I have been meaning to post here countless times, had ideas running through my head, and then have just never followed through. They were all serious ideas about the state of education, technology, and the world in general, etc., but don't worry, this post won't be about serious stuff. I do plan on writing a reflection on my first year of online teaching sometime soon... but not yet.
In this post I am just going to show you what has been keeping me busy this summer (besides Dylan that is)... fun, frivolity, and learning new things.
Sarah introduced me to Pinterest and since I have been some what obsessed with it. If I am on my computer, I am probably on Pinterest or pinning things to one of my boards, and as I have been searching around, I have found countless recipes, sewing patterns, and DIY projects I have wanted to try. So, here is some of what I have been doing.
Cooking - I always cook, but Pinterest has allowed me a quick, easy, and visual way to search and catalog recipes, so I have made several new things over the last couple of weeks. Here are some of the recipes we have enjoyed at my house.
- Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce
- Cucumber Mint Salad
- Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
- Tilapia with arugula, capers, and tomatoes
- Cherry limeade
- Spicy pasta salad with sliced Gouda
Sewing - I bought a sewing machine about two years ago, made a couple of things, and then got frustrated by my lack of sewing talent. I am working on learning and honing my sewing skills and have made the following items over the last couple of weeks.
My first attempt back at sewing was to make a little eye pillow. I get headaches a lot and sometimes coolness helps so I used a pattern by Amy Butler. I made the pillow and case for it. It is filled with flax seed, rice, and dried lavender from my garden. It smells great and stays cool for quite some time after being in the freezer (sorry no pics of this one).
My second attempt was to make a little tote bag. I used tutorial #6 and came out with a pretty cute little tote for myself!
And then I made Dylan a little tote bag so he can carry it when we go to the library for his books and videos.
After I finished the little tote bags, I thought I would try something new, so I made a set of eight cloth napkins, and they turned out really cute! I didn't really use a tutorial or pattern for these. Basically they are 16 inch squares sewn together. :)
I have been thinking about sewing some reusable produce bags for awhile, and when I came across this little tutorial, I figured it was time. So far I have only made one, but I plan on making a few more this week. It was SO EASY! I haven't added the drawstring to this yet. I had planned to use the ribbon in the photo but it wasn't long enough so I just sewed it on as a cute embellishment. I have a matching green string I plan to use instead.
The most complicated thing I have sewed is a travel car mat for Dylan. I used this tutorial as the basis of the one I made, but I changed it up a bit.
Here it is all rolled up.
Stretched out ready to roll up.
And here it is rolled out and ready to be played with.
I know it may not look like much, but Dylan was excited with it. He said, "You made me a road!" I think it will come in handy when we travel or go out to eat.
And lest you think I have only been sewing and cooking, I also tried my hand at being handy/crafty. I read this tutorial awhile back about making chalkboard paint and then I saw a tutorial about making an outdoor chalkboard and the little wheels in my head started turning. I finally decided that I would recycle the bi-fold door we removed from our laundry room into a chalkboard for Dylan.
This is what I came up with…
This is the back off the door. Dylan can draw on all four door panels.
Dylan took time out from running naked through the sprinkler to draw on the chalkboard. It may not be the most beautiful thing, but Dylan picked the paint colors and he loves it which is the important thing.
I have a few other projects in mind before the school year starts. I’m having fun and learning to be crafty!
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