30 things not to do to make your life better

I came across the following post today at "Marc and Angel Hack Life" entitled, 30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself.

There's probably a lot in here that you've heard before but it is so good to be reminded!

 "As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”  Nothing could be closer to the truth.  But before you can begin this process of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been holding you back."

Here are some ideas to get you started:

The difference between Sweet Potatoes and Yams

Ah, the age old question...what is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?

Every year around Thanksgiving when we are about to eat this delicious orange coloured food I wonder, what exactly are we eating??? Is it a yam? Is it a sweet potato?

So after all of my research this is what I came up with.

As it turns out, sweet potatoes and yams are not even related!

and

You and I are most likely eating sweet potatoes unless we have gone to some specialty ethnic store to buy yams.

 Depending on where you look you will get slightly varying answers as to why there is so much confusion on this topic. Basically, the YAMS you find in the grocery stores, farmer's markets etc, are just mislabeled and are in fact SWEET POTATOES.

Although these two foods are often confused with one another they do have differences in appearance.

While sweet potatoes are have a stubbly appearance and texture with an orange or yellow coloured skin and flesh and a shape that tapers at the ends, yams are longer and more cylindrical in shape with a rougher appearance and texture and a dark brownish skin colour with purple, red or white flesh.

True yams are tubers of a tropical vine and come from tropical climates, mostly South America, Africa and the Caribbean and are a rare find here in Canada or the U.S.

Fall Fashion featuring La Posh Style

On a lighter note (my last post was a little heavy), thank you to Little Birdie Secrets for featuring some super cute things from La Posh Style of which I will now share with you along with a few other items I added myself. Aren't you lucky!

I like these very much...don't you?

and these...

and these...

oh, and this...

and...

and finally...

Oh, being a girl is such fun! Every now and then it's nice to get your shop on!

How to make a jean skirt from an old pair of jeans

About a year and a half to two years ago I received a sewing machine for my birthday. I did not know how to sew but I wanted to learn.

My first project was the shiny blue thing below made from a 1995 vest pattern.
It was actually meant for my daughter to use as her own learning-to-sew project but I swiped it from her so that I could flex my own sewing muscles.

It turned out pretty much the way it was supposed to and it gave me a chance to get to know my machine.

By the way, the vest is all crumpled up in this photo because it was shoved underneath my sewing things for many many months. I'm not actually going to wear this, in case you were wondering...

Many months later I was itching to start a new project.

I started off  by cutting and hemming some jeans into jean shorts for all four of my children and then I wanted to keep going.

So I decided on a jean skirt.

My daughter has many pairs of jeans that have been handed down to her from my younger sister (thank you Auntie!), and I pretty much need to hem all of them (and now I know how!) so I decided to use one pair to make a skirt.

Unfortunately I wasn't thinking and I didn't photographically document the project:(

But here are a couple of sites I looked at before making the skirt.

The Homesteading Housewife This site has a great idea to add some pretty material into the skirt. I would like to try this. 
Not Martha
WikiHow: How To Make a Skirt From Recycled Jeans This site shows you how to make the crotch seam straight which is what I did 'cause I really don't like the other look. 

I very possibly looked at more sites than those but I think those were the best ones. I kinda just took what info I liked from each one and went for it.

If you want to do what I did then follow these steps:

1. Cut the jeans to the length you want keeping in mind the extra length you will need for the hem.

2. Rip open the in-seams using a seam ripper (I ripped open an inseam and then an outer seam which I then had to re-sew. I could smack myself sometimes!) up to about an inch from the zipper. Repeat on the back side.

3. Lay the skirt out flat. At this point you can straighten the crotch seam or leave as is and have it overlapping.

4. Pin the crotch seams in place.

5. Use the leg pieces you cut off earlier to fill the triangle shaped voids on the front and back of the skirt.

6. Pin the triangular pieces in place.

7. Sew the crotch seam and the triangular pieces into place.

8. Pin and sew the hem.

I think my skirt turned out pretty well and most importantly my daughter likes it and wears it all the time!

AND I really enjoyed doing this. I think I see more sewing in my future!

This is how my skirt turned out...

"yellow" photo challenge winners

Check out the "yellow" photo challenge winners at I Heart Faces. 

All of these photos are fantastic but I'm absolutely in love with the first place pic! 

Enjoy!

Alexa Blog Hop!

Join in on the "Alexa Blog Hop"!

This blog hop is sponsored by Spearmint Baby and co-hosted by Kelly's Lucky You, Scraps of Life, and Our Family World.

Find out what your Alexa ranking is, how you can lower it (that's a good thing!) and gain more followers!

Pretty white chicken coop

Now THAT'S a chicken coop!

Click on the photo to visit The Fancy Farmgirl.