Summer Days

We're enjoying the last weeks of summer before school starts. Posts will be light this week. Hopefully I'll be back to my normal schedule next week.

Hope all of you are enjoying your summer too!

Sandwich Wrap Printables

Photo credit: little lovely

Right now, we're busy getting ready for back to school so I've been looking online for ideas. One of my discoveries includes these adorable printable sandwich wraps by little lovely. They come in a variety of messages including, "your first day of school", "bon appetit", "goodluck", and sandwich filling labels. They're perfect for making any lunch a little extra special.

Udate on Surgery

In case you missed my update on the Summer Break post, once again thank you for all your thoughtful positive comments and prayers. It was encouraging reading all your comments and I truly appreciate them.

Here are the results from the lab, all of the basal cell (skin cancer) was not removed. . . which means. . . a third surgery. I'm really disappointed and slightly depressed by the outcome. But I'm trying to keep in perspective that this is more of an inconvenience than a hardship. The basal cell is slow to grow and will not spread to other places so it's not endangering my health. Once the skin heals from the last surgery, I plan on getting the Mohs surgery which is probably what I should have done for the second surgery. Oh-well.

The picture above was taken a couple weeks after my first surgery. I know, not quite attractive, it was taken in the morning and I'm not wearing any makeup. I chose it because you can kind of see the scar on my chin (red spot). And if you're wondering, yes I'm making onigiri in the photo.

How to Make a Shoulder Strap out of a Belt

A couple of weeks ago I purchased this tote bag at Columbia State Historic Park. It was just what I was looking for, something American Indian inspired and well priced (12.50). The only problem with it was the strap. The strap was really thin and did not look proportional to the bag. So, I decided to make a new shoulder strap for my tote out of a leather belt.

Here's how I made the strap for the bag. Keep in mind this strap was made to attach to handbag rings or D-rings.

Supplies:
Leather belt - I purchased mine at the thrift store for $2.
Heavy duty scissors (something that will cut through leather)
Awl - or a small Phillips screwdriver
Rapid rivets - can be found in the leather section of the craft store - should come with a setter and anvil
Hammer
Pen

Here's the bag with its original strap. I just cut it off with scissors leaving all the hardware intact.

Cut belt so you have a long strip of leather with no holes or hardware. Fold one end over d-ring and decide where your rivet will be placed to hold leather together. Mark with pen on top and bottom (two dots).

Punch holes in both pen marks. Make sure your rivet will fit through the holes. Fold belt in half to line up edges together. Using the holes as a template, mark with pen on opposite site of belt. Punch holes on the other end of belt (refer to picture).

*If you don't have an awl, you can make a hole in the leather by hammering a small Phillips screwdriver through it.

Here are the rivets I used. I made sure to match them to the d-rings (silver). Rivets are really easy to apply. If you can hammer an eyelet into paper you'll have no problem with rivets. Usually the rivets will come with directions as well.

Fold belt over d-ring. Make sure your leather is facing the right way. Place tall rivet up through the bottom layer of the belt and up through the top layer (refer to picture).

Place rivet cap on the rivet you placed through the belt. Use a clothespin to hold the leather together and prevent the rivet from coming out. Hammer the top of rivet so it locks into the bottom part. Repeat process on the opposite side of handbag. Make sure your strap does not get twisted in the process.

Now you have a nice leather strap for your handbag. Use this process to update handbags or fix worn out straps.

Summer Break

*Update 8/6/11 - Thank you for all your kind words and prayers. It really meant a lot to me. My surgery went well. Now I'm just waiting for the results. Will keep you posted when I find out.

I usually don't write much about my personal life unless it involves crafts, food or entertaining in some way. However, since I'm going to be taking a small break (week or two) from the blog, I figured I would share a few things that have been going on with me.

About a month back I had a lesion removed on my chin that wasn't healing. Step back about twenty years, I had a bump removed on my chin when I was a teen. It was never tested and to this day I really don't know what it was. The lesion was in the same place as the removed "bump" so the doctor figured it was a mole growing back that was never completely removed. Unfortunately, the test results came back identifying it as a basal cell (skin cancer). And even more to my disappointment, they didn't get all of it out so I have to go in for a second minor surgery.

So this week I'll be having it removed. I'm praying they will get all of it out otherwise I'll have to schedule a third surgery which will be a Mohs surgery. I opted not to do this since I wanted a plastic surgeon to do the procedure since it's on my face.

This really isn't that big of a deal and I don't want to worry anyone, there's no need. I just feel like I need a little break. Last time I had the surgery, it really wiped me out.

Okay, so why the picture of the sunscreen? First I always like to have at least one picture with a post. Second, an up close picture of my scarred chin would not be attractive. Third, it was a good excuse to play with Photoshop. And last, it serves as a reminder to protect your skin. Consider this a Zakka Life PSA: I never laid out in the sun. I've always been good about wearing sunscreen everyday. I'm only 33 and I have skin cancer. So this is a friendly reminder to use sunscreen.

Hope to be back soon.

Jessica