Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Again


Here is new look #2 and my last revision for a little while.  Whatcha think?  Later on I'll publish a post explaining how to customize your blog any way you wish!

Enjoy! Pin It Now!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you're wearing green! Pin It Now!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

New Look

What do you think of the new blog design?  I was bored with the old look and wanted more.  I found a tutorial at The Cutest Blog on the Block explaining how to make your own blog backgrounds!  Check it out and update your blog! Pin It Now!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Favorite Craft Sites...

I love to visit other crafting websites to find new ideas.  Here are a few of my favorites...

Martha Stewart's site has everything.  They also have a newsletter for the craft of the day.
http://www.marthastewart.com/crafts

Craft Gossip is a site that will email you a list of highlighted projects for the day.  These emails give a glimpse into lots of blogs with ideas, and/or tutorials. This is worth checking out.
http://craftgossip.com/


The last site I am going to mention today is called Craft Bits.  This site is loaded with project tutorials with ratings.  From time to time you can also find giveaways.
http://www.craftbits.com/

Recommended in comments:
This link is for a recommended site named Ravelry, it is an online community of knitters and crocheters.
https://www.ravelry.com


Lemme know if you know of any great sites for crafting and I will post them in this article! Pin It Now!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Spring is in the Air! Free Stained Glass Pattern

I've created another spring stained glass pattern just for your use.  This is a lovely pattern of a daisy in the sky.  Try it in different types glass, opaque and transparent.
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Digital Scrapbook Freebie

Enjoy this free (12x12) digiscrap paper!


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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Save some money and reuse

Save your wallet and be environmentally friendly at the same time.?  Do you have an empty or almost empty foam soap pump?  Did you know that you can refill all of them, even the dishwash soap that states it can't be refilled?  To refill these pumps, you need only three things...

Empty foam pump
Liquid soap  (hand, dish, or shampoo)
Water

I always buy bargain size soap bottles for my refill.  This bottle can easily last for months.  For a standard foam pump you add about 3 tablespoons.  I just pour the soap into the foam pump for 3 seconds, this should get you the correct amount.  Then add water to about 3/4 full or 1.5 inches from the top.  If you have a larger foam pump similar to the dishwash pumps, just add about 5 tablespoons instead of 3.  Fill the bottle up with water to the fill line or 2 inches from the top.  Swirl the bottle gently so that bubbles aren't made.  Screw the lid on and pump a few times until the soap begins dispensing.  Enjoy! Pin It Now!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Brand New Blog

I've decided to separate my topics on gardening and crafts.  Therefore, I have set up a new blog called Playing with Plants that will have postings on fun garden projects both indoors and outdoors.  Please hop on over and check out my new Playing with Plants blog. 

My current gardening posts about my hydroponic garden will continue at Playing With Plants.

Enjoy! Pin It Now!

Stained Glass Design

Interested in stained glass art? Here is a basic tulip pattern created for the beginner. Choose any glass that you wish to create this design. For the beginner, I suggest using copper foil and little to no texture on the glass. No texture glass cuts easier than that with texture. Enjoy!
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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Rosemary growth

It looks as though my concerns about how Rosemary will fare in hydro gardening are wrong. In a matter of 2 days, the rosemary is growing new roots. It is wonderful to see how well these plants are growing. Pin It Now!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Update on Hydroponic Garden

A few weeks ago, I placed 3 different herb cuttings in a glass of water in hopes that they would root. Of the three cuttings.  Two of these herbs (oregano, rosemary) are now ready for planting.  The third (sage) still needs some soaking time in order to develop roots.  I followed the directions given by the hydroponic manufacturer.  Each cutting has been planted in soaked rockwell cubes and ceramic beads.  The roots are hanging slightly below the bottom of the basket.  They look great and have been doing well for a few days now.  If you remember from the previous post,

Here are some pictures of my gardens progress...

Garden with 3 plants

Oregano roots

Rosmary Plant planted
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

American Girl Crochet Hat


I was looking for American Girl doll clothes and accessories for crochet.  I happened across the cobblerscabin blog and found just what I wanted.  Check out the cobblerscabin blog to find many patterns both free and for purchase!

Now for the hat....  I used the red heart basic yarn to make the hat.  After checking gauge I needed to use a smaller hook than specified.  Make sure to check, the hat fits the doll perfectly if you do!  This was a very simple pattern and took me about an hour and half.  Its great for beginners and kids.  I chose not to add the trim and decoration to fit the Emily AG doll style.  The hat turned out wonderfully!


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Saturday, February 6, 2010

Snowstorm of Feb. 6 2010

I cannot fail to post pictures showing the infamous snowstorm here at home.  We totaled an official 29inches, some areas nearby got nearly 30+ inches!  The scary thing is that we are expecting more snow this coming week, hopefully it won't be much of anything.  It is one of the most beautiful snowstorms I have seen. 

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Craft Room Update...

My husband has finally cleared out the soon to be craft room.  The following pictures show the shape that the room is now in.  It needs loads of work!


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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Hydroponic Gardening

I decided to try something new, indoor hydroponic gardening.  My goal is to have fresh herbs available year round.  After some research, I decided to use a $25 kitchen garden kit from http://www.plantechnics.com/products/products.html .  It comes with a detailed instruction book and the set up is pretty straight forward.  I have used the basil seeds that are included in the kit for my first pot.  For the other three, I am trying to rooting cuttings some of my favorite herbs for planting.  Here are some pictures of my garden so far...
 
The above picture shows the basic set up for seedlings
 
The above picture shows the baby basil emerging from the planting plug.

Things are looking promising with this hydro garden kit.  I can't wait until my cuttings have enough roots to transplant into the other cups!

 
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Friday, January 22, 2010

Room Spray Tutorial

Do you like room sprays?  Aromatherapy is a wonderful thing.  By using essential oils you can relax your body, wake up your mind and much more.  Making a room spray is very simple and easy to personalize. You only need 3 items.

A quick word on essential oils.  You can find these on many sites online, and also in the craft store most often located in the candle/soap making section.  I chose to buy mine from amazon.com and purchased oils that are premixed for the needs I am looking for.  Following is a small list explaining some of the easily obtained oils. 

Calming effect - Lavender and Rosemary
Wake up the mind - Citrus oils and Peppermint
Aphrodisiac - Ylang Ylang and Sandalwood


Tutorial for room spray

Materials:
  • Essential oil(s) (make certain it is pure oil)
  • Water
  • Mini spray bottle (buy in travel supplies)

Fill spray bottle with ~2 ounces of water.  Add oil to the water until the spray reaches your desired strength, approximately 4 to 8 drops.  Shake bottle gently before each use.
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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Operation Pillowcase

Reading through different blogs I came across one in support of our troops overseas.  They ask people to make pillowcases by hand and once there are enough collected to deliver to a troop, they are shipped overseas. If you are interested in making some pillowcases, go to this link for more information.  In a week or so, I'll be posting pictures of pillowcases that my children and I have made.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Long Weekend

Schools are closed until Thursday so my kids get a free 5-day weekend.  I am praying that Thursday comes soon, the kids are wild!!  Sunday we spent 2.5 hours in Ikea, we don't get there often and we had fun with it, bought lots of stuff.  Today, I am getting all of the Ikea stuff put together and where it belongs.  We got the kids some circle carpets for their room and they loved them, actually cleaned their room to put them down!!! 

I have so many projects that I want to do and I need to get some tutorials posted.  I hope the room gets done soon!  I'll snap some pics of my progress tonight.

Have a good one!
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Friday, January 15, 2010

Its gonna be hard!

I made a commitment today.  I am going to lose weight, I am going to drop 10lbs by Feb. 20th.  I'm using Calorie Count and not a paid weight loss program.  This will be particularly hard since tonight is pizza night!!   I figure if I tell the world, then I have to stick with it!
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Craft room before

I took some pics of my soon to be craft room. Brace yourselves, this is quite scary! Anyone wanna come fix it up for me? I have this awful feeling that the redo will not happen overnight. E-bay here I come!



WISH ME LUCK!
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Happy New Year!!

I decided to reformat my blog for the new year. I have some small changes for this coming year. First, I want to lose weight. My thinking is to start exercising and decrease my portion sizes. I also want to attempt to include the Mayo clinics 10 super foodsinto my family's diet. This won't be easy as my kids and husband won't eat much of anything even remotely healthy. They'll just have to learn. Another change I want to make is to keep my house a little cleaner and much more organized. Finally, I am going to do my best to finish a task once it is started.

As far as crafts go, the most exciting part is my room. I am actually going to get my own craft room!!!! No more kitchen table for me. I can't wait to clean this room up and organize it for crafting! I'll post some pics later showing the horrible mess it is right now.

Time to go play with the baby! Have a great day!!! Pin It Now!