Fabric ABC's

When I heard the news of the latest Pinterest Challenge at Young House Love, Bower Power, Hi Sugarplum, and Great Indoors, I knew exactly what I'd be making.  My niece is learning her letters and I thought she would love this.

I had pinned these fabric magnet letters made by ChezbeeperbebeVia Pinterest and I LOVED them. 

I headed over to my mom's house and got to sewing.  Here's my version.  (The I is missing, I'm hoping it's sitting on my mom's sewing machine).  I used this tutorial, but I made the letters bigger than the template.  I typed all the letters in Arial Block font using 300 size font and printed them on card stock.  I raided my mom's, sisters, sister-in-laws, and grandmothers fabrics.  The R is my favorite (it was a piece of a sleeve of my grandmothers shirt).

I also made a drawstring bag to hold the letters. 

My sewing has improved quite a bit. I can actually do a straight line and the curves for all the letters.  I was pretty proud of myself.  Have you tried sewing?  My next project...a quilt.  I already bought the fabric. Let's see how long that takes me.

The Organization Begins

So I mentioned in my last post about my secret messes.  Well, I got a good one for you today.  I ask that you do not judge me. I swear, we are organized and very clean.  This is just what my life had become.  Hence, my spice drawer...

This is not staged, this is for real. Every time a spice is needed, you have to lift everyone to see what they are, the Penzey spice bags are thrown around depending what was under them. 

I've got a new love for mason jars. I love the uniformity and the size options available.  So I sorted through my spices. Got rid of the ones that expired in 2008 and those containing any gluten/wheat/emulsifiers in them and here is my new beloved spice drawer.  Everything is uniform and labeled on top.  I used the half-pint regular mouth jars for the smaller spices and  quart wide mouth jars for the bigger spices.  I found the jars in packs of twelve at Publix.  Oh, I'm actually excited about cooking dinner tonight.

I considered painting the lids with chalkboard paint to make it that much cuter, but I figured the chalk would rub off.  Have you used mason jars to organize? I've got some more mason jar organization in the works.  My kitchen counter looks like if I'm actually canning something, full of jars and lids and all kinds of mess.  I'm in an organizing madness...watch out.

Is it really 2012

Hi there, Yes I realize I've been completely MIA on these parts.  Life seems to have gotten a hold of me.  We are doing great here and maybe that's why blogging has taken a bit of a back seat.  One of my main goals for 2012, is simplifying. I mean, really simplifying. Living with less "stuff", consuming less, spending less, less time at the computer.  I've always believed that less is more.  My style shows that, my house has minimal decorations. I like things simple.  I even believe that less is more in jewelery, earrings, wedding ring, a watch and I'm good.  However, I've found that although the main areas of my house look this way, the interior parts are out of control.  The closets are an overflowing mess, the office has piles of stuff everywhere, my paper piles (plural) are daunting, my laundry room has no walking room, my drawers are overflowing.  I've decided to get control of this. I started with my closet.  I got rid of four full black bags of clothes and shoes, and yes, my closet is still full.  When I see that, it kind of makes me sick, how much money wasted. 

I will be getting back to a more regular blogging schedule soon. I'm in a bit of a creative rut, my house is decorated in a way that makes me happy. I'm trying to simplify...so why bring in more stuff.  Hmm, I need to think about this one.  I'll be back soon.  I promise.