Button, Button...Necklaces

Enough buttons to color block long necklaces, my cheap jewels, crafted diy.

Button vs. bead:  flat, one "sided vs. in the round, but still beautiful colors!  Thanks to a sister at Church whose mom was an avid sewer, I have a collection of vintage buttons to share.  I pre-stung them on crochet cotton to make hostess gifts as we head west & take advantage of family hospitality.

Finished up some t-shirt rose necklaces for a sister missionary's wardrobe going to Brazil.  These help with modesty, a way to cover that too low neckline.  Trying on chain new idea from sister missionary serving here from Pleasant Grove, UT!  This is how she makes them, instead of recycling the t-shirt hem..

 

Order

I did find the missing notebook I mentioned last week. Piles have been reduced. Order restored.

I am thankful for the organization skills I learned from my mom. She is good at putting like with like. Matching. Sorting. I can live with a certain level of chaos, and then I need a sense of order restored. This is the goal. Being able to locate things instantly. To always know where the scissors are, not just where they should be.

(Note: mending with "hahahahaha" label!)

Blog Stalking

What did I do before blog-watching? DIY and HGTV channel surfing? Magazine browsing?

I am a changed woman because of the things I have learned from blogs. NieNie's (sidebar button) testimony and will to live beautifully still makes me cry and feel more courageous. Pioneer Woman's romance and beautiful photos of her family helped get us started on writing our own romance down, story fashion. All those blogs listed on my sidebar--I stalk them. If I don't leave comments, just view often, observe their talents, copy their crafts=stalking.

These yo-yo necklaces are inspired by The Empress Dowager's New Jewels. I love the idea behind her necklaces, the thriftiness, the tactile-fun-fabric of them. If I really owned rubies and emeralds, I am not sure I would wear them as boldly as I do these every day or Sunday-dress-up stones!

I am thankful for uplifting, educational, inspiring blogs.

Flowers & Belly Bands

For a friend's baby shower I made these yellow coffee filter roses. I am not a coffee drinker, and it took me awhile to find them in the dollar store (not used to looking for them). $1 for 150 filters=150 flowers. I cannot re-find the original coffee filter tutorial that I learned from to make these rosebuds...There is a good link through M(artha) S(tewart) to a mom who sells them if you google the subject. Or, if you come by my house, I will show you how I did it. Not hard. ANY color possible! Two of my sisters-by-marriage are currently gestating. Luanna and I brainstormed for good, affordable gifts, and she said the thing she loved the most were the hacked belly bands I made her during her last pregnancy. These did not exist 10 years ago when I was having my 6th baby. Rather than starting from stretchy-fabric-scratch, I found some super stretchy t-shirts, and hacked them.

Literally.

Cut the shirt right below the armpits, both layers. Zig-zag stitch around the opening, leave the already-hemmed bottom as the edge that shows, and you have a stretchy tube-belt. Good support, good coverage for that peek-a-boo tummy.

$1.25 for t-shirt from thrift store vs. $30+ range for the original.

Almost embarrassing to admit, but I really, really like these. Now. For me. And my NOT-pregnant-just-chunky, shirts-not-quite-long-enough-for-my-current body.

VERY convenient. Does wonders for modesty so you can stretch without showing skin. Nice with pants, skirts. See the above photo, that darker, under shirt, that was once a t-shirt. Biggest advantage is how low you can wear it, without the layers and heat of a tank top.

Find the stretchiest, smallest tshirt that will fit around your waist. Cut. Try it on. Most of the t-shirt knits do not need to be zig-zagged if they do not unravel, so you can wear it as is.