Bento Box Lunch

Since school has started, I have had to think about Claire's lunch. Her school has a hot lunch program, but I am not thrilled with the choices. A lot of fried foods and packaged meals. However, Claire hasn't been thrilled with carrying her lunch in the past. When I sent a lunch, most of it would come back home untouched.
This year I decided I am trying something new. We call it Cool Cold Lunch. It is actually based on bento box lunches.
I bought a small rubbermaid type container and several silicone cupcake holders and send small portions of lots of different things. I also include a note from dad or me, a small food pick and a spoon if necessary.Yesterday it was mostly eaten! This is her lunch today.

Yogurt, grape tomatos, 1/2 peanut butter sandwich, finger jello and chex mix. You can see the pink food pick and the green and pink spoon. I used a Pampered Chef tart maker to seal the edges of the sandwich and cut off the crusts. We'll see how this one goes over.

Beautiful Modern Wedding

The wedding that I worked with Jodi this weekend was fantastic. It was unlike any that we have done. The bride and groom were young and wanted to have fun. Their color, floral, and detail choices made that clear. Jodi has a few preview shots on her blog. Jen Kroll was the principal photographer and she will have more to post in the next week, but this is a great start.
Here is a picture of the bride and her maids with the bags that I made. Beautiful!

Photo Mosaic

Jim's niece, Ellen, had one of these on her blog. It is really cool.
Here is mine

If you want to play too, type your answer to each of the questions below into a Flickr search. Using only the first page, choose your favorite image, then copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows). Leave me a link in my comments if you make one so that I can see what you do.

The questions:

1. What is your first name? (Jennifer)
2. What is your favorite food? (Seafood)
3. What high school did you attend? (McBain Christian)
4. What is your favorite color? (red)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Michael Buble)
6. Favorite drink? (cold white milk)
7. Dream vacation? (Italy)
8. Favorite dessert? (chocolate mousse cake)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (fabric designer)
10. What do you love most in life? (family)
11. One word to describe you. (creative)
12. Your Flickr name. (HandbagsbyJen)

Today is the First Day!

Today, Claire became an official First Grader. Last night she went to bed without much encouragement. She laid out her clothes and even got her hair stuff out. This morning she came downstairs at about 6:30. She didn't have to be up that early, but she wanted to be ready. There was an open house in her classroom so Lilly and I went to meet her teacher and check out her room. Ms. Jansen is a great teacher and Claire is going to love her. The classroom was decorated with monkeys. I am sure that this first grade class will fit in with that theme just fine.
When it was time for me to leave she got a little teary. This is quite unusual for her. She didn't cry on the first day of preschool or kindergarten. I got her settled in and then she was fine. This is going to be a great year. She is going to learn a lot and I am sure I will too!

Oh, my Goodness! Oh, my Goodness!

Coco's senior picture previews are up on the photographer's blog. Mary Beth did a great job and Coco had such a good time. Mary Beth has a way of making everyone comfortable and made sure that Coco had a special day. Unbelievable!

Be sure to check it out!

The Bag is Finally Done

I finally have a finished bag to show you. I have the bride's bag and the flower girl bag done. All of the other bags are all ready to be assembled. Outsides done, Insides Done, Handles Done.
I am very happy with the way these turned out. Modern, funky and fun.
Only a few more days until the wedding....Better go finish the other ones.

Yellow Chair Photo Shoot

Tina Vink was kind enough to lend me her yellow vintage chair to take some pics of my girls. I am happy with some of the shots that I got. Although it took about 100 pictures to get a dozen that I like. I tried my hand at some serious Photoshop editing. I think that they turned out pretty good.

Coco's 18th Birthday Party

Saturday was the party to celebrate Coco's 18th birthday. We had a beautiful day with friends and family. The food and fellowship was great. A big thanks to her friends for making the drive to our house, to family for traveling for the day and to everyone for the gifts.
We make a big deal of birthdays at our house. I am not sure why, but we always have. It is a great reminder that we are not raising our kids alone, but we depend on our family, church and friends to offer support to us and to be an example to our kids. One family at the party has been "taking care of Coco" since she was in third grade. Mr. H has been her prayer partner since that time. They have a great relationship and it is funny to watch them interact.
Thanks to Jodi and my family for sticking around to help clean up. She had a great time and we hope everyone else did as well. Here are some pictures. The much anticipated cake from Sweet Cake Designs, Coco with her cake (her dad made the "C" on the top), and all of the girls. What a great group of friends!
Happy Birthday Coco! We love you very much!

Handbags by Jen is on Etsy

Handbags by Jen is selling on Etsy.
I have each of the styles of Diaper Bag/Totes listed along with stroller straps.

This is a great way to shop for my handbags. Fast, easy, and you can use Paypal to pay for your purchase.

Stop by and check it out! Spread the word.

I hope to do some custom purses and list them as well. One of a kind bags that will be sure to blow your socks off.

Some Projects on My To Do List

Lately I have been so busy sewing for business that I have had little time for crafting for pleasure. So, I thought I'd let you in on a few ideas that are on my wish to do list.

I love this felted accent that can be added to any bag. A basic black bag can be jazzed up for an evening out or made really fun with a bright colors.

This dress just makes me smile. I think that is is intended for little girls, but I wouldn't mind one for myself. It will probably be one of those things that take me forever to get to, but it is so cute it has to be on the list.

I know that it is a little early to think Thanksgiving and Christmas, but if I want to get anything done for the holidays it needs to get on the list now.
We made these adorable turkeys with some friends last year and they were so cute. I think they would make great place mats or place cards for a family dinner.
The advent calendar has always been a tradition in our house (along with the Jesse Tree, but I'll save that post for Christmas time). This is a very cool way to keep the boxes out of the reach of curious kids. They used tins from Altoids and flavored instant coffee and spray painted them uniform colors. Either start collecting now, or check ebay. They seem to have a lot of empty ones for sale.

Jelly Telly

I know that some of you are going to roll your eyes (Jason). But, I think that this is a great idea. I am always looking for quality programing for my kids and, most of the time, we resort to videos that they have watched a million times. Jelly Telly is providing multiple programs that will change each day. The best part is that you use it for a month and see how much you use it and how much it is worth to you. Then you set your own subscription fee.
Check out Jelly Telly.

Melvin Update

Someone asked me for an updated picture of Melvin. He is growing like crazy! Last week he was declawed and neutered. He was in the hospital for 3 days. Now, he is running around like a crazy cat!
When the vet first checked him out, he said "I hope you like a talker. It looks like he has some Siamese in him." Well, he was right. This cat talks all of the time. I think he thinks that we can understand him.

Lots of Links to Cool Free Stuff

I am always on the lookout for new projects and it helps if the tutorials or patterns are available for free. Yep....I am cheap and I admit it.
Today, I thought I'd share some great links that I have found.

mmmcrafts has some great stuff on her blog.
Check out this cutie! I love the monkey and the pattern is free!
And this charm tree card. I already made this one for a friend.





This sewing machine cover is great! I will need to make one of these for mine when I am not busy using it to sew bags.





I am not sure where I would put these, but they would be great for picnics or sporting events.







Sandi Henderson gives a great tutorial on how to cut bias tape or piping.

Heather Bailey is giving away a pattern for her square pincushion. She is also releasing some great patterns in the next couple of weeks.



The Totable Towel from Anna Maria Horner will be a great addition for next summer. I don't think I'll get to it in the next few months.

Have you met my friend Jodi?

I know, I know you are asking yourself Jodi? Who is Jodi? I don't think you have ever mentioned her before.
Well, I thought it was time you formally met. And to answer your other question....Yes, I do have other friends, but I tend to talk to Jodi the most. We have kids the same age, similar crafty interests, and I work with her for her event business.
Jodi is highlighted on The Smart Planner today. So, you see, I am not the only one who thinks that she is great at what she does. And you know the best part of it all, if you ask her, she is just doing what she loves and gives a lot of the credit to her vendors and staff. She doesn't even know how good she is.
So, today, I thought I'd tell everyone for her. She teaches me stuff all of the time, gives me constructive criticism when I need it and loves me no matter what. Thanks for being such a good friend.

Flower Girl Bag ---- Check!

I am working my buns off. I set a goal for myself of completing at least half of the bags for the next wedding by the end of this weekend. I have a way to go, but tonight I completed the flower girl bag. I try to make the flower girl bag fit the age of the little girl. The last wedding she was very little. This little girl is about 7. I tried to make this one more like the bags that the big girls will get. I added the tie closure to help keep this one closed.
Whatcha think?

And the winner is.....

quitecontrary1977!

I asked the random number generator to generate the winner and it chose number 5. That is quitecontrary1977.

Please forward me your mailing address and I will get a package of goodness to you in the next week or so.

Thanks all for playing along. Please pass on the word about my blog and I will hold additional giveaways in the future.

Weekend with Papa and Mimi

I spent the weekend up north at my parents with the little girls. Now that they can swim, they never get out of the water. Claire spent 5 hours in the water on Saturday. We spent time with friends, sat on the beach, and went to the local ice cream shop for "the biggest cones in the north."
I didn't get enough comments on the giveaway post, but I will still give something away this week. Stay tuned.
And for you moms out there, my parents decided to keep the kids for a few days. Now I have no excuse for not getting stuff done.