nurturing hope, creativity, family
The world is just a better place when strawberries are in season.
They assure me that gray skies and howling wind will depart…. sometime. Sometime soon, I hope!
Meanwhile, we savor the sweetness and dream of warm, sunny days.
I hope it’s sunny where you are!
Hopeful Homemaker
I’ve been looking for a storage bin to fit a certain spot for a long time. Recently it occurred to me that I could just make one instead.
I used a bleached burlap for the outside and chose a coordinating hounds tooth pattern from my stash for the inner lining.
To determine the size of my fabric, I measured the space I wanted it to use on my shelf. This would be the base, and then I decided how high the sides were to be. Once you know those numbers, multiply the height of the sides times two, and add that to your dimensions for the base. For example, if you want the base to be 8 inches wide by 10 inches deep, and your sides to be 6 inches high, then you need to add 12 to the width and height of the base. This means you will cut your fabric to be 20 inches wide by 22 inches long.
Once you do this, you might want to reinforce the fabric by ironing some interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric.
Now you need to lay the fabric flat and on each corner, cut out a square the size of the height of your bin. If we continue the measurements from the above example, you will cut a 6 inch by 6 inch square out of each corner. This will leave you with something of an “x” shaped fabric.
Repeat with the piece which will be your lining.
Fold each “x” in half on a diagonal line through the center square or rectangle. Carefully line up the sides of each piece, with right sides together (RST) and sew down that six inch line.
You will be able to see that you have just formed one corner of the bin.
Repeat with the remaining three sides until you have made a little box.
Repeat with the other piece of fabric to form a second bin. Turn the outer piece right side out.
Now for the embellishments! I chose to make a handle and a little pocket for a label.
For the handle, decide how long you wish it to be, and cut your fabric that long, but twice as wide as you want it. With RST, sew the fabric into a strip lengthwise. Turn it right sides out, tuck the ends under, and attach it to the outer bin wherever you want it.
For the label holder, I cut a small rectangle, and then cut another, smaller rectangle out of the center. I placed a piece of clear vinyl behind it and sewed around the inner edge of the burlap rectangle. Then I sewed the rectangle to the bin on the sides and bottom only, leaving a pocket in the top.
Lastly, place the lining inside the outer shell. Fold the liner under, and then fold it over the top of the outer shell to form a contrasting strip around the top of the storage bin. Carefully sew into place.
You’re done! Now go fill it with whatever you made it to hold.
I must say that the burlap was a bit of a hassle to deal with, especially in spots where I was sewing through several thicknesses of it. Still, I’m happy with the result, and it’s nice to have the size I needed without spending any money. I love it when I find useful ways to use my stash and it’s always fun to combine creativity with organization.
I hope you’ll try one and tell me what you think. It was a lot of fun!
Hopeful Homemaker
April, here we are! I feel like I’m headed up the last big hill before the home stretch. The big hill consists of my taxi driver schedule with 5 soccer players, 3 gymnasts, 4 piano students, etc. etc. and the last 2 months of school. It’s going to get insane, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. If only the sun would shine a little more!
This week: 66 steps.
Summary for the month of March: 353 steps.
A few highlights:
1. My brother, his wife and three children drove from Spokane Washington to spend a few days with us. It was SOOOO great to see them, to have our children play together, to visit and enjoy being together! I loved it. My only regret: I was so busy enjoying myself and the children that I forgot to get out my camera like I intended to do. I also forgot to have them sign the guest book. Bummer!
2. My parents also flew into town to spend a few days. This meant that my other three brothers who currently live in Utah came over a few times, and my 5th brother flew into town to surprise us. This meant that on Saturday night I had my parents and all 5 of my brothers in my home! SO GREAT. It also made me miss my sisters. I’m grateful, though, that I have really awesome sisters-in-law who are so much fun to be around.
3. Because we had company, my house got much cleaner this week than I typically manage. That is always a good thing, especially when all 5 bathrooms are clean AT THE SAME TIME.
4. I walked into my bathroom this week and saw this:
My oldest daughter had turned the bathroom into a salon and was doing everyone’s hair… at the same time. Every source of water had a head uncomfortably under it.
The girls all came downstairs looking lovely, but I have to share this picture that my daughter took. It’s out of focus, but still so funny.
This was by far the most memorable hairdo of the day:
Creativity certainly makes some messes, but I’m a fan of good, old-fashioned fun!
5. We re-discovered a childrens book that I had forgotten about.
6. Because I am LDS, I spent 8 hours this weekend sitting with my family to watch General Conference. I feel anxious to study the messages I heard and work much harder to strengthen my family.
7. While watching, I made progress on the binding of a quilt I’ve been working on for a long time.
8. I’m joining my sister in a little 10 week challenge. It should be fun.
9. My parents bought some baby chicks for my children as an Easter memory. My dad remembers the chicks being for sale everywhere before Easter when he was a kid, even at gas stations. It was fun to watch the chicks and to watch my children watching the chicks. I’m on a mission to get some great pictures if someone would just remove the gray paint that has been plastered to the Utah sky this winter.
10. Thanks to my Mom and Dad, along with some “Bunny Servants” as my oldest son dubbed us, we had a really fun little egg hunt for the children on Saturday. It was so cute to watch them run around filling their baskets. I wish I had a picture of my oldest son taking my book page wreath off the wall to hunt for his egg, not seeing the egg, searching for the thumb tack that fell while he held the egg behind his back in plain sight for all of us who were silently laughing before he saw it. The things kids will endure to find an egg with a bit of money in it!
Overall, I feel very thankful for the gift of time spent with family. Relationships are what matter most, and this week was full of opportunities to renew and strengthen relationships. What a blessing! I’m also thankful that this next week is spring break in our school district, for that means I can let the children sleep in tomorrow and hope they catch up on their rest before more cousins hit town in a few days! It should be busy but fun.
I hope your Easter weekend was wonderful. I’ve never been so thankful for Jesus Christ as I am at this point in my life. I am grateful for so many opportunities to grow and change from the inside out.
Wishing you a great week, Jennifer