Easy goodwill refashion

My sewing machine and I have missed eachother recently! Lack of time and inspiration are to blame. I needed some quick projects to help get me back in the game. I found this dress at the thrift store the other day for $4. Pardon the terrible before picture -- the camera battery died after this shot and I was too impatient to wait for the recharged batter before sewing. You get the idea, though -- frumpy dress that hit mid-calf {not flattering on me!}

I just cut off some length, sewed a ruffle around the neckline, hemmed the bottom and added a waist tie. I can wear it w/o a jacket when it warms up {warm weather can't come soon enough!}

The back...

Close up of the neckline. Clearly wasn't wearing the right bra. Sorry about that.

Super fast and easy -- just what I needed!

Weekly meal plan

I haven't posted my meal plan for a couple weeks because...well...I haven't had a meal plan. We were out of town for a bit and spent the last week eating down our stock of food. re: lots of random meals

Monday: Rotisserie chicken, baked potatoes, peas

Tuesday: Dinner at church
Wednesday: Pulled pork sandwiches (I'll share this recipe later this week, so easy)

Thursday: Taco pie (new recipe, I'll let you know how it goes)
Friday: Chicken a la king
Saturday: Pork loin, mashed potatoes, veggie
Sunday: Leftovers (Sean has to work)

Hope you have a great week! I made a trip to the thrift store yesterday and picked up a good dress to refashion -- can't wait to share it with you!

-Nicole

Pottery Barn necklace

You're probably thinking -- 'I didn't know Pottery Barn made jewelry!'

Well...they don't. But they do have great adornments on their gift wrapped boxes! This adorable key was on a gift at a bridal shower I recently attended. I made her rehearsal bouquet and this little lovely made it into my box of bows and ribbons. I found a perfectly matching chain on clearance for 0.97 at JoAnns and now have a cute, new necklace!

My mom is going to have a hay day with this one! She is always amazed/proud/embarrassed about how cheap I am. It's not too difficult to go from the proud to the embarrassed category.

Weekly meal plan

Monday: Chili-lime pork loin, mashed potatoes

Tuesday: Ground beef and macaroni

Wednesday: Beef stew

Thursday: Tacos

Friday: Chicken alfredo pasta

Saturday: Swiss steak, veggies

Sunday: Chicken tortilla soup

Easy taco soup

This is a super easy and tasty recipe. It's very budget friendly and keeps well in the fridge.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes

1 16 oz can tomato sauce

1 can kidney beans

1 chopped medium onion

1 diced avocado

1 pkg taco seasoning

  1. Brown beef and onion together in large pot. Drain excess.

2. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, beans {all undrained}

3. Warm throughout, then add avocado.

4. Stir in taco seasoning.

5. Top with cheese/sour cream/crushed tortilla chips

6. Enjoy!

Meal planning

I've recently started meal planning -- what a difference it has made! I'm not really into couponing {just can't quite find the motivation or time for it right now}, but just planning our meals in advance as dropped our monthly spending on food by 50%. Another advantage is that I'm less stressed out about cooking. Before, I would have a lot of food, none of which I could organize into a complete meal. Now, I know ahead of time what to expect and can plan my day accordingly.

A couple of tips I have found helpful:

1. Discuss your weekly schedule with spouse/family before making the menu. If you know you will be gone to Bible study around dinner time, maybe save the complicated meal for another day.

2. Get new recipes from other sources to keep it interesting. I personally like All You magazine b/c it gives you price/serving and also the All Recipes iPhone app.

3. Use recipes that call for more fresh ingredients towards the beginning of the week and more 'stable' recipes for the end of the week (pastas, etc.).

Spending 30 minutes meal planning on Sunday mornings for me has resulted in saving a significant amount of money, shorter trips to the store, and less stress throughout the week. Each week I'll post my meal plan -- my hope is that eventually it will get more robust with recipes, etc. and that some of you will share your favorite recipes. Don't expect anything super fancy on our menus. My goal is to get somewhat healthy, quick, tasty meals on the table.

Sunday: Ham, mashed potatoes, peas

Monday: Salmon, leftover mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday: Chalupas

Wednesday: Ham and beans, cornbread

Thursday: Tomato soup and grilled cheese {having LASIK surgery this day, so Sean will have cooking duty for a couple of days}

Friday: BBQ pulled pork sandwiches {new recipe, I'll let you know how it goes}

Saturday: Taco soup

Sunday: Beef stew w/ lots of veggies

Christmas gift tags

Need to add a little pzazz to your Christmas gift wrapping? There are tons of free downloads to help you out! Here are the two I'm using:Click here for tons more options.

See Martha's options here.

Happy Wrapping!

Christmas under $75

That's my goal -- to spend less than $75 this Christmas. I'm up to $34 and have finished gifts for almost everyone: brother, sister, BIL, SIL, FIL, FIL's wife, MIL, brother's GF, and mom. I'm a little stuck on my dad and Sean.

I have a couple of reasons for setting this goal:

1. We're on a SUPER tight budget

2. I've got a lot of supplies and the know-how to make gifts

3. I think homemade (at least partially) gifts are more meaningful

4. I planned ahead and have plenty of time to get them all finished

5. I'm really trying to work on showing love for those around me in new and creative ways

Although I don't want to blog about my crafts until they have been opened on Christmas, here's a couple of budget-friendly ideas that might help you out this holiday season:

1. Freezer paper stenciling. It's AMAZING! If you haven't tried it, you must. It's super fast, inexpensive and if done right looks great! I've used it for t-shirts, tote bags, kitchen towels and onesies in the past week alone. :) Here's a good tute on the process.

2. Look around your house for inspiration. Do you have a tote bag lying around that doesn't get much use? Use some fusible interfacing to spruce it up with a fun fabric for a friend.

3. Use the reusable totes you can buy at stores for fabric. TJ Maxx and BB&B both have super fun prints. Turn it into makeup bags, pencil pouches, lunch bags. That $1.99 can go a long way!

4. Find ways to use up the scraps you already have. Maybe some fabric note cards like I gave away a couple of weeks ago, a customized headband, cup cozie, or fabric blocks for a little one.

5. T-shirts make great base fabrics -- turn them into a dress with some elastic around the waist, make them into a tote bag or even a pillow cover.

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post. I'll post each of my homemade gifts after Christmas. I hope this was a little helpful in generating some ideas. Blogland is full of them! I especially like the website www.oneprettything.com because they scour blogs so I don't have to!

Refashioned baby gift

Some family friends {who happen to be huge chiefs fans} just had a baby girl, so my parents asked me to sew up a little gift. Branson is deficient in fabric stores {re: there aren't any}, so we used a pair of mens knit pajama pants for this project.

I purchased the supplies for the bow at hobby lobby here in F-ville. I loosely followed this tutorial on making the bow. {suggestion: use dental floss to tie the center together} The letter button has a brooch pin on the back and I secured an alligator clip to the back of the bow so they can clip it wherever.
Out of one pant leg I made this cute little swing top {I just kind of eyeballed the size here, butif you have a little one just trace another shirt that fits similarly} and the bloomers. Question for my mommy friends: I wanted to add big buttons to the front where the straps meet, but my dad insisted that was a safety hazard on baby clothes. Babies don't even have the dexterity to grab and pull a button off, do they??
I used Dana from MADE's tutorial on the baby bloomers. These are so fun to make! I've got some other prints available in my Etsy shop if you're interested. {sorry the pic is sideways here, it's not on my comp}
I've got another pant leg to spare and plan on making another set like this for the shop. I hope little miss Taylor Jane and her parents enjoy showing some team spirit!
I'm linking this project to:
Between Naps on the Porch , Making the World Cuter, The DIY Show Off, Skip to My Lou, Keeping it Simple, A Soft Place to Land, Today's Creative Blog, Blue Cricket Design, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Tatertots and Jello

Cute FREE Christmas download!

We will be decorating for Christmas at the Huddleston household tonight and I'm pretty pumped. {I've got the N*Sync Christmas album cued up!} Here's a cute Christmas download for you that I found in blogland today. It's from Eighteen25 and I love it!

Shopping for sewing projects

My favorite part of learning to sew?? I get to shop more! I seriously love shopping. It puts me in a better mood {usually.} Have you ever seen Confessions of a Shopaholic? Although not the best movie ever, I can identify with her desire to get that super cute scarf. That being said...our bank account doesn't have that same desire.

Having the skill to take in an XL skirt, trim up a shirt that's a bit too big or bring up a hem line opens up the shopping possibilities ten fold! Here's a super quick project that would be great for people just learning to sew. I'm talkin' 10 minutes.

I found a skirt in this really fun print in the clearance section of Old Navy -- it was just $13, but was too big. {I'll be honest that even the sale prices at the mall seemed expensive to me b/c I've been used to Goodwill prices, lol}

Put the skirt on and estimate how much needs to be taken in, mark with a pin. Break out the sewing machine, turn the skirt inside out, then sew a straight stitch along both sides of the skirt(securing the beginning and end with a backstitch) then trim the excess.

I know this sounds like a no-brainer -- that's the purpose! Starting with really simple, little projects like this can boost your confidence with sewing and open the doors to more complex projects. My next post will be a skirt I made from 'scratch' -- super simple and another baby step to take for your sewing skills!

Coach bag for free!

I bought a coach bag on e-bay a couple of years ago and the handles were starting to fray. {not surprisingly, as I've used it nearly every day since I bought it} What was suprising, however, was that when I dropped in a Coach store to see about getting it repaired, they offered to just provide me a credit for the original value of the bag! SCORE! I got this new, and much cuter, tote for $0.00. Doesn't get better than that, my friends.

Apparently, if they don't think that the problem will be easily fixed, they can just offer store credit. If it can be easily fixed, you pay $20 to ship it off to coach and get your original bag back after 6-8 weeks.

Organizing

While I realize I'm a little premature, I'm already looking towards the moving process we will be facing in about four short months. Our small apartment has collected an astounding amout of "stuff"...much of which doesn't have a place of its own. Two things that seem to collect around here are: papers/invoices and coats. Enter Hobby Lobby.


To my dearest Hobby Lobby,

You have so many characteristics I admire, not the least of which is the pleasant Christian tunes exuding from your overhead speakers. You faithfully supply a weekly coupon to your store and somehow stay in business even though most of your merchandise is 50% off during any given week. You sell super cute home decor and have all that a crafter could desire. Thanks for affording me the opportunity to fill my home with your reasonbly-priced inventory. Finally, I'm thankful for your many store locations, so wherever our family ends up you will be near.


Thanks,

Happy New Year!

Oh, hey 2010! Sean and I are very much looking forward to all that the coming year will bring us. Some things we are most looking forward to: my graduation, moving to a new city, Sean starting school, and (hopefully) buying a home!

I decided to make my dress for New Year's, as I wasn't finding much while shopping and the dress I did like from Banana was about $150 dollars. So...with the inspiration from the dresses below, here's what I came up with:
The fabric was just $10 (thanks to a perpetual coupon I have from JoAnns) and I probably spent about three hours total on the dress. I was pretty impressed with how it turned out, as it was my first dress ever. Was it perfect? No...far from it. It was wearable, though, and was fun to tell people I made it when they asked where it's from.

We went out to Le Bourgeois winery for New Years with a group of Sean's Best Buy friends -- let me tell you, there was some excellent people watching at this event!

I hope you all had a happy and safe New Year! I considered this year's event a success, as I was actually awake at midnight!

Homemade Christmas gifts!

Well, I'm thoroughly disappointed in myself, as I managed to not take a single picture of my homemade Christmas gifts! Failure. Oh well...add it to the list. Instead, I will find other pictures of similar items to show you what I accomplished this year. I really enjoyed spending a little extra time (in order to save a little extra $$) and the extra bit of love that went into the gifts. The new sewing machine has more than paid for itself by this point. Here are some examples:

For my brother, I painted some drinking glasses that look like this:

For my mom and mother-in-law I made aprons. My mom's was the full version with polka dots and damask fabric. My MIL's was the half apron with red and black polka dots. I also made an oven mitt for mom and a UofA necklace for Sean's mom. (the necklaces are super cute and pretty easy...I used this tutorial) Here's what they looked like:I made my sister-in-law, Jessica, this pocket scarf. It's SO cute, and I really like how you can change the colors/fabric to look like a whole new scarf.

I made my sister one of these alphabet photography pictures. Hers says "laugh" and I found the pictures online. I did actually attempt to take the pictures myself, but it was much more difficult than I originally thought.

I did make some other things, too...a t-shirt for Sean (with a fun penguin picture on it), some baby onezies for a friend who just had a baby this week, some PJ pants for dad. I'll post some more pictures later.

My project this week: making a New Year's Eve dress. I'm pretty excited about it and will {hopefully} do a good enough job to actually wear it out. :)

I hope you all had a great Christmas! I very much enjoyed being home with my family for a week and was totally spoiled on Christmas. One of my favorite gifts was a super cute dress outfit from Banana...my mom has always picked great clothes for me! Today it's back to the normal schedule of work, though I still have three weeks off of school. I'm looking forward to cleaning/organizing our apartment over the coming weeks and to spending quality time with both Sean and a couple of books!

Some of the cheapest people you know

Sean and I are both cheap (most of the time, anyways). We always eat all of our leftovers, hate throwing food away, buy off-brand products, shop sales like it's out job and LOVE free things. On Friday we decided we were going to have a date with only the money we currently had in our apartment. Turns out we had $30, so it wasn't as big of a challenge as we thought. We hit up the 2 for $20 deal at Chili's (note: dessert is included in this deal at Chilis, but not at Applebees. We researched it prior to the date)...adding in Sean's strawberry lemonade, the tip, and a redbox rental it was just at $30. We may or may not have rented Monsters vs. Aliens. I made the skirt I'm wearing in this picture from a men's dress shirt!

For halloween, I decided to be a hippie and Sean was the Mac guy (from the commercials). aka. he didn't want to dress up. I scored that awesome top at Goodwill along with two great Gap skirts for just $3 each! We did a booth at Tiger Night of Fun (indoor trick-or-treating) and loved getting to see all of the different costumes.

My husband loves him some Chipotle. On certain holidays they offer free burritos if you do something...on Halloween, you have to dress up like a burrito. Some people just put on a foil ring on and call it good, but Sean and I wanted to try a little harder to earn our free dinner. Here are our attempts: mine is a little hard to make out b/c of my psychedelic shirt, but it has all of my favorite ingredients. Sean went with a more realistic approach of whole burrito in the classic red basket.

Overall it was a successful cheap weekend. We're enjoying our time at home today catching up on housework and cooking a big pot of yummy chili!