baking & sewing...

so i don't have to work at my "real" job this weekend, so i have BIG plans to bake some yummy treats and get some sewing projects done!

list of things i want to bake:
zwiebach
raisin schnatka
banana bread (need to use up all the frozen bananas in my freezer!)
oatmeal muffins
(yikes this list got long! at least i can sew/embroider while these things are raising and baking!)

i also want to make strawberry freezer jam to go with the yummy zwiebach.

these are zwiebach, not mine, but i googled them and found this picture. i found them on another old blog and it inspired me to do some more blogs on my traditional mennonite food that i've grown up with. more to come on that later!

list of things i need to sew:
2 baby shower presents! (these are actually a paid order!)
i bought fabric to make a purse for myself, so we'll see if i get to that, not a necessity!

my craft space redo

i did this several months ago, but am still totally impressed with the huge transformation and amount of use i get out of this space! i've actually started a small business making face warmers and this is where i sew them all.

before.

 after.

wow. so i have a new sewing machine now too, a brother 6800 sewing/embroidery machine that i absolutely LOVE! that is my vintage singer i bought at the local thrift store. i had everything in this space except for the black clip on lamp and the pink paint! i was planning on having to install some sort of desk top in here, but the desk i already had fit perfectly! i used old trim from a door we replaced to make narrow shelves on each side of the closet (you can't see them)

and after again! 

i am always making changes, i've added the awesome spool holder, 

changed out the green/pink paper in the frames and put in some

black & white checkered fabric (my favorite) and

my AWESOME brother sewing/embroidery machine!

LOVE IT!

home organization challenge!

sometimes i get in a cleaning mode and i need to jump at these chances and get stuff organized! so trying to follow "bowl full of lemons" suggestions on her 21 day home organization challenge, i did like 6 days in one evening:) i did a few more this morning. i also took care of a few challenges last month that i'll include pictures of as well!

this is the before of my household/random stuff cabinet. we don't have a garage so this stuff we need to keep in the house somewhere.

and this is the after!! it makes my life so much easier to have it organized. i know right where everything is and stuff doesn't fall out when i open the doors.

this next cabinet is my household cleaners and laundry cabinet, before.

and after!

i forgot to take a before picture of underneath my sink, but it was BAD. these 3 cabinets i did one evening before some house guests showed up. little bear is checking it out, he's not used to it looking this clean!

then last night i started with my junk drawers. before.

and after!

before.

and after.

and then i cleared off my desktop, which wasn't that bad, it's been worse.

and after. i have to keep this cleaned off or when i'm sewing stuff gets shoved everywhere!

my sheets and dresser drawers weren't that bad, the pictures are boring, so i won't include them. my biggest challenge was the catch-all place in the kitchen where stuff is shoved when i'm cleaning off the dining table. before.

scary!!! and the cleared out stage....

 and the after!! i have a shelf for my husband, he complains he doesn't have an office or drawers in our house, so i gave him one shelf:) the next shelf has paper for quick notes and some notepads. the next shelf has my handy dandy recipe and home management binders and the bottom bin has hand warmers (we live in CO, you gotta have a stash of those somewhere!) and my coupon books.

ooh this cabinet was a drastic change too. the dreaded tupperware cabinet! i would normally just shove stuff in there and close the door and hope it doesn't fall out, yikes, that's becoming a trend in my house. not good! hopefully with everything organized it will stop! before.

and the after that i LOVE and just want to look at all day long!

yeah! i love my pink bins i got at target for $2.50!!

and then i have my binders! this is my recipe binder, i actually started it last week when i realized i had a huge stack of online recipes printed out and wanted to organize them in some way. so i started with a boring black binder and today i made it pretty with the downloadables off "bowl full of lemons" blog! before.

and after, my pretty recipe binder!

so that's all for now. i need to get to the store and buy some groceries and then maybe i'll tackle my pantry!

project - baby blanket & pillow

so now that this gift has been given, it's safe to post on here:) this is my first ever baby blanket i've made! it's super soft, hannah's going to LOVE it! 

day one.

i was having a hard time deciding if i should do a blog related to me personally or with my fun, crafty business/hobby. i think it's going to be a mixture, since the things i enjoy reading about are typically related to my crafty hobby, it all intermingles. the main purpose of creating this was so i could follow other bloggers that i've been reading. 


sidenote-i think our house might blow away, it's blizzarding outside and i think the snow will end up in wyoming instead of landing here in granby, co. whew!


since i'm new to all of this blogging stuff, i'll learn as i go i'm sure. i want to post pictures of projects i'm working on or have completed and since i have a lot of pregnant friends, there will probably be several baby related projects coming up! and i also love reading about home organization/decorating and i've been inspired by the blog, "bowl full of lemons!" 


so i think that's all for now, i gotta stop wasting time on here and actually go work on some projects!