Another Filofax Saturday!

The last couple of days have kind of been nutso for me.  Too busy to sit down and blog...  So, while I've got a few minutes before anyone else gets up... Here's my week!

Saturday & Sunday.  I didn't do any stickers, but I love the polka dot washi!

Monday & Tuesday.  Monday was Memorial day, so I went with a Patriotic theme.

Wednesday & Thursday.  I love the Ladybugs!

And Friday and TODAY!   I LOVE THE MUSTACHES!!

I made a trip to Hobby Lobby yesterday and found a ton more cute stickers and washi!  Stay tuned on Monday for pictures of another headpiece I'm making!  Have a fabulous weekend!

Make Something Monday

Here's a couple of projects that I finished last week.  The hats, bow ties, and hair bows are for a dance recital.  I love how they turned out!  The hair bows will most likely have rhinestones attached to them.  The kids that will be wearing these are between the ages of 4 and 6, so it will be absolutely adorable!

And this is another shirt refashion that I did.  I started with one of my husband's old T-shirts and a vintage doily.  I used my Cricut to cut a fleur de lis to use as a template, then cut it out of the shirt.

I pinned and pinned, and then sewed the doily in place.

Not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.  Pretty cute, if I say so myself!  I also made a pocket out of another doily and added it to the front.  But... I put it too far to the left, so I need to fix that.

Filofax Friday

Sorry that I didn't post my Thankful Thursday post yesterday.  My phone died, which is how I post all of my pictures, and it was just impossible to get to it... Look for a double dose next Thursday.

Here's my week!  You'll notice a lot more sticky notes.  I've taken a cue from Jennifer from http://www.mypurpleylife.com and started putting a fly leaf in between my current pages.  This way I can stick notes or whatever I'd like to it and still see the day that I'm on.  After the day is over, I transfer my notes to the corresponding page.  I'm loving how it works!

Sunday & Monday

Tuesday & Wednesday

Aren't those Peacock stickers awesome?  They're from Sticker King.

Thursday & Friday

Here you can see the fly leaf in between my pages.  This is really working well for me.  I've been writing down inspiring Scriptures or quotes every day  and it's really helping me stay positive throughout the day.

Is there a system that you use to help you keep your chin up during the day?  I'd love to hear about it! Leave me a comment!

Tip Tuesday: My favorite cleaning tips!

I've got a few of my favorite cleaning tips (or shortcuts) to share with you today.

I hate to clean.  I loathe it.  But, it's one of those things that must be done, so I do it.  I have a cleaning schedule that I do my best to keep up on, and it really helps.  I have several Pinterest recipes for cleaners that I've made, and they're all tried and true.  The only cleaning solution that I buy from the store any more is Windex.  I'm not sure how much I actually save making my own, but I know it's a lot.

Here goes: 

You know I make my own laundry detergent.  Here's the link to that post:http://envoguepogue.blogspot.com/2013/12/laundry-bombs_31.html

And my dishwasher detergent: http://envoguepogue.blogspot.com/2014/02/tip-tuesday-homemade-dishwasher-soap.html

I use Windex for my glass (of course) but thanks to Pinterest, I've found a new and amazing way to use it.  My dining chairs are upholstered with microseude.  Having three little ones, they get really dirty really quickly.  I've found the best way to clean them is with Windex!  Just spray some on, and use a scrub brush to wipe the grime off.  It's awesome!  Here's the link:http://makingtheworldcuter.com/2013/03/clean-microfiber-the-easy-way/

I've also been making my own Swiffer solution!  I bought some microfiber cloths from the dollar store, and cut them to fit my Swiffer.  They're machine washable, so no more wasting money on Swiffer pads!  And here's the link to remove the top off the Swiffer solution bottle.   http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-the-cap-on-a-Swiffer-Wet-Jet-cleaner/

For the cleaning solution, I used equal parts vinegar and hot water, and about 20 drops of lemon essential oil.  It works every bit as well as the original solution!

My last tip is Liquid Magic Eraser.  Having kids around means dirty walls... Well, it means dirty everything.  But I came across this recipe, and it's AWESOME!  http://onetalentedmom.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/liquid-magic-eraser-homemade/

I've found that vinegar is one of my favorite things.  I love that it works so well, and it's inexpensive and it's not a chemical.  It's fabric softener, it's floor cleaner, it's great in the dishwasher as a rinse agent, it's just plain amazing!

I hope this post helped you!  These are simple recipes that take basically no time to put together, they save money, and they WORK!  Have a great Tuesday!

Filofax Friday

My in-laws just left.  We really had a good time for the couple of days they were here.  All in all, this has been a great week!  I didn't do much decorating, though, because it was pretty busy,

with the exception of Saturday and Sunday.  I had a fairly relaxed Mother's Day.

Monday and Tuesday: Butterflies and Flowers.  The washi is Martha Stewart, and the stickers are from Sticker King.

Little Chicks.  I love these!

And today and tomorrow.  I've got a couple of pretty busy days here, so I didn't want to over decorate.  My schedule isn't filled in completely  yet, but by the end of the day, it'll be pretty full.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Thankful Thursday: Week 20

We have company right now, and I absolutely love having them here.  My Mother-in-Law, my sisters-in-law, my brother-in-law, and my niece and nephew are visiting for a couple of days.  

1.  I'm really thankful for the way my inlaws raised my husband.  He helps so much around the house.

2.  Good deals.

I got this sticker maker for $1.98!  

 3.  Vinegar.  I use vinegar in almost all the cleaning products that I make.  It's awesome stuff.

4.  God's Promises.

5.  Days off of school.  We let our boys stay home from school so they could play with their cousins today.

6.  Donuts.

7.  Stickers

8.  Visits from family.

9.  My super star!

I'm so proud of you, Jay!

10.  Flowers

11.  Bug habitats.  Jay and some of his buddies made a habitat for some pill bugs.  They even named them.

12.  Dollar Store finds

13.  Paper cutters.

14.  Bubble refill station.

This is full of bubble solution.  That way when the kids run out, they can just fill back up!

15. Possible overtime for my husband.  Though I hate the time spent apart, overtime definitely helps the paycheck!

16.  Mozart

17.  The smell of old books.

18.  Time spent together.

19.  Cleaning

I convinced Haven to play "maid" with me.

20.  Cinderella.

The game lasted all of 5 minutes.  She transferred into a princess. :D

Filofax Friday

It's been a fairly productive week.  I rearranged my office/craft room, and have all my Filofax/planning supplies on one side of the room, and all my sewing supplies and fabric on the other.  I'm loving my new setup so far.

Here's a view of my some of my paper crafting supplies that are stored on a shelf beside my desk.

On to this week's pages:

Sunday and Monday I didn't decorate.  Can you believe it?  And my pages just look stark.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Cats. I love these stickers.  They're so cute. 

And Thursday and Friday.  My boys have a baseball game this evening, and they're very excited about it because they get to play under the lights.  They're in Coach Pitch, so something like a lit-up field is very exciting when you're 6 and 7 years old.  It's going to be fun one to watch!

To finish things up, I thought I'd show you where I do my planning and decorating:

Have an absolutely amazing weekend!

Thankful Thursday, Week 19

Wow.  I'm feeling so blessed right now!  This has been a good week!

1.  That I feel better than I did yesterday.
2.  Hard lessons learned.
3.  Buses on time... This morning there was a mysterious school bus that flew by our house just a few minutes before my kids normally leave for school.  I thought it was their bus, so I rushed them out the door, but it was too late.  I thought I was going to need to take them to school, so we all loaded up in the van, but their normal bus came by, on time so I didn't need to worry about that.
4.  Music that inspires and motivates.  I have a VERY clean house because of music...  And it will probably be destroyed by the end of this post. :)
5.  Clean rooms.  Here's a glance of some shelves in my office/craft room.  I love how everything has its place.

6.  My chair.  I have a ergonomic chair with lumbar support because I have sciatica.  It sure helps!

7.  My space.  I love my office/ craft room/ mom cave.  It's my favorite.

8.  Productive days

9.  Ear buds

10.  The way that a clean kitchen makes me feel.  As long as my kitchen is clean, the rest of my house could be a disaster, and I'd still be semi-okay with it.

11.  Finding new things about old friends.

12.  A job well done.

13.  Favorite movies

14.  Tacos.  I love tacos.

15.  The Asher-man's ornery grin.

16.  Haven fixing her own hair.

17.  Jay's non-stop energy.

18.  That our hallway is circular.  My kids are always running "laps."

19.  This HUGE blessing.  One of my good friends' mother was cleaning out her sewing space.  She gave me a TON of stuff!

20.  Vintage fabrics and spools.  And buttons.  And patterns.  And books.  And Macrame.  Yes, Macrame.  I don't know what I'm going to do with the macrame, but I'll think of something. :D

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Make Something Monday: Mother's Day Gift

Mom, if you're reading, STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!  (Just kidding, go ahead and read, it just won't be a surprise.)
My mom loves to knit.  So, for Mother's Day, I decided to put together a knitting bag for her.  This was so much fun, and I'm really happy with how it turned out!  If I was a knitter, I would want this bag.

The fabrics that I used were repurposed.  They were once an old sheet and a duvet cover.  They made a gorgeous tote!

 The first thing I did was embroider this cute saying on the sheet.  I love the balls of yarn and knitting needles at the top!

I appliqued the saying onto the front of the tote, and then covered it with some ribbon.

Here's the straps coming together.  I just sewed the strips down the center then pressed them in half again and sewed a finishing stitch down both sides.

The finger?  Battle wound.  I was attacked by my embroidery machine while working on the saying above...

I pinned the straps to the bag and made sure that both sides would line up.

I like the sew the straps on by stitching a square first, and then do an "X" in the middle.

I LOVE MY SERGER!  I serged all the edges together and turned the bag right side out.

Isn't it cute?  

I added a little bit of bling, and there it is!  The perfect knitting bag.  I LOVE IT!  And I hope my mom will, too

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  Love ya!

Oh, and Mom, Jim's contribution is embroidered on the inside of the bag... :D

Filofax Friday, and a look at the Month of May

Phew!  It's Friday.  I'm so glad it's Friday.  Here's the last week's pages:

Musical notes.  These are so cute.  I love that they have hair and some are wearing hats.

I had a lot to do at the beginning of the week... Lots on those To Do lists!

I got to go out with some of my best girls Wednesday night, so I decorated accordingly. :)

Today is one of my Sister-in-Law's birthdays.  She has a thing for whales.

PARIS!  Not that I'm going there anytime soon.  I can dream, though, right?

This month is only going to get busier.  It's already looking crazy, and it's only the 2nd!  I love the Paris theme, though.  It makes me smile.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Mine is filled with baseball and birthday parties!  

Thankful Thursday: Week 18

I just opened my office window at 8 AM to feel the fresh air and listen to the birds chirping.  I absolutely LOVE spring.  I love the morning air!

1.  The 80 degree weather we've been having.
2.  Haven dressing up my dress form.

This was only the beginning.  When she was done, there was also an apron and a tutu on it.  It was fabulous.

3.  Etsy.  I'm thankful to have a place outside the boutique to sell the things I make.

4.  Learning to make new things.  I love to challenge myself.  The dress that I recently made was just that: a huge challenge.  There was no pattern, and  I completely underestimated how much brain power it would take for me to put the dress together.

5.  Busy weekends.

6.  Nights out with the girls.

7.  Special days to remember things from the past.

8.  Gorgeous fabrics.

9.  That I have things to give to others.

10.  That it's May FIRST!

11.  My best friend ~ My husband.

12.  manicures.

13.  Good advice from those more experienced than I.

14.  Pinterest tutorials.

15.  Drunken donuts.  One of our local restaurants serve these, and they are A-mazing!

16.  Dark chocolate Hershey kisses.

17.  Friends' good ideas.

18.  Rainbows.

This kind.  Made by my oldest son.

19.  Rushed mornings.

20.  Praising in the storm.  This picture spoke so much to me:... And now I can't find it. :(  It was a picture of some of the devastation from the recent midwest tornadoes that had a sign laying on top of the wreckage with the words, "I will praise You in this storm." written on it in red spray paint.  It just was encouraging to me that someone who had possibly lost so  much would still look up and praise.  Just so cool...  I hope my attitude reflects the same thing.

Have a fabulous Thursday!