Camping Organization

We love to go camping but sometimes getting everything ready can be overwhelming! Especially when we don't have a camper to store things in year round. My parents do, and we typically go with them, but I wanted to get something together to be prepared in case we ventured out alone! Here is the result:
I bought 2 plastic totes at the dollar store: (complete with cute pink lids, of course!)
I wanted to keep the silverware managable, so I separated the forks, spoons and knives:
Cut 2 pieces of velcro (one fuzzy and an equal length of the hook side)
And wrap them around the silverware to keep them together:
Then I put them in a little snap lock box that I also got at the dollar store:
Then I put things that could stay the summer in one of the totes (like our throw away dishes, coffee, creamer, splenda packets, coffee singles, table cloth, flashlight, batteries, toys for my son, cards, lighters/matches, Qtips, cotton balls, bug spray, sunscreen, mesh laundry bag, etc) I'll have to take the food supplies out at the end of the summer, but for the most part all of this stuff can live in this tote in the garage. I also got another tote that is the same size because I thought it'd be easier to pack our clothing and other stuff in a tote and throw it in the back of the car instead of trying to dig out a suitcase.
Then I made a list of things that need to be packed in the other tote. I printed it out and placed it in a clear sheet protector so that I can easily check the boxes off as I pack and it will still be available for the next time. I color coded in red the things that weren't necessary if we were going to a non-electric site so that I could easily figure out what I need.
I threw the checklist in the top of the tote, stacked the tote with stuff in side the empty one, put the lids on top and stuffed it in my garage until we head to the camp ground (like this weekend!)
Hope this helps all you tent campers (or even campers fortunate enough to have a camper to load full!)

Here are the things on my list to pack in case you'd like to make your own:
Clothes
 Shirts x_______ days
 Pants x_______ days
 Shorts x ______ days
 PJs x _______ nights
 Socks
 Underwear
 Sweats
 Swim Suits
 Tennis Shoes
 Sandals
 Flip Flops for showers
Equipment
 Firewood
 Newspapers
 Lighter
 Coffee Pot
 Roasting Stick
 Sleeping Bags
 Pillows
 Flash Light
 Matches
Shower/Bathroom
 Soap
 Shampoo
 Conditioner
 Deodorant
 Toothpaste
 Toothbrushes
 Towels
 Washcloths
 Lotion
 Sunscreen
 Bug Spray
Games/Toys
 Books
 Balls
Miscellaneous
 Camera
 Camera Dock
 Cell phone charger
 Walkie Talkies
 Walkie Talkie Charger

Linked to the parties here

Mom.Undecided Giveaway

Hey, everyone! Head over to Mom.Undecided to enter her giveaway for a 15 dollar gift card to scrapbook.com! They have super cute stuff, and of course SCRAPBOOK PAPER! Love!

Good luck (even though secretly I hope you don't win so that I do!!) ;)

Toy Story 3 Fun!

Last week we went to see Toy Story 3 (which was absolutely great! To my surprise...) I wanted to make my son a Woody vest to wear to the theatre and it turned out so cute! He loved it! The theatre employees were pretty impressed too! :)

Most importantly, he loved it. Here he is with his cowboy hat, "cowboy boots" (we really need to get a pair of those) and his horse, Bullseye. He was pretty seriously cracking me up this day!
I found the instructions here but I actually sewed mine, instead of the recommended gluing. I had planned on having a whole day of Toy Story Celebration, including some "Pizza Planet" pizzas

and some alien cupcakes for dessert. However, as is sometimes the case, he completely misbehaved in the store and I put everything back. (Am I the only one who gets completely bummed when I can't do fun stuff because my child doesn't behave?!)

Anyway, these are such cute ideas, and I would have loved to have done them. Maybe when it comes out on video I'll have a Toy Story movie night and we can do it then!

You can get lots of ideas from Disney here! And not just Toy Story if you go to the Disney page- all the characters. Great fun!!!

Linked to some or all of the parties here

Ohio State Jersey to Bag

My son had an Ohio State jersey that I was going to sell in our garage sale, but decided to make something I could continue to use, and essentially didn't cost anything! (I used an old baby sheet for the lining and had fusible fleece and a magnetic closure on hand- I did have to buy nylon belting for the strap. I think it was less than 2 bucks!)
Here is his jersey- it is a 24 month, so you would need to do more cutting if you were using a larger size.

Start by cutting the arms off- I left a little extra room for seam allowance, but it wasn't really necessary since I ended up sewing inside the sleeve area anyway.
Then cut across the top, this time definitely leaving seam allowance. I wanted to be able to see the Ohio State emblem/patch at the middle of the v neck.
You're left with a square:
Sew along the bottom edge of the jersey (I did it twice just to make it more sturdy)
Then pin and mark a straight line to sew up the sides. Like I said, I actually ended up sewing up the entire length of the jersey because I couldn't get the sleeve area to look right otherwise.

Then you're left with the basic outside shell.

Now measure the length and width of the bag,

And cut a coordinating piece the same size.

Now is when I stopped taking pictures because I got too involved and forgot! If you want a pocket, add it to your lining now. Then iron your fusible fleece to the lining and sew the sides and bottom of the lining fabric (I used a folded piece). I then sewed across the corners of my bag and lining so it would be more "boxy" at the bottom and allow more storage space.

Then place your bag inside your lining so that the right sides are together. Sew around the top leaving 2 openings on each side of the bag so you can add your handle and turn the bag right side out.

After turning the bag right side out, pin the strap into place and top stitch around the entire top of the bag.

Before I finished the top stitching I also added a magnetic closure in the lining, but that would be completely optional.

Here is the inside:

The front:

The back:

GO BUCKS!!!

Linked Here

90 Days of Kindness

Laura at "Along for the Ride" is having a 90 day of kindness challenge. I was very inspired by her post, and I'm going to take the challenge. It says to choose one area to focus on, but realistically I could certainly focus on a lot more than one. I am going to do this a little more broad, I think.

~I have a tendency to speak and react before I think, and I'm going to really try to take a step back and relax before reacting (or overreacting).

~I'm also going to try to be less critical of everyone and everything (I'm HORRIBLE at that).

~I am going to have more patience with my son, because I tend to get very frustrated easily (did I mention he's 4 and ALL boy?)

~I am going to be kinder to everyone in my life: strangers, friends and especially family. After all, I believe I probably treat them the worst (sorry, mom) :(

I think it's a great reminder, though, to focus on what is truly important. Usually, if you can do something for 90 days it will become second nature. I'm going to make myself a sign to keep a constant reminder of my challenge.

I encourage anyone else to take the challenge and let Laura know! I'd love to hear about it too!

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." I Corinthians 13

From Laura's blog:

"Without love, I am nothing. Without love, I give nothing. Without love, I gain nothing.

Maybe kindness is pretty radical after all.

Kindness is radical living.

It is going the distance with people
giving hope to someone who is difficult
having manners
not bringing up others wrongs
not keeping score
promoting others
putting others first
being patient when it's really really hard
forgiving others when it's even harder

Kindness is
patient
happy with what it has
humble
slow to anger

Kindness delights in truth

Kindness always trusts
hopes
survives"

Awesome. I'm in. I'm also completely accountable since everyone in my family will read this...

Father's Day

This is what my brother and I got my dad for Father's Day. I saw it on HowDoesShe? and figured it'd be a nice way to disguise a gift card (as though my dad expects anything else!). I just covered a paper mache' box with father/grandpa scrapbook paper,

Divided the center with a piece of cardboard, and added pistachios. Complete with "Eat", "Toss", and "Spend" on the lid with the gift card.

Cute, easy and I think he liked it. He was eating the pistachios and had a place for the shells, so you can't beat that! :)

What I did today!

We were supposed to go to the zoo today (again) but (again) we didn't get to. Why didn't anyone mention the "Furious Fours"? At any rate, I wasn't terribly upset because it gave me time to sew! I haven't been able to do much since the garage sale and all the clean up required afterwards!

Anyway, my aunt Tracy and her friend Deb asked me to make a cushion for a pew she has on the front porch. It's huge and was a little rough on the bum when Deb went out for a smoke. (Deb, you should stop smoking- it's not good for the lungs or the bum!) :) So I have been meaning to do it, and just got around to it today. I wanted to make a seat cushion and a back, but only had enough material to do the seat. I actually used a pair of chino curtains from Walmart clearance (only 11.00!!!) I bought them because I loved the stripes and couldn't beat the price! Even though I knew they were going to be something other than curtains.

Here they are:

Aren't these stripes too cute?!
So I sewed up a cushion to fit the seat (which I'm pretty proud of!!!)
Since I didn't have enough fabric to make the back, I decided I'd dig through my stash and try to come up with some pillows that she could use to put behind her. I didn't have any fabrics that coordinated, but then I found these placemats that I got at a garage sale for .25 a piece! Perfect! And the best part was that it was minimal sewing!
I just pulled a couple inches of the stiches out the side, then stuck my hand in to separate the two sides. They were pretty stiff, but I think they'll work nicely for outdoor pillows!

Then I stuffed them with an old pillow and sewed the edge back up. This one had that stain but it's not as noticable in real life. (Don't you love the trash can as my display table, complete with farm animals in the background?)
Then I made Deb a cute little ash tray because if you're going to smoke you should have a cute area to put your butt, right? :)

The final product:

I hope they love it! I think it's super cute!

Linked to all or some of the parties here

For Dad

I've been catching some slack for not posting since the pinata tutorial, so even though I'm exhausted this evening (I havent' posted because we have community garage sales this weekend and I've been prepping. We actually opened today and did pretty well!)

Anyway, here are some older projects I haven't posted for whatever reason. I guess saving for a time like this!

This is a laptop bag I made my aunt Bon:

And before my lovely friend Kim moved away we had a couple sewing days and one of them we made this little bag to carry her nursing stuff in:

Kim "modeling" the bag: :)

That's all I have in me tonight... I'm pooped. (Too pooped to pop as Froggy would say)