blog crasher: just a bettie

my sweet sister from just a bettie is crashing my blog... she is creative and a little crazy... (shhh, she doesn't know)... you've been warned! lol!



hey and if you want to see what i've been up to, go check out the cute "boyfriend t-shirt" refashion tutorial i did for her...



Hello my fellow bloggers. Feeling a little naughty today? Good thing because I'm taking over!!! My name is Chea from JustaBetty.com and that simple silly girl Rachel is my sister. Rachel and I are like night and day....... Let's put it like this if we were the golding girls I'd be Blanche and she'd be Rose. So I'm coming over to add a little spice to your life! I promised I would be on my best behavior so I'll keep this PG13. So let's start with a little DIY Personalized Hanger tutorial I think you will all love!


What you need


1. 14 guage Galvanized wire....I bought this at home Depot 100" for 6 dollars

2. Needle nose pliers

3. Wire cutters

4. Hanger...I used one of my daughter's children hangers








Step 1: Take your wire and start bending it...I used my daughter's hanger as a guide.

Step 2: Use the Needle Nose Pliers to bend the wire for your letters and that's it!

Now you have a personalized hanger great for babies, wedding's..etc








Just to show you a little more about the things on my blog here are some more tutorial's you might like!



Ruffle Bra and Knickers









Chic Gloves




Baby Legging's




No More Wire Hanger's...Shelf

Thanks for letting me share some of my things. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Thanks...

where's mine sister?

snow, and some snow, oh, and snow

we have had LOTS of snow. we are in the midst of major snow #3 (in my neck of the woods 2 or three inches is a major snow) we have about 8 inches on the ground now. have i mentioned it's not quite february and we have had 3 big snows? have i mentioned that we usually don't get the majority of our snow until the end of february or march? have i mentioned that i am planning the staff pot luck lunch for the fourth of july because i'm pretty sure we will still be making up snow days?

but it's worth it cause i get snow days at home with boy, i craft during naps, and we get to play in the snow. boy likes him some snow! he managed to sneak out the door (because momma forgot to deadbolt it) and was playing in said snow wearing nothing but cowboy boots and his pj top. it's a good thing he just made it out when i caught him.

gettin' crafty: new "old" mirror

working on adding color to the house... slowly...
what did i do with this dirty old mirror and two bed rails i picked up at a flea market? oh, and some spray paint, can't forget the spray paint...i made this mirror to hang over the mantle... ohhh... i like that! i have seen similar mirrors for $500 to $1500 dollars... just as roughly done as mine...crazy!

gettin' crafty and stuff

i was going through pictures looking at all the pictures for posts that never made it up, mostly because i seem to either have time to craft or blog, not both... and partly because i am NOT a model and my pictures are scary... ha, ha... no, i'm not joking...

so today i'll throw caution to the wind and work on some posts of what i've been up to... you've been warned.
here is a long "maxi" style dress that came in handy during pregnancy... in the spirit of wardrobe refashioning it is now a short bubble skirted dress... would i actually wear it out in public like this? no. i would have a shirt under it and quite possibly legging, or even jeans... so since i wouldn't be seen like this in public, let me post it online for the world to see... :o)

it was a very easy refashion. i just turned the dress inside out, sewed around the hem of the skirt with a long straight stitch, pulled the thread to gather the hem to the size of the waist, folded it up and pinned the hem of the skirt to the seam of the waist, and sewed the hem to the waist seam with a zig-zag stitch... ta-da!

gettin' crafty: jersey skirt

i saw this really cute Jersey skirt tutorial on ruffles and stuff then a few weeks later i picked up some pretty cranberry jersey at a thrift store... this is my version of disney's skirt. i love it!
pair it with a dressy top and heels or a t-shirt and boots, wear it with a high waist or folded over. any way you go it's super cute and comfy. total cost: $1 and 30 minutes...

low tech runner

i am currently using a pretty low tech method of tracking my distance and pace when running. i use my cell phone clock and my car's odometer. i look at how far i ran, how long it took, crack the numbers and know about what i averaged in minutes per mile.

i would like to have a slightly more accurate means of determining distance and pace, especially because i don't like to run the same route over and over, but it has to be:

1. simple (runner's watches intimidate me)
2. as cheap as possible (all my current method cost is pocket change for gas)

does anyone have any suggestions?

oh... the ear warmers worked really well...

gettin' crafty: wicking ear warmer

cold weather and running don't go hand in hand in my book, but it's a combination i'm going to have to embrace... like in the morning when i go out for my long run and it's 35 degrees instead of the 65 degree high today.

this means the cold weather running gear is back out, which includes the ear warmers. problem? itchy, sweaty, poly blend, knitted, nasty, ear warmer...

so i pulled out an old pair of shorts that are supposed to be made out of a wicking cotton blend. with a snip, snip, here and a stitch, stitch, there i made wicking ear warmers. here's how:

old shorts...

being silly trying shorts on my head to make sure they would fit...

(that would be the leg hole around my head)
cut the leg off...

put it back on your head, pull it pretty snug until your fingers are about three inches apart at the back of your head (does that make any sense at all?)
cut a 3" piece of elastic and pin it to the leg (turned inside out) at the points that you pulled your material around your head.

sew each end of the elastic to secure it to the material.

fold the top of the loop down over the elastic and pin. make sure you pull the fabric taunt when pinning...

continue your way around, adjusting the amount of fabric you pin over so that the loop is wider around the front and thinner at the back where the elastic is...

zig-zag stitch around the loop and you are done... one free wicking ear warmer, cause have you priced them in a store? those people are smoken' crack...

we'll see how well it works in the morning...

(i know, i know, these pics are great)

its time again for a "not me monday"

this has been one of those extra-special mondays that put you in your place just in case you were getting a little cocky and thought you could get through a day without God.

i did not wake up late (as in twenty minutes before i needed to leave for work). i had not slacked sunday night and not packed lunches or backpacks. i did not go to get boy's clothes out of the dryer to realize that i didn't put them in the dryer last night so he had NO dry pants or big boy underwear! (and i don't have to pack like three sets of extra clothes just in case since we are potty training) i did not throw the three sets of pants and underwear i thought would dry the fastest into the dryer and crank it on high just to send my sweet stinky boy out the door in slightly damp clothes. we did not get out to the car to find the car seat was not installed and did not have blueberries smashed in it from gamma and paw paw borrowing it sunday. i was not late for work...

the day did improve from there, then i came home from a run to start dinner. i decided to make philly cheese steak (a really yummy recipe i'll share in a bit).

i cut my almost frozen roast into strips and put them in the food processor to thinly slice...


i was cutting roast and suddenly i did not hear boy screaming as raw meat was flinging through the air. i did not turn to see this...

i did not get distracted by boy's screams and take even longer to stop the food processor. boy had not minutes before opened the dishwasher and pull out the baskets of clean dishes. the dishwasher was not directly behind me. i did not need to rewash all the dishes because they had tiny chunks of raw meat all over them. i did not spend the rest of the night cleaning the mess up... i am way to "together" for any of that to happen to me, but i will pray for the poor soul that did have this day...

runnin', runnin', and runnin' runnin'...

way back here i mentioned that i started training for a 1/2 marathon, then later on i mentioned here that i would share about running my first 1/2...

so three months later i will.

i started the race with three friends, one who is a marathon runner and two who were newbies like me. we started the race running about a 10:30 mile. around mile three we were slowing a bit. i felt good with the pace and decided i wanted to hold it as long as i could and began to pull ahead a bit.

mile four i wasn't sure where my running buddies were but i was starting to pass small groups of runners. I HAVE NEVER passed anyone in a road race! i was feeling good; especially because mile four is my "hump", that mile that is hard to get through.

mile 6 i start walking for about 30 seconds at each aid station. i pick back up my run and start to pass a younger guy (19 or 20 probably) and he began running along side me. he started to talk and i thought "great, i'll have a conversation with anyone to keep my mind off running." i had already listened to everything on my mp3 and was tired of that. after about a 1/4 mile he had to slow down and i felt really great! i was out running some kid... i'm excited... i'm smiling...

mile seven however i am quite sure delirium was setting in. about 7.5 miles in i turn a corner and am running with the sun at my back, looking down at the road i can see my shadow perfectly in front of me... and i notice, my pigtails are lopsided... my pigtails are lopsided... this is going to drive me crazy... maybe i am crazy... should i stop and fix them?

mile nine i have decided that i am just going to sit in the ditch and cry... but i didn't because i didn't think i would get any sympathy from anyone.

mile ten i'm not sure i'm still picking up my feet. is shuffling still considered running?

mile eleven i walked as fast as i could.

i started running again around mile 12 and finished the race at 2:31:21. i really wanted to finish under 2:30, but since the course had some good hills and was considered a more challenging course i was content with my time. hey i finished and was still alive...

i was miserable when i finished. i did not want to (and did not) run for a good month after. i ran the muddy buddy with sister in dallas the end of october and then was done! "i will never run a 1/2 marathon again. it was a challenge. i am glad i've accomplished it. it is over now. i think i will stick to 5ks."

those were my words after the race... so why do i finally tell my tale? because crazy me started training for my second 1/2 marathon this week!

i am hoping it will be easier, since i'm not starting from nothing this time. it's a very difficult course which means i'm not going to be improving my time much, but that's okay. i just want it to be easier to get through this time. that's my goal... just get through it... wish me luck.

"holy popsicles batman, it's cold outside!"

it is darn cold outside. driving down the road i saw this fountain that had frozen solid.

and i think the cold has really started to affect (effect... i never can remember which one to use when) me because thinking about how cold it had to be to freeze that fountain lead to some strange thoughts..

can a duck freeze in a pond...

how much skin gets pulled off your tongue when you lick the flag pole...

and i guess because i have been dealing with a head cold, how cold does it have to be before your snot freezes in your nose...

if you can put my curiosity to rest it would be greatly appreciated and i would like it to be above freezing some time, maybe with some sunshine, actually about 70 would be great, thanks!

food, friends, and a good cause

i have been friends with the same group of girls since middle school (some before then). we always make a point to get together around christmas, usually for dinner and maybe a movie. this year i hosted a sewing party and we made "pillow case" dresses for the organization Little Dresses for Africa.

i wasn't sure how they would respond and told them if it was a flop i would never put myself in charge of our holiday plans again (i am not the planner of the group). we had a great time eating and visiting and for most trying their hand at something new.

these dresses are so easy and so forgiving that it didn't matter that we were using my poor dilapidated sewing machines and as a group had very little sewing experice. we will send these four with the 45 dresses my middle school students are currently making for a community service project.

now i just need to iron and bag them and we are ready to go.

had fun girls, can't wait to do it again!

happy birthday Jesus!

we had a wonderful christmas, relaxed and low key, remembering the true reason for the season. looking very forward to the new year and all that it holds. may we seek the Lord's will and count every blessing...
Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the Lord... Psalms 148:12-13

she thinks my turtle's sexy

the argyle socks and clip on tie really add to the ensemble...

i'm sure he got his fashion sense from his father...

(and don't you love his cheesy "i can smile on command now" smile?)

good bye brother, can't say i'll miss ya

boy is setting on my very big chirstmas/birthday present from my honey.

whoever said the best gifts come in small packages didn't have a cheap old brother sewing machine to deal with. i could have had something small and sparkly or a new wardrobe, but what i got was way better... i could have cried...

bye-bye brother... helloooo bernina!