Sunday Snapshots {15}

Ahhh...I love the sound of thunder.

Ande is napping and my house is completely quiet except for the distant sounds of rumbling thunder.

We had a great weekend.

Saturday was so productive. I'm in nesting mode and we spend most of the day cleaning and weeding through our closets. It may not sound like fun to you, but let me tell you what. It feels so good when you take a huge load of items to the Goodwill and come home to a neat and clean house! I love the feeling. It is very possible that I love getting rid of things a little too much.

Today, we had a wonderful, spiritual time at church. We are spending a relaxing afternoon at home and get to spend dinner with family. 

The weekend was pretty perfect, now if only the little man inside of me would realize that it's time to come on out! I've got a little less than 2 weeks until my due date, but I am just so anxious to meet little Owen. Ande's nursery leaders told us that he told the class all about Owen and how he was going to give him baths and change his diapers. That is music to my ears! Let's get the ball rolling!

Here's a couple snapshots of our Saturday...

We started out the day with a little exercise...

...so we could finish it off with a little indulgence. 

Mmmm...sugar packets...

Friday Finds...Striped jersey summer skirt

I have talked about this before, but I am still loving circle skirts!

They are so easy to make. I made a couple for my friend several months ago and they take no time at all!

I am planning on making some for myself this fall. I can't wait.

I came across this tutorial the other day at icandy handmade.

The jersey fabric she uses looks so comfortable!

I love the stripes and most of all, I love the little trim detail at the bottom.

I'm about to go searching for some fun jersey fabric right now!

Inspiration Workshop #9 The Beach

Every Thursday (I've taken a few weeks off), I link up to the Inspiration Workshop hosted by Gussy Sews. It is just a fun link party that she posts to help us bloggers be inspired by other bloggers. Every week has a different prompt and they are always fun and interesting to read about!

This week's prompt is perfect for me considering we just finished out our annual family beach week!
I already posted some pictures from early on in the week, but luckily I still have PLENTY more to share with you. I hope you're ready!

This prompt is also perfect for me personally. I have always loved and been inspired by the beach.

My family has taken vacations to the same beach since before I was born. We live in North Carolina, and I am probably biased, but I think these are the best beaches in the U.S.!

I have many memories of coming to the beach as a child and they continue on into my adulthood.

Curtis proposed to me under the boardwalk at sunrise. He couldn't have picked a better location!

I love the feeling of the sand between my toes, the salty smell in the air, the constant sea breeze, and the cool rush of the waves.

Nothing is more relaxing than a day spent soaking up the sun on the beach.

I love the laid back atmosphere of small beach towns, and the history associated with seaside towns like Beaufort.

And now, I love seeing my own little guy experience the good ole' North Carolina coast.

With him, the experience is a little different, but still a fun time nonetheless!

Now instead of sleeping and reading books in my chair, I find myself digging holes,

building roads,

catching fish, looking for shells,

and trying/failing to clean the sand off of me and my little Ande. I don't know why, but the sand just sticks to Ande for days, no matter how many times you rinse and shower off!

We have been home for about 5 days now, and I think we have finally washed the last of it out of his hair.

 Most of all, I love the memories that we take home with us each year

 and think about them until we go back to make more the next year!

hemming pants with an invisible seam

This is a pretty random tutorial for you.

The hem in my dad's dress pants had come undone and so he asked me to hem them for him.
If you don't know much about sewing, this isn't something that you can just whip out on the sewing machine.
It must be hand sewn with a whip stitch.
I don't claim to be anything close to a professional seamstress, but I thought I'd post a little tutorial on how I fixed up the pants anyways.
This is just my interpretation on how to hem pants without the seam showing on the outside (I'm sure there are those out there that could tell you a different way to do it).

Here are the pants from the outside, with a built in cuff.

One of the legs is still hemmed. The other leg has come undone.

 

Thread your needle with a matching color thread. Turn the pants inside out. Insert the needle into the back side of the cuffed edge and pull through.

To make your next stitch, you must first hold down the thread that was just pulled through the cuff with your thumb. This way, your needle will come through on the right side of this thread when making the next stitch. This creates the "whip."

To make the next stitch, you will again insert the needle into the back side of the cuff. This time, you will grab a thread or two from the actual pants before placing the needle through the cuff. You must only grab a small thread! If you grab too much, your thread will show on the outside of the pants. Pull the needle and thread through, making sure it comes through on the right side of the previous stitches thread. Continue this process all the way around.

When you have gone around the entire cuff, you simply tie off your thread. Make sure to tuck in the tails for a clean look. This is how the inside hem should look:

And this is how the outside should look:

This is really an easy fix, especially if you already know how to create a whip stitch! To make sure there are no visible seams on the outside, you simply must remember to only grab a thread or two when making the stitch on the inside of the pants.

Now you can go and impress your husband!

Get Hooked {8} Crochet Bow Belt

Who's ready for some basketball sized belly pictures?

Introducing...

~The Crochet Bow Belt~

Grab your free pdf pattern HERE!

 This is a fun project because it works up really quick and you can modify it any many ways to suit your needs and wants!

I have made 3 so far, each with a different width.

The yellow one has only one row of stitches, the purple has two, and the grey has 4 rows.

I have worn all three and so far my favorite is the grey, with the wider belt.

Bows seem to really be coming into style lately, and I'm glad because I just love the look!

However, a belt like this would also look cute with a crochet flower as the accent piece.

This pattern instructs you on how to make this belt in any size whether it be for your daughter, or for yourself!

As always, I'd love to see what you guys come up with! Send me pictures of your handiwork to lindsayhaynie@gmail.com and I just might feature you here on the blog! Also, feel free to let me know if you have any questions regarding the tutorial instructions/pictures.

Happy hooking!

We're back!

Home again, home again.

Vacations are always so much fun and we look forward to them all year, but it's also nice to come home.
Our bags are unpacked, the laundry is a-washin', the pantry has been re-stocked, and now I just have to look through and edit all of my pictures. That will probably take a while, especially since I started reading a book at the beach and can't seem to put it down! I don't know why, but going to the beach always motivates me to start reading again. I finished 1 book while down there, and am about halfway through the next one. Considering my slow reading skills, that is pretty impressive!

We are settling back into our normal routine and I plan on getting this here blog back on track. It was nice to have a little time away from all this technology, but I'm also eager to get things going again.

Tomorrow, I have another Get Hooked! crochet tutorial for you! If you are new around here, Get Hooked! is just a little "intro to crochet" series that I've been doing. I have been coming up with some tutorials for fun and easy crochet projects. I have started out with some very easy patterns that will help any beginner crocheters learn the basic stitches. Over time, I will present some more complex patterns for any veteran crochet readers that I may have! Every tutorial comes in a pdf downloadable format and is completely free!

So far, there have been 7 Get Hooked! tutorials:

1. Crochet Bow Tie

2. Crochet Coasters

3. Crochet Butterfly

4. Crochet Chain Necklace

5. Crochet Flower

6. Crochet Pennant Bunting

7. Crochet Textured Diaper Clutch

Tomorrow's newest tutorial will be the Crochet Bow Belt.

The tutorial includes instructions on making this belt in any size and in different widths. I have made 3 so far and have worn them all several times, I love them! Make sure you come on back for your free pdf tutorial!

Salter Path...Day One

I'm not gonna lie...

Our first morning on the beach didn't start out quite like I expected it to. I mean, just take a look at that face...

 Maybe it was the fact that he didn't get much sleep yesterday...
Maybe it was the fact that I made him wear those ultra dorky water shoes (so he could walk on the hot sand)...
Or maybe it was because he was already missing his Daddy who is back home workin'...

 That has to be it! I was already missing him too.

The water is a little colder,

 The big ocean waves are a little bigger,

 And the toys are just not as fun when Daddy's not around.

Luckily, the water turned out to be not so cold.

 And the dorky blue shoes became a little less dorky.

 Even baby Owen got a chance to soak up the sun!

 Sand in every crevice? Check.
Beautiful sunny day? Check.

 Dump truck in hand? Check. Check.

 Nana handed her love for collecting sea shells on down to the newest generation of beach gowers.

 However, I think she forgot to show him how to just pick up the "pretty" ones.

 And now, with tummies full of shrimp and the best hush puppies in town,

 we can relax even more.

The best feeling is going to bed knowing that tomorrow, we can do it all again!