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2 Little Hooligans

shopping list and coupon organizer {tutorial}

Need some organization when it comes to shopping?

Yeah me too! That is why I came up with this shopping list and coupon organizer. I am always forgetting either my shopping list or my coupons at home. I love when I get to the store and realize that they are sitting right on the counter at home. Or worse yet, I get back home and have forgotten that last ingredient needed for supper. I wouldn’t have forgotten it in the first place if I had my list to begin with. So instead of putting all 3 kids back into the car and driving down to the good ole Walmart I botch something together for supper. So I’m hoping this new organizer of mine will help me keep track of all my shopping lists, save some money, keep me organized, and keep me from last minute meal plans. I want to say goodbye to this unorganized life of mine when it comes to shopping and meal planning. Now all I have to do is not leave home without it! It may not make my shopping trips funner with all 3 kiddo’s, but at least I know it will make them more organized. And an organized momma means a happy momma!

Shopping list and coupon organizer tutorial
*organizer is designed to hold a 4 x 6 pad of paper, pen, small calculator and more!
(allow 1- 1 1/2 hours to make)

Materials Needed:

* 7″ zipper

* 9″ of a 3/4″ anti-roll elastic
* fabric
* 2 pieces of iron on stabilizer (I use pellion brand)

In the main color cut one piece of fabric to the following sizes:
*14″ x 8 1/2″ (inside of organizer)
*13″ x 8 1/2″ (outside of organizer)
*9″ x 8 1/2″ (inside pocket)

In a contrasting color, cut fabric to the following sizes:
*Four pieces of fabric at 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ (zippered pouch)
*21″ x 2 1/2″ (elastic closure)
*12″ x 7″ (pocket for pad and pen)

Now that you have all of your pieces cut out, let’s get started!

Gather the 14″ x 8 1/2″ and 13″ x 8 1/2″ pieces that will be used for the inside and outside of organizer. Iron on stabilizer to the backs of both of them.
Fold the 14″ x 8 1/2″ piece in half. Cut. Now you will have 2 pieces of fabric that are 7″ x 8 1/2″.
Set aside.Gather the four 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ pieces of fabric that will be used to make the zippered pouch.
Lay one piece of fabric right side up. Take the zipper and line it up even with the top edge of that piece of fabric. Now take one more piece of fabric and place it on top of the zipper. Make sure all three pieces are line up perfectly. Pin in place.
Here is a closer look at them all lined up.
Sew using a zipper foot or if you are like me and don’t have one just use your regular foot. It may get a little tricky around where the zipper pull is, but what I usually do is once you get to the zipper I back stitch a few stitches and take my needle out. Then I unzip the zipper and move it out of the way into the area that has already sewn. Again, I make sure the zipper edge is even with the edges of the fabric. Then I finish stitching that side. I have had no problems with this way of doing it. I’m sure a zipper foot would be easier and faster and someday I will get one, but for now this works for me.
Fold fabric down and iron. This is one side of the pouch, now you need to make the other side.Repeat with the other two pieces of fabric on the other side of the zipper.
It will look like this before you start sewing. Remember to have the two fabric pieces and zipper all lined up on the upper edge. The right side of the fabric that is showing is from the finished side of the pouch.
This is what you should have now.
Fold fabric pieces together. The zipper should be on top and all 4 pieces of fabric are on the bottom. Even though the bottom and sides aren’t sew still make sure it zips and unzips.
Set aside for now.
Gather the 9″ x 8 1/2″ piece of fabric that will be used to make the pocket on the inside.Fold wrong sides together and top stitch on folded edge. Piece should now measure 4 1/2″ x 8 1/2″.
Gather one of the 14″ x 8 1/2″ pieces that you cut in half,the zippered pouch,and the pocket piece that you just made.
Layer all three pieces like so. Make sure all three pieces are even on all three sides. Pin in place and be sure that the zipper pouch is laying flat and zips and unzips once pinned in place. (Maybe I wouldn’t be so worried about it zipping properly if I had a zipper foot.)
Set aside for now.
Gather the 12″ x 7″ piece of contrasting fabric. Fold piece of fabric in half wrong sides facing, iron, and sew on folded edge. Piece should now measure 6″ x 7″. This piece will become the pocket for holding the pad of paper and pen.

Gather the other 14″ x 8 1/2″ piece of fabric that was cut in half and place the pocket piece that you just made on top of it. Make sure all three raw edges are even. Pin in place.

Now it is time to assemble the inside of the organizer.

Lay pieces like shown above.

Take the piece on the right and fold it on top of the piece on the left.

These are the two edges that you will be sewing together.

Sew and trim off excess fabric.
Unfold pieces and iron flat.
Time to make the holder for the pen.

Measure in 3/4″ from where you just sewed the two pieces together. Draw a line vertically and stitch. Now you have a pocket for your pen.
Gather the elastic and the 21″ x 2 1/2″ piece of fabric. Time to make the elastic closure. With right sides facing sew piece of fabric together. Turn right sides out and iron.

Place a safety pin on the end of the 9″ piece of elastic.
Start feeding the elastic through the piece of fabric. Sew the end of the elastic in place with the edge of the fabric before the elastic disappears.
Keep pulling until the fabric is all bunched and you have about 1/2″ of the elastic is hanging out. Sew the elastic in place.
Take the 13″ x 8 1/2″ piece of fabric that will be used for the outside of the organizer. Place the elastic closure in about 2″ from the edge. Tack elastic in place about 1/8″ from the edge.
Gather the two pieces shown above, it is time to sew them together.
Take pins out of zippered pouch.
Put two pieces together with right sides facing. Make sure the side that will hold the pad of paper and the elastic closure are facing. The zippered pouch will be facing the other piece of fabric. Did I lose you? You just want to make sure the elastic closure and the zippered pouch are not sewn together and that they are on opposite sides.
Sew around the edges leaving a good 2 12″ for turning right side out.
Trim off excess fabric and make sure you square off those corners. The more excess fabric that is left on the edges, the harder it will be to get nice and evenly flat edges.
Pull right sides out through opening.
Push corners out and iron flat. Make sure all of the sides are nice and flat. Top stitch top of organizer, but make sure you do not top stitch the elastic piece down. Pull the elastic piece out of the way, even if you have to stop top stictching and pull it out of the way. This will allow the elastic to be a little loose and easier to flip over to close the organizer.

Now just fold shut and flip elastic closure over to secure it shut.
And your finished!
Now you are one step closer to being organized, at least when it comes to shopping.



**Please feel free to use this tutorial for your personal sewing projects. You may link this to your blog and use any photo’s, just be kind and give credit where credit is due.**

Happy sewing!

Any questions or comments please do not hesitat to contact me. If you make one using this tutorial, please send me an email or add it to my flickr group. I would love to see it!

shopping list and coupon organizer

So here we are 4 days into the new year and I am still sticking to my 2011 plan! The other day I cleaned the fridge, I mean CLEANED the fridge! Oh she is so pretty now! The hubby keeps laughing at me, because I find myself opening it, just to admire it. You see, clean house= happy momma! So yesterday, to help get me organized with my shopping list and my weekly meal planner I needed a new little pretty buddy to help me out, so I sewed up what I think to be the best thing to keep me on track and organized. Here it is…

my shopping list and coupon organizer!

It has a little non-lined note pad for making my lists, a pocket for my pen, a pocket for holding coupons or sales receipts, a little zipper pouch for holding my calculator, money or whatever else I may need. Like most things I create, a lot of thought went into the design of this. I’m embarrassed to say how many hours I spent daydreaming of this little organizer. I wanted to make sure I included enough spots to store everything without making it too big or bulky.


As you can see, I’m not over my love for orange yet. Plus it had to coordinate with my new wristlet.

That is not a ruffle on the outside, it is a ruffle-esq elastic closure. That is right, flip the elastic over the front to keep it shut.
Now, all I have to do is remember to bring it to the store with me and I am one step closer to getting organized!

plans for 2011


#1. First and foremost… finish the rest of the house!! This is our #1 goal for the year. We HOPE to have it finished in time for Christmas next year. No more Christmas branches for this family.

#2. Organize, ORGANIZE, O-R-G-A-N-I-Z-E!!! It seems to be not matter how much I throw away and organize things, there is always room for improvement. I read somewhere that the only way to really be organized is for everything to have it’s own spot. I strive for this, yet with the limited space we are living in, it makes it really hard to have a spot for anything. I do have a few things and changes I want to make so over the next 6 weeks I will be tackling each room or area that needs to be reorganized or “spring” cleaned.

week 1: kitchen
week 2: kids playroom
week 3: bathroom
week 4: bedroom
week 5: kids bedroom
week 6: crafts and sewing

#3. Meals will be planned ahead of time for the week! There will be not last minute wonders of “whats for dinner”? I love to cook, but sometimes I find myself in a slump or just don’t know what I want to eat. So I have already set up a little little meal organization center and will keep all the recipes that I want to try within reach (neatly organized of course). I will comb the coupon section and sales fliers to see what’s on sale and plan my meals from there.

#4. Take control of the laundry! Clean clothes will be put away and not stored in their baskets. Man this has been a goal forever! The first problem is we don’t have enough room for all the girls clothes. With all 3 of them in one bedroom and only 1 dresser and 1 armoire to share, the girls end up getting only a drawer-and-a-half eacsh and a teeny-tiny space for hanging their dresses.

#5. Finish up projects that are already in the works, starting with this wreath here.
also:
bedding for the kiddo’s
under-the-bed storage boxes
fabric totes for the kids toys
mitten clips for the kids
baby doll accessories for our new babies
dish towels and wash cloths
bibs for the baby
start and finish the girls baby books (which reminds me, I still owe a scrapbook to my sister-in-law, sorry!)

#6. Get the baby to sleep through the night. I want to say buh-bye to 12, 2 & 4am nursing sessions. She is almost 10 months old & as plump as can be. There is no reason she is still getting momma milk 3X a night, except the fact that I hate to hear her cry and that she wakes up 2 others in the middle of the night.

So I have a lot of work ahead of me. It seems a bit overwhelming, but one thing at a time and one area per week. I’ll let you know how I do and sorry, most of the tutorials and craftiness you will be seeing from me over the next month or two will revolve around me and my plans for 2011. And as far as my etsy shop… it may or may not be shut down for a bit.

So what are your plans for 2011?


embrace the camera {winter chores}


So here we are still doing our morning chores all together the four of us. I thought the kids would have “chickened out” by now, but all 3 of them are still heading out with this momma everyday to collect the eggs.

My little guy starts out on his snowshoes but half-way-up there usually hops into the sled with the girls. Surprisingly, even though it takes a good hour to get out the door and to collect the eggs, I have actually enjoyed most days. I get to strap on my snowshoes and be outdoors. The worst part is just getting out the door. Ya know, by the time the second one is all dressed, the first one is undressed again. Gloves need to be put on 5X before we even make it to the chicken coop, and someone always does a face plant in the snow and has a melt down.


Thanks to our 6 chickens, they get us out of the house everyday. It’s not always fun and I don’t always look forward to it, but once we are finished there is nothing like going back inside and warming up. And really, I’m getting one great workout everyday.


That’s right, only 3 eggs today! For some reason our chickens are not good at doing their job. Any suggestions?

my handmade Christmas presents

As I write this post I am still working on finishing the last of my Christmas presents, that’s right, Christmas is not over in this house yet. One more apron to go! The week before Christmas all the girls in this house had nasty colds and one little baby with croup. So I went a whole week with nearly any sleep and not sewing a single thing. Thankfully, I have some very understanding friends and family. You know making most of your Christmas presents is way harder then just buying them from the store. So thanks guys for understanding! So here are a few of the gifts that were given away this year for Christmas.

Casserole carrier using melon from the Meadowsweet collection.

**Quick question: Would you think differently of me if you knew that I carried my casserole dish to Christmas dinner wrapped in aluminum foil? That’s right, I do not have a casserole carrier of my own!**
Velour terry cloth dish towels.
And lots of aprons! This was year that lots of little ones were getting their first kitchen sets and NEEDED an apron to go along with it.

This is one of my favorites! First of all, you know my love for orange, but also I love this plaid fabric from Michael Miller! Hope it makes a little nephew of mine happy.

So, am I the only one still working on their Christmas presents?

The kids playroom {then and now}

After posting pictures of our kitchen, I got a few emails wondering, do my kids have any toys? and where the heck do our 3 little ones play? Well… right in our kitchen of course and in here… the hallway! That’s right my kids playroom is actually in the hallway. It is not ideal, but “it is what it is,” until the rest of the house is finished. Yes, it is super tiny, but luckily they know no different.
So here it is, the kids playroom.
A before shot of what this area looked like 6 years ago. Again… What were we thinking!!! I wish I had more pictures of this area to share, but this is the only one I could find.

You can see through the doorway into our kitchen (yes, my kids are watching TV…gasp!) which also doubles as our living room/dining room/craft room/and guest room when Grammy comes to stay. Like I have said, not practical, not fun, but “it is what it is.” And really it could be worse. When we first bought the house this was just a big nasty room with no insulation and the walls were old barn boards. We turned this empty room into a hallway and on the other side of the coat rack is where our bathroom is now.

AWW, our kitchen set. It was last years Christmas present and it is the BEST! The kids just LOVE IT and so doesn’t every kid that comes over to play. And yes, we actually have kids over to play as you can only imagine it is just plain CHAOS when that happens!


All of the kids coloring and craft suppllies are kept up high and out of reach of those little fingers.

So there it is, our little playroom!

Whatcha think, Wanna come over and play… in the hallway?

Christmas 2010

With only a Christmas branch, I had to get inventive on where to put our presents. Wanting to make it magical and look special for the kiddo’s I decided to stack all of the presents as high as they would go and strung lights all around them. The kids just loved it and I definitely got the reaction I was hoping for. Thank goodness it doesn’t take much to get these little kiddo’s of mine excited.

After spending a crazy-fun-filled Christmas Eve with family, we spent Christmas Day at home just the 5 of us. We wasted away the day by opening presents, making homemade donuts, playing with our new tractors and trains, watching a little girl push her new stroller and dolls all around the house, and reading our new books. We even got out to do some snowshoeing. Oh it was wonderful! But then again, I always enjoy days when the hubby is home and all we do is spend time playing with the kids, eating way too much food and are able to sneak in a movie when the kids are napping.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!

embrace the camera {momma’s 3 little reindeer}

First of all, congrats to the Anderson crew! Such great news and we are so excited for all of you. You truly got the most precious gift for Christmas this year, and so didn’t she!

Oh how we have loved opening our advent calendar this year. The kids take turns each day opening each one up. It is usually something for them to share, an activity to do, or they both get a little something. Remember the numbers that I purchased to make our advent calendar? Well it not only came with the numbers but also some fun activities to do with the kids. So on this day when they opened their advent calendar they had a little circle telling them that they were going to have a mini photo shoot, complete with costumes. Of course I thought it would be fun to dress up as reindeer. I quickly sewed up some brown and white striped pj pants for the kids and threw on some reindeer antlers.



Gotta have a red nose!

And here is what our photo shoot really looked like. One boy totally not wanting to cooperate, a little missy girl trying to get everyone to smile and coordinate things, a little baby not wanting to sit still (gotta love crawling babies) and this momma with some major haven’t-washed-my-hair-in-2-days with my I-will-pretend-this-was-WAAY-fun-smile!

Oh yes, we also had a few tears.
Some antler fights.

With a little wrestling and lots of dorky smiles.

AWW yes! That was fun. F-U-N… FUN!
Well, actually we did had FUN, once I turned the camera off. Isn’t that the way it always goes?!