Day 28 - Spicing it Up

As I've said before, when we're not traveling we're cheapskate, boring, stay-at-home people. Our lives are definitely more exciting when we're cruising! We get to visit with crew members we love, see new places around the world, and eat and drink things we wouldn't get to at home. While I'm sad cruising is off the table now, I'm realizing we need to spice things up around here. The Mystery Treat Bags were a start. But I'm kicking it up a notch.

With alcohol.

We don't keep alcohol in the house. We don't go to bars and very rarely have we ever had an adult beverage outside this house. But when we're cruising? We I drink on three occasions:

• When our favorite bartender is on a ship. He makes sure these rheumatoid arthritis joints feel pretty darn good. (Not surprisingly, we follow him ship-to-ship.)
• When we're in a warm weather port. Having an alcoholic beverage on a beach - or near a beach - can't be beat.
• On a snorkel boat in the Caribbean. As soon as the time in the water is done, the rum punch starts flowing freely. And that stuff is strong.

Maybe it was all of those things making me decide to go to the liquor store today. I've only been in a liquor store four times in my life. Today made number five. I figured if I was going somewhere I never go I might as well go big! As I finished checking out the cashier said, "Have a Good Month!"

I think I will.

How to Sew Scrub Laundry Bags for Medical Personnel or Essential Workers - Tutorial Tuesday

It's Tutorial Tuesday (yep, it really is Tuesday this time) and I have another easy project you can make for others. It's called a scrub bag. We've all heard about medical professionals and their worries about bringing COVID-19 into their homes. Well, scrub bags are something we can be making for them or for other essential workers. It's basically a laundry bag just for their work clothes. Throw dirties in the bag, cinch it up, and toss the whole thing in the wash.

Looking for more sewing and crafting projects? 
Click here to see all my tutorials!

For this project you will need:

• 1/2 yard of fabric, 100% cotton
• Shoestring, cording, or twill tape measuring at least 42" long. You can use one long piece or two shorter pieces. Ribbon may be a bit too flimsy to stand up the multiple washings.
• Iron
• Rotary cutter
• Cutting ruler
• Cutting mat
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread

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You'll find the step-by-step how to tutorial for sewing a homemade drawstring fabric laundry bag right here:

Check out my face mask tutorials here, too.

Day 26 - Sack Lunch Mystery Treats

When we were teaching I used to pack school lunches for us. But now since we left work we only pack lunches for traveling. It's always nice having something prepared at home for those long flights to wherever.

Now there will be no flights. No cruises. No road trips. No travel anywhere. No leaving the house ever. Which is probably why this sight in my sewing room was probably so unexpected.

When I did my grocery pick-up a couple weeks ago, I wasn't questioned about why paper lunch bags were coming into the house. No strange looks when all these individual serving size snacks - chips and popcorn and cookies and mini pies and more - were being piled into the sewing room. If he had asked, I would have told him about this idea I had. Something completely out of the ordinary for us.

Mystery treat bags.

I put two salty snacks and two sweet snacks in each bag, mixed all up so no two were the same. Now each night after dinner but before bedtime (during those times the munchies hit) we pick out one bag to share.

It's a surprise every night and a welcome distraction from our ho-hum stay-at-home life.

Day 25 - Sew In Sunday for Box Cutter Boy

Ed is definitely not the fix-it guy around here. Never was, never will be. And why he thought he should try and cut up a box for recycling without me being there, I'll never know. What I do know is where he placed the box when he was cutting it. I also know the aftermath of cutting a box in such a place.

Our old Coleman camp chairs have been through a lot with us. Spring Break Oregon Coast trips and Idaho mountain trips when our daughter was young. A cross-country Idaho to Maine and back tent-camping road trip. The chairs were put to use when we needed to sit and rest when painting walls or staining fences. When pruning roses and shrubs. Recently they have been put to good use for our pizza picnics and for sitting in the sun, soaking up the warmth.

Long since faded and covered in years worth of paint splatters, they are pretty sorry looking these days. But they do the job so we haven't even looked for new ones. Although, thanks to Box Cutter Boy, we probably should. The evidence of where he put the box when cutting it is clear.

Right across the seat. Seriously???

My Sew In Sunday task today was trying to figure a way to fix the chair. The fabric is in bad shape so there would be no restitching of it. But thanks to some duct tape and a couple cut up Boise Hawks seat cushions,

a bit of Velcro, and some of his favorite Cincinnati Reds baseball fabric, we have a seat cushion to cover his messy cut-up mess. 

He's a happy camper now. Happy camp chair, too.