I have friends coming over for dinner tomorrow night, so that means between today and tomorrow, I have massive amounts of cleaning to do. Not only do I have to scrub the kitchen floors and clean the kitchen counters, but I have to tidy up the downstairs bathroom (floors, counter and toilet), but I also have to vacuum the entire main floor of our home. (Sadly, we have wall-to wall carpeting.) On top of that, I have lots of decluttering to do. My kids love to read, play and draw in the living, kitchen and family rooms, so there are books, pencils, crayons and toys scattered everywhere. Continue reading...
Crafting a Flag for the Garden
With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I wanted to hang a St.Patrick's Day-themed flag in my garden. But I am always surprised at how much those tiny garden flags cost. For instance, a Leprehaun hat garden flag runs about $12 at Amazon.com. So, using the leftover fabric from the leprechaun window valences that I sewed, I created a St. Patrick's day garden flag for my garden this morning. First, I pinned and sewed about .25-inch seams on each side and on the botton of the flag so I wouldn't have any frayed edges. Then, I pinned a two-inch seam on the top of the flag and sewed that, to create Continue reading...
Happy Birthday Girl Scouts!
I am a Girl Scout Mom. My daughters are both Brownies, and I co-lead their Brownie troop with a friend and neighbor. We’ve been Girl Scouting together for almost four years now, so today I’d like to take the time to wish Girl Scouts a happy 100th birthday! Girl Scouts was founded 100 years ago today in 1912 when Juliette Gordon Low founded the first ever Girl Scout troop (of 18 girls) in Savannah, Ga. There are many reasons to like Girl Scouts, such as how the organization fosters self-confidence and community among young girls. Over the years, these are the reasons why I appreciate my Continue reading...
Sewing a Handmade St. Patrick’s Day Curtain Valence
Now that the winter holiday season and Valentine's Day have past, my kids are going through holiday withdrawal. Our once seasonally decorated home is now lacking in fun holiday decor. So, to remedy the situation, I made some leprechaun valences today for St. Patrick's Day, using some cute leprechaun fabric I found at Joanna Fabric and Craft stores. Sewing the valances only took a few minutes, and they definitely add some holiday flair to the kids' bathroom and to our downstairs bathroom off our family room. The below YouTube video offers a great tutorial on how to sew Continue reading...
Organizer Pocket for Fridge Door
To see even less visual clutter on home's fridge door, I decided to follow the advice I found at myschneiderbucket.blogspot.com and create my own refrigerator pocket organizer. The cereal box I had on hand was much smaller than the one she used, so instead of cutting off the top of the box, I cut open the side, so I could have an opening that would fit 8-inch by 11-inch papers. I then found some leftover wrapping paper in green (my favorite color) and wrapped the box like I would any box with wrapping paper. I secured magetic clips to the back to hold up the back of the Continue reading...
Almost Planting Time
Now that my family’s vegetable garden is nearly on its way (I still have to add more soil), I’ve been thinking about what we want to plant this spring. My daughters and I definitely would like to plant some peas. We got a bit of a late start last year (and didn’t plant until about May), so this year we will do it right and plant our peas around St. Patrick’s Day, the traditional pea planting time for much of the Mid-Atlantic states. We had some success with sunflowers in our garden last year, so this year we hope to plant sunflowers again, but BIGGER ones. So, I purchased a few Continue reading...
Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
No doubt lots of kids and parents will be going to the theater this weekend to watch the new 3D animated movie, The Lorax. I hope to go with my family. The movie is adapted from the Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax, which was first published in 1971. Today’s release date coincides with what would have been the 108th birthday for the author (whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel). My daughters love Dr. Seuss and will be eating green eggs and ham today at their school for lunch and will listen to stories by Dr. Seuss, as their school celebrates Dr. Seuss’ birthday and National Read Across Continue reading...
Happy Leap Day
Today Is Leap Day, Feb. 29, which is an extra day added to the month of February to keep the calendar in line with the seasonal or astronomical year. That makes 2012 a Leap Year, in which there are 366 days in the year instead of the usual 365. Leap Years happen in most years that are divisible by 4 (but not those that are evenly divisible by 100 – however, years that can be evenly divided by 400 are Leap Years). So, the next Leap Year will be 2016. The odds of being born on a Leap Day is 1 in 1,461. Those who were born on a Leap Day aren’t the only ones who’ll be celebrating this special Continue reading...
Time to Replace the Christmas Valences
LOL. After publishing my most recent post about Homemade Holiday Pillows and Curtains, I realized that I haven't taken down the Christmas valences I made for my home's bathrooms. So, I am posting a photo of one of them before I remove them both. Perhaps it's time to make St. Patrick's Day valences. I just have to find some good fabric! Does anyone have suggestions on where to buy quality fabric for curtains? I am thinking of trying Joann Fabric and Craft Stores or perhaps fabric from Ikea, because after I make the St. Paddy's Day valences, I'd love to make some drapes for my home office. Continue reading...
Homemade Holiday Pillows and Curtains
Now that St. Patrick's Day is coming up, it might be time to pull out my sewing machine and stitch some handmade valences for my daughters' hall bathroom. I've gotten into the habit of making homemade seasonal valences for our home's bathrooms ever since I got my sewing machine as a gift a few years ago. My husband bought the machine for me because I used to get my fingers bloody when I used to hand sew my daughters' patches on their Girl Scout uniforms. Those darm patches are so thick (and the iron-on glue on the back of them never stick well) that once I'd finally get the needle Continue reading...