Catching Up {again}

Ok, here goes... I've been snapping pictures over the past couple of weeks, but have been behind on getting them posted here on the blog. So, without further ado, the catch up post of Project 365 pictures and quotes.

“As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.”
-Pope John Paul II

“Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible;
and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
-St. Francis of Assisi

“While you are proclaiming peace with your lips,
be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”
-St. Francis of Assisi

"Drops of water, by continually falling,
hone their passage through the hardest of rocks
but the hasty torrent rushes over it with hideous uproar
and leaves no trace behind.”
-Og Mandino

“For it is in giving that we receive.”
-St. Francis of Assisi

“What can you ever really know of other people's souls -
of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles?
One soul in the whole creation you do know:
and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands”
-C.S. Lewis

“Wit is a sword; it is meant to make people feel the point as well as see it.”
-G. K. Chesterton

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted
or take them with gratitude.”
G. K. Chesterton

“There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.”
-G. K. Chesterton

In last ditch effort on behalf of winter to show itself... we got a good amount of snow this past week, along with accruing a couple more snow days to make up. Although I don't think the girls will mind terribly since they got enough of a snow blast to once more take on our wicked sledding hill with gusto. With several days of sledding under our belts, we walked away with only one scraped face and not one broken body. By my standards, that's success.

“Stay home. Have fun. Build a snowman. Go sledding with the kids.”
-Mike Easley

{this picture makes me think of the cold pole in A Christmas Story}

Flick: Are you kidding? Stick my tongue to that stupid pole? That's dumb!
Schwartz: That's 'cause you know it'll stick!
Flick: You're full of it!
Schwartz: Oh yeah?
Flick: Yeah!
Schwartz: Well I double-DOG-dare ya!
Ralphie [narrating] NOW it was serious. A double-dog-dare. What else was there but a "triple dare you"? And then, the coup de grace of all dares, the sinister triple-dog-dare.
Schwartz: I TRIPLE-dog-dare ya!

Refashioned Shirt: Take Two

After my first attempt at refashioning a shirt out of hand-me-downs and outgrown clothes, I decided to head to Ross to look for some cheapie tshirts. Following another tutorial from Tea Rose Home I made a second shirt as a gift for a sweet 16 birthday. The pictures aren't great, but they get the general process. I really liked how this one turned out (and it looked super cute on, too). Happy Sweet 16 Kylie! :)

The finished product.

Cut the down the sides and remove the sleeves from one shirt.
You should end up with two pieces that look something like this.

Cut on the diagonal to make long strips 2.5" wide, do this on both pieces.

Round the edges of each strip.
Cut each strip with a wavy edge on one side. (I didn't get a picture of this step,
but you can see it here on the tutorial I followed.)

Run a straight stitch using a wide stitch down the straight edge of each strip.
Pull one thread to ruffle the strip.

Ruffle all remaining strips.

Using one of the smaller strips, pin and sew it on the collar's left side.

Continue pinning and sewing strips, folding and overlapping them.

Once you near the bottom of the left side, repeat starting from the right side of the collar.
I kept most of my strips toward the left side, overlapping my first set of ruffles.

The finished product. :)

Refashioned shirt - Take One

Browsing around the internet today looking for sewing projects I could make with the girls, I came across some fun ideas for refashioning shirts. After seeing this tutorial by Tea Rose Home (and the following pictures are just me copying that tutorial) I was so inspired I went digging through the girls' clothes to find something I could use to try it out. I found one shirt that fit and one they'd outgrown... so here is my first try at refashioning a shirt. I am totally addicted now, and am dying to go looking for some clearance shirts to remake.

The finished product

The before shot of the to-be-refashioned shirt

The shirt the girls had outgrown

Cut the shirt in half and lay flat

Cut six 2.5x12" strips and four 1.25" strips

Using a long stitch, straight stitch 1/4" from the edge of the 2.5" pieces.
Holding one thread, bunch the fabric to make ruffles.

Straight stitch through center of 1.25" pieces, combining two strips end to end to make one long strip. Bunch to ruffle.

Pin 1.25" strip to collar and sew in place

Center first 2.5" strip, pin and sew in place

Continue adding ruffles, placing each 1.5" below the previous ruffle's seam, so the ruffles will overlap.

There you have it! I added the flowers you'll see on the Tea Rose Home site after I took these pictures. But I had to get Torrey to try the shirt on as soon as she got home from school.