FOLD of your fabric, and trace around it lightly with a pencil. Do this for both your lining fabric and your outside fabric.

Pin both sides of the fabric together next to the markings so you can cut it out evenly.

If you look closely, you can see my light pencil markings. You'll want to cut inside of those so they're cut off of your final product.

When finished, you'll have one longer, rectangular piece.

Fold this in half with right sides together, then stitch up each side, leaving the top open. Use a zig-zag stitch next to each side seam (on the seam allowances) to reinforce it, and prevent holes and fraying. If you used a large seam allowance, trim the excess off.

So you should have a fold on the bottom, two stitched sides, and an open top--a pocket, basically.

Do this with both fabrics.

Turn your outside fabric right-side out. Leave your lining fabric wrong-side out.

Slide your lining fabric inside your outer fabric and line them up.

To make a magnetic/reversible coin purse, sew a seam all the way around the coin purse, an inch or two from the open top.

This will make a little waistband, so to speak, for your magnetic strips to sit in without slipping all the way to the bottom and getting messed up.

Measure magnetic strips and slip them in between the outer and lining fabrics on each side of the coin purse.

Fold under the fabrics at the top with right sides together, so that their raw edges are hidden inside the "waistband." Carefully sew them together, above your magnets, so the magnets are encased and, again, raw edges are all tucked inside and sewn down.

Here's where I discovered my mistake and didn't take any more pictures of the process.

Make sure you buy magnetic strips that are strong enough to actually stick together firmly through two layers of fabric!

Lol. I was so disgusted with myself when I realized my coin purse was not going to close.

If you're still following along...

Rip out your top seam that you just did.

Take the magnets out and throw them against the wall in frustration. (J/k.)

Rip out the first "waistband" seam.

Re-do your top seam, tucking in raw edges, so you have a completely finished, open pocket.

Measure two pieces of Velcro, long enough that when sewn down, they won't leave openings big enough on each side that any coins can fall out. You could make them nearly as long as the coin purse if you like.

Sew them in place on each side of your coin purse.

Finished!

Here is your still-cute, still-useful, though not reversible coin purse.
Do you get how the magnets would have made it reversible?

Anyway. Live and learn! :D

More to come with this particular fabric!

Button Earrings

Last Saturday, I went to JoAnn's armed with my too-good-to-be-true 80% off any one regular-priced item coupon.
I was SOOO excited to finally buy the fabric for my living room curtains at 80% off!

Yeah. Literally, too good to be true. Practically EVERYTHING was on sale, meaning my coupon got used on fusible interfacing that only cost $2 a yard to begin with.
She's a sneaky one, that JoAnn.

So since I couldn't make my curtains after all, I decided to finally do a cheap project I've had on my list for awhile, that I saw in this post from Trey & Lucy, in my craft blog list.

Earrings made from buttons!

I don't know about you, but when I look through the button aisle, I'm filled with longing, because they have some beautiful, adorable ones, yet I'm not creative enough to know what to do with them...nor do I have time enough to be crafting all day long. So this was a great solution!

Here are the buttons I chose, with a certain shirt in mind to wear them with.
(My camera's not so great. They're even prettier than they look!)

You'll need some of these post pads with butterfly shanks (aka "earring backs").
I believe the original price of this pack of 8 sets was something like $1.59.
Even I can afford that! :)

Tanya, who originally did this, used a button shank remover for taking off the backs of the buttons. If you want to make these a lot, consider getting one.

I used pliers, which worked ridiculously well for this first set. However, the second set was a long, slow, smelly process (as I had to melt them with a lighter multiple times before trying to pry them off).

Place a dab of hot glue (or something stronger, if you like) on the post pad, and adhere it to the button.

That's it! Voila, you have new earrings!

(Yeah, mine are a little big. Any opinions? Should I make them danglies instead?)

Look out for the next button sale and use it to add to your jewelry collection! Enjoy!

I-Spy bags

Have you noticed the new craft blog on my sidebar? One of my very besties, Sam, has started a blog to showcase all her crafts, called KaleScrap. I've been trying not to be jealous of her artistic and creative abilities pretty much since we met. (Love ya, Sam!) You should totally check it out. Prepare to be impressed!


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Another attempt at keeping my kid's attention away from all the stuff he wants to climb and get into at church. (His is the fish. :))

I had to wait until we got back from California to post about these, because I made some for gifts and didn't want to spoil it!


I got the idea from this post on my go-to craft blog, Make It and Love It. I wanted to try my own shapes--because, really, how could I not make a butterfly for little Elle? :) (Remember the blanket I made for her out of this material, here? It's near the end of the post. I just like linking whenever possible because it makes me feel cool.)


Anyway, a couple of tips for you, if you'd like to try making your own:


If you do a more intricate shape, like the butterfly, you might not want to cut two of the shape to begin with. When you cut out the center for the window space, the "frame" that's left goes all saggy and loses its shape--without the middle fabric to keep it stable--so it won't match up with the other one anymore when you try to sew them together.

Does that make sense?

A-like so:

How ugly is that? Ick.

If anyone is actually curious enough and asks me to clarify what I'm trying to say, I'll take a picture of a saggy frame in order to better explain it.

So I suggest, if you want to do something that will have a thin frame, just cutting one piece, cutting out the middle, sewing in the clear vinyl, and then sewing that to a larger piece of fleece.

Then you can fill it up, sew the opening closed, and trim the bigger piece using the shape (that it's conveniently sewn to) as your guide. It comes out great!

See?

***Added Aug. 20*** For what to put in these, I called my mom and asked if she would send me any buttons or other little interesting things she wouldn't mind parting with. I also used stuff from my own stash, and couldn't resist buying a few other things.

Most of the fillers were either buttons of various shapes, or beads. There were planes, trains, and automobiles, cats and butterflies, flip-flops and stars (buttons, and also the ones that are like sequins), a couple of seashells, some Peter Rabbit buttons (I couldn't resist buying those), a couple of ribbon flowers, and some bright-colored alphabet beads that I WISH I had bought at Wal-Mart instead of JoAnn, because they were cheaper there...

My mom's help was very much appreciated! Buttons aren't as cheap as they ought to be, in my opinion.

One more thing: if you want to use the poly-fill beads like I did, be sure to use a Jo-Ann or Michael's coupon. At $7 a bag, you don't want to pay full price! And believe me, you'll have plenty of leftovers. (Any suggestions for using these? Lol.) (Oh, and yeah, I think I made the "windows" too big. Whatev. It works!)

My mom thought these were so cool. Jamie looks at his for about 2.5 seconds, then tosses it aside and commences his usual running around like a cute little nutcase. I'm hoping he'll grow into it!

I sure had fun making them and then giving them to people I love. I hope your little ones are enjoying them!

Question...

I made the bib from this tutorial from Make It and Love It, which I do absolutely love. That girl is so talented, and obviously works hard to make her website better all the time.

But I SO wish I had just spent $6 for the stupid bib from Target instead of trying to make my own. It was a PAIN, it was expensive (I have no clue what I'm going to do with the leftover IRON-ON VINYL...any suggestions??), sewing it wreaked havoc with my poor sewing machine, it's not attractive...it does the job, but NOT worth the effort or cost.

The only reason I could see making it being better would be if you will just die if it's not cutesy and personalized, AND you already have all the stuff to do it, without any other possibilities for using those supplies.

? So here's the question: ?

Would it be terrible to leave a comment (or, as you would call it on any major shopping website, a review) saying these things--in a respectful yet straightforward manner?

It seems like the other readers of the blog might see me as a horrible nay-sayer if I give anything other than gushing, enthusiastic, completely positive feedback. I've seen "negative" commenters get railed on by other readers, telling them basically, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" and "if you think this site is so terrible, don't read it, and we'll all be happy to be rid of you."

But really, I would love to save others from my fate. It was that bad.





So, whaddya think?

I stinkin' love this show. And YouTube.

We're coming to California!
(In case you couldn't tell.)

We'll be arriving this Friday and staying until Monday the 16th.
We thought we wouldn't get to come until Christmas, so this is a real treat (esp for Jamie's Yarwood fans who miss him terribly).

And this is exactly what it will look like when we depart. (Except we'll be on a plane and have our baby with us, squirming and fussing all the way, no doubt. :))

Hope we get to see some of you! We can't wait!

Now I need to get out my Lucy DVDs and watch me some...