Favorite Things Friday: Flylady, Silhouette Cameo, and Hogan’s Heroes

Hi everybody!  Today I have a few more of my favorite things to share with you.  I have been working on several projects this week, so I can share with you next week.  Some of them have been a lot of fun!

My first favorite thing is the Flylady System.  Flylady teaches those of us that are a little scatterbrained how to keep our homes tidy and company ready at all times.  I don’t use everything in her system all the time, but I make it work for me.  And that is her intentions, to help us with what we need.  The biggest things I’ve learned from her is to use a timer and STOP when it goes off, do things in small increments of time so I don’t burn out, keeping my house clean CAN BE FUN, and to be proud of what I get done each day even if not’s as much as I had planned.  Great system.  You can find her website here.

 

I was a very good girl last year, and I only really wanted one thing for Christmas.  I pooled together all my Christmas money the week after Christmas and ordered one of these babies.  It came on Wednesday, and I have been having a blast.  I have only played around with paper crafts so far, but I plan on branching out to small vinyl and stencil projects soon.  I still plan on doing quite a few projects that won’t involve my silhouette, and I will try to space them out so that those who don’t have one won’t feel left out.  Before I got mine, I got all annoyed with “And I just did this in a snap with my silhouette,” posts. :)  If you want to learn more about the Silhouette Cameo, click here.

My other favorite this thing is Hogan’s Heroes.  My awesome husband ordered me the WHOLE boxed set of Hogan’s Heroes.  I love this show because it is guaranteed that you will laugh out loud at least once during the episode.  They are also only 20 minutes long, so you can watch one if you don’t have much time.  Longer shows bug me sometimes because our evening time is short around here some nights, but Hogan is a great length.  You can find Hogan’s Heroes on Amazon here.

Hope you have a great weekend!  See you next week with some fun projects.

~Lynette~

Wishlist Wednesday: Crayon Bowl, Lost Sock Bag, South of The Border Sandwiches

Hi everybody!  I've felt more like blogging lately, so we'll see how long I can keep this up.  I hope you don't mind posts more often.  Maybe I'll actually start getting a few more readers if I can keep it going.  Today, I'm going to show you a few of the things I've been pinning lately.  And because I have some upcoming maternity projects on the way, here's some non-baby/maternity wish list items for you!

(all the pictures are linked to the original blog post.  The links at the end of the description take you to my pin on pinterest)

I found this just a minute ago, and loved how it looked.  It's a crayon bowl.  Now how fun would that be in a kids craft room or classroom.  I wonder if you could tip it upside down and draw with all the colors of the rainbow at once.  I may have to try it!  Check out the crayon bowl pinned here.

I don't know about you, but I can't stand it when I have missing socks.  I just bought a package about a month ago of tall, warm cozy socks for myself, and I already have 2 socks from different pairs missing.   Ugh!  What's a girl to do?  Why, make a sock bag of course.  Throw all your socks in the bag after you take the off, keep them in the bag during laundry, and wha-lah!  No more missing socks.  You can add fabric for each child/person in your family to mark the bags for easy folding/putting away.  Check out the handy lost sock bag pinned here.

And for our final item, something to eat.  Of course, because I'm doing a lot of that lately (like every 2 hours-no joke!).  I have been wanting to try these scrumptious looking South of the Border Sandwiches.  I may have to hold out until summer so I can use garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.  Because garden stuff just tastes better!  Check out the South of the Border Sandwiches pinned here.

Hope you're all having a fantastic Wednesday!  Thanks for reading.

~Lynette~

Tutorial Tuesday: Painted Doily Apron

*On Tuesdays, I try to show you either a tutorial I created, or feature a tutorial I’ve followed.  I hope you enjoy today’s project!*

Hi there everybody!  I finally have a project to show you.  Isn’t that great? :) I am finally feeling like crafting after a couple months of exhaustion from early pregnancy.  Then it took me a month or so to get back into the swing of things and actually want to craft!  I have recently been playing with paper and fabric paint (but not together).  It’s always fun to branch out and try something slightly different (even if it is still super easy to do!)

I found this tutorial from Maybe Matilda several months ago, and fell in love.  I found an old shirt and tried it.  It turned out cute, but I ended up not using enough paint…my sister saw it and said, “You have something on your shirt.”  I sheepishly told her that I painted it there….She laughed and said…”Oh sorry!”  So I decided to try to redeem myself by trying the same technique and using more paint.  This time I got an inexpensive ready to embellish apron from Michael’s, and went to town.  It turned out awesome.  I love it, and because it’s a gift I may need to make myself one too. :)

I took pictures of the process, but I did everything exactly like Rachel did, so I decided to simply refer you over there.  I also used the fabric paint medium, and like this option because I can get the cheap paint and use it for more than just fabric.  And like she says, it does well in the wash too! :)

Hope you’re having a great day!

~Lynette~

Happy New Year, and a Little Secret! :)

Happy New Year everybody!  We're not even going to review last year's new year's resolutions.  But I will say that we have had a wonderful year.  I was a bit sad when 2011 ended actually.  I graduated with my bachelors, we bought a house, and we found out that we'll be having a baby boy in April 2012!  We are so excited to welcome this new addition to our family, and I'm excited to begin being a stay at home mom.

You can look forward to several baby and maternity projects in the near future, because my clothes are definitely not fitting right and maternity clothes aren't very cute and super expensive and hard to find in my area.  There are only a couple stores that carry them, and most are expensive.  So between Ross, Target, and a lot of Refashioning, I hope to get by during the next 3-4 months. 

As of today, my sewing machine is at the shop for the 2nd time in a month.  My pedal is spastic, so I may be needing to get a new one ordered depending on what the Bernina repair man says.  So sewing project may be on hold, but I will be showing you some new things very soon!

Happy New Year!
Lynette
p.s.  What did you accomplish last year that you're proud of?

Craft Room: The Grand Reveal!!!

Hi there everybody!  I told you I would do it, and I did.  How's that for awesomeness!?!  As I was taking pictures, I decided that I would show you a few pictures of the room today, and on Monday I will have a detailed post about everything I did, where I got it, etc. etc. etc.  Otherwise, this post could be SUPER picture heavy and long.  And who really has time to read a long post anyway?
If you missed the before posts, check out here and here.

 When you walk in the doorway, this is what you see!  Isn't she so pretty!

Desk/Work Space, Sewing Table and Chair, Shelf and Wall Art!
(Gone are all the shelving units and globe lights!  The shelving was eating the space away!)

A view of the door and small window and new curtains.

A closer look at the shelf (I'll show you each item next week, don't worry!)

A close up of my wall art.  I absolutely love it!

My craft cabinet, sitting next to/behind the door

An inside look of my craft cabinet.

 Here's a look at the 'other,' corner of my craft room.  My sewing table and sewing machine (Bernina 1008--love her!) and shelves for extra fabric/stuff I'm working on (or supposed to be working on).  The pink and brown tote is my paper stash.

Sorry for the squished-ness of some of the pictures.  This room is only about 8.5 ft by 7.5 ft, so it's tricky to photograph.  I love having a small room though, it's easier to keep clean.  I have plenty of other house space to spread out in for large cutting projects and such, but this room is just right for everything else.

Thanks for reading, and come back Monday if you'd like some more details.  If you have any specific questions, let me know in the comments and I will address them in the next post!

~Lynette~

Sewing Room Sneak Peeks!

Alright, I've been saying for weeks that I'm going to show you my finished craft room.   Well today, I finally found the cord for the camera to connect it to the computer (it was sitting on the computer desk right in front of me all along.  Who knew that the charging cord for the wall would be gray and the computer cord would be black...I thought they all matched!  Tricky husband's camera!).  So, today I will once again show you a classic before, and a couple afters of the basics of the room.  Then today, I will tidy up the room, stage it for pictures, and snap a couple.  Maybe if I'm good I'll get the rest of it up by tomorrow!  Now wouldn't that be productive of me?

Enough words.  Let's show you some pictures.

 Here's one of those classic before pictures.  I think this picture is worth all my words. :)

Another Before Shot

New Flooring. Less than $80 at Lowe's with Labor Day Sale and Change of Address Coupon from the post office. (And we did the entry way right outside this room with some of the flooring as well).

Primer $17,
wall paint (free=came with the house and didn't really match anything)
trim $30 and paint $15 for trim and door. 
(We did re-texture because of some funky things going on, but I'm leaving out those costs because they aren't typical issues for other people).  We also scraped off the cottage cheese ceiling and re-textured and painted that the same color as the walls.

Switch covers and outlet covers $6.
And lighting.  Those globe lights just weren't doing it for me.  They made the room incredibly dark, and as a contacts wearer who loves to sew for hours on end, I needed a better solution.
Enter this.

Utilitech 48" 2-Light Utility Fluorescent Wrap Light from Lowe's.  We got it for less than $20 with a coupon.

Overall Cost= $168 for a brand new craft room.  And if you count the other costs, I would say it would have rolled in right about $200.  Everything else, as you'll see in my later post was done with things I already have or with minimal costs (like $5 or less).

So I was left with a brand new room, and had no idea what to do next!  Find out (hopefully) tomorrow what I did with the place!

Thanks for reading.

~Lynette~

Favorite Things Friday: Hair Gel, Dustbuster, French Fry Slicer

Hi there friends!  I hope you are having a wonderful week, and that you have a great weekend.  I am always ready for weekends by the time they get here---and I don't even work! :)  Well...other than dishes, laundry, dishes, laundry, you know the drill! :)

Today, I decided I'd hop on for a minute and share a few of my latest favorite things I've been loving.
First off, I love good hair days.  And because I have curly hair, I have to have a good hair gel to have a good hair day.  That's where this good stuff comes in.  Wetline Xtreme Professional Styling Gel from Sally Beauty Supply. And it smells delicious.  Like apples.  It holds great, even enough for me to have a 2nd hair day every now and then, which is great in the wintertime.  Mine has a lime green lid, and for 3.99, I get about 6 months + use out of it.  And I use it nearly everyday! :) 

Recently, my husband and I put in a wood burning stove.  And when you're constantly reloading the stove with wood to stay toasty, it brings in crumbs.  Of wood.  And my large vacuum, Roger, got tired of getting out of the closet every time we made a mess.  Enter this little friend.  Black and Decker's 14.4V Dustbuster.  We got it for $40 from Bed Bath and Beyond, thanks to some gift cards from some friends. (Love that!)  Still need a name for this little guy.  Any suggestions? :)

Alright, here's possibly my favorite.  This thing is awesome.  French Fry Cutter.  Can I say, amazing?  Nearly every Sunday after church, my husband and I attack a few potatoes, toss them with salt and olive oil, and bake them in the oven for toasty, tasty fries.  Easy to clean, heavy duty, and easy to put away (on top of the fridge!).  This one was a tad pricy, but again, we used a gift card.  They make others that are not so commercial, but this one really is handy.
Well, there's my share for the week!  I hope to start back into blogging a bit more regularly.  Like once or twice a week, but we shall see what life brings! Have a fantastical day!
Thanks for reading, as always.
~Lynette~