Drawstring Bags and 2013 Plans

I hope everyone had a great holiday season!  I know we sure did.  Both of our families live over an hour and a half away so we did plenty of traveling, but it was nice to see everyone.  This was probably the best Christmas since Lillian was born.  She is three and a half now and really understood what was going on.  Santa came to Grandpa and Grandma’s house since we were there on Christmas Eve, the reindeer finished all of their reindeer food and Santa ate all of the cookies that we left out.  He even wrote Lillian a little note!

I know I haven’t blogged in a long time and I apologize for that, especially since I didn’t give you a head’s up that I wouldn’t be blogging.  I had plans on posting a few mini tutorials, but then I got the crazy idea to make 20 mini lined drawstring bags as gifts.  Oh, and not only did I make 20 of them, I made them all with different fabric…from my stash!

I finished them on Sunday the 16th and we were leaving for my in-law’s house on the 22nd.  Seems like plenty of time to spare, except for the fact that I still wanted to make my mother-in-law a kindle case.  I wasn’t making an ordinary kindle case either, but you will have to wait for another blog post to see what I did.

It took a lot of work, but they turned out so cute.  Just the perfect size to fit the tiny candles from Bath and Body Works.  I calculated the cost of making these as gifts and since the candles were on sale it came to less than $5.  I think that is a great price, especially since the bag can be used again.  I’m thinking for jewelry when traveling?  I really should have made one for myself.  Oh wait!  I still can if I want!

I have a lot of pictures, including detail shots, of these bags, but I don’t want this whole post to be about them.  If you want to make these, you can use Jeni’s tutorial, which makes a larger bag, or you can purchase the pattern here.  The bags are easy to make and it doesn’t take a super long time to sew them either.  If you remember, I blogged about the tutorial here.  So if you are not sure if you want to purchase the pattern, you can either make one from the tutorial and/or read my post and maybe that will help you to decide.

So I’m guessing you are wondering what is in store for 2013.  Well, to be honest, I’m not really sure.  I know that I will continue to sew and blog, but I can’t promise how often.  I’m going to keep my goal of posting once a week, but I’m not going to stress about it if I don’t make it.

I have a few projects that I know I will be working on for sure and a few that are completed that I need to blog about.  I will continue to add tutorials as I come up with projects and to explain how I calculated the measurements that I used while using someone else’s tutorial.  I will write pattern reviews and share any new items that I really like.  So in other words, a lot of the same things that I have already been blogging about, just using new tutorials or patterns.

I purchased a few clothing patterns, so you should expect to see reviews on those if I get up the nerve to try them out.  I will take requests if there is something that you are interested in me trying out or if you make your own patterns I would love to test them for you.  Just be aware that I am not afraid to let you know every little thing that I think might need to be changed.

I tend to get sucked into my computer….pinterest, reader, Facebook, twitter, etc., so I’m going to attempt to stay away a little more than I did in 2012.  I will still post to all of them, but I might not chat as much…or stalk others as much.  Ok, that sounds really bad, but it’s really easy to read everyone’s twitter updates and only comment on a few of them.

Outside of the blog, we are hoping to be able to start on some home improvements; one of which includes finishing our basement.  We would like to actually go on a real vacation this year instead of just a long weekend up north to my in-laws cabin.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a ton of fun at the “lake house” but a trip somewhere different sounds like a lot of fun as well.

On a side note, we gave Lillian the old point and shoot camera and she is turning into a little photographer.  She had to take pictures of the drawstring bags just like daddy was doing.

What are your goals for the new year?  What would you like to see more of or less of on the blog?  Do you have any special projects that you want to do this year?