Back to School Deals for your Craft Room

I can't believe it's September already... where did the year go..
It's the start of a new school year and lots of families are busy getting their kids off to school..  I love this time of the year because it's the best time to shop for your craft room.. The back-to-school supplies section has lots of cool things for kids but I take advantage to check out sales for my craft room.  :-)

This year, I found a few great items. Staples and Walmart had $2 and $3 deals for back to school.
For $2, I got these great pen holders that you can stick anywhere.  I can put these where I need a pen.  It's flexible to fit different size pens.  I also put one to hold my laptop charger cable off the side of my desk so it's I can reach of the charger easily. 

For $2, I also got these great Lock-Ups twist stackable containers in 4 different sizes to meet all your crafting needs.  :-)  These are designed so that multiples can be connected to create a "tower" of storage. The lids twist and lock each one in place.

For $3, I got a set of mini ClosetMaid Cubeicals.  They are usually $7 or more so when I saw these for $3, I had to get one.  These mini sizes are great to put near your sewing machine to dump your thread and fabric pieces.  I was debating on making my own thread catcher after reading a blog entry from This Mama Makes Stuff but when I saw these mini Cubeicals, I decided, these would be a perfect alternative.   I used a potato chip clip to hang it off one of my drawers next to my sewing table. Voila..my very own thread catcher..

 Next week will be time for a little Fall cleaning and reorganization of my craft room.  Off to planning my room.

Happy Crafting..

~~Words of Encouragement~~
Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. 
You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours
      Psalm 128:1-2 (NLT)

No Sun at the Beach day...??

The forecast called for rain and thunderstorms today (Sunday) starting at 4pm.  So for those beach lovers or weekend vacationers who didn't want to give up their last beach opportunity, off they went to the beach and ignored the weather report.  I was one of them :-).   Rain or Shine, beach here we come.

Our destination today was  Rehoboth Beach, DE. It has a walking Main St, boardwalk, Tanger Outlets and Crab.. What more could I ask for in one place. 

To my surprise, the roads to the beach was still crowded when we started getting closer to the roads that lead to Rehoboth beach but it wasn't really bad.  I thought I was going to be one of the few crazy people to head to the beach on such a cloud covered day.. But as you can see from the pictures, the beach and the boardwalk was still filled with loads of people.  It wasn't super crowded, just the right amount of people.  

We found parking easily and went straight to the beach to find a good spot.  As you can see from the pictures, people was still trying to sunbathe.  The sun made an appearance once in a while behind the clouds so some folks got some tanning done.   It was surprisingly still a great beach day.  We got to relax out in the open and enjoy all the comforts of the beach and ocean even without the hot sun. 

We stayed on the beach for 3 to 4 hours and made our way to the boardwalk and main street on Rehoboth Ave.  By that time, the clouds was getting darker but it still hasn't rained yet.  The boardwalk had lots of carnival games, arcades and food to enjoy.  Rehoboth Ave had lots of shops and restaurants to explore.  The feel of the town and the way it's setup is very inviting and tourist friendly.   We're definitely adding this place to our future vacation spots to return to.
I especially liked how they had street parking spots clearly marked.  Each car had it's own box to park and parking meter next to it so there is less confusion when finding parking.  As compared to other beach towns where parking was such a headache to find and you worry about other people bumping into your car trying to squeeze in to any opening they could find. We didn't have to worry here, the boxes were wide enough and gave everyone equal spacing to park.. They even sectioned out parking spots for bikes and motorcycles (how considerate of them). 

The lighthouse was at the entrance of the Rohoboth Ave as you are entering/leaving the beach area.  This was about 5pm and it still hasn't started to rain yet.. Lucky me.. so off we went to check out the Tanger outlets to check out the labor day sales.  The outlets was more crowded than the broadwalk so we didn't stay long.  The sales were not that appealing and my stomach was calling for dinner about now.


So Day 2 of hunting for steam crab landed us at Crabby Dicks Restaurant
As soon as you walk in, you were welcomed with Crabby Dicks merchandise as the waiting area.  This place reminded me of Joe's Crab Shack but way better.  The crab theme was taken to extremes in their designs and merchandise options. This place gets packed quickly so you have nothing better to do but enjoy their waiting area.  They also had a claw crane game to grab your own lobster.  You pick the lobster you want from the Lobster Zone and they will cook it for you..  It was interesting to see but not for me.  I don't need to see my food still alive, thank you very much..  

We ordered half a dozen steam crabs, of course.  The crabs they had was about 5-6 inches.  As compared to yesterday's crabs at Kathy's, these were a bit smaller.  It was still good and it still took us about 2 hours to eat 6 crabs.  (I did mention before we were slow crab eaters).

This concludes the hunt for crabs on Labor Day weekend.  Hope the clouds and rain didn't spoil too much of your labor day plans.
This weekend marks the end of summer and the beginning of a new Fall season.  I can't wait to see what God has in store..
Until next time, Happy Crabbing..

~~Words of Encouragement~~
There is no one like the God of Israel.  
He rides across the heavens to help you, 
   and on the clouds in his majestic splendor.  
The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you.  
He drives out the enemy before you, saying 'Destroy them!'
      Deuteronomy 33:26-27 (NLT)

Hunting for blue crabs on Labor day weekend...

Labor day is a holiday that was created to celebrate the strength and determination of the trade and labor organizations in 1882 also known was "Working man's holiday".  But today, it's a day of rest, BBQ, pool parties, beach day, shopping day or first day of NFL football season.  For most kids, it represents the last day of the summer.  Labor Day seems to affect everyone in a different way.
So how are you celebrating this weekend holiday?

As for me and mine, we are hunting for a beach day and some steamed blue crabs.. :-)
Why beach and crabs you might ask?  Well, summer has past me by so quickly that I haven't had time to really enjoy the sun, beach and crabs.  I'm not much of a beach person but love to look at the ocean and the waves. It reminds me of the awesomeness of our God and his handy work.

So today, we drove down to Dover, DE to start our hunt for crab shacks.  We typically go to Atlantic City, NJ or Baltimore, MD for blue crabs but this time, we wanted to find a less touristy area to find local hidden gems for steamed crabs..

We were debating on where to stop for lunch.  We could stop before Dover or wait until we get to Dover to grab lunch.  We decided to stop for lunch before Dover and took a slight detour to Delaware City, DE to try blue crabs at Kathy's Crab House.  We're glad we did..

We got there at 11:30 and of course we were the first ones there.  We had indoor or screen patio seating areas to choose from.  Since it was such a nice day, we decided to sit in the screened patio.  It was nicely decorated and had a nice breeze coming from the outside.

The menu had lots of selection which we did not get deterred.  We stuck to our original plans and ordered half a dozen large blue crabs for $25 and some claim strips.  The price at Kathy's was much more reasonable as compared to Baltimore prices.  The crabs were so fresh, juicy and meaty.. Yummm.  It took us 2 hours to eat the 6 crabs..(yes I know, we are slow crab eaters).  We took our time and enjoyed every single ounce of the crab meat.

That's the beginning of our Labor day weekend...  Off to do more crab hunting for Day 2.

~~Words of Encouragement~~
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)