31 Days... Day 17

OK I will admit - the challenge is killing me!!!  I love the fact that I am getting so much done.  But at times it is overwhelming!!  This household is non-stop, so squeezing in time for a project - even if it is a tiny one - is sometimes daunting.

Today we had our Bible study group, which I love.  On my drive home from work I was trying to think of something that needed completing that was fast.  Like super fast.  That was when youngest daughter called to remind me that she did not have earmuffs yet.  So I rushed through hers and made this

It was not exactly a quick project.  Probably especially since I am not an experienced crochet-er.  So we were a few minutes late for Bible study, but it was worth it - can you tell she loves it!!!!

So another project down - woo hoo!!!

Until tomorrow

Happy DIY'ing

Susan

31 Days... Days 15 and 16

Ok - so I know it is cheating to post 2 days on one post.  But week-ends are crazy with the kids at the Hollow.  Believe it or not - the non-shopper actually got some Christmas shopping done this week-end.  And I am almost through with all the October birthday shopping - youngest daughter, grandson and son-in-law all with in a week.  Yowza!!


I have several large pictures in the hall from the living room to master bedroom.  Not a gallery wall - just 4 11 x 13 pictures.  (But the gallery wall is a great thought).  About 2 or 3 months ago, in the middle of the night of course, the hanger broke free from my daughter's wedding picture.  Luckily the frame did not break, but the hanger was totally ripped out.  Poor picture has been hiding behind a chair in the bedroom ever since then.  So this weekend I broke out the drill, and reattached the hanger to the frame.  (this time with screws instead of the rivets that it came with)

Really - 10 minutes from start to finish - what have I been waiting for!!  And now the picture is back in its proper home

An added benefit that I never expected with the 31 day challenge.  Honey must feel motivated or guilty by all the projects that I am completing.  So on Saturday we went to several stores to order items that we need for a couple of projects that definitely require his expertise.  Woo hoo!!!  And with out me whining, begging, pleading asking hardly at all!!

Perhaps you remember the project fail when I tried to make headbands/earmuffs for the girls.  I actually found a pattern on pinterest!  Woo hoo.  It looks nothing like the muffs my girls saw, but it was close enough that I could modify it some.  So today I got oldest daughter's made

She was soo tickled!!

But that technically is only half a project since now I need to make youngest daughter one.

So until tomorrow

Happy DIY'ing
Susan

31 Days.... Day 14

First of all - thank you to Amber at The Quilted Euphoria for featuring my fabric pumpkins.  She has a great week-end linky party so check it out for great inspiration.

My 31 Day challenge has not afforded many opportunities for "linking up."  No blog party worthy projects.  But I love how my to do list of projects is shrinking!!!

Today I finished a project that I have been working on off and on for over a year - woo hoo!!!!

I do not know if I have mentioned it, but clutter drives me insane.  Well - technically not all clutter.  I am selective about my clutter insanity.  One area that is of particular insanity provocation is the cabinet above the stove.  It is where I keep cookbooks and pot holders.  It can get to be a mess!!!!

I want to do something with my kitchen cabinets - refinish them, paint them, burn them.  You get the idea.  But before I do that I feel like I need to get the insides in good shape.

Over a year ago my mom-in-law gave me an empty cook book.  I love it!!!

I add all the recipes.  I had started copying all the recipes that I like from the incredibly too large amount of cook books I had  (key word - had!!!)  And I also find lots of recipes on line that I print.  Those generally get shoved into the cabinet too.  So you can imagine the mess that the cabinet stays in.  I never seemed to be able to find the hole punch when I print something, so everything was shoved in the cabinet or in the book.

Today I had a brainstorm - page protectors!!!  No hole punching, just slip the recipes into the pockets and done.  Plus it will protect them when I am cooking.

How easy is that!!  And I was able to get rid of this:





And now the cabinet above my stove looks like this

Woo Hoo!!!!!  Double woo hoo!!!  (And yes I have burned all of my potholders)

I have gone in a year from over 40 cookbooks to 4.  I cannot get rid of my church cookbooks, they are filled with wonderful recipes and they hold wonderful memories of the women who submitted the recipes - including one that has some of my mom's recipes.  In most of the other cook books I only used 2 or 3 recipes from each one so those were easy to get rid of after I copied the recipes.

For now I am off to stalk more kitchens in blogland so that I can eventually decide what to do with mine!!

Until tomorrow

Happy DIY'ing

Susan

31 Days... Day 13

This is another one of those projects that I did not finish because it ...  well it was far less than perfect.

A few years ago my Honey gave me a fancy schmancy sewing machine.  It sews beautifully and it converts to an embroidery machine.  And it kicks my butt!!!  All the hooping and stabilizing and centering, etc., etc. challenge me.  It is not the real high end machine which I have heard are actually alot easier to use, but it should be fine for me.  Key word - should.  I have more trouble with the embroidery portion and usually just give up. I get soooo frustrated that I cannot do what so many others make look so simple. 

Anyway back to the unfinished project.  Christmas 2008 (yep, you read that correctly) Wal-Mart had the cutest Christmas fabrics.  Really cute fabric in 3 different prints.  So I bought all that our local store had left by the time I found it.  I think I ended up with almost 30 yards.  I used the majority of it to make pillow cases for just about every child I know - friends' kids and grandkids, cousins, great nieces.  I even made them for all of one of my friend's cousins.  Then I embroidered each child's name on their pillow case and printed the magic pillow case poem to match each pillow case

December is a magical time
With all sorts of colors, ribbons, and rhymes.

Sugarplum fairies will dance in your head,
If you put this special pillowcase on your bed.

 

The reason is special
As you will see

 

It's that it has been dusted
With Christmas Fantasy.

 

Visions of candy canes, Santa and treasures
Will fill each dream with sweetness and pleasures.

 

When the time comes for it to be washed,
Do it quickly so no magic is lost!

They turned out simply precious.  I rolled them up and attached the poem with a ginormous bow.  It was all going splendidly.  My machine and I were getting along so well.  Not a hitch -perfect.  Until.....the.last.one.  Which of course was for my grandson.  The one I wanted to make more than any of the others.  My machine actually was laughing at me I do believe.

On all the other pillow cases I had put only the first name.  But I wanted grandson's first AND middle name on his.  I can only assume I did not hoop it properly to get his middle name on there.  And the machine ate it.  It curled the material into a little wad and then tried to put his middle name on top of that.  And remember I said I had already bought all the material and this was my last pillow case.  So I could not simply make a new one.

Since it had stitched his first name fairly well I saved it.  I knew I could never re-hoop it to match where it had been, what to do.

So today  I finally decided to rip out the middle name.  An hour later and he now has a pillow case with his first name only

It is in the wash now to get rid of all those wrinkles.  And really he is 4, he won't care that his middle name is not on there.

So until tomorrow

Happy DIY'ing

Susan

31 Days ... Day 11 and 12

Sorry about missing the post yesterday.  We had a thunderstorm in the evening and had everything unplugged.  But I did accomplish one little project yesterday.  I finally spray painted 2 flower pots that were originally bright white.  Spray painting can be a challenge in Oklahoma - you know, where the wind comes sweeping 'cross the plain.  I actually took them to work and "borrowed" the empty offices next to ours. 

I have been loving all the fall topiaries on Pinterest and decided along time ago that I had to make some.  If you remember this year I was determined to decorate my porch for fall.  I had accumulated everything except for the pumpkins.  Last week Michael's finally put theirs on half price.  Then everything sat and sat.  So today was the day.

First I cut the stems off of 4 pumpkins

It took a little elbow grease but they finally gave way. 

My flower pots were too large for the pumpkins so I cut circles from cardboard and lightly spray painted them to match just in case they showed.  I also filled the pots with rocks so that the Oklahoma wind would not take them down the plain.

I hot glued the pumpkins together and then glued them to the cardboard.  I filled around them with dried moss.  I took fall leaves and glued them in any gaps between the pumpkins that were visible.  I took garlands from and staple gunned them to the pumpkins.  Finally I stuck in the last of the left over sunflowers from my fall wreath. 

I know - I need to bring my plants in  - they are not very fallish.  But it is so hot here and they really enjoy the sunshine.  But at least it is a beginning to a fall porch.

And I even had time afterwards to finish my first attempt at subway art

I can definitely see the advantages of a vinyl cutting machine!!  You cannot even tell that I used a different font for each group of words.  Definitely not one of the most favorite things I have ever made.  But here is funny. Honey and youngest daughter love it.  So it is on its way to the guest bedroom that used to be oldest daughter's room.  I do like the idea of it being there.  This has always been my favorite Bible verse and oldest daughter used it in her wedding ceremony. 

So until tomorrow

Happy DIY'ing
Susan

linking up

31 Days... Day 10

We are in double digits of the 31 Days - woo hoo!!!

Today I attempted my first subway art or something along those lines.  I have tons of canvases from when my daughters used to paint on them for fun.  So a few months ago I painted one brown to match the furniture in the guest bedroom. 

Yep - that is as far as I got.  I could not decide what words to put on it.  So there is sat.  I had even bought the carbon paper as I do not have a vinyl cutter. 

Today it came to me.  My favorite Bible verse done subway style.  I printed the verse in a variety of fonts and sizes.  Cut them out and played around until I got the layout I like



 Then I traced every.single.letter. with the carbon paper under it.  Took for-ev-er.  And have you figured out the problem yet?  Yeppers - carbon does not show up on chocolate brown paint - not well at all.

And note - I probably should not have tried this particular project on my first evening with new glasses.

So I started painting the letters.  it is not quite done and I have alot of touching up with the brown paint to do now

But here is how it goes thus far

Still needs alot of work - but hopefully I can wrap it up tomorrow.

Until tomorrow

Happy DIY'ing

Susan

31 Days... Day 9

OK - so the title of my 31 day series is finishing what you start.  I did not say that I would finish it correctly.  Just wanted to get that out there up front.

Quite a while ago the girls and I were in a local boutique that had the cutest knitted headbands.  Unfortunately the cute headbands were about $50.  The girls were convinced that Mom could make them a multitude of these adorable headbands.  So off to the store months ago to buy the yarn, etc that I would need.  Screeching halt at that point.

Let me explain.  I do not knit.  I taught myself to crochet by reading articles on the Internet.  That should explain alot right there.  My skills are lacking to put it lightly.

So today I scoured the Internet for a free pattern.  Hmm - nothing that comes close to what we saw.  Looked on Etsy to see if someone was selling a head band or even better - a pattern.  Again nothing close.  So I decided - pattern, schmattern - who needs one.  Obviously if I could crochet a scarf - i could crochet a head band.

Uhmm... wrong.  I forgot that everything I crochet grows - the ending side is longer than the beginning side.  Sort of important if you are making a headband.
So after many tries and now on my second skein of yarn, this is as far as I got

The clothespin marks how much too long the head band ended up.  Yikes.  So I am going to count this as somewhat completed until I get someone who knows how to crochet to help me fix this.  And hey - I did get that one entire skein of yarn out of my stash!!

SO I hope your 31 Days are going better than mine today.

Happy DIY'ing
Susan


Edited
I just logged on and realized that this did not post yesterday.  So this is Sunday's post