So Sew Organized

For the past two years, I’ve taught the 4s and 5s class during our week-long Vacation Bible School. It is a lot of fun, and a lot of work! We don’t purchase curriculum for this event, it is up to me to provide the material for my class. The little kids do almost everything independently from the big kids, so that is roughly two hours of time I have to fill up. Sound a little scary? It really isn’t bad...but like I said, it is a lot of work! Today I am going to share how I put materials and resources together to make my “curriculum” for the week, as well as my online sources and how I plan the week out. {Warning, its a novel!} Hopefully this will be a help to someone else faced with this situation in the future! This was our nursery-turned-classroom...excuse the lovely "ark" This week our VBS theme was Noah’s ark...a pretty simple theme, great for the 4s and 5s! All of my kids this year were unchurched, so that made it challenging...I started to realize about the second night ...

I’m not setting goals this week...you’ll hear why in a second. Today I’d just like to share some life updates, so cue the random music! First of all, I stopped on the side of the road to snap these pictures last night. This is the scenery I "put up with" each week on my hour-long ride home from church. I absolutely love the beauty of that drive each week, and there are so many picture-perfect moments, but this sunset was one of the most beautiful. The entire sky was dark with clouds except for that one place on the horizon...so pretty! But enough of the weather. We had a great week at VBS last week! Did you catch any of my FB pictures ? It was a challenging, tiring week, but we had one boy saved on Thursday night! He came back to church Sunday along with a neighbor, so we are thankful for the Lord’s working in those lives. This week, our family is heading to Family Camp. We’ve never been to a family camp at this particular camp before, and we’ve never been as a family of 8, s...

We are in the middle of an exciting week of VBS here at Calvary Baptist Church! I plan to share a detail post at some point with my game plan for the week, as well as some helpful links. But for now, I just had to let you in on one exciting and extremely necessary aspect of our class. Helping these little ones hide God’s Word in their hearts. My class so far this week has consisted of three 4-year-olds, and one that is age five. And yes, they are learning verses! You might ask, “Isn’t that a bit young?” but it isn’t! I have heard children younger than that recite memory verses in their own broken way. Fours and Fives are definitely capable of committing God’s words to memory! I’m not talking lengthy passages, or even multiple verses per night. We’ve been focusing on one verse, or even just part of a verse, each night. Two of my kids came back Tuesday night and recited Monday’s verse. I can’t tell you how that thrilled me! I know there are hard words in the King James English. I know ...

Here is a peek at the adorable wallet I picked up a few weeks ago!! I know I don’t normally share pictures of my wallet - seems kind of odd, right? But I’m trying to infuse a bit more personality into my posts...a little more of “me” than just projects, sewing, etc. I actually picked this up at a Christian bookstore in Oregon. I have carried this style wallet for years, and LOVE it! My old one was falling apart, however {it was white with cherries!} and I’d been on the lookout for a new one. Lo and behold, I found these super cute ones with Bible verses on them! Score! There were some other prints I liked even better, but this verse caught my eye above all the others. Last year during VBS we sang a song based on this verse, and it has become one of my favourites! When the woes of life threaten to get me down, I try to remind myself - It is the joy of the Lord, not of my circumstances, that will give me strength! Of course, the happy teal colour doesn’t hurt my feelings, either. {wink!}...

This So Sew Organized update has to be the cutest one yet! But first, let me clarify... When I was in college, I had a friend who was adamant that all girls think that mini items are "cute." And I suppose he was right. It seems we females gravitate towards small items. Mini pen? check. Baby animals? adorable. Mini chocolate bars? ok, now you're pushing it... Anyway, the point is, when I see something in miniature, I tend to exclaim, "Oh, how cute!" Which makes this the cutest item to date! =) Introducing matching mother/daughter quilted totes . The tote for you moms is the normal large size in my shop . The ones for your girly little one is the smallest tote yet! This little tote measures just 8x8", and the handles are sturdy and specially formed to be held by tiny hands. It would be a great size for small toys, Barbies, snacks...a small Bible fits in here perfectly! Basically anything your little girl wants to carry around. And it is made just exactly li...

Time for a weekly update on my goals from the last week, and the ones I am setting for the next 7 days! We are down to the wire with VBS preparations - only 6 more days and then it will be here! For that reason I am keeping my goals limited this week, as most of the time will be spent on that. I’m excited...I always am excited for that week to come! Hopefully I can share more later in the week about my plans and the class I am teaching. Here are the goals I set last week : Memorize Philippians 3:16-18 Continue reading Jane Eyre Sewing biz stuff...always! :) Make a bible case for a friend Make playclothes for the girls Continue planning for VBS Write 1 hand-written note Organize in attic {and perhaps folding clothes in in order, no?} And here are the goals for this week! Mostly VBS prep Memorize Philippians 3:18-20 Continue reading Jane Eyre List one new shop item - wait for it! This has to be my cutest shop update yet! Finish making a Bible case I 'd love to hear what your weekly...

You know me - I love a good organizing project! I’m coming to realize as I tackle more and more areas that you can’t just organize a space and be done with it. No, that space takes maintenance and occasionally some re-evaluation. Nothing wrong with that! So recently I re-tackled a neglected area...these bookshelves in my room. I had fixed them up nicely before, and even gone the extra mile to make them pretty ...but the system had stopped working. I have since gotten new books, my needs have changed for the space, and my siblings have borrowed from these shelves several times over. :) A slight change and re-evaluation was in order! In order to fit all my books in, I put double rows on some shelves with cereal boxes as props in the back row. You can see how I prettied up the boxes here . I love this system, but the boxes had a little problem… There was just a lot of general messiness in this space! I had allowed it to become a catch-all, which is a very bad habit, I know. I need ...

When we moved to Canada, it was very easy to forget that we were now in a "foreign country..." not the grand 'ol US of A any more. Living in this province is so very much like living in Maine that it is easy to forget it is not the same place! Sometimes, however, there is a certain aspect of this country that brings us back to the reality that this is Canada . One of those times is the first week of July. Really, it doesn't seem like there should be too much difference. Canada celebrates a national holiday on July 1st, which is very similar to our Independence Day in the states. There are parades, fireworks, and lots of fun cookouts and fun community events. It really feels like the 4th of July! So what is it that we miss, then, about the USA at this time? The flag. The salute. The national anthem. These things are missing from the festivites...and it makes it feel a little "off." So while we have fun celebrating anyway, we do still have a soft spot in our h...

I'm so excited to let you know that there are TWO bloggers giving away So Sew Organized products this week! 2 giveaways...how much better can it get? Here are the details and the prizes... In conjunction with 6 other bloggers, my gal Danielle over at Snippets of Inspiration is hosting a giveaway that includes several exciting prizes, plus a whole week of fun summer-themed posts. One of the items to be won is a So Sew Organized tablet sleeve ! Click here to enter that giveaway and get involved in some exciting, Beat-the-Boredom summer fun! The second giveaway is being held over at Jenvy Accessories , a fellow Etsian who has her own lovely shop with jewelry and other accessories. She is not only hosting a giveaway from my shop, but has also conducted a fun little interview with yours truly about how my shop came about and other random facts about me! It is a little incredulous to go over there and realize all that talk is about little 'ol me, haha! Her giveaway is for one me...