MintBasil

Before and After- Corner Cabinet

2012-02-17T22:06:00.000-05:00

This project was a long time coming. I purchased this cherry cabinet at an auction two years ago with the best of intentions. I had been looking for a corner cabinet since we moved into our house, but I couldn't find one I liked for less than $200. I paid $70 for this one, but it had one huge strike against it. It came from a smoking home. I thought with scrubbing, sunshine, and time I could get it cleaned up. No dice. Then I decided paint would cover it up. All last year I had been reading about Annie Sloans Chalk Paint. I was even able to buy it locally at a store in MD called Repurposed and Refined to save on shipping! This paint is expensive. But with all the claims of no sanding, no priming and one coat coverage I thought why not! I could get this project done in a weekend!

Let me also make the disclaimer that I have only painted a handful of furniture and I am not claiming that I am any good at it. Also, I searched around on the internet for some quick how-tos, read through the product website, and got some pointers from the vendor of the paint. I fell in love with the idea of painting the inside a fun bright color. I have seen a few vintage cupboards/cabinets painted on the inside and felt like it would work for this project. I was immediately smitten with Antibes Green for the inside. In my opinion, this is the perfect spring green color. For the exterior I choose Old White and used a clear wax to finish it.

I used my 2'' Purdy brush to paint the entire piece. Because of the smoke issue I knew I needed to cover every square inch with paint to seal it up. I used an entire quart of green to paint the inside. It took two coats to get it looking even. In the photo above, you'll see what one coat will look like covering a cherry finish. Very streaky. The exterior also has one coat. The white had much better coverage, but if you look closely I got an unexpected crackle finish. I was a bit upset at first. It wasn't the look I was going for. The crackle appeared almost immediately. My best guess is the paint interacted with the nicotine. There is no cracking on the inside or where the doors had been closed. By the time I had finished painting the exterior my first brush strokes were dry. So I got out some fine grit sandpaper and sanded a portion to see if a second coat would cover the crackle. I packed up for the night and the next day everything got a second coat. The crackling was still there but not as apparent. I applied two coats of wax and put the whole thing together.

Once in the house, I loved how the cabinet filled the room! I love how my white and silver dishes pop with the green. The hand blown glass on the top shelf doesn't stand out as much as I'd like, but I'll have to come up with a different display for them. The freshness of the green makes me very happy!

I did a very light distressing with a sanding block and came to terms with the crackle finish. Overall, I do love the results. I didn't expect to use the amount of paint I did, but the results are great. The green is vibrant. The Old White is a soft white with no yellow. It distressed beautifully and the wax was easy to apply (I used a lint free rag.) What I wasn't expecting is that the cabinet still has a faint smoke smell. Total disappointment. My husband has a more sensitive sniffer than I do, but there is no mistaking it when you open the doors. And after sitting in the house for 4 months I decided it can't stay. :( I'm really bummed. There is the whole financial loss of the project and then having the whole experience not meet my expectations. I'll list it on craigslist. Maybe I can get some money back on it and start the search for something else. You only need one buyer right?!

Surprise Baby Shower

2011-12-29T22:01:00.000-05:00


Color inspiration!

In the middle of November I hosted a surprise baby shower for my friend and neighbor. It was disguised as a brunch amongst friends, so I was able to have everyone bring something to share for the meal. That allowed me to sneak in a tiny bit of sewing/decorating for the party. The week previous to the shower we hosted our annual Harvest Party where 40 of our friends come over for a home cooked fall themed meal. The fall decorations were still out so I decided to use the centerpieces of winter kale and pumpkins as the color inspiration. The day before the shower I stopped in at my local quilt shop and was elated to see Kate Spain's new fabric line Terrain on the shelves*! Right then and there I knew I NEEDED to make a fabric banner to make my dining room more festive.

The gender of the baby is a surprise even though the decorations are insinuating girl. Just a half a yard of three prints, two packages of thrifted bias tape, and 80 minutes later the banner was cut, sewn and hung.( I love pinking shears!)

A friend came over the night before to help me make the tissue paper "chandelier ". I was totally trying to channel Dale Chihuly when I was brainstorming this feature. (Side note: have you seen the PBS special about him?!) I ended up with a nebulous jelly fish looking sculpture, which honestly, is better than I anticipated. I have it hanging in my sewing room because I like it so much.

It was such a simple way to dress up the room and it added so much ambiance. It has me thinking of making banners for every special occasion to hang in this room!

* I am beyond excited that my LQS is stocking more "modern" prints. I'd like to think that it has something to do with every trip I am there I asked if they are getting any ____ designer fabric from their new collection. I always get a puzzled look and I can't help but wonder if a fabric store owner doesn't read blogs?

My most favorite sewing project this summer

2011-12-13T17:24:00.001-05:00

I made two dolls this summer. Both were meant to be gifts, but little Ginger stayed with me. She was my first. And because of this her little arms aren't as securely attached as they should be and I learned that I needed to trim the tails on my embroidery floss shorter because you will see the excess strands through the fabric on her face. But she makes me so happy.

Stop right now and go make one for yourself or that little girl in your life. The pattern is free!

Back to Basics

2011-12-12T19:13:00.001-05:00

I decided I needed to expand my fabric stash. I know, I know. It was such a chore! I was cleaning up and refolding fabric a couple of months ago and realized that I own a lot of prints. And not much else. I needed to diversify. So I started acquiring some solids.

Which then led me to think about what sort of prints could also be considered basics. Polka dots was clearly my answer. I couldn't help myself with the Laura Gunn print on the bottom. It is SO PRETTY! I really love her collections. I always fall hard for big bold prints! What do you consider basics in your fabric collection?

Sept 25 was a good day

2011-12-11T19:09:00.001-05:00

Hello Lovelies. I've been getting messages that it has been awhile since I have posted. :) I am spending the evening cleaning off my camera and getting the photos resized. Getting this accomplished makes blogging 100 time easier. Sewing was at a minimum this summer. The garden really took over all my spare time and I only wished that I documented that adventure in more detail. Much canning was accomplished and we are enjoying those fruits of our labor right now, quite literally.

I am so glad I did dust off the camera a few times this summer and I would have forgotten all about Sunday, Sept 25 if I didn't capture the following images. It was a lucky find to say the least.

11 genetically mutated clovers standing in a row.

One six leaf clover

A couple of 5 leaf versions.

And the remaining were four leaf beauties.

It's always fun to find them. I don't think I will ever tire of finding four leaf clovers. People say I must be a very lucky person to find so many four leaf clovers. The only thing I'll admit to being lucky at is finding genetic mutations and then point to my husband. :P

Reason #76 of why I garden

2011-08-16T17:41:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that I have taken ZERO pictures of my garden this year! I try to grab a few each month so I can reference back to see what blooms when, what plants play nice together, and as a general documentation of the progress we make over the years. But not a single photo this year. I have taken notes of bloom and harvest times and other notes to help me select plants in the future, but I have to get out this afternoon and take a few shots.

However, last week I did go pick some of my beautiful zinnas and arrange in one of my milk glass vases. When it was done I couldn't stop looking at it. It made my week! These bloom as long gone, but I'll be out there tonight to pick a few more.

This posting is so late it's embarassing!

2011-08-06T23:40:00.001-04:00

Considering this swap took place a few months ago, I am very late in posting the wonderful goodies Ann-Margret of Piece of Mind sent me way back in May! Earlier in the year we contacted each other to do another swap. In the past we have completed color themed swaps, but this time I suggested I would like a Woodland/Nature theme since I was loosely using this direction in decorating my living room which already has a fieldstone fireplace and hardwood floors. Ann-Margret choose her favorite decorating theme of cottage chic (with a preference toward turquoise and yellow) and we both got to work.

So without further adieu here is what I received in my swap package.

Now Ann-Margret really knows how to fill a box! Opening this package was like digging into Mary Poppins carpet bag! There was a whole slue of stationary, which I already have put to good use. My inner 8 year old screamed out loud when I saw the pony paper. :)

One of my favorite items she include was the trees identification cards! I have them sitting out on my living room end table and they are quite a conversation piece. I've gone back and forth about what to do with the mini pine cones she collected from her backyard, but right now I think I'll be making a winter garland with them.

Our package had just a couple of rules and one of which was to include a handmade item. She sewed together a sweet pincushion from a scrap of vintage bunny fabric. I keep it on my ironing board. And I think it's funny that we both included a yellow rose in our packages. This one is a magnet and since my sewing table is an old steelcase table, I use magnets to hold my patterns to my fabric instead of weights. So this has been used many times!

Along with all the amazing goodies she included a fair trade necklace, wooden beads, ribbons, fabric, and a note pad that says "don't lose" which cracks me up. Thank you Ann-Margret for such a wonderful swap!

Here is what I sent and you can view it in more detail here.

Thrift Finds

2011-04-16T12:06:00.005-04:00

It's been a while since I recorded some thrift finds on here. I have found a few beauties over the past month and I grabbed a few photos from my latest haul. I have been in the middle of decorating my living room. The sofa reupholstery project helped furnish some of the room. New curtains were hung. I still need to upholster the coordinating chair and ottoman once I find the fabric.
I seem to be attracted to shiny accents for the room, so when I found this vintage (?) brass crane lamp (with working light bulb!) for $5 I did not hesitate to throw it in the cart. I did not take a picture of the under side of the shade, but there is a half moon piece of frosted glass that helps filter the light from the bulb. It casts a soft light and I love it. I also found a few fun drinking glasses. The purple print glass is a specific type of drinking glass that I think was featured in a Martha Stewart magazine article a while back. I just tried searching her website for a link, but if you know what I am talking about, please fill me in! I wouldn't mind a whole collection of this type of glassware. And you know no home is complete without a crank pencil sharpener in the basement or garage, so I am excited I found one. I also amassed a collection of white glass mixing bowls and bakeware. I now have a complete set of bowls with this latest find. :)

Oh, and check this out. I have already shared my love of secret places and locks and keys. So I found this key, which fits into this lock.....

I was so surprised to find the key stored in an inside zipper pocket! I'm not sure if I'll leave it as-is or modify the exterior in some cool Anthropologie-ish manner. It's in pristine condition.

It's nice to find a few great used pieces to incorporate into my home. Now I can check "sew overnight bag" off my things to do. And I have a lamp for the living room. And you can't have too many dishes can you? Don't answer that question if you are thinking "yes".

99% complete

2011-04-01T17:32:00.005-04:00

Let's review.

{Before}

This sofa showed up in my house sometime in Dec 2009. And it sat around for almost a year before I posted about it again. Then I messed around for a couple of months with the idea of making a slip cover for it. And then almost 2 years (!) after it arrived in my house I finally committed to a complete reupholstery job in Jan 2011. Then in the last month things really got moving. In my last post I shared a picture with fabric attached!

Well, my friends. It's 99% finished. If you notice in the before photo there are some buttons on the sofa back and I was debating on putting them on or not. I'm leaning on yes. My husband says leave them off. So, what should I do?

{After}

{Ah! I am so excited about how this turned out!}

{Full room shot}

I added new curtains to the living room too. I am really in love with them. Good thing too because they were on clearance which means they are non-returnable. They add a bit of pattern and make the room feel more grown up. I think I am going to sell the Falcon chairs and use the money towards his and her reading chairs. Or, if I can, find another vintage sofa/sectional to put in the room. Now, buttons or no?

Sofa progress- home stretch

2011-03-24T14:26:00.003-04:00

As you can see.... there is fabric on the sofa! Still lots of stapling to do though. Both the right and left arms are done and fitted really well. I have to wait for an extra set of hands to staple the bottom edge under and the top edge over. If I'm not careful and pull evenly before stapling these long horizontal lines I could end up with waves. Not what I am hoping for. Once the top edge is secured I can add the buttons to the sofa back. And the cushion just arrived. It was shrink wrapped for shipping so they recommend to let it sit for a day to rebound.

^I seriously just patted myself on the back at this beautifully fitted curve.^

PS. I have destroyed my house with this project! That and my cat has "helped" distribute batting across the house. :)

Thrift Find- Book Storage

2011-03-11T13:00:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I posted about my theme for this year: Everything has a place. The lovely little book shelf my husband brought home was enough space for our ever growing collection of food related books, but we still had a plethora of other books to contend with. The formerly formal dining room in our home is an dumping ground for things we don't know what to do with. It has a recliner my husband doesn't like to sit in, an odd table, boxes of magazines, and a hanging chandelier that people can bump their heads on.

This room will grow as our family grows. I can imagine we'll gate this space off for future kiddos and then it will become the reading/homework room and the family computer will eventually reside in here. But for now it'll hold our newest book storage solution!

Isn't she lovely?! I found her at a local used furniture place. Actually "the place" is more like a steel Morton building with no heat that I was scavenging around in the middle of a January snow storm. But totally worth it! She's solid walnut and in good condition. The top portion is removable. When I saw her in the barn I called my husband (at work) to tell him how much I liked her. I had to give my disclaimer that this piece was more my style of furniture, but if he trusts me I know some minor tweaks would bring her to out of the 70's and into our home. (Now how could he not trust me!) So I put the money down, traded some babysitting for a friend to haul her home for me and there she sits. Eventually we'll put built in bookcases in this corner for a library effect, but for $150 I think I got an excellent deal. You can't buy a good Target bookshelf that won't sag for under that.

I promised my husband I would switch out the hardware and replace the woven thatch in the side panels. The hardware will be easy, the thatch is another thing. At first I thought it would pop right out and I would use it as a template for its glass replacement. Then we could see the books lost in the far right and left portions of the shelves. But its glued onto a solid piece of wood that runs underneath the trim. Hmmm. I may need someone with more knowledge to help me remove it.

The bottom portion holds all of our board games, odd household papers and some DVDs. I thought for sure the drawers would be able to store all our DVDs but the cases are 1/8'' to high! If they did fit, it would have been perfect.

Bedroom Curtains

2011-03-07T21:13:00.004-05:00

I'm finally getting around to sewing up my bedroom curtains. For me, curtains really finish a room. But sewing your own is a huge hassle. It's no fun washing, ironing, cutting 20 yard pieces of fabric. I did try a new trick when washing up this yardage. I folded the yardage in arm lengths and basted all the layers together along the selvedge edges before throwing it in wash. It worked really well! No tangled mess!

In the past, cutting these large amounts of fabric was quite the hassle. But I discovered my hardwood floors are to my advantage! After squaring off my fabric, I used the floor boards as a square, lining up the edge to the horizontal edge of a floor board then using a tape measure I measured the length.

The floor board even had a slight gap to help hold my tape measure!

Once the length was cut, I folded the panel in half and cut the desire width. I cut the lining (pictured above) 4 inches narrower than the curtain panel.

When sewing curtains, the bed remains unmade. Priorities, priorities. (I'm in love with my new bedroom paint color.Valspar: London Coach. So dreamy. Here is the same color in another apartment- link via apartment therapy.)

Here is a little trick I use to remind myself when to start/stop sewing. When sewing up these long side seam I wanted to stop 6'' short on the bottom hem. To remind myself I always place two pins right next to each other as a visual aid. I also use this method when I need to leave an opening in something. Like a bag that will need to be turned right side out.

I have all 4 panels finished with the exception of the bottom hem. I wanted them to hang a while to relax into their length. Tomorrow they'll be hemmed and the curtain rods will be installed. I can't wait!

Etsy Baby Shower Gifts

2011-03-03T17:12:00.002-05:00

I attended a baby shower this past weekend. Made one gift using a PDF pattern and purchased the other, both from Etsy. The momma of the expected baby girl decided on a deer theme for the nursery. So needless to say, when I saw this print on Karla's Etsy Shop: enrouge there was no question. I bought it in under 30 seconds. I left a message to seller when I purchased the print and she followed up with me via Etsy conversation keeping me in the loop of expected shipping times. So nice! And the package was wrapped with care, arrived quickly, and there was a little something extra! Love that!

{Etsy Shop} {Blog}

Before Christmas I purchased a set of patterns from Etsy Seller winterpeach. She has so many cute PDF's available include this new little baby boot! The patterns were emailed within 24 hours (in fact maybe the same night even), but they sat on my computer for a few months before I got around to making them! My first attempt were these darling 3 month sized Mary Jane flats. So adorable!

Look how tiny!

The pattern is laid out very well and offers many great tips to get the best possible outcome. The directions are clear, include lots of photos and are very methodical. The pattern even offers two other variations of closure including a ribbon and elastic. I followed the pattern to a T but would make these changes next time. I would add a featherweight interfacing to the exterior pieces before sewing to add a bit more structure (the child and adult patterns do include interfacing as part of the design), and I would top stitch the little strap and top seam for a polished look. In addition, I wish the pattern noted on the exterior pieces the button placement. I made these late at night and I sewed the buttons a little forward on the shoe. It's still cute though.
I found the perfect little vintage pearl shank buttons with brass backs to finish the little flats. The one great thing about this pattern is that when you are done and you say to yourself, "I wish I could make these in my size," guess what? You can! The Mary Jane Flats are available up to a woman's size 11. You can thank me later. :P

Sofa Progress!

2011-03-02T17:05:00.003-05:00

She's down to her undergarments! It is a serious misnomer that upholstery is a sewing project. It's not. It's about thousands upon thousands of staples! I won't go as far to say if you can work a stapler than you can complete this task, but it may not be far off. When I first started working on this sofa I really never thought about the piece as one gender or another. But as I spend countless hours working over every inch of its surface, I started referring to "it" as a "her". She's fit, she's classy, and when I'm done with her I think I'll call her Chanel.

For the Birds

2011-02-15T12:30:00.003-05:00

There are two things my cat loves to do with me: sleep and watch birds. Today, for the purposes of remaining productive, we are going to discuss birds. For my birthday last year the husband gifted me this book, For the Birds: easy to make recipes for your feathered friends by the editors of Birds and Blooms. (Found at Lowes and online). When we moved into the house, my herb garden came with a bird feeder. Last year I enjoyed looking up all the species that stopped for a visit. My favorite bird watching always occurred when the woodpeckers would make an appearance.

Loosely following a recipe found in the book (mainly because I was trying to utilize what I had on hand), I created my own suet-style cakes! If you buy these treats in the store they can range from $1, on sale, to $3+. I made this entire pan for under $3.

On the stove I gently heated some veg shortening until it was liquid and removed it from the burner. I stirred in about a cup of peanut butter until combined. Then I added corn meal, corn flour, and about 3 cups of bird seed until it was the consistency of a thick brownie batter.

I sprayed the loaf pan with cooking spray and poured the batter in. I placed it in my garage (which stays just above freezing) for about an hour. I should have stayed out longer but I got inpatient. The cake easily removed itself from the pan and I made my first 1'' slice. And as you can see it crumbled to pieces! Since it formed back together like cookie dough I figured I didn't let it sit long enough. So it went back out into the garage for the rest of the day. That did the trick. Mostly. I think I am going to have to watch my ratio's on fat/flour more carefully next time to make sure it stays in a solid clump. This loaf pan yielded 8 slices.

I packaged some of the cakes into little gifts! Wrapped in wax paper and twine I added a little hand stamped tag to give as little hostess gifts. They were well received! And, of course, I had to see if the birds preferred my cakes over the store bought kind. And I am happy to report that the birds have eaten through 3 of my homemade cakes while a store bought cake is still in the feeder. Proof that the birds love me more!

Help needed

2011-02-08T20:26:00.003-05:00

I need someone's help with my blog layout. I am seriously at my wits end. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to add tabs at the top of this blog! For example: BLOG, TUTORIALS, ABOUT, CONTACT and so forth.

I can use the "Add a Gadget" but it only allows me to add one. And for whatever reason the "Template Designer" in Blogger isn't working correctly. That or I'm not working correctly, which is probably the case.

So if you can help me with my blog design, maybe we can work out a barter/trade of services? Who needs a new bag or fabric? Email me at leeannhuber(at)gmail(dot)com

Thank you!

Everything has a place

2011-01-31T09:43:00.003-05:00

I do have a theme for this year and that theme is "Everything has a place." We have officially been moved into our home for 16 months and we still had boxes just jammed into an upstairs bedroom. Our household nemesis is books. In particular, we may have an problem with collecting cookbooks.

So here is the dilemma.

A crazy amount of cook books.
Storage near the kitchen is key.
Limited budget.

So check this out!

I love it! Don't hate me either when I tell you I got it for FREE! My husband's company is renovating their offices and updating all the furniture. They offered the employees a chance to buy back the old desks, shelving, etc... So my husband calls me. I drive down for a look. We were looking for some metal shelving for the garage/basement, when as I walked through the sea of cubicles I turned the corner and saw IT. "Be still my heart," I said. Turns out a co-worker of his brought this in from his own home. So don't go thinking there was a plethera of oak furniture around for the taking. Try to imagine a basement that hasn't been cleaned in 30 years, drop ceilings, florescent lights, and late 80's laminate furniture. So, yeah. Clearly a gem. In an effort to make this long story shorter, I begged my husband to speak with the owner of this bookshelf to see if he still wanted it. Weeks go by and nothing. I ask husband again. He says it was thrown away! I almost died. I immediately asked if he checked the dumpster! Little did I know he was just pulling my leg and he surprised me with it around Xmas. Little stinker. So anyways, it is exactly what we need.

(I'm not usually a OMG kind of gal but "OMG look! It has a working key!")

Am I the only grown women that still has a childhood thing for things that lock and secret places? Because I really want to build a secret passage way in my house.

Etsy Update!

2011-01-29T19:33:00.004-05:00

Just an FYI for those who might be interested. I've pictured just a few of my favorites. Click the photos to link to the listing.

{this fabric inspired me to make a sweet little girls dress but I had to steal a tiny bit for a pin cushion}

{Ah! I'm still going crazy over the fabrics used in this tote. Must buy more of this linen. This purple vintage fabric was a great score.}

{I finally decided to sew up some Japanese linen swatches I purchased on Etsy years ago. Love the origami theme to this fabric. Wish I could find more.}

{Lavender sachets. Need I say more. So handy and they go with everything!}

{Can you look at this Lecien fabric and not think of spring? I may hoard the rest of this 1/2 yard cut I have of this print.}

Sofa Progress

2011-01-27T15:50:00.002-05:00

It's slow going, but it's going! I seriously have pulled thousands of staples and there are thousands more to pull.

Lots of beads!

2011-01-26T17:58:00.003-05:00

My local bead store, The Potomac Bead Company, held a huge clearance sale right after the New Year. For a while now I have been contemplating new jewelry to spruce up a few outfits. I want a new three strand black necklace to go with some of my professional attire. The little pearl-esque coins will also be assembled into a classy necklace. The purple bead will spruce up an old steal chain I found at the thrift store. And the others, well, I thought they were pretty.

I also found this cute little silver charm, not on clearance. I have to go back because I spied some opaque, gray czech glass beads and I haven't gotten them out of my mind. I am thinking a three strand (I'm sensing a theme here) bracelet with this charm on the clasp.

In other news, I am on track to reopen my Etsy store this weekend! Be on the lookout for that!

Hand sewn

2011-01-23T17:55:00.007-05:00

Did I ever tell you guys that I acquired a 17lb bag of feed sack scraps this summer? I'll have to take a picture sometime. I still am an awe every I look at it. I have plans to turn much of it into a quilt, but that will take some time. Many pieces are the negatives of previous clothing patterns. So every time you hear someone tell you about a time when their mothers made them clothes out of old feed sacks, I have the "extra parts".

A few weeks ago I sorted through the bag again and found some tiny scraps. I washed the small pieces with Eucalan in the sink. (I also use this product to wash all my wool and cashmere sweaters. I love it.) I was in desperate need of a sewing fix, so I grabbed the newly washed scraps and some linen and took it with me while I babysat for a friend one evening.

I don't really have a plan for these. ^The one above^ may be turned into a pendant. Or maybe I'll add a hair clip and use it when I put my hair up. I left enough linen around each one so I could also sew then up in little pouches. But either way, they make me extremely happy! I have to research rules for air travel. I have a business trip coming up and the destination is half way across the country. So lots of time at the airport and on airplanes. Wouldn't it be nice to take this project along with me? But I can't imagine they'll allow small clippers/scissors or needles as a carry on. I might better stick with a book and my iPod.

**EDIT (1/24/11)** Looks like it's my lucky day! Check out the TSA's rules for Transporting Knitting Needles and Needlepoint.

Which reminds me... what podcasts do you listen to? I'm a big fan of anything public radio, so I already subscribe to many of them. But I don't know of any related to sewing.

Just a few random photos

2011-01-02T18:52:00.003-05:00

Over Thanksgiving I scoured a couple thrift and consignment stores for some new books. Since our Xmas present to ourselves was a vacation (just got back!) I wanted a few new books to read. I read through Three Bags Full in a day and a half. Throughly mindless entertainment which what I was going for. I rarely read fiction, so it was a nice escape and had me laughing out loud at times. And I am over half way on the Handmade Life. I stopped flagging recipes in the book since I was flagging every other one! Lots of cooking inspiration in there. I didn't read as much as I thought I would. The hot tub and massages took up a lot of time!

Before we left for vacation, Jeff hung up a new coat rack in the mudroom. I found it Ikea and just tried to find a link to it, but had no luck. I wanted extra hooks to allow guests to always have a spot to hang up their coats but it had to have a slim profile to not interfere with the door opening and closing from the garage. It is a perfect fit! And to our amazement, the predetermined spots on the back of the coat rack where it is suppose to attach to screws mounted in your wall were actually spaced to accommodate mounting into wall studs. So it is very secure!

And I spent a little time in my cashmere stash and made this sweet broach using this tutorial located on Holidash. I made use of my glue gun with this project because I decided I just had to have it made in one evening. I used my most favorite vintage sparkling button for the center. I want to make a few more because they would make super sweet gifts. And I'd like to make a smaller one for my hair. After completing this project, I decided I need to grow dahlia's in the garden this year. The root stock is crazy expensive, but I ran into a local gardener over the summer that says each year she digs up her dahlia roots and they double in size each year allowing her to split them and have free plants each year. Too bad I didn't get her number! If any gardener is reading this and finds that they have too many dahlia plants, I'll trade you some canna lilies for them! :P

And because my husband is amazing he also surprised me with this and this for Xmas!

Guy gifts are so difficult

2010-12-21T20:04:00.005-05:00

Sometimes browsing Etsy is very dangerous. I sort of feel like a thief stealing ideas like this, but they are so good I couldn't help myself.

I wanted to do a DIY Christmas for my co-workers this year. The two girls are easy. I didn't get a chance to photograph what I made them but picture a set of three lavender sachets made from linen and Amy Butler prints, a travel jewelry roll made from Denise Schmidt County Fair fabrics and a pair of earrings made of clear and smoky quartz.

Now the guy, on the other hand, was much more of a battle. I did take note at one conference that he wore a shirt that required cuff links and every fall he takes a couple of weekends to go hunting with his buddies.

So do the math: cuff links+ hunting+Etsy=

I have to say these are my favorite DIY Christmas present to date. And really my husband did all the dirty work. One day after work I informed my husband that he needed to shoot his shot gun. He gave me a weird look but I insisted he get off the couch and shoot his gun. Three times to be exact. I wanted a spare just in case one got messed up. He obliged eagerly. Husband cut the shotgun shell, so I was left with top part of the bullet and I attached some cuff link blanks I had thrifted previously. Definately not a heirloom quality item, but something unique and something I know he will love. I paired these cuff links with a tie pin found at an antique store that has his last initial monogrammed on the front which also happens to be made with two tonal metals. So they kind of go together.

I still have 4 more gifts to make yet. And it's Tuesday. And they need mailed. Not looking good at all!

Second attempt

2010-12-14T20:39:00.005-05:00

So I decided to just commit. Commit to a complete reupholster job on the vintage sofa. After months of collecting cat hair (very well, I might add) unused and unloved, I gabbed the husband and we moved it to a better lit room so I could start carefully disassembling it. I have read through three books from the library on upholstering and I have been spending the last two hours browsing the internet and reading this blog. So cross your fingers. Here I go!

Also, I finally purchased drapes for the living room pictured above. This photo was taken sometime last year and have remained that way since. About a month ago I found some lined 95'' panels on JCPennyOutlet.com for $8/panel. Crazy awesome price, I know! The shipped to the store for free. They weren't exactly what I was hoping for, but they will do for now. Since they are lined they will help with insulating the house this winter. I'll grab a photo tomorrow morning to share.

It's sewing season!

2010-11-19T16:22:00.003-05:00

I think subconsciously that daylight savings time not only signifies the change in mother nature's seasons, but also my sewing season. I found it extremely difficult to spend time at my sewing machine this summer, but now that it is getting dark around 5pm (boo!) it's more enjoyable to spend time with my iron and sewing machine.

I am busy sewing for December Holiday Handmade Open House. I wanted to include several different sizes of bags and to date I haven't really sewn any handbags. This style of bag is nothing new, but I love the process of making a pattern. I start out by grabbing my ruler and get an idea of the finished size. Then I jot down a few measurements before I start cutting. Being as this was my first attempt at this size and style, I looked in my stash for some fabrics I won't mind messing up. I found a linen calendar towel, some teal corduroy, and brown cotton canvas remnant.
I finished the bag with a cute wooden toggle button from the stash. The interior is comprised of the remaining parts of the linen calendar towel and some chocolate brown polka dot cotton. A zipper pocket and one slip pocket provide additional storage and organization.

Overall, it was a great mental exercise and the finished product was exactly what I was hoping for. That generally doesn't happen! I believe this handbag took less than 1/2 yard of fabric to complete too. When I make my next one I'll have to keep track of the amount used.

I don't think I'll get too much sewing down this weekend. It's date night tonight (very excited about this!) and tomorrow I am taking a road trip to Baltimore with a girlfriend of mine to visit Ikea! Sunday's are for napping. :)

Eye candy

2010-11-13T08:09:00.002-05:00

This summer I had some great finds. One day I was chatting with a lady in a semi-local fabric store trying to find fabrics with a similar weave to some vintage cotton I had been collecting. I wanted to start turning them into a quilt. She directed me to a friend of hers that was parting with her 200+ collection of old feed sacks! As you can see from the top photo I came home with several in a purple/orange colors! I cannot wait to start on this quilt! I have been following Stitched in Color's {Colorbrick} Quilt Along and I think I'll be using her pattern to use these fabrics. I also picked up some plain white feed sacks for the sashing.

Also....

I found this pretty little table for a song at an estate sale this summer. I officially now have 2 end tables! Go me.

Etsy Update!

2010-11-08T16:44:00.003-05:00

Click the photos for a direct link to the listing.

(Set of 6 Forest Coasters)

(In Bloom Tote)

(Set of 6 Apple Coasters)

(Bye-Bye Birdie Handbag)

PS. I miss blogging! Has Xmas snuck up on anyone else? If you have found a great sewing PDF lately, leave a comment with a link!

August equals tomatoes

2010-09-04T15:35:00.004-04:00

August came and went. Where does time go? All I know is that a considerable time was spent in the heat of the garden and then the heat of the kitchen. The photo above reflects some of my efforts with canning a few varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Many we froze in large quantities to make sauce with later. This year we conducted "the great tomato experiment." We have preliminary results in, but the final verdicts will have to be postponed until later this winter when we see how each variety preserved. So far Mr. Stripey gets a thumbs down.

I have been sewing, however, I no longer have Photoshop which make blogging a bit difficult. I downloaded a free trial of Elements and I have been pretty pleased with it! And for whatever reason, I haven't been in a show-n-tell mood all summer. Blech. Hopefully that will change soon. Just in time for the winter light to impair my photography.

In the mean time, did you know I won a contest over on Making It Lovely? The prize was delivered last week. This morning I finally got around to setting it up. I am just smitten!

{Mmm. Espresso!}

Tea In Progress...

2010-07-28T18:32:00.000-04:00

All summer long I have had a steady garden companion. However she likes to find the most shady spot and watch me work. And she never gets the weeding done like I ask her to either. :)

At any rate, I have been very pleased with the chamomile I started from seed this spring! And even though the bees have been feasting on its fragrant flowers, it was time for me to start the harvest. Harvesting is very simple. I pinched off each bud swatting away a bee from time to time and collected them in one of my favorite pottery bowls.
It just so happens that the color of this bowl really pops with the chamomile flowers and made a good photo. A happy accident or was someone planning ahead?

I left a few flowers in the plant. I felt a little greedy taking everything. To dry these I placed all the buds on cheese cloth, single layer and let them air dry for about 10 days. Just to keep things in perspective all those flowers only equals about 2 cups of tea. But the good news is that the plants haven't stopped blossoming! Chamomile is suppose to be a perennial, so hopefully more mature plants will produce more flowers for me next year. Or I can always plant a bigger patch next year. Which will probably be the case. Right next to the lavender.

Millions of blueberries

2010-07-27T18:08:00.002-04:00

I really don't think you can get enough blueberries. Over 4th of July break we went blueberry picking. Of course the berries weren't ready during the 75 degree days but were prime picking when it was over 95.

We ate our fill fresh. Just popping them in whenever we passed by a pint and in our yogurt in the morning. The rest we froze. Now, some people freeze them as is on a baking sheet before pouring them in a freezer bag. I actually wash mine before hand. I like to eat the little frozen blueberry pops right out of the freezer so I don't want to have to worry about pre-washing them. And if I make my breakfast in the morning and take it along to work I like to just throw a few frozen berries in my yogurt before heading out the door. So we rinse and sort and lay the berries on hand towel in front of a box fan to get them dry before we freeze in a single layer. Then I measure 4 cups to each quart bag. This way when I am planning for recipes I know how much to get out.

We went to a farm stand this afternoon and they still had a few quarts of blueberries for sale. I only had $6 cash on me and it was a real struggle not to grab a couple more boxes to put in the freezer but the sweet, fragrant smell of peaches seduced me instead.

Ah. Peach season is upon us. Now I need to go find my Presidents of the United States CD.

10 min AM makeover

2010-07-09T21:34:00.003-04:00

What happens when you forgot to wrap a gift and it is 10 minutes before you have to leave for work? Let me tell you...

The perfect sized box but it's damaged!

I needed something to disguise the damage on the card board box so I grabbed a piece of scrap fabric and some trusty double stick fusible webbin g. I cut the strip about 2 inches wide and long enough to wrap back on the inside of the lid.

Fused one side to the fabric and peeled away the wax paper.

Used the iron to glue it to all side of the lid.

I fused the fabric on the top and bottom. Isn't this pacifier clip the cutest?

Close up on the button. I did not make this. I found it at a local fabric store.

Finished it with some ricrac and it's done! And I even had time to take the photos! Skillz.

Fruits, er, I mean vegetables of my labor

2010-07-05T20:42:00.001-04:00

July 3rd I tore out all my lettuce. Most had already sent forth a tower of seeds but the red lettuce stayed full and beautiful. Too bad she's as bitter as a jilted bride.

My golden beets are young and tender! I have discovered that this variety doesn't hold up well to refrigeration. I shook off the dirt, left the tops on them and put them in our mini 'root cellar' til tomorrow when these will be roasted up with some balsamic vinegar. Can't wait!

And our first red tomatoes. These are a roma variety. Part of our great tomato experiment this year. Over 11 varieties to see what we like best. These little buggers are like grape tomatoes on steroids. I hope the rest get a bit bigger. To celebrate the first red tomatoes of the season, and because they were so small, I made some garlic bread out of a french baguette and smeared the tomato into the bread. It was delicious.

The snow peas and sugar snap peas are also finished and I added those plants to the compost as well.

Nesting

2010-07-04T20:02:00.003-04:00

Making my house a home one used piece of furniture at a time....

Picked this lovely end table up during a First Saturday event in downtown Frederick, MD this weekend.

Solid wood with a midcentury modern feel. Dove tail inlays. Perfect condition.

Not a bad replacement to the old kitchen table chair we were using. Twenty three dollars and eighty five cents well invested I'd say!

Loving mother nature and truck stops

2010-06-12T18:24:00.000-04:00

After work on Friday I did a u-turn when I got off the highway after work and turned into a large sketchy lot truckers use to take naps in. Why? Because all around the perimeter were masses of wild sweet peas blooming with crown vetch. How could I not? So what if there were strangers in trucks staring at me and a thousand bees busy pollinating. No biggie because my home environment is so much better for it and I got to use one of my milk glass urns to display them in.

{LOVE!}

How to lose 10lbs if you have a really cool sister

2010-06-11T18:12:00.003-04:00

A little over an hour ago, I got home from work and heard the sound of my sister using my fabric scissors to cut something up. She was in the other room and she yelled back she was making a sleeveless t-shirt. She had already done a pretty good hack job on it. So this "before" picture is after I had helped her scoop out the neck and fix the lack of sleeves.

(Before and inside out)

I gave her a 5 min run down on why clothes don't fit all body types and we had a discussion on women being 3-d creatures and that men's t-shirts are not made to flatter a women's figure.

(After)

So I showed her points on her shoulders she needs to be aware of so in the future she can alter t-shirts to highlight her very fit shoulders and arms. And I showed her how to fold the t-shirt to make symmetrical cuts. And then I busted out the sewing machine and sewed in two well placed bust darts. Much, much better.

The ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah!

2010-05-21T08:10:00.004-04:00

Fresh leaf lettuce! First harvest last night with many more to come!

Snow peas reaching for the fence.

What's with it with ants and peonies? I picked up a couple plants at a local plant sale, and now I need to figure out where I am going to put them.

With all the rain we have been getting I have gotten behind in planting. Tonight I'll get the peppers (yuck) and eggplant (yum) in the garden and do some weeding. Just another crazy Friday night in the Huber household!

Sleep in Saturday's

2010-05-01T21:48:00.001-04:00

The bedroom makeover has begun. Painting complete.

Step one: Just start digging

2010-04-30T20:27:00.003-04:00

Perennials are amazing. Sure you have the initial investment, but then your dividends arrive a few years later and you are ready to divide! Yay! Free plants! So it will be no surprise that 95% of my garden landscape budget will be spent on these ground pleasers.

There are only a few established plants at our new home. One of them happens to be a thriving patch of Sedums. I divided these plants 7 ways. Love, love, love. Sedums are really quite beautiful and unique. All summer long they provide a textured mint green foliage that resembles a succulent and then after all your summer blooming babies have past their peak, Sedums decide to give summer one last wave goodbye with a mass of burgundy cluster flowers.

At the front of our property there is a hedge of trees. The first time I drove down our long lane, my mind's eye knew that this tree line also needed a hedge of perennials. Eventually, I will be building a stone wall structure that will be grounded with shrubs to act as an 'entrance point' to our homestead, but for right now I have to get the perennials established. A split rail fence will also be incorporated.

I started the bed with a few orange day-lilies. I have since added some of the Sedum, black-eyed susans, cone flowers, lambs ear, and coral bells. I was worried that the ground would be tough to work, but as I dug and shook the dirt from the sod roots it was as if the ground itself was agreeing with my plans, happily turning in all the weeds and pasture grass for the promise of flowers. Little by little I'll keep extending this flower bed, adding plants as I get them. I'd love to plant some Crepe Myrtil, Butterfly bushes, and Beauty Berry in this spot too.

When I first moved in last September, I moved with a mint plant. Knowing that mint can turn into an invasive species, I quickly dug a hole along the woods on the east side of our property so it could winter over. This spring I rediscovered it and all the 20 little runners it had already sent out. I cleared a small area around it and one thing lead to another and I made an impromptu flower bed here too. (Which is also where I suspect I found some poison oak.) I had some left over black-eyed susan's so they found a temporary home here as well. I would love to naturalize the edge of the woods to the lawn in the future.

Tomorrow morning, after I run some errands, it's back out into the garden. This time to get some more veggies planted. We had another cool streak and only my spinach and leaf lettuce decided to make an appearance. The weather man is predicting warmer weather to stick around this weekend and into next week so hopefully some germination will be taking place.

$6 Front Flower Bed Makeover

2010-04-22T22:13:00.004-04:00

(Sept 2009- when we moved in)

There is very little landscaping around our new property, but that is about to change. I definitely have a blank slate to work with! The front flower bed has a few hostas and what I think is a miniature boxwood (or mini because it's growing in pure clay). But there is no "wow" factor and probably won't be for a while, but I can definitely improve on it this year.

(Early March 2010)

Last fall I trimmed back all the vegetation left from the hostas and sprinkled some lime that I had left over from the garden.

(Early March 2010)

I needed some sort of height along the wall. In a back flower bed there was an ill placed bush that I was able to transplant out front. I placed it between the two garage windows. I also discovered that the soil is completely clay. Wait, it is solid clay with an inch of mulch on top.
See.....

I amended the soil with compost and some top soil I found in the woods. I really needed to divide the hostas this year, but I think I waited too long. They are almost in full leaf now. Maybe next spring. I also purchased some perennials from a neighbor who was having a plant sale last weekend. Everything was priced from $1 to $3. So I am filling in with those and pansies I started from seed to finish the bed for this year. Once all of those get planted I'll have an after photo. I can't wait to see how this matures this year. I will have only spent $6 for this mini plant makeover!

Gambling with frost

2010-04-21T09:00:00.002-04:00

This is one of the veggie plots we established over our spring break. Last night we finished the fence. Our bunny population is way to large not to protect. Sometime in the next week a load of mulch will be delivered and I'll place some mulch all around the perimeter to help keep weeds from growing up the fence. Especially since I have planted sugar snap peas and snow peas all along the inside.
Yesterday after work two rows of red onions were planted, in addition to, golden beets, and two rows of baby spinach. This evening I want to get some early corn planted. We'll see if I get it done.

Handmade Open House

2010-04-18T21:28:00.003-04:00

Here are a few photos from my table at the recent Handmade Open House. I didn't get around to making as much as I'd like. I thought with the week vacation proceeding this event I would have gotten much more sewing done, but the weather was beautiful and gardening was the priority. More photo's on that coming up!

All but three of the bags were sold, so I consider that a very successful day! The night before I tore apart my sewing room trying to find any odd projects I made to sell. I found some jewelry that included some refashioned necklaces and bobble rings (pic below).

I think this handbag came out really cute. A simple structured shape but the fabric and applique make it, in my opinion. This bag (I ended up calling Bye-Bye Birdie) didn't sell. Hmmm. Maybe it will be mine.

Time just slips by

2010-04-15T23:00:00.002-04:00

I have about 100 pictures on my camera to blog about but do I prioritize my time to post here? Apparently not! And now that more of my local friends (and family) read this blog I have been getting gentle nudges to update. I have been so busy! Gardening tops the list. I have lots of before and after shots. My husband and I took last week off and stayed home during the most perfect spring weather to get a few home tasks completed. It was the best vacation ever!

And this weekend I am hosting a Handmade Open House at my home. Eight lovely ladies who either craft or run a home business will gather with their items to sell their wares. I am pretty excited about it. My friend put together this same event just before Xmas of last year and it was a huge success. And then she graciously volunteered my home for the next one! We figured some date before Mother's Day would work well. And here I am feverishly getting the house in order and driving Jeff nuts. :)

I also decided to reupholster this couch rather than make the slip cover. I read about upholstery and spoke with a lady who gave me some great tips to get started. With the clean lines of the sofa and relatively simple shape I am going to dive in and go for it. I also finally found the upholstery fabric. Now I just need to get started... I may need a few rainy days to justify the time spent indoors.

2010-02-12T20:01:00.003-05:00

I have been making some progress with making the house feel more like ours. We are trying to work on our bad habits so we don't clutter up the new space. One big area of improvement is keeping our kitchen counter tops cleared, specifically with mail. Out of embarrassment I did not take a 'before' picture but just imagine weeks worth of piles over a kitchen island and a cupboard crammed with recipe print outs, cookbooks, note pads, and car related items.

I cleaned out the upper cabinet and added two thick cork pin boards to the inner door. $1.49 each at Michaels and they included the sticky tape. I then moved the home phone and cells phone into the bottom shelf to clear the lower counter top. Thankfully, the previous owners had installed a phone jack and outlet into the cupboard itself. The second shelf holds a piggy bank for spare change and our monkey pencil cup. The top shelf is storing all of our manuals and some paperwork we need handy.

But how do we solve the problem with the piles of mail? I cleaned out the drawer under the upper counter and decided to sew my own organizers to keep everything neat.

This is the first version. I use home deco weight fabric I had in my stash. I didn't use any interfacing and I just tacked the top points together to make a box. This version was a bit too flimsy for what I needed it to be and I knew I could make a more reinforced corner. So back to fix my pattern.

This is the second version. Much better! I used the hvy weight interfacing from JoAnn's (not the craft bond stuff) on both the interior and exterior pieces. I also drafted tabs into the pattern to fold around the edges to reinforce the corners. The button are decorative tacks to hold everything in place in a stylish way.

This version worked out beautifully. The only thing I am going to change about it is to make the tabs wider. It was a hassle to get those turned with the thick, interfaced fabric!

So this is the drawer. I have one more fabric organizer to make (to fill in the corner) so we have three seperate areas to store notepads, tape, rubber bands, and the like. The open space is to temporarily store our mail til bills get paid and filed. Next on the list is to find a small hook system to install on the bottom shelf in the upper cabinet for all the keys and to find a cell phone charger station to keep everything neat and tidy. I also have extra magazine boxes from Ikea to place on the top shelf for additional storage.

And I have to figure out how to organize all those printed recipes and find a place to store our cookbooks. I need yard sales to start up soon!

Finished Denim Blanket

2010-02-11T20:01:00.002-05:00

Table is a new acquisition from Mom-mom's. Got to love free things from grandparents. I am not sure what I'll do with it. It has a beautiful dark patina, but I don't have a turned style leg anywhere in the house. But this table is also our only end table. Beggars can't be choosers! I originally brought it home to place in the front room with a large Boston fern. I am not opposed to changing out the legs and painting it. I'll put it on the "list".

I finally shot some finished photo's of that forever WIP denim blanket. I'll spare you more photo's of lots of snow, but I am one of those who are snowed in. We got 3+ feet! We tried to get the snow drifts plowed again tonight but no success. I have been home bound since Wednesday and it doesn't look like tomorrow is going to be any different.

It's been through the wash twice and it's back in again. As mentioned before I used a blue embroidery thread to hand quilt a square design. Five years ago I thought this was a great idea and I actually finished the quilting part last winter. Five years ago I also thought it was a great idea to layer the quilt with the heaviest polyester batting I could find and a solid cream flannel for the back. Talk about overkill.

The concept of the contrasting quilting in a geometric design really works for me. My fabric choice, however, very bad. Everything sticks to flannel. Like every little bit of fuzz that comes off from the fraying denim. I have little fuzz bits all over the house! Because of all the extremely heavy fabric choices this is a very weighty quilt. But when you are snowed in and you keep the house temp around 62 and you're trying to watch season 3 of Lost, it's quite a cozy blanket! I just happened to make it large enough to cover two snugglie people on a dual reclining love seat very well. Such a happy ending!

24 inches of snow

2010-02-07T19:11:00.003-05:00

We are snowed in again! It's been a long time since I've seen this much snow. Even the snow we got in Dec was peanuts compared to this. We tried to get the cars out today but no luck. Having a long driveway is awesome 98% of the time. This is not one of those times. Hopefully our drive will be plowed tonight and then we'll see if we can get the Prius up the hill. *crossing fingers*

But since we couldn't go anywhere I sewed up my only V-day decoration. Made completely with scraps it was quick and easy. I was testing how it would hang before I sewed on the homemade bias tape. I guesstimated the measurements so I was pleased when it actually worked out.

I was alsot creative in the kitchen when making my own decaf herbal tea which included fresh orange zest, fresh ginger, cardamon, and lemon grass.

I cleaned up the counters and set up a collection of vintage glass made exclusively from the small towns dotting southern NJ. (Well, all except the small clear bud vase.)

And my amaryllis planted Christmas Day is in full bloom! I love fresh flowers in the house!

What's on my camera that I can write a post about?

2010-02-03T16:18:00.003-05:00

I came down with a fever. Garden fever to be more exact! Thank goodness the days are starting to get noticeably longer but that doesn't mean the days are filled with sunshine around here. Critter is enjoying some sun from our window sill that just happens to overlook the bird feeder. A popular spot as you might have guessed. She is sitting next to a container I brought indoors last fall. The ivy has completely taken over almost choking out a mini fern plant. The begonia continues to flower. I adopted two very large Boston Ferns and they are doing very well too. In the spring I'll have to divide them.

Oh. Check this out. After only FIVE YEARS I finally finished this denim quilt. I guess since this is the 6th time I have moved with it I figured I needed to finish it. It almost makes me sick to think it only took me an hour to finish the binding. One lousy hour and I moved it 6 times. Critter took a liking to it right away. The funny thing is that I really don't like it anymore. I mean this was the second sewing project I started. I've changed a lot since then.

I quilted it with a blue embroidery thread. When I have some good light again I'll take a picture of the back.
And the vintage sofa is still around. I finished the pattern for it. You can kinda see where I am taking this. But it's going to take 15 or so yards of fabric (est $10-15/yard) and new cushions. And the car didn't pass inspection so we have to buy 4 new tires. Maybe I can look for fabric in March.
I am pretty proud on those darts to fit the cover around the soft corners. This baby is going to look nice when I finish it!

New things

2010-01-04T09:42:00.001-05:00

Sunlight is a hot commodity around here. Of course it shines all throughout church. Then promptly goes away when I get home. But I got a couple more things listed on the ol' Etsy site.

Sparrow tote with asymmetrical pintuck details.

Linen scarf with fawn applique.

Visit to Terrain- final post

2010-01-03T13:59:00.001-05:00

Ok. Last post about Terrain! What have you liked best? I have to admit that I love the thought of growing cut flowers as much as I love growing edible plants.

Zinnia's are one of my favorite summer/fall flowers. They're cheap (start very well from seed) and grow amazingly with little care. I love that they put the bunches in paint containers.

Zinnia's in mason jars. My go-to vase. Can anyone ID the purple berry plant?

Inspiration for a fall quilt! I'm more of an accessory or home deco sewer, but now I want a fall quilt and I want to use these colors as inspiration. :)

Easy peasie twig project.

Cool plant stands that add a bit of art to the garden! I love that they planted a late cherry tomato plant in an asparagus bed. Stayed pretty into fall!

Metal plant supports. I might try and modify a normal metal tomato cage into something like this.

I tried my hand at a succulent container garden this summer. Some plants worked better than others. I'm trying again this year with a few more varieties. I could not believe the cost of these! Upwards of $50!

And in case you were wondering what you were going to do with that huge dried sunflower head you grew this year, here's an idea. :P

Terrain is definitely the new cool kid on the block. It almost seems like they can do no wrong. Even when you see something new like a planter with a huge dead sunflower head it kinda works. I can't wait to visit again in the spring. Good thing I have a friends and family in the area I can spend the night with since it's a good 3 hour drive for me. Who wants to come with me?

Visit to Terrain- part 3

2010-01-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

I knew I would like visiting Terrain, but it surpassed any expectations. I need to go back and visit throughout the seasons to see how they incorporate plants and landscaping materials to make the garden a feature in every season. I have always been intimidated when I try and consider a fall garden. There are holes where once lush summer foliage was and sporadic color from plants in the last days of their glory.

These chairs look nice but could you imagine the butt imprints they would give you?

The reason I want to get remarried (to the same guy) here. Seriously. Where is my fairytale? Did you notice the pumpkins on the roof? No detail left unnoticed.

When I speak about hardscape I don't mean shiny glass globes or plastic pink flamingos. I've always had a thing for rusty metal sculptural objects and this orb fit the bill. They had several on display in all different sizes all made by a local-ish (east coast somewhere?) craftsman. This would make a statement all year long.

More butt pattern chairs but look what its holding! It's a hollowed out logs with moss and woodsy succulents. The stepping 'stones' are thin sliced tree trunks.

Another view of the log container so I would remember how they bound the ends.

I've always wanted to make some congrete/stone containers. More future inspiration for me.

Terrain also offers up a more traditional experience to purchase plants as well. I bet shopping for these plants in the summer time is very enjoyable. Mature shade trees suround the property so on a warm summer day the shade would be nice.

To be continued...

Etsy Updated!

2010-01-01T18:32:00.003-05:00

With a few hours of beautiful sunlight today I was able to get a few things listed in my Etsy shop. Click the photo's to take you directly to the item.

Happy New Year!

Trip to Terrain- part 2

2010-01-01T11:58:00.001-05:00

There was so much to look at when I visited Terrain. It was a bit chilly so I ducked indoors for a bit to warm up before I headed back outdoors. They had several greenhouses and then the main store which also included their cafe. When I was there the cafe was closed for a private party. :( It was expensive anyways.

The orchid greenhouse. Before I moved I had the most beautiful orchid. I kept it alive for over 3 years and it had outgrown its container last year. But any size orchid pot I found locally was too small. For some reason my orchid did not take well to the move. Maybe somebody dropped it? Who knows. But by the time I visited Terrain I knew there was no hope for my beloved orchid. So I was a bit sad when I finally found a large enough pot for it. Also pictured are tiny little stools (perfect for displaying houseplants and I could probably make them!) and spools of twine.

A good idea for plant markers. I have plenty of twigs around here to make this happen!

Inside Terrain married plants with skincare. If I had some money burning a hole in my pocket I would have picked up a few of these. Soaps, lotions, salt scrubs, and any other lux item you'd want in your Xmas stocking.

They also had a whole department of housewares. I could have spent all day in there. I've decided that I need to make myself some linen dish clothes and stencil or stamp them.

If I visit a place that I really love I always pretend that if the store let me take anything home for free what would it be? It would have been these plates. They would match my all white dish theme but add interest with texture. I really, really love these. And I need another plate like another hole in the head, but they still speak to me. I want to serve a fresh spinach salad with fresh herbs and flower buds (all from my garden) on them. *le sigh*

To be continued...

Trip to Terrain- Part 1

2009-12-31T12:33:00.001-05:00

(Entrance to Terrian in Oct 2009. They had so many varieties of pumpkins throughout the store but this large white beauty stole the show!)

In the continued effort to clean off my digital camera I am finally blogging about my fall trip to Terrain! This fall I attended a wedding for a friend in Philly and much to my surprise and amazement my hotel was less than a 1/2 mile from the store! I even made my husband leave early so we could go to the store before the wedding and I have to admit I took more photo's of Terrain than the wedding. Whoops! But the inspiration! Oh, the eye candy!

(Congrete container with two evergreens and grass. I love the monotone of plant color but the texture difference are the show stopper. The wind was blowing the day I was there and the grass made the arrangement very fluid.)

I have always loved gardening. Much of my garden has been confined to containers while we rented but now that we purchased a house... you better watch out! I want my landscaping to be beautiful throughout the seasons so I am being very deliberate with plant decisions and hardscape. My landscaping is going to be a project that will grow and mature over time since I can't make the financial investment to get it done in one year so I want to make sure that as I continue to make purchases and plant foundation plants it will all work out in the end.

I want to get married again here!

I really loved the simplicity of the signage they had throughout the outside portion of the store. Inexpensive burlap screenprinted in grey.

Close up. Couldn't you imagine an elaborate garden party with Welcome banners made like these? Or for a farmers market?

There are many more photo's to share. I loved sorting through them again. Rediscovering these photos is not helping my spring itch!

Progress

2009-12-30T14:26:00.001-05:00

Progress from yesterday!

After Xmas Vacation

2009-12-29T20:52:00.003-05:00

(Vintage bark cloth with contemporary navy blue polka dot. Fawn applique drawn by me.)

I am on vacation all this week. So I am getting a lot of the pesky "to-do's" crossed off my list. One of those items was downloading pictures from the camera. The bag pictured above is a recent favorite. It was the first one that sold at my recent craft show. Good thing I thought ahead and I have another one cut out ready to sew. :)

(I miss summer! I've ordered my Burpee catalog this week. December isn't even over with and I am already itching for spring!)

I forgot all about these beautiful red pepper. Friends of ours gave them too us at the end of summer. I am not a huge fan of peppers, but I do like roasted red peppers in several recipes. So I spent the time and roasted them all up. Then stored them in the fridge covered in olive oil. And then they molded. That was crap.

(oh, baby!)

And this is the project I started today! I got this vintage flexsteel sofa from my in-laws basement. The cushions are trash. They have completely deteriorated into nasty dust. This week I had planned to visit a localish fabric distributor to pick out upholstry fabric, but don't you know they are also taking a vacation the exact same time I am! What a bummer! But I am pushing ahead regardless. Today I started making a muslin pattern to use for the tailored slipcover I am planning to make for it. So far so good. Tomorrow I finish the test cover and order a new cushion. I can't wait til this is finished!

Snow day!

2009-12-19T13:00:00.002-05:00

I may not be blogging often, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy! My good friend volunteered her mother's house for an open house spotlighting all her crafty friends and those with home businesses. So I got to work and sewed, sewed, sewed.

Here are a few photo's of things I made. In the mean time we are completely snowed in today. Which is OK with me. This weekend was a free weekend for us. Yay! No plans! We slept in. Enjoyed a hot drink before we headed outside to play in the snow. By 9am we already had 6 inches on the ground.
It's now 1pm and we have passed the 8'' mark. And it's windy too. So you can't even tell we shoveled out our walkways and driveway. We are taking it easy today. I spend most of the morning warming back up with my favorite drink. 1 scoop of hot chocolate mix (dark chocolate swiss miss) + coffee+ dollop of cream. Homemade mocha. Yum! I have seen recipes for homemade gifts where you mix instant coffee with hot chocolate mix in a mason jar. Make some homemade marshmallows and BAM! excellent and yummy!

I'm working on getting the kitchen in order and then it's upstairs to the sewing room to finish a custom bag. Then it's time to make a tree skirt. I picked up the fabric from a local shop and I love it. It's festive but not commercial. No santa's, no snowmen. I'll post pics soon enough.
And I completely missed any Xmas etsy business. But oh well. I'll have to get some pics done soon from the items that didn't sell at the craft open house. Or I can just save them for Mother's Day because the same friend volunteered my house for another open house 3 weeks before Mother's Day! But I also had some friends volunteer to help clean so how could I say no?

Little bit late...

2009-11-29T18:17:00.002-05:00

Oh well. My family hijacked me this weekend and I am a little bit late in posting the winner of the fabric scraps. Looks like this package is going international because the Random Number Generator picked comment #2! RosaMaria, I'll be sending you an email for your address!

Thanks to everyone for commenting!

Black Friday Give-a-way!

2009-11-25T14:39:00.002-05:00

One reason for the season is definitely sewing! I do most of my sewing in the colder winter months. To get me started I sewed up some baby gifts. :) Flannel burp cloths. I measured 13x18'' raw and sewed right sides together all the way around the edge using 1/4'' SA leaving a 3'' opening for turning. Then I top stitched around the entire cloth for a finished edge. Quick and easy. I was going to embellish with some homemade patches but I put off making these long enough and they needed to get made!

This has to be my most favorite baby gift to date. Every friend who gets pregnant from here on out will probably get one of these now. I used Michael Miller's organic fleece for the interior and a chocolate brown cotton polka dot (from JoAnns?) for the exterior. Made in much the same way as the burp cloths except I added a hood and little ears! FYI on the MM organic fleece. It shrunk ALOT on the initial wash warm and tumble dry. I purchased 1.5 yards and after washing I was able to make a 30'' square with 9'' left over on one end. But it washed up well and is super soft!
I am also making progress with organizing my sewing stash. I have been rubbing off on some of my local friends since some have started sewing or making other projects with fabric so I was able to pass down many scraps to them. But I bundled up some vintage fabrics (from aprons and old clothes) and vintage sheet scraps to give away here on my blog.

The fabric bits are all different sizes. If you are making a nine patch quilt this would be perfect! If you'd like a chance at winning these scraps just leave a comment on this post. I'll generate a winner this Friday evening. BTW if you happen to be the winner and see blue marker on the scraps, don't be scared it's washable ink.

Alrighty then. Thanksgiving is tomorrow if you forgot to check your calendar and I'm cooking dinner. Jeff's family is driving in and I have prep work to get done today. But my brain hurts. Maybe I should start with a nap.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Before and After- Curtains

2009-10-26T08:23:00.002-04:00

I think curtains really make a room feel finished. I am -always- surprised how much impact they can make in a room. The sellers left curtain rods that were poorly installed in the dry wall with no anchor screws. Needless to say there are up to SIX holes on each side of the windows where the curtain rod had ripped away from the wall and then reinstalled. (Before)

Jeff had the great idea of floor to ceiling curtains and we begun our search to find what option we had. To our amazement there aren't very many options but thankfully Ikea sells the Kvartel system. Just what we were looking for. The system is screwed into the ceiling beams so nothing should rip out! And they also were selling a 100% white cotton curtain panels that are thin enough to act as a sheer for $10/window. The directions for the curtains say to wash cold and line dry. I washed hot and dried in the dryer. It's practical for me to wash my curtains to keep then clean from pet hair and allergens. Now that they are pre shrunk they are almost the prefect length!

(After)

The sheer panels have tab tops, but I just folded them back and hung the panels using little metal clips that came with the curtain system. They just touch the floor. When I finally find the prefect drapery fabric I will have to hem them up 2'' so they don't peek out from under the drapes and it makes it easier to clean too. I'm thinking I would like a green/white/ possible grey geometric print for the drapes. We have the nature theme going on without being too obnoxious and so a geometric print would keep it sane.

Now what am I going to do with that red couch! At this time all our furniture will have to make do. It will be relatively easy to make a slip cover for it since it has straight lines. I am leaning towards a chocolate brown (or dark grey) cotton twill slip cover like what Pottery Barn offers. I have another clean lined, low back sofa offered to me that will sit opposite of the red sofa. It will be covered in the same fabric as the red couch. If I do a grey slip cover I'll probably accent the room with a mustard colored vase lamp and/or pillows. I need to thrift some side tables. We have an idea for a custom coffee table that would double as a bench for extra seating when company comes over. I want it to be made from a rough cut plank, bark removed, then sanded and polish but keeping the organic shaped edge.

One thing at a time though. At least the weather is turning cold. It makes me want to stay inside and accomplish these projects.

Two Beautiful Collections

2009-10-23T16:48:00.003-04:00

Not too long ago I had the pleasure of sewing up two bags with two very beautiful collections of fabric. The first one utilized Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks collection.

I really loved the colors in these fabrics. If you are looking for a complementary print to add to this collection try Sugar Snap Plum Wiggle.
And then I used Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley collection. Loved it.
Added ties to the end of the bag. It make the side pockets stand out. Perfect for bottle waters or baby bottles.
Pleated pockets are adorable. I think I finally perfected this pattern I have been working on. The size and scale are just right for an overnight bag or baby bag.

Time well spent

2009-10-21T18:42:00.004-04:00

We've been living in our home for about a month now and would you believe we have not taken a shower in our master bath the entire time! There are a few quirks in the home and one of them includes the former owners installing the shower bar very high not considering the length of a standard shower curtain.

About 6 inches too short!

One of the first nights we moved in I tried to move the shower curtain lower thinking it was a tension rod but to my great horror the screws holding it to the drywall ripped out with a forceful yank. Yikes! Not wanting to replace and repaint drywall, its now back to where it was.

I really like the cloth shower curtains that you can throw right into the washer when needed. I didn't want to spend the money and time trying to find this specific curtain in the correct length (if they even exist) when I already have a white one that cleans up well with hot water and bleach.

So I set to work in the John Deere room. I cut the shower curtan 9'' down from the top and inserted a 7'' piece of fabric. I found the perfect use of the small amount of Heather Ross fabric I've been admiring for the last two years.

Yay! The floor will stay dry!

Our master bath is the standard beige on beige, but I'm not complaining. Eventually we'll make it our own, but until then Swimmy, Sparky, Bjorn, and Helen can enjoy a steamy shower every morning!

And I wonder why I am not sewing!

2009-10-15T20:20:00.002-04:00

This is the current state of my sewing room. I didn't realize I had that much stuff! Just a few years ago I could fit all of my fabric in one small plastic bin. Then I started reading blogs. It's all your fault. :P

So how do you like the John Deere theme? Floors are nice. And the natural light! Bonus. I went to Lowes yesterday to browse the paint chips. I have been debating on what color to paint it. Should I embrace color and go fun? Like turquoise? Or go classic like a nice oatmeal linen? Should I keep the pine board chair rail? The previous owners left us a bunch of left over trim from when they built the kitchen so I could possibly dress it up. Maybe install bead board on the lower half?

The reason I picked this bedroom for my sewing room was because of the closet. It has a built in closet system. Like whoa! I want to fit all my sewing supplies/fabric in that one space. Might need to pair some things down. Just a little.

So my question is if this was your sewing room what would you do with it? Feel free to leave links. I can't wait to read your ideas!

Time to check in!

2009-10-04T22:13:00.002-04:00

It is a completely different feeling when you are moving into you own home. A more permanent feeling. It feels good to permanently get rid of boxes because you're not going to need them for a future move. :) We are still getting settled, but the house is definitely livable and we are certainly enjoying it. Also enjoying our home is an incredible variety of bugs. Everything from a bajillion stink bugs to amazing little creatures like leaf bugs and stick bugs.
This was the first leaf bug I think I ever encountered in person. It was greeting me as I was moving one of the first car loads into the house. It just hung out at our front door while I moved boxes in and out watching my every move with great intent.

Just before the move I was able to whip up one last birthday present for a dear friend. I had found her birth year on a linen calendar and made her a zipper pouch/ clutch.
I really loved how this turned out. I also found my birth year as a calendar. I am not too fond of the image it has on it, but I'd like to make myself something with it.
My sewing room is far from being set up but I have managed to dig through a few boxes to gather some mending supplies. The room does have a desk and the sewing machine is finally set up. Now I need to finish a few things for Etsy before I can start having fun with a few household sewing projects. The weather is definitely screaming fall around here. Apple cider has hit the grocery shelves and so I am embracing fall. I better find the box with all my sweaters soon!

Taking shortcuts

2009-08-23T21:49:00.003-04:00

Sometimes with sewing I wonder how much I can get away with. All of my sewing skill has been by trial and error. I have learned that the first thing I make of anything is always a learning experience. Like do you really need to use interfacing? And which weight interfacing? A few months ago I made the bag below. I have found that if I use too sturdy of an interfacing in the handle they don't stay on my shoulders comfortably. Too stiff.

(fresh off the sewing machine)

So I thought, let's see what happens when I don't use any at all. The results are mixed. While the handles fit comfortable on my shoulder and stay put they also warped into a curled wrinkled mess. I should note that the handles are 100% linen. Maybe results would be different if it were cotton?(60 days later)

Not that I mind. One friend even said the handles go with the relaxed style of the bag. I still love the secret pocket in the front. Perfect place to hold my keys. I always know where to find them when my arms are full of groceries.

Next time I'll definitely put something in there to help stabilize the fibers to make them 'just right'. But I just wanted to see what I can get away with.

A story of making do

2009-08-23T21:47:00.003-04:00

My very wonderful neighbor, who I will miss dearly when we move away from our rental, has a husband who has a unique way in which he tears a hole in his left elbow of every long sleeve shirt he owns. She has taken this opportunity to learn more about sewing and together we are mending his long sleeve shirts by converting them to short sleeves. Never mind that the nights have already cooled off and I believe our fall has already begun.

We used a short sleeve shirt that fits him well to take measurements on the length of the sleeve.

Then we fold over 1/2'' and then another 1/2'' to encase the raw edge of the newly cut fabric. I thought this mend would be a quick and easy project but after sewing up my first shirt I realized that the fabric gathers funny, always leaving a pucker which I concentrate on the bottom of the sleeve. I now realize why this happens. The sleeves are tapered and when I roll the edges I get that pucker, but does anyone have a good solution to this problem? I suppose I could mess around with changing the angle of the sleeve. In this case the top of the sleeve measured 11 1/2'' and the bottom measures almost 7''. I also suppose I could make a binding from the remaining sleeve to finish the edges. Or I can continue to "hide" the pucker in the bottom seam. Any suggestions would be helpful. We have quite a few more shirts to hem.

And I just want to thank everybody on the well wishes for our new home! As expected, it's been a whorl wind of activity around here. Moving in bit by bit. Spending over $40 in felt at Lowes to put on the bottom of all our furniture so not to harm the hardwood floors. I think I finally decided where to put the vegetable plot garden. Today I am going to take a break from moving boxes and get two bags sewn up that are needed for a wedding. I woke up to cool, overcast Labor Day morning and it seems like the perfect slow day to get that project accomplished.

Playing Hookie

2009-08-21T19:20:00.005-04:00

This Wednesday both Jeff and I were ready to leave for work, keys in hand, when we both looked at each other and said we didn't want to go to work. So for the first time ever (at least for me) we played hookie from work last minute. We didn't have anything exciting planned. We just felt that this sunny August day was perfect to spend with each other. And since we are sans kiddo's we better take advantage of our spontaneity while we can!

We ran a few fun errands like picking up peaches at a local farmers stand, hitting up a thrift store, and then day dreaming about our new house. This awesome news is only a partial excuse for my absence online. The other part is laziness. Sewing hasn't ceased but taking the time to photograph and write about it has.

But let's not dwell on that. Let's talk about the new house! We are first time home buyers and I can't tell you how exciting this whole process has been. We've been saving for what seems like forever and started to look this spring online. The worst/best part about waiting and saving is that we got to spend a lot of time deciding what we liked and didn't like. So we were quick to say no to many properties that came on the market. But time was on our side and patience paid off. We ended up getting many of the priority items on our wish list. Newer home in the country with land surrounded by farms. And its less than 10 minutes from Jeff's work. Amazing!

Hopefully, this will be the last time we move for a very long time. I am so ready to plant roots.

Long lane leading up to the house. We plan to plant fruit trees in the front yard.

View from the mudroom through the kitchen into the living room. Check out all the natural light!

View from the breakfast room which we are just going to use as our dining room.

Dining room

We take possession in 9 days. Our actual moving date is 2 weeks later. Between Labor Day and out of state work trips it works out better that way. We have our rental til the end of Sept so there is really no rush. I can clean the new house before we move in, get settled, then have time to clean our rental. :)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

2009-07-13T22:16:00.002-04:00

I want to thank everyone who stopped by and commented on my little anniversary. From all of your comments I think I narrowed down why most of us blog or read blogs. It allows us be the completely insane, nerdy crafters we all naturally are, all while maintaining our real friendships because honestly if we discussed crafting/sewing/beading/fabric/thrifting as much as we actually think we would be exiled from our real life friends and family! Which if we were all exiled to the same place, that might not be a bad thing!

I went to Random.org and used True Number Generator on their home page and it came up with commenter #9 first. Now this commenter asked to be omitted from the contest but if she changes her mind I'll happily send her a homemade present.

So I generated another number and ..... commenter #10 ..... come on down!

I have a few big things brewing over here in the mintbasil household. Some crafting items include little girl dresses and making some new market bags so I can tote my groceries around in style! I also have a few household chores to accomplish like mending sheets and shortening king size pillow cases to standard size cases. I've lived with these oversized pillow cases for over 3 years! You'd think I would have made this simple mend earlier?

Success!

2009-07-04T00:06:00.006-04:00

I took Liana's advise from my previous posts comments and dug out my cut pattern remnants from the trash and taped the T-shirt pattern back together. I made two adjustments while I was at it by scooping out the neckline more and lengthening it by an inch and a half. And it turned out amazing! It feels so gratifying to actually make something that fits!

Thursday evening after work I stopped at JoAnn's to browse the clearance section and found an olive green jersey knit. After dinner I spent another 4 hours taping the pattern back together, cutting out the fabric, and copying/enlarging/cutting the rose pattern from the Alabama Stitch Book. At midnight I did attempt to start stitching but my eyes started to cross.

So I slept in (on a Friday!) and promptly moved into my sewing chair still in my pj's forgoing breakfast. I spent hours with a thread and needle doing the back stitch and half way through I questioned if the design was really worth all this effort.

Have I ever posted a picture of myself on this blog? I don't think so and if I did I don't think it was very clear. I suppose you now know whose behind the MintBasil blog! P.S. I always forget I have freckles on my lips. When I resized this photo I thought I had food on my mouth!

It's just a t-shirt to anyone else, but this shirt represents the first real success in making suitable clothes for myself. Talk about building up sewing self-esteem. And the reverse applique really makes it and I am happy that I actually successfully pulled off an Alabama project.

This is also my 200th blog post! I wasn't sure if I'd actually stick with this whole blogging thing, but little did I know what an amazing and creative community was waiting for me. I'd like to do a little give-a-way as a thank you for all your encouragement. Just tell me what you love most about this amazing crafting community. (And don't be bashful because I would actually say all the generous give-a-ways!) I'm not sure exactly what it will be, but I have a feeling it will involve fabric and my sewing machine. So leave a comment and make sure there is a way for me to get in contact with you if you win. The give-a-way is open until I blog my 201 post.

Butterick 5215

2009-06-27T12:02:00.003-04:00

One of the sewing tasks I wanted to accomplish this year was sewing knit fabrics. Whenever JoAnn's had their $1 Butterick pattern sale I picked up pattern 5215. It is a simple t-shirt. You know, a t-shirt you can pick up on clearance for just a few bucks but instead I worked from late afternoon until the wee early morning hours sewing. Ya. To be honest I did take several breaks for dinner and such but still it always takes longer the first time around.

Most of the time was spend preparing the pattern. I have to admitt that I was feeling impatient before I even started this project. I have been trying to get into the habit of tracing patterns instead of just cutting out the size I need. But I confirmed my size on the envelope and just went for it. Full on scissor on pattern paper action. I chose style A which is a more fitted t-shirt pattern. But to be honest, I couldn't really tell any difference between style B or C just by looking at the pattern pieces.

I had some clearance knit bought at JoAnns for $2/ yard. So I only had $2 for fabric and $1 for the pattern I just ruined by not taking the time to trace out my size. Stupid me.

It only had 4 pieces and the instructions were very good. No misinterpretation on my part. This was the first time I also sewed a sleeve. So that's 2 tasks checked off of my years sewing list.

I also was able to discover the best way to handle sewing stretchy fabrics on my sewing machine. I used a special needle for jersey fabrics and lengthened my stitch length until it sailed through my machine like butter. I do not own a serger so this was crucial.

Check out this neckline. I also topstiched the shoulder seams. The neckline is finished using a simple bias tape cut from the same knit. With all the folding there is 5 layers of fabric there which makes for a sturdy neckline.

Later on in the evening or early morning depending on how you define it, I was finishing up the bottom hem. My plan from the begining was to embellish this shirt using a reverse applique` technique like found in my Alabama Stitch Book. Probably the rose with a white background and aqua topstitching. So after looking through my trim box I found this vintage lace. At 1:30am I pinned it on and sewed with no hesitation. Everything looked great until I realized that this is not stretch lace and my hem is now never going to have any give.

None-the-less, I through this over my head and realized this was a very form fitting t-shirt and exagerated my chest quite a bit. I have the horizontal stretch bands in between my two boobs. Classy. The hem, even in its non stretch state, was fine. And I realized an easy fix would be to retrace the pattern one size bigger on top. But then my impatient self cut the sucker up. So there you go. I guess I'll have to reinvest $1 the next time on the same pattern next time it goes on sale. Lesson learned. In the mean time my best bet is to get skinny and save myself the $1 for the second pattern.

Before and During- Garden Edition

2009-06-22T19:50:00.002-04:00

This was my little back patio container garden that was just planted at the beginning of May...

This is my garden on Miracle Grow and 2 months later....

Things are really taken off!

This weekend in photos

2009-06-21T19:36:00.002-04:00

Tiny mushroom found on a visit to a state forrest. It was my first geocashing adventure!

I had all intentions of actually sewing up this shirt pattern Saturday morning, but I caught Critter making it into a frumbled mess. Such a bad kitty. I did get it cut out. Now it's at a stands still again.

My green beans are in flower. They did a lot of growing over the past week. My first planting will have some beans to harvest this coming week. I'll be able to pick some cucumbers this week too. And my zucchini is flowering. I want to count how many zucs can grow on one plant. We'll just see if a plant can feed an army!

Sugar snap peas from my local farmers market. I have to grow these next year! I tried a new recipe that steamed these peas and mixed up a dressing that included mint and goat cheese. I am not a fan of mint and peas. I know it's suppose to be a classic combination, but it's just weird.

Rainy Day

2009-06-11T20:33:00.003-04:00

Have any of you checked out the website Feed Your Soul: the free art project? I found it recently and it was an answer to my cheap (FREE!) cool artwork woes. Remember all those frames I painted black then hung down my long front hallway? Well they have remained bare with the exception of some really cute bird decals I bought off of Etsy from Vinyl Wall Art.

It took literally no time at all to print these beauties off on some card stock paper, trim, glue stick to some colored card stock I had on hand (I really wanted black paper but I am fresh out.) and affix to the wall with double stick tape. It has been a week and so far they have all stayed up.

This is a temporary solution. Ideally, I plan on purchasing a few free floating glass frames to place inside the black ones. All in good time.

My flowers are taking off. They don't lack water right now. This morning as I was eating my breakfast I was amazed how much my little container garden has grown. So many blossoms.

I have been making things!

2009-06-07T06:42:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday I when I was dressing for church I put on a newer black shirt that was begging for a new necklace. I looked at the clock. I had at least 5 minutes before we had the leave so I grabbed an old silver chain, my pliers, and my box of do-dads. In less than 30 seconds I found this crystal that I salvaged off a broken Xmas ornament and a bird charm from Michael's. It was so satisfying to whip this up. I left for church with a new necklace sans makeup. I did brush my hair though. :)

100% linen front, 100% red and white cotton backing. Appliqued letter embellished with hand embroidery to mimic cotton fabric. Binding is a small red and white polka dot fabric repurposed from a thrifted sheet. Machine free motion quilted in natural colored cotton/poly thread.

A few nights ago I finished up this baby blanket for a newborn baby girl. It was crazy simple to make and was inspired by Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing book. In the book she has a soft wool baby blanket project that has the initial letter detail. Basically I used the solid surface theme and the letter to whip up this blanket. I also tried my hand at the free motion quilting option on my machine. Once I got the hang of it, it went pretty well. But to tell you the truth I wouldn't want to quilt anything larger! It's been washed and dried. I was a bit nervous about the red bleeding, but as a precaution I washed the blanket on its own with a cup of white vinegar and everything came out fine. The only thing I wish I would have done differently was use a lighter weight batting. But I was using what I had on hand. It's a great weight to be used as a play mat.

Playing catch up

2009-06-02T19:08:00.002-04:00

I downloaded many pictures off my camera a few days ago, but I can't recall where I put them. I did manage to find two unrelated pictures to share. I've been trying really hard to get back to blogging and I can tell it's going to take a bit more effort.

First, I need to talk about a great swap I had with Christina from This Girl Beads. It came about from a continuous email discussion on the color yellow. So we put together a private swap. I wanted a new yellow necklace and she asked for a new summer bag. Because I was terrible about taking pictures of her gifts to me (forgive me Christina!) and my swap partner is so awesome you can actually see what she sent me here.

Everything she sent was absolutely wonderful and I am one lucky girl. I wear that necklace often and it quickly became a favorite of mine. I did manage to take one quick photo of the bag I made her in the early morning light before I shipped off her package. (The rest seen here.)
She asked for a gray and yellow bag. She likes linen and pleats. I found the mustard velvet ribbon in an amazing fabric shop in Gettysburg, PA. They carry many period fabrics, as well as, modern reproductions. This ribbon may not be vegetable dyed but its an historically accurate color from the civil war era. Come to think of it, I bought the gray fabric there too. This bags looks really great in person.

****************************************************

Remember those mojitos I mentioned last weekend. They were so good! I can't wait til it's weekend again.

No time for photos

2009-05-22T17:06:00.003-04:00

Some people take a vacation from blogging, but I need a vacation to blog! Ha!

I got big plans for this weekend. First of all we are not driving anywhere. Just think of all those precious minutes reallocated to my sewing machine. :)

I already visited JoAnn's over my lunch break today. Picked up some $1 patterns and took advantage of the 50% off notions wall. A seamstress can always use more needles and fabric markers!

When I got home I had time to trim back my mint plant. No sense letting any of it go to waste, so I got some minty sun tea brewing on the front porch and I am on my second mojito of the weekend. :P Nice.

I am not going to spend too much time on the computer this evening. I have some house chores to complete (made easier by the mojitos!) so we can enjoy a clean house for the weekend. I just wanted to check in!

Spring Nesting

2009-05-06T17:25:00.003-04:00

Every year I get so excited to start another garden. For a few years now I have had to limit my gardening to containers, but I try to find new ways to enhance the experience. This year my Mom graciously lent a hand to get the plants in the soil. There is a mixture of edibles and flowers this year.
Out front I placed a few things. We made a little branch teepee with grape vine to support Sweet Peas once they get growing. At the bottom of the pot are a few trailing plants and a fern. I also have some parsley, cilantro, and basil starting from seeds.

My Rosemary plant from last year wintered over and is doing much better outside. This year she has a new neighbor. I placed a purple wave Petuna in the pot with her. Hopefully they will get along and become best friends.
There are some pickles started. Now I realize I may confuse some people with the term "pickles", but these are the smaller prickley cucumbers. These are the variety my family turns into pickles. These will be part of a hanging pot arrangement.

This is the grouping I have out back for now. As the plants mature I will move them around that best suits them. The wooden plant stand was a dumpster dive I found earlier this spring. Also planted is mountain mint, oregano, thyme, camomille, zucchini, lettuce, and tomatoes.

With all this planting I really started to feel the urge to nest. Tomorrow my husband and I are going to attend an estate auction will all intentions of bidding on the house. We had the home inspection on Tuesday, so now we hope we are the high bidder tomorrow! At least my garden is portable if we get it!

Etsy Find: bullfinchbarbury

2009-04-20T19:56:00.005-04:00

There are many gorgeous things on Etsy but every once in a while I see something that completely inspires me. Take these GORGEOUS enameled bracelets made by bullfinchbarbury.

(Got to have a set for yourself? There is another one ready to be purchased. Click the photo.)

I have a new color crush this spring and it's yellow. I have always tended to stay away from yellows because my skin has an olive undertone and I thought the color always washed me out. And while I think I will still avoid a large yellow blouse, these bangles will brighten up a gray shirt dress or any black and white outfit. I love, love, love them. They are a really great size that won't slip off your hands and the color (at least on my computer monitor) is true to the photos. And I can't end this post without gushing about the packaging. Hands down, one of the best packaging I have received from any Etsy seller. Picture these bangles wrapped in a bronze tissue paper inside a rich chocolate brown Chinese take out container and then tied with a colored ribbon. Mmm. I saved every last bit of it to reuse.

And even though I some what satisfied my yellow crush with these bracelets, my heart can wander and develop new crushes easily. Enter new crush:

(Hint: My birthday is in June.)

all photos courtesy of bullfinchbarbury

Yee-haw!

2009-04-13T21:24:00.002-04:00

For the first time (that I am aware of!) I made it on the Etsy front page! Eeee! So exciting! One of my little mason jar pincushions was front and center! Now that we got that out of the way...

I made myself a new spring tote bag. I made a pleated panel tote with a hidden pocket. Lots of linen. Lots of texture. Vintage. Yellow.

The interior has this zipper pocket and two slip pockets made from the vintage yellow rosebud sheeting.

Hidden pocket in action!

In other news, I spotted a heinous public display of a Snuggie. Gross! The culprit was a young high school age girl. The scene was a downtown side walk. The weapon was a maroon Snuggie worn as a jacket. Folks, this is why kids need parental supervision AT ALL TIMES. WTF?

Etsy Update

2009-04-04T16:14:00.002-04:00

(Click the photo to go to the direct listing)

This weekend I finally got my butt in gear and reopened my Etsy shop. I mean, who really goes on 'vacation' for 3 months? Anywho, a few new things are listed. More to come, but I have some house cleaning to get done before guests arrive Sunday and can't get all the photo's redone in photoshop today. And I think I am going to stop making my mason jar pincushions for a while. They are getting copied out the ying-yang so I figured I'll move onto other things.

(Clicky the photo)

I did a bit of house cleaning today. Got on the hands and knees and scrubbed grout. (BTW, if I had it my way grout would NOT exist.) I am trying to decide what to make for dinner tomorrow night. This past week I have been on a salad kick and I had a craving for Caesar salad. I noticed a new Bolthouse Farms dressing in the refrigerated isle. Have you tried any of their yogurt based dressings yet? I bought the Caesar Parmigiano flavor with a tiny bit of hesitation but when the serving size was 60% less calories than normal caesar dressing I thought why not? Let me just tell you it is AMAZING. Get up, put your shoes on, and go get some. For lunch today I made a turkey bacon caesar salad with spinach. Well, basically it was any ol' salad with this amazing dressing. It's also amazing as a sauce warmed up and drizzled over salmon filets.

So for dinner tomorrow night... maybe stuffed chicken breasts... with caesar salad. Oh, and one more plug about a Bolthouse Farms product. If you have not tried their mango lemonade, just buy it next time. Don't worry about a coupon. Just get it for yourself. It's too good for kids anyways.

Cooking and sewing, but not at the same time

2009-03-30T20:36:00.004-04:00

This Sunday I was a guest over at Lollychop's blog. She featured my Irish scone recipe. Easter is two weekends away and Mother's Day is right around the corner and these would make a great treat on either occasion. Trust me when I say I have test many, many, many scone recipes before this one was discovered. They are sooooo amazing!

And this weekend I was able to sew up a special little tote for a my church silent auction donation. I am jumping on the doily bandwagon. They look amazing paired with linen.

(MaryAnn- thanks for the button! I used one that you recently sent me.)

Jeff thought it was funny the the first bag I ever labeled was a donation to the church. Eh. Got to start sometime I say. I have been toying with the idea of getting a custom stamp made so I can stamp my own labels using fabric ink or just stamp the bag itself. In the mean time I used the alphabet option on my sewing machine. Once I figured out the programing it was a breeze to get done.

I wanted to make a bag so feminine it would either make your heart melt or burn your eyes. I think I accomplished it. It's all pink and roses and lace. I used a vintage button and loop closure and just did a few slip pockets on the inside. It's completely interfaced so it will hold it's own shape.

And for the record I did not sew and cook at the same time on Saturday, but I did leave the iron on while I was baking. Whoops! The house is still standing.

Buttons, buttons

2009-03-23T20:42:00.003-04:00

Last week I picked up a new dress shirt at a store that's one notch below a Marshalls but slightly above a Goodwill. I found a pretty little shirt that has some interesting details but it was missing a button. For $6 I brought it home figuring I could replace all the buttons with something in my stash.

So I went through drawer number 1. Do you think I could find 6 identical white, black, or navy buttons? Of course not. The white buttons I do have are rather vintage and so they all have a yellow cast to them and looked rather dingy against the shirt.

No luck in this pile of shank buttons. All of them were too big.

Do I ever need a new system for my button stash or what?! Any takers on helping me get my button stash organized. I'll pay you in buttons.

The original buttons were fabric covered shank buttons but they were really cheap. The shank part is made of plastic and I could tell it was only a matter of time before they busted off. Like I said I found a vintage 'white' button set. Don't be fooled by the photo. They all had a yellow cast. And after I sorted through all my button mess twice I finally discovered 6 little grey buttons.Have I mentioned my sewing machine automatically sews on buttons? I kid you not! Sewing on all these buttons took me less than 6 minutes. There were 6 buttons. I'll let you do the math. :) I'll most likely wear this shirt with my grey dress pants and newly purchased $6 faux patent leather navy flats (also purchased at the same store).

Creative Challenge

2009-03-22T20:09:00.002-04:00

About 3 weeks ago Rebecca offered up these vintage elastic cards to complete a creative challenge. At first I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Then one afternoon I picked up a nearby pencil and lightly doodled. I figured I could easily erase my marks and proceed with my original plan. But as I drew I heard my cat impatiently meowing at the back door to be let in.

"Kitty wants in." pencil, colored pencil, ink

Nothing to do with elastic, but that wasn't the point. Rebecca gave us free rein. And it felt good just to doodle. I haven't done that in a while.

What's on my desk...

2009-03-21T21:51:00.001-04:00

I am waiting on some light weight interfacing that I need to pick up to move to the next step. I underestimated the challenge of sewing circles. This will be one rewarding project but one I may not attempt again in the near future. My perfectionist nature is screaming. I need to sew perfect 1/2'' seams to get round, not oval, rings. Not that any baby would care...

2009-03-20T21:10:00.001-04:00

I got back in the sewing saddle with a very satisfying sewing project. I have to put in a little plug here for oliver + s patterns. If I ever need sewing confidence, all I have to do is sew up one of these patterns. I am always inspired to try sewing a garment of my own as soon as I finish up the last hem. If you can thread a sewing machine and can read English, you can sew this dress. And if you are looking to expand your sewing techniques from straight lines to button holes, this project will take you there.

This is the tea party sundress. Absolutely the cutest dress ever. (Well, maybe the Birthday Party Dress could possibly be cuter, but I haven't sewn that up yet!) Hello? Check out that piping! And I used my automatic button hole feature on my sewing machine which was awesome. Should have learned that trick sooner.

This is a size 3T. *le sigh*

Winning Hand Swap

2009-03-19T19:04:00.002-04:00

Nothing will help get you back into creating/sewing better than a swap. The girls over at Sweet Goodness Swaps put together a fun little theme- The Winning Hand. We had to incorporate Hearts, Diamonds, Spades, and Clubs in the swap. Let me tell you. It was kinda hard to put together a swap that wasn't cheesy and included a bunch on none usable/wanted items, but my partner Christine totally rocked it! (To see what I sent her, click on her name.)

Diamonds- She found this diamond fabric to make a wonderful guest book! Which is very timely since we actually have a guest room now. She also made her own printed fabric to make a traveling tea tag cozy! And Christine chose an Alice in Wonderland theme for the swap incorporating all the suits.

Guest book and tea cozy open. Have you noticed her great tags? She put so much time into them. I saved them all so I could reuse them!

Can you tell I like this gift? She included all the teas too. Funny thing is the day I got the package I was standing in the coffee/tea isle at the grocery store trying to decide which of these new Twining teas to bring home. I couldn't decide so I left empty handed. Imagine my glee when I found them in the swap package. Perfect I tell you.

The pinnacle piece of the swap was this thrifted book which is a continuation of the Alice in Wonderland story. Check out the cover. What an amazing find for this swap! She also included a pair of dice that had clubs on them and sweet butter mints. I love me some after dinner butter mints. MMMmmm.

And that's not all. There was this whole BOX goodies that included lemon cookies, raspberry jam, MORE TEA, and candy. Box isn't shown here because Jeff and I dug right into it. The lemon cookies were great with a cup of tea. And the jam? I plan on making a lemon/raspberry bunt cake. *rubs hands together* I can't wait for that!

BTW- I'm back!

What would you do if you were given 24 hours of free time?

2009-02-21T21:15:00.002-05:00

I read today in the latest issue of Artful Blogging that it is rude to leave your blog unattended without a explanation of any absence. Whoops. When I finally logged back on to Blogger I realized I missed my two year blogging anniversary. I've been so preoccupied recently I think I would have missed my own birthday but that's neither here nor there.

Because I know you all wait on baited breath for new blog posts by me (ha!), here's your warning that I may be absent from this blog for a tiny bit longer.

(The vintage hand blown glass jar above was a Christmas gift from my grandmother. Isn't it awesome? It's color is amazing and the glass has the most incredible subtle texture that is only seen in person. My grandmother also researched the piece and even tracked down a small booklet from the local historical society detailing the history of the family of glass makers that made this piece which she included with the gift. I love it.)

Photos part 3

2009-01-27T22:06:00.004-05:00

"My Hand" requested by MaryAnn.
Over Christmas I found a great deal on a tripod and I had my first chance to use it while taking some photos of an Etsy custom order this weekend. Using a tripod is fantastic and allowed me to use both hands to stage the photo while still looking at the view screen to check composition and balance. This is a photo outtake. I kind of got caught up in making little hand puppets. I used to entertain my little sister for hours with 'hand people' and making her stuffed animals come to life. So excuse my wintered hands and let's play!

If you are wondering why in the world I am taking pictures of my hand, you can read more at my original post here and photo part 1 and photo part 2.

This is the custom business card holder I was photographing at the time. It's headed over to this super cool Houston photographer Three Heart Photography . Check her blog out to see what she has to say about Etsy (and me!).

And Ann-Margret is hosting a blog give-a-way. Head on over and check it out.

The Cost of Handmade

2009-01-25T15:57:00.003-05:00

(Please take one moment to think of a dollar amount you would pay for the pencil case pictured above. Ok, you may now continue reading!)

I have had this blog title in my head for months. Handmade is really catching on. I can't remember people valuing handmade more than now. I think the whole Local movement has helped tremendously and I have to say I have browsed the Local Etsy feature more than once to see what people are creating in my neck of the woods.

I have a question for you. If you are currently creating handmade items, what was the reason you started? My reason is simple. I am cheap and I like the challenge of learning new skills. But I really dislike to label myself and my handmade items as cheap. Maybe I should use the term "frugal" or"thrifty".

Take this pencil case for example. The linen had a previous life as a garment. The cotton print was free to me. The zipper, well, I found this one locally for $.10. Not much in the way of material investment right? But how long did it take me to make? How much is my time worth? And if I had to recreate this and had to buy new linen and cotton can I charge a different price per handmade pouch? Should I figure all my material expenses at new material costs?

I timed how long this took me from start to finish. I started this pouch at 12:45 pm on a Saturday afternoon. I cut all the fabric. I pieced the front and back exterior panels. All seams were top-stitched. I even changed the color of the thread once to add a bit of contrast stitching on the linen. I took the extra time to add fabric bits to the ends of the zipper so the pouch had near 90 degree corners. There are a few lost minutes in there when I tried to find my little crochet needle that I use to turn corners, but when it was all said and done the clock on the wall said 1:35pm. Ladies and gentlemen that is 50 minutes. ((pause)) Is that too long? Is it fast?

I was reviewing the time investment with my husband and I expressed frustration is how slow I was. If sewing pouches was my full time job, how could I ever make a living? (Not that I am looking to make sewing a full time job or anything. I just wanted to clarify that.) He responded that making a zipper pouch in under an hour should be a very satisfied crafty project. Hmmm. Maybe so.

Fast or slow, I just used 50 minutes of my life to sew this little pencil case. How much is that worth to you? Should I figure out my hourly wage for my salary job since I have B.S. degree? I proposed this question to the hubby and he said I couldn't use my degree salary as a basis to determine the value of my time since I didn't use my degree education to make this purse. Hurumph! Does anyone have any comments on this statement? I sure did, but I eventually decided to use minimum wage for purposes of this Handmade Experiement. (Even though the local gas station is hiring at over $10/hr.)

Minimum wage for PA as of July 2009 is proposed to be $7.25/hr. 50 min equates to $6.01.

The cost of the raw thrifted materials is a very modest $.45. My time is apparently worth $6.01 at minimum wage. Total cost is $6.46.

Now consider if I had to pay "new" prices for the materials.
Comprable zippers cost $1.69 at JoAnns.
Cotton fabric (designer) is usually around $8.95 (includes shipping).
Linen costs vary greatly but a 40% coupon at JoAnns will get your 100% linen for around $10/yd.

You'll have to excuse me for not showing my work, but if I have used new materials my cost would be around $2.74. (Keep in mind that I did not interface this case since the linen was already interfaced from the garment construction and the cotton was a deco weight fabric.)

And then the business books say to add on markup, which is your profit. I've seen books that say you should raise your prices 50-100% per item. But it all depends on how much profit you need.

So how much would you pay for the zipper pouch above? I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Do you have any advise to share when it comes to pricing your handmade items?

Photos part 2

2009-01-16T20:09:00.005-05:00

"Something I Am Not Proud Of" requested by sulu-design
When Susan requested this I thought to myself I can get pretty honest with myself. This photo represents the string of Christmas lights that are still strung up across my living room floor after I took them down a week ago. I need to wind them up neatly. What am I waiting for? I don't know. But I do this in other areas of my life by letting little insignificant things become monsters in the room. I need to work on being more prompt with tasks in my personal life.

"Corner Of My Home/ Reading Spot" requested by Sherry
Oh, check out the sweater pillows I made last month. They've already been washed and dried and they survived. I have a little cube foot stool I can place in front of this chair and cuddle into the leather seat for a bright reading spot. In truth, I can never read in one place too long. Two chapters in I am sprawled across the floor. By chapter five I made my way over to the couch and then I'll finish the book in bed.

In case you are wondering what these photos are all about I asked for some suggestions in this post.

Photos

2009-01-15T21:01:00.002-05:00

"Turquoise and Red" request by Very Mary
Vintage mug racks found this past summer.

"A Funny Shaped Cloud" request by Amber
Picture taken just before sunset today. I was still on the road and had to take a phone call. I pulled over at a rural gas station and looked up. I am glad I took my camera with me today. What do you think it is?

"Food" requested by Kim
I saw that conversation hearts were available and I had to take a treat when we (Jeff) watched football at a friends house last weekend. So some cupcakes magically appeared. By the way, have you checked out the blog Bake It Pretty? Amanda has moved her super cute baking items from Etsy to her own online shop . She has chocolate button molds. I kid you not! Makes me want to make more cupcakes.

Thanks for all the requests! I'll get more photos up later.

Kick in the butt

2009-01-09T23:16:00.005-05:00

Every once in a while you need a little help getting motivated. Why don't you guys/gals help me with my next post? I'm taking photo requests. What would you like me to take a photo of? (Keep it PG kids.) :)

Kate, Here's your bag!

2009-01-04T22:32:00.004-05:00

(Muslin mock up bag)

Over my vacation break, my sister came down for a visit and ended up designing her very first custom bag. She took some inspiration from Etsy, among a few other places, and I made this muslin mock up for her to check out the size and scale before she had to leave. She rooted through my button collection and found two burnt orange buttons as color inspiration.

(Finished bag. Button-loop closure. Contrasting orange stitching. 1.5 inched boxed corners for extra interior space.)

My sister really liked how the orange buttons popped on the cream colored background, so I chose a muslin canvas (still muslin, still cheap, still has the little flecks in the weave) and a deep orange cotton twill fabric for the interior (which was on super clearance for $1/yard!).

Inside the bag has a zipper pocket lined with the muslin canvas so it's easy to find what your looking for. There is also a slip pocket and a key fob.

I was really pleased that my first initial measurements satisfied my sisters requirements, so it was quick to sew together once everything was cut out.

I made one cutting error and had some scraps so I made a coordinating pleated zipper pouch to go in the purse. It's large enough to hold her camera or other small items.

Though I think next time I will get her to sew it. What do you think Kate? :)

Give-a-way Winner(s)

2009-01-01T12:33:00.002-05:00

Happy NEW YEAR everyone!

The pot of chili con carne is stewing away in my new enameled cast iron pot (Christmas gift!) getting ready for the Rose Bowl later this afternoon. The dishes are washed. Laundry is dried and ready to be put away. But before I forget let's pick a winner of the calendar. Oh wait. Why not pick winners! I probably have enough ink left to print out 2 more. So without further adieu-

True Random Number Service

List Randomizer

There were 15 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

# 17 is Amanda Jean
#13 is Pam
# 8 is Ashley Ann

So ladies, if you would please send me your mailing address at leeannhuberATgmailDOTcom.

Thank you everyone who stopped by to enter! I made a list of blogging topics a few days ago and I had a few more give-a-ways on there. So stop back often. :)

Last post for 2008!

2008-12-31T21:29:00.005-05:00

It will be a quiet evening in our household tonight. Currently we are filling our very large tub for a relaxing soak, followed by a movie and chocolate covered pretzels, and then we'll kiss into the New Year. Can you tell we don't have kids? :) Anyways, I snapped a photo of my air layering project. After my Mom and I completed surgery on this plant we realized we should have done the rooting higher up. I may have to top this sucker. However, I am not sure how the plant will rebound. Does anyone have a similar experience with this type of plant?

(Hello. I now have a coconut!)

Also, in case anyone is interested I have an Etsy Treasury currently up! I choose an assortment of wonderful linen made items. If I could ever figure out how to save my screen you'd have a picture of the yummy linens, but a link will have to do:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=30270

Have a safe and happy New Year!

PS. Go Penn State!

By the way. What's the proper way to write a post script? P.S. or PS or PS. or Ps. or P.S.- or ps ????

Oh, and one more thing. You still have a few more hours to sign up for the 2009 Calendar Give-a-way! Go to this post and commen t!

2009 Calendar Give-a-way

2008-12-29T18:58:00.006-05:00

(photo courtesy of littlebrownpen)

I thought I would get back into blogging with a little give-a-way! This year I made an Etsy purchase through littlebrownpen. You might have seen this shop featured on many sites pre-Dec 25 and I have to say this was an incredible investment. I bought the Keep Calm and Carry On Spoof 2009 Calendar PDF along with a few others. Their 3 for $10 deal is awesome. And I just noticed they are having a Post Holiday Sale on some of their Xmas images. Just make sure you have extra ink for your printers before you get started!

(photo courtesy of littlebrownpen)

Everyone has loved this little calendar and I hope one of you will too! So leave a comment by Wednesday Dec 31st and you could ring in the New Year with my last printed copy of this calendar.

I have yet to punch a hole at the top for hanging, but I'll let the winner decide if they want me to do that or not. Everyone is welcome to participate no matter where you live. Just make sure you leave your email (or I can reply to your comment via email) so I can contact you if you are the winner.

Is New Years Eve really 2 days away?!!

Day 8 of Christmas Vacation

2008-12-28T18:05:00.004-05:00

Remember just two weeks ago I was looking forward to spending some much needed time with my sewing machine to finish/start some projects? Well, I haven't touch my machine since I've been on vacation. What kind of sorry sewing sap am I? Nonetheless, I have been spending some time with my house plants. I finally got around to making some felt coasters for all my indoor pots. I just used a thick cream colored felted sweater from my stash and cut out circles (as seen above).

My Mom also helped me in trying to save this crazy tall, lanky palm plant. I rescued this plant when it was just 6'' tall from the $.50 Wal-mart plant clearance display. And now it's towering over 6 feet. But you can definitely tell its history from its stem. Times of darkened apartments during/after college are evident by a wonky slimmer trunk, and more fruitful years by its top heaviness. So we tried a propagation method called Air Layering. I'll keep you updated.

I also set up a natural light stand for my indoor plants. I found this microwave cart on the curb this summer. The lights that are attached are full spectrum lights so it mimics natural sunlight allowing the plants to fully complete photosynthesis from artificial means. I moved my still living rosemary plant near by and I have hopes to plant some cilantro and basil in small plants to see what they do. I recently watched a PBS gardening show where one women has a similar set up and does many seeded plantings of basil. She said the basil won't get full and robust as it does outside in the summer, but she picks the seedlings and uses them in her winter cooking. I also found 10 Paper White bulbs on clearance at Lowes for $2 that I planted yesterday.

Here's a look at our Fraiser Fur Christmas tree this year. I better put a Christmas tree skirt on my to-do list. I really love this one made by Amanda. You can see what it looks like under her tree here.

Someone please send me some sewing mojo, would you please? :)

Meme

2008-12-21T14:49:00.002-05:00

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis- I think they are the coolest of all bugs.
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the mona lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train- from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Russia
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen michelangelo's david in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkelling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies.
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood- but I can't anymore because I lived in N. Ireland for over 3 months! :(
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a cheque
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in london
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person.
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

I am on vacation! The parents arrived a few hours ago. There is still cleaning and laundry sorting to do, but its much more enjoyable when people are here to keep you company. :)

I decided on Prime Rib, mash potatoes, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, biscuits and peach pie for Christmas dinner. Tonight I am making homemade chicken pot pie. I've printed off recipes for homemade pizza crust and sticky buns. Carbs anyone?

I have done some sewing. I tore into my cashmere stash and sewed up some fingerless gloves fashioned from the sleeves. They turned out nice and everyone who received them as gifts really liked them. Now I need to make a pair for myself.

2008-12-15T22:16:00.002-05:00

Let me stop and catch my breath.
Right.
I thought I would stop in for a short visit and let you know what I have been up to.
Xmas gift making is in high gear, which means no pictures.
It seems I finish most sewing projects around midnight these days. At that time I immediately wrap them up and don't even bother taking photo's.
The sun has forgotten to shine for me. And when it does I am working away from home.
Good news is that Friday is my last day and then I am off until Jan 5. Giddy up!
I can't decide what my first big sewing projects will be. My red and aqua quilt? My t-shirt project out of my Alabama Stitch book? Attempt clothing again?
A group of my girl friends decided to do a Christmas present swap and decided the gift had to be either free, thrifted, or handmade. I swear I didn't make the rules, but it works for me! And I got my handmade gift finished this evening. Two days ahead of schedule. :)
My family is visiting my house during the holidays and I am very excited about that.
Perfect excuse to make really delicious meals. Like peach pie and scones. Pair them with cherry chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk followed with a scoop of ice cream and I'll call that dinner.
I am 99% sure that I will be making prime rib for Christmas dinner. Christmas seems to be the odd holiday when it comes to the menu. I mean, Thanksgiving is always Turkey. Easter is always ham. What are your thoughts on this? What are you having for Christmas?

Give-a-way

2008-12-05T16:00:00.002-05:00

Head on over to http://www.agiveawayaday.blogspot.com/ to have a chance to win this!

Enjoy your weekend!

This and That

2008-12-02T21:26:00.003-05:00

Over Thanksgiving I did some sewing with my sister....

That girl was a wiz on the sewing machine. For not sewing since 8th grade home ec, she did a fantastic job!

We visited with my nieces over Thanksgiving. One conversation about her beat up, worse for wear blankie lead to a trip to JoAnns to pick out fabric for a new blankie that recycles parts of the old one.

A very eclectic collection of prints curated by a 7 year old.

And since baby sister wanted in on the fun she got to choose several prints of her own.

I better get back to my sewing room, so not to disappoint any little girls!

Etsy on the brain.

2008-11-22T19:23:00.003-05:00

With Christmas time near, I am trying to actually have some inventory in my store. Instead of doing one large Etsy update, I decided to stager my listings over a period of a week. I am hoping it will be beneficial in keeping my items at the top of searches. One other goal I had was to have different items in different price ranges. I experimented with some business card holders recently. All my PIF people got one in their package. (All the previous versions before I perfected my technique.) When I was in college I was a purse free kinda gal. I used a leather business card holder as a wallet when I went out. I always had three things with me where ever I went: my drivers license, my debit card, and cash. I listed one of these earlier in the week and it's already sold. So I put this one in today. The "V" front makes it easy to grab the cards on the inside. And for the price, it's a perfect stocking stuffer. (click photo to go directly to the listing)

I also am in the "use what I have" mode. I cut into some thrifted embroidered linen this week. I have three small slim zipper pouches that will be added before Thanksgiving. They turned out so beautiful. Very classic in their monochromatic way.
Now how many of you are familiar with the Treasury feature on Etsy? I only started paying attention about a few months ago. I would never go out of my way to wait for a Treasury, but if I knew one was coming up I would have the browser up and wait patiently. This morning as I was listing a few items I just happened to check on the Treasury and saw it would open up in just a few minutes! I finally got one!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=22639

It was really fun to put together and I can see how people can become addicted to being their own curator. All the items came from my favorites list or a favorites store. If anyone sees it on the front page, you'll have to let me know!