Two New Handmade Items

So, here are a few projects that I've been working on that I finally finished! The first picture is a cape that I made for our Godson, Nelson. He just turned 4. He and his Mom & Dad (our friends Marge & Rob) came up to visit this past Monday so we gave him his birthday presents. We were all sick for his birthday party. I was so excited by how much he liked it and am hoping he is still enjoying it as much. I was pleased by how it came out, especially seeing as I cut it out free hand. It is some material that I picked up on sale at Joanne's on sale after halloween and I backed it with a black felt so that it is reversable. I was going to put velcro or a button at the neck but the tabs came out a little longer than I planned so it is able to be tied. Worked out well!

Now, this I am just LOVING!! I saw this idea on a few other blogs. Here is one at Jendi's Journal. And here is another at Alexi Hangbags. When I saw this idea for the first time I couldn't believe I had never thought of that! Then I started searching online and found tons of ideas. I just cut the legs off and sewed up the bottom. It took me a little while to decide how to do the strap. I looked around for something premade that I could use and then saw an idea online about cutting 3 narrow strips from the legs of the jeans and braiding them. I decided that would probably be the easiest and the cheapest! And it worked beatifully. I didn't even hem them so that they would fray and add to the character a little. You can see the strap a little better in the below photo.
I picked up the piece of material that I strung through the belt loops at Walmart in the $1/yard stuff. I only bought a yard & this is only about an 8th of it.

So, if anyone wants me to make one or help them make one of their own let me know. Or if you are planning on throwing out some old jeans put them aside for me and I'll make a handbag out of them for someone else!

I still need to put some sort of closure on it so it doesn't hang open making me easy pickings for some pick pocket. But other than that I plan to put it to use right away!

Frugal Fridays

I've been trying to take part in some the different meme's at the different blogs. I LOVE reading this one available at Biblical Womanhood. I've gotten some really great ideas for frugal ideas. Check out this weeks Frugal Friday here. And now for my frugal tip:

I'm sure that this is something someone has mentioned before but one of my favorite Frugal things to do is use the MyPoints system. All you have to do is sign up for an account, fill out a few survey's and then you will start getting email (usually 2-3 a day). The emails provide a link to click on and for each one you will usually get at least 5 points. There are lots of ways to earn more points also. I have earned over 30K points in the last few years and with your points you can purchase gift cards. It is usually under 2K points to get a $10-15 gift card. I've gotten gift cards to places like Target, Old Navy, Barnes & Nobles, Amazon, etc. I usually save up my points and then buy gift cards to use to buy Christmas presents for people or for my kids.

If you don't have a Mypoints account yet please sign up today! It's awesome!

Have fun earning tons of points!

Menu Planning Monday

Well...I'm late for another Menu Planning Monday over at Org Junkie's blog. So, here is our menu for this week:

Tuesday - Pasta & Sausages

Wednesday - Homemade Pizza

Thursday - Meatloaf, Cauliflower & Mashed Potatoes

Friday - Grilled Flank Steak Sandwiches with Cheese, Onions & Peppers (and maybe some kettle chips on the side)

Saturday - Breakfast for Dinner

Sunday - Leftovers

Monday - Soup (we have a few in the freezer...minestrone, chili & turkey/vegi soup...so we will plan on one of those with some fresh homemade bread I think).

So...there is our week. Breakfast is pretty consistently eggs & toast as we have laying hens. We occassionally throw in Strawberry & Banana smoothies (just frozen strawberries and banana's in the blender...& I just bought a vegetarian protien powder to put in them). I am also planning on making some granola and maybe even granola bars this week.

Lunch is usually what we call a "Plate of stuff." This usually includes just about anything...nitrate free sandwich meats, cheese, kettle chips, pretzels, fruit (apples, kiwi's, grapes, pinapple...whatever we buy that week), raisins, carrot sticks, sun butter, etc. All piled high on a plate for everyone to munch on. This is especially great for warmer weather when the kids want to stay out but are starting to get hungry.

Have a great week everyone!

My Live Signature

I found this really cool website that will design the code for a basic signature for free. It's pretty cool! Check them out here! How do you like my new signature? Let me know.