More Sewing

So I didn't sew all of these in the last week or anything (but I've been just about lonely enough with Cory gone) but I did make them over the past few months.

Things I heart!

My mom and I are similar in that our creativity comes and goes in waves. Right now she's into sewing with felt, I'm just into sewing anything that is cute and has any number of ruffles! So imagine how excited I am when I saw this on one of the blog I stalk...

A ruffle bag! I am drooling already, apparently it's her new book (Cory bought me her first book for my birthday) and it's available in September! How can I possibly carry a boring bag without ruffles until then? I guess I'll live!

Hoodie Makeover!

So I love my hoodies (don't ask Cory how many I have!) and when I saw this tutorial for making over a plain hoodie I kicked myself for having given my only plain hoodie away to goodwill. But since I've been flexing my thrifty muscles lately I decided I could do the one thing I haven't done for years and years, go to a second hand store and find some on the cheap. So I visited a thrift shop (yep I did) and got this stuff to make one for myself for under $10.00. Originally it was supposed to have two ruffles, the cream and the pink, but my machine didn't like the cream knit and I honestly didn't feel like fighting with it anymore than necessary so I decided pink was just as good!

Here's the final project. Unique and fun and it has Ruffles!!

Home Decor on the Cheap!

So this is my new wall decor. Total cost? $1.99! The frame came from a thrift shop and I printed the butterfly on the page from my printer...stuck a few odds and ends on the page and Ta-da!! A great framed piece of art for almost nothing!

The Fourth of July

 This year we decided to go the Monument 4th of July parade...it's hot and long but I don't think the 4th is right without a parade.

 Gotta love the Shriner cars!

 The King and Queen from the Colorado Renaissance festival. Imagine marching through a parade in 40 lbs of velvet!

 The knights from the festival!

 And and elephant too! Very cool!

And a pink car is awesome!

My battery on my camera died after this but it was fun! I love parades and I love that my birthday is on the 4th of July!!

My Progress

So on the 1st and 2nd I went shopping for two weeks worth of groceries (we have milk delivered so I don't have to worry about going back mid week) and with about an hour's worth of planning and coupon clipping I was able to get our groceries for under $200 and saved a total of $122.92! or 61%! Everything I bought was something that we will use for meals in these two weeks and something that we would most likely have bought without a coupon. I was so happy with one of my shopping trips that I had to call my mom to let her know...she's good at humoring me! Every little bit I save means more money to play with later! YAY!

Pammy Lou's Visit!

 Two weeks ago I was invited by Lynn LeMieux (another dance teacher and TCRG at our dance school) to sing at the Breckenridge Celtic Festival. I've sung Irish songs during music competitions at a feis, but singing into a microphone over loud speakers is an entirely different thing. I was really nervous and forgot the lyrics to my songs a few times and just wanted to hide after a while.

 Jeffrey still likes to cuddle with me. It's my favorite thing ever!

 Our impromptu singing group.

 The dancers who performed after us.

 Jeffrey couldn't decide what he wanted to have painted on his face, so daddy came up with the idea of having them paint Thomas on his hand. I thought it looked a little bit like a bottle with a smiley face on it.

 Me and my cute sister! So yes, I have braces and went with a much darker hair color. Now you all know!

 Enjoying lunch in Breckenridge.

 My cute Cory.

Jeffrey and Aunt Pammy in Garden of the Gods.

A Change in the Blog...

So as of July First our blog is actually titled, the Sergeant First Class, the Dancer and the Bean. Cory earned his promotion and got the title SFC MacNeil on July First. I'm very proud of him, he's an amazingly hard worker and deserves this promotion!