Ten Minute Craft

I have the Monday blahs. How about you? Maybe now is a good time for chocolate...
I found this cute hook at Michaels in the clearance section. It was designed to have a picture in the center but I decided it would be a little classier with an initial. I just printed the "N" on scrapbook paper and cut it to fit the back...all done... now I have a nice place to hang my fuzzy robe.

Small Chest Makeover

I have had this little chest for many years. It looked all right, but I was ready for a change. A little paint and some scrapbook paper and it's got a fresh new look.

T-Shirt Makeover

I purchased this t-shirt at Goodwill about two months ago so that I could try embellishing one. It was 25 cents.

I pinned the edges down and drew an arch along each side. I sewed along the lines to make the shirt slightly fitted.


Then I folded the shirt down the center and cut another arch at the neck. Then I stay stitched around the new neck opening.



I found some similar fabric at Hancocks and cut it into a 1 1/2 inch wide strip. Then I just gathered up the fabric and pushed it under the needle as I sewed.


It took about fifteen minutes and I'm enjoying my slightly spiffed up t-shirt. For more T-shirt inspiration check out J Crew- so many cute ones!

Delightful Decorating Blogs

My amazing niece asked what decorating blogs are well liked- there are lots! It amazes, inspires, and motivates me to see what women are accomplishing in their homes. Here are a few favorites just to get you started:

Design Sponge: Amazing makeovers!

Emmelines and Min Lilla Veranda: There is something about Scandinavian blogs that I LOVE- the simplicity, the amazing use of texture, the clean, white pallet, the old furniture, the use of accessories- make sure you scroll down to see all of the awesome pictures and you can use google translator if you want to get a general idea of what she is saying.

Small Space Style: This blog shows the best ideas from the web for using small spaces beautifully and efficiently.

These women create amazing makeovers and give great tutorials:
Joys of home
Pleasures of Homemaking
320 Sycamore
Cherry's Jubilee
Thrifty Decor Chick
Nesting Place
Decor to adore
From House to Home
Funky Junk Interiors
Between Naps on the Porch

4/27/10 For more great blogs check out my most recent list of decorating blogs here.

Home Sewn Reversable Purse

Well, my old purse had worn through to the lining so it was time for an update!

I raided my fabric stash and found this material that I had previously purchased (to make a purse). Hey, pat me on the back I actually used what I purchased to make what I planned (of course it took over two years to get it done, but let's just over look that little bit of info)! I found the fabric at Hancocks in the decorator fabric section. That's also where I found the silver rings -in the 60% clearance section- to attach the strap.

This is a very easy, quick bag. For general directions see the freebies section on the right. For a great tutorial on a similar bag go to Creative Little Daisy.

I used plastic canvas to add stability. I think this is better than cardboard because it is washable. Dry on low temp.

For a tutorial on how to make and attach a quilt binding -same technique for the bag top edges except you don't have to deal with any corners- go to Hello, My Name Is Heather.
Have fun!

Mommy Lessons

The following are a list of quotes about parenting that I strive (and stretch, and fail, and try again) to live by:

Brigham Young, whose daughter described him as an ideal father, taught the following:

Study their [your children's] dispositions and their temperaments, and deal with them accordingly, never allowing yourself to correct them in the heat of passion; teach them to love you rather than to fear you.

Children who have lived in the sunbeams of parental kindness and affection, when made aware of a parent’s displeasure, and receive a kind reproof from parental lips, are more thoroughly chastened than by any physical punishment that could be applied to their persons.

Kind looks, kind actions, kind words, and a lovely, holy deportment towards them will bind our children to us with bands that cannot easily be broken.


On teaching reverence and respect Margaret Lifferth said:

Often the child who is the most disruptive needs your love the most.

...reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence. So begin early and have reasonable expectations. [In my experience harshness in any training builds resentment].

We encourage reverence when we take a crying child out of the chapel and find another room where we continue to listen to the meeting until the baby is calmed or a disruptive toddler is soothed. [The choice of the word soothed went straight to my heart- so many other words might have been used (disciplined, taught, distracted- is there a message in the choice of that particular word?)].

Obviously there are all kinds of quotes about parenting. Today I'm focusing on kindness. It is so easy to think about, and in the hustle & bustle of a day, so hard to do!

Great Stain Remover

Our trip to San Antonio was wonderful. Our son was happy to spend a few evenings off of the army base. He is looking good and is learning a bunch. We spent some warm but very fun days at Sea World. I am still totally in love with dolphins. Doesn't it seem like you'd have to be seriously disturbed to not like them?!

And here is another product review. Just in case you were dying to read one:


This product it made by Church and Dwight, Co. There are lots of other similarly named products.

I had a friend recommend using this stuff to get stains out of older crocheted doilies. She also uses it to periodically soak white clothes in. She lets them soak for an hour or two and then if they still need brightening she'll rinse and then restart the load so they can soak in a freshly made mix of hot water and soap. She says her clothes end up looking store bright white.

I decided to try it on my white skirt-that-I-stained-the-first-time-I-wore-it-and don't you hate it when that happens?! (with chocolate, of course!).

First off, you need to know that my house has the world's hardest water- well water- it leaves everything grey and your clothes look ten years old after three washings, and you can never get any kind of stain out and we really need to get a water softener. Yeah.

Well, my skirt had been washed and dried a few times. But it's a really cute skirt so I just had to try this stuff. I bought a small container of the soap. I nixed the well water and used some purchased (boiling hot) filtered water and mixed in some soap to make a paste. Then I used the paste, suds and liquid from my little mixing bowl and dabbed it all over the stain. After letting it sit for an hour I rinsed the skirt and... ta, da... the fabric was PERFECTLY clean- not even a shadow of the stain was left. I'm very impressed. Hope you have as much luck!

Mini-Vacation

I'll be away from the blog for a few days while we travel to see our son who is being trained as a field medic in San Antonio. Have a nice week end!

Fabric Covered Coupon Holder

I've decided that I need to stretch our family dollars a little (lot) farther. So, I've begun to clip some coupons. I have family members who are AMAZING at saving money this way. Literally. They should be on Oprah. I don't think I'll ever be as determined, organized and dedicated as they are. But still I think I'll give it a try. Do you have any coupon shopping tips?

I knew that I needed a simple way to organize and carry the coupons around and I wanted it to be a no-money-no-time-at-all type of a project.

Well, here is what I came up with: (feel free to craft along!) go to Dollar Tree and purchase an accordion style coupon holder.


Dig through your scrap pile and sew a few pieces of fabric together anyway you like 'em. Iron your sewn fabric to a strong bonding fusible web. Then trace the coupon holder cover and front panel and cut those pieces out from the now fused fabric. Use a scrap booking brad to make a hole for the elastic.


Peel off the fusible backing and carefully position the fabric onto the coupon holder, pulling the elastic through the brad opening.



When everything is in place iron the fabric to the coupon holder- it's a little awkward but it works.



Then finish up the project by using a straight edge and rotary cutter to trim up the edges. If your fusible web is as old as mine is you may need to add a little fray check around the edges.

Fill it up with coupons and you're ready to shop and save!!


A second version: Iron your fabric to light weight fusible interfacing and then when ready attach to your coupon holder with spray adhesive.

Make Photos Larger on Blogger Posts

I'm not a computer expert... use at your own risk. But this works for me....

A simple way to make your photos appear larger on your blog posts is to do the following:

Part 1. Make Sure your Template is Ready

1. Save everything!!!!!!!

2. Start a new blog to practice everything and then delete it when you are done.

3. Go to layout, html and select a minima 2 column template

4. Scroll down the html code to the "wrapper" section.
Change the "outer-wrapper" to 900 px
Change the "main-wrapper" to 610 px
Change the "sidebar-wrapper" to 220 px

5. Save your changes


Part2: Uploading your photos in a post

1. Write your blog post
2. Upload your photo
3. In edit html look for this kind of stuff(where your picture is going to be):

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DiW2uXj8Yv8/Sh0ugjER9iI/AAAAACGs/2oky8N-CGHU/s1600-h/DSCF5087.JP<"img src=http://www.blogger.com/">400px;" height: 370px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBt6-AZFG3dnnlneO8BNsJNa1_zlfsusrEn2h-cZiZnOz0988rK4alz7hkp1LOKnXFshtn_SKbgwcu_WfDMTVz7GT9Z46nGfCMd6ktSlBmwP0u2rfAfn6kZL8nTMCfPNSaW5AYLny5gq4//s400/DSCF5087.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340475869835

4. See those numbers in red. Take the first two numbers (in this case 400 and 370) and multiply them by 1.5 (you'll get 600 and 555).

5. Carefully erase the 400 and type in 600.
Carefully erase the 370 and type in 555.

6. Read down through the gobbildy goo to "s400" and change it to "s800"

7. Preview to see if you did the math right- if not you'll have a warped, crazy mirror type picture. If it's wrong just delete the picture and start over.

8. When it is right publish post.

What's For Dinner?

Confession time... I'm not very consistent at making dinner. This week little one asked for beef kabobs and that is an easy dish- easy I can handle -especially since dear hubby rules the grill. I didn't plan ahead and so the beef only marinated for 30 min. But there were no left overs and that is always a good sign! The simple recipe is here at Allrecipes. They were yummy!

Furniture Makeover & Goodwill Party

It's really rare that I can find affordable used furniture anywhere in this town. Even the thrift stores are really expensive! So, I was delighted when I found this cabinet/shelf at a yard sale for $25 dollars.


The wood stain had too much red in it for my liking so I painted it with a Krylon spray paint called Bahama Sea. Right now I am planning on using the cabinet in my craft area so the fun, cheerful color is perfect!


I taped over the glass and removed most of the hardware. Then I painted until I had a blister on my pointer finger- literally! After allowing it to dry I sprayed on a satin varnish and then put the original hardware back on. I intend to use the shelves to store fabric.

If you want to see some amazing makeovers stop by thrifty decor. She is having a goodwill party and there are some amazingly talented people out there!

Yummy Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

My Grandma Loveland loved strawberry rhubarb pie and I'm with her! I love the combination of sweet and tart. I tried this simple
crisp recipe and it is wonderful. I enjoyed some happy memories of grandma's loving personality while planning this dish. Isn't it interesting how certain foods remind us of certain people?

Don't you just love this mini corning ware dish? I found it at an estate sale and it was so cute I couldn't pass it up. The vintage pillowcases were at the same sale and I think they will make a pretty addition to my home.