Emily Guerra

Ok, so here we are at the time of the year where we make and break all of the resolutions that we have made all within a two week period.

I have done that almost every year. Some times I manage to hold off until the end of January, but not often.

However this year I really want us as family to make and keep resolutions that will help our family. This is the year for us. We have things that we want and things that we want to do without breaking the bank. So this is what I am proposing we do for the following year…Let’s see if we can make it.

1) Stop eating out – This is a really hard one because it is a habit that started while Reinaldo and I were dating. That and the fact that I love to eat out. I don’t mind cooking and I am not a bad cook, but I love to go out to new places, try new foods and I love a restaurant where I can appreciate the ambiance while I am eating. So for me it is not just about the food. Though that is most of it.

And that J has recognized the Golden Arches from such a young age. I don’t really like that. Every time we pass by he wants chicken nuggets. He needs more veggies as well as his sibling. Must cut back on the grease.

2) Paying off/ or down our credit cards – Another hard one. When Reinaldo and I were first married we were really good about paying off our cards on a regular basis, but now…well I don’t know what happened.  The debt needs to go. I know that we haven’t been as caught up on the buy now pay later mantra that most people succumb to now a days. We have been a part of it, but no more! We need to be responsible with our money and how are we to teach responsibility to our children if we aren’t responsible with our money now.

On a more personal note:

3) Using my fabric stash – This isn’t as big as the two above but I do have a lot of fabric that needs to be used before I go out and buy more fabric. I LOVE fabric. I just can’t help myself sometimes. Especially when I get a coupon in the mail for Joanns’s or Hobby Lobby.I must go and buy fabric. Once again no more, until I run out that is…

4) Thrift shopping more often – It is just amazing how much you can find in a thrift store that you will spend pennies on while going out in a mall or department store to buy the same thing that takes big $$. And since I know how to sew it will allow me to sharpen my alteration skills as well.

That is all that I can think of at the moment. I know that there will be more last minute resolutions just before the ball drops. I hope that I keep those too.

Happy New Year!! May 2010 be better than 2009.

Are you ready for it!?

I don’t know that I am. There is still so much to do and not enough time to do it all in.  I have neglected my writing here because of last minute Christmas gifts that I am working on and will be working on after this.  I can’t post pictures of them either because they are going out to family who read my blog. So after Christmas I will try to post pictures.

But here are some pictures that should  cheer you up.

This is our Christmas tree. Notice that there are hardly any ornaments on the bottom half. That is because my 1 1/2 year old had broken 3 of my oldest ornaments when putting the tree up, so once she went to bed all the breakables were put up out of her reach.

And a big thank you to Artsy Craftsy Babe and her pom pom garland tutorial. You can find it here.  I loved the pom poms and thought that it really made my tree…as bare as it is.

And here is what happens when we get a large box full of Christmas gifts to put under the tree. Not so interested in the gifts as much as the box itself. They loved to play on and in the box.

I can’t wait for Christmas, to open gifts, eat a Honey Baked Ham, and play with our (or their) toys.  Thank goodness this only happens once a year.

I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas!!

I found this through The Idea Room.  I made one up for my husband. Check it out here.

Isn’t this the funniest! I am going to make one for my kids. I think that it will be really cute.

Go here to make your own.

I haven’t had time to do anything crafty here lately, but I have come across some awesome things that I have put on my list of stuff to do.

1) Pom-pom garlands - I saw this on Artsy-Crafty Babe. I loved this. I needed something for my tree since it just didn't look finished. And I still need more.

2) - Fleece Capelet - From Ruffles and Stuff. I am so inspired to make one for my daughter. But this will have to be on my very long list of things to do. Hopefully I will get it done before winter ends.

3) -Cozy Car Caddy - This is on Homemade by Jill. I loved this one as well. It is perfect for any little boy in your life. I am thinking about my son as I write this.

1) Go here for the pom pom garland tute.

2) Go here for the fleece capelet.

3) Go here for the Cozy Car Caddy tute.

The free tutes that are out there are endless. I appreciate all the folks who are inspired to do all this and then allow us to use the information that they provide for ourselves.

I am not participating. I am a bit late on that band wagon. But can I say Wow!!!! I was in my reader today and all the the blogs that I subscribe to are mostly participating.

I spent the good part of my morning entering as many as I could. Who knows if I will win anything but I am hopeful. And I will try again after work, but now my kids are up and I have to start working for the man.

Go here to see the huge lists of crafters who are participating. The give away ends on the 6th of December.

I don’t have anything good to put here except that I want one. Really, really, really bad. As much as I read I would love to have a Nook to be able to tote around and make a cozie for. Do you know how many books I own, in paper form and then how many I have on my Ipod? Which I don’t know how to move to my pc from my Ipod and that is a whole other issue.

I have heard so many good things about it. The reviews from the techie geek magazines that the man gets have been good so far. I want to play with one first and the demo doesn’t come out until the 7th of December unless it gets pushed back.

Check it out here!!!!!

When I last wrote I was working on a list of things to do. Then the night before last I dreamed a dream.  Don’t you just love it when you dream up ideas to craft. If only I would remember to write them down instead of depending on my memory to recreate the craft.

This time I wrote them down. This is my Advent Calendar Bunting. I wanted a quickly made Advent calendar for my family but also bunting. I have been seeing the bunting all over the place and thought that this would be a great idea of combining the both.

First I drew out a diamond shape going 3 inches across and 3 inches to the point from the middle of the diamond. Next I cut out all the diamonds needed for the bunting.

Next I painted on the numbers. I was planning to embroider the numbers on but wanted to make this in time for December. Next time I will embroider the numbers.

Then I also marked where my slits would be on the back side of the triangle. I positioned it just low enough so that you couldn't see the slit from the top. I made a long oval with paint, then put Fray Check in the middle just to make sure that it would be pretty secure after use.

After the paint and Fray Check had dried I cut the slits and pinned the diamonds in half on a ribbon that I had. I folded the diamonds in half with the ribbon right in the middle.

I then sewed the triangle closed. I started at the point since there were tails that I grabbed onto to help pull the felt through the machine. I had started at the corner on the ribbon, but once I got to the point I couldn't get the point through with out it getting caught in my feed dogs.

Here is the back, these are actually to small for candies or anything like that.I will be making coupons to roll up and put in for my kids. Also you can see in the upper left hand corner where the felt doesn't quite lay flat. I went back and put a dab of Fabric Tack in the middle to keep the middle from popping up and making it lay flat.

Here it is on my mantel. Now the question is how do you hang bunting properly?

Let me know what you think! Merry Christmas!!

I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!! Ours was awesome!My nieces and nephews were looking forward to our “feast”. I was looking forward to spending time with my sister and brother. I don’t get the see them as often as I would like. However we are nearing the end of our ropes with each other all ready. We have a saying in my family “It is nice to see our family but it is nice to see them go too”. To some that sounds really bad but in my side of the family it is how we keep the love going.

Plus I managed to get the rest of my kids Christmas shopping finished too. First time that has happened and probably the last too. There is just something about elbowing your way through the crowds to find good deals on stuff that normally you wouldn’t buy because it costs to much. The only downside of this is the crazies on the road that think that they can do anything  including stopping traffic because they are trying to go somewhere. Crazy drivers.

I am looking forward to heading home on Saturday. Now that I got my Christmas shopping done I have more time for sewing and crafts!!! Yay!!!! That is always exciting! We get our Christmas tree next week and my decorations come out and wrapping presents. I am just so excited this year.

I have a running list of what I want to do like, pillows, a jacket, slippers for me and a tute on the slippers to share with you and bunches of other things that I have to sit down and write out otherwise it is just ideas that float around my head and never come to light.

Happy Holidays!! I will see you guys next week and hopefully I will have pictures to post on something anyways.

I had posted a picture of a shirt just a few days ago that I was excited about here.  I have finished it!! Yay!!!

It isn't the best picture, but it is the middle of the night and I had to stash it since it is going to be a Christmas present for the man. I hope that he likes it.

Also before I worked on the shirt I did this bag.

This is the Everything Tote from Heather Ross' book Weekend sewing.

I like it because it is a large bag which would be great to take to the grocery store for a quick shop. However in putting the back together I just came across a few problems. The main one is the list of materials says  a 1/2 yard of fabric for the bag and another 1/2 yard for lining including the straps.  I am not sure how they laid out the pattern pieces on that 1/2 yard of fabric and get the body of the bag and the straps.  A 1/2 yard of fabric is 18 inches wide. Mrs. Ross must have used a fabric that came in a larger width that the normal 44 inches. I had bought a yard of fabric because when I bought it I thought that it was a yard. Thank goodness I had bought more than what was required.

And there was a bit of confusion about the straps. It is a unique way to add the straps to allow the lining to show through. I only had a problem because I didn’t read the instructions all the way through until I was putting the straps on. I also just serged my straps. You can still see the lining but  there is less fabric to sew through.

So that is it, I am going to bed. Good night.

The girl has really needed a pair of slippers for the longest time. Finally last night I got around to making her a pair. I think that they are really cute and fit her feet perfectly if she wouldn’t curl her toes. Now I just need to make a pair for the boy.

I didn’t mean to cut off her toes in that second picture, but you get the idea.  The only thing that I wish that I had for these is the grippy stuff that goes on the bottom. Otherwise she just slides all over my kitchen floor.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.