Our sixth anniversary is quickly approaching, not only marking six years of marriage, but also six years of storing this chair, half naked in various attics/basements/garages, picked up during our first year of marriage from a thrift shop with the plan to recover.The chair started out completely covered in circa 1972 bright blue faux velvet fabric. To be honest, sometimes I was a little afraid to sit on it, which is why it earned a place in storage. I never could bring myself to get rid of it though because it had potential.
I pulled it out when I was getting rid of stuff last month to make a final decision--to keep or not to keep. That same day during a trip to Joanns, I came across some amazing home decor fabric on the clearance table--the decision was made. Fate maybe?
Fortunately, we had kept the original cover pieces and used those as a template.Then it was just a lot of folding and stapling (Zak did most of this, I took the pictures)The whole thing only took a couple of hours to finish. Making us think-why did we not do this years ago?!?
Before:After: Disclaimer: We're not keep our beautiful chair outside, but the lighting in our house at 7PM is terrible and I needed decent pictures so you could see its amazingness.
I was reading back through my posts the other day and realized that I've been pretty harsh on Utah. Admittedly, it has been a difficult adjustment, but there are good things about the Land of the Bump-it that I have failed to acknowledge.
Now that I've lived here for almost a year, I've begun to see beyond the green jell-o with carrot shreds to the more happy parts of Happy Valley.
Like parades. Parades are extremely happy. And how many of you live in a town that can boast of its own parade?
Complete with little girls in alter boy haircuts and red Kool-aid mustaches..... Waiting in the sun....Watching for the floats throwing candy. Parades are better than Halloween. Just as much candy, a lot less exercise. Unfortunately, Storey lost interest after the third or fourth float. Then she got tired of the paparazzi. And then the fighting started--although there were at least 30 other pieces of candy to choose from, both kids decided that they HAD to have the ONE sucker that was thrown. Surprise. Surprise.
Note to happy parade people: Please throw two of each candy, preferably taped together so they are easier to catch as a set. I'm not asking much....
On Sunday, I posted some picture clues about our weekend---and since I know so many of you have been kept up at night wondering, here are the answers.
A. Saturday morning we went to the first showing of Toy Story 3. Jakson has asked us every 5 minutes when he is going to see it again. I hate to tell him that it'll be about 6 months before it comes out on video. In this picture Jak is holding the Buzz Lightyear doll he earned when he let me cut his hair without a (huge) meltdown. He was slowly earning money towards it by doing chores and such, but we explained that after an tantrumless haircut, Buzz would be his (if you knew what haircuts were like with this kid, you'd understand). It took him a few weeks to catch on that it was a pretty good deal. And now he looks a lot less homeless.
B. Speaking of haircuts......I went in Saturday for a "trim" and walked out with this. My hairdresser told me it makes my neck look skinnier. Sold!
C. And lastly (but not leastly), we celebrated Father's Day with hamburgers and Glenn Beck. For dessert, we had pavlova. Never heard of pavlova? It's from New Zealand and it's good. I'll share the recipe soon.Although other more normal photos were taken, Zak insisted on having me post this one. So attractive.
Now that you know all of the answers, you can go back to sleeping a restful night. Thank me later.
This is mainly for the people who live around me, so I'm sorry to those of you who don't have a Smith's nearby. If you do want some tips about couponing though, I've attached a printable PDF at the bottom of this post that will be useful no matter where you live (even though many of the websites pertain to Utah, a lot of the deals are online and everyone can take advantage of those!!)
I taught a couponing class last week and had a lot of questions about saving money at the grocery store. Our budget is pretty limited (let me clarify- we limit our food budget so that more money goes towards savings), so I always use coupons and watch for sales. There are a number of really fabulous websites here in Utah that basically do all the work for you, making it very easy to match sales and coupons to get the best price. I've added a PDF with the websites and other information that I shared at the class to the bottom of this post.
This week is the perfect time to practice your couponing skills. Smith's is currently rounding all coupons to $1, something that is quite commonplace in AZ, but NEVER happens here. Of course I took advantage of the situation and will try to help you as well. I am only using linkable coupons here (though I used many many newspaper coupons, so if you have been collecting them, let me know and I'll send you some other tips for this week) so that even the brand new couponer can participate in this sale.
Just so you believe that coupons really do work, here's a picture of what I got tonight.84 items for $59!! A breakdown of everything: 5 cottage cheese, 3 lbs. peaches, 1 lb Land o Frost ham, 1 package Wacky Mac, 1 package marshmallows (not really on sale, we just have a lot of Rice Krispies that I got for free a couple of months ago and no one eats them as cereal), 2 DanActive yogurt packs, 1 box Orville Redd. popcorn, 5 Yoplait Greek yogurts, 3 packages Goldfish, 5lb bag sugar, 3 French's mustard, 6 Betty Crocker fruit snacks, 2 Sunny D, 6 boxes various cereal, 10 Kool-aid packs, 2 Rotzini pastas, 1 paper towel, 12 bags of shredded cheese, 2 cartons Breyer ice cream, 1 Ziploc freezer bags, 2 Delight Yoplait yogurts, 2 Worcestershire sauce, 1 cake mix, 4 packages Oscar Meyer hotdogs, 4 Tortino's pizzas, 3 packages tortillas, box of Huggies wipes, and Dawn dish soap.
All of the things from the list above will not be on the list below, only those that have printable coupons, but you'll still get some really great deals!! Remember that you can print off two of each coupon!!
Before you begin, you have to understand that Smith's is also having the Daytona promotion this week. For every 10 items that you buy within the promotion, you get $3 off. The discount is taken automatically at the register. And you can use coupons on all of those items as well. Let's tackle the Daytona items first.
Daytona Deals-the prices are assuming that you buy 10 items in the promotion. The number of times you can do the promotion in one transaction is unlimited. I did three, so $9 off.
Totino's pizza (great for kids when the babysitter is over)-1.45. Print 50c coupon-Final price .45
Pay attention to this one---not only are there coupons that round to $1 AND $3 off with 10 items purchased, but also a Catalina that applies to the following items (a Catalina is a printed out coupon for the store that you can use on anything during your next trip):
---If you buy 3, you get 1.50, 4 and you get 2.50, 5 or more, get 3.50 ---It is good on Betty Crocker fruit snacks-specifically, Fruit By the Foot, Gushers, Roll-ups or Roll-Ups Stickerz-they are $1.69. Then print off two coupons here and one here. That gives you enough coupons to buy 6 items (they are coupons for 50c/2). If you count in the Cataline (free money towards your next purchase at Smith's!!), each box of snacks comes to 60c
Then fill in the gaps to get to 10 (or 20) with other items from the promotion. My recommendations? The 95c shredded cheese (I'm going to freeze most of it. Shredded cheese freezes REALLY well) and Breyer ice cream (1.97) were my top favorites. If you have coupons for cereal that work for just one box, then I would also recommend that. Example: 50c off a box of Cheerios. There are some printable coupons for cereal out there, but they are $1/2 and, in my opinion, $1.50 isn't a great price on cereal. The coupons are here and here just in case.
Items not included in the Daytona promotion, but great deals! Remember-print 2 of each coupon!!
Sunny D-.88 (price is only good at Orem and PG) store-Print 25c coupon-Final price FREE
French's Worchestershire sauce-1.59-Print coupon-Final price .59 (this is a killer price)
Country Crock Spread-1.69-Print coupon-Final price .69
You won't get all of the great deals if you're just using printable coupons, but hopefully a small success will motivate you to subscribe to the Sunday newspaper and be able to participate on a larger scale next time a deal like this rolls around.
Please let me know if you have any questions and happy shopping!
First of all, I am very grateful to everyone who voted, emailed friends, and spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. I could not have gotten votes without you guys. In the end, I didn't win an iPad (darn, now I won't be able to buy one of these), but I did win an iPod , which is still a very cool prize (I think. I've never actually seen one, but it SOUNDS cool).
Thank you again! You guys are awesome!
The contest was drama up until the final moments. Tiffany (the winner of the iPad-she totally deserved it by the way, SHE MADE FLYERS to get people to vote for her. That's hard core.) and I banded together to find out the truth about the competitor we suspecting of cheating (he was winning when the contest closed). Thankfully, in the end, the saying "cheaters never prosper" held true and he was disqualified.
When I say the end, I mean the VERY end. They were tallying the votes and still deciding if he should remain. The powers that be finally figured out what we had discovered days ago. He was using junk emails and Twitter accounts to vote for himself over and over again. Not cool.
Just in case you are thinking about entering this week, let me give you the honest truth. If Tiffany and I had to do it all over again (we talked about this in the wee hours of the morning), neither of us would. It was EXTREMELY stressful, took an ENORMOUS amount of work, and made us sort of hate ourselves. I'm just telling you this, my friends, because I want you to know what you are getting yourselves into before you take the plunge.
For one thing, the voting system makes it difficult to vote, so many people don't (even if you do offer a giveaway). An example: I had over 1200 hits on my blog yesterday (on a normal day during the contest, hits were between 300-500) and still only 70 people voted and entered the giveaway. That's because you have to give information, fill out a form, link to your Facebook....it takes a lot of time and many people don't like to sign up for a random website.
And that's only one of the problems that we came across. Do yourself a favor. Save the time you would have spent on it and if you really want an iPad that bad, go out and buy one. Tiffany actually commented that if someone promised that she would win an iPad at the end of the week, she wouldn't enter it again. Take our advice or leave it, I'm just throwing it out there.
Enough of that. Now for what you really want to know. The winner of the not even 24 hour grand giveaway is...CONGRATULATIONS!! I'll be contacting you to get information. Thanks again to everyone who voted and spread the word!
If you voted and wanted a pattern but have not received it yet, will you let me know? bethanycr(at)gmail(dot)com
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Thank goodness.
I was told earlier this week that if I posted a giveaway (a REAL giveaway, not just giving out patterns to everyone), I would be disqualified from the photo contest. After speaking with a SmileGen representative today, I was informed that I can indeed post a giveaway.
So, here we go...
If you have already voted for Storey, leave your name in the comments and you'll be entered in the giveaway.
If you haven't voted, start voting here. You must vote 4 times to be eligible. You must have either a Facebook or Twitter account. By voting, you are also entering yourself into a drawing for $100 Amazon gift card. Click on the yellow "Vote" button, sign in through Facebook (you may also have to fill out a form), and vote.
VOTE 4 TIMES!!
If you need help, please see all of the instructions on this post.
YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT WITH CONTACT INFO IN ORDER TO BE ENTERED IN THE GIVEAWAY!
What's up for grabs? One lucky winner will win: A custom pillowcase (your choice of fabrics and name)A girl's size 3-5 ready made Flip Flop skirt AND a bright ribbon banner perfect for the summer (one of my best sellers!)And, if you vote and you haven't received a pattern yet, you're also eligible for one of those. Leave a comment with a way to contact you and you're choice of pattern from the shop
**Edit: The voting doesn't end until 9AM PST. I'll be taking votes and giving away patterns until then!!**
Folks, this is the last day to vote and I'm falling behind!! I really need your help because I still have a chance to win, but can't do it without you. I know there are a few hundred of you who read this blog via Google Reader and with just 50 of you voting, I can blow this thing out of the water!!
Remember, I'm still giving away a free PDF pattern from the shop to everyone who votes and you'll be entered in the SmileGen $100 Amazon gift card giveaway! AND if you vote and blog about the contest, I'll send you TWO free patterns!! Just let me know in your comment.
To vote click here. You must have either a Facebook or Twitter account. By voting, you are also entering yourself into a drawing for $100 Amazon gift card. Click on the yellow "Vote" button, sign in through Facebook (you may also have to fill out a form), and vote (4 times!!).
If you need help, please see all of the instructions from the other day here. Leave a comment on the linked post or on this post with a way to contact you and your choice of pattern and I'll get it out to you!!
Many of you have voted previously, but didn't leave a way to contact you. If you have voted, but not received a pattern yet, please leave me an email address to send it to or email me at bethanycr(at)gmail(dot)com so I can get it out to you.
Jakson insists on sleeping with about 40 (no exaggeration) little tiny plastic dinosaurs. They are the bane of my existence. He has each one memorized and inevitably loses them somewhere in his bed three or four times a night, which incites a scream fest until we go into his room and find the missing dino.
It is so annoying.
After a particularly frustrating dino rescue, I decided that an intervention was necessary. An intervention in the form of a pocket. And thus, the Pillowcase with a Pocket was born.
And since other moms might be having similar problems with little treasures in bed, I thought I'd share. Pillowcase with a Pocket Tutorial
Supplies: 1 yard main fabric 1/2 yard coordinating fabric for border and pocket/flap piece matching thread
Cutting instructions:
Cut two pieces, each 26" x 21" from the main fabric. These will be your main pillowcase pieces.
From the coordinating fabric, cut two pieces each 21" x 5 1/2" for the side border.
Also from the coordinating fabric, cut a 11" x 9" piece for the pocket and two pieces for the flap each 11" x 4".
In total, you should have 7 pieces cut, 2 from the main fabric and 5 from the coordinating fabric.
Getting started:
Take one of the border pieces and pin it to the edge of one of the main pillowcase pieces, right sides together.
Sew the two together, using a 1/2" seam
Open and iron the seam towards the main portion of the pillowcase (we're going to be sewing this down later for a cleaner look).
Repeat steps 1-3 with the other main and border pieces.
Now set aside the completed pillowcase pieces.
Pocket instructions:
Determine which side of your pocket piece is the top (should be one of the long sides). Turn the edge over 1/2" and then 1/2" again to create a hem.
Press.
Sew your hem down using 1/4" seam.
Turn in the other 4 edges of the pocket 1/2" and press (with steam).
To make the flap, take the two flap pieces and place them right sides together, pinning along the edges.
Sew, using 1/2" seam around all 4 edges, leaving a gap for turning.
Trim the corners.
Turn the flap right side out.
Tuck in the gap and pin, then top stitch around all of the edges except for the top (because you are going to sew this directly onto the pillowcase in a minute), making sure to close the gap that you left.
Attaching the pocket:
Take one of the main pillowcase pieces that were set aside in an earlier step. Center the main pocket piece, wrong side down on the right side of the pillowcase and pin.
Sew, using a 1/4" seam around the 2 sides and bottom of the pocket, leaving the top (already hemmed) edge open.
For extra durability, you may want to sew another hem around all three sides, using 1/2" seam allowance.
Attaching the flap:
Place the flap about 3" above the top of the pocket and line up the sides of the flap with the sides of the pocket.
Pin to the pillowcase along the top of the flap.
Sew just the top edge of the flap, using a 1/2" seam allowance.
Again, for extra durability (this is for a child after all), sew another seam using 1/4" seam allowance.
Finishing it up:
Take the two main pillowcase pieces (one has a pocket attached to it, the other does not) and place them right sides together, lining up the border edges. Pin
Sew the two long edges and one side edge (the one without the border attached) together using 1/2" seam.
Turn the pillowcase right side out.
Sew the seam between the border piece and the main piece down (remember the seam that you pressed in step 3?)
Complete the pillowcase by hemming the outside edge of the border piece. Turn under 1/2" and then 1/2", press, and sew.
**I didn't do this, but you may want to add Velcro to the pocket so that it stays shut. One of these days, I'm going to go back and sew some on.
A great new place for all of those little trinkets! Down with lost toys!
I thought of a really witty way to write this post last night when I was falling asleep, but was too lazy to sit up to type and now I can't remember one word of it. Sorry about that folks, looks like you'll be getting the boring, completely awake version. Don't worry, I've learned my lesson. Blogging comes before sleeping.
We've established that last week was crappy. Specifically Monday. Thankfully this week so far has been much improved. I got through Monday without a funeral announcement and all remaining teeth survive intact. But, want to help me make this the best week EVER (well, besides the week I got married, or the weeks my children were born, and there was that one week that I went on a cruise sans children....but it'll be close)?!?
I entered Storey's Bitter Beer Face into the Share A Smile contest on the Smile Generation site--the winner will receive an iPad!! (And the contest starts over next week, so you can enter your picture next week and I'll vote for you!) They are looking for the photo that makes people smile the most and frankly, most of the other pictures aren't nearly as funny as Storey's. For all of the daily torment she puts me through, it's got to be good for something, right?
This is where you come in. To win, I need votes. I'm not going to lie-the voting process is a little frustrating/complicated-it takes more than one click to enter, but by voting you are entering yourself in a drawing for an $100 Amazon Giftcard that the website is also giving away!! And by voting 4 times, you have 4 chances to win!
Not only that, but if you vote (4 times!!) and come back and let me know in the comments that you did, as a thank you, I WILL SEND YOU A PDF PATTERN FROM THE SHOP OF YOUR CHOICE!! FREE! Every.single.one.of.you.that.votes-it's better than a giveaway because everyone wins!
Here we go. Click on this link and the page with Storey's picture should come up. Click on the yellow "Vote" button to the right of Storey's picture. Next a page should come up that looks like this, though it seems for some the process skips this step. If you don't get the sign in sheet, then go to the next step.Fill in your info and click "create account". If for some reason, it tells you that you already have an account with that email address, go up the "Contest Home" tab at the top of the page and sign in using your Facebook email and password. Told you it was confusing.
Now you should see a page that looks like this. Depending on which account you have, you click on either "verify a smile with Facebook" or "verify with Twitter".
If you verify with Facebook, a little window will come up asking if you allow the application. Click "allow".
Now you can vote!! Click on Storey's picture on the right hand side (as long as it's still in the top 9 it will show up here) and you can vote 4 times!! Remember to come back and let me know you voted, so I can send you your thank you gift. In your comment, give me a way to contact you and tell me which pattern that you want. I'll send it out promptly. See all of the available patterns here.
Then, call your husband (what is he going to do with a sewing pattern? Give it to you of course!), mom, sister, brother, best friend and have them do it too. Pass it on!
I love you guys!! Thanks for helping out! The contest ends next Monday night--I'll let you know the results.
**If you voted earlier today, please let me know in the comments section so that I can send you a thank you pattern!**
Zak's grandmother passed away last week (the same day Jakson knocked out his teeth-that day kind of sucked). It wasn't unexpected, she had been in poor health for quite awhile. And, for her, it was a blessing. Her husband died almost 20 years ago, her sister passed away 4 years ago, and she had led an extremely full and productive life. Towards the end, she was very ready to be reunited with those that she loved and missed.That said, it was still an emotional and sad time for those who loved her. We had the privilege of attending her funeral on Saturday. Aren't funerals just big family reunions? It was so wonderful to have all of Zak's siblings and cousins gather to celebrate the life of Grandma. Zak was asked to speak and gave an excellent talk about service, something his Grandmother was passionate about. Even until the very last days of her life she was sewing little dresses to be sent to the Humanitarian efforts of our church. What an example.
Unfortunately, Jakson and Storey didn't get the memo that they were supposed to be on their best behavior-Jakson actually refused to even come into the funeral services initially. Thankfully, there were plenty of family members around who were gracious enough to help us out and Aunt Paddy convinced Jak to come and sit down for about the last 10 minutes of the service. Of course, he and Storey promptly started fighting over the snacks we brought to keep them quiet, she started to scream and had to be taken out to the hall. Aren't children a joy?!?
As much as I love funerals and emergency trips to the dentist, I'm hoping this week will be much less eventful.
The chair started out completely covered in circa 1972 bright blue faux velvet fabric.
The chair started out completely covered in circa 1972 bright blue faux velvet fabric.
Then it was just a lot of folding and stapling (Zak did most of this, I took the pictures)
The whole thing only took a couple of hours to finish.
Then it was just a lot of folding and stapling (Zak did most of this, I took the pictures)
The whole thing only took a couple of hours to finish.
.jpg)
