Autumn, 2012

Small Town America

MULE DAYS!

Making A Pleated Fall Purse

I love pink and brown together in the Fall. Saturday I worked on my new Fall pocketbook, featuring those colors. I just can't seem to call it a purse, even though that's what the title of this post says!



When making a pocketbook with two pieces of fabric, adding a couple of pleats on each side of the bag add a little special touch to it. All you do is fold over 2 small pleats 4 inches from each side of the bottom portion and pin. You can see my basic pocketbook tutorials, all 5 parts, on my side bar under Tutorials.



Pin the upper fabric and pin some more.



Sew the seam.



Then continue on with layering the outside bag pieces with quilt batting which will look like this.



Pictures of making the handles.




I want to make a matching key fob this week.

Gift Ideas - Personality Bookmarks

I got the inspiration for these bookmarks on the Prudent Homemaker Blog HERE.

This idea appealed to me because I felt like it was a very personal gift and cost very little.

I've heard that the sound of one's own name is a beautiful thing. So I thought having your name on a bookmark with lots of nice and interesting things about you would be nice.



I used different fonts on the computer I use at work. Can you believe I still use Word Perfect 6 and not Word! I still like it, even though its out of date and eventually won't work any more. Anyway, you can use fonts from any word processing program.



I already had a package of card stock from several years ago.



I bought a roll of transparent shelf liner to cover them with. I also borrowed a paper cutter from work and used a hole puncher I had for the hole.



The tassels are made from embroidering thread.

These are just a small gift I plan to include in some Christmas gifts this year. They could even be used as a gift tag.

*****Personal Notes

Mama is back in the hospital and has been there for a week. She has had a mild case of pneumonia for a while that had been treated with antibiotics in the nursing home. But, it was getting worse, so they transferred her to the hospital to get an antibiotic through an IV. She is slightly better, but not able to return to the nursing home yet.

Making the personality book marks got me to thinking: What would people put on a bookmark about me? I hope that I live my life in a way that it would be good things! I hope they wouldn't put things like: irritable, procrastinates, lazy, hateful, etc. LOL Of course, when I was brain storming for ideas to go on the ones I made, I avoided any undesirable personality traits that came to mind. But, everybody has some!

What would go on your bookmark this morning?

Shabby, Chippy, Bench

One of my favorite things are benches. The Funky Junk Gallery that just opened on my lunch time walking route has several, ranging from $125.00 and down...

Well, I should name this one "cheap thrills". Cause I would never pay $125.00 for a bench.

But, no matter what the price... I love it!



It makes a great plant table.



I may use it in the guest bedroom that has been vacated by my stepson, who graduated from college recently and is moving on with his life.



A shabby chic bedroom filled with odds and ends in a cottagy/farmhouse theme is my plan.



I hope you have a nice day. :o)

The Fabric Fairy has been again...

A friend and former coworker, whose brother in law owns a furniture store/interior decorating business, brought me a load of these fabric samples/swatches.



Some of them are the exact size I need for the hospital bed pouches from yesterday's post. Two of the color coordinated pieces would look nice, one for the outside and one for the inside.



They are color coordinated.



I wasn't sure what to do with them at first. But ideas keep rolling around in my head.

The pros:

They are color coordinated..
The fabric content is listed on the back of each..
They are all in books with a rope handle on top to carry them around with..
The fabrics are very sturdy...
Most of the fabrics are gorgeous...
Some are treated with Scotchguard, so great for pillows, totebags, etc.


The cons:

There's only one piece of each fabric...
Some of them are pretty small...
There is a paper sticker on the back that must be removed...
Where am I going to store all this?!!!
Most of the fabrics would not be suitable for quilting, but a few are.

It will be interesting to see what kinds of items I can come up with to use these new sources of fabric! I will be posting them in the future.

Hospital Bed Pouch

My mother is completely bed bound these days, except for being transported to dialysis. Its so hard for her to keep up with her things. Its a pain to try to call and know the reason she doesn't answer is because she can't reach the phone.

So, I made this little pouch with velcro tabs that will hang on her "halo" bed rail. The pocket in the front can hold prayer cards, church bulletins, etc. The bigger pouch will hold her glasses, remote control, cordless phone, a tiny pair of blunt end scissors and a very small flashlight.



She only has use of her right hand, so I put it on the left side of the bed so she can reach over to get items from the pouch.

This one was a trial and error pouch. I have ideas for a better one and have just the right fabric in mind. I don't have time today to show you, but tomorrow I have some interesting fabric sources to show you!

My Home In Fall

Early Saturday morning I put out my few fall things.

At the back door:



The place a drop my keys each day:



A fall garland on the fireplace:



On the china cabinet:



The corner cabinet in the dining room:



Some pumpkins. Some are real, some are fake. Can you tell the difference?



A pumpkin spice candle sitting on the Bible verse table topper I received in a swap a few years back.



One of my favorite Bible verses:



I found these wooden trays on clearance in the summer for $1.29 each. Since I love Fall so much, I bought 4! When using them in other seasons I can just cover the bottom.



The front door:



The new small wreath I bought, which is on the glass door in the dining room:



I spent very little money doing my Fall decorating. Most of it was in my Fall box and I just reuse it every year.

Now I am ready for the weather to begin acting like Fall!