Bath Toy Caddy

I had a horrible sinus headache yesterday, so I took a shower in my daughter's bathoom, because the master bath is a large room and you can't really get it to steam up enough (to hopefully get your sinuses moving).  As I side-stepped my way through bath toys that were overflowing the bin they were in, I got an idea.  So, out of the shower I jumped.  I grabbed an old, mesh lingerie bag from the laundry room and sewed a ribbon onto the corner of it and hung it in the tub. Now all the bath toys are zippered up in the bag and the mesh allows for some air circulation (cause you know how nasty bath toys can get!).  It was one of those projects that took me five minutes and yet I get happy every time I see it hanging in the bathroom.  I know...it doesn't take much to get me excited around here.

Summer Lists

Last month, my daughter and I each made a list of the things we want to do this summer.  Hers includes items like reading the entire Junie B. Jones's Book Series, eating watermelon, and learning how to ride a bike without training wheels.  Mine includes making a full-size quilt (up until now I've only made lap and baby quilts), sewing a dress for my daughter, and buying/riding a bike.  Of course, we both want to eat lots of watermelon, roast marshmallows on the beach and hula hoop. 

As you can see, we are well on our way to meeting our goals.  What do you want to do this summer?

Patio Cushion Make-over

Call me lazy, but I leave the cushions on my patio chairs out in the elements.  Then I'm surprised when they get dirty, stained and faded.  I bought some nice, dark cushions a few years ago, and they really did look good once. 

But now, they just look dirty and they don't match the recent make-over I gave to my patio table and chairs.  But cushions can be pricey.  So I bought some outdoor fabric and recovered the old ones.  I sewed envelope style pillows so that they can be removed when I leave them out (ahem) and they get dirty.  Isn't it amazing how some bright accent colors can change the whole look of your garden?  Even the plants look like they are different shade of green when there's a touch of red added.

The throw pillow is not in outdoor fabric, so I may actually have to get off my lazy butt and take it in the house when we aren't enjoying the patio.  (P.S.  Don't you just love the fabric?  It's Free Spirit's Gothic Prairie by Jane Sassaman.)

Drink Charms Tutorial

I hate to use (and clean-up) a ton of disposal glasses after a party, so drink charms are usually in order.  But I'm not a beader and wire and I do not get along.  So what's a girl to do?  How about using ring blanks for drink charms?

I slipped a super cute Buttons Galore and More brad through a felt flower and glued it onto the ring blank.  The cheap-o ring blanks in the craft store have adjustable backs, so you can just stretch it open and slip it onto the stem of your glass, and then squeeze it closed.  When the party is over, your guests can take the charms home and use them as actual jewelry.  Cute, huh?

Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my smart, handsome husband.  Thank you for putting up with me.  Thank you for loving me.  The past 15 years have been the best of my life.

Multiple Streams of Income Ecourse is BACK!

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be teaching my popular Multiple Streams of Income Ecourse in July.  And you won't believe the terrific line-up of experts that will be helping me!  To find out more, click here.

Embroidered Gnomes Napkin Tutorial

Summer is here and I'm in the mood for a garden party.  I was thinking of having a cocktail party, with stuffed mushrooms and some wine.  I'll set the table with my new Gnome Napkins.  Want to join me?  Here's how to do it!

Gnome Napkins

Materials

Set of four, cotton napkins
Gnome Embroidery Pattern (Created by me!  My first embroidery pattern!)
Embroidery thread
Embroidery needles
Embroidery Hoop
Large-sized Ric-Rac
Sewing machine and thread

1.  Wash your napkins and iron them.
2.  Transfer the Gnome Embroidery Pattern onto bottom corner of napkin.  I used an iron-on transfer pencil-my favorite way to transfer patterns onto fabric. To see my favorite transfer tips, check-out this video.
3.  Embroider pattern.  I decided to embroider each gnome in a different color for each napkin, but you can also make them uniform.
4.  Using your sewing machine, embroider ric-rac around the outside edge of the napkin.  I sewed it onto the back, allowing a bit of ric-rac to peek through, but I think it would also be cute to edge the front with some smaller ric-rac.

I think the napkins came out very cute and can't wait to throw my little cocktail party to celebrate the launching of my new embroidery pattern.  Want to come?

Happy Father's Day

Is there anything sexier than 6'6" of man, getting his toenails painted by his six year old daughter, just to make her happy? 

Happy Father's Day Bruce!

A Simple Birthday

We had a simple birthday for my daughter this year.  No big party with all her friends.  Fewer gifts and more "experiences".  And guess what?  She said it was her "best birthday ever". You saw Monday's Sock Monkey post.  That was the only gift we gave her and I have to say she was thrilled with it. When I was wrapping it the night before, I started to feel guilty, worrying that she would feel disappointed with just getting a homemade gift.  I was wrong.  She was so happy and I have never seen her so focused on actually playing with her gift.  Usually, as she sits in a huge pile of toys, she goes into overload and doesn't know what to play with first. 

She asked me to make her a white cake with white frosting.  To surprise her, I bought Wilton's Wonder Mold Kit and created a spectacular cake (if I must say so myself).  It was really fun for me to make too.  Probably because I wasn't rushing to get it done in time for a party.  Throughout the day, I tried to give her little surprises here and there.  Picking her up at school with a bunch of balloons, a manicure/pedicure.  Just little surprises sprinkled throughout the day. 

As I thought back on the day, I realized how important simple, small gestures are.  I think as adults we lose sight of that.  We think we have to "go big" to create a lot of impact.  But I'm thinking one big gesture, infrequently done, doesn't do half as much as a bunch of little gestures sprinkled liberally into one's life. 

Sock Monkey

Ever since my daughter saw Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium she's wanted a sock monkey.  (I think it's because she cried everytime the sock monkey in the movie would reach out to Jason Bateman's character, wanting a hug and not getting it.)  I knew I wanted to make one for her birthday, but the idea of making a sock monkey was a bit scary for me.  (You know how bad I am about sewing toys. Remember this post?)  So, my friend and talented designer, Ana Arujo, sent me one of her Sock Monkeys Go BanANAs DVDs and a sock monkey kit. 

I was sure I would end up with yet another sad, stuffed animal that would have to join my pile of reject toys, but I was wrong!  I sat down with my kit, in front of the TV and followed along, hittting the pause button to keep up and in just two days I had a sock monkey made for my daughter that I can be completely proud of!  I am so proud of myself and my daughter loves it.  I even feel a sense of hope that I can take some of the tips that Ana gave me and apply them to future attempts at other stuffed dolls.  I just might become a toy maker yet!

Button Birdhouse Tutorial

Lots of kids are getting out of school today.  Sadly, my daughter doesn't get out until June 23!  The good news is, she doesn't go back until September 7.  In honor of summer break, I've come up with a great project for the Buttons Galore and More Design Team Blog.  A button birdhouse.  My daughter loved doing the project and it's very simple. It will keep your little ones quiet for a good hour or so too.  You can check out the project here.

Creative Nostalgia Lifestyle Tip: Monday is Laundry Day

Your grandmother probably did laundry every Monday. Your mother may have too. Originally a whole day had to be put aside to do laundry because it took all day to do it. Imagine…no running water, a wash board, and laundry lines. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty happy to have modern conveniences on laundry day now! So let’s take advantage of our good luck and get all our laundry done in one day.

In order for this system to work you must stick to it! That means you need to pretty much dedicate yourself to the idea that you WILL do laundry every Monday (or whatever day of the week works best for you). Of course, life may get in the way occasionally, and you may need to deviate from the schedule. But try not to let it become a habit. If you do laundry every Monday, you’ll find that you rarely need to throw in extra loads during the week.


To start your new habit, I recommend that you purchase one three ring binder and seven dividers. This will be your housekeeping binder and you can easily stay organized and focused if you use it. Your first divider should say: “Monday is Laundry Day”. In this section, put copies of articles you come across about getting stains out of clothes or even decorating ideas for your dream laundry room. Anything “laundry” goes in this section of the binder. I even put my washing machine and dryer manuals in it, warranty information, and my favorite machine repair companies’ contact information. Now, when my machine breaks, I can find easily locate all the information I need and get it repaired fast. (Because there is nothing worse than a broken washing machine!)


The trick to getting your laundry done in one day is to stay close to home on laundry day.  Don’t schedule outings or run errands.  Stay home, listen for your machines to be done with their work, and keep the loads going.  This is where modern technology is a joy!  Our grandmothers stayed home all day on Mondays and worked the entire day.  We, on the other hand, can use the excuse that it’s "laundry day", to stay home, but we don’t have to be working every minute!  I’ll admit that I’ve watched an episode or two of reality TV while waiting for a load to finish.  My laundry room is upstairs, so I will often use the excuse of “staying close to the laundry room” to work on my latest sewing project (my sewing room is next to the laundry room).   Laundry days are also a good day to work on laundry-themed projects.  Have you been meaning to make a weathered wood “Laundry” sign to hang on the wall?  Or maybe you could dig out that really cute tutorial to make a cute, fabric laundry bag? 

I realize that there are situations that may make it impossible to get all the laundry done in one day.  There are other days of the week that will have lighter chore days and you can always carry your laundry tasks over.  I do recommend though, that you really try to find the time to stay focused on your laundry chores.  I think you’ll be surprised by how much you can done if you spend a few concentrated hours on the task rather than throwing in loads willy-nilly.

So next Monday, I hope you will give my Monday is Laundry idea a try.  Over the next few months, I'll be sharing my household cleaning tips for the rest of the days of the week, so stay tuned. 

Are you a Fan of my Facebook page?  If not, be sure to sign-up-I'll be sharing tips and tricks for making your laundry chores easier each Monday and would love it if you would share your laundry day tips too!  It won't be all work and no play either.  I'll include tutorials for laundry themed crafts too.

Patriotic Projects

It's time for the Designer Blog Connection post!  This month, the talented designers are working under the patriotic theme.  I think it's great that we timed it a full month before the Fourth of July holiday, giving you tons of time to get inspired and try out some of our projects for your patriotic party.

For lots of patriotic eye candy, visit my fellow designers' blogs by pressing the "Forward" or "Backward" on the button below.  Enjoy your day!

[ DC Connection ]


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