Crafting to CHRISTmas: Personalized Tote Bags

I'm doing homemade gifts for CHRISTmas this year and I'm starting with some canvas bags for my Sunday School class kids and for my own kiddos.

I admit... I took the easy road. I bought the canvas bags. I could have been an Uber-Crafter and made them but, hey, I have TONS of projects lined up. And I'm only human.

So thur she blows.

You'll need:
3-pk multi-colored canvas bags
acrylic craft paint
super cute stencils
spouncers (doesn't that sound funny to you too?)

First, I tried something I saw online somewhere... if you know where it's from, please let me know so I can give them proper credit. The idea was to take a dollar store paper doily and use it as a stencil. And that's precisely what I did.

 

I wasn't entirely happy with this so I got some cute and inexpensive stencils from Wally World.

And this is what happened...

I then did a google image search for embroidery fonts and freehanded names and initials. They're not perfect (I did say freehanded) so don't judge, you silhouette owners.

And then I was getting a little bored with the stencils and did some sort of argyle-ish pattern, made using a ruler to draw the lines and painted with painter's tape as a stencil.

Note: to give the diamonds a worn look, I pressed a strip of tape on each one when they were still wet.

And backed it with some boyish letter stencils. (also inexpensive from Wally World)

Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday... a week late.

I was completely without a ball last week. I didn't just drop it... it ran away from me screaming.

 

Head on over to www.orgjunkie.com for more great menu plans!

Monday - flatbread pizza

Tuesday - loaded baked potatoes

Wednesday - muffins

Thursday - soup (canned)

Friday - BLTs and chips

Saturday - potato soup and french bread

Sunday - leftovers

Monday - bean and beef burritos

image credit

Tuesday - steak salad & baked potatoes

Wednesday - potato, egg and cheese breakfast burritos

Thursday - BBQ chicken, steamed rice and vegetables

Friday - hamburgers & fries

Saturday - black eyed-pea gumbo and cornbread

Sunday - leftovers

Special K Challenge Review

Technically speaking, they did not come through on their promise... I cannot fit into my size 6 jeans.

But the Special K Challenge is definitely worth it.

I started out at 142 lbs (6 months after birthing a watermelon)

I was working out for only 30 minutes a day before starting the diet... but that soon fell to the wayside.

I got sluggish and just didn't have the motivation to do much of anything. I've read that this is normal... something to do with detoxing your body and toxins stored up that are releasing into your bloodstream. You'd think we would be rewarded for doing something good... so the diet isn't at fault for that part.

It was hard at times. I considered raiding my kid's snack stash. 

But just as I was hitting my breaking point I got to have another snack or meal. And, hey, the snacks aren't half bad. Then again, I might have eaten cardboard and called it bellissimo.

On the last day of the diet I weighed 136 lbs - for a grand total of 6 lbs lost.

Not too shabby for two weeks.

*shhh... don't tell him I shared this, but I've got my hubs dieting too : )*

So I will NOT be doing the whole diet again - but I AM still eating Special K breakfast cereals and shakes and the snacks. And I'm slowly but surely getting back into the exercise routine.

I'm gonna call this a success and definitely worth the money I saved. 

LOL - YES SAVED...  Special K meals and snacks cost a LOT LESS than all the junk food and carb-full meals I was eating.

A Tricky Subject (pun intended)

For Christians, Halloween is a tricky subject...

Dh and I have decided that we're not just going to turn tail and run from everything that may or may not be an affront to Christianity. What we do is live our lives for God and not spend our lives hiding.

Like one of my Good Morning Girls said... Satan has no right to any day that God has made.

So we celebrate CHRISTmas but we don't celebrate Santa... we celebrate Easter without the bunny... teeth with no tooth fairy... and Halloween without the images of death and evil things.

Man has a bad habit of ruining everything... so let's just do it the right way, shall we? Let's keep Halloween innocent and keep the dark stuff away from the kiddos.

I very much agree with Courtney's post on Halloween here: Women Living Well