Bagaholics Anonymous

I don't consider myself to be a highly creative or crafty/artsy kind of person, but I think I may have recently found "my thing". I have always wanted to sew and liked being at my sewing machine. The thing I have disliked is cutting out patterns and trying to make something fit. I have never been good at making clothes. They just never fit right. But, I love to sew.
Recently, though I started making purses. I have only made a few, but I have really enjoyed it and I think they have turned out quite well. I have seen some other blogs that have mentioned bags and purses that they had made. Some of these gals got together and created another blog called Bagaholics Anonymous. A little bit ago they offered me an invitation. I was actually quite surprised. I have put in a couple of posts, already. You can find my first one here. I am really looking forward to learning from some of the veteran bag makers. There are some very talented sewers and knitters over there, so go check 'em out.

Busy Little Bee

OK, I have been a busy little bee lately. I have set up a little sewing station in my family room and have been sewing away. With all the new babies that have just joined our church, I needed an affordable but cute baby gift. So I have been making quilted changing pads. I think they have turned out really cute. You can use a hand towel and coordinating fabric or two coordinating fabrics, layered with batting and quilted anyway you like. Some I have folded into a square and some I have rolled and tied with elastic. Either way, they make a cute and handy gift.
Pictures of both!

I have not been able to blog the last few days because my blogger has been in German. Yes, German. Which I do not speak or read. So blogging has been difficult since I can't read anything. I didn't know that blogger could just switch languages at will, but it can. You may notice a little button at the bottom of the blogger sign in page that says "language", well, that somehow got switched to German. My wonderful techie husband figured it out. That is the advantage of having two computers, he can look at his in English and fix mine in German.
I also wanted to update you on my precious princess. In typical Melanie fashion, I get done telling the whole world (well, my little blogger world) that she is a princess and the next day she falls and gets a big 'ol black eye. We used to call her "bruiser" when she was just a tiny tot because she always had bruises on her face. So, now my little bruiser is back. My little bruiser. If you look closely you can see the remains of a donut or cake around her little pouty mouth.

My Sweet Little Girl

On one hand my sweet little girl is the perfect princess. She loves to get dressed up, insists on wearing pink and prefers dresses and skirts over pants. She loves makeup. One time I came into the bathroom to find she had applied mascara with the precision of a pro, until she rubbed her eye and smeared black all over. She has sass like you would not believe, but she can be so tender and sweet and loving. She is a good little "mommy" to all her baby dolls. And, can this girl sing. From a very early age she has been able to sing in perfect pitch. We can almost always tell exactly what she is singing by the tune. She has a little trouble with the words, though. She knows most of the worship songs we sing in church and she has every song from High School Musical memorized. Total girl through and through.
On the other hand... she is the messiest child!!! All her clothes have stains on them. Her hair is always in tangles. She picks her nose and her rear end (Not usually at the same time). She could care less if she is covered in go-gurt, dog hair and snot all at the same time. She is not afraid of bodily functions. On a recent morning, I was getting ready in the bathroom when she bursts in "I have to go potty!" "Ok, then go." I say. As she is going she passes a little gas. So, being the thinking kind of child that she is, she asks quite sincerely, " Mom, how come in the morning when I go potty, my bottom says phhheeeewww?" You would just have to hear her say this in her sweet little voice. I reply that most people's bottoms say phhheeewww in the mornings. That is just how our bodies work. That satisfied her.
So all this to say what a precious child my little Mellie is. She is most definitely a princess but she will be able to hold her own.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers in the world. My sweetheart of a son has been making me "Mother's Day cards" all weekend by printing things- anything- off his favorite websites. They have been very sweet gestures. We also had a sweet conversation.
Me: Thank you for a wonderful mother's day.
Him(kind of quickly): Thank you for a wonderful ... mother. I love you.

Doesn't that just melt your heart. He really is a sweetie.

So, I wanted to make something special for my mom and mom in law, and I have been so inspired by all the purse makers out there (Randi at I have to say and Lindiepindie at Craft Apple) that I decided to make a purse for each of them. My first purse was a little strawberry print I made for Mellie as a tester. Then I made a tote bag for my sister to take on her honeymoon out of a cherry print fabric. I found some beautiful taupey green cream fabrics and made a cute patchwork purse for each of them. I hope they like them and will be able to use them at least a little. They came out a little smaller than I would have liked but I learned how to calculate my measurements a little better. So here is a picture of my cute little creation.
P.S. Happy Mother's Day to the greatest moms I ever could have asked for. I love you.

Scroll Down

Hey scroll down below the post about my hair and you will find my post about the dress.

My hair is gone

Since most (all) of my readers actually know me in person, this is more for posterity sake than for people to actually read. About 7 months ago, I realized my hair was getting really long and was trying to decide if I was going to cut it. I haven't done Locks Of Love for long time so I decided I would grow it out and donate it. So all winter I have been patiently grooming and caring for my long hair to get it ready for a special little girl (or boy). As the weddings aproached I was getting quite anxious and knew that it was getting close to being long enough (LOL reaquires at least 10 inches). My sister asked me that my hair be long for the wedding so I kept it. But, I knew Ang wouldn't care about my hair so the week between the weddings I chopped it!!! It was such a good feeling to have it gone. And, I love knowing that it will help a little child feel better about themselves. So, here are some pics of before and after.
P.S. I am still not proficient in posting pics. Sorry. But the purple polka dotted dress is next.

The Purple Polka Dotted Dress

I promised everyone about 6 weeks ago I would post a pic and tell you about my purple polka dotted dress. I love vintage clothes and am particularly fond of late 50's early 60's housewife style clothing. I had just cut my hair for Locks of Love and was going for a 50's flip to match my 50's-ish prom dress. So, here is the story.
I travel for my job to surrounding communities as much as 45 minutes away to do home visits with chronically mentally ill persons. I often visit a gal at her part time job in a thrift store/vocational center. I don't think they have that great of a selection overall and it is organized by color. Sidenote: Organizing a thrift store by color is not a very efficient way to find clothes. Things are separated by gender and children's and adult sizes but not by actual size. So anyway, they do have a decent vintage section. Most items are displayed on the wall. So, I am in waiting for my client and wandering around when... I see The Purple Polka Dotted Dress. It was hanging on the wall and it was just like the movies when a beam of light focuses in on something. I quickly tried it on and determined that it would fit with a little alteration, so I had to have this dress. Normally, thrift stores' vintage items are really pricey, but not here. This dress was $5.00! It was really fun to wear but unless I drop about 10 lbs I am going to have a hard time wearing this again.