Thursday, April 28, 2011

Memories

Today I just needed a break, so I went browsing around in a decorating store. I love looking at this kind of stuff, even though I don't buy anything 99% of the time. Anyway, as I was meandering through the aisles, I came upon all the spring and Easter decorations. They distinctly reminded me of my sweet Grandma Wood.  I'm not quite sure why, but they did. I remember when we were younger and visited for Easter, she would have a chocolate covered cake egg for each one of us with our name written on it in frosting.  She was always so cute and thoughtful like that.  What a random memory to have when seeing bunnies and chicks. 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

That's Why They Have Professionals

BAH! Family pictures are hard.  You would think with adults it would get easier. Haha. I love my family, but sometimes it drives me a little crazy that we just can't get a good picture.  I feel like it's more important to me to get a good picture than to some of my other family members. Maybe because this is the only family I have right now.  I can't just go out and get pictures taken of my family. Plus, we probably won't be together again for a bazillion years. Anyway . . . Here they are, the good and the bad. If we can't laugh at ourselves, what's the point?

First, the bad. I just have to laugh. Let's play the games Who's-Not-Looking and Weird Gestures and Movements.
Winners: Axton and Jayli!

Winners: Madsen Family! 

Winners: Zoe & Dante, courtesy of  Matthew is pulling faces behind me.

Two for one! This has to be my FAVORITE. I didn't take it.

Uh, Dad. The camera is over here . . . and it's called smiling.

And don't forget the cat! Is that a smile, Sean?


Okay, okay. Enough with the laughs and onto the good ones. Here are some of my favorites!
Yeah, so we really don't have a whole family one where everyone is looking at the camera or smiling . . .

The siblings 

Madsen Family. Can you tell who was acting up? ;)

The sisters

My Mother and I
Grandma Rene and the grandkids



Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Lately

My brother, Kevin, got  married. Yay!

But lately, I have been sick. So. Sick.  The kind of sick where you can sweat off ten pounds, mold your body to the couch, and lose track of the days sick.  The kind of sick where, between sleeping, you watch 14 hours of love saga pioneer movies on the Hallmark channel, mostly because you can't get up to change the channel nor do you care.

Awful.

Good news! After a week and on two rounds of antibiotics, things are definitely looking up. My voice is almost back to normal, and I'm not waking up every four hours for painkillers. Take that, strep! Now, if only I can get a good schedule and make up for some of that lost sleep (the good quality kind).  I'm not dead yet! Pretty sure modern medicine has saved my life. 

Friday, April 8, 2011

Meet Rodrigo



Rodrigo is my handy dandy sewing machine. Why Rodrigo? I do not know. I’ve always had a preference for latin names.  Once upon a time, my hermit crabs were named Javier and Rosie. The jump to Rodrigo was just natural. Normally, I don’t name things, but my machine and I have a love/hate relationship, and there can be a lot of tension. Tension problems with the machine, that is!  Anyway, so when I’m frustrated that my machine is chewing fabric or breaking thread, I just yell at Rodrigo. Don't worry, I also have a seam ripper named Jack.
Rodrigo and I have been getting along great lately.  My ward was working on putting together some humanitarian school kits and needed bags sewn for them.  I was a little ambitious and decided to do twelve bags in one week.  With work and all, it was a little hectic to get them finished. I sewed them assembly line style, and after awhile, I started to feel like I was working in a sweatshop, minus the sweat. I was sewing straight lines for what seemed like for-ev-er! I finally finished all of the bags, but I was left with a small longing for better sewing skills. I want to make things that are more fantastic than just square bags! It made me a little envious that I wasn’t born in say, Indonesia.  Okay, not really, but with everything that’s made there, they must have some people with mad sewing skills!

After catching the sewing bug, I decided to make this apron for my sister-in-law-to-be’s shower.  It was a recipe shower, so I thought that an apron would go perfectly! It was simple and worked up quickly, and it’s oh-so cute!  I want to make one for myself. 

Still feeling the sewing bug, I decided to make myself a skirt.  I love the internet! There are so many great patterns out there! Well, with that cute apron still on my mind, I combined an easy wrap skirt with the idea of the tie from the apron, and I now have this fabulous wrap skirt with an incredibly cute tie around bow.  I wore it to work and had many compliments on it.  It was super easy, and it only took less than 2 hours from drawing and cutting the pattern, placing it, cutting the fabric, and sewing everything together.  The best part? The total for this skirt is around $6. And it’s lined, too! $6! Can I get a woot?! 


Sometimes I think, “Geesh, Michelle. You don’t need one more hobby!”


I've Been Busy

I've been really crafty lately. Crafty, and handy around the house.  Here's a little of what I've been up to.
Two parts to this first picture. 


Part 1:  I found this door at Ikea as is for $1.  I brought it home, painted some fun designs on the glass, and put it on the wall. My stepdad Lance helped me hang it so it's earthquake proof and all. Wouldn't want that falling on my head! Anyways, I love it! 


Part 2: I have wanted a shelf to go behind my couch for, oh, since I got a couch. First of all, shelves are spendy! Also, I couldn’t find one the dimensions that I wanted. I didn’t want to have to put up a shelf with weird supports either.  Done that!  So, I decided to build my own. I went down to Home Depot, bought some wood, and brought it home.  I predrilled the holes and screwed the pieces together to form a ledge-type shelf. It’s about twelve inches wide and six feet long. I did a little detailing on the front, and painted it to match.  Hanging it up was a little tricky by myself, but I did it. I love it! I’m currently looking for some buffet lamps to go on both sides of it.  I found some I LOVE, but they cost $500! WHAT?! So, I might be looking in the wrong places.  



Don't worry.  All those filled holes? Yeah, my stud finder is FAULTY. But, I found them. It's all patched and painted now. No worries! 

After gaining some confidence with my shelf, I decided to try and build a little chair for my nephew, Axton. I know his parents (or at least his mom) have been looking for a little reading chair for him for awhile now, but they are all so expensive!  Well, after buying some wood at a steal, and with some great help from my friend, Jennifer (Thanks for letting me use your shop and for helping me!), I had all the pieces cut and sanded.  All in all, the chair probably took a total of 2 hours or less to put together. It would’ve probably been easier, but my tools leave something to be desired. Anyway, here is the finished product for under $5! I found the plans at this site (that I LOVE).  I already have a project list! I hope Axton loves this chair as much as I loved making it. 


Next, but not last (future post in the works), I started to plant a garden.  Here are my little seedlings.  I planted green onions, chives, spinach, tomatoes, and some flowers. Let's just say that it's not going quite as I had hoped, and as of today, my little garden is quite unruly. I have to figure something out.  They need to be replanted, and I almost did and put them outside (because it was getting so warm), but then it went all day-before-Christmas on us again with a blizzard. Seedlings are hard! I may or may not have to buy starts. Time will tell.