Sewing is Messy

Sometimes, my husband comes home to this all over the living room.

Because, you know, I require a lot of space to be creative.

DIY Men's Pocket Tee Refashion

Refashioning men's tee's is one of my favorite things to try. Admittedly, sometimes it doesn't always work out.

But this one did!

To start, I bought this men's shirt for $5 because I loved the color!

And for $5, even a refashion fail wasn't that bad.

I began by taking in the sides to fit.

Then, I unpicked the pocket and used it to cut a new pocket out of different fabric.

Then, because I hate hemming sleeves, I decided to ruche them instead.

Then, I cut and sewed a new, rounded hem at the bottom. 

Ta-da!

Journalings of a Primary Teacher {2-24-13}

Kicks and giggles, that's what primary is made of.

While waiting for sharing time, I watched a little 2-year-old guy run as fast as he could down the hallway, closely followed by his dad. He promptly got scooped up upside-down, and as he was being carried off, he folded his little arms and voiced a big, "Aw maaaaaaaan!"

I couldn't help but bust up laughing.

~~~

One little guy in my class accidentally bit his lip in the middle of singing time. He tapped me on the shoulder with a, "Sis-er Diepeveen I think my lip is bleeding." I look over to discover he's smeared it all over his cheek, hands, and chair {yaaay}. I promptly grabbed some tissues and helped him clean up a little. As he's pressing one bloody tissue to his lip, a boy from the row behind leans over, all agog, and asks, "Is that blood and guts???!!"

~~~

We ended primary on a very good note. The small guy who said the closing prayer started with, "Dear Heavenly Father...." He then asked, "Please bless us that we won't ever lie. And bless us to do good things." And that was it; "Amen." 

So here's to a week where hopefully we won't lie, we will do good things, and we will always find the humor in the little things!

DIY Polka Dot Art

DIY art is my favorite. It means no one else has the same piece, and you get to personalize the crap out of it! 

This is a fun DIY project I saw over on a blog called Cinsarah. All you need is a pencil, some paint, and you're set!

Dip the pencil eraser in the paint and dot away.

I used two colors of paint to create an ombré effect.

You could very easily just stop here, mat and frame your piece, and be finished!

However, I didn't have a mat and the piece looked somewhat unfinished, so I decided to add something more.

I love this quote!

And I love polka dots. 

...and birds.

Happy DIYing!

Journalings of a Primary Teacher {2-17-13}

Teacher: Does anyone know who Peter, James, and John were?

Kids: Yes! Apostles! 

Teacher: Do you know when they were apostles? During what time?

Kids: ....silence.....

Teacher: Anyone?

One brave girl: Umm...the 80's? 

{i had to cover up a gigantic snort of laughter at that point.}

Teacher: How can we talk to Jesus?

Kids: Prayer! Texting!

Wouldn't it be cool if we had Jesus' phone number?

We could text JESUS.

--goes on for several minutes--

Teacher, trying to regain some control: Ok, but, if your cell phone battery dies, you can't text. And guess what? You can always pray! 

One thoughtful boy: Well....yeah....I suppose prayer is better than texting.

{they should put that on a pillow or something.}

This next one happened over in my husband's class. Good to know his primary lessons are sometimes as hilarious as mine.

Chris: So, when Joseph Smith was first shown the plates, he couldn't have them. Do you know why?

Kids: Why???

Chris: Because he wasn't ready for them yet. 

Kids: ...confused looks....

Chris, trying to come up with a metaphor: Okay, so it's like driving a car. Do your parents let you drive?

Kids: No! Bahaha!

Chris: Well why not?

Kids: Because we're not old enough!

We're not allowed!

We can't reach the pedals!

Chris: Well, Joseph Smith couldn't "reach the pedals." He wasn't ready to receive the plates.

..lesson continues....

...lesson ends....

Chris: So, who can tell me what we learned today?

Kids, laughing hysterically: JOSEPH SMITH COULDN'T HAVE THE PLATES BECAUSE HE COULDN'T REACH THE PEDALS!!!!

{well played, Chris, well played. good luck getting them to forget that one.}

Love Week: Valentine's Finale {2013}

I hope everyone had as fabulous a Valentine's as we did!

I woke up to these....

...and this....

He has taken into account both my love for tiny earrings and my love for being warm.

Bonus points!

{tmi?}

I decided to create a little 'scavenger hunt' for him.

And yes, I used crayons. Because I seem to have a surplus of them around the house since becoming a primary teacher.

As he followed the yarn, there were a couple little treats along the way.

And when he finally got to our room....

...he found this at the end:

I was pretty proud of myself at this point.

:)

Happy late Valentine's and have yourselves a lovely day!

Love Week: DIY

I LOVE DIY.

I don't know that much more needs to be said.

I love DIY dishtowels.

I love DIY maxi-skirts.

I love DIY refashioning.

I love DIY gifts...and DIY decor.

The DIY possibilities are endless!

I've redone end tables, re-purposed an old sweater, repainted thrift store frames, and refashioned everything from new knit fabric to oversized old tees.

DIY is FUN.

You really ought to try it sometime. As my husband always reminds me, the worst case scenario is that you might have to DIY again. 

Love Week: Primary

Okay, for those of you who know me, this one is kinda obvious. 

I love my primary class.

They are hilarious, and smart, and funny, and sweet. 

And I learn a lot.

Sometimes they can get out of hand. Sometimes at the end of my lessons there are paper airplanes all over the floor and I swear they don't remember a word I said. 

But I can't help adoring them. Especially when one sweet girl runs over to hug me after primary and tells me she can't wait to see me again. Or when one little boy looks earnestly into my eyes and tells me he wishes he could be "a Shamu." Or when they want to sit by me, and touch my jewelry, and hold my binder for me. 

Seven-year-olds are the greatest things to ever happen to me. 

I love them more than I love almond kisses and chocolate ice cream and berry pie and cookie dough.

...which is a lot.

Love Week: Drama, Zombies, and Funny

Sometimes {most of the time} on my lazy {and not-so-lazy} days when people ask what I've been up to, I reply: 

"Oh, nothing much. Just hanging around and watching useless tv."

And that is partly because useless tv is so addicting. I have, like, a million shows I'm in love with. 

To start, my all-all-all-time fave:

Grey's Anatomy. I had this friend, in high school, who would religiously watch this show every Thursday night. That means refusing to answer the phone, the door, or, if you were lucky enough to already be in the room, any attempt at conversation. And never EVER was I going to be her. 

Now, here I am. I curse the years I lost feigning disinterest in Grey's.  

Next up:

THE WALKING DEAD. WATCH. IT. I cannot express enough how awesome this show is.

heehee.

It has zombies and drama.

And then there is:

The Vampire Diaries. Let's just all admit we are on team Damon. 

And, I hope you know:

Downton Abbey. Old-fashioned, amazing, and it's gotta be totally true. Because life was totally like that. 

If you're ever in the mood to LAUGH YOUR BUTT OFF, you neeeeeed to watch 2 Broke Girls.

 Chris & I are having a secret affair with this show. We meet up late at night...in the dark....on the couch... but sometimes even in the bedroom.

ADORE.

A few runner-ups are: 

How I Met Your Mother

Big Bang Theory

Desperate Housewives 

Modern Family

So, as you can tell, my tv hobbies can all be grouped into drama, zombies, or funny. 

I have my tastes and I'm stickin' with 'em.

Any other useless-tv-watchers out there?

Love Week: Birds

Wondering what Love Week is?

Sigh...it's stolen. I will totally admit it is not my idea. I stole it from a friend {who stole it from someone else} {it's a vicious cycle}.  BUT it's this adorable idea for Valentine's where every day for the week before you post about something you love. 

Who doesn't want a week full of talking about things you LOVE? {eeeek!}

To start with, I love birds.

I'm pretty sure I picked it up from my mom.

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about real birds here. I will never, ever, ever, ever have a bird as a pet. Because....yuck.

But fake birds? 

Different story.

Pretty and porcelain.

I think part of the reason I love them so much is because of what they embody~ freedom, singing, sweetness, springtime, happiness.....

I totally love birds.

You guys should jump on board this whole Love Week thing. It kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy....and full of love.

{}

Adding Sleeves to a Tank Top

I was having a rather bad day yesterday, and when I have bad days....I become a {secret} spending addict.

No judging.



So ahem, yesterday was a bad day, and I ended up buying this top:

Because how could tiny bikes not make me feel better?!

It made me think of summer, which was both good and bad. Good because, well...DUH. It's SUMMER. And bad because summer is hot, and I don't like wearing a lot of layers. And because I'm LDS {check it out} I wear sleeves. And I really didn't want to cover up this cute tank with a cardigan {plus....hot.} So I decided to make sleeves.

Easier said than done. I searched madly all over the web and Pinterest for a tutorial on how to add sleeves to a tank top. There are a few out there: Cut off the sleeves from an old tee and sew them to the tank, or add long flutter-y sleeves also made from an old tee. Bleh. Nothing was what I wanted. 

And thus this tutorial was born. 

You need:

Matching fabric & coordinating thread

tank top

buttons {optional}

1. Fold your fabric in half. Measure from the top of your tank top to the bottom of the arm hole--this is how wide {top to bottom} your new sleeves should measure. Use another tee that you like the sleeves of to measure the length {shoulder to elbow}. Cut them out with seam allowance.

2. Cut out the "J" shape where the sleeve will attach to the tank top {forgot to take pics of this part}.

3. Sew the sleeve to the tank, right sides together. Then, sew down the length to close the sleeve {you could do this vice versa, but it worked better for me this way}.

4. Hem your sleeves to the desired length.

5. Attach button and strap if you want the gathered look.

And there you go, it's that easy. 

P.S. Don't judge me for my lack of real pants.