Conquering Zippers

I think I have finally gotten over my fear of sewing zippers. I watched a lot of you tube videos and read a lot of tips on blogs and felt confident enough to give it a go... The first zippered pouch was a disaster. I stitched the zipper on pretty well, it was just that I should have cut the pouch fabric a little bigger so I could cut it once it was stitched together to square it up. That first attempt is in the trash... Totally frustrated I pulled out a stapler and some duct tape and made these two bags. No sewing involved at all. Baby steps...
These were super easy to make, and turned out super cute. I see myself making a lot more of these in the future. 
With two zippered pouches under my belt... I went back to my sewing machine and made this... Ta-da! My first successful zippered pouch!

Loved the fabric so I made a little flat zippered pouch too. Fully lined of course...

Over the weekend I bought another stack of fabric for the whopping sum of $2.00.

I pulled out this blue fabric thinking it looked like Van Gogh's Starry Night painting...

While doing research on sewing zippers, I came across some tutorials on adding fabric to each end of the zipper and then using that fabric to stitch together to whatever your making. Here you can see the triangle shaped lighter fabric that I stitched on the ends of the zipper.

 I have not mastered zippers-- yet, but I feel well on my way to not being intimidated by the little suckers.

 I have a board on Pinterest called "Zippered Pouches" If your needing some inspiration to conquer sewing zippers, I suggest you check it out.
big hugs,

Pirate Party 2015

 I hosted my grand kids pirate parties a few weeks ago...I think everyone had a good time. I know I did! The shooting gallery was a big hit.
It was cute to see the little kids take aim and fire the rubber bands at various things.

I was impressed that the kids didn't shoot at each other, that was a big concern of mine.

 The tattoo parlor was a popular place too. Here it is waiting for the first customer to have a seat...

I had a binder full of fun things for the kids to select from....
My grand daughter is the queen of giving tattoos...

I let whomever wanted to apply the tattoos do so. All the kids were very nice and helped each other out... cute. Sometimes it is just plain fun to be in charge of something.

I added a Foosball table to the backyard this year.
I had this beside the larger pirate store. I think the kids liked it, although it didn't hold their attention that long....
There is a lot to see in our pirate backyard....

You just never know what your bound to see looking around...

Tucked in amongst the pirate loot are random mice, snakes etc... which have even managed to scare me--- and I'm the one who put them there!

Hard to believe but in the middle of my backyard is a pool. I normally don't show it in photos--- because it detracts from my pirate yard. *wink* I did take down our pool fence.... so I needed to create something to keep the kids mindful of the pool... so I made some crowd control barriers. Easy peasy... and they worked. No one fell into the pool.

I wanted to make a small pirate ship for the pool... but  I just couldn't bring myself to start another project. Maybe next year~

My backyard really isn't that big to be honest. I live on a corner lot so my backyard is "L" shaped... the side of my house has a long wooden deck which is where the party games are held...

The three trees planted along the fence line in the front yard provide the area with plenty of shade... 

That and the fact I have three matching gazebos lined up on the deck!

I often times wonder what our house looks like from the sky when a random plane or helicopter flies overhead...

On the cement RV pad is where I have the Boutiki store...

This little store is full of wooden things like Tiki's and wooden bowls and hand carved items. All of which I do in my spare time *ahem*

My grand daughter Chloe really likes to play in here...

It is her store after all.... She loves to play cashier... and sweep.

The pirate ship regatta game didn't pan out... who knew there was an art at making boats that floated. Oh they were cute--- but they fell over and sank... so it then became a "Blow your cannon ball Game"

No one was the wiser *wink* It was a hot day... even I stuck my hand in the cool water a few times.

This little cherub had her hand in this bucket of fish most of the morning. Looks like fun doesn't it?

 

We had a lot of candy on the buffet table, I had to remind kids to help themselves to whatever they wanted. Very well behaved kids, I must say!

Chloe was Ms. Business as usual... busy sorting out tattoos...

Chloe was at the spa right before her birthday party. She had her hair done and a french manicure too.... Nana had her well schooled on what to ask for on her nails.

Most everyone came dressed in their finest pirate attire...

How adorable huh?

Even this cute-as-can-be baby got in the pirate spirit. This little one was a complete joy! Such a happy baby :-)

All in all it was a fabulous day filled with fun times for my grand kids and their friends.

*one last photo*... This photo of Chloe receiving one of the gifts I had given her just cracks me up.... I couldn't even see her behind the box--- and when I did she said to me, "Thanks, I was needing a new glue stick." Oh that girl makes me laugh!

Glue sticks?... I'm still laughing~
big hugs,

Weekend Treasures

Here are my latest treasures from several weekends past...

 I bought a large box with tons and tons of pirate loot. It was all mixed together so I sorted through it so I could use it in various places around my yard.... aargh...

 This was the best score of the day. Two hundred and fifty gift bags for only... wait for it..... dying to know aren't you? Ok, ok, ok... I got 250 gift bags for only $3.00. Yep. The man I bought it from said the box of new gift bags cost him over $100 dollars, and he sold it to me for only $3.00. ScOrE. I also bought 500 sheets of pink tissue paper-- still sealed in the package for $1.00!

 My friend Juan whom I always try to buy something from... sold me a HUGE box of fabric for $8.00. My girl friends have huge stashes of fabric... me, not so much. Now I do! *woot-woot* I have been saving some pins on Pinterest of some really cute small zippered pouches that I'd like to make. No excuses now!

Here are some smaller pieces of fabric that were in the box ranging in price from $2 to $5. Yikes. This is why I don't have stacks and stacks of fabric laying around! Fabric is so expensive! In amongst the fabric was a quilt top too. Lucky me~

 I also scored on the folding up rolling cart that is holding all of my new fabric stash... that was $5 well spent.
 
I found a large bundle of zippers... $1.00 for 300 of them.

 I also got a few dollar items for my backyard... boxes and some do-dads that quickly filled my cart.

 This heavy wooden box was only $5. I am going to make a cushion for it and make it into a small seat.

With the summer heat fast approaching I've got big plans to sit inside and do a lot of sewing. New fabric, plenty of zippers.... and a lot of pins on Pinterest. That is the plan anyway... unless I go all magpie on something and lose my train of thought. *wink*
big hugs,