Fun with Burlap!

So I have been having lots of fun making these screen satchels.  Made a black and red toile one for me.  A gift for a friend and one for my Aunt!  They both loved them.  But did I take pics, no sir I didn't.  But I did take pics of the latest one I made.  It is for a friend who is donating it to a Silent Auction at the school she works at!  Should give me a good idea of how it sells!  Here are a few pics:

I used burlap on the outside and black and white toile on the inside.  Then I made rosettes out of the burlap and toile.  Stole the technique from the Shanty Girls!  Love them!  And loved how they turned out.  Easy Peasy and I put another 3 on the other side.  Here is a pic of the inside:

Love those pockets!  I am having fun with the zipper pulls as well.  Like a little bling there!

Here is a close up:

I made a little key fob as well, a matching set!

Let me know what you think!  I have to make another one for the auction.  Going to use some blue fabric for a more beachy feel.

Toodles


Laura

A Little History

We have lived in this house 23 years!  Never figured we would be here that long!  But as you can imagine a house that old needs a little sprucing up!  In 2008 we decided to do a whole house 'refresh'!  And it sorely needed it!  Here is a pic of the house before we started:

Not bad, but the paint was getting a little tired and the porch posts were rotting from water damage!  Yikes!
So the first project was to fix the porch posts.  One had to be totally replaced, then we, I mean our awesome contractor/friend Mike, bricked around the post 2/3 of the way up, so no water could ever damage again.
We then added slate to the porch and had the whole house painted, colors approved by the association of course!  Then I added a new screen door!  And here is the finished product!  Oh forgot to add we got new windows for the whole house as well!

This shows the whole house, here is the front door and porch.

Since then we have added a new gate on the side of the house that leads to the new side yard garden.  I thought I had a picture of that, but I can't find it.  We are one of the first houses you see when you turn into our tract, so we wanted it to look good and make a good impression.  We have received a lot of nice comments from our neighbors and I hope it inspires them to take pride in their house as well.

Have a great day!

Laura

Finally!

 Do you have something you have been meaning to do for years, but just never got around to it?  Well this is just one of mine!

 
I have had this pattern for years, I mean long time like 6 or 8 years!  Yeah I am slow.

You use a mesh like screen fabric.  I found it at Lowes it is used for pet doors!  It was $13 and is 36x84".  The bag I made used a piece 18x24 plus the straps. So I can get maybe a few more out of it. 

Here are a few other options.  I just recycled some old jeans and use a remnant for the lining.

Here she is!  I loved how it turned out!  It really wasn't that hard and I knew once I did one that it would be easy to do another.  Of course using the jeans and piecing that together took a little time.  But I like it!

It has lots of pockets inside and out.  Which is great!

Now off to fill it up and figure out what fabric to use for the next one!

I will have to make a key fob to go with it, stay tuned!

Toodles,

Laura

Linking up to: