Life at a "Swell's" pace

From an old t-shirt to a bag

My son quickly outgrows his clothes like he is the Incredible Hulk each year. Along with outgrowing clothes comes the moment that he outgrows his favorite clothes. I've seen the posts on making adult t-shirts into reusable bags, but wasn't sure how well it would work for a child's t-shirt. The Bean not wanting to let go of his favorite Star Wars shirt, I decided to give it a try. It was a hit!

All I simply did was turn the shirt inside out and cut a larger opening in the neck, but it can be left "as is" depending on what your child, or you, carry inside. I then cut off the sleeves and followed the stitching of the sleeve to keep it in from fraying later. I then did a simple straight stitch three times along the bottom of the shirt, which will become the bottom of your bag. And that was it! Really a simple task, even if you're new to sewing.

I plan on making a pocket inside the bag with the leftover sleeves, so that my son can carry small items and not have them get lost in the bottom of the bag.

He was so glad to still have his favorite shirt close, but be able to repurpose it in a new way. I was glad to be able to give him that. He has already used it to carry home books from the library and for his small items he likes to carry from day-to-day. He will really put it to the test on our big trip coming up in May.

Have you ever made a t-shirt into a bag, or anything else? Let me know in the comments! I'd love to hear all of the ways a t-shirt can be repurposed.

What happened this time last year?

Five Simple Things (April 9)

Well, it's Saturday night and here I sit posting about the past week. It was sunny all week and I was saying the praises to the sun gods for letting the rain disappear and let us soak up the warm rays of the long lost sun here in the valley. The Bean and I rode our bikes on Tuesday, 16 miles from our house to where the Mr. works. It was a bit of a struggle, but I am so glad we did it. Then on Thursday, The Bean and I walked about 12 blocks to the local farm supply store to get two large bags of potting soil. We took the little, red wagon and loaded it right up, and pulled it all the way home. On Friday, The Mr., the Bean, and I rode our bikes again to the grocery store and grabbed a few small items. My rear was still sore from our 16 mile ride, but I sucked it up and did it anyway. We grabbed a few bike-essentials, too and I will be sharing those on next week's post. Fingers are crossed that we can still get in some walking and biking before the rain comes at us again. I hope we are completely out of our rainy weather because I am screaming, "BRING ON THE SUN!" Here are the things that made this week great!

1. This Picture

I've been going through, cleaning, airing out, and minimizing our camping equipment this week. I started last weekend and it's all coming together nicely. In the process, I've gotten a grasp on the bug-out bags, too. I enjoy this picture above because it's the perfect camping setup and I just love it. I would love to have this as a permanent setup in our yard. How fun would that be? Hopefully, we can fit in a lot of camping trips this year.

2. This Impromptu Road Trip

We took an impromptu road trip to see this area of the Valley. It's a stretch of road that used to be part of the pass through the Cascade Mountains. You can read this sign to learn more about it. You can read more about Felix Scott here and see where it is on the map of Oregon here.

3. This Ending

Well, it's come to an end and I am pretty bummed about it. I loved some of the story lines of Downton Abbey so much and I'm going to miss it as my go-to program. The Mr. bought me the sixth season on DVD, but I don't own the other seasons and I'm in the process of slowly adding them to my collection. The PBS Shop is a great way for me to grab up some of the teas, too. I've purchased all of the flavors, but I'd like to have more on hand to drink when they stop selling them. I prefer to purchase them through the PBS shop since it helps keep shows like this coming to us in the United States. Check out the Downton Abbey teas here. (Mrs. Patmores' Pudding Tea is my favorite)

4. This Error

We've cut the cord on cable. We don't currently have cable or internet at the moment and I am literally posting this blog post via a wifi-hotspot. We've wanted to break with the cable company here for awhile and we finally did it. When our bill reached over $400 we said, "enough!" We aren't sure what method to go with for internet just yet, but we are thinking possibly keeping our internet and landline and just breaking clean of the cable service. One of the TV options out there is Amazon Fire TV and it seems to be perfect for the amount of television we watch, which isn't much from spring until early winter.

5. These Calendar Pages

First Page Second Page

I was having the hardest time finding a one-month, two-page calendar setup for a three-ring binder that was free to print, so I made my own. If you are a three-ring binder calendar user that has a setup for a one-month, two page layout like the ones above, you are more than welcome to use my clip art and print your own. I have a home management binder similar to this one:

I've left them blank, but I have thought about going back in and putting the month and dates in each month, but that will come later. For now, you can print the blank pages here. The space on the sides (right-hand-side on the first page, and left-hand-side on the second page) is for punching holes in the side to add them to your binder. You can write the month at the top and fill in the days as they fall on that month. These will evolve slowly over time, so stay tuned for that. I'm a huge calendar/planner user and I've wanted to do something like this for awhile. I am just glad I finally sat down and started. Enjoy my calendars!

Have a wonderful weekend.

What happened this time last year?

Five simple things

Well, it's the day after April Fool's Day and I'm pretty pumped about this weekend. The sun is going to be shining each day and it means a lot of outside time. We took a walk at Silver Creek Falls in Silverton, Oregon, yesterday. (Those photos soon) It was such a nice stroll, and I was sad to leave. We've been spending less time in front of a screen lately and more time together and outside. I think it's been a great way for us all to appreciate things and each other more. With that said, here are the things that made this week awesome.

1. This Quote

A lot of of people don't seem to get this. The old saying still stands true: "Actions speak louder than words."

2. This Room.

Isn't it awful? Needless to say, it doesn't quite look like this anymore. Stay tuned next week to see what it looks like now.

3. This Soap

We haven't used it yet, but I'm pretty excited to get it wet. It's a bar that came in one of my Yogi Surprise boxes and I am totally anxious to use it. We are still on a new bar, so it will just have to wait its turn. You can check out this brand of soap here.

4. These Necklaces

Lots of great ones over at Love Bus Jewelry. Most of them are only $12 and with code FREESHIP, you can get your shipping cost paid for. Check them all out here.

5. This Clip Art

Did you get it already? It's perfect for spring, so grab it up and post it on your inspiration board. You can snag it here and if you haven't seen the cherry blossoms from our backyard, please take a moment and check them out. They are beautiful!

And not to mention, The Bean's Easter basket surprise.

The Bean got a lot of great Easter treats this year and even though he is 12-years-old he still enjoys his baskets the bunny brings.

The Easter bunny brought him some healthy goodies along with his candy this year. The "Bunny" wants him to not fill up on all sugar, but a few candies are needed for the basket, even so.

Hope your Easter celebration was as wonderful as ours was!

Extras:

Along with my Downton Abbey obsession, one of these hanging in my kitchen would be great.
Any place near you that's haunted?
This Etsy shop I am swooning over.
Looking for the perfect slab of marble to go on our kitchen counter tops.
Doesn't this look delicious?
Golf lessons in the works at our house.
deltec Homes. Looking for options.
Rustic planters.
1859 Magazine.
Her winter rituals make me want to make my own list and kick the winter blues.

Other stuff I've written.

If you're spring cleaning your home right now, make it a little greener.
Get ready to compost.

What happened this time last year?

Cherry blossoms mean spring is here

Do you see the Mourning Dove?

We are looking forward to a welcome spring here in the Willamette Valley. When the cherry blossom shows its white we know that spring is coming here. The above image with the Frank Lloyd Wright quote is available to download and spring in the clip art shop here.

What happened this time last year?

Time to prank (April Fool's Day)

Oh, how I love to prank the Mr. on April Fool's Day. You would think that after all of these years getting him, he would know to watch out for it, but no, I get him every year.

Last year it was this:

Of course, I changed all of the addresses to reflect our town and added the Mr.'s name to the violation. I had him going for about 20 minutes. I printed the envelope outside from our own printer and just stuck it in with the mail for the day. It was a great prank and you can snag this download here from Pretty Prudent.

I pulled this fun prank on The Bean in 2013. He was so tired that it took him about five minutes to realize what was happening. It was great!

This year I am going to pull another doozy from Pretty Prudent with the fake IRS audit. We did our taxes this year through TurboTax. We normally go through H & R Block and pay about $200. So this year, we saved that money and filed for free through TurboTax. I've been hinting around a few times to the Mr. that I've seen people say online that they are getting audited. Which, of course, is a complete fabrication. TurboTax is easy to use and free to file through federal and state taxes. It took us about an hour to enter in all of our information and it took about a week to get our tax return check. I highly recommend them, if you have the time to sit and do them yourself. Anyway, onto the prank......

I was wondering how to do the envelop and I think I'm going to do the same as before and just add it to the mail for the day. Of course, just like the parking ticket prank I've changed the names and locations to reflect our town. I can't wait to watch him flip out. The Bean has been searching Pinterest too for his prefect prank to pull on the Mr. I am teaching him well!

If you are in search of some quick, no painful April Fool's pranks here are some fun ones.

1. Veggies instead of donuts in a Krispy Kreme box.

2. Blood-colored body wash in a drip bag.

3. Rubber bands and other items for April Fool's gifts.

4. Donuts seeds (printable).

5. Bugs in the lunch.

6. Smashed face in a cell phone contact.

7. Spilled milk on a laptop keyboard.

8. Police visit through the peephole.

9. Scary dinosaur in a mailbox.

10. Pee hole the size of a peephole on the toilet.

11. Laser mouse covered up with a Post-it Note.

12. Silly pranks to pull on kids.

13. Car Covered in cotton balls.

14. Noise-maker on the back of a door.

15. Blue coloring in the faucet.

16. Animals lined up to use the bathroom.

A few others...........

Lava in a pothole. Fake paper roll.

Brown E's Eyeballs on Everything

Tootsie Roll prank.

This prank was tempting to do, but since we are on a sugar-free diet to kick our habit, it just wouldn't be a good thing to do right now. The Mr. loves Tootsie Rolls and I love Smarties, so the temptation was too great, but it is a good prank otherwise.

........And don't forget to print off 100 of these and place them all over your home. Don't forget cabinets and the toilet lid too!

Download it here.

Hope you have some fun with these ideas. April Fool's Day is a blast in our house and I hope some of these prove to be a blast in your home too. Happy April Fool's Day!

What happened this time last year?

Five simple things

This has been a rainy week. Of course, that's the norm that you'll hear in Oregon right now. We are stuck smack dab in the middle of the rainy season. I had a conversation with my mother-in-law yesterday about Bend and their weather over there. They had just come back from a few days stay over in Bend and she was saying how much she loved the area. The weather in Bend reminds me a lot of Arkansas, but is a bit more dry than Arkansas during the heat of summer. I feel like the rain will never stop sometimes here, but when the heat of the summer heats, we will miss the rain. Here are the things that made this week awesome.

1. This Soap

I opened this soap this week and was reminded of our trip to Pacific City. This soap is the Inn at Cape Kiwanda's guest soap, along with the Aveda line shampoo and conditioner. I used the last of our other soap and got it down to just a tiny sliver. The Bean took a bath and let the last of it dissolve in the water. It is always nice to open a fresh bar and start it's journey to becoming gone.

2. This Tree

The house across the street is vacant and has been for about six months now. It's sad to watch it slowly go downhill each month more and more, but the tree out front would make you think otherwise. We have been told that someone has purchased it and has plans to fix it up and I hope they keep the pretty Ornamental Cherry Tree.

3. This Night Sky

The storms and rain sometimes create the most beautiful skies here in Oregon.

4. These Cherry Blossoms

This tree sits in the field behind our house and the limbs get so heavy with blooms they hang over the fence. When this tree blooms, in my mind, it's the official start of spring. When the wind blows these blooms off the tree it almost looks like snow falling.

5. This Shadow

We've moved things around in our house and the living room is now in the dining room-More on that reveal next week. When the sun sets in the west it shines through the window and creates a wonderful shadow of hidden treasures behind the curtains.

Last Saturday night was Earth Hour and we spent it playing Monopoly with the lights off for an hour. Our Monopoly game actually went on for about four days, too. I won!

Extras:

This looks like something fun to add to the classroom windows.
This mailbox is nice, but I am on a hunt for something more vintage.
I've been listening to Public Radio more. ...and here.
Loving this lamp. I think it's perfect for our new living room setup.
Could this save a trip to the local bulk store? Not sure, but maybe we'll try it once and see.
P. Allen Smith's Easter shop has me swooning everything lately.
Do you meditate?
Another trip to the store saved?
Trees of Oregon.
A disposable option for pads. I love this concept a lot.