Sewing in a Menagerie

For those of you who don't know, my family has 5 pets. 2 dogs and 3 cats.

Triton (sound asleep in this photo):

Maddy (with her Woolly):

Peekaboo (or Boo Boo in the center. I don't have many good pictures of him):

Zoe Madison (she's the princess):

And Mickey (he was a stray I brought home from campus. He loves water):

A couple of my lovelies decided to be very helpful while I went about making my 5 minute skirt. Mickey was in a very playful mood and was under the impression that the measuring tape was a vicious snake out to destroy the world. He also tried to pounce on my scissors as I was cutting. Not smart, cat. Not smart. 

Then later Triton needed some love. Immediately. He wouldn't have minded if I also threw his ball a couple of times. 

Despite my zoo's best attempts the skirt is complete. Not quite 5 minutes but it was pretty simple. My biggest advice is to measure everything. I creates a casing and threaded elastic through it rather than do the fold over elastic but this FOE does have me intrigued. I just couldn't find any and I was impatient. 

My other bit of advice is for when you go to hem. Lay the skirt flat with the seams on either side and cut straight across. Then lay it flat with the seams on the top and bottom and, measuring frequently, cut the same length all the way across. It should curve parallel to the waist. 

I did have to purchase elastic, $1.99 plus tax, and we owned a sewing machine (otherwise this would have sucked). My fabric actually came from an old sheet. It had been used for another project but there was enough left. Way to upcycle though, right? Kids bed sheets = new wardrobe. 

E'erybody in the club gettin' CRAFTY

I've been a little down lately. Basically I've been stressed about getting enough work, which so far is not a problem, and now I feel like I let other things slip through the cracks. Things like a social life and the chance at romance. I know that I have a social life and I will not die alone. I think I was just stuck in my head too much. So I decided to be busy. I took old jeans and turned them into a lot of new things. There may even be more to come. 

First up is a wristlet made out of pockets to store my essentials such as cell phone, ipod, and keys. You may remember my post about my overflowing purse. This is something I'm trying in an attempt to save my back. I figure this little guy can tuck right back in my purse but I can use it while running around. 

These jeans are actually threecycled. I cut them off and turned them into bermudas first, which were great last summer but I've come to the conclusion that I don't look good in that style. Here is the site I used to create this awesome mini purse. 

Next came a skirt out of old work jeans that were wearing thin in some places. I used this site for this project. 

It still needs to be washed so that the bottom will fray a bit. It can be hemmed but I don't think I have that skill. It would be crooked and awkward so, it will be frayed instead.

Lastly I took the leg off of the skirt I made, sewed the bottom up real quick, threaded an old shoelace through the top, and now have a hanging bag for all of the plastic bags I accumulate. 

So that has kept me busy and a bit out of my head. For one day at least. Tomorrow I'm going to try to make this 5-minute skirt. We have a big tub of fabric leftover from projects downstairs so I'll see if I have enough. I think I'll need to buy some fold-over elastic or enough elastic to circle my waist but other than that all of this has been FREE! Mostly because my mother, my sister, and I have accumulated thread and needles, etc, and we have my mom's sewing machine. Still I bet it would be cheap for you, too.

I'll keep you posted about the skirt. Wish me luck!

Luxury on a Budget: Coffee Creamer

I'm not a huge coffee drinker. Particularly not by Seattle standards. However I do consider it a pleasant treat. Sometimes I really need the caffeine boost. Sometimes just the smell and taste is enough of a placebo.

I'm going to digress for a moment into coffee shop preferences. I love my local places. I feel like I'm supporting friends and contributing to my neighborhood. But with prices, I have to consider this almost charity. I don't feel like my goods totally live up to the price. I'm ok with this though, every once in a while, because, like I said, it makes me feel good. But it's an occasional treat. If I get invited out more than I'm comfortable with, I'll stick to tea.

I also love Starbucks. I know. I'm a materialist sheep. But here's the thing. They're a GREAT company. The give their employees great benefits and they spend time and money on making their customers feel appreciated. For Christmas last year, my aunt gave me a Starbucks membership. It was $25 for the year and it meant I got 10% off any purchase plus free wifi. They ended up changing this program so now there are different levels and at the top, you get free customization. I got automatically bumped to the top because of my pre-existing membership but to get free customization and wifi you only have to go five times in one year. Not too hard for most people. And I did the math: if you buy your five drinks, after going to Starbucks 17 times, it will be as though those drinks were free. With this gold status my soy vanilla latte is the same price as a regular latte and I can enjoy it while perusing the internet. Plus they have the free iTunes song cards and do things like "Free Pastry Day" (my reduced fat berry coffee cake is waiting for me). Basically Starbucks has bought my love.

Now I know that Starbucks is a HUGE corporation and to apply the same standards to these local shops is like comparing apples and oranges but it doesn't change the fact that for now it is more affordable for me, I feel like a rockstar, and I like rewarding impressive marketing (I was also a business major and can be a major business geek).

Back to the subject at hand. Even with the perks from Starbucks, I still can't afford coffee very often. I could make my own drip coffee at home...except that I can't. I swear you need a degree in organic chemistry to find the right balance of water, coffee, milk, and sugar to make it drinkable. Or I'm a 22 year old still incapable of making coffee. At home, my parents make instant and add some coffee creamer:



but that can be expensive, too.

But wait! This is something you CAN make at home.

14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
14oz. milk of your choice
2 tsps. vanilla extract

I tried this for the first time today and it was pretty dang good. Let’s see how prices compare.

Latte out: $.45/oz.
Store bought creamer: $.25-$.30/oz.
Homemade version: $.14/oz.

I think we have a winner!

For more flavoring ideas look here.