What's Your Plan For Labor Day

This morning, I heard on the radio that labor day is for people to kick back and relax. So, I wondered then why it's called "Labor Day"? Aren't people supposed to work hard around the house and yard? So, I went online for some answers and suggestions. One of the article I found listed top 10 Labor Day activities, including beach picnic, backyard party, family BBQ, weekend camping trip, end of summer scenic drive, local parades and festivals, state park day trip, gourmet cookout, fun and game at the park and family outing. OK, those all sound fun. Then in the newsletter I got from This Old House, they listed 15 labor day projects. including build a fire pit, create a backyard pond, build a small deck, remove crabgrass, etc. I guess it's all personal choice. For me, every weenend is 'labor' day, since I spent most of my time gardening, cleaning, crafting. DH knows me very well, so he always dragged me out of the house, go shopping at the nearby mall or eatting at the chinese dim sum place. That's my only chance to relax during weekends. Since DH is out of town this weekend, I probably will work really hard. I just picked some from my long to-do list, and it's already a lot. OK, here they are.
1. paint the master bedroom.
2. paint the old photo frames and make some new art pieces for the living room and dining room.
3. wash the deck and porch, and the vinyl siding.
4. complete the orders of 4 sets of necklace and bracelet.
5. set up the new lightbox and take high quality pictures of my new items for the shop.
6. make more baby gifts and aprons.
7. start making the slipcover for the sectional sofa.
8. paint the 5 white curtain panels for the basement.
9. move some perennials to the new corner bed.

Oh, I do have other partying plans. I invited my best friend over for Sat, maybe we will go shopping together. Pier1 is having huge sales, and last time we were there, DH didn't allow me to spend much time. So, I have to go there again. And I am going to visit my high school best friend and drop off the baby gifts I made for her on Sun. She is actually overdue now, so the baby is coming any minute.

And my friend H just bought her first sewing machine! She is going to learn how to use it this long weekend. Very exciting! I gave her my big sewing book, which has all the basic knowledge and lots of simple projects. I told H that her first project should be making herself a cute pin cushion. Every sewist (we are not sewer!) need at least one of that. So, here is a great tutorial from Paper.String.Cloth.
And then she can make a cover for her new sewing machine, and make some new curtains for her new apartment. This one is from the wonderful Yvonne Eijkenduijn from Yvestown.
I am so excited, cannot wait to teach her more about it. Oh, when searching for sewing tutorials for her, I found this cute draft stopper. Since I bought so many of those fabric squares and had no plan for them, this could be a fun 10 minute project, which can add some color to my guest bedroom. Oh, I am going to have so much fun this weekend.