The Handmade Dress

Y'all, I love the look of converse, but rarely put them on my little ones because of the laces, and them coming untied, or getting knotted, or mercy, even getting pulled out and then lost! With 4 children 4 and under and 5 older ones to get out the door we always reach for the slip ons. This morning I had a pair with no laces and was temped to just sew them to the middle flap to make them slip ons because the kids were headed camping with my mom and they needed shoes on that I could wash. That is when the heavens opened and it dawned on me that if we had elastic shoe laces that we wouldn't have to tie them. Ahhhhhh! After quick dig through my elastic bin I found this 1/2" green elastic (it's not FOE just normal elastic), I laced them, tried them on, tightened them up, tied the ends in knots and done! Slip on shoes!!! How did I not think of this before?! I went ahead and did two more pair. I love me a good mom hack! xo, Sam   Posted with Blogsy

Do y'all remember this?! Ha! I was pregnant with Penny! Well that purse has been my favorite purse of all time, but sadly after 5 years of faithful service it was falling apart! For months I have looked for a replacement but NOTHING has panned out and the ones that I did actually like were hundreds of dollars. I have 9 hungry kids, I can't drop hundreds on a purse. The other night I was sitting there dreaming of a colorful bohemian/gypsy purse that would work for a hippie mama like me when I spotted a rug in my living room! Woot! Woot! That's it! So before my dentist appointment the next day I bribed my children (with homemade cake) to let me sew while they watched the babies. I added a favorite scarf gifted from my sweet friend Heidi, and done!! So fast and after months of waiting! I read a blog post not long ago that said "the bigger the bag, the smaller the waist", hahaha! Well I took it to heart! I need all the help I can get! The moral of the story is thi...