Food Team Appreciation BBQ...

Last week my husband and I hosted an appreciation BBQ at our house for all the people who serve on the food team each week. Unfortunately with it being memorial day weekend, most of the people were out of town, but it still turned out pretty good.


The day before we prepared by cleaning the BBQ, because there was so much black grease all over the stainless steel. I first tried to use some stainless steel cleaner and a sponge, but it didn't seem to work... then I pulled out the Magic eraser sponge and the results were amazing... well you can see for yourself.... (unfortunately I don't have a before picture, but you can get the idea... this is after 5 months of about 2-3 meals per week usage... after magic sponge cleaning)

Yellow Aprons...

It's been nice to have a bit of sewing time these past few days. I've been able to wrap up a few of the ongoing projects as well as making a few new ones for others. Here's one of my latest projects...

Here's a close up of the pocket detail.

I bought the fabric from a thrift store. I love making something new from something old... sometimes I find very unique finds like in the case of this fabric... it looked like it had never been used, there was absolutely no visible fading or coloring.

The bias tape I already had from some previous projects... and since it is my favorite color, I was thrilled to use it for this project.

I just posted this "Lemon Blossom Full Hostess Apron" in my etsy store. I'm still in the making process, but check back soon for some really beautiful maternity products.

The grocery bag project...

I just finished the rest of the grocery bags for my in-laws that I had posted about before. Here are some pictures of the finished bags....





I recently got some clothing labels made for my new Sprouts maternity store on etsy, so I was able to try them out on these beautiful olive green/aqua colored grocery bags.

How to... hem a prom dress

I recently hemmed my cousin's prom dress and thought to my self "this would be a valuable skill for young people to know how to do, especially if they don't have the money to hire a tailor." Since most of us don't have that special interlock machine that will finish the hem of the dress, I came up with a simple technique that looks pretty professional in the end.


Step 1: Fold under 1/8" further down from where your desired length would be. Pin to keep in place. Press (with med to low heat iron) a creaseon the fold of the hem.Step 2: Sew 1/8" closest to the folded edge. Taking out the pins as you go.


Step 3: CAREFULLY cut off the extra unneeded hem length with a sharp pair of sewing shears. Try to cut really close to your finished stitch line you just sewed, but try not to cut more than 1/16".


Step 4: Fold under about 1/8" to 1/4" pressing and pinning as you go, so that no raw edges are exposed.Step 5: Sew as close as you can (1/8") from the inside edge, so that you attach the rolled under edge to the inside of the dress.

Congratulations! You have mastered this important life long skill, and saved a bit of money too.

If you would like to see more handmade or vintage products of mine, please feel free to check out my sproutsmaternity shop (for maternity, children and accessories) or my jnsweeney shop on etsy.com (for vintage items).

Our summer garden...

The summer is such a busy time! Running here, running there... staying inside all day to stay cool, visiting in-laws etc. Some times when I've been inside all day I like to come outside and sit under the shade of our patio umbrella to unwind. One of my summer projects has been to tackle our over grown garden. I planted come Cilantro, Basil, Peas and green and yellow beans in the spring and have enjoyed seeing the new growth sprouting up in my garden.

Here are some picts of the plant growth so far...

Day 11: First SproutsDay 12: Sprouts

Day 13: Sprouts

Day 18: Sprouts

Day 29: Sprouts

Another summer project of mine will be building up my new etsy store sproutsmaternity.etsy.com which will feature various maternity products.

more to follow...

My dream and quiet time...

I often have dreams with overtones of the end times... last night was similar to my previous dreams, but involved a lot of reflection both in my dream and when I woke up...

I had a dream where I was living my life in fear of God yet anticipation of his coming.... I was in a school yard with all these other kids there were all these natural disasters going on around us. I was initially surprised and confused as to why all the earthquakes and other natural disasters were all happening around the same time.

When my friend Trina (my closest Christian friend in high school) then told me that it was because Christ would was going to return any minute... because all of the signs were happening. Knowing that he would come, I started living each minute in wait... like "oh, another earthquake... he must be coming", and I would look in the sky and wait, but he didn't end up coming. Almost like a puppy waiting for his master to come home... every car door or person going by would get it all worked up.
All of a sudden I was with my husband at a strange place that was not our home. My husband was with me taking his lunch break and had to go back to work afterwards. I was talking with him about my time with Trina, and I wasn't sure why Christ didn't come... and then it just dawned on me... it's because in it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:2- "For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night"... and in Matthew 24:43-44 "But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect"... which is to say that NO ONE will actually know when the exact minute he will return.

So then in my dream I was kind of battling with how I should live, because when I was fearful and excited at the same time that he was coming every minute, my mind was more focused on God, but then at the same time Christ says that NO ONE will know which means that I won't know the exact minute he will come, so did that mean I should live my life out not expecting him to come?

I woke up and started thinking about what I had just dreamed, and Ironically looked over at a book on my husbands book shelf that caught my eye entitled How Should We Then Live? by Francis A. Schaeffer... I don't think it's necessarily related to my dream and the passages I read, but the title kind of does...

After I got up, I looked up the thief passages that I was referring to in my dream and I came across this passage:
2 Peter 3:10-18 "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies (or elements) will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works done will be exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of the lawless people and loose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."

The conclusion I came to after reading these passages was that even though I won't know exactly which hour, minute and second he is coming, I should still live in anticipation for his return. By anticipating his return as I am living a God honoring life, by His grace my steps will be more purposeful as they are focused on Him, and I will be able to glorify God more.

Maranatha!

Babysitting the Girls at the Volleyball Tournament

This weekend was the volleyball tournament... Here we are loading into the car.


Some friends of ours went out of town for a conference, so we had the pleasure of adopting their two girls while they were gone. We had a blast playing house for a few days! The girls probably entertained us more with their silly moments and childish banter then we did them...


"Let me see the fitchers," Fiona exclaimed, while Abby posed with her infamous cheese ball smile, as I take a few quick snapshots on the way to the Volleyball tournament.


And off we went...

We had a friend help us with the girls, so that my husband and I could play on the team. Our team was costumed after the television show LOST, each team member with his or her own character to play. I played Kate Hudson and my husband played Sayid Jerrah, while our other team members played John Locke, Juliet, Ben Linus, Shannon and Charlie. It was a lot of fun! Unfortunately I forgot about the camera, so sadly these are the only pictures I have from the day. :(


My apron and 4 free sewing lessons seemed to be a popular raffle prize with the ladies, and Abby ended up winning the steak dinner for two at our house, so I guess we will be seeing the girls again real soon. :)