What to do with a busted beach ball.

***** It has come to my attention that this post has somehow been added to a bloglist for adults - if you know what I mean - this is a FAMILY FRIENDLY blog. If you are looking for anything except a craft tutorial you will be very disapponted.*****

Okay, first of all, this tutorial is waaay out there. Even for me.

It was a fly-by- the seat-of-my-pants project. I had two 10 year old girls at my house, and they had played with Lilly all morning. (freeing me up to do other things)

I owed them one.

They wanted to paint something. I've been down that road before, and know that 5 kids+paint=headache.

So we settled for making something for their grandma. (They call her Ma-Mu. I have no idea if that's spelled right).



Here is the busted beach ball that was in my garage waiting for a patch it was probably never going to receive.



I cut 2 sections of the beach ball into strips, then sewed the short ends together.

Next, I ran a basting stitch up the center of each strip (longways), and pulled it to make a ruffle.

Note: Sewing machines do not like beach ball plastic.
I know you could do this with fabric, but I was thinking of the entire finished product being waterproof.

I sewed the ruffle (right sides together) on tothe cuff of a pair of dishwashing gloves.



These gloves were a size small, and surprisingly tight.

I happen to know that Ma-Mu recently lost over 60 pounds, so her new, skinnier arms should slide right in to her new gloves.


Hopefully, this post didn't scare you off, and you will come back again. My next post won't be a prom dress out of a slip-n-slide. (But that could be cute, right?)



LittlebitsDesigns.com

Cheap organizers, and.......groceries. Again.

I love to organize. That's not to say I always stay organized - but I love to at least try. It soothes my OCD :)
I needed to have a place to store random things like travel maps and user manuals from a million different appliances and toys, and I have this need to put everything into a box, or container. I can remember being in high school, visiting my sister in her college dorm. I would reorganize all her stuff into containers. It drove her nuts.
I looked at magazine files, they were perfect for the shelf, but they were too expensive. About $8 each at Target, and I needed 18. So, I improvised.



I went to Office Max and bought 6 - 3 packs of cardboard magazine files. Stylish they were not.

I picked up a roll of brown kraft paper from the shipping aisle as well. I sprayed the files with spray adhesive, and basically wrapped them like a gift in the brown paper.



I trimmed the edges, tucked them over, and glued them. I just taped the seams on the bottm.





Before putting them on the shelf, I had to label them. What kind of organizing freak would I be if I didn't??
The paper labels wrapped around the edges of the box make a nice 'stripe' when they are all lined up on the shelf. The whole project cost about $30.
I realize this is not a Martha Stewart caliber project, but I don't have a Martha Stewart caliber budget. In other words, it'll do.




Now. Groceries.

I am ONLY doing this because so many have asked me to. This is only my trip to Publix. I also made a trip to Kroger this week, spending $45 on meat, produce, coffee, and a few stock up items, like 20 boxes of dishwasher tablets.

Yes. 20.



Here's the list:
2 6packs Trix yogurt (has HFCS in it, which doesn't thrill me, but hey,it's 4 oz.)
6 32 oz. cartons chicken broth - I cook w/this all the time
4 1 lb. pkgs bacon - will freeze
5 boxes Ritz Crackerfuls
2 boxes Special K Granola
2 tubs French Onion dip
3 Knox gelatin
2 Glass Plus
2 French's Mustard
3 Ravioli (packs in thermos for lunches)
1 Sabra Hummus
Organic Broccoli
Organic Romaine hearts
I already had the 10 year old boy
Total Before Tax $3.11

And, here's the receipt to prove I am telling the truth.


One last picture. My sister gave may daughter a bag full of hair "stuff". Clips, barrettes, etc. (May I add, all these things were in a container, so HA! I rubbed off on her.)

She let the boys 'give her a hair-do.'



Big mistake. I think the picture makes it clear she was not thrilled with the results.



www.LittlebitsDesigns.com