New Author!

I have FINALLY convinced, with a lot of begging, pleading, and promising, my friend Mandy to join me in this blog. She is unbelievably talented and I can't wait to see some of the things that she will post. I know that you will love her as much as I do! (No presure Mandy!)

If anyone else would like to be an author, please let me know.

Keri

Alex's Curtains

Alex's room is facing the afternoon sun and we have a really bright light on the back of our apartment. For the past few weeks I've pinned up a blanket to the window to make it a little darker so Alex and my nephew understand when it it time to go to sleep. The other day at a yard sale I came across this really cute car fabric that matches his room theme. I decided to use it and the other fabric I already had in my stash to make some curtains for Alex's room.

They were super easy to do. The hardest part was figuring out how far to space out my tabs. All I had to do is measure my window and then decide how much fabric I needed to cover it. The navy blue fabric is really thick so I didn't need a lining for it. With the blinds and the curtains closed it can get very dark in the room.

I spent a dollar on the car fabric and I think $1.50 on the dark blue fabric (and I still have some to spare for both fabrics.) I am just using an extra shower curtain rod for now until we have the money to change it.

I'm ready now to branch out and do a fancy design for my bedroom curtains. Wish me luck and pray that I will come across some more cheap fabric!

Dish Soap Dispenser

I first got the idea to use an olive oil dispenser from Make It and Love It as a soap dispenser. At the time I didn't have a dishwasher so I needed something really convenient. I found this soap dispenser at the dollar store so when I took off the label it left a residue. So I got the idea to cover it. This craft was so easy and fast.

My dispenser is curved inward so I couldn't use paper to cover it. So I grabbed some red fabric and black ribbon from my stash. I cut the fabric to the dimensions that I wanted it (length + one inch and how much it takes to wrap around.)
I used liquid stitch to "sew" down an inch. This is so when you look through the glass you don't see the wrong side of the fabric. Put a line of Mod Podge where you want to start putting on the fabric. Slowly move around the bottle, stretching the fabric as you go.
After I had the fabric firmly attached I added some ribbon to the top and bottom. The ribbon was able to hid the cut edge of the fabric and also give it some more flair. I took a sewing tape measure and measured around my container on both the top and the bottom, plus a little extra to overlap. I used the mod podge to attach the ribbon but I had to use a little super glue on the spots that the ribbon wouldn't adhere to very well. My ribbon was pretty thick so thinner ribbon would adhere easier.
I then covered the entire thing in mod podge to finish it off. I decided to cover the glass to give it a frosted look. I covered it three times to give it a good seal.
I think it turned out pretty cute and it was so simple. The hardest part was waiting for the glue to dry. The entire project probably cost me less then $1.50.

DIY: Rugs, Mats, and Towels

We have a 2nd bathroom in this apartment that we sadly had to live without at our last place. The only thing wrong with it is having to decorate a SECOND bathroom on a very limited budget. I've come across a few cute, cheap, and green ways to get a bath mat.

This first one is from Michelle Kaufmann. They have provided a wonderful tutorial but it can also be found on You Tube. It is recycled towels tied to some gridded matting. I love the thickness of it. Plus, I want some new colored towels and this is a great way to use up some of the ones I already have. If you don't have any towels to spare, hotels throw away old towels and rags if they have a stain on it that they can't get rid of. You could try getting the hotel to donate them to you or buy them for a fraction of the cost.

I found this on Martha Stewart for the craft of the day. Isn't cute! It looks like it would be pretty complicated but the instructions seem simple enough. I think it would be a cute little mat in front of the bathroom sink or something.

I just came across this adorable canvas rug made from a drop cloth.....yes...a DROP CLOTH.... from The Fine House. It looks so cute in the kitchen with the table and chairs over it. You could make it whatever color and style you wanted. This would have to be my next project if I didn't have a million already in line!

A little while ago I came across this Tic-Tac-Toe Beach Towel from Martha Stewart. Living in Idaho doesn't give me very many opportunities to get to the beach but it made me think of a tic-tac-toe picnic blanket! So simple and easy. You could go one step further and do a checkers blanket with bean bag pieces.

To finish off the towels....I have yet to make my little guy a hooded towel. I have all the supplies but sadly he has to use a plain old rectangle towel at bath times. Ahhh poor guy. I have come across some excellent tutorials for hooded bath towels. You can make the one from the picture above from the tutorial provided by Little Birdie Secrets. Also, Break It Down, Sewing and Design has made a cute lined hooded towel. One thing that is missing from both towels is ribbon. Adding some ribbon to the edges or to the non fuzzy part (whatever that is called) of the towel really spruces up the towel.

Sorry STILL!!!

Well we are finally settled in our new apartment but my craft area isn't put together yet. Unfortunately, it has to be the last room I do. I will work as hard as I can to get some stuff together!

In the mean time....I would love to have some coauthors for this blog. If there is anyone who knows me in person and would love to share their creations on here, please leave me a comment. I just don't have enought time to post as much as I would like to so please let me know if you would like to help! It is a great way to encourge you to get some projects and ideas that you've had finally done. There is a few of you that I've already talked too about it that SHOULD give me a yes...cough cough.....MB!!!

Baby Gifts

I've been working as fast as I can to get some baby gifts done before I left this area. I have some great friends that I wanted to give gifts too. I hope that they like them.

I love making hair bow holders, especially when I already have all of the supplies in my stash. I think it is a great gift for little girls. Check out my other one that I made for my neice, Allie.

This is a baby girl wipe container. I just used my hot glue gun and attached padding. I then sewed two pieces of scrap fabric together and then hot glued it to the outside of the case. I then got some good ribbon (the thicker the ribbon the better it looks) and glued it around the edges. The back looks the same except it doesn't have the padding. To get more specific instructions go to Make Your Own Baby Stuff.

This is the baby boy wipe container. I did it the same way except I used a dark blue fabric on the bottom instead of having the same polka dot fabric.

This is my first attemp to make a "W" pillow for little baby William. I used one of the patterns that I got but I'm not very happy with how it turned out. I will have to keep working on it and see if I can improve with the pattern.

I had a bunch of diapers that I tried to use up with Alex but wasn't able too. So the next best thing to do with them is make a diaper cake as a gift. I also have a container of wipes and a bottle stuffed inside.

Sorry

Sorry about the lack of posting. We are getting ready to move in a couple of weeks so I haven't had much time to do much of anything but get ready for that. I have a lot of projects backed up so hopefully I will be able to go into a crafting frenzy once I'm settled. Here are a few I'm thinking about:

1. a patchwork cover for my boppy using the leftover fabric from the quilt my mom made Alex (I still have the ugly cover from Walmart on my boppy)

(current boppy...isn't it ugly?...but wouldn't it look cute with these fabrics?)

2. covering my wooden blocks like Making a Home but not girly...

I might even make them into streets and cars and signs...wouldn't that be fun!

3. a partial quilted jean baby outdoor quilt (the bottom will be made out of jean fabric but the top is out of adorable fabric)

4. magnetic key hanger/random stuff holder thing (I'm not sure how to explain)

5. For my bedroom I want to do these fabric wall hangings from Make It and Love it in Maroon and Navy Blue for sure and I'm not sure what the third color will be. My bedroom needs some decor BADLY! I thought this is a cheap, easy and cute way to add to the room.

6. Of course some decor for my new living room/ kitchen/ bedroom/ bathroom/ and everywhere in between. Red is the key color I'm using but I use different shades or different combinations in each room. My kitchen is bright red with black and white and my living room is maroon with green and my bathroom is red with dark brown, tan and white.

Be sure to check out some of the blogs that I follow. They have some GREAT ideas.

Some of my favorite HEALTHY whole wheat food

My husband and I have switched over to just eating whole grain food. We do have exceptions in our diet but for the most part we just eat exclusively whole grain. At first the switch was very difficult because white flour tastes SOOO good! We had to retrain our taste buds and dig deep for the best tasting products. I've come to really love eating whole wheat. I get full so much sooner and I have a lot more energy throughout my day. Unfortunately, not all whole wheat products are worth eating. Even with us being used to the whole grains, some food just doesn't taste good. I would like to share with you some of the things that I've found that are by far the best whole grain products (and in my price range) that I can get at my local supermarket.

First, noodles! These are a few that I've seen in several different supermarkets. I absolutely love the Hodgson Mill Lasagna noodles. In my lasagna, I can't even taste that they are whole wheat. They also help my lasagna stay together easier. I do have to say though that I don't like Hodgson Mill's linguine noodles. I don't know why but they have such a strong bitter taste to me. I have yet to find a spaghetti that I absolutely love. The Barilla kind is pretty good but it could use some improving.

This is my favorite brown rice. I've tried other kinds and it tastes like you are eating something that should be fed to cows. I have a rice cooker so it makes cooking brown rice easy. You can cook rice in a pan but after much learning I've discovered you need to add a lot of water. I try to double the water. So if my rice goes up and inch in my pan I put another inch of water. I usually just do it by looking at it. I'm sure there is a much better way to get it good but I haven't discovered it yet. This works for me.

These tortillas are the cheapest ones and by far the best tasting ones. The Mission brand ones are disgusting! I find these ones frequently sold out from the store so make sure you stock up and freeze them. Don't settle for the other brands!

Oroweat is one of my new favorite brands. They are a little more expensive then other brands but worth it. The english muffins are soooo fresh tasting EVERY time I've got them. They make great little sandwiches and snacks. I could eat a whole bag easily!

Another Oroweat product that I just discovered is there Sandwich Thins. They are thin buns! It is about time someone came out with this! I have a lot of favorite foods that you eat on a bun and I've always felt guilty when I eat them because I have yet to found a good whole wheat hamburger bun AND they still contain A LOT of extra carbs. These are perfect. They taste wonderful too!

This is the whole wheat flour that I use because it is cheaper then other kinds and to me it tastes better than some other brands that I've had. It also has whole wheat pastry flour that works great as a thickener instead of white flour or cornstarch.

I am a strong believer in healthy eating and switching to whole grains has really helped Mike and I to loose weight and feel so much better every day.

Red, Black, White Kitchen

Here is the start of my kitchen decorations that I posted little awhile ago for my Frugal Red Kitchen. I finally got the rest of the kitchen done~ WAHOO! I added some smaller prints above my sink after I got really tired of looking at a white wall. Since I couldn't find any more fruit/vegetables that I thought was worth looking at, like the ones above, I decided to go for flowers.

I then worked on the shelves you see below. They used to be this brown shelf with the heart shape in the middle. Not exactly fitting with what I am doing with my kitchen. I decided I'm NOT such a fan of spray paint. I think I need to learn a little more before I attempt to use it again.

I started out by covering the hearts with cardboard which ended up cracking when I added the spray paint. I tried to paint over it but that obviously didn't work. I then took plaster and covered the cardboard, sanded it all and then tried again to repaint it. It worked that time and now I have my beautiful black shelves!

I found all of the decorations on the shelves at thrift stores or on clearance somewhere. The awesome beads are actually Styrofoam from the Craft Warehouse. I am planning on doing some more to the items pictured above. I don't feel like they are the right color of red. I will probably paint the apples and add some paper to the candles.

Both of these shelves feel a little bare to me but I'm not quite sure what else they need. Flowers maybe? Please give me some suggestions on what you think I should add.

How to Yard Sale

Everyone who is new at being a buyer or seller at yard sales should check out the Nesting Place for her input on How to Yard Sale.  Even if you are a pro at yard sells, she gave some great advice.