Are you whipped?

(Just imagine how disappointed someone who types “whipped” into the search engine is going to be when they find themselves here!) No – really - I mean W.I.P. I’m sorry I can’t remember where I heard the term before, but it means “work in progress”. What do you do with your WIP’s? I used find them scattered all over my house. I’d have a great idea and BAM – a mess is in progress. Then I’d HAVE to do something (like mend a pair of pants) and there is my WIP – taking up all the room. Well, here is what I do with my WIP’s now.

I keep all the bits and pieces together in this basket, that way all the bits and pieces don’t get scattered – and I don’t have to try to gather everything together when I want to work on it again. This basket is holding several WIPs. Maybe I should call mine P.I.P.s for “projects in progress”. Wouldn’t want to be a copy cat.

Jammie pants

I made a pair of jammie pants with the same pattern I used before. This time I made them out of a thrifted sheet. I used the thinnest, most faded sheet to just try it out. I loooooooove them!! They are the softest, most comfy jammie pants EVER! Since the sheet was so thin they are also cool and comfortable when it is hot and humid. Ahhh. I used the top hem of the sheet for the bottom hem of the pants. Thus, no hemming. I hate hemming.

Happy Crafting!!!

Dog Leash

After you make the jacket, maybe you could make a new leash? Easy peasy! Just make a looooong purse strap and add a hook. You’re walking around town in STYLE now! ha ha!

Dog Jacket

Do you have a little dog? Does that dog have hair that is equivalent to eye-brow hair? Well, if you do you can make your dog a very easy jacket. It is basically a bib with wings. My hubbie is on the fire department so I made one out of this fabric. Hee hee. I first made one out of scrap fabric then tried it on her and made adjustments. Every dog is different. If you have a bib laying around you could start with that.

 

Yes, she is ridiculous!!

Boxy Zippered Bags

I’ve been wanting to make these for a long time. I’ve made a lot! Here are some of them -

You can find the tutorial here. Be careful – it’s addictive!

New Light

Look at the new light over my kitchen sink! Woot woot – I’m so excited! The old light was so noisy I never turned it on. As a matter of fact, when Julie took it down there was a note taped inside that said “noisy – but works”. Huh, I guess the previous homeowner just slapped it up to get the house ready to sell. The price tag was on it, it cost $4.50 – big spender! Why that was so important and other more obvious things weren’t is a mystery! My friend, Julie, came over to hang it for me last week. Isn’t she handy! I got the light from one of my neighbors – who moved. I painted a basement wall for her in trade for the light. We were both happy! It was originally a plug-in light – Julie just hardwired it. I’ll take that extra link out of the chain soon – forgot we left it there just in case I wanted it a bit lower.

Now I just have to repaint the ceiling, walls, wash the window, clean the sink, unclutter the counters, get a new rug. . . and maybe some towels. . . get a new window (cause that is such and awesome light – the window has gotta live up to it), maybe a new floor! . . . and the kitchen will be perfect – I just know it!! Just kidding!

Great Idea!

Are you gearing up for Christmas? I am. I’m also remembering last year when I had so many ideas and no organization. This year will be different! I made up this page that I can copy any time I want. I think it has all the important info on it.

This is what I typed up in Microsoft Word Processor. You aren’t seeing the entire page – the blank space under the notes section is larger – but you get the general idea. I will cut the page in half and use a clipboard to keep everything together. If you have a better idea, please, let me know! I generally have so many projects going on everything gets to be a jumbled mess – a fun mess – but a mess! (More mess, more stress)

Needle Holder

Do you inherit things from people? I do. I seem to have built up a reputation for the go-to place when you don’t want throw something away. It’s OK – I love all the flotsam and jetsam that comes my way. And, every once in a while, a really good idea is born. This is a needle holder/case that came my way – this original one was made by Boy Scouts back in the 50’s.

This is my version -

Here is how it is done – cut a strip roughly 5 inches long by 2 inches wide. I cut mine out of chipboard. Then score up 1/2 inch from the bottom and at 2.75 inches from the bottom. Cover with whatever you like – fabric, paper. Decorate it however you like. Then staple a piece of felt in as shown – it folds like a match book. Easy peasy!

Towel Dilemma

I always have towels floating around my kitchen – but when I want to dry my hands they mysteriously disappear! I have a few that have the crocheted tops – you know what I mean – they button onto the stove handle. And I saw this idea on by Calamity Kim and thought it was a great idea! However, my towels aren’t long enough. So here is what I did – I cut off part of the towel, reversed it, sewed it back on, and added button holes and buttons. This way no part of the wrong side of the towel is showing. (Now if your towel looks the same on both sides you can just skip this step – ya you!) Get it? Just drape your towel over whatever you want to hook it onto – and cut, and resew. No measuring required. Now, I did measure for the buttons – and they are even – just didn’t tug everything into shape before taking the picture. ha ha. Happy crafting!

Sugar waxing

Although there are a lot of great ideas on this wonderful internet – there aren’t many that make me want to make it right now!! Well, this one did make me want to make it right now!! Within a couple of hours of reading this post from Made by Petchy I was cooking up this sugar wax. I have to say it works great! My legs are so smooooooth! Yes, it stings to rip up the wax, but it is doable. I didn’t cry or anything. I had a sister try to wax my legs with some “regular” salon style wax and I have to say that hurt way more. Made By Petchy’s recipe translates to 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup lemon juice, and one heaping tablespoon honey. Now, if your on my gift-giving list don’t make this. This is going to be part of your Christmas present. I know I’m ruining the surprise, but some of you will forget anyways (lol) and many more people may want to make the same thing. I can’t keep this wonderful idea to myself! Are you planning your Christmas gifts yet? I sure am – I have a few ideas up my sleeves – but I hope I can keep the most of them under wraps until Christmas – but I want to share the ideas too – oh the dilemma!!!

Just a note – make sure you cook this in a saucepan with plenty of room. I have an unholy mess fused to my cooktop cause it boiled over a couple times!

Great Tips and Tricks

I’ve always loved the idea of using “natural” cleaners – or better yet – make cleaners from things you already have in the house! I have been collecting different web sites into my favorites file and thought I’d share them with you.

Tips for using peroxide I haven’t done much with this – but can’t wait to try!! Cheap and easy my friend.

Apple Cider Vinegar I can testify to one use in particular – it gets rid of warts! My son had a wart on his finger and we took him to the doctor to have it removed. Cost – around $75.00. It didn’t go away. Then we purchased Dr.Scholl’s wart remover – it didn’t go away. Cost – somewhere around $8.00? Then we purchased a home freeze-off kit. Tried it numerous times and it didn’t go away. Cost – around $15.00? Soaked a bit of a cotton ball in cider vinegar – placed it on the wart – covered with a band aid and changed it every night. If it fell off during the day it wasn’t a big deal. With in a couple days the wart turned black and a couple days later it was gone! Sorry if this makes some of you nauseous but if you are dealing with a persistent wart you’ll understand how miraculous this is!!

Fels Naptha Soap Speaking of this – my friend, Carmen, made me a batch of laundry soap using this. It works just great! remember there are three boys and three dogs in my house. I can really testify that the laundry soap works. Also, it brings the price for detergent to about .03 cents a load!! And, as a side note – my son is highly allergic to poison ivy, I was pleased to see that this will take the poison ivy oils out of his clothes. I didn’t know that the oils can stay on his clothes for up to a year. No wonder he’d get random break-outs with no apparent cause!

60 uses for baking soda My favorite tip that I’ve used for years and years is to make a baking soda paste and let it sit on a stain on the counter for a while. (Kool aid just doesn’t wipe up with a damp cloth.) Anyways, after sitting there for a few hours the stain just wipes up. Magic!

White vinegar tips I like boiling this in the microwave – makes clean-up a breeze and gets rid of funny smells. Did you know that if you accidently reheat a chicken in there for a looooooong time it turns into something resembling black tar? OMG – that was nasty!

All these sites provide valuable information – and can help us keep our house clean and deodorized without spending a fortune! Oh-yes, I also like to visit tipnut.com – they have so many tips and tricks it makes my head spin!

Now, for you enjoyment I’m showing you a little video I’ve prepared using the pictures from my miniatures. Dumb and short – but amusing. I only spent minutes making this – because I didn’t even know my computer had this program. Anyways, enjoy!

Buttercup Bag

I made another Buttercup Bag. This fabric is from Moda – I just loooooooove it! The lining is a lime-ish green. I got brave and set a snap in the lining so it isn’t visible from the outside. It wasn’t hard at all – the only thing is I had to be careful while topstitching with an embroidery stitch because I didn’t want to run into that snap. It scares the *&^% out of me when a needle breaks while sewing!! Speaking of needles – did any of you happen to read this post? It is about choosing the right needle for your sewing project. And boy are they right! I thought I had to bring my machine in for maintenance because it was skipping stitches like crazy. After reading my manual I cleaned with a lint brush around the bobbin (came up with an embarrassingly huge amount of lint!) and then remembered to check the needle. Even though I didn’t think I’d sewn much with this needle – changing it made a huge difference! No more skipped stitches! Woot woot! Take a look at the bag!

Here. . . take a closer look -

This flower is just pinned on. I used pounded a grommet through two different silk flowers and some heavy interfacing. So it can be moved – or removed as needed. Happy Birthday Ona!! You should be getting this and the bucket hat in the mail any day! Love ya!

Bucket Hat

I saw this hat by Betz White and thought it was just adorable! So I went searching for free patterns and found this on from Simplicity. While it is not exact, it is a good place to start. I still might buy the pattern for the one by Betz White – but I needed to know if I was even capable of sewing a hat at all! Here are the results -

Remember the fabric I had cut in haste and repented at leisure? Well, part of it has now become this hat. I just couldn’t stand looking at the unfinished project anymore.

Pot Holders

 

Just showing showing you some potholders I made for my Mother-In-Law. Again I used the decorative stitching on my sewing machine – it’s a great small project to practice on. And yes, you do need to practice, because it is tricky learning where the stitches start and stop. (Still haven’t really figured that one out.)

The freebie websites I love!

My good friend (Carmen) got me going on freebie websites. You got an example the other day when I posted a link to a free Sham Wow! I thought I’d provide a list of other favorite places I like to check out:

Shop4freebies Check out what they have on their main page – but also be sure to click on the “forum” tab at the top. You’ll be clued in to many more freebies!

Wal-Mart I have gotten everything I’ve signed up for here – can’t say that for every site!

Start Sampling Make sure to click on “Today’s posts”

Hey It's Free This site also has some other sites listed to the right side that I’d check out!

Free Sample Forager Always good.

If you have another site that you love I’d love to hear about it! Getting stuff for free in the mail is awesome. It’s a great way to try out new products without spending a penny. Now, back to crafting!

Pendent

I made myself a birthday present – here it is! I love the way this pendent turned out!

Here is a side view -

One reason it turned out so well is because I used these Martha Stewart glitters!

Although it is really hard to photograph glittered projects. . . I thought you’d want to see it. If you want to know how to make it leave me some comments and I’ll do a tutorial. I made it by recycling some things around the house and some basic craft supplies. I want to see if I can generate any comments. . . it’s up to you! ha ha!

And I wanted to show you what my very talented friend, Ona, sent me for my birthday! (If you think it’s hard to get a picture of a glittered project try to capture the magic of fused glass!) Yep, this is a fused glass pendent she sent me – yay me! I wore it for my birthday bash and got lots of compliments. Thank you Ona!

Sandwich wrapper

I’ve been seeing reusable snack bags and sandwich wrappers all over the web for some time now. This is a good example that inspired me. I really liked how she took the inside of a potato chip bag to line the snack bag. This was a project that would use things I have around the house – love that!! I customized it to work with what I need – I wanted a sandwich wrapper that could be opened flat to eliminate any corners for crumbs and jelly to hide. So – I cut open a chip bag, wiped it off, fused it to a piece of fabric, used a zig-zag stitch around the edges -

Added velcro – topstitched a couple seams down the sides. (This will keep it folded in when all folded up – so it will hold its shape around the sandwich -

See?

This is what it looks like all folded and velcro’d. Nothing fancy. We’ll get fancy when we know they will come back every day. I loved that this project uses items from around the house – cost was basically zero. Woot woot!

Uff da

It has been busy around here! I haven’t gotten very much crafting done – we’ve been just trying to keep up. My daughter turned 16 and within a few days my son turned 13. (Luckily our littlest guy is only 8 1/2 so I still have the joy of having a little person around me.) But, I’ve found myself wondering where the time has gone – and thinking that the time we have left to be a family-that-all-lives-in-the-same-house is short. I’m trying to make memories. So. . . today I made the kids hike up a big hill that is near us. The following pictures were taken from the top of the hill. As you can see we are above the tree tops. Uff da. I vow to get the kids outside exploring more. My son that is 13 has probably been over every square inch within a 5 mile radius – but the rest of us aren’t quite so active anymore. We used to walk or bike everywhere but then I got a car. (Just didn’t need one for the longest time.) And I got lazy. And I’m getting fluffy! And it is my birthday over this weekend and I’m starting to feel just a little old. So go hike up a big hill with your kids because before you know it they will be teenagers and trust me, not only is it startling  to have your little boy grow so much he looks you in the eye, it is also harder to get them to spend time with you.

The letter “G”

We all know I like the letter G. I picture a wall display of G’s. Anyways, I simply bought a paper mache letter G and covered it with paper. Enough said . . . but, if you haven’t tried paper crafts before –this would be a great place to start. The letter G was about $2.00. The paper was 3 for $1.00 at the dollar store. The glue stick I had on hand. First, glue up the front of your letter – apply paper and rub out any air bubbles - let it dry and then trim away the excess. (I used a craft knife)

Picture of the back side of the letter – what it looked like before papering.

Then I cut 1” strips and did the same thing to the sides. It was pretty just like that. But I can’t leave anything alone – so I “aged the edges”, stamped the swirly design, and glittered the centers of the flowers. But, honestly – none of that needed to be done. Really all that was needed for a very pretty letter was the paper, letter, and a glue stick!

Paper towel alternatives

I’m trying to use less paper towels. Those things are getting expensive!! And while some messes can only be cleaned up with a paper towel – lots of others can be cleaned up with a reusable cloth. I’m finding I’m happy with these Mr. Clean towels. They’ve held up well in the wash and dry really fast. I also got a Sham Wow! and wasn’t impressed until after I’d washed it. Then it started to work really well. By the way, you can sign up for a couple free Sham Wows here! Because you shouldn’t put any of these kinds of towels in the dryer I made up a few mesh bags. Got the mesh and zippers at the thrift store and used scraps of fabric to reinforce the sides. Now I just put the days wipe up towel in the mesh bag and launder it with the regular laundry. Having it in the mesh bag helps me to find it when I take it out of the washer!

Happy cleaning!!