Make Your Own Camera Bag

 Friends, bloggers, crafters! Lend me your ears! (teehee) I have thwarted commercialism by bucking the system.  How? I made my own camera bag! And it was easy!

Seven months ago, when my fellow photographer friend found out that I was getting a DSLR camera she sent me a nice little care package.   One of the things she sent was a camera bag.  Wasn't that thoughtful of her? I'm fortunate to have friends like that. :-) So, here I am, 7 months later and all my stuff lenses won't all fit  anymore. So, I began looking for a new bag.  That's when I found these cute little bags that look like purses.  Awesome! Right?!  Until I looked at the price!

$169  Kelly Moore bag

Not in my budget.   As luck would have it, I stumbled upon a blog that showed how to make your own stylish camera bag with a purse, a few materials and a little sewing. And that is what I set out to do.  Find out how to make yourself one here.


So my sister and I set out on a mission to find the perfect bag for my needs.  We found one at Burlington Coat Factory for $25 that was lightweight with enough room for my camera and a couple lenses. I wanted it to have a zipper top and some pockets.  Nothing really big.  I just wanted something that I could grab for a quick trip out, and not have to lug around my purse too. 

My $25 bag.

Then I rounded up my Joann's Fabric store coupons ( love that 50% off one item coupon) and went shopping for my supplies. I didn't do things exactly as my inspirational blogger did.  I chose to use a velcro called Fabric Fusion that adheres by ironing with steam.  I just wasn't up for the battle of sewing on velcro.    It seems to have worked rather well, too! All of my supplies came up to almost $30.  I have enough supplies left over to even make another camera bag. Woohoo! Maybe I will return that favor and send my friend one. :-)  Here is how my bag turned out.

I love the front pocket!

If I want more space I can move the inserts around. There is also a zipper pocket to put lens cleaner and extra memory cards in too. 

Dontcha know I was having so much fun that I couldn't stop at making just a camera bag! I had to have a matching camera strap and key chain too. None of the Kelly Moore bags have those!  Find out how to make a camera strap here.  And the key chain instructions are here.

I even put velcro on the back of my keychain. What fun!

Don't know how to sew? I seen a bag made by hot gluing the fabric to the foam. I'm not lying! It looked pretty good too.  See for yourself.Ya know, all this creativity got me to thinking... a person could make a camera bag out of other things too.  Maybe a diaper bag, or a fanny pack.  Or maybe even  a lunch box could be used.   But, I love my bag so much, I think I'm stopping here.  It's exactly what I wanted ---at my price.  -----Oh wait. I might add an extra pocket. Or maybe, make a bean bag for a tripod alternative. Hmmmm... it might get heavy though. OH... but wait, I could use my teenager's air rifle pellets! Okay.. so maybe this project isn't quite finished...YET. 

Here are some sites that sell camera bags that look like moneybags purses.

http://kellymoorebag.com/ 
 http://epiphaniebags.com/  
I love the Belle one on the Epiphanie site.  
http://jototes.com/

Nuts ARE Pretty

A month ago, I was digging around in my pantry and found a package of pecans.  They were in their original packaged, shoved into a click clack container.  Expiration date November 16, 2011. Ahhhh two months left to eat these nuts! So, I made my plea to everyone in the household to eat these nuts.  Did it happen?  No.

UNTIL.... I found this cute little glass pumpkin dish at Target yesterday.  It is now sitting on my table with pecans in it. And guess what? They are being eaten! So much better than candy.  Now I just need to come up with a bright idea to make carrots and celery pretty.

Frugal Decor

It's that time of year again, when my creative monster wants to come out and play. Where to start first? Well, a couple months ago we got a new dinette set.  I have been chomping at the bit to decorate it! Isn't it lucky? (teehee) The other day, I was in Sams Club and seen this beautiful centerpiece. (It was much more impressive to see in person)

But it was so expensive for what it was. Almost thirty five dollars!  That got me to thinking.  I can make my own table decor! As I began my search for the perfect items for my table, I seen so many possibilities. But, one particular blog really caught my eye.http://www.decorchick.com/dollar-store-hurricanes/  How to make your own hurricane glasses.   And here is what I came up with. 

Isn't it gorgeous?  Believe it or not, I bought the glassware at the Dollar Tree, WalMart and Goodwill. Yes, Goodwill!  I'm not kidding.  So, let me show you how I put this all together for dollars.

Relentless

Holy Cow! It's been almost a year since I blogged!

So, what have I been up to? Well, I chewed out a sales rep who called my house at 8:40 in the morning. I was still in bed.  It was not pretty.  I told her not to call my house again.  Do you know that lady called right back? So, I answered and gave her another piece of my mind and hung up on her again.  ANDDDD do you know that lady called back again??? And again, and again, and again.... She continued to call as I picked up and hung up on her.  Some people just aren't that smart. I'm just sayin'.  

In A Pickle

A sandwich just isn't a sandwich without a pickle. I have been out of pickles for a week. It leaves my sandwich so blah.  I went to the pickle aisle of the grocery store and stared at the price of my beloved jar of Vlassic Stackers pickles. $2.50  for a little jar.  I couldn't bring myself to pick it up.  I know I can get it for less than $1.50 with coupons at Publix, once they go on sale. ugh... what to do?  I mean, geez, it's only a dollar difference!  C'mon, what's a dollar?

I will tell you what a dollar is:

A dollar is 40% of the total cost! If you were going to buy a large item, such as a t.v. Would you pay $500 for one, or would you wait for it to go on sale for $300?  It's only $200, after all.

A wise man once told me, "It's not what you earn, it's what you save."  Those little dollars add up quick. If I spend a dollar on pickles, I spend another on something else. And it continues on.  I can wait for those pickles to go on sale.  I must, I must! But, for now, I will get some Mt. Olive pickles at Publix that are buy one get one free, which makes them about $1.40 a jar. They will do for now....while I'm in a pickle...until Vlassic goes on sale. :)

Go ahead and laugh. Say I'm crazy. I don't care. :-p

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/user/nutnwithoutgod



I've made some videos about my coupons and stockpiling... enjoy!

blueberry + cream= heaven

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

It is sooo good! We made the full fat version and it is heavenly.  I want to eat all of it!

 First, I prepared the blueberry sauce with the frozen blueberries we stashed away in May.

1/4 cup sugar
 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
 1/4 cup water
 1/2 cup and 2 tbsp fresh or frozen blueberries
 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  
 In small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch.  Gradually stir in water until smooth.  Stir in blueberries and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.  cover and refrigerate until chilled.  




 Then I made the graham cracker mixture:

1 cup and 2 tbsp graham cracker crumbs
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon.  Stir in butter.  Pat into an ungreased  baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  

I didn't put it in a pan that big because the recipe was too big for my ice cream  maker so I halved it. These measurements are good for a 1 1/2 quart ice cream maker.  Do you know how tempting it was to eat these cracker crumbs by themselves! ?

 So, then I was ready to make the ice cream!

In a large bowl whisk the ice cream ingredients.  

 

Ice Cream ingredient mixture:

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 (3.4 oz) package instant cheesecake or vanilla pudding mix (i used cheesecake)

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Fill ice cream freezer cylinder.

Crumble graham cracker mixture in bottom of container. ( I only had a bowl handy)

Then, the icecream mixture, and then the blueberry mixture go on top.

 Keep layering the crumbs, blueberries and ice cream. 

Then you swirl it ( I used a butter knife) and put it back in the freezer. 

 It was SOOO YUMMY! 

Austin gave it thumbs up! 

Now, I'm thinking about changing it up.  I'm trying to figure out a lactose free version...and maybe a low fat one too.  I've read that goat milk is lower in lactose, maybe that would be good too. No matter how it's changed, I'm sure it will be good... after all it's ICE CREAM!