Guest Post ~ Meet My Mom!!!

I thought it would be fun to introduce you to the lady that helped shape me into who I am today.  She is a shining star, a cheerful presence, a faithful servant, a force to be reckoned with.   Really, she is the sweetest, most creative, talented person I know.   She paints, she makes signs, sews show shirts, creates quilts (people are standing in line to receive their own)!  She has an amazing vegetable garden, and flower beds that leave me envious. Not to mention, she raises her own chickens and turkeys. She trail rides her horse, Penny, and sometimes even rides in competitions!  She loves to ride ATV's with my dad, and helps with an equestrian 4-H club. She enjoys life!  I only hope that I can continue to live my life to the fullest, as well as she does, when I am her age. Today she is sharing one of her upcycle projects. This is a favorite of mine too, because she takes something that would be thrown away, and creates something unique and useful. Not to mention pretty darn cute. I have several of these beauties myself and we use them for shopping, travelling and all kinds of things.  I like to keep a couple in my car for whatever need arises. 

Meet My Mom:

Gladys

"My wonderful daughter asked me to write a guest post for her blogspot and it makes me so proud to take part in her creative endeavors. This "girl" can do anything she sets her hand to do and in my mind, she is perfect. Well, what mother doesn't think that of her own daughter?! Her husband isn't so bad, either!

Anyway, I was flattered to be asked to do this. The subject of my blog is the animal feed bags that I make into grocery totes.





Empty Feed Bags

One day I was looking for something to transport some personal items on a trip we were taking, and I couldn't find anything that just fit the vitamin containers that my husband and I take with us wherever we go. They say necessity is the mother of invention, so when my eyes fell onto the polyvinyl dog food bag that my husband had just emptied into the dog food bin, a light came on in my head! I could refashion the bag the right size so the containers would just fit and be easier to carry to the car. It worked so well that I decided I could make grocery totes and stop bringing home the umpteen plastic bags every time I went grocery shopping. I had a ready supply of horse feed bags from my other beautiful daughter who raises horses, and dog and cat feed bags because they also have three dogs and I don't know how many cats! I get sunflower seed bags from friends and pig feed bags from a neighbor.

I have cut, sewn, made mistakes and finally figured out a way to make the bags so that the pictures of dogs, cats, birds, horses, or whatever creature the feed was for would show. At first, in order to be sure the totes were sturdy enough to carry the groceries, I was sewing the carry handles all the way to the bottom. This would usually obscure the picture and I wasn't satisfied. Then one day I was in one of my favorite stores looking for sewing notions and my eyes fell upon plastic curtain grommets. They come in two sizes and several colors. They snap together easily and the handles are sewn into the holes they create. They looked lovely, but they add to the cost of making the totes.

My beautiful daughter recently turned me onto Pinterest and boy, was that a fun thing! I am so proud of all the people, young and old, who are busy little beavers creating, recycling, learning almost lost skills that our mothers and fathers knew. And guess what!? I am learning new things, myself! One day I was reading a young ladies blog about making fabric totes and saw the way she was putting on the handles and low and behold, her method would work for the grocery totes I am making with just a little change! So, now I can make them with the grommets, which some people love, and without, to save money.


I am always on the lookout for feed bags with colorful animals. Making totes keeps all that polyvinyl out of the landfill and lets us come home without all those plastic bags. I am trying to get my hands on some cute bunny feed bags that I know are out there somewhere and the pink show feed bags from my neighbor who raises prize pigs are really nice. I have some chicken feed bags that are not that attractive in orange, but maybe when they are turned into grocery totes, they will be just the ticket for someone who likes orange."

So, without further Adieu, here are just some of my mother's upcycled feed bags:

 If you are interested in ordering a bag, or have any questions regarding their use, please contact Gladys at  her Etsy shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/GladiolaSmiles

And you can follow GladiolaSmiles in Blogland at:
http://www.gladiolasmiles.blogspot.com/

Thanks So Much for stopping by!

Sherry