Pillowcase Dressy

I picked up this pillowcase at a thrift store 2 years ago. (I actually got 2 of them for $1)

The grey fabric just really popped out at me. I envisioned a dress right from the beginning. Now, mind you, I have three boys. Just who was I going to make a dress for? Well the right time arrived. My niece, Grace, turns 3 on the 30th of this month.

Now trying to be true to my WORD of the year, I pulled out the pillowcase and dove right in. It's a good thing my wonderful mother was there to coach me, because it has been at least 15 years since I have done any sewing.

So here we go. I folded the pillowcase in half.

These are my cuts.

I did not use the middle section, but in its place I added a strip of very cute fabric, and a zipper in the back. Since I haven't sewn in quite some time, I got carried away during the process and did not take many pictures once I started sewing. Here it is in the end.

I followed another tutorial for these cute fabric flowers. You can find it here.

Not perfect, but pretty cute I think. Happy Sewing!

I am linking up:

Today's Creative Blog

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Craft Monkey

I Heart Nap Time

Sew Darn Crafty

Oopsey Daisy

My Word of the Year

My Word of the Year

I have read about this word of the year thing and have thought a lot about it. I was talking with a friend a couple of weeks ago and this is a word she mentioned. Since that day I can't seem to get that word off my mind.

DISCIPLINE

For me this will take on meaning in every aspect of my life. To begin with my walk with God, the most important relationship I have. I want to have discipline to keep my daily devotion and prayer time with Him.

Discipline to eat healthier, drink more water, and exercise.

Discipline to finish things that I start. (boy does that ever include a lot of things) I have tons of projects around that house just waiting to be finished. I would like to do more crafts and post them on this blog.

Discipline to be a better wife,

and discipline to be a better mom to those that I love the most.

I once heard a quote, not sure who wrote it but none the less it is pretty awesome.

"The smallest good deed is greater than the grandest of good intentions."

Wow, if I could just keep that in mind. I have a whole lot of good intentions I just can't seem to get them accomplished. So what good did it do me or anyone else? Absolutely nothing. So discipline is deffinetley what I need.

What's your word of the year?

The Swivel Sweeper G2

I saw this nifty little sweeper advertised on tv the other day and I knew I needed to try it out. I picked mine up from a local store in town "Freds" for $24. I brought it straight home and started charging the battery. I can tell you I don't regret buying this thing.

My couches and tv stand do not go all the way to the floor. We also have hardwood floors so you can see every little dust bunny there is. This little sweeper lies flat and picks up all those little dust bunnies. I just have to say I am thrilled with the way this thing works. I have tried it out also on our little throw rugs. I don't think this will take the place of my other vacum on deep clean days but it sure is a handy sweeper for all my quick cleaning days which seem to be most days. My boys even like to do the cleaning for me if they can use this little guy. I haven't checked yet but I bet you can buy this at Bed Bath & Beyond and use a 20% off coupon. Head on over and check em' out.

Bathroom Makeover

I don't have a before picture, and believe me you wouldn't want to see it if I did!!!

But here is the After!!!

This is part I, I still need to redo the other part of the bathroom that has the sinks and tub in it. I think we will rip out the tub, put in a larger vanity with just one sink, and make a little sitting area. We'll see. We really haven't decided for sure.

This part of the bathroom made a HUGE difference. I spent $50 on the behind the commode storage from Walmart, $10 on the 2 baskets from Michaels, $16 on the shower curtain from Walmart, $5 on the rug from Freds. The paint I got from Lowes, it took less than 1/2 gallon of chocolate brown for the walls, and a smidgen of white for the trim. All in all this was money well spent. I love our new partially done bathroom. Don't hold your breath for part II, because even though this took me one afternoon to complete, it took me almost 3 years to actually start it.

Easter Mantel

Getting Ready For Easter

Sheep from TJ Maxx $7.99, ceramic birds 50% off at Micheals payed roughly $9. Everything else I already had. I haven't decided if I am going to add anything in the grass.

Birthday Partied Out!!!

Exhausted to say the least. Happy that the two birthday parties are behind me now.

My middle turned 6 last Friday and my baby turned 3 yesterday.

So my idea was to get it all done in one weekend. We had one party on Saturday afternoon and the other party on Sunday afternoon. Here is what I did....

LEGO AGENT PARTY #1

I made lego agent name badges, goggles, and marshmallow shooters for all the boys attending the party. I had them all sorted in gallon ziplock bags to save on time. I got most all these ideas from here.

The goggles were made from 2-liter bottles found at the recycle center. I cleaned them and made my own pattern. Very Very Easy and Almost FREE.

The name tags were made by copying and pasting images from google image keyword, lego minifig head. The name tags made by rootsandwings are much more detailed and very very cute. I did not have the software to create mine as cute. The kids did not seem to mind at all.

The cake was made by using a regular sheet cake and 6 cupcakes cut in half.

So much fun to shoot marshmallows.

Star Wars Party #2

I had clone trooper masks from the party store and found the idea to have Yoda Soda and Wookie Cookies from a website online. Sorry I can't find it to give the credit.

This cake was made with only one regular sheet cake. I baked it and froze it overnight so it would be easier to cut without cumbles and easier to ice. I sliced it into thirds lengthwise and put them end to end. Not profressional but the same goes, kids loved it!!!

The Yoda Soda labels were put on green gatorade.

For this party I made all the kids a light saber. I bought 10 pipe warmers from Lowes, cut them in half and taped them with green and black duct tape from walmart.

Happy Sunday everyone. We enjoyed a meal last night at Outback. There were 21 of us eating together to celebrate Uncle Charles birthday, who turned 80, Jimmy turned 46, and Peter who turned 32. The food was very good and the service was exceptional. I am so blessed to have such a loving family that likes to be around each other.

I am not doing very well at keeping this blog going, but then again maybe just the occassional post are enough for me. I have been seeing a lot of headboards made from old doors and am hoping to try one for myself. Peter and I have been married for almost 12 years and still do not have a headboard. That will give me something to blog about hopefully sooner than later but we'll see.

Hope you have a good Sunday in the Lord.

My Family

Introducing my oldest:

Hayden Nicholas Theis

October 23, 2000

Loves to draw, hunt, and play with action figures

This is my second born

Canaan James Theis

March 5, 2004

He loves legos, and playing the video game

And last but not least is...

Greyson Charles Theis

March 10, 2007

He loves to play with anything that his brothers have

I could never tell you how much I love these three little men. They are my heart.

Oh I love you too Peter, you are the love of my life.

Miss Me?

Well I missed several days now. I have been busy doing the day to day stuff that a typical mom of three would be doing. Cleaning, Cooking, Laundry, Being a Taxi Driver, and Working. I did make a bubble gum machine fish tank. I found the idea here. The only changes I made were finding a mirror to close up the bottom for .99 cents at Michaels and I used silicone sealant in a caulk gun from Lowes for $5.69. I also bought a green grassy thing for $1.99 from Petsmart. I already had some blue marbles for the bottom. Pete's mom had given us the gumball machine a few years ago and it had just been sitting around, so I am glad to have a special place for it now.

Another poem by my grandmother

To My Children

(This would be Joseph Lee Boyte Jr., James Monroe Boyte Sr., John Klennar Boyte Sr., and Sylvia Boyte Speight)

Bear things well, Be true and brave.

Have patience. Your honor save.

If you fall, be sure to rise,

Through rifted clouds, see sunny skies.

Have an aim that's strong and true.

Let no bad habit master you.

Dec. 1940

SNOW? We must celebrate!!!

Here in the Sandhills of North Carolina, we don't get to see very much snow or wintry weather, so when the weather man calls for snow, we must celebrate! I know how exciting it is to anticipate snow. I hope my kids enjoy their snowman cake pops along with their friends and hopefully we will have enough snow by tomorrow to maybe make a real snowman of some sort. I started making these little cake pops at 8:30 last night. My wonderful husband got home sometime after 10pm and helped me finish making all 44. I was inspired by bakerella. This is a blog that I enjoy getting ideas from. WARNING, before you click on the link below to see the real deal snowman pops, remember it was my first try at these. http://www.bakerella.com/snowman-cake-pops/ I am not very good at coming up with my own ideas but it is fun to try to copy ones that I find, especially extremely cute ones like this one.