Tutorial: Pattern Weights

There's nothing I hate more than pinning a pattern and cutting out the fabric when I'm doing a project.  I absolutely love my rotary cutter and mat.  It saves me so much precious time!  If you have yet to take the rotary leap, I highly recommend you jump in as soon as you can! I promise, you'll never look back! It's also great for those with bad hands!

You have to hold your pattern down in one spot when you're using a rotary cutter and mat; that's where pattern weights come in.  Just plop them down on top of your pattern when your cutting, and it wont move around on you!

What you'll need:

Half to 1.5  inch strips of fabric or ribbon

Hot glue gun and hot glue (high temp is best)

Washers- you need 2 per weight (I got the biggest ones at Home Depot I could find. They are zinc coated)




Start off with 2 washers.  Place a dab of hot glue on
one of them and place the end of your fabric strip on it.  Put hot glue around it in a circle and place the other washer on top, sandwiching the end of the fabric strip between the washers.

Now begin wrapping the material around the washer going through the hole.

And keep wrapping....

And wrapping until none of the washer is showing.

 Place a small dab of hot glue and lay the excess material on it.  Cut away the extra....

  

Thanks for looking!

SAHM of Etsy Treasure Hunt!

Get your pirate hat and eye patch ready! The First SAHM of Etsy Treasure Hunt begins Sunday, April 17!!  There are 22 shops participating, and many great prizes to be one! Will you be the treasure hunter to win one of 3 great gift boxes?

Begin your hunt by visiting the SAHM of Etsy Treasure Map page to learn where to begin.  Hunt through the shops, blogs and Facebook pages to find the treasure hunt logo hidden somewhere inside!  Then go to the Treasure Hunt page and submit your answers! Three winners will be randomly chosen, and announced May 1. 

Please see the Treasure Hunt page for complete details and the Treasure Map page for a list of participating shops and all the great prizes you could win.  Don't forget to tell your friends and family about it!!

--Celesa- Lilly Bunns Boutique

God Moves Monday: Let God do His Work

I've always struggled with trying to control everything.  Everything from my husband, to my house, to just EVERYTHING! I can't tell you how difficult it is for me to let someone else drive a car I'm riding in! This same attitude is reflected in my relationship with God.  I'm always wanting to be the one to cause change in my life.  God has taught me so much about my attitude, and allowing Him to do the work in me.

To first get the proper perspective, we have to start with the attitude that we are in bondage to our sin.  In the fact that Jesus came to save us from our sin, we can see that we are unable of being freed from sin on our own.  I've always been down on myself because I can never seem to stop doing the sins I'm trapped in.  I am saved of course, and am forgiven of my sins, but there are areas of my life that I struggle with.  For me the primary area is the sin of gluttony.  I've struggled for years with having an ungodly perspective of food.  It's been my idol.  I've tried for years to quit being gluttonous to no avail.  

I've learned through working through the Lord's Table Bible study that I've never been able to break those chains, because that's God's work.  How freeing! Yes, I have to have a repentant heart, but I can not just turn 180 and stay that way without the help of God.  I had to realize that it takes a humble heart for God to be able to work.  I have to have the attitude that I'm unable to do anything outside of His power.  I have to rely on Him completely to free me of my bondage to sin.

This requires that I walk in the Spirit.  This means that I have the eyes of my heart opened, and walk with a humble, repentant heart.  It is impossible to walk in the spirit if you are living in sin.  Living in sin doesn't mean we are not forgiven, or not saved, it means that we are allowing Satan to enslave us, and not having a repentant heart in any given area.  When we are walking in the Spirit, we allow God to talk to us whenever he needs to and we need to be obedient.  This is how He does His work!

When we are walking in the Spirit, we will be able to hear His voice.  He will reveal to us areas that need to be changed, and will root out any weeds of sin in our lives.  We have to be listening, open hearted, and ready to obey.  He may reveal that you need to forgive someone, or he may reveal an area of sin that you have no clue that was there.  He may have something very drastic to do in your life.  You have to walk in the Spirit with a humble, repentant heart, ready to obey what God has called you to do.  

If the church today would walk ready to allow God to do the work, instead of trying to do the work in their own power, or world would be a totally different place!