DIY Vinyl Apron from a Tote Bag

Necessity is the mother of invention. I was throwing a "painting party" for my young women at church and at the eleventh hour I realized we lacked aprons. I ran to the dollar tree hoping to find something and I came home with 9 vinyl tote bags and 3 spools of gross grain ribbon. An hour later with my scissors, hot glue gun and sewing machine I had 9 vinyl aprons for my youth to wear and stay clean. Here is the super easy tutorial.

Turn this.....

...into this!

1. Cut the 2 side panels from you bag.

2. Lay bag flat and cut off one handle completely.

3. Remove only one handle strap from the other end.

4. Fold the corners at the top of your apron in making a triangle. Apply hot glue to the right angle.

5. Sew the strap you removed in step 2 to the spot you cut away on step 3.

6. Fold over the ends of both neck straps and sew with a zig-zag stitch to prevent fraying. Tie the two straps together in a simple square knot.

7. Cut cross grain ribbons about 18inches long. Sew the ribbons at the first fold mark on the bag/apron.

Finished! It really is that easy :)

Pantry Living weeks 10 & 11

We did it! Pantry Living Take 4 has ended. I'm happy because it means I can freely grocery shop again. I'm sad because it means summer is over. My hubby and kiddos are back in school and the real work now begins. I will reflect on my entire experience in my next post. For now, let's wrap this baby up.

Unopened boxes of cereal after week 11: 11
Gifts received: 5 boxes of cereal from my parents, pack of diapers in exchange for simple sewing job,
Jars/ bottles opened: spaghetti sauce, flour, sugar, green beans, mustard, soda, toilet paper, wipes, diapers, glass cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, bbq sauce, chicken broth, black beans, ranch dressing, italian dressing, rice a roni, pasta, chips, cookies, crystal light rasp lemonade, graham crackers, peanut butter
Allowable purchases: gas, milk, bread,
Cash purchases: cute chapsticks for stocking stuffers ($1 each), party favor bags and banner for Lilia's bday in March($1.50 each), posters from Justice for Christmas gifts($1 each), matching pear dresses for my girls from H&M($5 each), silly paper and pen sets($1 each), new butter colored purse for me from Guess(amazing deal $40), giant glass measuring cup/bowl($5), travel carrier for cupcakes ($9), dish scrubber, front loader toy for Levi's birthday ($15 used a gift card with a few dollars cash) , 2 new school shirts for Max ($1 each) (I added up my savings that shopping day: $229!), lunch and dinner out, strawberries, bananas,
Cheats: pizza (it was a desperate situation. Found out while relaxing on the beach Max had soccer that evening. Ordered a pizza from the beach and picked it up on the drive home. Ate in record time and got him to practice only 3 minutes late.)
Garden: Green beans and sugar snap peas are finished, blueberry bush is still dead, but cherry tomatoes are making for delicious mozzarella caprice
Unexpected huge credit card purchase: a new hot water maker. Discovered ours was leaking. $1700 later we are good to go. ouch!

Pantry after week 11

I have an announcement to make. Technically Pantry Living is over but my hubby has asked if I could try to sustain it a little longer.  So for the next month I will be shopping minimally. Strictly what is needed and what is an amazing sale. I still have enough frozen meat to get us through the month as well as a lot of food in our pantry. This message is sponsored by my plumber and hot water maker.

Hope your Summer was amazing!
Happy September!

Pantry Living Weeks 8 & 9

I can see the finish line.....This summer is flying past me and I am so close to the end of pantry living! It will be a pleasure to grocery shop again but I will miss my lazy days on the beach, late nights on the boardwalk and our adventures.

My amazing 10yr old niece just left yesterday. She made our family of 6 into a family of 7. She is tall and beautiful and ate as much as I did. This didn't hurt pantry living because I was prepared! I knew long before the summer she would be our live-in mother's helper for a month so I knew what I needed. We love her and miss her!!!! Can't wait until next year!

Pantry after week 9

Down to business (hope I can remember):
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 8: 23
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 9: 19
Jars/Bottles opened: peanut butter, Italian dressing, Ranch dressing, ketchup, chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, olives, corn meal, flour, sugar, garlic powder, oreos, goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, chips, soda, box of candy bars, ziplock bags, juice, cake mix, can of pineapple, box of ramen noodles, paper towels, toilet paper, rice, tomato sauce, beans, macaroni and cheese, pasta, yellow rice, toilet bowl cleaner, capri sun, evaporated milk, syrup
Gifts: giant jar of peanut butter, baloney, clothes for my kiddos, candy
Cash purchases: doughnuts, treats on the boardwalk, Slurpee (bring your own cup day! we took a plastic gallon container from ice cream!), baskets, bday gift for a friend, picture frames, flip flops for my niece, sunglasses for me, tip at restaurant, strawberries, apples,bananas, cucumbers, lettuce, potatoes, celery, ice cream, milkshakes, pizza, bowling, chuck e cheese,
Allowable credit card purchases: bread, milk, eggs, raspberries, gas, cheese,
Cheats (hold on to your hats! I ran out of cash while I was running errands): chips(we have nacho cheese left.....this was an emergency), underwear for the kids(too good a deal to pass up), the cutest leather sandals ever for Levi (only $4), Minecraft (I've lost my mind), a dvd for Levi's upcoming birthday, a full length mirror for the boys' room (only $5), footless tights for Lily ($1.50), Lysol wipes (technically a school supplies need), an adorable and super soft jacket for Lily for Christmas ($15, I'm sure this beautiful color will be gone in 2 weeks time when this would have been allowable), lunch at Red Robin after our entire family enjoyed the open house of the Philadelphia Temple ( I was short on cash by about $10 so unfortunately I had to cheat, but at least I tipped in cash!)
Garden goodies: LOTS of cherry tomatoes, a few baskets of green beans, a few peas past their prime

Lessons learned this week: be better at watering the garden, carry more cash than I think I need, pick sugar snap peas sooner,

2 MORE WEEKS OF SUMMER!

Happy Summer!

Pantry Living Weeks 6 & 7

Wow! 7 weeks now without buying meat, potato chips, cereal, shampoo, diapers..........Time is flying! My pantry is starting to show. The cereal is a simple indicator of how much we eat. We're nearly through my large stock of peanut butter. Not sure if we'll make it through the month on what is left. Apparently we love peanut butter even more than I thought. We used to go through one giant jar in a month. Now we got through it in 2 weeks!
My freezer has more room in it now but I've done awesome with meat this summer. We still have a lot of meat left. Italian sausage, chicken breasts, chicken legs, whole chickens, meat loaf, crab meat, homemade hamburger patties. we will have leftover this summer! We finished our fish sticks and chicken nuggets, frozen french fries and breakfast sausage.

Pantry After week 7 (forgot to get pic from week 6)

Now for the stats:
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 6: 33
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 7: 29
Allowable Credit Card purchases: gas, milk, bread, hamburger buns, tomato,
Cash purchases: Trip to Storybook Land for our family (an awesome storybook themed small amusement park), school supplies (notebooks, markers, crayons, colored pencils, pencil box, headphones, heavy duty plastic folders in 3 different colors, blah blah blah ),Vic's subs, dinner at Joe and John's for the family, naan bread, cucumbers, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, apples, lettuce, peppers,  2 new school shirts for Lilia on great sales, 2 new shirts for me,  new lunch bags for Max and Daddy, new winter boots for me 90% off reg price was $89! I also bought a different pair of boots that was 90% off in a size 9. I'm still trying to find someone to give them to. I apparently am not related to women with a size 9 foot.
Cheats: new sandals for Levi on a screamin' deal $4 for OshKosh leather sandals, Christmas present Cinderella Barbie Doll for Katy for $6.99, doughnuts(next year I might have to make them an allowable purchase. I cheat with them far too often)  (*usually because I was in a credit card only line and one thing in my cart didn't qualify for panty living)
Jars/Bottles opened: peanut butter, graham crackers, cookies, cheese crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars, chicken broth, mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce, pasta, rice, granola bars, fruit snacks, chips, soda, ziplock bags, parchment paper, powdered sugar, sugar, flour, corn starch, cinnamon, salt, ketchup, mustard, sour cream, ramen noodles, diapers, wipes, soap, handsoap, body wash, kid body wash, toothpaste,
Garden goodies- green beans, sugar snap peas, 3 cherry tomatoes a day(so weird), 2 zucchini

Zucchini plant update: we are on the final few leaves. The vine burrowing pests have entirely destroyed the one plant and I'm on the last quarter of the second plant. The wood ash I sprinkle on the base of the plants seem to slow down the demise of the plant. Best I can figure is since the plant was already infested with whatever this stupid bug is the wood ash slows down their feast allowing my plant to produce a zucchini. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a zucchini yesterday. I will probably pick it tomorrow. Sadly, this will probably be the last of the summer and maybe forever. I'm not sure I can go through this again, just so frustrating.

Only 4 more weeks left of Pantry Living!

 Happy Summer!

An apostle of Jesus Christ

My name is Melanie Brough. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ. I am a mother of four. I am a wife, sister, daughter, cousin and friend. I am a daughter of God. My goal in life is to serve those around me so that we may all grow closer to our Father in Heaven. My family can be together forever because of the plan of salvation. This plan was explained to us by our Heavenly Father before we came to earth. We are here to learn and serve and become more like Him. Through faith and diligent righteous service we can make sacred covenants and return to live with Him again.

This morning I was blessed to be invited to a very special church service with one of the Lord's 12 apostles on the earth today. Elder Quentin L Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Philadelphia. I am honored to be a choreographer for the very special Youth Temple Cultural Celebration that will be performed on September 17th. Almost 2,000 youth from our area will perform to celebrate the dedication of the Philadelphia Temple. This is an amazing project.

I am part of a committee with several choreographers, musicians, costumers, and a production team that has dedicated countless hours to pull this performance together. We were all stressed, exhausted and overwhelmed. Today we are uplifted, loved and spiritually fed. I have renewed enthusiasm and faith that I was given my talents for this cause. I was reminded that my Savior is aware of me. I was given an apostolic blessing.

My husband and I took our older two children to this sacred event. We heard testimonies of how the temple has blessed lives. Stories were shared that bore witness of the divine nature of temples. My heart was full.

The Philadelphia Temple is a magnificent structure. The architecture is exquisite. But more importantly the ground is holy. I know my Savior lives. I know the temple is the house of the Lord. I know that through the covenants made within those walls families can be sealed together for time and all eternity. The gospel of Jesus Christ is of peace and love and only by abiding by those laws and precepts can true happiness be achieved. I bear witness of this in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Pantry Living: Weeks 3, 4 & 5

WHOA Nelly! July is almost spent. Craziness! So my life is busier than normal this summer because of my recent church assignment. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love my Savior and I the young women at church that I've been asked to serve. I recently spent 3 days camping with them and am prepping for even more fun. My darling hubby and parents are huge helpers with the kiddos. And bonus: my 10yr old niece is here to be a mother's helper for the next month. 

Events in our home that affected our pantry: 

• a mouse (got to a bag of flour and some dog food before he met his demise)
• family visiting
• growth spurts 
• lots of beach days

Pantry After week 3

Boxes of cereal after week 3: 48
Boxes of cereal after week 4: 43
Boxes of cereal after week 5: 37
Allowable credit purchases: gas, milk, bread, eggs
Cheat: clearance shoes for Katy (I used a self check out credit card only lane...oops!)
Cash purchases: ice cream, Wendy's, Burger King, ice, pizza, naan bread, bananas, apples, strawberries, lettuce, carrots, celery, cucumbers, cilantro, shirts for Levi (store credit), chinese food, leggings for me, a new LuLaRoe skirt for me, flip flops for my niece, lighter, 4 boxes of dog food(she is eating way more than she used to), soda for hubby, Wawa Cookies and Cream milk for me (YUM!)
Boxes/jars opened: 2 peanut butters, 2 jams (accidentally), nutella, fruit snacks, oreos, chips, doritos, 7-Up, zip lock bags, canola oil, chicken broth, bbq sauce, rice, flour, sugar, raspberry lemonade crystal light, hand soap, toilet paper, paper towels, toilet bowl cleaner, cheese its, italian dressing, syrup, box of ramen noodles, dog food, pasta, spaghetti sauce, alfredo sauce, lysol wipes, baby wipes, diapers, automatic dishwashing soap.

Pantry after week 4

Pantry after week 5

Garden goodies: 2 zucchini, 2 large baskets of green beans,

Gardening woes: vine burrowing bugs have attacked my zucchini plants AGAIN! I was devastated last year when I lost my plant to it. I recognized the signs this year and tried to be proactive. It has helped so far. A few leaves unexpected die and start to look weird and orange at the base. I gently tugged on that part of the plant and the whole thing easily snaps free. The bugs eat at the base of the plant and leave big holes in the vine. I threw them in the trash and picked on small zucchini to discover a giant grub(i think) inside the tip. Both of my plants have been affected. I read on one blog that they pour wood ashes around the base of their small plants to prevent the pests from laying their eyes on the leaves. They continue to dust the base of the plant with wood ash because the bugs don't like it. Well, after our last firepit I did that and in my mind it is helping. What is left of both plants is still producing and isn't speedily fading, as has happened in the past. So far I have two nice zucchini that are the size of a large cucumber. I made bread today and it is divine!

Goofball making a green bean mustache.

What are you harvesting now?

Happy Summer!

How does your garden grow?

Melanie Melanie Water-melanie, How does your garden grow?
With tomatoes, green beans, and sugar snap peas
and zucchini all in a row!

Garden before Week 1: green beans, 2 zucchini

I'm excited to have a second raised bed this year. I designed the U-shape with random discount wood I got at home depot. It will be a great shape for weed pulling and harvest time!

Garden before Week 1: 3 tomatoes, sugar snap peas, dead blueberry bush and green beans

This spring I attempted to grow all my own plants from seed......I'm skipping to the punchline which is: it didn't work. The green beans were the only ones that grew. I had to break down and buy plants and it put my garden a week or two behind schedule. This time last year my plants were starting to bear fruit.
I'm growing 3 cherry tomatoes, a handful of sugar snap peas (all that came up), small square of bush green beans (contender),  4 rows of pole green beans and 2 zucchini plants. I'M SO EXCITED! I have high hopes for the garden. OH and before I forget my dead blueberry bush. I am really good at killing fruit bushes so I thought I'd kill a blueberry this year. The base is starting to regrow new leaves so I am hopefully it will return in a year or two but for now it is a permanent eye sore in my garden.
I didn't plant marigolds this year for a somewhat silly reason. So marigolds are said to keep bugs away from your plants and produce. I attempted from seed. Didn't grow. By the time I got around to  purchasing them this year and the ones left were expensive and I'm too cheap.  

Garden after week 2

Garden after week 2

Hooray for gardens!

So what are you growing this year? Let's get dirty!

Happy Summer!

Pantry Living: Weeks 1 & 2

 Whoa Nelly! Summer is flying by us. We are having so much fun lately and with that goes my $ and food. We are hitting the beach, the river, the lake, the boardwalk, a Phillies game, NYC.......busy busy busy!

Pantry After Week 1

Now for the real deal.
Before week 1 unopened boxes of cereal: 60
After week 1 unopened boxes of cereal: 54
After week 2 unopened boxes of cereal: 52 (we were gifted 2 boxes this week!)
Cash purchases: chips, oj, soda, lunch in NYC at a waffle truck, parking at Phillies game, tiki masala sauce, can of tomatoes, burger king, pizza, new swimsuit for Lily and one for me, flip flops for Max and Katy, birthday cards, doughnuts
Allowable Credit Card purchases: gas, strawberries, bananas, cilantro, bread, yogurt, milk, parking in NYC (this was planned for), Phillies tickets for my dad, my hubby and my son (this was planned for)
Cheats: diapers (amazing sale and I ran out of cash. It was 3 packs for $10.)
Jars/boxes opened: 2 jars of peanut butter, bbq sauce, flour, rice, yeast, toilet paper, water bottles, 2 boxes of fruit snacks, cashews, nutella, pineapple, marshmallows, graham crackers, chicken broth, syrup, alfredo sauce, spaghetti sauce, sandwich bags, snack bags, chips, nacho cheese barrel,
Garden: still in the growing phase. More on that later.

Pantry After week 2

Happy Summer!

Order....Order in the House

Summertime and the living is .......not as easy as it used to be. My 8yr old and 6yr old say they are excited to be out of school but all they really want is a firm routine with trackable goals. At first I thought I should swab their cheeks and wait for the results, these can't be my kids. My kid summers were spent playing outdoors rain or shine and avoiding chores and books. Upon closer inspection I discovered all my "lists": to-do lists, to-make lists, to-buy lists, etc. Nevermind. they are my children.

Their last day of school as we awaited Daddy's car pulling in the driveway so we could begin our annual water fight I sat with them and we made goals for our summer. My daughter wants to read 3 books, study history, jog daily, and keep a journal. My son on the other hand "wants a job". If you find anyone hiring a 6yr old boy who is good at legos, skylanders and soccer let me know. His other goals involve reading, keeping a journal and improving his t-ball and soccer skillz. But here is the kicker.....both said they wanted a color chart. Their classrooms use a color chart to track your daily behavior. They also want "centers", meaning a way to track certain activities. Apparently when my kids say they are bored it is because they stare at the walls instead of the floor covered in toys and see nothing to do. To remedy this we made a Summer Centers chart. 

They roll a die and it tells them what to do.
#1 Read for 15 mins
#2 Exercise for 15 mins
#3 Write in your journal
#4 Arts and Crafts
#5 Learning on the computer
#6 Rainbow Writing (workbook, spelling lists etc)

Then they each have a space they can put a tally mark to track how often they do it. They go crazy for this chart. However, I was mean and said #5 could only happen once a day.

Their color chart is a Godsend as well. They move up their clip for good behavior, move down for poor. There are rewards when you go up and stay up and punishments for going down. These kids love having very clear limits and expectations. It took me awhile to sit down and make the charts. So the first week of break was very aggravating for us all. I let the kids help design the charts. And now these two charts are made our lives make sense again. My kids aren't bored and I like to be around them again. Win win!

Pantry Living Fourth Time Around

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

It is here. It is hot and I am happy! My family has enough and that makes my heart sing. We don't take vacations to Disneyland. We don't drive fancy cars. We don't eat exotic food. We do sit around the dinner table each night and talk about our day. We do ride bikes down the block to pick up pizza from our favorite mexican pizzeria. We do kneel in prayer together each night to thank the Lord. We have enough.

I am stoked Pantry Living has started for me again. If you're new to this or just need a refresher "Previously on BeachBroughsBlog" Pantry Living is a self imposed grocery shopping fast. I choose to primarily use only cash on hand for any purchases and I stop grocery shopping for non-perishable foods for the time between last day of school until first day of school. My darling hubby is a teacher and is only paid for the 10 months of the year he is in his special education self contained behavior classroom. Unfortunately, our family still gets hungry in July and August. I am uber blessed to have a large walk-in pantry to store our food. I take a pic weekly to show the changes and track what new foods we opened and specifically how much cereal we eat. This year I'm starting off with 60 boxes/bags of cereal. Let's see if we can make it through!

I allow myself to buy milk, eggs, bread, dairy products and produce. I can use cash or a card for these. No meat, no cookies, no flour, no new shoes, no batteries, no toys... unless I use cash. I continue filling my tank with my credit card but I try not to shop for anything. I teach dance and am able to squirrel away some money for us to use all summer long. It pays for our funnel cake on the boardwalk. It buys ice cream cones and pizza. It keeps us going.

I also grow a garden. This year I built a second raised bed. We had an unusually cool May and early June. I've already killed my blueberry bush (crossing my fingers it resurrects itself). But my 2 zucchini plants, 3 tomato plants and peas and green beans are growing.... but seem behind schedule.

My kids go through 6 gallons of milk a week and usually 5 cereals a week. We'll see what their habits prove to be this year. I believe it is important to be prepared. I try to keep my pantry this well stocked all year long. I don't want to stress if we lose a job. I don't want to stress if we get horribly sick. If we are stuck in a snow storm we'll still be eating well.  I inventoried my pantry, freezer and two fridges.
Disclaimer: I do not go to the store and buy 60 boxes of cereal at full price just to do this experience. When a brand goes on sale instead of buying 2 boxes I buy 4. When I find a screaming deal, like I did last week: 10 oz bag of wanna be Apple Jacks for $1 each, same thing at shoprite would be $2.50 at least, I bought 10 of them. It takes a good knowledge of regular priced items so you know when something is a deal or not. That is my specialty. I grocery shop every week. This past year I've typically spent between $80 and $100 a week. So think of all the money I will save us by staying home.

So today was Day 1 of Pantry Living Take 4. My kids understand what its all about. My daughter said she hates it cause I won't buy her stuff. My son says he loves it "cause we get to shop for cereal in the pantry!"

Pantry Living Day 1

Hooray for Summer! Hooray for food!

 Hooray for Pantry Living!

Lego Valentine Box (literally)

My son is a Lego fanatic. He made me keep several of the boxes his Legos came in just so he could look at them again. Today I decided to send them out with the recycling. Fast forward to me this evening scouring Pinterest for a Lego themed Valentine Box to make for his class party. Most looked like a tissue box with plastic cups attached. He wasn't sold on anything we saw, except for the random one that looks like a toilet. I refused. I turned to my hubby and said "I'm tempted to just take on of those Lego boxes from the recycling and cut a hole in it." He replied with "Why not?" That was it! I grabbed it from the bin and began recycling it sooner rather than later.

Ta Da!

So here is our very literal Lego Valentine Box:

I cut a rectangular hole in the top of the box but I did not center it. He loves the pictures on the box and this way it kept most of the figures. Then I glued and taped the end shut.

 I used a second Lego box and blocked his name on it with a sharpie. I used our sharpest scissors to cut out his name.

 

I made the one and then traced it on to the second one so they would match. I left the bottom flap so I could attach it to the ends of the box to keep it from tipping.

Once cut I spray painted both sides of his name plates with gold spray paint (cause that was the color I had).

I added double sided tape to the flap and re-enforced it with hot glue. I poked two small holes and either side and used a twist tie to fasten it securely to the box.

We may add a few hearts later, we'll see.

This is such a win for us! 

Happy Valentine's Day!