A Family Tradition

One of the traditions my family had when I was growing up was to eat popcorn for dinner (supper) on Sunday night.  I'm not even sure how it originated (Mom?), but in my quest to simplify our lives, I decided to continue it with my own family.

Seeing that we don't eat a lot of popcorn anyway, I was hoping the kids would embrace it.  And embrace it they did.  I was not so gently reminded last Sunday after I had already fixed pork chops for dinner that it was popcorn night, so the chops went in the fridge for another meal, and we had popcorn instead.  That's how much they love the new tradition.  Hubby wasn't so eager to embrace the new meal plan as his response was "What about the protein?"  But since he doesn't cook, and knows better than to complain about what Momma cooks, he eats his popcorn without saying a word.  :)

When I was growing up, we watched the Disney movie and/or Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, and tried our best not to watch Lawrence Welk.  We also drank pop with our popcorn.  Well, we have traded the soda (I refuse to buy it and rarely let the kids drink it) for water or milk, and keep the tube turned off in favor of playing games.  That is the most fun part.

Even though it is a very simple change, and may not appear to make a difference in our hectic lives, it is obvious that our kids look forward to knowing what we are eating and doing at least one night out of the week.

And that makes me happy.

What family traditions have you passed on from your childhood to your own family?

K

By the way, our popcorn is popped in butter and bacon grease (yes, you read that right!) just like when I was growing up.  Sounds kinda gross, but don't knock it until you try it.  It's way better than that microwave crud!

Guest Blogger at Blissful and Domestic

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to be a guest blogger today over at Danielle's Blissful and Domestic.  This is Hair Week on her blog, and you will find out how to make lots of great hair accessories and see lots of great hair styles.  So come on over and check it out every day this week!

I promise I will get back to crafting as soon as the painters and workers get out of my house!!!

K


 

Ribbon Belt

Want a great way to jazz up a pair of jeans without altering the jeans themselves?  Make yourself a grosgrain ribbon belt!

I love ribbon and hoard it for my cardmaking, and I figured out a way to make a D-ring belt out of single sided grosgrain ribbon so that the right side shows on the back side of the ribbon when it is pulled through the D-ring.

Did I lose you there?

Let me show you what I mean...

You will need:
single sided grosgrain ribbon
2 D-rings the same width as your ribbon
sewing machine, thread
HeatnBond
iron

First of all, you want to seal the ends of your ribbon so they don't fray.

I passed the ends of the ribbon right next to the flame of a candle, not in it or it may catch on fire.  The heat  next to the flame is enough to melt the ribbon slightly to prevent it from fraying.

Pass one end of the ribbon through both D-rings.  Turn the end under, pin in place, and sew.

I made a double row of stitching for a little extra security.   Sorry about the bad color on this photo.

Cut a piece of HeatnBond the exact width of your ribbon, and as long as you want the end to double back on itself.  I made mine a little over 8".

Carefully place the HeatnBond on the back side of the ribbon, paper side up, and lined up at the end of the ribbon.

Press according to package directions using medium heat and no steam (about 2 seconds), then let cool.

Peel the paper from the HeatnBond, double the ribbon back on itself making sure both the top and bottom edges are even, and press in place (about 8 seconds).  I had to press a little longer to get a good bond.

And that's it.  You are done!

Now you can go impress your friends with your jazzy new belt!

K

Lilacs

I love spring!

K

Felt Bucket Re-do

I am always on the prowl for aqua/teal/turquoise colored accessories I can use in my craft room.  So when I saw this in the dollar spot at Target, I snatched it right up.  It was the only one I've ever seen there.

The baseballs wouldn't really cut it in my room, so I ripped those bad boys off, and replaced them with some flowers I made out of felt.  I even used a little scrap of the fabric I covered my stools with for the center of one of the flowers.  Not only am I color coordinated, but I am fabric coordinated, too!

Matchy-matchy!

Here it is hanging quite stylishly by some painters tape on my sewing table.  I needed a trash bin close by for all my snippets of thread and fabric from my serger, and this works wonderfully.  Now if I could just figure out how to keep the cats out of it!

K

Felt Pin Cushion

Since I have been doing so much sewing lately, I needed a pin cushion and came across this tutorial over at Wee Folk Art.  I love their blog, and they have great tutorials with free patterns.  Their blog is definitely worth a look.  Just make sure you set aside an hour or two!

I ordered my felt from Wool Felt Central (20% discount when you mention Wee Folk Art), and as soon as it arrived I started on my pincushion.  They have loads of colors of felt, and I was able to pick ones to coordinate with the colors on my sewing stool that I recovered.  I love being color coordinated!  :)  I added the pink just because I love pink.

I don't think I have embroidered anything since I was about 10, but it's just like riding a bike; everything came back to me.  There are some great sites out there with embroidery stitches, and I checked a few out just to get some ideas.

I embroidered the band that goes around the can before I stitched the bottom and tops on.  The dome was stitched after it was attached to the can.  You could stitch the top before if you wanted, but if you have a design that needs to be centered, it may end up a little askew.

This was a really fun project and would make a great gift for anyone who does needle work.  I used the 3 oz size tuna can for my pincushion, and it is just the right size for me.  I may make another one using a bottle cap just because it would be so stinkin' cute.

Thanks for stopping by!

K

Ruffled Tee

After seeing a few t-shirt remakes out there in blog land, I decided to make one of my own.  JoAnn's had their T's on sale for $3 this week, so I got pink and white ones to play with.

Here's what I made...

Is't it cute?  It's so much better than a plain old t-shirt, don't you think?

If you want to make one for yourself, or a friend, or one of your munchkins, here's what you do.

You will need:
2 T-shirts
sharp scissors (can't emphasize sharp enough)
rotary cutter  \
cutting mat    /   -or just sharp scissors
quilt ruler     /
disappearing ink marker
pins
thread
sewing machine

I wanted to open up the neck line a little, so I cut the neck out.

Using a styling design ruler, I traced a new neckline with disappearing ink, then cut it out.  I cut just below the neck band in the back.

With the second t-shirt, cut vertically into 3" strips.  (I made a boo-boo in the center, so just discarded that strip.  Note to self *don't cut left handed with a rotary cutter*)  :)

Cut the hem off the end of the strips, and cut across tops to even them off.  (top cuts not pictured)

Now you are ready to make the ruffles.  Baste down the center of each strip, making sure not to back tack at the ends.  I know I should have used a different color for my basting to make it easier to remove, but I was done basting before I even thought about it.

Before gathering the ruffles, mark the center of each strip with a pin, and pin to the center of the neckline.  I placed the top ruffle about 3/4" from the neck edge.  Then you can gather the ruffle evenly from each side to fit up to the shoulder seam.  Pin in place.  If you want to remove your basting stitches, sew just to one side of them.  Since the basting stitch is in the middle of the strip, you will have a double layer to each ruffle.

Fold both layers of the ruffle toward the neckline, and pin the basting line of the second ruffle about 1/4" below the first ruffle.  Start in the center as before, gather each side evenly, and pin up to the shoulder seam.  Sew in place.

Continue pinning and sewing each ruffle in this fashion until you get the look you want.  I used 3 ruffles on my shirt, but you could use as many as you want.

This is what the inside looks like.

Did  you notice my necklace?  That was my Mother's Day present to myself, and I didn't pay a dime for it...I made it, too!

Thanks for stopping by.  Let me know if you make your own version of a ruffled T.  They are so fun!

I'm linking up to Tatertots and Jello's weekend wrapup party.

K

Edit:  OMGosh!  I just got featured by Danielle over at Blissful and Domestic!  This is the first time I've been featured for anything, and you just made my day.  Heck, you made my whole year!  Thanks, Danielle!

Inspired

I picked up a copy of Paper Crafts Card Creations the other day, and was inspired by this card by Vanessa Menhorn.

My inspiration came from her use of the patterned paper.  I am always looking for ways to use mine (before I decide to lose it!), and the large panel of patterned paper Vanessa used really spoke to me.  I could use a good chunk of paper, much better than just scraps, and the layout would be a cinch.

Here is my card.

I love how it turned out!  Even though it looks like there is a lot going on, it really is a simple card.

For the flower, I crumpled the paper after it was punched out, then tore it into two layers.  I continued to crumple each layer while gently rolling the edges, and assembled the flower with the inside layers showing.  This gives the flower a lot of texture and brings it to life.

Supplies:
Stamps - Warmest Regards
Paper - Real Red, Old Olive, Bella Rose DSP, GKD PL white
Ink - Real Red
Accessories - Fancy Flower XL punch, Little Leaves Sizzlets, Big Shot, button, linen thread

Thanks, Vanessa, for the inspiration!

On a side note, I have been doing a lot of spring cleaning.  Deep cleaning.  Well, not real cleaning, more like purging.  The cleaning will come after the purge.  I am on a mission to get rid of everything we don't use/need/want, and it feels so good.  I was very successful selling a ton of unused craft items at our garage sale last weekend.  I have decided it isn't worth it to try to sell all my retired SU inks, etc., so I will be donating them to the school.  I know the kids will get a lot of use out of them, and I won't have to deal with selling and shipping them.  It's a win-win!

I have been feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff (read clutter) we have accumulated in the 4 years we have been in this house (some of it has been around for much longer), and decided to do something about it.  I have been reading Simplicity Parenting by Payne.  If you are feeling overwhelmed by all the choices that face you and your children, feel stressed by trying to fit everything into the day, are overscheduled and not overjoyed, you should check out this book.  It will help you simplify your children's lives which in turn will simplify yours.  And I'm all about simple.

Hope you have a great spring weekend!

K

Stamps + Ink + Paper = Card!

I finally stamped tonight.

Stamped?  What's that?

It has been over a month since I've had inky fingers, and tonight was the first time I'd even considered stamping.  It had been so long, I had to think about where my supplies were!

My card was inspired by this card by Julie Ebersole.  I like the faux letterpress technique she has been showcasing and gave it a try.

Not bad for taking a month off, eh?

I am hopeful more ideas will come to me soon.

Supplies:
Stamps - Of the Earth, Hello Again, PTI Turning a New Leaf
Ink - Memento new sprout, bamboo leaves, tangelo
Paper - Tangerine Tango, Celery, GKD PL white
Accessories - corner rounder, SAMJ

K

I Used my Cricut!

I have always wanted to put the word "create" in my craft room.  You know, something to remind me that that is what I am supposed to do while I am in there, not just sit at my computer looking at everyone else's creations.  :)  So I put my very neglected Cricut to use today.

I made stencils out of cheap (Georgia Pacific) cardstock, and used them to paint the word "create" subway style on a canvas.  See...

This was the first time I have ever stenciled anything, and it took me a letter to get the hang of it.  Unfortunately the "c" is a little sloppy.  Oops!  And I can't believe I mixed upper and lower case letters.  *gasp*  I don't really get that trend because it's just not right to do that.  But if I look at it in a creative light, I can live with it.  I just wish the "T" was a little longer.  *sigh*

For now, I set it on my stamp display tray, but I will find the perfect place to hang it.

Or better yet, maybe I should put it in front of my computer screen!

More fun projects to come...

K