july tuition update

this past month has been, to say the least, wonderful. i only have one job, praise the Lord! and while i've cut back on work, so has bryan. he's taking a sabbatical if you will.

just in case you think we're awesome at money stuff with all these posts, i'll have you know that bryan hasn't worked all of july for no particular reason and we're totally okay with that. after all, bryan just has one more year of school and then he'll begin working fulltime for the rest of his life. i think it's totally okay for him to have one more summer in which he doesn't have to work his butt off.

sometimes, it's good for me to reduce my "gazelle intensity" for the sake of being human. i'm not going to be perfect all the time, no matter how much i'd like to be. we are definitely still striving to remain debt-free through college and i'm often intense about that goal. but bryan is going to get some good turnover hours this weekend and has a potentially awesome opportunity to work this fall, so we're trusting God and His provision.

we've also had to do some budget slashing due to the fact that i'm not working like crazy anymore. i'm soooo thankful for one fulltime job that i love, but it does mean that i'm not making as much money.  i'm also okay with that. i'm actually kind-of excited to start couponing more and making every effort to save as much money as possible.

all that being said, we were able to put a good chunk in savings this month, thanks to paychecks for june work that didn't come until july. here's the update:

tuition for 2011-2012 school year: $9,654.00
savings at the end of july: $3,724.36
difference: $5,927.64
percentage saved: 38.58%
percentage left to save: 61.42%

we only need $427.64 more and we'll have everything except for the $5,500 in loans we're taking out (the good kind-of loans-where we'll have 6 months to pay it off with no interest). even if we can't avoid loans entirely, i'm pretty confident we'll be able to avoid paying any interest. we're getting there!

fabric flowers with tutorials

i made three different kinds of fabric flowers this week. i might be addicted.

the rosette
i found a great tutorial here for these little rosettes. i made 4 or 5 before i really got the hang of it, but after that it was a breeze! i never pass up a chance to use hot glue either. i love that i know how to make these because they are so versatile. they can go on wreaths, shirts, pillows, headbands, necklaces, etc.

the button flower
this tutorial uses felt to make these flowers, but i used regular old scraps of fabric because i don't really love the felt look. but i loved this tutorial because of the buttons and the "S" formation [genius!]. these were much easier to make consistent flowers and once again, i love hot glue!

the target flower or the mikki flower
mikki, congratulations! you've now been mentioned twice on my blog!
my flowers were originally inspired by a hairpin from target, but made possible by my friend mikki, who made a bunch of this type of flower for her bridesmaids and as party favors at her wedding shower-what a cute idea! the only sad thing about these flowers is that there is no hot glue involved. it's a shame really. i'm going to try to whip together a little picture tutorial later on today if i can figure out indesign.


as you can see, i've attached all of these to headbands. my adorable but bald niece is turning two next month and i'm working on a bunch of cute things to send her.

happy crafting!

july [a song]

a little over 4 years ago, three boys dropped off easter baskets for three girls at apartment #312. this song was in one of the baskets. this song is going places. if you don't own ryan seiler's album yet, you should probably buy it right now. it's soooo good.