Friday, April 12, 2019

Well, my updating didn't go very well.  How about we start from where we are??

My big news for this year is that we bought a horse.  Yes, a horse!  Ever since I was a little girl, I have wanted a horse.  The opportunity came along, it actually kind of fell into my lap, and I did it!  I bought a horse that had been boarded at a nearby boarding facility, which is owned by someone I know from Church.  I have continued to board her there and the owner, Kari, and I have become good friends.

Her name is Ziva and she is 9 years old.  She is a Quarter Horse and Palomino mix and she's really big!  I have learned so much about horses that I never knew before!  They are pack animals and I, as the owner, have to establish my dominance constantly so that she knows who is in charge.  But that's kind of scary since she's so much bigger than me.  I'm learning how to train her and work with her.  I need to do it more.  She's a really good horse and very gentle.  She's really good at trying to understand what I want from her.

Last week, Larry's family came out for a visit and they all got to ride her in the pasture.  It was so much fun and Kari helped us out a lot.  I look forward to really getting to know her better and take care of her so that we can have lots of years of riding ahead of us.





 Ziva and Ivy


Ziva and Kai


getting new shoes on!

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Wow!

I recently watched a Youtube video on Acrylic Pour painting.  It was amazing and, of course, I wanted to give it a try.  My daughter and I went and bought all the materials we would need and got started.  It was so much fun and my grandson even made one that turned out to be the best!  We've learned a few things along the way and hope to improve on our end products, but so far, I love making these amazing paintings.





These are 10" x 10" acrylics on a framed canvas.  Totally one of a kind and unique.  
They are ready to be framed or could be hung on the wall as is.  I love them!!

Monday, January 4, 2016

New Year, New Job

So this year, I have joined my sons, Taylor, Bradley and Larry in a new business venture.  We are distributors for Nutritional Supplements for a company called Kyani.


If you are familiar with Kyani, you know what a great product it is.  I've experienced more energy during the day and much better sleep at night.  It's a simple way to stay healthy!

Learn more at janetreeves.kyani.net


Tuesday, June 9, 2015

New books...




So, to follow up on my last post, I've been reading a series of books by Joel C. Rosenburg starting with 'The Twelfth Imam'.  I'm on my seventh book and have found them to be very interesting.  I have one more to read in this series, 'Dead Heat' and I look forward to finishing soon.

Friday, January 30, 2015

New Blessing outfit

Our newest Grandson, Nix, is being blessed this coming Sunday.  I usually make an outfit for our grandchildren when they are blessed.  Kimber had an idea of what she wanted for him, so I got out my patterns and pulled together some ideas.  I made the pants, shirt and suspenders and Kimber made his bow tie.  It all came out so cute and, of course, Nix looked so handsome for his big day.  
Good job, Kimber!



Saturday, January 24, 2015

Happy Anniversary!

For our anniversary this year, #38, we decided to take a little trip to Hawaii.  Robert's brother and his wife are there for a couple of months and we thought it would be fun to spend some time with them in our favorite place.  We also got to spend some time with Brad and Emy.  All in all we had a great time!
















Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Fat Tie Makeover


Have you ever wondered how to make a tie that you really love just a bit skinnier?  

I have !

So when one of my missionaries asked me if I could make his fat tie skinnier, I agreed to do it just so I could learn.  I had so much fun turning those fat ugly ties into something that really looked great!

So here we go... a tutorial on how to make a fat tie skinny

the first thing you are going to do is take the stitching out, starting at the bottom of the tie and trying not to cut the thread if you are able to.  You will use this thread later to stitch it back together. Take it out just about half way, until you get to the point where it is a little smaller than the width that you want it to be.  
 You will also need to clip the thread on any tags or loops that might be on the underside of the tie.

Your tie will look something like this...



Next, you will gently pull out the felt piece that shapes the tie.  
Using another skinny tie as a pattern, use a pencil and draw a line on the felt to match the dimensions that you would like.  If you don't have another skinny tie, mark the felt at the bottom in the width you would like and gradually draw a line up to the middle of the tie where you stopped taking out the thread.  
Cut along this line so that the felt is the new shape of your tie


Use a ruler and determine how much skinnier your tie will be by measuring the distance between the edge of the felt and the old fold line.  Double this amount. In this situation my new tie is a half inch smaller on both sides, so I will use 1" as my measurement.


Next, you will turn the tie inside out at the bottom where the lining is.  



Stitch a new seam on the sides of the tie in the same amount that you measured and doubled.  Just stitch as far as the lining goes. I will be sewing my new seam 1" from the old stitching.  Be sure to fold the tie along the same fold at the bottom of the tie so that the lining will pull to the inside.


After you stitch the new seam, cut off both sides of the existing tie starting at the fold along the bottom of the tie.  You will start cutting the same amount that you doubled and eventually taper the amount until you get up to the middle of the tie.  In this case I started with 1" and tapered to nothing at the top.


if you are worried that you will cut too much off, you can start with a lesser amount and cut more off after you have measured.  It would be better to cut less than more!


turn your tie right side out, tuck the felt under the lining and press the new seam flat


on the right side of the tie you will press the seam, then flatten the edge.  On the left side press the edge under about 1/4"-1/2".  This should have been the way it was pressed when you took out the stitching. 



the left side is pressed under 1/2"


Next, you will turn and press the right side of the tie up against the edge of the felt and trim the edge if necessary so that it is not quite to the left side of the felt.  It should be more than half way across the tie






Fold and press the left side of the tie on top of the right side.  If it is too wide, you can measure and cut more off in order to make the seam go down the center of the tie.  Pay special attention to the point at the bottom.  The corners should be even.



Use the thread that you pulled out at the beginning to sew a loose running stitch to join the two sides.  Sew on the tags that you took off and press one last time.



You now have a beautiful skinny tie that looks great!



Some other ties I have altered
From this...


...to this!


This is a fairly easy project, but it may take some practice with measuring and cutting.  Needless to say, once I did this for one missionary, I had more ties to alter than I knew what to do with!  But at least now my missionaries are looking very dashing in their new, skinny ties!  If you are nervous about ruining a good tie, practice on one that you don't care about.  Happy sewing!