Well Hello my friends!  So... I'm SO sorry for my unexpected vacation!  I didn't mean to drop off the face of the earth like that... I'm hoping most of you saw my status on my Twitter feed in the sidebar.  But I am back now and the weather here in the Midwest is screaming FALL!  I cannot wait for the Autumn Equinox to celebrate the beginning of Fall...

Something that definitely is getting me in the mood for fall and winter is the fact that I've picked up my crochet hook again.  I was inspired by this picture of a beautiful winter cap with a flower... so I looked up some tutorials and found a GREAT one and this is what I made...

And then I just attached it to a hat I already had!  I LOVED making this crochet flower... I highly recommend giving it a shot.  If you have the basic skills down to crocheting this is so easy to do!  If you don't and want to pick crocheting up... just look online for basic tutorials... that's how I learned!  Here's the tutorial for the flower I made.  Enjoy!

This is the simplest sewing project I've ever done!  It's as easy as taking a shirt... cutting it in half... sewing a seam and threading through some elastic!  I did find it a bit difficult as I was sewing the seam... I've never sewn t-shirt material before and it began to pull and move on it's own.  So the end result is a tiny bit messy but no one would be able to tell but me.  After I did this I basically grabbed every t-shirt that I don't wear anymore and I have them in a pile to start making skirts out of!  They great thing is that they all come out a little different... Today I've already made two skirts!  The one pictured below is perfect for a simple summer day... the other one I made turned into a cute black mini that's best suited for a night out on the town.  That one I accidentally left in the bedroom and daddy is putting our little man to sleep so I don't want to disturb them.  I'll add the picture of the black one tomorrow!  Give this a try... even if you don't a sewing machine you really could do this by hand it would just take a little longer that's all... This is a great way to recycle old shirts and to update your wardrobe!  Even if you don't have any shirts to spare and even if you're tight on money take a trip to the thrift store and buy some old t-shirts for $1.99!  The shirt I used below was a golf shirt... a bit different than a t-shirt but it came out great!

My magick garden apron! I decided that I would start with an apron instead of napkins because I had the idea and design in my head for this particular apron.  I wanted one with a pouch to put clippings from the garden in.  I absolutely LOVE the result!  I'm sure I did every wrong in sewing terms and rules but the result to me is perfect. 

I'm so excited to learn more about sewing and use it to help in our homesteading goals.  I felt such pride when I completed this apron... I can't wait to sew more for my family!

Oh yes... I cannot take all the credit... I had help from a certain magickal cat!

~ Be Magickal!

I found these great... well I'm not sure what they are... they could be sheets... but they are perfect and exactly what I was looking for!  They are soft enough and pretty enough for some summer napkins and I think I may have enough material left over for an apron!  We'll see how I do. 

I wasn't sure what to expect... I went in looking for extra large clothing in prints that I could work with but nothing was really jumping out at me... There was one skirt I thought I might be able to work with but it just wasn't satisfying me as much as I thought.  Right as I was about to leave empty handed I looked up and saw a shelf of children's books which caught my interest... as I scanned the room for other interesting children's items I noticed an entire section that I missed with nothing but linens!

I'm definitely a fan of thrift stores now and I will be frequenting them often! 

I stopped by Jo-Anns prior to the thrift store and got a great deal on these two fabrics which I'm hoping to make a garden apron out of.  

There's a lot I have to learn so I think I'll save these two cute pieces of fabric till I get the hang of things but until then... my "fabric" will be coming from thrifts stores everywhere.





Other Magical Happenings
- I've posted a new Made From Scratch Recipe!
- Another Front Porch Dream added to the list!

~ Be Magical!

Sewing is one of the items on my homesteading checklist that I'd like to get started on.  The great thing about my checklist is so many things can be done simultaneously... For example I made another loaf of bread today still searching for the perfect recipe and our garden is something we tend to and learn about each and every day. 

Sewing is something I tried to get into many years ago... which means I have all the basic equipment, but what I am missing is the most essential ingredient... FABRIC!  Yes this is quite easy to find but keep in mind, the entire reason why our quest towards homesteading even began was to save money.  So I'm trying to find fabric on the cheap and spend as little as possible... I'm talking counting coins here.  So my son and I are gonna hit the clearance rack at the fabric store... just to see what they have but I'm hoping to find some real steals at the thrift store nearby.  

My first project is inspired by one of my favorite blogs, Homestead Revival (click on her button in my sidebar), who recently posted about making dinner napkins.  I thought this would be a great place to begin!  Yes it will probably be quite simple but the point is that I will be making something my family can use!  And it will lessen the amount of paper towels we use as well!  I can't wait to get started... and I told my husband not to be surprised if while I'm sewing I begin singing... "I Feel Pretty" (From the movie West Side Story).