Owl Purse!

So I have had a love for owls and all things owl for quite a while. When I was in California last year I saw some cute owl purses. However, some loony bin decided to sell them for around $80. Please. So I showed my mom some designs for purses that I liked and she picked out some fabrics and was going to make one. Well, mom decided to go buy a fixer-upper house and has been super busy for a while now. Check out her awesomeness here.

Fast forward to now. I am in California visiting said awesome mom and we decided to take a break from beach bumming and visiting Disneyland to have a sewing day.  So we decided to make my owl bag! Note: when I say 'we' it mostly means mom. Mom did all the sewing; I cut and ironed. :) We found one that we liked for inspiration:

Here are some of the fabrics that mom bought and a few others she had extra:

First mom drew a paper pattern in the shape of an owl. Then she drew a wing for each side. She also drew the outer eye and a nose.

We started with a piece of paper 11 inches wide and 12 inches tall. The bottom edges are rounded and the top has an inverted arch.

The outer eye is a circle with a 2 and a half inch diameter. The wing is 8 inches tall by 4 and a quarter inches wide. The opposite points are rounded to match the curved body pattern.

We chose a dark red corduroy fabric as the body background. She traced the body onto the fabric but cut a little extra to allow for a seam allowance.

Here is the front of the purse.

We traced the wing pattern onto this fun fabric!

Mom sewed the wings onto each side of the body with a satin zigzag stitch.

 For the back, we decided to create a layer of feathers! The top half is made out of the red corduroy.  The bottom half, which will be covered with feathers, is the same fabric as the wings. 

There is about 4 inches of corduroy at the top, which leaves about 8 inches of patterned fabric for the bottom.

We cut a beak that is an inch wide and an inch and a half long (isosceles triangle!). We cut the eyes out of the same fabric as the beak. Then we cut another circle for the next layer on the eyes, which is an inch and three quarters. We picked a lighter, more solid color so the eyes weren't so dark. Then we found some cute brown buttons for the eyes!

Ready to be sewn!

Eye fabric sewn with a zigzag stitch.

 Now for the lining! We chose this fabric because the print contrasts with the outside colors well!

This was cut with the same pattern as the outside.

An inside pocket for keys or a phone!

Pocket is 4 1/2 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches tall.

Special design! A chapstick pocket! 3 inches tall, 2 inches wide.

 After sewing the pockets on, we sewed the lining together, leaving a 6 inch gap on the right side. This gap will be used to flip the purse inside out later, when all the layers are sewn together. 

Now onto the easy task of making the feathers! 

We cut 50 feathers that are 2 1/2 by 4 inches, with a rounded bottom.

We sewed two feathers together, making a total of 25 feathers. We flipped them inside out and ironed them flat so they were ready to sew on the backside of the purse.

To make the fabric meet the top of the wings on the front, we added a finished strip of one and a quarter inches to go above the feathers.

Mom sewed each row of feathers, starting with the top row. Then she pinned each row up and sewed the next.

To make this purse a slingback, we made a strap that was 45 inches long. It is 1 3/4 inches wide. We put the red corduroy on the top and the brown fabric from the lining on the bottom side.

Finished backside!

We used some thick green fleece to put between the lining and the outside layers so that the purse wouldn't be so flimsy. The purse will hold it's shape better with something thick in between. We again used the same pattern to measure.

Here is mom pinning the strap, outside layers sewn to the fleece, and the lining all together so it can be sewn!

Lots of layers to sew!

The purse was flipped right side out, and the 6 inch gap is now sewn shut!

View of the inside with chapstick in place!

 It took about 3 hours from start to finish to complete.

 The finished deal!!

Line Dancing

Most people that know me, know that I love line dancing! I have introduced several friends to it over the last 6 years that I have been going (on and off). Wow. I just realized that it's been 6 years since I first went! I was introduced by an older coworker from Cracker Barrel and have loved it ever since! I went almost every week for about two years then took a break for about a year. Then I went back on and off for the next two years. I introduced my good friend August to it back in January and we have gone almost every Wednesday since. Recently we started taking our friend Rebecca. I have picked up all the dances I learned over the years and I am getting way better at learning new ones on my own! Last night they taught "Chill Factor". I learned it a while back but it was really hard so I didn't get it down. So last night I mostly got it. The way they teach dances is like this: 

1. step by step directions with no music. You learn small segments over and over until you have walked through the whole dance.

2. You dance the whole dance a couple times straight through with the instructor calling out the steps.

3. You dance part or sometimes the whole dance to the song but in a slowed down version.

4. Full on dance time - no instructions!

Then they go back to regular dancing and give you about an hour to remember or forget the dance. Then they replay it (with no instructions). Last night when they replayed it later, they changed up the song and it was a much faster version! About 75% of the people walked off the floor because it was hard to begin with and then the song was too hard. 

Well, I am a loser/nerd and decided tonight that I wanted to really learn it, so I found it on youtube and practiced! Enjoy:
 

Who is your favorite dancer??

Experiment

There is a website called Teachers Pay Teachers, and this website is for teachers to post items they create which are then available for free or purchase. Because textbooks don't always match standards or fit to what or how you like to teach, many teachers create their own supplements, worksheets, videos, etc. I have created many of my own things just because I am picky and want things a certain way. I also like to experiment with photoshop and different fonts. So I decided to put a few things up for sale! Most items on this website are fairly cheap, like $1 or $2 but some of the big units are more. We'll see how it goes! Check out my shop here :)

5/6 Edit: Already sold $8 worth!

Pinterest

I'm sure you have heard of Pinterest by now...really, who hasn't?! At first, I was all "What's the fuss about?"  I got a login and left it alone for a couple months. Then Augusta , a girl I work with, mentioned it a few times. So I decided to login again and try to figure it out. It was a little confusing at first but I finally figured out how to navigate it and organize it. Basically it's a glorified google image search. But better. I really like it because I find new ideas for teaching and school related ideas all the time! I also like it because we are in the middle of finally decorating our house. Pinterest has soo many ideas of things you can do! I login every few days to see what other people have pinned and I also use it when I find pictures of things I like. I don't like bookmarking something where I only want the picture and usually when I save just an image, I forget that I have it. So, if you need ideas or like to do crafty things, check it out!

Summer Time

With three and a half weeks left before summer vacation, I am now in the mindset of summer vacation :) I definitely have good reason too!

This Friday, May 4th: Opening our pool!! Woo hoo!

June 2nd - Me and Clint's 5th anniversary! We aren't sure what we are planning to do yet for the actual event. The present I asked for was to get pictures taken :) We have nothing hanging on our walls and I would really love some nice professional pictures. Not necessarily pictures of our faces, but nice pictures like above.

June 5th - 12th: I am going to California to see my mother :) I can't wait for this!! I love everything about California and of course my mom. I also get to see my mom's new house that she is in the midst of remodeling, which I know will be awesome!

June 12th - 19th: Lindsay and Ange will be in Indy for a few of these days, so extra sister time this summer!

July 9th - 16th: Clint and I are going to Ft. Myers with our friends Mike and Betsy. We haven't been on a vacation with friends in a while so this should be fun too!

July 20th - 24th: I will be going to Chicago with three girls that I work with for a first grade conference. We are taking a train there and back and staying at the Marriott on the Magnificent Mile. The best part is that our school district is paying for it! We will have so much fun! and we'll learn a lot too :)

Awesome sounding huh?

Dining Room Painting

Well we started to paint the dining room (then we will get to the family room since they are connected) and like our other painting projects, it takes us a while. With Clint working nights still, we don't get much done during the week, which is fine. The paint we bought, perfect plum, is pretty thin so it's taking several coats unfortunately. Clint put the chair rail up yesterday since we had company, just so it looks mostly finished. We need to paint the white on the bottom and the trim needs painted as well. The plum needs touched up and the trim needs finished. Hopefully only a couple hours worth of work. Then we will start on the living room, which will be a light gray. 

So far I am pretty happy with the way it looks!

Family Games

Family Game Night has transformed! I know the game Words with Friends has been out for quite a wile, but I just now downloaded the app and tried it out. Turns out, I wasn't the only newbie! Lindsay just started playing now too. We also have started playing Draw Something, which is an app where you draw a word and the other person has to guess it. I have a WWF and Draw Something games going with mom, Lindsay, and Hilary. I also have a Draw Something game with Clint. I love watching the drawings because we all like to put some silly details in the picture.