Broom Bags

I saw this idea for Halloween party favor bags and had been waiting for an occasion to make some. Each month our Sunday school class has dinner groups as a way for the couples to get to know one another better. Zach and I hosted an October group and I was excited to make the bags for our guests.

Using 8 brown craft sacks, a pair of scissors, twine, and some sticks I gathered from the yard, I was able to make 4 broom bags for $1.50 (plus the cost of candy to fill them). It only took about 10 minutes to make all four.

They also make really cute place settings

Chenille Sweets

I came across a super cute pattern for chenille cupcakes and ice cream by Ric Rac Sews on Etsy. My niece turned three this month so I made her a set.

Garage Organization Part 2

S: Zach and I usually wince at the idea of paying someone else for something we can do ourselves, which is why we now own a 20' extension ladder. We purchased it on craigslist (a steal for only $80) to paint the two story high walls in our dining area. 

Zach bravely painting. I couldn't make it to the top of the ladder so I stayed on the ground and held it for Zach.

S: Now what to do with a giant ladder that we will seldom use? Zach brainstormed and came up with a great solution for hanging it from the garage ceiling, along with our other, Sarah-sized, 8' ladder.
Z: In fact the whole garage seemed to be designed for Sarah-sized people with the ceilings only being 8ft. 8in. high. At 26, I don't think I'll ever grow past my 6ft 2in., so that means we've got almost 2 ft. of prime storage space against the garage ceiling. Storing both ladders against the ceiling ran about $25 for the 2x4's, pvc conduit, L brackets, threaded rod, nuts, and bolts.

S: And why stop there? Our bikes were taking up way too much space on the floor so we purchased two bike pulley systems online, for $12 each, and Zach got to work.

Z: These were actually very little work at all after I figured out the spacing. To start, I cut a 2x4 a little shorter than my bike. Then, I found the ceiling joists with my stud finder and secured the 2x4 to the joists using 3in deck screws. After measuring the distance from handle bars to bike seat, I secured each pulley plate to the 2x4 and ran the rope. The pulley even comes with a brake so that the bike will stay hoisted up without tension in the rope. I just repeated those steps for the second bike and offset the pulleys a bit so the bikes could squeeze closer together without the handlebars and pedals knocking together. The spacing proved very tricky, but nothing satisfies like playing Tetris with stuff in your garage. When I pulled Sarah's car back in the garage with everything fitting together, I half expected the room to blink white and the whole line of stuff on my ceiling to disappear.

Shae Marie

Our new niece is here! Sweet little Shae, we can't wait to meet you!

Happy Find Felted Fun

My felted animals have made a few new friends this friday. Happy Find is featuring my bat in her Felted Fun feature!

Halloween Favorites Feature

Jennifer over at Jennifer Hayes Art was kind enough to include my needle felted spider in her Felt Friday-Halloween Favorites feature. Visit her blog to check out her other Halloween favorites and her own original art work.

Carlsbad the Bat

I thought October would be a good time to introduce a needle felted bat to my etsy shop. Meet Carlsbad the Bat: