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Thursday, November 30, 2023

Merry Christmas 2023

Good morning ladies,

I hope you're having a blessed week. Life is busy, busy this time of the year, so I'm very grateful that you have taken time to visit Sew Practical today. 

I don't know about your area, but in our area, we would normally see a surge in local patrons at our mall and other local stores with the passing of Thanksgiving. However, I'm not noticing much difference between now and a couple of months ago. There is some pick up to shopping in local stores, but it isn't like it used to be before online shopping started taking over the universe. Don't get me wrong; I love online shopping. My son and I even sell online ourselves. And my family and I have an online order arrive nearly every day. No joke. But I also like to shop at local stores. Our town has lost Kmart, Sears, and Penney's within the last 4 or 5 years because of fewer in-store shoppers, and lots of small businesses that had to shut down during Covid have never re-opened. I am slowly starting to see new businesses open in a few of those closed businesses though, so that's exciting to see. 

But this year, visit a local store, even if it's a big-box store. However, I strongly urge you to visit the downtown merchants, too, who have kept the older commerce areas alive once the big-box stores went to shopping malls. They have unique items you won't find anywhere else. Our local downtown shops are a beehive of activity - even when we went shopping during the summer and a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Local governments have made it fun to shop in these old business districts by adding brick sidewalks and/or old-fashioned lamp posts, etc. It's almost like walking through a Norman Rockwell scene.

Just thinking back to even 10 years ago, big-box stores would be jam packed with Christmas shoppers, and local stores would have to hire more help to stock the shelves and to man extra cash registers. Our local Walmart, Target, and Hobby Lobby stores may have done that; I haven't been to those stores since well before Thanksgiving. We will visit a couple of those stores next week though. But so far, I haven't seen anyone stocking shelves at all at the big-box stores we have visited this week, such as Belk's, Ollie's, and Big Lots. And only 1 or 2 cash registers are open as is the norm throughout the rest of the year. They don't need the additional help since there are fewer in-store shoppers.

Regardless of your shopping preferences, I hope you and your families have a very merry Christmas. Remember to smile more and worry less. That's the best gift to give and receive this blessed time of the year. Jesus taught us that the best gifts in life are free - love, peace, forgiving, kindness, understanding.

Have a nice day! 

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone,

I'm dropping by to wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. I don't post here much anymore, but I'm still alive and kicking at my newest website Simply Making Life where I'm able to share many more experiences (crafting and beyond) with you. I hope you'll drop by for a visit. 

Have a nice day! 

www.SewPractical.Blogspot.com 
www.MarvsWindowsTips.com

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Simply Making Life

I have moved to www.SimplyMakingLife.com. I hope you'll join me for not only crafting fun but life fun. Simply Making Life is about inspiration and helping other women in all areas of our lives. I want to help make living easier for all of us. So, come on over. I've been posting to my new site regularly since 2020 just as the pandemic was taking hold of the U.S. and women needed something positive to turn to. Side dishes, exercises, crafting, Jesus, positive thinking, free e-books - all of this and more live at my newest website. It's hard to believe that it's already been over 3 years since I started that website. Drop by when you get a chance.

Have a nice day! 

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Newsletter January 21, 2021: New Cross Stitch Pattern Added to Etsy

Good morning! We hope all of you are having a very Happy New Year. I have finally had some time to work on images and instructions for the Love the Lord ABC Sampler cross stitch pattern that I created last year. That pattern is now available on Etsy for $9.95 at the following link: Love the Lord ABC Cross Stitch Sampler Instructions and | Etsy


Thank you so much for dropping by today. May God bless you and keep you safe. Praying you are staying well during this pandemic. 


Have a nice day! 

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

New Album Just Released From a Friend of Mine

I would like to introduce a new album - Songs for Introverts (and Extroverts too). Lyrics on this album were written by a young friend of mine - Arianna O'Dell! Listen as talented artists sing her lovely words. Found at https://spoti.fi/34axPqv and https://apple.co/31pzSVL. 

COVID threatened to delay the release of the album, but Arianna persisted, and a year after she began this journey, it has been completed. Congratulations Arianna!




Have a nice day! 
www.SewPractical.Blogspot.com 
www.MarvsWindowsTips.com

Monday, September 21, 2020

Face Mask Videos

Here are videos that show how to use the three face mask styles we offer on Etsy. 

Pleated Mask

3D Mask

Fitted Mask





Have a nice day! 

Thursday, September 10, 2020

New Face Mask Listings on Etsy

I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to write a new post. I wasn't feeling well the first three months of the year. Then, COVID-19 started raging through the U.S. My Upwork jobs have been keeping me extremely busy as well as making face masks to sell on Etsy since the pandemic has spread throughout our country. So, I really didn't realize that Christmas 2019 was my last post. Really! Nearly 9 months ago!

The face masks are why I'm here today. I've been so busy making them that I forgot about telling my blog readers. I have so many different colors and prints, and I'm actually in the process of making the listings easier for people to look through. The rainbow masks are the only masks I have redone so far. The other masks are listed individually by print. However, I hope, by the end of September, to have each listing set up by the 3 different styles with the print selections available for each style. Once that is finished, there will be only 5-10 listings instead of over 40 listings. 

You can view all of my stylish homemade double layer face masks at the following link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HHC2019?ref=seller-platform-mcnav&section_id=29009823.

These are great to wear while shopping, cleaning your cat's litterbox, dusting, pretreating your laundry with a spray treatment, mowing, working in the flower or vegetable garden, or any other yard work or housework.

I'll be back with an update once I have the entire store redone. I'm excited about how this will make your shopping experience with us easier.

In the meantime, I hope you'll visit my other website: www.SimplyMakingLife.com where I offer lots of fun tidbits to make your life easier.

Have a nice day!