~New Stuff~

OK I caved lately and got sucked in by the 'sales'.  Yes, they were good sales, but still not free, so I was still spending money, which I am supposed to be saving not spending.  But it WAS a good deal, and I can blame it all on my friend, Kara, who not only blogged about the deals, but also sent me an email telling me I needed to get myself over to BHLDN.  And like an obedient friend I listened to her:)  I CAN listen to what I'm told!

First up was this 7 1/2 yard roll of linen, scissors included .

Cannot wait to make some pillows or table runners or SOMETHING out of this!

For now it just looks pretty sitting on my shelf in my sewing room.

Isn't this the cutest box?  This is one box I will be keeping.  Too fun!

Can you guess what came in it?? (no it wasn't butter)

Shoes. I'm a sucker for cute shoes. Especially if they have leather lining and soles. AND they are on sale. These fit every one of those categories. I did not deliberate for long. In the cart they went. And there they stayed through the whole check-out process. Which, I might add, I completed as quickly as possible because I was afraid something might sell out before I got mine bought!

I have an outfit all planned around these things.  Now if the snow will only go away I could wear it!

With snow, you will not find me out in anything but boots.

(I know Mom, I know, you never thought you'd see the day)

Candles.  Long, thin tapers.  Grey.  Dripless.  What's not too love?

A whole dozen.  For $9.  You would have bought them too.

Paper medallion fans.  Way too cute and cheap to leave there.  I did refrain from getting all the colors of these they had available and some other really, really cute and fun paper items.  After all I already had the linen and the shoes in my cart.  It was either those two things or get rid of those and buy all paper stuff.  And since the shoes refused to get out of the cart and the linen is rather a business purchase the paper goods had to wait.  Maybe next time they have an awesome sale, offer and extra 40% off AND a friend tells me to get over there!

Have you bought any sale stuff this month?  Any after-Christmas-specials?  Any super deals?  Any splurges?   For yourself?  A gift?  Your family?  Please tell me I'm not the only one who succumbs to this stuff!!  Have a wonderful Sunday - God Bless.

My new boots!

I got these boots on a recent shopping trip.  There were six of us ladies shopping together - four of us bought these:)  $25 at TJM*X.  We later saw the same thing in brown at DSW for $70.  We patted ourselves on the back for the deal we got:)  The teenager wants these for hers.  I'm not giving them up yet though!  I love grey, I love boots, and it's winter in Ohio.  I'm keepin' em.

Beautiful Boots

Land's End has all their footwear on sale today 40% off!!

I want these boots SO bad.  But.  They are still kinda pricey.  Probably worth it but I don't have a ton of cash laying around right now.  I'm trying to hold myself back.  Will ask hubby tonight.  Ha!  Know how THAT will most likely go!  But I'm gonna ask.  Never hurts to ask right?  (Maybe I should ask all the people who owe me money to pay up so I can buy these boots?)

Anyway.  If you need shoes or boots or sandals or any type of footwear for anyone in your family head on over to LE.  It's one of my favorite stores:)

Handmade Shoes

I have been drooling over this shops shoes for awhile now.  And today I discovered this pair.  I want them!!  Are they not just darling??  Sigh.  Someday when I have money to spend I'm getting me a pair or two (or three or four) from this shop.  And no, I don't want to make my own.  Someone else has this figured out and I'll let them have at it.  Give me a wedding dress to stitch on any day!

So don't ask me to make you a pair of shoes.  Go shop on etsy for your handmade shoes - how fun would this be for a wedding party! 

Check them out - http://www.etsy.com/shop/HydraHeart?ref=seller_info 

Need a wedding dress made?  I'm your seamstress:)

Shopping...

On our way home from Kansas we stopped in St. Louis at an outlet mall that we've been wanting to stop at for a few years.  Stopping there put us home at midnight but it was worth it!  This outlet mall was truly an outlet.  Like the ones around here used to be.  Most things were on sale and lots better sales than I ever see around here anymore.

Shoes seemed to be the buy of the day...

Travis came home with THREE pairs of crocs.  $10 for the regular crocs.

$35 for the flip flops which his wife insisted he get regardless of the fact that they were not on sale.  BUT... when the clerk rang them up the other pair of shoe-crocs was FREEEEEE!!!  YAY!

Middle Sister was BEGGING for some Converse.  She wanted black.  They didn't have her size.  She thought the ones that were 2 sized too big would work!  I did not.  So she settled for the grey.  Which I love much better anyway:)

Big Sister found a pair of Purple Crocs on the $10 bin.

And then begged for a pair of purple Converse.  Since it was buy one get on half off, we caved.

Little Sister got some croc pins for the crocs she already owns.

Middle Sister talked me into a Spiderman pin. :(

Little Sister didn't get any new shoes because her Aunt Deborah had just given her these.  Yes, that's a super ball in the heel of the left one.  They all got them at the mall.

Big Sister and I spent awhile in the Aeropostale store.  We are to that stage in life it seems!  She tried several things on but nothing that was on sale enough for Mom or that Mom thought she really needed.

She did find this wallet on the clearance rack.

And I found this bag on the $5.99 rack.  Love finds like this. It's a great size!

Someday I'm spending several hours at this mall.  It had a huge play place for kids and tons of stores we didn't have time to go in.  Maybe next year...!

Sewing shoes - yes! Shoes!

Little Sister and Middle Sister needed new Sunday shoes this fall.  And I was not finding anything that suited me, their likes, and their dad's preferences.  He is a firm believer in all leather - at least the uppers and the lining.  And I've come to think like he does!  They are more comfortable, they look nicer longer, and they last longer.  But I find it very hard to pay the money for children's shoes that they will wear one season and then outgrow.  So I searched and I searched and I stewed a little!  I finally decided on these flats from Mini Boden.  They are leather with leather lining, they were the color of brown I wanted and with a coupon I got them for $33 a pair.  Much better than $80 and up for most of the others I drooled over!  Now I know I can go to P*yless and get shoes for $15 or less but they are not real leather (even if they say they are!) and besides I don't like anything they have right now!!  So don't tell me how ridiculous it was to spend over $30 on shoes for each child;)

 Aren't they adorable?  And let me tell you they look like the cat's pajamas on my two little darlings!!

 We did have a slight problem with Little Sister.  She couldn't keep them on!!  I was worried about that because it seems my girls have all had that problem with shoes that don't have a strap to keep them on.  I was hoping she was old enough to learn how to walk in them anyway.  But, alas, she just couldn't do it.  So... after debating on whether to send them back and exchange them for a size smaller, I decided to bring some sewing skills into the picture:)  Enter some chocolate colored bias binding and a scrap of elastic, and voila!  A strap to keep them on!

 Because they are made of suede leather the sewing part was really quite easy.  The hardest part was getting the side of the shoe and the binding under the machines presser foot at the right angle.  But I was determined and figured it out:)

Little Sister loves them!  And she can keep them on her feet.  So the next time you buy a pair of flats for you little girl and she can't keep them on, don't despair.  A little time, some bias binding, a scrap of narrow elastic, a sewing machine and some thread to match your shoes and you have a cute little strap to keep them on her feet!

I would also like to share a couple links to a couple people who actually MAKE the entire pair of shoes!!  I am in awe!  Now I probably wouldn't wear these to town and places that would be hard on them but for a wedding?  Or special occasions?  DEFINITELY!!  They are on my 'wish' list and I am just amazed at the talent and ingenuity that goes into these.  Check them out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheGeneration  this is my favorite pair on this site: http://www.etsy.com/listing/62064053/oriental-chic-vegan-mary-jane-style-b

And another site:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HydraHeart?ref=seller_info  and this is my favorite pair on this site:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/57883024/lotus-mary-jane

School!!!!

Can you believe school is just around the corner? For some out there it has already started! We start next Tuesday, so today we went shopping for supplies and shoes. Grandma came over and went with us. We ate lunch at Taco Bell/Pizza Hut and then went shopping. This is what Big Sister picked out. New pencils, new folder, new binder, highlighters, erasers, scissors, twistable crayons, and colored pencils!
The front of her binder had a pocket so I fixed this up for her. She went home with Grandma for a few days before school starts so she hasn't seen this yet. I used a page from a vintage handwriting book and stamped on it. She will probably not be impressed because she says 'vintage is just another word for old and yucky'!! But I had fun doing it and just maybe she will like it!
We always have a problem with shoes for this child. She wore last years new shoes for 2 weeks and decided she didn't like them. This year I took her to try them on instead of ordering them. We got them at The Finish Line and they were not cheap so she HAS to wear them. Hopefully they will work out better than last years!