Sew and Tell

Here is the scarf that I made Monday night. It requires just a little sewing, but a lot of braiding. You can find the tutorial here.
Maddy has already worn it yesterday, but it's going back in the stash for Christmas gifts today. She said she got a lot of compliments yesterday, so I guess it's a hit! And one of my nieces will like it... I hope... I think I'll be making another one tonight. Maybe in a different color.

I found it on Pinterest.com. Yeah I know. They don't pay me or ANYTHING to talk about them. But I'll give you a quick tutorial on how to use them. Someone asked that I do a tutorial on it sometime, so here you go...

First click on the website. Then start browsing through what other people think is cool. There is a Search box at the top if you're looking for something specific... like tshirt scarf... or caffeinated cookies... or hot celebrities...

Someone has found one on the web somewhere. Trust me... In order to be part of Pinterest, you need to get invited, so click on the request button. But they're not picky. It really seems like a no-cut type activity, so you're probably safe.

Once you get invited, you will need to install (very easy) a PIN IT button for your browser. Then when you hit a picture of something that interests you online or a blog tutorial somewhere that strikes your fancy, you can click on the Pin It button and the internet will automatically pin the website with your choice of pictures to your personal Pinterest board.

You can categorize them however you want. Be it People Who Inspire You, Food I Can't Get Enough Of, Recipes I Want to try, Crafty things I want to make, etc.

You'll start accumulating things and others will see them on the general wall and start following you. You can browse through other peoples things that they find interesting and repin them to your boards, or just like them... You can follow other people and see their items towards the top of your general wall whenever you log in. It's interesting to see what your friends think is interesting and just might give you ideas on what to get them for gifts!

There are some awesome craft ideas and projects out there. Oh! The beauty part is, when you set to pin someones blog site onto your board, when you click on your board, it will take you right to that person's blog so you can get the directions right off the bat! And you don't need to link everything yourself.

Just Pin it!

I did find another website similar to this JUST for craft things, but haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Do you think I would be allowed to pin their site here? Shoot, now I can't find it. I better pin it when I find it...

Nonspecific Monday

I can't believe it's Christmas Monday! I think I'm finally gettin' coming down with something. I'll keep the Kleenex handy I guess...

Anyone notice the Christmas music on the radio lately!!??!!! As predicted last year, Maddy was driving when she noticed it and almost drove off the road in her excitement. Then had to drive VERY carefully the rest of the way home because a policeman noticed her antics and followed her...

I made 3 scarves over the weekend that I found on Pinterest. Super easy and super cute. Meri was in a bum-my mood this morning so I let her wear the black & white one to school. She's happy now. If you're on Pinterest, look me up! I'm Val Mc. Tutorials: Scarf 1, Scarf 2, Scarf 3.
This is not the one that I made, but similar. Meri took it to school so I didn't get a picture. The directions are all in German, but the pictures make it easy to understand.
Meri tested for her Black Belt yesterday and wasn't able to break her 2nd board. So she's not going to advance for now. The other student passed, we think... So she'll probably be on her own with her form until January when she can test again. She was pretty upset but was greatly relieved when I told her about January.Robb led the Veteran's into the middle school program on Friday morning with his bagpipes. After a false start and due to the cold weather, the pipes weren't cooperating so he had to stop a few times during the procession and adjust the drones. The last verse of Scotland The Brave sounded awesome!!! He figured he didn't want to disrespect our nations heroes with If You Think I'm Sexy... He'll save that for another gig.Maddy's high school play was this weekend and we saw it on Friday night. She was a stage manager so we didn't see her until the end when she was autographing middle school kids programs. Middle school kids get extra credit for certain classes if they attend high school events. I had Maddy autograph my hand with her permanent magic marker and it took several hand washings to get it out by Sunday morning...

Some of you know this already.... but I'm going to be a grandmother this spring! I guess the gray hairs my son gave me when he turned 16 was to prepare me to look the part for this next chapter in my life. I've been practicing my famous baby football hold with any baby I can get my hands on... Some mothers are avoiding me now.

On Saturday night, I went on a mini road trip with a great friend that I so rarely see anymore since she moved to the next town 6 miles away. We just went to Pier 1 Imports and Lowes, but it might as well have been a Thelma & Louise vacation. We almost died a few times on the highway from our laughing. I haven't laughed so hard in years! We were attacked by a cat that we thought had a plastic bag over it's head, but apparently it was a chips bag and it was eating dinner... Well.. We cut down on litter anyway, if not saving the angry cat's life.

Maddy was feeling ill on Sunday night so instead of going to the cross country end of season awards program, we watched The Blues Brothers on Netflix, her, Robb & I. It was a blast! My toe is still tapping. Ah John Belushi... We miss you.

Well... Back to the old grind of work. Spending my lunch hour with a friend and may get more sewing done tonight.

How was your weekend?