Remember this flower thing (I mean beautiful home decor statement piece) from the other day?
Purchased at Salvation Army thrift shop for $6, this one had my daughter looking at me like I was nuts. Not my style, that's for sure.
Original use? Beats me. I guess it's probably just decorative, the little tendril-ish arms aren't strong enough for mugs and not shaped correctly to hold pictures. Do you have any ideas on it's intended purpose? I'd love to hear them.
After taking off the price tags (it had many) and wiping it down to remove dust I coated this with two coats of white gloss spray paint. When it was dry I flipped it upside down and gave the underside a coat of paint.
I let it dry for a few days, and now I have a beautiful key fob holder to use at craft shows.
It's super stable, with that wide round base, and heavy enough to not blow over in the wind. The curls hold the key fobs securely, they come off easily by hand but won't blow off or come off if the display is moved around. This piece can easily hold 24-36 key fobs. It's tall enough to be at a good height and not too wide.
Awesome solution, and one more thing off the craft show "to do" list.
The chalkboard wall behind the key fob holder is in my den/office/home school room (not that anyone does school in it, that gets done at the kitchen table ... but that's another post for another day).
Quite simply, I taped off an area of the wall and painted it with a few coats of chalkboard paint. I then cut, primed, and painted molding which I attached around the chalkboard. The hardest part was the cutting ... "measure twice, cut once" was my mantra that day.
The molding is a 2" decorative molding and makes a great "frame", giving the chalkboard a very polished look.
It's a really, really good thing this isn't a home decorating blog, now isn't it? Here's a horrid image of the chalkboard wall. Trust me, it's pretty.
Our walls are really textured and a little harder to wipe off, but still very easy. They can be wiped either with a damp or dry cloth and the paint stays put. The chalkboard paint really lives up to it's name.
The artwork, attached by thumbtacks and pins so it can be changed out easily, was done by my Great Aunt Monica, who was my art teacher when I was in elementary school (I have the greatest memories of being so proud that MY Aunt Monica was teaching my class), and who was a very talented artist. I love that I can look up from my computer and be inspired by her.
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My kids are with their father for a little bit so I'm in "project mode" while I await their return.
Project 1: getting the house clean. Deep cleaned and purged of stuff we don't need. It has been a major project but I'm down to the last few rooms and seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It's a good looking light too!
Project 2: sewing. Beginning with the quilt tops above. The two tops are identical in design, just different colors and fabrics. I used Elizabeth Hartmann's Crazy Nine Patch Block tutorial here and had so much fun putting these together. I highly recommend giving this a try. I was able to put each top together in an afternoon, each set of 9 crazy blocks took me just under an hour, so it's a super quick and easy technique. I'll share many more pictures after the quilts are done.
Project 3: repurposing this gem. At least I think I'm repurposing it, I'm not exactly sure what it's original use was so maybe it's always been a craft show key fob holder. I kind of doubt it though.
Lest it go unnoticed, the really ugly positioning and lighting of the thing is intentional, just like an infomercial. That way the "after" will look most amazing.
Project 4: catching up on my tv shows and sleep. Need I say more?
In other news, I received this beautiful block in the mail from Andra of Simplify and Quilt. I love it and it's another perfect addition to my growing block collection ... one block closer to making a quilt!
My kids are with their father for a little bit so I'm in "project mode" while I await their return.
Project 1: getting the house clean. Deep cleaned and purged of stuff we don't need. It has been a major project but I'm down to the last few rooms and seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It's a good looking light too!
Project 2: sewing. Beginning with the quilt tops above. The two tops are identical in design, just different colors and fabrics. I used Elizabeth Hartmann's Crazy Nine Patch Block tutorial here and had so much fun putting these together. I highly recommend giving this a try. I was able to put each top together in an afternoon, each set of 9 crazy blocks took me just under an hour, so it's a super quick and easy technique. I'll share many more pictures after the quilts are done.
Project 3: repurposing this gem. At least I think I'm repurposing it, I'm not exactly sure what it's original use was so maybe it's always been a craft show key fob holder. I kind of doubt it though.
Lest it go unnoticed, the really ugly positioning and lighting of the thing is intentional, just like an infomercial. That way the "after" will look most amazing.
Project 4: catching up on my tv shows and sleep. Need I say more?
In other news, I received this beautiful block in the mail from Andra of Simplify and Quilt. I love it and it's another perfect addition to my growing block collection ... one block closer to making a quilt!
Another swap, another block. Or two. And some goodness in my mailbox.
Civil War fabric again, and apparently that's where I stopped reading the e-mail.
I searched high and low for a "Florida" block but had little success. Then went for a traditional block and made this one (click the sneak peak to see the full image):
The tutorial for this Cross Roads block can be found here, basically the inner squares are each 3.25" and the outer squares (2), each cut into two triangles, started as 7.25".
I took my pictures, bagged my block, and went to get the address off the original e-mail.
Oh wait, I was supposed to make a specific block - a choice of three, but none of which was named Cross Roads.
Back to the drawing board (again, click the image to see the full block, can't spoil the fun for the recipient!) ...
No tutorial for this one.
I sent both.
And look, I got a new house from Cyndi:
I'm in love. And who couldn't use a new house (without an upside-down mortgage even, I think I'm now the only person in town with a house like that)? And it looks terrific with the other blocks I've received.
Civil War fabric again, and apparently that's where I stopped reading the e-mail.
I searched high and low for a "Florida" block but had little success. Then went for a traditional block and made this one (click the sneak peak to see the full image):
The tutorial for this Cross Roads block can be found here, basically the inner squares are each 3.25" and the outer squares (2), each cut into two triangles, started as 7.25".
I took my pictures, bagged my block, and went to get the address off the original e-mail.
Oh wait, I was supposed to make a specific block - a choice of three, but none of which was named Cross Roads.
Back to the drawing board (again, click the image to see the full block, can't spoil the fun for the recipient!) ...
No tutorial for this one.
I sent both.
And look, I got a new house from Cyndi:
I'm in love. And who couldn't use a new house (without an upside-down mortgage even, I think I'm now the only person in town with a house like that)? And it looks terrific with the other blocks I've received.
Today is the last day to enter to win this wonderful patriotic toddler sized bow tie from Because I'm Me's facebook page.
Click here, or on the super duper blinged image above to enter. Good luck!
Clearly, I'm having way too much fun editing photos. I thought photo editing life as I knew it would end when Picnik closed shop, but I've found a few others that have quickly won me over.
Ipiccy is very nice and easy to use. Photos upload quickly and are easy to edit. I mostly use this one for collages, but it also has a lot of other great editing tools. My favorite tool, found under "basics" is smart blur, it creates a great blurry background, and leaves your main image nice and clear.
PicMonkey is similar, with slightly different whistles and bells. Again, photos upload quickly (I have a dinosaur of a computer, this stuff matters to me!). It's a very user-friendly program and is what I used to trick out the image above.
Have you found any other great editing programs?
More bow ties. Making these is more than a little addictive, which is perfectly fine with me. They can be found in the shop, waiting for happy new homes and little boys and young men to wear them proudly.
Each of the bow ties is available in four sizes - infant, toddler, boy, and preteen.
And each is just $13.
The other day I posted about some quilt squares I'd made. I failed to properly link to the tutorials for the squares.
Not a huge issue, but after spending last night trying to find out how to make a certain square - which turned out to be paper pieced and absolutely beautiful, but not right for the project I had at hand - and coming to "dead ends", I decided that I really should link back to the original posts so someone coming across my squares would be able to recreate them if they so chose.
The first square, the red, white and pink block, was created using a Solstice Stars tutorial at Fresh Lemon Quilts. I made the Two Colors Star, though I did adapt it a little to use fewer pieces. Her tutorials make 12.5" blocks.
The second square, a traditional block using Civil War era fabrics was found here on Civil War Quilts blog. She offers tutorials for 8" blocks so I added a coordinating border to get to a 12.5" block.
I've also edited the original post to include this information. I don't know about you, but I know I'll sleep better tonight.
I laid out all the swap blocks I've received and am very excited. I'm expecting a few more in the mail, once they arrive I'll try to share some pictures of potential layout ideas.
Have a wonderful weekend.
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I first heard of Lilly though Jen White, the photographer who took this beautiful image of Lilly a few months ago.
Lilly is 6. And has cancer. And her family has been told she only has a very short time left here on earth.
Her story made the news tonight, two stations tonight from what I've heard.
Why am I telling you this?
This small child and her family need all the support they can get.
Say an extra few prayers for her, her siblings, and her parents, and then maybe say some more. They are accepting financial support and information can be found on this facebook page.
Please say prayers for this family.
Thanks.
For the last 14 months I've had the honor of participating in Block Swap Adventure's monthly block swaps. Each is a challenge in it's own way, which makes for a lot of fun. And the blocks I get in return are shaping up to be a terrific quilt for my family room.
My May block, a traditional block with Civil War era fabrics, was quite a treat to create. I don't do traditional very often, and I don't do Civil War fabrics, so a fair amount of research went into creating this one. It was great fun learning more about the history of traditional blocks, I had no idea just how much there was to learn. The block this is based on is a Louisiana block.
Tutorial here on Civil War Quilts blog. She offers tutorials for 8" blocks so I added a border to get to a 12.5" block.
I hope that I'm able to give the recipient a block that works for her, but that also has a bit of me in it.
Click the "sneak peek" image to see the complete block.
This second block, for the June swap, was asked to be a Solstice Stars block in modern colors and white.
Just for fun I modified the pattern, thinking it would make it easier. It did, except that I cut some of the pieces too long and had to go back and shorten them. Oops.
I may go back and do a few more of the Solstice Stars blocks for myself, they are really cute. They could easily be mixed with other star or even 9-patch blocks for a quilt top.
The tutorial at for this block can be found at Fresh Lemon Quilts ... I made the Two Colors Star, though I did adapt it a little to use fewer pieces.
Clicking the "sneak peek" will take you to a view of the whole square.
not my shower, just an image from home-designs.net, but it sure is pretty |
Deep cleaning.
In four days my oldest daughter and I have filled three garbage cans with trash and have a van full of stuff to donate. And that's just the beginning. There are rooms to go and dust to sweep before I sleep.
One task was to clean the master bathroom shower. Like many of us I've been "pinning" cleaning ideas on Pinterest and thought this was the ideal time to try a few of them out.
My shower has glass on two walls with white tile and white grout on the remainder. That glass drives me crazy trying to keep it clean, and I've tried every solution I've come across over the years. Thanks to Pinterest I'm finding more to try.
I was super excited when I saw this pin to clean a shower with salt and lemon:
I put some Kosher salt into a bowl, dipped a lemon half into it, and scrubbed.
It smelled so nice. I get frustrated with bathroom cleaners that burn your throat - a bathroom is typically a small area, manufacturers should know to tame the fumes.
How it worked ... it did a really nice job on the grout. The grout came out nice and white clean. However, it really didn't tackle the soap scum or water stains on the tile or glass. A few of the tiles near the floor were stained from the soap scum and this concoction didn't touch them.
Cost: 2 lemons $1, salt was already on hand
Score: B-
I haven't tried any of the other cleaning suggestions on that pin, but many of them are very intriguing.
Day 2 I moved on to this idea, also from Pinterest:
The vinegar did cause an odor, but nothing that smelled toxic. The Dawn masked a lot of the odor, so really it wasn't bad. Once all was said and done and the project completed the bathroom smelled very nice.
The results - After waiting an hour I came in with a scrub brush and water and scrubbed. The tile came clean, all the soap scum came off. The glass also came clean. I was very happy with the results.
The only problem I had was that I also cleaned the separate tub with the mixture and it was really, really, really, really hard to get all the dish detergent and bubbles out of the tub.
Cost: Dawn $1, vinegar was already on hand
Score: A
The strangest thing was that my sister called right after I finished the Dawn/vinegar cleaning. When I told her I was cleaning the shower she immediately asked if I'd used Dawn and vinegar. Apparently she'd had a friend recommend this method to her just last week ... I certainly hadn't mentioned it to her.
So there you have it, I'll be cleaning with Dawn and vinegar on a regular basis, but not lemons and salt.
Do you have any great money or greener cleaning tips to share?
I've been having so much fun with bow ties and neck ties ... and bow tie hairbands and bow tie barrettes that I wanted to "share the love".
Click here for your chance to win a toddler sized all-American bow tie, perfect for the upcoming Independence Day holiday. This is a Facebook giveaway, so the entries have to be done through the giveaway link or through the link on the Because I'm Me Facebook page, which will take you to the same place.
After entering the contest you have the option of "sharing" the contest on your facebook page. If you do and a friend of yours wins you win a bow tie too. That's a second entry into the contest. Woo hoo.
More ties are on the sewing table and will be making it to the shop this week. I'll share them with you as soon as they're completed.
Good luck.
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Click here for your chance to win a toddler sized all-American bow tie, perfect for the upcoming Independence Day holiday. This is a Facebook giveaway, so the entries have to be done through the giveaway link or through the link on the Because I'm Me Facebook page, which will take you to the same place.
After entering the contest you have the option of "sharing" the contest on your facebook page. If you do and a friend of yours wins you win a bow tie too. That's a second entry into the contest. Woo hoo.
More ties are on the sewing table and will be making it to the shop this week. I'll share them with you as soon as they're completed.
Good luck.
.
A chili cook-off contest was held in our community the other day.
The Boy Scouts, in an effort to increase visibility in the neighborhood and to do something fun together, decided to participate. Instead of cleaning up or just helping out they wanted to be in the contest, showing mad skills.
A few points that had to be pondered:
It:
We scoured the grocery store aisles looking for ideas for a sweet dessert that would look like chili. After a few test samples and a bit of trail and error a recipe was chosen. The troop sampled the recipe and agreed that it was "the" recipe.
"Chilly Chili" was born.
And it won! Won the whole chili cook off. Woo hoo and congratulations to the troop!
Recipe:
Chilly Chili
1 package instant chocolate pudding
1 package instant vanilla or butterscotch pudding
4 cups cold milk
1/4 tsp. red food coloring gel
1 package brownie mix, made according to package instructions, then chopped into bits with knife or food processor (makes about 8 cups)
1/4 cup diced maraschino cherries and juice (again, use the food processor to make quick work of this step)
1 box Boston Baked Beans candy
shredded coconut
red and yellow food coloring gels
whipped topping
Mix milk, 1/4 t. red food coloring, and instant pudding packages according to package directions.
When pudding has set add 3 cups brownie crumbles (to look like ground beef), Boston Baked Bean candy (for beans), and cherries (faux tomatoes). Mix with spoon.
Pour into serving cup.
Top with shredded coconut (cheddar cheese), colored lightly with red and yellow food coloring to a good cheddar color.
Top with a dollop of whipped topping (sour cream).
Serve immediately.
The Boy Scouts, in an effort to increase visibility in the neighborhood and to do something fun together, decided to participate. Instead of cleaning up or just helping out they wanted to be in the contest, showing mad skills.
A few points that had to be pondered:
- They didn't have a recipe and they aren't yet great cooks.
- The event organizers asked that cooks be over 18 (they were willing to waive this for the scouts).
- It's in the 90's every single day. It'd be awfully hot to cook in and it'd be awfully hot to eat hot chili in.
It:
- Wouldn't have to be cooked at the event
- Required little prep work
- Would be cool and refreshing
- Was unique (so unique that we couldn't find any recipes to borrow from)
We scoured the grocery store aisles looking for ideas for a sweet dessert that would look like chili. After a few test samples and a bit of trail and error a recipe was chosen. The troop sampled the recipe and agreed that it was "the" recipe.
"Chilly Chili" was born.
And it won! Won the whole chili cook off. Woo hoo and congratulations to the troop!
Recipe:
(as served by the scouts) |
Chilly Chili
1 package instant chocolate pudding
1 package instant vanilla or butterscotch pudding
4 cups cold milk
1/4 tsp. red food coloring gel
1 package brownie mix, made according to package instructions, then chopped into bits with knife or food processor (makes about 8 cups)
1/4 cup diced maraschino cherries and juice (again, use the food processor to make quick work of this step)
1 box Boston Baked Beans candy
shredded coconut
red and yellow food coloring gels
whipped topping
Mix milk, 1/4 t. red food coloring, and instant pudding packages according to package directions.
When pudding has set add 3 cups brownie crumbles (to look like ground beef), Boston Baked Bean candy (for beans), and cherries (faux tomatoes). Mix with spoon.
Pour into serving cup.
Top with shredded coconut (cheddar cheese), colored lightly with red and yellow food coloring to a good cheddar color.
Top with a dollop of whipped topping (sour cream).
Serve immediately.
I was contacted recently to make a camera strap cover. When asked I immediately jumped at the chance. Mostly because the person who asked has been a very wonderful source of support for me over the years but also because I've been wanting to make one for myself but just hadn't. I knew if I made one for her I'd make one for me too. Plus, I just accepted the role of Historian in the Cub Scout Pack, which apparently means I'm in charge of taking pictures, so I needed a pretty camera strap cover.
After making one for my friend, which I'll share after she receives it, I set out to make one for myself. I'm not going to post a tutorial, that's been done and done well ... here and here. I altered the tutorials I found by omitting the batting and adding fusible interfacing instead. Living in Florida I didn't want to add anything that would produce or retain heat (trust me, it's hot). I also stitched through all three layers (fabric, interfacing, lining) with long parallel lines. I didn't stitch up the sides with an edge stitch but I will next time because it will give a more polished finish.
Whatever tutorial you follow, or don't follow, a bit of color and style is going to be a much better look than an old black camera strap!
A few thoughts on getting the strap on ...
Using a rubber band to hold the leather end bits in might be a very good idea, especially if your strap isn't extra wide.
I attached a skewer to the adjustable webbing on my strap and easily ran that through the strap cover. Something similar, or a crochet hook, makes putting the strap cover on much easier.
See:
Making this took a total of about 15 minutes. Seriously. And I've already started on another for myself.
Oh, and the fabric came from ... WalMart. Apparently, and I really don't know the story behind this, they're bringing fabric back and this is one of the new prints they'll be carrying. It was less than $5 per yard. I can't stand WalMart, but I'd go back for more of this fabric.
If you make a camera strap, or have made one, please leave a link in the comments. I'd love to see.
This week I am featuring photos taken by my children. I often use images they've captured, but don't credit them enough for their work. This is their week.
Once again, images by my oldest son, taken over the last few months. Enjoy.