The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #39

Welcome to Week #39 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save thirty-nine dollars. Our total saved to date is seven hundred eighty dollars. 

The Summer fades and we welcome the Fall season with new stash of cash.  It feels good! 


Here's a free printable Challenge Chart from Stuck At Home Mom:

If you're new to the Challenge, welcome aboard! You can start with thirty-nine dollars this week and add a bit extra each week if you want to catch up with us. Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine. Happy saving!

Dish Towel Tutorial - September Edition: Sewing Road Trip USA - The States of Kentucky, Michigan, Louisiana, West Virginia, Montana, Utah, and Texas plus State Birds and State Flowers! - 12 Months of Pretty Kitchen Towels

The time to to introduce the September Edition of our 12 Months of Pretty Kitchen Towels Series:  Sewing Road Trip USA - The States of Kentucky, Michigan, Louisiana, West Virginia, Montana, Utah, and Texas plus State Birds and State Flowers! is finally here.

Tak a peek at each photo as you read through this post.  Perhaps you'll find your state, state bird, or state flower included here.

Want to know how to make the basic, unembellished dish towel?  Check out the May Edition for the full tutorial. 

The name of the month, September, is embroidered along the left and right edges of the towel.  We added some little tied bow embroidery next to the name just for fun. If you don't have a machine that does embroidery, just pencil the name neatly along the edge of the towel and hand embroider the month in place. 

The beautiful brown candy striped grosgrain ribbon along the bottom border is machine stitched in place all around the edges.  Check Steps 9 through 12 of the the May Edition for the tutorial on how to add ribbon embellishment.

The tiny yellow ribbon is pinned on top of the serged stitches, top and bottom, and machine stitched into place on the dish towel. This is done by placing the print fabric in position atop the towel, laying the ribbon over the serged edges, and pinning all three layers into place.  Then simply machine stitch down the center of the ribbon.

July and September Kitchen Towels

As you can see from the photos, I used this fabric in the design of more than one month in this series. 

I absolutely adore the vintage USPS State Bird and Flower design fabric.  It is created by the same artist that designed the famous USPS State Bird and Flower Postage Stamps of the 1980s.  Remember the Kitchen Curtains Tutorial?  

Yep, this is the same print fabric used in the curtains, so it matches beautifully.

Have fun making your dish towels, and be sure to send me some photos! 

FYI, here are the states, state birds, and state flowers shown on the September and July (red ribbon border) towels. 

States

Michigan, Montana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana, Pennsylvania and North Carolina 

NOTE: If you look closely at the Kitchen Curtains photo you might see almost all 50 states with official birds and flowers.

State Birds

Western Meadowlark - KS, MT ND, NE, OR, and WY

Common American Gull - UT

Mockingbird - AR, FL, MS, TN, and TX

Cardinal - IN, IL, KY, NC, OH, VA, and WV

Eastern Brown Pelican - LA

Ruffled Grouse - PA

Robin - CT, MI, and WI


State Flowers

Apple Blossom - AR and MI

Bluebonnet - TX

Magnolia - LA and MS

Bitterroot - MT

Goldenrod - KY and NE

Rhododendron - WV

American Dogwood - NC and VA


Just for fun, here is a photo from Philosateleia
of the original USPS State Birds and Flowers Stamps that were issued in 1982.

Photo courtesy of Philosateleia

 

The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #38

Welcome to Week #38 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save thirty-eight dollars.  Our total saved now stands at seven hundred forty one dollars.


Another milestone has been reached.  We are over halfway to our goal for this year!


Here's a free printable Challenge Chart from Stuck At Home Mom:

If you're new to the Challenge, welcome aboard! You can start with thirty-eight dollars this week and add a bit extra each week if you want to catch up with us. Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine. Happy saving!

DIY Emergency Bodice Boning From Dollar Store

Since no one had metal boning in stock and we didn't have time to wait for an on line order to ship, I had to think WAY outside the box to finish the wedding dress in time.

Why not try the Dollar Store? When I walked in the door I had no idea if there was anything in that store that could be used for boning. Found the case knife blade was right size and hardness.

The picture shows pretty well what I did. Put the handle of the knife in a vise and clamp down securely. Use hacksaw to cut the handle  away from the blade. Smooth down the rough cut edge with a hasp. Cut a piece of fabric large enough to wrap around the blade and sew it around three sides. Insert the blade/boning and sew in place. 

Watch for the DIY  Cotton Bride couture wedding gown tutorial post coming soon!

The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #37

Welcome to Week #37 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save thirty-seven dollars. Our total saved has now reached seven hundred and three dollars.  Wow!

In the Week #36 post I mentioned our east Texas family vacation.  We had a marvelous time despite a few little challenges. 

A piece of truck tire debris wrapped around our boat trailer fender and pulled it loose.  The fender then cut open the trailer tire and we had a flat.  We were on 1-20 east of Dallas and of course the outside temp was 100+ degrees when it happened.  The tire rim and metal pieces were so hot he had to wear gloves to avoid blistering his hands. Fortunately, HUBBY is a whiz mechanic. He was finished with the fender and tire change and we were back on the road in less than 15 minutes!  

My hero. HUBBY, fixed this flat so fast!

The Villages has a lovely little floating Fishing Pier.We enjoyed fishing with our two oldest daughters and four of their five children.  (The baby, SITTING BULL, was too little to fish.) HUBBY is an avid fisherman.  We enjoyed watching the grands learn to fish!

BELLE, TINKERBELL, and COCHISE fishing

Here's a handy free printable year-at-a-glance 52 Week Challenge Chart from Stuck at Home Mom to help you stay up to date.

If you're new to the Challenge, welcome aboard! You can start with thirty-seven dollars this week and add a bit extra each week if you want to catch up with us. Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine. Happy saving!

The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #36

Welcome to Week #36 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save thirty-six dollars. Our total saved now stands at six hundred sixty-six dollars.
   

We've saved all summer long, and the typical summer vacation season has just about come and gone for most folks.  HUBBY and I are headed off to enjoy a few days of with the kids and grandkids  on the shores of beautiful Lake Palestine. 

 

Photo courtesy of The Villages

If you're new to the Challenge, welcome aboard! You can start with thirty-six dollars this week and add a bit extra each week if you want to catch up with us. Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine. Happy saving!

 

The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #35

 

Welcome to Week #35 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save thirty-five dollars. Our total saved to date is six hundred thirty dollars.

Stay tuned for Week #36 coming up ASAP!

For a free printable Challenge chart, check out Stuck At Home Mom's 52 Week Money Challenge.

If you're new to the Challenge, welcome aboard! You can start with thirty-five dollars this week and add a bit extra each week if you want to catch up with us. Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine. Happy saving!