The World According to Leslie

Last week, Tony, Chasity, and I had the opportunity to help assemble bicycles for Toys for Tots.   Cougar Run Winery in Concord saves their tip money for the year and purchases bicycles to donate to Toys for Tots. Last year, they had over 100. This year, they had ALMOST 100---but they were shut down for 4 months!   Imagine what they could have done this year, if they had not been closed for 4 months!  Panoramic Shot of the Room of Bikes and Volunteers Chasity and the group of scouts she was working with assembled 46 of the bikes. That's about 1/2 of the total. They started at 6pm last Thursday, and they were done (and cleaned up) by 9pm. Three hours, 8 scouts, parents too, and they completed 46 bikes!  Tony and Chasity together worked on and completed 8 bikes. Chasity only allowed me to help once or twice. :)  She wanted to do it herself. Tony was there for assistance, if she needed it.  The hardest part on every bike was the brakes. She had to make s...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I'm simply amazed that 2017 has ended and today begins 2018! My motto for this year is "It's going to be great in 2-0-1-8!" (You have to say the numbers separately for it to sound right!) Anyways, I made a list of goals for this year. Some of them are things I have done before, but I want to do again. Some of them are things I've never done, but I want to challenge myself. I didn't make any RESOLUTIONS this year. I guess if I were to make one, it would be to do things that make me a better person, a happier person.  I read somewhere, and shared with my Sunday School teens, that only 12% of people actually succeed in completing their New Year's Resolutions. It also said that about 1/3 of people never actually get started with them at all. That sounds bad, but the reason given for it is that if people say "I'm going to lose weight," but they don't put in the meal planning, correct grocery shopping, and daily wo...

A while back, I saw this tutorial online about Sewing Ribbon Dish Towels.  Click here to go to the tutorial. I follow Aesthetic Nest and she had this on her site. So finally last night, I got the stuff from Wal-Mart to try this.  Hopefully I will remember to put pics of the finished product online.    I’m just trying to find something that I like to do.  I  really wish I could sew (or do something) well enough to sell the stuff so I could bring some money in.  I just need to find something that I can do well.    Any suggestions?

I started something that I just don't think I'm going to have time to finish. I started the Creativity Boot Camp, but then everything went crazy. I found that I barely had time to finish the days I did complete. Then, I got behind. Now, I've completed 4 days and they are on DAY 9! I'm almost a week behind. I could try and catch up, but I think I'm OK with stopping where I am! :) It's OK to not finish some things! :) Yesterday, I watched "Julie and Julia"! Have you ever seen that? It's a great movie! I highly recommend it! It's about a lady who cooked her way through Julia Child's cookbook in a year and blogged about it. It also tells Julia Child's story as it goes! I loved it!! Anyways, the lady, Julie Powell, had started lots of things, but never finished them. Then she started the blog about what she was cooking and she actually finished it! I won't spoil then ending....just in case you want to watch it for yoursel...

I finally have the jacket for Chasity's dress and jacket laid out. All I have to do now is cut it, sew it, and she can wear it! The dress was really easy! I'm sure I'll do another of those. However, the pattern also had a shirt and pants. I'm going to do those next! Here is the jacket laid out and ready to cut out! Here is the dress. It is finished. The back and the front look alike--except the front has those buttons on the straps! Chasity picked out the buttons herself! :) Here is Chasity in the dress! She was posing for a picture after her Bridging Ceremony! :) I think she looks adorable! Until next time........

So yesterday began my journey of learning to sew. Technically all I did yesterday was pick a pattern and some material! BUT...that's more than I've ever done! I am happy with what I accomplished. :) So this morning, I decided to read the instructions (like my mom told me to)! Then I cut out the pieces we are going to need. The dress has 4 pieces (front, back, and front & back facing). So I cut those first. (The picture only has the front and back in it.) Then I just out the pieces (3--front, back, and sleeve) for the jacket! Now, I am ready to pin it down and cut the material. However.... I think I need to go get some straight pins. (Maybe my mom will have some!) I only keep SAFETY PINS in my house! :) But... if I'm going to learn to sew, I need to get SOME of the tools! :) For now, I'm happy with what I have done. So far, I've done it all on my own! Once Mom shows me how to pin the material down and cut it out, I will do most of that myself...

So.... my mom told me that to start with, she will show me some basics for sewing. I am a little worried about mom being near me with scissors (lol).....but.... I'm gonna do it! Guess what I got today? A pattern! Yep! It's from the "Sewing Patterns for Dummies" series! It LOOKS simple. However, I'm NOT the craftiest person I've ever met (though I do TRY to be)....so I'm looking at this as an adventure. Want to see the pattern I bought? Mom and I are going to make the dress. I took Chasity to the store after school today. We (ok SHE) picked out cute cute cute material. It's a lime green with hot pink polka dots....small dots! I did have to steer her away from the pink and purple tie-dye she first wanted. I thought we should attempt this with something that wouldn't be too hard to get the pattern to match! :) AND... for the jacket, we have a solid hot pink! I will keep you updated as we work on this. I have to read the instructions that came with th...

Ok...so I'm always learning something new. However, recently, I have seriously been thinking about something. I want to learn to sew. My mom has a sewing machine I can use any time I want to. Of course, if I really learn to sew, I'd want my own sewing machine! ;) Anyways, I have been checking into classes. I have only found one place in my town that does classes. They offer a 4 week class for $115. That's not bad for a class. But, I'm afraid I wouldn't learn in 4 weeks and I'd need to take the class again! lol Anyways, I'm still looking into it. I'd love to learn. I will one day. However, I've seen some REALLY cute things that I'd love to sew for Chasity to wear! :) Until next time........