A "Flower Pot Cozy".......a what????

Happy day before Mother's Day Blogland Neighborhood! The "Sewing and Design Dept" here at MBIAJ was on a mission to come up with a quick gift idea for Mother's Day (because as you all well know, the "Sewing and Design Dept" is not known for getting things done ahead of time ... no... nope .... coming in just under the wire .... or most likely "fashionably late" is our motto). However, this time, due to a fluke of nature or maybe all of the stars aligned in the right order or something, this project is actually finished the day BEFORE the event !!!! So, we thought we'd like to share it with all of you (in case there are other procrastinators out there).

Anyhow, as you can see the project is a "Flower Pot Cozy" ..... and here was the thought process ..... people make cozies to keep their tea pots "cozy" ... so why not make a cozy to keep your flower pots cozy?

OK ..... here's what you will need:

- a flower pot (any size) and preferably with a flower/plant already in it
- 2 different fabrics (one big enough to cover the flower pot, & a scrap of another)
- rick rack (large size)
- yo yo maker to make desired size yo yo's
- 3 buttons (to sew into centers of yo yo's)
- a pencil or pen
- scotch tape
- Fray check
- freezer paper
- a piece of string

....and here's how you make it:


tape the piece of string to the center of the bottom of the flower pot and bring it up along the side and about 1 1/2 " above the top of the pot




cut the string



untape the string from the flower pot and tape it to the center of the dull side of the freezer paper; tape the other end of the string to a pen or pencil;


draw a circle on the freezer paper...



have your assistant hold the string if the tape doesn't hold it well enough.....


.....cut out the freezer paper circle; press the freezer paper circle (shiny side down) onto a piece of fabric and cut out fabric circle;



...on the right side of the fabric pin rick rack in a circle about 2 1/2" from outside edges;


.....stitch rick rack down using matching thread



....fold under 1" to wrong side of circle all the way around (as you can see, lots of pins are helpful)......press;


...stitch all the way around (1/4" away from raw edge of folded over edge) making a casing....

snip a "button-hole" in the center of the casing ....


...be careful not to cut through the stitching or through the folded edge ....


....dab some Fray Check on the buttonhole edges...




....thread a piece of rick rack through the casing;




....using the yo yo maker, make 3 yo yo's;


....stitch a button in the center of each yo yo;



.....now stitch a yo yo to the front of the cozy, and a yo yo on the ends of the rick rack ties...

...we suggest you put a piece of aluminum foil around the bottom of the flower pot before putting it in the cozy (in case of leaks); after you put the flower pot in the cozy, pull the rick rack ties to gather the cozy around the top of the flower pot....and TA DA !!! You're done!! (don't forget you can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger if you need to)

Hope you enjoyed our little last minute Mother's Day gift idea ! Enjoy !! and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY girls !!!!!

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Imagine .......

Good morning Blogland Neighborhood! Imagine our delight when we came across this very cute "Imagine" doo dad at Walmart a couple of days ago....it, and other cute stuff are designed by an artist who is new to me ....Sandra Magsamen

...and ...Imagine the MBIAJ Sewing Dept's delight when ....





....some jelly rolls, charm packs, and a layer cake (all calorie - free) came in the mail !!! These were ordered from Real Women Quilt where they're having a heck of a sale !!! We LOVE these Moda precuts because : A) they're SO pretty ! B) we're lazy (less cutting !) C) they're SO fun! D) we're lazy E) they sound fattening but they aren't and ....F) we're LAZY !!!


....and...Imagine the MBIAJ's Baking Dept's delight when they were able to cut out more fat and calories from their favorite scone recipe when they read about substitutions on Spark People and were inspired by a new show on The Lifetime Channel called Cook Yourself Thin



......instead of using 1/2 cup margarine ..... 1/4 cup of natural applesauce + 1/4 cup lite margarine was substituted .....






......with delicious results !!!








...and ....Imagine the MBIAJ Dessert Eating Dept's delight when they stumbled upon....








....this combination of strawberries (those dark looking things in that lousy picture .... they really look much better in person....), Weight Watchers Double Chocolate Mousse candy AND Lite Cool Whip ..... which all combine to make ....










.....this YUMMY, good for you dessert ! (that's 3/4 cup plain strawberries with 1 Wt Watcher's Chocolate Mousse candy cut up on top and 2 Tbsp of Lite Cool Whip = 1 point in Weight Watcher Land !!!) (and trust us when we say this looks much better in person than it does in this lousy picture .... apparantly the MBIAJ Photography Dept hasn't had time to read the instruction book yet that came with the camera ...)


...and...Imagine the excitement around here when the MBIAJ Sewing Dept announced that they're closing in on the finish line (slower than molasses in January, but still closing in ) on ....




...this ....











Well, enough "Imagining" for one day .... too bad we can't "Imagine" dinner to appear on the table , or the toilets to clean themselves, or the dingy, stinky socks to jump into the washing machine all by themselves ...... (big sigh) ... so since none of that is gonna happen....we gotta zoom!

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Lucy's DIY Plan for Economizing on a Tight Budget.....

Good afternoon Blogland Neighborhood! In this tough economy, we're all looking for ways to economize.....including "Lucy".....




......and apparantly Kitty has been giving Lucy's "DIY Plan " a try.....




.....hmmmmm....maybe she should come up with a better plan.....


....maybe the dress can be fixed ..... but that PERM?!?!?!???
















Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

How HOT is it ????

Good Monday afternoon Blogland Neighborhood! Here's the question for the day ..... HOW HOT IS IT ??????





....hot enough for me to dig out my capris to wear to work this afternoon !! (well, on people of a normal height these are capris .... for me they tend to look more like "high waters" ... you know .... flood pants!) (and if you're thinking that this part of the outfit looks pretty unglamourous .... you should see the rest of it!)

Anyhow .....today the temperature was in the 90's !!! and it was still



90 degrees at almost 6 PM ! which leads me up to the next question .... is today April 27th or August 27? HOT HOT HOT for this time of year in Pennsylvania !







.....and since we don't want to leave you with that image of PALE legs in a typically unglamourous pair of flood pants burned into your retinas .... here's a picture of some forsythia in the yard ..... it's the least we could do!

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Happy Arbor Day ....recycle a tree !!

Happy Arbor Day Blogland Neighborhood! In honor of the day, we just had to show you this beautiful tree in bloom across the street from MBIAJ Headquarters.

Also, in honor of Arbor Day and Earth Day/Week, we also decided to do a little recycling craft project to spruce up the "Paperwork Dept's" desk .... well, actually this is how it went .... info was copied onto some index cards .... info (phone numbers , addresses, etc) that needed to be within easy access ...so, the index cards needed to stay out on the desk .... so they needed to be contained IN something ....but what ?......should something be bought? ......hmmmmmmm..... nah.... must be something in a closet or cupboard or whatever that could be used to hold some index cards .... so, after scrounging around.....




....this is what we came up with ......yep, a box of multi sized tampons which come with these little divider boxes inside the main box. PERFECT .... well almost ... the little divider box was a little too tall, and DEFINATELY too plain .....so, we cut it down to about half the original size and then ......



.....spruced it up with some fabric, some ribbon , and a button! PERFECT !! Now it matches ....



....the desk lamp which started out as .....


....this .....WAY too bright when you're sitting in the desk chair and it's GLARING right in your eyes!





....and here they are together .... we think this little set looks cheerful and definately brings out the RED in our wax lips very nicely!!! (what .... you don't have wax lips sitting on your desk next to the paperclips and pens?) ....and yes, there's Kitty , still in her Earth Day outfit over seeing this recycling project .




....anyhow, even though we took (another) detour away from the fabric covered button and yo yo flower project, it doesn't mean we haven't at least made a teensy bit of progress .....



......we're getting there .... about as fast as molasses in January .... but we're getting there!

Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Flower Child ????

Good Monday morning Blogland Neighborhood! Looks like I wasn't the only one that went to the Earth Day Celebration over the weekend .....














.....while some of us were following our INNER hippie .... others of us let it OUT!! How in the world did I ever miss her in that get up?!?!?!!!!

Well, anyway, have a good rest of the day !

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Earth Day Celebration in Jim Thorpe, Pa ..... or is it Woodstock?

Happy almost Earth Day Blogland Neighbor-hood! In honor of celebrating and taking care of the ol' gal (i.e. The Earth) there is an Earth Day Celebration going on here in Jim Thorpe, Pa ..... or at a quick glance it might be mistaken for Woodstock! Now I know yesterday I said today would be a sewing day but today the sun was shining and the temperature went up to 75 !!!! so, after just a few stitches, I was lured away from loyal Betty (my Featherweight machine) by my "inner hippie" and.....




.....all the stuff going on in the park....


......there was music....

.....ALOT of tie dye T-shirts....

....and henna body art (I was tempted, but then decided there was just WAY too much "body" for any kind of art!)

...there was a booth with some really cool quilts and patchwork skirts and dresses...

....and this booth with these gauzy type fabric (I forget what it's called) skirts and dresses ..... looks very much like the kind of bedspreads my roommate Donna and I bought at Pier 1 Imports WAYYYYYY back before Pier 1 became more upscale (also before Donna and I became more upscale .... HA!)... back when Donna and I were sophmores at Temple U ... Ambler Campus 1977 ...there was also lots of macrame' as I recall ..... anyway....


...this vendor had some really great embroider-ed and woven bags/totes , etc. (don't forget you can click on any of these pictures to make them bigger so you can really see all the great stuff in the booths)




.....there were hula hoops ....


.....and hula hoopers .....




.....AND , of course ..... a lime green VW bus !!!!



.....they were selling T-shirts and hula hoops .









After spending some time in the park, I strolled up through town (because, after all it was just voted #7 in Budget Travel Magazines' America's Top Ten Coolest Small Towns)

...there's Mr. Moonbeams place of business ....The Inn at Jim Thorpe (not the court house next to it!)


...this is the Albright Mansion Restaurant .... they have GOOD stuff to eat in there AND the husband is a wine expert AND his wife , being from England, specializes in Teas ! (this would be a GREAT place to go for a Mother's Day lunch .... in case anybody was wondering......although it would be difficult to top the giant candy bar and the day spent at a muddy dirt bike race the past couple of years ....)


.....and this is the Douglas House shops .... lots of individual shops upstairs and downstairs in this once a long time ago (HUGE)single family home .... most of these houses are Civil War era homes ..... just look at this



....Rhett !! Rhett !!! I'm coming Rhett !!





Anyhow, down those steps and to the left down the hall is Alice's Pantry where fellow blogger Busy Bees sells her handmade aprons to benefit various charities ..... if you're in town, definately stop in there!!



....AND you should DEFINATLEY stop in here .... Rainbow's End candy and ice cream shop!!! (and look how cute that baby and his daddy are!! ....I have no idea who they are ... but isn't that cute!!) Well, I just can't take a picture of this place and not go in and get my favorite (well, one of them) treat .....so I did! .... then, since it was such a GORGEOUS day, hopped into my car and drove the mile or two out of town to Mauch Chunk Lake....


....for....

....a picnic ! .....a diet coke and some homemade carmel covered marsh-mallows !!! (don't you know that the diet coke counteracts the fat and calories in those marshmallows???....hey! it's my picnic and I'll pretend whatever I want!)



.......ahhhhh ....what? No! I'm not wearing white socks .... those are my ankles!





....(BIG sigh....) Well, OK, maybe we should go for a walk to work off the fat and the calories that the diet coke may not have counteracted...... Come on!! Wake up!!! Are you still with me? I know this is a LONG post .... but you're the one who's sitting down and reading .... I'm the one who is walking around!!


.....OK, here we go....I've got my Earth Shoes on for our Earth Day walk....



...we'll take this path that follows ....


...this stream from the lake back towards town.



....oh fun!! a bridge !!


.....and there's a guy fishing .... I forgot that besides the Earth Day Celebration today , it's also Opening Day for fishing here in Carbon County, Pa ...


.....(a little scribble that maybe will be a quilt someday .... maybe...)


......there are some more fisherman .... looks like they're done fishing for the day ... I wonder where they're hurrying off to....




.....oh....this explains it .... two hot dogs and a beer!















Well, hope you enjoyed our Earth Day Celebration/ Opening Day / picnic/ walk in the woods ..... just another MBIAJ extravaganza put together for your viewing pleasure!
So, in honor of Mother Earth , don't forget to ....


....hang out your wash once in awhile and ....


....make use of these ALL OF THE TIME !!! (please!)








Be back soon (hopefully with a FINISHED fabric covered button and yo yo flower project .... HONEST!)

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)