Unexpected Time!

Happy Sunday, Everyone!!

Found out last minute yesterday morning that our baseball games were cancelled because of crummy field conditions (due to the crazy rain!) so all of the sudden we had a WHOLE DAY with NO PLANS!!  Yipee!!! What does one do with one's self when you have a whole day and no plans???  This is what I did!!!

1.  Design picture wall and enlist hubby to hang said pictures:

2.  Pull out sewing machine and get busy making the reusable snack bags you've been planning for about 3 months:

a) I used unbleached, cotton (I did NOT use organic because I'm too impatient to wait for the mail..so I went to JoAnn's and used theirs).  I got 2 different weights and then ended up using the utility weight, which is much heavier and I figure will stand up to multiple washings better.  

b)  Wash and iron fabric (my very least favorite part of any project).

c) Cut one big 9 1/2 inch strip...I wanted my bags to be just a smidge taller than the little ziplock snack bags...so, with a seam allowance of 1/4 inch, this gives me a finished height of 4 1/2 inches (since you will be folding the fabric in half...you'll see).  Fold and iron the top and bottom (long ways) in about 1/4 inch (make sure the ends fold into each other, since you are essentially making what will be the finished top) like this:

d) Lay one half of your velcro along the top and sew in place along the top edge (along your nice ironed edge) and then the bottom of the velcro:  (I used the soft side of my velcro first)

It's kind of hard to see in this picture but I did leave a little bit of fabric along the side rather than pushing the velro to the very edge..

e.)  Turn your fabric and do the same thing with the bottom edge of fabric and your other ironed end.  Make sure that you are working on the same side of the fabric because in the next step you will fold it in half and you want your velcro to line up so that they are facing eachother!

f).  At this point, you should have one big long strip of fabric with one strip of velcro along the top and one along the bottom.  Now, fold that strip of fabric "backwards" in half..so that the velcro strips meet at the top but are on the OUTSIDE.  Line up so that the short edges meet up (might need to square them up with a rotary cutter) and sew a 1/4 inch seam...

g)  Almost done!  Cut the other end (opposite of the seam you just made)...you can decide how long you want your baggie to be...I cut mine at 6 1/2 inches so that my finished baggie would be 6 inches long (with 1/4 seam allowances on either side).  Line up these edges and sew seam shut! Voila..your lovely little inside out baggie!

h)  Turn the whole little baggie to right side out and your velcro should meet up perfectly!  

You can continue, conga-line fashion (heehe) sewing up one side, cutting baggie to desired length and then sewing other side until you run out of "strip" to cut/sew.  I got 4 6 inch baggies plus one smaller one out of one strip of fabric and one yard of velcro.  

THEN...I decided to personalize a bit (this was an impulse so, admittedly, my supplies were a little sad)...so I took some old puffy paint, squirted it in a paper plate and painted it flat...while it was still wet, I used an old set of alphabet stamps to stamp on little messages....Next time I do this, I'll maybe get more creative...or at least have a few more colors or stamp options but I really didn't feel like digging through all my old scrapbooking stuff (did we ALL go through a scrapbooking phase??).  Anyway, they turned out like this:

I've been meaning to do this for a while..I HATE using those little plastic ones...I remember watching my Mo wash them out and reuse them when I was a kid so I think it must be genetic.  Anyway, what else did I do??

3.  Used more of those Sally Hanson stickers for my toes (rainbow camouflage this time) and went and got..gasp....a MANICURE!  (I never do that so it felt like a completely indulgent treat).  Ok, so last year I discovered this new kind of manicure called different things, depending on where you live.  I've seen it called "shellac", or "gel" around here.  What they do, is take a special nail polish and basically bake it to your nails using a UV light...I was skeptical at first...but I got one before Thanksgiving last year...and I am NOT KIDDING when I say that it lasted to almost Christmas...it actually lasts as long as your nails take to grow out..so if you get a dark color, the grow out is more noticeable but if you get a light color (or even a french mani), it could last more than a month easily.  I've been craving grey for some reason and, since its my Bday month and we are going to Vegas next weekend, I decided to splurge (it runs between 20-30 bucks a pop!..ouch..BUT like I said...it lasts forever!!!)...so here they are:

I'm going to take a picture each week so you can see how awesome and durable this type of manicure it...love.love.LOVE!!! 

Phew..that was kind of a marathon post...but my kids are at CCD and the Teacher is at Lowe's so it's nice and quiet this Sunday morning.

What did you all do this weekend???  What do you like to do when you get some unexpected time to yourselves????

~Bean