sneak peeks

We have had a busy weekend and I am sad to see it come to an end. You know when all your projects and ideas come together without a whole lot of mess in between? That is how it has been for the past couple of days.

Our community hosts an annual celebration called Summerfest. Three whole days of activities and things to get out as a family and enjoy. We attended the 2-hour parade and the kids came home with more candy than they did on Halloween. The afternoon was spent with Dave taking the kiddos to the carnival while I stayed home and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Well, the peace at least. I cranked up some tunes and laid carpet tiles in Madison's room.

Speaking of: Here is a sneak peek at the new flooring (story to follow later) and the painted walls. Only two of the walls are green, the other two are white. Oh, and the trim still needs to be done. And the electrical. Sheeeeeeesh

Today was spent doing yard work, running errands with Dave while Mads watched the younger ones, and some time with the sewing machine.

Sneak peek at the 'photo booth' for Ellie's party THIS Thursday!

I pieced together 7" strips of purple and blue fabric and backed it with a plain white cloth. I placed it up on our swing set's platform with double sided tape. Ellie posed so I could get a feel for how well it would work. ::check:: Another thing off my to-do list.

Snack Pouches

Sandwich Wraps

And the last sneak peek of the day is of my snack pouches and sandwich wraps. Last year the girls used SO many plastic bags for their school lunches. I'm not 'crunchy granola', but I did hate seeing all of those plastic bags being used once and then thrown away. My solution involved the sewing machine, fabric, Velcro and rip-stop nylon (flag/parachute material). Machine wash and air dry, of course.

The pouches are a cotton fabric on the outside and a water-resistant (ie, will not hold pickle slices without soaking through ........ okay, Madison?) nylon for the lining. A couple of pieces of Velcro and it is good to go. I plan to improve on these by using a zipper instead of the Velcro. Some of the snacks left messy crumbs in the hook and loops leaving them less effective at staying closed.

Next up are the sandwich wraps. One side cotton fabric and the inside lined with nylon; secured with Velcro tabs. I intended them to be dual use ........ as a wrap for a sandwich (duh) and a place mat. The theory was spot on, but the practical use not so much. The wrap is not air tight, so the bread staled. Also, if you wanted a sandwich with lots of condiments; it got messy pretty fast. I think for the next round I will just make a bigger 'snack pouch' with a zipper closure.

To round out the weekend, we are taking the kids to go and see the Summerfest Fireworks. At 10pm. On a Sunday. Hhhhmmm. What a way to take advantage of the WHOLE weekend!