Charissa's Netbook Cover

Those of you who follow Charissa know that she recently graduated from Athens State with a degree in Elementary Education. Yea-Charissa!! You Rock!! Anyway for graduation she got a Netbook from Grandma DeeDee, whom we all love! So, she's been telling me she would like to have a cover to protect it but I hadn't really had the time to make it for her until...last night! I finally got my sewing room cleaned up and somewhat organized and after seeing Myra's cute little cover, I put this together for her finishing it today with some buttons. I'm loving the buttons right now, can you tell?
So what do you think Charissa? Do you like it???? I hope so. (Actually, she did like it, that's why I finished it.) Pretty good fit too, considering I had never laid eyes on a netbook, huh? It's about 8"x11" more or less. It's drapery weight fabric on the outside and lined with a quilted fabric. The flap is a separate piece that I added, to give it some definition. I would have monogrammed it, but I wasn't sure she would like it, or that it would even fit.
So what about the rest of ya'll? What do you think? Come on, I know you're out there, let me know what you think. Any improvements you would make?


Here are our graduate and Grandma DeeDee with Jacob. Did I mention that it was freezing that day? And that Charissa was 'bout dead with the crud? It was worth it though. Grandma Didi earned that diploma!

Brimmed Newsboy Beanie

Andrew is my all boy 8 year old son. Very rarely does he ever ask me to make him anything so when he requested a brimmed newsboy style beanie I jumped on it. First, we had to choose some colors. He wanted it to match his favorite football team at the moment the Tennesee Titans. After talking about the colors, he decided that he would rather match to his next favorite team - the Pittsburgh Steelers. So here is what we came up with.

Friday Fails - Shipping Costs

So running an Etsy shop with my wonderful Mother-in-love is so much fun!  We get to meet new people and share our love of handmade products.  We try to keep our prices reasonable and affordable including our shipping costs.  Well, this brings me to my fail.  Myra at My Blessed Life has asked us to share our fails. 

You have all read about how much MiMi loves the hand knit dishcloths I made her.  If you missed that post, you can find it here.  Anyway, I have not really sold any of these dishcloths and wondered what the problem could be.  The price seems reasonable at $9.00 for a set of three.  The colors are bright and fun, but they still were not selling.  Well, I looked at the listing and realized I was charging $3.50 for shipping!!!  The shipping has been changed to $2.00 if purchased alone and $1.00 if purchased with another item.  Much more reasonable.  Don't you think?

And of course, I have to share some pictures of MiMi's Favorite Hand Knit Dishcloths. 

Carribean Getaway

Lemon Lime Colorway

Playtime Colorway

Share your Friday Fails and link up at My Blessed Life. 

Faith's Diaper Bag

I seriously need some photo skills. This is my niece's diaper bag. She wanted a large bag with pockets on the outside to put a sippy cup in. I added some large pockets on the inside along with a cell phone sized pocket with Faith's initials to make it a little more personal.
I wished after I got it finished that I had used a different font to put her name on the outside. All in all though, it turned out nicely. I've made lots of bags. Here are some of them.





Ok, enough of that for now! Have a blessed day!

Doors dont wear clothes very well!

Doors don't wear clothes very well!

He Became Our Sin

This is something that has been on my mind and my heart for a while now.
I want you to think of the worst thing that you've ever done. Yes, that thing you hope no one knows about or ever finds out about. That thing you don't even want to think about. You've buried it so deep you had almost forgotten about it. We all have something. Maybe it was something that only happened once. Perhaps it's a habit that you got caught up in. Maybe it is just thoughts you have or the way you feel about someone that is just wrong. Oh sure, yours may not be as bad as mine, but we all have something wouldn't you agree?
Now, think about this. "He (God) made Him (Jesus) Who knew no sin, to be made sin for us." Jesus took on your sin. He even took on my sin. But not only did He take it on Himself, but He was made to be sin on our behalf. He became that thing. That awful, hidden tried-to-forget-it thing that we all have in our past. Not only took it on Himself, but became it. It cost Him. It cost Him pain, humiliation, shame, all the things that it cost you, it cost Him. He who knew no sin. He didn't have any sin in His closet, but He was willing to open that closet up, take out all that stuff we had hidden away, dust it off and put it on Himself. And be judged as sin, for us. God judged sin in Him that day at Calvary.
Does that speak to your heart like it does to mine? It speaks love to me. A love that can never be matched. Your parents can't love you that way. Nor your spouse. Not a friend. Not your child. No One.
Do we deserve that? No. Can we earn that? No. It's a gift. It's grace.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found.
Was blind but now I see.
Thank you Jesus!

Time to Clean Out!

My sewing room is a mess. No, it's really a disaster. No, I'm not going to take a picture so you can see. I've taken over the entire living room of our home. It's not a tiny space, but it's full of fabric, scraps, buttons, thread, patterns, tables and more...stuff. So it's time to clean it up. I've listed three little sundresses in the etsy shop that I made last spring or winter, I don't even remember. I didn't even make an effort to sell them last summer. Don't know why, I just didn't. In my opinion they are quite cute. Just your classic criss-cross dress with bloomers. The thing is I used a vintage pattern to make them. Really just to see how the pattern worked, as opposed to a newer pattern. Guess what? Not much different. Of course, it does have really simple clean lines. A Classic.
Oh, did I mention that if you buy two of those you can have the other one? And I'll pay part of the shipping. I just don't need 3 little sundresses. We don't have any girls! I'm just saying......
Let me know what you think. I'll be making up some new stuff soon. First I have to hem Charissa's pants before she fires me!

The Boys are Ready for Winter

Ok so I had a lot of pictures to share so I thought maybe a blog post was in order. As those of you who who follow us on Twitter know, I (Charissa) have started making tarfs. Tarfs are crocheted scarves for little people. They are so adorable. Tarfs came about when a customer's son asked for a tarf to go with his beanie. 

Here are some pics of Jacob in her son's new tarf.

Tarfs will be in our Etsy shop - MiMi's Babies in two sizes. Regular - approx. 5" x 44" and Long - approx. 5" x 56".




Jackson and his beanie and matching regular tarf.

Caleb in his regular tarf and matching beanie. Caleb's beanie has been washed and dried more times than I can count and is now in its 2nd year of use. These beanies are tough and wear well! 

Jacob and his long tarf.  He such a good little model!

At one point Caleb decided that Jackson should be wearing his tarf and beanie.  Caleb is a year older than Jackson and they are both tough little boys.  Caleb has been wearing his tarf and beanie since we left the house this morning.  He wore it all during church and lunch a Mimi's. 

So what do you think of the new "tarfs"?  Leave a comment and let us know.

Bag W/Accessories

A picture of the bag I made to go with previously posted tissue holder and wallet. Made a keychain to go with it too. Just because.
Not a very good picture.

New Stuff

The reason I wanted it to snow was so that I could get caught up on some projects and start something new. Well we didn't get snowed in, really, but I did get some things finished up. Yes Kelly I have finally finished the bonnet to your car seat cover and your head rest for same. See you soon!


I made a purse for a friend's GD, and then had some fun making accessories for it. What do you think? (Pics of purse later.) It's a little wallet, just big enough for folding money, a license and debit cards (cause we don't carry those nasty Credit Cards now, do we?) and a tissue holder. Maybe a key chain to match would be nice....


I had so much fun making the little wallet that I made a few more! The one on the bottom right is MINE! Love that vintage button!


Well, back to the real world. Gotta brave the cold to buy snaps for bags. How did I run out of those?

Christy your bag is next. Almost done. Need snaps....

Big Snow?

Is that all there is? I was really hoping for at least an inch! Which here in the South would have been enough to shut everything down for a couple days, easy! Oh, I know there are people who don't really need it to snow for different reasons, but I really wanted to get snowed in...I think. It is supposed to be dangerously cold the next few days. Stay warm and be careful. Cover your little people really well if you take them out. Exposed skin is not a good thing in this kind of cold.

Is everyone else in Alabama watching THE BIG GAME? We are too. Well, Hubby is really watching it. I'm in the same room with it. I should be sewing, but I'm keeping him company while he watches. I know he appreciates it. And I know he loves my commentary on it. Ha! Roll Tide!

So, it's the new year already, can you believe it? I'm a little late with that, but sometime during Christmas a BUG got me. Felt more like getting hit by a truck! It's mostly gone now, but I know from reading some blogs while I was sick that a lot of others have had it too. Hope everyone is feeling much better.


An update on the curtains. They are done! Thought I would show you a pic. They look pretty good hanging. My friend took a picture of them hanging in his kitchen so I could show them off.

If you've been to our store you know that Charissa has been very busy! She's got some amazing things there. Take a look.

There is also a new tshirt for little boys. It's too cute. Another one coming soon.

Well, I'm done rattling. The team may need me. Better get back to it.

Maybe it will snow some more...
Mimi