Sew Many Bags!

I've been on this kick lately of sewing these fun little cloth bags.  

My favorite I think is the bag I made to hold Essential Oils.  I was with my daughter on a little road trip recently and I noticed that she was carrying some of her oils in an old eyeglass case!  I thought to myself that I needed to make her a bag for them.  It came out so nicely that I'm not sure exactly how many I've made now and given for gifts!  

I love mine.  It is just my bright and cheerful colors and makes me happy just to look at it!  It holds my oils in perfect place so I don't have to dig through to find them.  

They are also perfectly protected with the padded pockets and sides of the bag.  

Every time Jillian, my little seven year old grand-daughter, sees one of the bags she asks for one of her own.  I've been thinking what kind of bag I could make for her and her little sister that would be fun for them.  

I finally came up with an idea and I was so excited to dig through my fabric scraps and make them their own tiny little bags.  

These bags are a fun size.  They are about 6 inches wide by about 7 inches tall.  Absolutely perfect size for what I had in mind.   (Don't you love the little boxed corners?  It makes the little bags more "professional" looking!)  

 I know you're wondering what these girls need such darling little bags for, right?   Have you heard of the mini Lalaloopsy dolls?  Jillian and Rosetta love them.   They are so bright and cheerful, they have moveable legs and arms and are just so cute.  

I ordered the girls some new mini Lalaloopsy dolls from Amazon and they just fit perfectly in the little bags!   I mean have you seriously seen anything so cute?  I think there are hundreds in the collection - I kind of want them all!  Smile!

I've got them all in the little bags ready to give to the girls tomorrow and I can hardly wait!  

What have you been sewing lately?  

Happy Fall, friends.  

Still Blooming {And A Winner!}

Letting go of summer is very hard for me.    Eldon asked me when I was going to decorate our farm entrance in my fall decor and I sort of shuddered!  

I keep questioning why I'm like this, when everyone around me is so excited about fall being here.  But standing in our Farm Fresh flower garden last night I had my answer.  Letting go of anything you've loved and enjoyed is hard.  

As I stood there and gazed at our beautiful flowers I felt like I could relate to the plants so well.  The plants are tired from the long hot summer.  Sort of wilted and beaten down a bit.  Definitely not the vibrant green and strong plants they were a month ago.  

But they are still happy and still working to put a smile on their face and bloom.  Do you ever feel like that?  

I think that is exactly how I feel.  Tired and a bit beaten down from a summer of hard work, but hanging on with every fiber because it was such a happy summer.  

So until the first freeze comes and puts a stop to the blooming.... you'll find me in the garden with a big smile on my face.

And maybe, just maybe, I might drag out some energy to leave the garden and put some fall decorations up!   

The above picture of the little frog in our garden is how I feel... I'll just sit here and hang on to this leaf!   Thank you to all my amazing readers for always writing, encouraging and helping me ease into the change of the season!  

And finally!  We have a book winner! 

Lyn Moon is our winner!

P.S.  Andrea and I have a wedding we are providing all the flower arrangements for on Saturday.  Get ready for a blog post on that (probably from both of us!) in a few days!

  

Fridays With The Grand-Girls And A Giveaway!

My daughter home schools her little girls and one of things I love to watch is that everything is about learning.  They are never anywhere without a book or a pad of paper and a pen.  In the above picture we are getting ready to transport a load of flowers from our garden to the flower cart.  

The other thing I love about them being homeschooled is that Eldon and I get to be involved with their lives so much more.  Andrea has a really neat schedule this year where they have a full school schedule Monday through Thursday and then Eldon and I get to have free rein with the schooling on Fridays!  We've been known to do some school on the boat!

But one of the most awesome things is that Eldon teaches a Nature Study class with them.  They take their journals and they head out to a spot where they sit and study what they see and then they document it in their journals.  Even Eldon is keeping one and it is a work of art.  (I don't get to go!)

The girls take it very seriously.

I get to focus on piano lessons with Jillian.

And craft projects with both girls.

And cooking!  I think their favorite thing to cook is personal pan pizzas!

And games instead of naps!

And we can't forget the field trips!  I think those are for us almost as much as they are for the girls!  

But probably the thing that I love the most is to listen to Jillian read and to see the love of books that both of the girls have.    Now that Jillian can read everything she puts her hands on, Rosy loves having her read to her!  

So, to celebrate little readers everywhere I've got a great giveaway on my blog tonight!  This children's book was written by MaryJane (of MaryJanesFarm) and her daughter Meg.  It is a darling book with very fun illustrations and a catchy story line.  

There is some fun milk cow trivia and cute educational facts.  My grand-girls love the book!

MaryJane has graciously sent me a book to give to one lucky winner!

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is to leave a comment!  I will randomly choose a winner on Monday.   Even if you don't have children or grand-children of your own, it would make a wonderful gift for the little reader in your life.

I hope you are enjoying the last bit of summer.  It is my favorite time of the year and I am always sad to see it come to an end.   But I'm trying very hard to remind myself that I actually do have a few winter projects I'm anxious to start!  What are the winter projects you've got your thoughts on?