Home

Thursday, October 10, 2013

DIY: While the government is shut down

So last week, I blogged that I was considered essential and was working through the shut down. Well, on Friday afternoon, I was told that I was no longer essential and only needed to check emails from home on an intermittent basis.
So this week, I have been at home and it has been a rather productive week.

On Monday, I made arrangements for JOE's birthday cake. That took a while. I felt like I was ordering a wedding cake!
The cake will look something like this with some variations.





Then I cooked 2 dishes for the week which is unusual for me cause I typically make just one dish with different sides here and there.

On Tuesday, I made a variation of this dress. I thought it looked semi-ok but then I took a picture and sent it to my sisters and friend. I received the following comments from my sister, sister in law and good friend.
Sister: It's cute but please don't wear that out
Sister-in-law: Holy cow! That looks like a house coat reject!
Good friend: It's very costumey. Great execution though.
Ummm...why couldn't they lie to me? It was my first adult dress afterall :-(. Needless to say, even though it isn't fit to go out in, I will be wearing it as a "house coat" dress.









Fast forward to later that evening (I am a planner by nature so I need to always keep busy), I made a long maxi skirt that I have been loving on Pinterest. The material was $5 and the elastic was $1. Can't beat a $6 maxi skirt. I plan on wearing it this fall. This one got the stamp of approval from my sister.







On Wednesday, I embarked on 2 projects. 

Project #1:
The front of our house has been looking bare so I decided to get a couple of pumpkins and some mums to beautify our front door. I love the fall! The door looks so festive now.





Project #2:
I love long jean skirts. I have paid $60+ in the past for a jean skirt so when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew I had to make it.

I got a pair of jeans and some materials from Wal-Mart (my go to place for my "frugal" sewing finds). The jeans was $18.54 and the material was $7.50 (it would have been cheaper but I got more than I needed. Better safe than sorry). I spent part of the day on Wednesday taking apart the jeans. I did it while watching Dr. Zhivago. Have you ever seen the movie? It is a romantic tragedy. A good cast of actors but somewhat sad love story.

This morning, I cut up, pinned up and sewed the jean skirt. Here is the final product. I will blog this actual process later.




While all this was going on, my princess turned 11-months! Gasp! She is a month away from ONE!

















8 comments:

  1. You are so creative! I can't sew two pieces of fabric together. Lol! And Ms. JOE is getting so big!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I am trying to keep myself busy so I don't get too down on myself.

      She sure is. Can't believe she'll be a year in less than a month.

      Delete
  2. Somebody is keeping herself busy I see. Enjoy your time at home as much as you can. You know you can't stress over a situation you can't control.

    That cake is the bomb diggity.Look at you making dresses and skirts.

    Happy 11-month JOE. The first birthday is truly around the corner

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Trying not to let this shutdown get to me. I am running out of DIY projects. I have pretty much sewed 80% of the items I wanted to sew :-).

      Delete
  3. Girl before you know it you are going to have an etsy shop and I am going to be your first customer! You know I love buying clothes for Abby! lol. I also love festive front doors, so I am liking the pumpkins. They give such a nice warm Fall welcome! Anywho I can't wait to see the amazing cake baby girl is going to have for her first birthday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I am trying to stay busy while this shutdown goes on. I am starting to run out of pinterest items to make without spending more money :-)
      I hope the cake turns out nice.

      Delete
  4. It's crazy when you hear about the shutdown and even more insane when you realize that people you know are being impacted by it. im sending the gov't positive vibes so they get their act together. you are doing such an awesome job with the sewing. that cake looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete

Follow my blog here