New project - Monogrammed Hand Towels

I enjoy making gifts for people's birthdays. It is so much more fun than just shopping, besides I never know where to start. So I started looking up some ideas on craft websites and got excited when I saw a tutorial on Martha Stewart for monogrammed hand towels.

                                             

It is such a classic look, but I couldn't just monogram, I had to do something to personalize it even more. The gift is for my sister-in-law and she loves toile. I got a cotton polyester blend of linen-look fabric (I didn't want to use linen because who wants to iron hand towels), and a small swatch of toile to sew on the end. Then to cover up the seam, I sewed the length of ribbon. The letter is from MS Word. I printed it and created a stencil. And ta-da! Tell me what you think!

The link to my inspiration:
http://www.marthastewart.com/273499/monogrammed-hand-towel?czone=holiday/santas-workshop/santas-handmade-gifts&czone=holiday/santas-workshop/santas-handmade-gifts&center=307035&gallery=275134&slide=273499

Sunday Drive

I remember my mother telling me when she was young her parents would take the family for a drive on Sundays. We did it occassionally when I was a kid, but it just got too expensive in the family van. Well, being in a new place for just a short time there is so much to see. Trevor ends up driving all over tarnation and gets to see lots and I'm pretty stuck in my route between grocery or craft store, park and library. So Sunday drives have been reinstated for our family. One of the things Trevor and I really enjoy admiring is architecture, and Knoxville is a traditional town of the East with plenty to offer. There are some beautiful brick homes with shutters, porches, and verandas and so so many bungalows! Oh how I love. Well, this last Sunday I took a picture of one of my favorites. It's not a bungalow, and it's not a brick, but it's beautiful and definitely not something one would easily find in Phoenix's East Valley. Let me know what you think!

Just simple and quaint with that swoop roof line over the door.

Look at that lawn! I bet they don't even have sprinklers!!!

It is a good day to be in Tennessee.

The kids and I took a little road trip today. Trevor forgot some equipment at the shop today and was an hour away. The kids and I were all loaded up with a fresh full tank, and were ready to head to the store to pick up a photo to send to Grandma and Grandpa when he called. So what did we do?  We headed way out to rescue Daddy, of course! I had to take a highway from the freeway after passing through downtown and could not believe my eyes when I saw the gas prices-- $2.99/gallon!!! I was suddenly disappointed at my $3.03 a gallon from Sam's Club. I know you are all jealous, but all I can say is WOOHOO!!