How to get a homemade face mask when you don’t sew

Disclosure: Post contains affiliate and referral links. If you make a purchase, I may make commission. Opinions shared are mine.


My mom is a housekeeper in a hospital, so I worry about her constantly these days. She commented to me that I could be making masks for healthcare workers, but she is entirely overestimating my skills. I might be able to replace a button, but I have no idea how to sew using a pattern. I don’t have a fabric stash or anything. There’s no elastic waiting to be used in my closet. Those excuses feel lame to me, though. How do you get a homemade face mask when you don’t (or don’t want to) sew? I’ve found a couple of solutions that will help me feel better about my mom’s protection!

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Formula for a Perfect Life by Christy Hayes


My daughter has this belief that everything in her life needs to go according to her high-school plan, or she will end up with a miserable future. Her coursework is heavy pressure, and she puts a lot more pressure on herself on top of it. It worries me. I keep praying for her to learn how to let God take over some of those concerns. She comes by her worrying personality naturally!

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Sin Eater by Megan Campisi @AtriaBooks @MeganCampisiAuthor

Disclosure: Post contains affiliate or referral links; if you make a purchase, I may earn commission. Opinions shared are mine.


Need a break from the news? Check out Sin Eater by Megan Campisi!

When teenage May is caught stealing, she receives a life sentence: she must become a Sin Eater—a shunned, silent woman, performing a funeral rite of consuming food that symbolizes each particular sin—from lust to rebellion to murder. Sin Eaters really did exist in parts of Britain until roughly a century ago; this story starts with this sliver of knowledge but is spun out of fantasy.

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If We Were Giants by Dave Matthew and Clete Barrett Smith

Thanks to Rockstar Book Tours for hosting this tour!

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the IF WE WERE GIANTS by Dave Matthews & Clete Barrett Smith Blog Tour.  Make sure you enter the giveaway for a chance to win!

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Strangers by C.L. Taylor #Strangers #NetGalley

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. Opinions shared are mine. Post contains affiliate links; if you make a purchase, I may earn commission.


I’m grateful for the chance to work from home. Keeping my family healthy and safe is my top priority. Within these walls, though, I feel panicky and anxious. When I remember what’s going on in the world, my heart races like it remembers what it’s like to run laps around a track. Reading is a welcome distraction from those feelings.

Strangers by C. L. Taylor was enough of a mystery to keep my mind off the COVID outbreak.

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One Little Lie by Colleen Coble #OLLPrism book

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for the tour. Opinions shared are mine.

Last week I participated in the One Little Lie instagram tour. If you missed that giveaway, here’s your chance to enter another one!

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The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and referral links. If you make a purchase, I may earn commission. Opinions shared are mine.


A few weeks ago, I finally got around to reading my months-ago BOTM pick The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. This book was everything I love in a great ghost story! Definitely 5 stars from me.

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#amreading The Sun Down Motel by @simonestjames and couldn’t resist the comparison to @carnegiehotel #botm #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #coverlove

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The Ghosts of Saratoga by David R. Ossont & David Dampf

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for the tour. Opinions shared are mine.


Welcome to this Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours! We’re celebrating the book THE GHOSTS OF SARATOGA by David R. Ossont & David Dampf. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

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Legends of Lost Causes by Brad McLelland & Louis Sylvester

Disclosure: I received free books for this tour. Opinions shared are mine.

Thanks to  Rockstar Book Tours for allowing me to host a spot on the LEGENDS OF LOST CAUSES SERIES by Brad McLelland & Louis Sylvester Blog Tour. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

Right now, we’re all in such a state of turmoil. The schools here are closed, and we’re currently headed into a scheduled spring break. My colleagues and I have been working hard to prepare for distance learning to start the week after spring break. I’ve been so grateful for the online learning platforms we were already using. My students are reading ebooks from Epic and our school system’s online learning library. Still, many kids will need (and want) access to print books. I haven’t finished reading this series yet, but I do recommend The Legends of Lost Causes series for students who are reading from home through the COVID closures!

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Scythe by Neal Schusterman

Disclosure: Post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may earn commission. Opinions shared are mine.


Last week, I was gifted 2 paperback copies of Scythe for my classroom. I’m a book pusher; as soon as I get new books, I find a kid to read them and pass off that book like a hot potato. When a third student asked me for a copy, I told him I’d try to get one over the weekend. On the same day, a colleague told me that I NEEDED to read Scythe; she finished it in one day over the past weekend. So, on Friday, my daughter and I headed out to the local used bookstore to find a copy.

I wanted it right away, so I bought the only copy they had (it was about $12 new). It’s around $9 on Amazon, and a used copy is $7 on eBay. I didn’t even mind overpaying for Scythe; that’s how much I loved this book.

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