A Beautiful Mess I love using cloth napkins to dress up our dinner table, and through the years I've grown even more fond of their sustainability and cost effectiveness. Though, I'm not sure how cost effective it is if you keep buying more and more cloth napkins each year! This holiday season I thought it would be fun to look at how I could dress up the napkins I already own to give them an extra festive vibe. Check out three simple ways you can give new life to your table linens. And hey! Two of them are even no sew! Ribbon Trimmed Napkin This look is so (no sew) simple! Supplies:-ribbon-heat bond in width of ribbon-cloth napkin (buy mine here)-iron-fabric scissors (not shown above) Step One: Trim pieces of your ribbon to be about 1.5 inches longer than the width of your napkins. Step Two: Fold down the edges of each ribbon segment about 1/4" and iron flat. Step Three: Iron the heat bond to the ribbon (pressing with hot iron for two seconds), then peel off the paper backing. Pom-Pom Trimmed Napkin
Stamped Tea Towels Howdy y’all! I hope you had a fine weekend. Ours was spent organizing and planning, planning and organizing, but mostly tinkering around the house, cleaning up the remnants of Christmas and tucking it away in bins for next year. Lots of neat things happened in the peace and quiet, we made plans to take a vacation this year and to make more changes to the house, it was both productive and relaxing. Another project I worked in the midst of all that was these stamped tea towels. I’m a huge fan of block print fabric so I decided to mimic the look by using some old stamps in my collection and applying the pattern to tea towels to brighten up the kitchen. To make your own, you’ll need the following: tea towels, non porous flat surface, paint for fabric, fabric medium, sponge roller, rubber stamps, iron. I used the Martha Stewart paints since they’re inexpensive, readily available (found mine at Michaels), designed for use on fabric, and they come in such nice colors. 1. xo,
Homemade Laundry Detergent–Dry and Liquid Thank you for visiting Little House in the Suburbs. Please subscribe and you'll get great simple living tips and how-to articles delivered to your inbox, for free! To make your own low-bubbling detergent for both high efficiency and traditional machines, you need four ingredients: Borax, Washing Soda, Soap, and Water Borax and Washing soda can usually be found in the laundry aisle of any good grocery. Pretty much any soap is suitable for laundry use, however, some soaps are so GOOD or so EXPENSIVE that it would silly to buy them for laundry. If you aren’t making your own lard or Crisco soap, or don’t have a bunch of old soap bits lying around, Ivory (25 cents a bar at Walmart for the 16 pack) is your best bet for versatility and price. Kirk’s Castille is JUST FINE for laundry, but at 1$ a bar, I would never buy it for that purpose. Powdered Laundry Soap: 2 cups finely grated soap (Ivory, Fels Naptha, Zote, homemade, or a combination) 1 cup borax 1 cup washing soda Now, onto the liquid. 1.
The Absolute Favorite Thing I Have Made! Name and Est. Date Wall Art Have you seen on other blogs people using vinyl lettering to spell their last name and the year they were married, for example Smith est. 2001? I love these! I had dreamed about eventually doing this in our front entrance but could never find a place with the vinyl lettering I liked. So when my sister sent me Under the Table and Dreaming's and My Three Monsters idea for this....I literally screamed with joy. I love Stephanie Lynn's and Amy's version but I have a last name with only two letters! Method:I used Microsoft Office Publisher to design this. Here are some examples of the gifts I have made: Thank you Stephanie Lynn and Amy for this! Stephanie UPDATE: I used this same technique to create an amazing custom baby announcement that I absolutely love. What do you think?
V and Co how to: jersey knit bracelet i don't know what it is about this time of year that makes me just want to have my bare feet in the sand, be watching the sun setting into the ocean, and breathing in the warm salty air of the beach...as i get older, more and more i find myself missing that place i used to go to almost every.single.day. as a teen. (my skin doesn't miss it. as a matter of fact, i now wish i listened more and DID put SPF on my face...hindsight is 20/20). my mom calls me from her walk on the beach almost every morning...*sigh*yeah, i get a little homesick around this time of the year. heck on my pinterest my "dreaming of summer" has the most pictures in it. ah yes. i miss my ocean. case in point. this bracelet, brought a flood of memories, not because i used to have one like it but because i can totally see me wearing it by the beach, not caring that it's gotten salty and wet, because i can totally make another one in like less than 5 minutes flat when i get home. *sigh* okay... *cut off excess tails!
Building It On Pennies: Saving Pennies (Dollars in this case) Last night I had my first speaking engagement. I was the guest speaker at a honors dinner for parents and teachers. I was so excited to be able to share a few money saving tips and had a great time. I feel so blessed and honored that I was asked to speak, and ready to do it again! :) I was asked to speak about making homemade soap and other items that can help you save some money. Aren't they cute? Besides for laundry soap and fabric softener I shared a few other items I have been making and the money I have been saving. Dish Washer Soap 1 cup of Borax 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda 2 packets of no sugar added Koolaid Lemon Aide Mix together well and add 1 tablespoon to each load! (If you are making your laundry soap you already own everything except for the koolaid) Cost to make this is $0.78 a batch and does 32 loads of dishes! Rinse Aid Never Buy Rinse aid again use White Vinegar (Works perfect with no smell) Rinse aid runs $3.99 you use about $.04 of Vinegar Daily Shower Cleaner Fabreeze
"One Good Thing" by Jillee: Brand Name Laundry Detergent's "Last Stand"! This post is brought to you by Amazon where you can get deals on household cleaners! So a couple of weeks ago I had HAD it! I was FED UP! I could not bring myself to buy ONE MORE bottle of over-priced, wastefully-packaged laundry detergent. I just couldn’t do it! Now, I’m no eco-nazi (far from it), but buying those big bottles of laundry detergent, lugging them home and then turning around and throwing them away was definitely starting to get to me. Not to mention the COST! It was about this same time that I just happened to come across a picture someone posted on Pinterest.com of their “Homemade” laundry detergent! The first batch I made…I followed this recipe from The Rachel Berry Blog. Liquid Laundry Soap-Family Sized Batch 1 bar grated Fels Naptha soap 5 gallon bucket 1 cup washing soda (Again, Arm and Hammer) 1 cup 20 Mule Team Borax 4 1/2 gallons water I use approximately 1/2 – 1 cup per large load (depending on how dirty the clothes are!) Worked out great.
Make Your Own Stamps After posting all of those wonderful DIY stamp ideas, I had to try a few of my own. These stamps are really a combination of a few of the others, but are closest to this herringbone stamp from A Beautiful Mess. I was a little worried that using craft foam sheets wouldn't work very well, but it really did. It was so easy, and I know I'm going to make more. What you need: 1. What you do: 1. I also made a stamp for my blog logo, and for my (upcoming) etsy shop.
Paper Flower Key Holder / Mark Montano Difficulty Rating: Beginner Tags If you need a quick 'just because' gift for someone, this is it! It’s simple to make, couldn’t be less expensive and we can all use one. I for one am always losing my keys and this, by far, is the easiest way for me to keep track of them. Here’s how: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Supply List Wire hanger Needle nose pliers with built in wire cutter (most are made like this) Hot glue gun and glue sticks Stapler Book pages Fiskars Scissors and Pinking Shears Krylon Clear CoatSmall piece of cardboard
the DIY: "DIP" DYED HAIR (UPDATED) 78K+ *DISCLAIMER- I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL COSMETOLOGIST/HAIRDRESSER/COLORIST. THIS WAS JUST AN EXPERIMENT GONE RIGHT.* So if you saw our Candy Hair Color post, you know that Casey and I are pretty obsessed with fun-colored-hair right now. It's not a reasonable obsession but hey, are any obsessions really that reasonable? I decided to take matters into my own hands and give my hair some change. This is the stuff I used. I separated the piece I wanted to lighten first and then I worked my way around my head. I put the bleach in lines that started at different places so it wasn't a straight line across my hair. After I washed my hair out I dried it completely and started adding the color. Repeat until you've done all of your hair. This is probably my favorite picture of the new pink hair. Looking for a less permanent way to add color to your hair?
Just Another Sock Monkey Hat Pattern I've been wanting to post all week about how interesting my life is and all the interesting things that I do, not related to crochet. But I realized something...my life is pretty boring. I don't have a lot to blog about. I'm on Twitter and all I talk about is crochet. I seriously need a life I guess :D With that in mind, I decided to post my Sock Monkey hat pattern. Materials 1 skein Bulky weight yarn (I used Lion Brand Jiffy yarn in Camel Spray) Red, White, and a tiny amount of black yarn Size H & I crochet hooks Yarn needle 2 buttons Size The size in the photo will fit a 4-12 year old This pattern is easily altered to fit any size I used bulky weight. I forgot to get the gauge before I mailed it out, but I did crochet a little tightly. Pattern With I hook and white, Ch 3 Rnd 1: 7 hdc in 3rd ch from hook (which is the 1st ch made) Join with sl st to the top of first st. (8 hdc) Rnd 2: Ch 2 (counts as first st here and throughout). Rnd 3: Ch 2. Earflap 2nd earflap Attach with sl st and ch 1.
D.C. Map Coasters Last year, I bought some coasters from a vendor at Eastern Market. She made the coasters out of tile and vintage Washington, D.C. postcards. They are so sturdy & beautiful - I love using them in our family room. I thought it would be fun to make something similar, but using maps! I picked up this D.C. map while I was out running errands. When I got home, I found my husband's stash of maps in his desk - SCORE! Other supplies: xacto knife ruler 4 x 4 tiles (I got mine at Home Depot!) Modge Podge (Paper) sheets of cork adhesive spray First, I chose the section of the map that I wanted to cover the coasters. I laid out my four coasters in a square and traced (with a pencil) the outline of my square & I cut that out. Here are the four map pieces, ready to Modge Podge...see, they make a matching set! Start decoupaging, one by one... My Decoupage Tips: *thinner coats work better - don't goop it on! *go slowly & have patience! *have a wet paper towel on hand to wipe up the excess Ta Da! The perfect pair!
you knew i was going to make one. they are all over pinterest....(i still am not signed up for pinterest because i don't have time for one more thing but browsing is fun!) so we made one. i took a box of 64 crayons and took out the blacks and browns.i used another small box and doubled up on the good colors i liked and hot glued them to the top of our canvas. then we turned our blow dryer to hot on high. not long after you set the hair dryer by the crayons they get shiny and then the wax starts to melt! and it dries really quickly too. seriously. what could be happier than this?? GREAT project. loved it today is the first FULL day with ALL my kids in ALL day school.yeah...i am smiling as i type that. it's good. it's quiet. i am rockin' it. removing wallpaper.....making code for craft weekend stuff.....doing my hair....going to lunch..... it's all good. hooray for school!
How to Put Together an Emergency Preparedness Kit Posted by Laura on October 5, 2011 · 211 Comments Welcome! Simplify your blog reading by signing up to read my blog via RSS (get updates in a feed reader) or via email (get updates delivered daily to your inbox). Hi, I am Amanda Kuzak from Kuzak’s Closet. It doesn’t matter where you live, you are susceptible to an earthquake, hurricane, snow storm, power outage, flood, etc. and any of these things could leave you and your family stranded at home for a few days without power or electricity. Before I talk about the emergency kit you need to have in your home, I want to talk about the emergency kit you should have in your car. This is what my emergency kit for my car looks like, it has a blanket, an extra pair of sneakers and socks (just in case I am wearing heels or sandals and need to vacate my car and walk), a flashlight, a power flare, and water. Next let’s talk about emergency kits for your pet. This is what my kit looks like. Do you have an emergency preparedness kit ready to go?