Tuesday's Thrifty Tidbits...a day late!

THRIFTY - Careful management especially of money 

TIDBIT - A choice morsel

 I was being so Thrifty that I never got around to blogging until it was time to make supper and even that was late!  Do you ever get involved in projects and the time just flies?  Well, that's every day for me! LOL!

THRIFTY TIDBIT #1 - Yesterday I set up a Monthly Bill Paying X-cel spreadsheet and a monthly budget sheet and  paid a few bills, used Clean Mama's check register free printout and also her printout that tells you how long to keep things.  I have a notebook now for my house keeping and for finances.  I don't want any surprises nor do I want things falling between the cracks.   I also partially set up a new file system which I will share with you when finished. 

 


I've used Clean Mama for setting things up and Better Money Habits for a budget plan.  I've always been pretty good but "the times they are a changin" and bills that never used to fluctuate are going up all the time.  Buying groceries now is like going to Vegas...the odds are not in your favor.  For example my Terminix bill (bug and critter control is not an option in the South) has gone up $5.00 every year for the last 3 years.  They said it was gas prices....well, all those people that raised their prices because of the price of gas should be lowering them now, right?  NOT!  Anyway, I may go to a cheaper service, same for propane although most times I prefer to stick to name brand companies as their employees are bonded and they seem to be a little more adherent to state and federal laws and regulations.  These are all things you might consider when trying to be THRIFTY.

 
 Clean Mama has printouts for all of these things but not all are free but hers are much prettier than my X-Cel spreadsheets.  

THRIFTY TIDBIT #2 - Start eating out of your freezer now.  When Spring arrives and you start going to the store or farmer's market and want to load up or harvest all that fresh produce for next Winter you'll have room.  Plus, it will allow you to save on groceries right now and save money for the seeds and plants you'll want in the Spring.   You'd be amazed what just a couple plants can produce and pesticide free!  I still have several bags of jalapeno's from 2 years ago.  When your bananas go bad just throw them in the freezer and use them for banana bread later.  One of the best tools for this is All Recipes    They have a tool where you can type in the ingredient you have...I happened to have some frozen drumsticks and it comes up with all the recipes calling for that ingredient.  Then you can narrow it down to all the 5 star recipes. I found this awesome recipe (awesome because I had it last night, I had all the ingredients on hand and it was easy to make and tasted wonderful)!

READY IN ABOUT 1¼ hrs

Oven BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

Read Reviews (91)

3K+

Recipe by Nichole S 

"A wonderful chicken recipe that can either be nice and gentle, or have a bit of a kick!"

Ingredients Edit and Save

Original recipe makes 3 servings Change Servings

• 6 chicken drumsticks
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 4 teaspoons butter
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste

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• PREP
  10 mins
• COOK
  1 hr
• READY IN
  1 hr 10 mins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place drumsticks in a baking dish.
2. Whisk water, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, butter, salt, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and chili powder together in a bowl; pour mixture over drumsticks. Cover with aluminum foil.
3. Bake in preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, about 1 hour, turning chicken about halfway through. An instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Kitchen-Friendly View

Footnotes

• Cook's Note:
• I usually cook the chicken 10 to 15 minutes longer to thicken the sauce. I like to pair this with mashed potatoes and drizzle a bit of the chicken sauce onto the potatoes. Also amazing with any seasoned rice. 
  You can create your own recipe box for free, make a grocery list for needed ingredients and read reviews by people who have made it.  I love Pinterest but I have tried a few of those"OMG! You HAVE to try this." recipes and they have not only been disappointing but I've wasted time and money.  All Recipes has never failed me just ensure there are close to 5 stars and lots of people have made it.
  
  
  THRIFTY TIDBIT #3 - Start cooking from scratch and stop buying "processed" foods.  Yes, they are easy and quick but they are also full of ingredients you can't pronounce (basically chemicals not real food), empty calories which give you 0 nutritional value and they cost a lot more. 
   Start making your own bread.  Mother Earth News    
  is a wonderful resource and if you click on the above link it will take you directly to the "easy peasy" no knead bread recipe that I've been using for years. They have a whole treasure trove of bread and no-knead recipes.  But there is so much more you can make from scratch and once you get in the habit it will become routine and you won't even have to pull out the recipe.  I don't think I "knead" (sorry, I couldn't resist) to tell you how good your home will smell and how much pleasure you will derive from eating it and knowing you made it yourself.  Once you start making your own bread you will never be able to look at store bought bread the same!
  I hope these tips were helpful as I only share what has proved useful and positive in my own life. 
   Happy Trails!

 

Monday - What are you reading?

I used to take part in some group like this but I don't remember now and I can't keep track but I thought I would get on my own blog schedule so for Monday's it will be all about books, movies, audio's, magazines and/or articles and Kindle books now that I have a few of those.  I thought of doing a "link up" but I don't know how.  I searched for a Mr. Linky that I saw people use but I couldn't find it.  If someone has any suggestions about "linking" people to my blog so we can all share what we're reading, I would appreciate it else I'll go research later.
Anyway...... I've been reading this for awhile now....very long and very informative in some areas but
kind of like reading an encyclopedia.  It's really a reference book about the art and science of keeping house.  I never had home economics nor was I in 4-H or Girl Scouts and my mother was a career woman so there wasn't a lot of instruction in this area.  It's never too late and actually I know quite a lot of it but some of it is so passe' and I cannot see myself ever following so many "rules"...I'm a rule breaker not a rule maker! LOL! 

I just finished this mystery which was a fun read and there may be more than this one book as it stated it is a "Booked For Travel Mystery" as in "series".  So, if you like to travel and you like mysteries this is a good one.  A "fun" read and involving all age groups.  The main character is a widow and buys a travel excursion business where she takes people on trips and arranges everything.  This one was to the Sonoma wine region and the description of all the things they do on the trip is almost like being there.  I learned quite a bit and then there was the mystery to boot!  This book was one I got from Sue, the book fairy.

I picked this up at a sale as I had heard about it but unfortunately this is the 2nd and maybe last book.  The original is called Cold Sassy Tree.   Last night I downloaded the first book onto my tablet and started  reading it.

Here's the Amazon description as I just started it last night:

"The one thing you can depend on in Cold Sassy, Georgia, is that word gets around - fast. When Grandpa E. Rucker Blakeslee announces one July morning in 1906 that he's aiming to marry the young and freckledy milliner, Miss Love Simpson - a bare three weeks after Granny Blakeslee has gone to her reward - the news is served up all over town with that afternoon's dinner. And young Will Tweedy suddenly finds himself eyewitness to a major scandal. Boggled by the sheer audacity of it all, and not a little jealous of his grandpa's new wife, Will nevertheless approves of this May-December match and follows its progress with just a smidgen of youthful prurience. As the newlyweds' chaperone, conspirator, and confidant, Will is privy to his one-armed, renegade grandfather's second adolescence; meanwhile, he does some growing up of his own. He gets run over by a train and lives to tell about it; he kisses his first girl, and survives that too. Olive Ann Burns has given us a timeless, funny, resplendent novel - about a romance that rocks an entire town, about a boy's passage through the momentous but elusive year when childhood melts into adolescence, and about just how people lived and died in a small Southern town at the turn of the century. Inhabited by characters who are wise and loony, unimpeachably pious and deliciously irreverent, Cold Sassy, Georgia, is the perfect setting for the debut of a storyteller of rare brio, exuberance, and style."

 A few other books I came upon that I have absolutely no remembrance of seeing these covers before (which is so fun as it makes it like going to a book store and all I'm doing is perusing my own shelves all the while cleaning them too)...these will be next.........

Mud Season  ..."where one woman's dream of moving to Vermont, raising children, chickens and sheep and running the old country store pretty much leads to one calamity after another"

I love true life adventures!  Katrina this sounds like your kind of book too!

and then there' s this which is fiction...........I cannot tell a lie.....I buy many books because of the cover....Connie....is that a baby Chance on the cover there next to the Great Dane?  Too cute!

Well, I'm off to enjoy our nice day of 67 degrees F.....and clean out garage.  I've prepped for supper which I am trying to clean out my freezers so it is oven barbecued chicken drummies, spaghetti squash (stored on the cold porch) and some brussel sprouts.  

Congrats to the Seattle Seahawks for the best "save" of a game I have ever seen in my entire life!  Wow!  I am still reeling from it....it will go in the history books for sure!  

Happy Trails 

YOP Week #29

What a week this has been!  I am finished with the bookmarks but need to weave in the ends on 5 of them and block them.  Unfortunately, I got little done this week as my right hand was killing me!  I'm not sure if it is carpal tunnel or my rheumatoid or I pulled a tendon but whatever, it really put me out of commission for crocheting, knitting, typing and even holding a book in my hands was painful.  It seems to be better and I have to get on with my life so enough is enough! LOL!
Here's the bookmarks and the last one I needed to go to my second ball of thread which I thought was the same color but obviously it wasn't!  I actually like it better.
Since I've never done thread or filet crochet or so many of the same thing it might have been the cause of the wrist pain.

You can definitely tell by my first one (upper left) that my technique improved.  I am definitely versed in filet crochet now but not sure how soon I'll be doing it again.  At least not until my wrist heals.
I also finished all my squares for my Dottie Angel throw...........

 This afternoon will be football and weaving in ends.
We had an ice storm last week but not significant and no loss of power thank goodness!

and now we're in the 60's so it's time to get outside and start cleaning the garage and yard work as last Fall it got cold and rainy and there was no opportunity to get it all done.  Heck, I can even spray paint in this weather! :)
I started feeding the birds during the ice storm and although most have gone further South there are still a few here.............I gave them ham trimmings and peanut butter and black sunflower seed mixture (according to Mother Nature Network's recommendations).

They seem to like it!

Now it's time to get ready for Valentine's Day!  Here are my projects that I had scheduled for that "LOVEly" day.............some wash cloths for the grands..........(these patterns are all in my YOP 2014 - 2015 list on the right side bar if you're interested....there's a link to them there on Ravelry)

Another free pattern on Ravelry.  Not sure if I'll make this for everyone or just me...I always think I have more time than I do.  But I love it!

and there's even a card to knit...........

You knit the little heart and she gives you the printout for the card!  Free!  How wonderful are the people on Ravelry?  Awesome, I'd say!

I'm still organizing and cleaning and I need to get my budget finalized for this year before I buy any yarn but I have plenty of WIP's to get back to now that the bookmarks are done.  I hope you had a wonderful week and a relaxing Sunday today!
Happy Trails!

P.S.  My son Benjamin turns 37 today!  I was 29 when I had him....8lbs 10 ounces or was it 9?....and now he's a tall skinny "drink of water" at 6' 1"! LOL!  Happy Birthday Son!

R.A., carpal tunnel or tendon damage?

I've not blogged because I have nothing to blog about really and I don't have anything to blog about really because something is causing pain in my right hand.  I have RA (rheumatoid arthritis) but this is just my right hand on the inside of the wrist but runs up the inside of my arm sometimes but mostly it's the thumb and wrist.  So, therefore I haven't been getting much done in the area of "handwork" or housework and I was on such a roll!  Dang it!  I have tried leaving it alone to heal but that doesn't seem to be working so I'm just going to go about my "business as usual" and if it gets too bad I'll just pop some Tylenol. 
Since I haven't been doing much I thought I would at least share some new websites I ran across while I was trying to "heal" and just read but not type. 

#1 - I have a new board on my Pinterest page.  Slow Cooker Recipes and some of these I really can't wait to try........from Betty Crocker....15 Restaurant Favorites Made in Your Slow Cooker I love slow cooker or "crockpot" recipes; if they're good but so many aren't.  I'm hoping to pick up a few good ones from this pin!

#2 - I bought a Grit specialty magazine on bread making for my SIL whose birthday is at the end of this month and who likes to make bread.  Specialty magazines make great gifts and they're great on the budget.  Of course, I always have to throw in several things...one present just never seems enough.  After looking through it I decided I needed a copy; it was that good! Recipes, grain mills, gluten free, sourdough.....everything you always wanted to know for $6.99!

See Larger Image

GRIT GUIDE TO HOMEMADE BREAD, 5TH EDITION Item # 7461 Format: Paperback  Pages: 100 Copyright Year: 2014 Availability: Usually ships within 24 to 48 hours unless otherwise noted in the product description. Bread. It’s everywhere. It can take up almost an entire aisle in the grocery store. It’s used as a delicious appetizer at some restaurants with butter and oil. It’s a staple at almost every family gathering, from holidays to Sunday dinners. Bread. It’s eaten all over the world. The 2014 Grit Guide to Homemade Bread features some of the best recipes for homemade bread; from sourdough to gluten-free, from flatbreads to pizza dough, this 100-page guide has them all. More than 20 of the best homemade bread articles from Grit make up this colorful, glossy-paged guide. There are 118 delicious recipes inside, with more than 57 keys to successful bread making; this guide will help the most inexperienced cook make a perfect, golden-brown loaf of bread right in her very own kitchen. Articles include: Choosing a Grain Mill: Go completely homemade by grinding your own flours. Gluten-Free Bread Baking 101: Discover the importance of gluten in traditional bread baking and how to replace it in these delicious gluten-free bread recipes. Trying Sourdough: A variety of recipes – from our bloggers – helps you find ways to use that sourdough starter brewing on the kitchen counter. Pizza Perfection: Forget takeout and turn your kitchen into a pizzeria. Biscuits and More: Treat your taste buds to culinary delights with homemade biscuits, tortillas, dumplings and noodles. Backyard Bread Oven: Build this easy adobe cooker in one weekend.

Read more: http://www.grit.com/shopping/detail.aspx?itemnumber=7461#ixzz3P1J4UI5P

#3 - A SUPER crochet blogger with tutorials and so much inspiration is Heather at The Patchwork Heart  She is the most amazing crocheter.....she made 43 blankets this year and they're all gorgeous!  You'd think HER wrist would be hurting after all that! She also has her 2014 Year posted and she gets more done in 1 week than I do all year!  Here's her latest creation...............The Lucy Blanket



#4 - Here is a fun site if you're looking to get organized in a stylish and pretty way.  Visit The Polka Dot Posie and right now they're having a $50.00 gift certificate giveaway.  Like Clean Mama they have lots of printables and free organizing tips.
I'll try and get over to see everyone and leave a comment and please stop back here Sunday as I will have a YOP update.....not a lot but I have been working (through the pain) on some things!  I hope you all have a great weekend!
Happy Trails!

Saturday Night Fever

I'm sorry I am such a bad visitor lately but there's been some issues going on in the background and now we're supposed to get freezing rain so I needed to ensure I'm prepared with firewood, kindling, batteries etc.  Plus, I have really been on a roll with cleaning and clearing so I don't want to stop that!
 I had to move my plants to the front room as it is getting too cold on the porch.

 I found an inexpensive little trick to keep my cords and garland from gettting tangled and to make them easier to put away.  I had some really long twist ties (if you don't have long ones you can link them together to get the length you want) and after wrapping them I twist tied them. 

 They all stacked up nicely to put in the plastic bins I have for the Christmas"stuff".

 I had a lovely surprise that came in the mail today too.  My daughter sent me a package for my birthday.  Look at what I recieved......

VOILA!   Aren't they pretty?  Can you tell my daughter is an art teacher?  She's all about the color!
They were so pretty but that didn't stop me....they are sugar cookies with an almond flavor and a bit of frosting on top.  What a treat!

but wait...that's not all.............

These Buddy products are:
NO preservatives
NO genetic modification
NO artificial flavoring
NO corn syrup
NO hydrogenated fat
Very good for children and everyone.  My daughter and I both love lemon bars and these  are delicious!  Each one is individually wrapped too so great for popping into a lunch bag.
And then there was this......a cute little ornament made out of a salt shaker.........it has a tiny bottle brush tree, a little silver ornament and a snowflake in it, and snow! LOL!

The Clean Mama routine is working great........

My bathrooms are sparkling and I worked on the family room today in order to take down the indoor Christmas decor and also clean and get ready for a "freezing rain" (ice storm possibly) event starting late tonight or early tomorrow. Got kindling in.........

and put out some red.....

and a Valentine wreath.....early but it is the next holiday.

 Supper was English muffin with tuna fish salad and a slice of American cheese melted on top and some Annie's macaroni and cheese.  It was a very satisfying day but I am not done by any means! LOL! 
Tonight Is PBS with Father Brown and Murder in Paradise (?).....I love Father Brown mysteries.Only 2 more Jesus book marks to go and I'm done with them.  I love Jesus but I am getting tired of crocheting the bookmarks.
Happy Trails!

New Fangled Cookie Recipe

I'm a little late with the New Year's decor but I couldn't resist it when I saw it. These are cookies I made using what I had on hand.  They're Chocolate Heath Bar Pecan Bombs.  This is the dough and I used one of those cookie scoops which are like the old fashioned ice cream scoops except smaller.

  They mix up so easy and fast and no buttering your cookie sheet either.  This is when they are ready to go in the oven.

 This is what they look like when they come out.....YUM!!!

 I am a crisp cookie person but these are not really crispy but I still like them.  I baked them 11 minutes and they were doughy so then I went 15 and that seemed to work as they were not doughy but not burnt either.  You might want to watch and test yourself as my oven is old and I think one side cooks more than the other....crazy but I manage alright.  I really like them so I thought I would share the recipe with you.  Just what I like in the evening with a hot cup of tea before bed.

Chocolate Heath Bar Pecan Bombs
============================
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
2/3 cup sweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup or more of health bar pieces (that's all I had of the Nestle ones you buy in the package but if I had more I'd add 1 whole cup)
1 cup chopped pecans

Sift together cocoa powder (I used Ghiradelli which is sweetened so if you only have unsweetened just increase the brown and white sugar like 2/3 cup brown and 1/2 cup white .), flour, baking soda and salt.  Beat butter, brown and white sugars and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in the heath bits and pecans.  Drop by well-rounded teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake until centers are set.  Mine took 15 minutes.  Cool for 2 minutes then remove to wire rack and cool completely.  Store in airtight container.

Happy Trails (of cookie crumbs)! :)

Crazy Soap Opera Day...........

 

I am pretending today is Tuesday and I am posting for the group Love Your Library hosted by Snapdragon Crafts  I hope it's not too late but yesterday was crazy here.
This is the book I am using for my first pattern which is a WIP from way before Christmas that got put away in July when my daughter came and hadn't surfaced again until today.  

Some of you will remember it and I can hear you saying now..."You mean you never finished it?"   That's right folks. But this is going to be the year of "finishes"!  They may not be in order but they will get finished.
 All the parts are done except for the pompoms and then I need to sew it together and do the embroidery.  This week all I managed to do was find the book and the project and it's parts.  I still need to find the rest of the yarn and needles.  So, hopefully you'll all see some progress on this by next week!

As for my following Clean Mama   that went pretty good considering I had some other stuff that came up unexpectedly yesterday but I still managed to do laundry, empty all the garbages and get it out to the curb, clean counters (not all) and make some cookies which I invented using what I had on hand.  I'll share the recipe tomorrow.
 Today I'm making some bread for my neighbor as a very late birthday present, cleaning the shower in my bathroom (cat litter box resides there with a heavy duty cover over the drain) shook some rugs and will vacuum and hopefully wash bathroom floor and washing the "dog linens" (beds) but I am already starting to get tired....yep, at 3:00 p.m. my biorythmic clock takes a huge dive until about 5:00 or 6:00 p.m when I manage to perk back up a bit.  I don't nap but I may go sit a spell and crochet those bookmarks....almost done!
I hope you're off to a great 2015 and if not, don't worry.....there's always tomorrow....God willing.
Happy Trails!

A fresh and hopefully clean start..........

I was looking back on my 2014 blog posts and there were many things that I posted about and then promptly forgot about.  So, I am revisiting and hoping to follow through this time.  One of the first items I posted about was cleaning and de-cluttering which I did do some but didn't continue to follow though to the end.  This past weekend I read and picked up some really good tips.  One tip became glaringly evident to me.  Clutter and even too many decorative items make your cleaning routine take that much longer!  Well, that explains it!  So this will be the year of the "clean and lean" homestead!
I made a lot of excuses like too big of a house, 2 housefuls of stuff, not being able to get rid of stuff, illness, tired....enough!  The woman that wrote these articles has 4 bathrooms! So no more excuses....I'm off and running  now!
The plan/tips/methods I'm following is from www.cleanmama.net   This woman is a miracle worker and gets right to the heart of the matter.  No fluff just practical, sane advice.  She has all kinds of free printables , recipes for natural cleaning supplies, menus, specific organizing and cleaning processes and an Etsy shop for more downloadable checklists and aides.  She's even written several books.  The above is just a small example of her free printable checklists.  Her graphics and designs for her work sheets are a delight to use....form and function! :)
Her basic Daily Tasks are 1) check floors, 2) wipe counters, 3) take care of clutter  and 4) laundry.  She feels if you keep up with these 4 things it will free you to do the other tasks that are involved with maintaining a home.  Her Weekly Tasks are 1) bathrooms, 2) dust house 3) vacuum floors 4) wash floors, 5) catch-all and 6) sheets/towels.
I have my own routine and some of those will remain the same but I am utilizing her specific methods for certain areas that I've had problems with.  She also has a FAQ section which I haven't looked at yet and and a way to contact her if you have questions.
Today I cleaned 1 of my 2 bathrooms, visited the neighbor and took her her Christmas gift, changed my sheets, did laundry and took down all the Christmas decorations and lights outside.  I didn't get it all done but I am not allowing a lot on my bathroom counter now which will make it much easier and quicker to clean next time.
 There is also a De-Clutter Challenge that she and several other gals have going which you can see here
with another free printable list. I know many of you are probably excellent housekeepers but I,  for one, can never seem to get it all done.  I know I don't have the energy I used to have but I am not using any excuses!  Wish me luck! :)
If you're more like me I hope this helps you in some way.  I've looked at lots of house cleaning and organizing websites and to me this gal has everything well in hand!
 Happy Trails and Happy Housekeeping!

 

YOP Week #27

This is quite a red letter day....more so than the 1st of January.  We are halfway through the YOP year or for some it's the first week! Also, Downton Abbey's new season starts tonight and I turned 66 today.....unless you want to be specific as I was born about 10:15 at night.  No matter.....it's a BIG day! LOL!
I am still "plodding along" with the Jesus bookmarks but working on #9 of 10 or 13 maybe.  I was thinking of my neighbor, one for my daughter and myself but we'll see.  I wish I had something else to show you but this is what I've been working on and only in the evening.

 

I wanted to join the Downton Abbey MKAL but with yarn and pattern it was $57.00 and you don't even know what you'll end up with?  I like a good mystery but not a $57.00 dollar one! LOL!  

But I did join this.......I found it through our very own Gracie is not My Name and her Saturday post. The link to sign up is here

The object is to utilize the books and patterns you already have....sort of like printed stash, lol!

Since I am knee deep in toy making I thought I would pick this for my first book......

I'm already making a couple things out of it but they are not finished.  Now that the Christmas "making" is done I will move on with the other holidays and birthdays and maybe some socks for me?  Please?

Mainly this half of the YOP year will be spent using what I have, finishing all sorts of WIPs and organizing my projects and supplies. Below is what it looks like now...........old, mostly "free" bags I've gotten from all over (except for the crocheted one) and I have no idea what's in any of them so I have to "root" through them each to find what I'm looking for.  And yes that is my Pilates machine which should be used in a whole different way! 

 

So the first step is to create "tags for bags" so I could just check the tag and not have to "root" through it.........I thought these might do the trick......

or these were pretty....  

or maybe these where the shape could denote what was inside?

Anyway that is only a temporary fix until I get gorgeous bags sewn for all my projects.......like this one from Norththreads ( I could not find the link, sorry but these are all on my Pinterest board under graphics and sewing and there are lots more there too)

or this which Joanne over at Rose Dahlia whipped up to put her new sock project in?

Too cute!  I think I would actually get more projects done if they were stored in these darling bags....I mean who wouldn't want to reach for them?   You should really stop over at Joanne's as she has her "finishes" from 2014 and oh my word what that gal accomplishes is amazing!!!!  She is very talented and does just about everything...a super woman for sure!

So, as much as I am going to be focusing on WIP's I will also be sewing up some tempting bags to house them in and also hopefully sell some.  I hope that helps me with more finishes in the end and not just more WIPs! LOL!  We shall see!

Happy Trails!