Lasso The Moon

Check!

Make Lists

Clean Out Car

Finish Laundry

Make Meatballs

Pack Kids' Bags

Pack My Bags

Pack Car

Print Map and Directions

Drop off the Kids with Grandma

Drive

Momma is leaving town.

 

 

Giving Back

I buy Donnie tools for birthdays and such.

He makes me awesome stuff for the house.

Like these new DIY shutters he designed.

Here's the before:

And the after:

Aren't they darling!  He made them out of 1x8 rough cedar with a cross piece on the front and back.

The color is "seal" from Martha Stewart Living.  I can't tell you how much I love this color.  It's a dark grey, but it also has a hint of brown and green.  A gorgeous neutral.  {Did you know Home Depot doesn't sell MS paint anymore? I had no idea. They are still mixing the colors into other paint brands, though.  We used a sturdy outdoor Glidden paint in satin.}

Anyway, I'm horrible at estimating how much paint I'll need, and we only used 1/4 of the two gallons I bought.  Now we need another project to use it on.  I love this color!

And I love these shutters.  I didn't even think we needed them, and now I don't know how we went without them for so long.  They make the perfect backdrop for watching thunderstorms on the front porch.

We love thunderstorms, too.

Nap Time

I hope your Sunday was a restful as ours.

Scuff Marks - a quick home keeping tip

My mom and I have a little joke between us.  We say, "there's a time for vinegar, and there's a time for bleach."  We both love to use natural cleaning products around the house, but there are some germy messes that can't be fixed with anything less than good old-fashioned bleach. 

But sometimes a natural choice actually works better than a more expensive un-natural choice.  And there is one natural product that works better than anything on the market for getting out scuff marks.

In our kitchen, we have what Donnie calls the "school cafeteria floor."  It's a 60s-era light-colored vinyl tile designed to hide dirt--but instead it just never quite looks clean.  Of course, the kitchen floor is on the list of things to upgrade around here, but it's a long list, and we're going to be living with it for a while. If you've ever had vinyl tiles in your home, you know that they pick up scuff marks like nothing else. 

Here's a shot of the floor under the kitchen table, right after it was mopped.

Yikes.  No amount of mopping, bleach, or magic erasing will get those out.  The only thing I've found to work on plastic or rubbery surfaces like this...is baking soda.

Get your rag really wet.  The water will work with the baking soda to get into all the little crevices and grab the dirt.  Next, sprinkle a little baking soda directly onto the floor, and lightly rub it in with your wet cloth.

You will be amazed at how quickly those scuff start un-gunking.  It forms a paste that gets darker and dirtier as it works.  It takes very little elbow grease.  Actually, repetition is more effective than force.

After about 30 seconds of gently scrubbing the spot I showed above, it looked like this:

Amazing how little effort that took. Keep wetting your wash cloth and adding more baking soda until you are satisfied.  If your floor feels gritty when you're done, drizzle some vinegar over it and mop that up.  This is a time for vinegar.  It dissolves the baking soda just like it did in your science fair volcano.

This is one of the household chores that I actually look forward to.  It's like magic!  Used in the exact same way, I've gotten rid of soap scum in the tub, a rust stain in the kitchen sink, unbleachable stains in the plastic part of my fridge shelves, dirt stains on Little Tykes plastic toys, scuff marks on patent leather, and more.  Don't you love when a natural solution actually out-performs a chemical one? And baking soda is a fraction of the price.  What have you used it for--other than baking?

Custom Sized Canvas Bins :: a tutorial

Take your shelves from this:

To this:

With some home-sewn canvas boxes.  You can make them in any size.  And they are way easier than they look.  Canvas boxes can cost a lot of money, but these literally cost me about $10 for the whole set!

The secret to these is the frame.  It's made from plastic canvas!  This inexpensive material can be found at any craft store.  Mine was $.99 for a 10x13 inch sturdy sheet, and $.49 for a slightly more flimsy piece.  I used the regular for the sides, and the sturdy for the bottom.

My tutorial will take you through the process for making one smaller bin, like those on the top shelf in the picture above. (The dimensions are 6"w x 9"h x 9 1/2"d.)

Step 1: Gather Supplies

*Plastic canvas - 1 sturdy sheet, 3 regular sheets (Buy extra if you tend to make measuring mistakes.)

*A roll of paper for making the pattern

*Transparent grid ruler

*Paper Weights or clean stones for holding down the pattern

*Binder Clips

*Needles and straight pins

*Pin

*Scissors

*Yarn or string for lashing together the plastic frame

*Fabric: 3/4 yards each of canvas and lining. Coordinating fabric for binding (1 1/2" wide x about 36 inches long)  I used an old canvas drop cloth for the outer fabric, and for the prints, thrifted sheets.  Cheap!

Step 2: Prepare the plastic canvas

From the sturdy piece cut 1 - 6"x9 1/2" for the bottom.

For the sides, 2 - 9"x9 1/2" and 2 6"x9" pieces

Lash the sides to the base with yarn.  Tie really good knots.  Leave flat for the next part. (Should be in the shape of a wide cross.)

Lay out the flat frame on your pattern paper, and carefully trace around the entire perimeter. Be careful not to shift the plastic canvas while you are tracing.

Put the paper aside until the next step, and sew up the sides of your box frame.  Tie really good knots.

Step 3: Make the pattern

With your ruler, add a 1/2" seam allowance to the inner corners of your pattern.  Do not add seam allowance to the top edges of the box pattern. 

Cut out your pattern.

Step 4: Cut fabric

Lay out your pattern on top of the fabric, and use weights to keep it from rolling or shifting.  You can use anything as a weight.  Here's my rag-tag assemblage:

Trace around the pattern in a pen or pencil--directly onto the fabric.  This will give you the most accurate sizing, and you want your fabric to fit the box frame very closely.

Cut one from canvas and one from the lining fabric.

Cut out one rectangle for the handle from canvas--3"x6".

Step 5: Sew it together

Stitch up your pieces in this order.  First, sew the box lining.  Remember to use a 1/2" seam allowance! Start at the top edge (rim) of the lining, and sew toward the corner.  Continue with each side until it forms a box shape.

Next, make your handles. Sew into a tube, lengthwise. Turn inside out and press flat.  Turn the ends under.

Pin handles to your canvas before sewing up the edges.  This makes for easier placement.

For added strength, sew a square with an "x" inside on each side of the handle.

After your handle is attached, sew up the sides of the canvas.

Attach the binding to the top edge of the canvas layer.  Start by folding over the binding about 1" and sew all the way around using a 1/4" seam allowance.  Overlap the binding a little at the end for a clean finish.

Step 6: Finish

Turn the canvas layer right-side-out and place your plastic frame inside.  It should be snug.  Carefully line up the seams with the corners of the frame.

Slip the lining inside, with the right side of the fabric showing.  Line up the top edge of both fabrics with the top edge of the frame.  Hold in place with binder clips.

With needle and thread, slip stitch binding in place. 

And there you have it.  You made a box!

Now make a few more, and clean your place up!

I hope you have fun using this tutorial to help organize your own space.  I'd love to see how you make the project your own.  I've always been a little prejudiced against plastic canvas as a craft supply, because everything I'd seen done with it seemed so dated.  (You know what I mean...) But now I have seen the light, and I'm thinking up many more project ideas to use the stuff.  It may just be a new favorite.\

Linked to:

TDC

 

Overachiever

When Emma finishes her weekly homework early, she makes up more for herself.

by Emma, age 7

Sqirls, porkypines, and elifents.

Nacher is full of inspiration.

Organize Some Stuff

My aforementioned project isn't quite finished, but here's what's going on.

A fully-lined canvas bin, custom-sized to fit any shelving system.

You're going to want to come back soon and find out how to make them for yourself.

Now I'm going back to the sewing machine...

 

 

Friday's project...and some mail

As we head into the weekend, I have a big organization project I'm working on.  I can't wait to share it with you.  It's making me giddy.  Hopefully it'll be done by early next week so I can let you in on it.

Until then, I want to show you these darling necklaces I just got from The Adopt Shoppe.  I've shared their work before, but this is my first time to see it in person. 

They came neatly wrapped with those cute "moo" business cards.  Each one has a Scripture verse on it that pertains to God's love for the orphaned.  And the best part is that all of the profits go toward funding their own overseas adoption.  As fun as it is to buy presents, it's even more fun when it helps someone out, don't you think? 

Whether you know someone who's adopting, or just like to help a great cause, a trip to The Adopt Shoppe is in order.  (Please not that they are not paying me for advertising--I just really like the shop.)

 

Make your own paper bunting - free printable!

I was playing around with a design last night, and I came up with this cute little paper banner:

I saved the image at a couple different stages, so now you can make one for yourself!

What you need:

Download and print one of the templates below.  To do this, click on the photo to bring up the full-sized image, then right click on it and select "save image as". Insert it into a drawing program (like publisher). You should be able to fit two to a page.  Print on white card stock. 

blank bunting:

relax bunting:

You also need: scissors, pin-hole punch, embroidery thread or crochet thread, embroidery needle.

Cut out each triangle carefully.  I left a thin border of white around each one as I cut it out.

Using the small hole punch, make holes in each flag at the top corners--not too close to the edge.  If you don't have this handy punch, go buy one.  No, not really--although I do use mine ALL THE TIME.  You can skip to the next step and punch your holes with the needle as you string.

Thread flags together.  Make sure you start front-to-back and end back-to-front, so your thread doesn't show too much.

 

End by tying a looped knot in the thread for simple hanging.  I show the details in this knot in my fabric bunting tutorial.

Enjoy! I gave you two options for making your paper bunting--either with the word "Relax" or blank.  If you'd like to add your own letters to the flags, feel free! Let me know what you come up with!

 

 

More than Egg Hunts

Did you have a great Easter weekend?  We did!  It was full of worship, remembrance, family, games, food...

Emma makes mom and dad eggs every year.  I almost hate to eat them.  We save them for last.

When we lived in Indy, so far from family, we started the tradition of having Easter lunch at the Outback Steakhouse after church.  Now that we live so close to family, we've started dragging them along as well.

I love having Donnie's parents and mine at the same dinner table.  Those occasions make the best celebrations.  And of course, my kids love it, too.

With Donnie's gorgeous mom.

Esther and her Uncle Ben.

With my gorgeous mom. (That's not mine she's holding.  That's my sister's oldest!)

How hilarious is this pose of Emma's!

I hope your Easter weekend was wonderful, too. Thank you for the well-wishes for my song. I think it went pretty well.  And thank the Lord He kept me well until the last performance was over.  Literally 3 hours after the last service, I came down with a nasty cold.  So now I'm wrapped in quilts, listening to my quiet house.  Happy Easter!  HE IS RISEN!