Birthday Banner

I am such a blog slacker lately. So here is some pictures of the birthday banner I made last month. It turned out sooo cute. I choose to use bright fun colors so I could use it for boys and girls. I know, I know there is a lot of pink in it but I still think it works for both. I planned on doing a tutorial with this but it has been so long since I actually made it I am not sure my directions would be perfectly accurate. Because in true Terrie fashion I was sure I would remember everything so I didn't write it down. Yeah, guess what, I don't remember. I remember the basic idea but not measurements. So maybe a tutorial isn't the best idea. Though if someone really wanted one I could be persuaded! I did after all take a million pictures during this process.

Just a quick update on the experiment. Overall we are doing well. The part I though would be most difficult most definitely is. The budget we set was pretty unrealistic, we have already spent it and it is the middle of the month (go figure since we cut our original budget in half). And we have eaten out more than once a week. Here is the successful part. I have cooked every week night this whole month. Now to some of you this is not a big deal. For me this is a very big deal. And as sad an accomplishment as it is I am proud of myself. Here is what I have learned so far:

1. You can not feed a family of 5 for $200 a month unless you are willing to eat top ramen and mac and cheese 3 to 4 times a week. I am not willing to do this. Nor am I willing to spend all day in the kitchen making everything from scratch, which I am not convinced would be much cheaper.

2. I am much more likely to cook if I have a menu already made up. I think my real problem with cooking is that I hate deciding 30 minutes before dinner what we are going to eat. But if the decision is already made then the actual cooking is not that bad.

3. We eat out on Friday and Saturday nights almost every weekend and I am fine with that. This is probably something that we will need to adjust once we are back in poor student mode but for now we are not. And so I am not going to feel guilty about this. You heard me no guilt.

Identity crisis

It's been awhile, a long while.  I seem to be having some sort of blog identity crisis.  So I did what I thought was logical...avoid.  Here is the sitch.  I follow quite a few craft blogs.  REALLY GOOD craft blogs.  You know the type that make you want to hide anything you have ever made for fear that someone will see the horrific mess of fabric and glue you once called a craft.  The type that is so motivating and intimidating at the same time that you end up in the fetal position because you don't know weather to give up crafting all together or rush into the craft room and start something...anything.  Basically I have been feeling a bit inadequate.  I have quite a bit of stuff to share but for some reason every time I think about adding it to my blog I think "Why; why would anyone care, there is so much out there that is so much better!"  Add that to the fact that I am a natural born perfectionist.  Do it perfect right or don't do it at all seems to be my unspoken motto.

So I have thought about changing the format a little making it not just a craft blog, which would entail a name change, or possibly just giving it up all together because again who really cares about anything I have to show or say when there is so much out there.  That is the bitter sweet part of the blog world...sooooo many blogs to choose from.  So what sets mine apart form any other blog...besides my sparkling personality and sharp wit?

I wish I had the answer.  But for now I guess I am going just keep things the way they are with a slight twist.  I am going to share an experiment that my husband and I are doing.  I have mentioned before that my husband is probably going back to school to get his Phd.  Making us poor students again.  So we thought that it would be prudent (yeah I totally just used the word prudent) to try to live on a smaller budget.  Specifically a smaller food budget.  And try to spend less over all.  We are pretty good budgeters (by the way not a word according to spell check) and we already stick to a monthly budget but this is going to be tough even for us.

So here are the details:

• Use the food we already have including our food storage to make meals for the month. 
• Cut our food budget by more than half for the month.
• Only eat out once a week (by far the hardest part of this experiment, I don't know if I have mentioned this before but I am not much of a cook...I can do it I just don't like to)
• Cut our eating out budget by more than half. 
• Do not buy anything that is not a necessity.

I am going to chronicle our experiment along the way.  I will be sharing recipes, lessons I have learned and I am sure a bit of whining along the way.  The first step in this process is to make a menu for the month.  I know I will be much more likely to stick to this if I don't have to decide 30 minutes before dinner what we are going to eat.  We are also going to try to do one big grocery shopping at the beginning of the month instead of going once a week.  We will still need to go to get fresh produce and milk but hopefully if that is all we need it will be easier to avoid impulse buys because we wont be walking down each isle.

Don't worry I still have some crafts to share and will show you my thrifty crafts since I will not be buying anything new this month!

Re-covered chair and flower pillow

Yesterday, I told you I had a million things I was working on.  Well I actually finished one of them!  The sad part is that it has been sitting in my craft room 98% finished for over a week.  I just needed to finish it up, I even had all the stuff I needed it just wasn't happening for some reason.  So yesterday I decided it was time!  I am going to show you how I turned this

into this

First I measured the chair.  I decided I wanted to cover the whole thing in fabric rather than just covering the cushions and painting the wood.  I really wanted a bit more formal feel.  But not fussy...I don't do fussy.  So I thought a very simple cover with clean lines would work well for this chair and I think it worked really well.  First off there is hardly any sewing.  The only sewing I did was the hem at the bottom.

Back to the measuring.  First I had to decide how many pieces I wanted, wanting to keep it simple I decided to work with only four pieces.  One that ran from the face of the chair back over the top and back down to the floor.  Another piece that ran from the chair seat to the floor.  And two that ran from the inside of the chair arm over the arm and to the ground.  I hope that made sense.  Once I knew I had enough fabric I laid it over the chair and measured and cut that way, instead of measuring the fabric with a measuring tape it just seemed to work better that way.

Then I hemmed all 4 pieces.

Starting with the back piece I laid it out how I wanted it to lay then started stapling.  Sorry I don't have many pictures of the process.  Then I did this with the seat piece and finally with the arms.  The finished product looked like this before the trim.

 

I just folded over the edge to give it a clean finish.

Next I got the trim ready.  Now let me just say I spent a lot of time at Joann's trying to figure out what kind of trim I wanted.  There are many, many options and I was shopping with a 2 year old that had had enough shopping after about 10 minutes, and really lost it after about 30 and started yelling "BAD MOMMY" once we got up to the cutting counter.  So I was a bit frazzled at that point.  There is home decor trims, clothing trims and ribbon.  I knew I would be using hot glue to attach the trim so it had to be able to hold up to the hot glue.  So after much back and forth between the different sections of trim...because having them next to each other would be waaay to easy.  I finally decided.  I ended up going with a heavy weight ribbon.  Even with 40% off the ribbon ended up costing as much as the rest of the supplies for the chair and pillow.

Once I got it home it was too wide so I needed to adjust it a bit.  I sewed it together WRONG sides together.  The ribbon was too thick and heavy to sew it right sides together and turn it.  Once it was sewn together I ironed it so the seem was on the bottom.

    

 

 Then I clipped the corners for a clean edge once it was folded over.

I hot glued it in place.

The I ran a bead of hot glue along the line of staples to attach the ribbon.

Then stood back and enjoyed my handy work...

 

 

 

And enjoyed other people admiring my handy work...

 

Can you believe this is the same 2 year old that yelled "BAD MOMMY" yep the very same.

Now the pillow.  So cute and so simple.  The pillow covering is just a simple rectangle.  But here is a quick tutorial on the flower...also very simple.

I liked selvage edge so I used it.  I ran a long stitch (highest number on your stitch length) mine was a five, along the edge of the fabric.  Then gently pull on the top stitch, this creates a ruffle effect.

Then shape it into a flower.

  Sew hand sew the bottom to get everything to stay in place.  Then attach the button.  And attach finished flower to pillow.

Bathroom re-do part 1

I always think life will slow down and next week I will get x,y and z done.  Alas it never slows down and I have a million started but unfinished projects to share and a house that needs my attention badly.  So I am giving you part 1 of our bathroom re-do.  In hopes that part 2 will follow shortly. 

We live in a 1976 split entry.  Now I know some of you just threw up a little in your mouth but before you turn away in disgust hear me out.  It isn't that bad.  We have actually been able to do quite a bit with a less than desirable lay out.  One thing we have always wanted to fix is our master bathroom.  The vanity is actually in our room and the shower and toilet are behind a door.  So not the greatest of situations but livable.  We are probably moving soon.  (Hubby is going back to school for a PHD.  Honestly folks how much schooling does one man need?  Apparently a lot...seriously I am really proud of him though).  Anyway back to the bathroom.  Because we are moving we need to do a bit of updating without a lot of cost...because lets face it I don't want to put in a ton of time and money for something I don't get to enjoy for very long.  Having said that, this re-do is one that cost very little but paid off huge!  Here are a few pics...

Before

If you thought you were going to toss your cookies earlier wait till you see this disaster...

 

 

Sorry about the poor picture quality...we have almost no natural light in our room and by the time we were finished it was dark outside so the pictures are a bit rough.

And after

 

 

Here is the project breakdown:

Total time:

6(ish) hours

Total cost:

Paint: 2 cans $7

Hardware: $22 (with one left to spare)

Sink: $30

Faucet: $25

Counter apoxy: $10

(normally $20 but I got it 1/2 off because they had used it as a demo)

So for less than $100 we got a great start to our bathroom re-do.  We still need to frame the mirror, fix the lighting and accessorize.  And we are still debating on whether or not the counter needs another coat of epoxy.

So stay tuned for part two.  Hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later! 

Did you miss me?

I know all 3 of you had terrible withdraws without me.  I hope you all had a great Christmas break and are ready for some craftiness.  Here are a couple of things I have been working on.

Work shirt hat: Who knew hubby's old work shirt could be so cute!

 

I took a ton of pictures thinking I would do a little tutorial for you.  And I will, but after I finished there were quite a few things I thought I would do differently, making the pictures, well, all wrong.  So I will try to perfect this bad boy and get back to you with a tutorial.

Decorative balls:

Now I understand just why these are so expensive at the store.  Some of these just aren't worth the effort.  But I have a solution for that and the others are totally worth the effort.  I got this idea here.  V and Co. is a great place for ideas...check her out if haven't already.  Anywhoo, you can check out her tutorial too because it is a bit different than mine.

First let me start by showing you the one I am not in love with and tell you what you should do differently should you choose to move forward with this project.  I had everything I needed for this project.  Bonus right!  Wrong!  Do not use thin twine!  It will make you want to swear...but you wont because you are a nice girl...but trust me you will want to.  Do yourself a favor and go to the store and spend a few bucks on some thicker craft twine or jute...trust me.  Ok I am done...let's move on.  So I started with styrofoam balls and twine.  Curse you skinny twine.  And hot glue the twine to the ball...simple enough right.  Ok I am sure by now you have realized it wasn't quite that simple...but I am stubborn and I made it work. 

 

So the process is pretty simple.  Hot glue and wrap.  About 2/3rds of the way I decided to stop and start at the opposite end and meet where I left off.  I think this helped make the end look nicer but I am not sure it made that big of a difference.

Now onto the one I am in love with...

I had some clothesline and thought if I can do it with twine, why not do it with clothes line...why not indeed.  The clothes line variety is waay cute.  Same basic process.

Start with a knot

Hot glue said knot to ball

 

Glue over top opposite end of knot for clean look, trim and continue hot gluing and wrapping.

At this point tie another knot hot glue in place and push loose end into ball with bamboo skewer or something similar...

You can do this at the beginning too.  I just didn't think about it until the end.  Both ends looked really nice and clean so what ever floats your boat will work just fine!

Now the fun part SPRAY PAINT.

Nothing says fun like spray painting in the middle of winter in Utah.

Especially when you are trying to get your two year old to stay inside because all he has is socks on with no shoes...like I said, good times.

Get yourself a box and have at it.  The bamboo skewers came in handy once again.  And this gave me another idea I will show you later!

Let them dry and then bring them in and make them "a lovely addition to your ball collection" like my husband said.

I think this is my favorite...I love the silver. Lovely.

 

Green, Lovely.

All together...Lovely.  The twine variety is just ok, but the rest, Lovely.

This vase was sad and empty having recently lost it's cute younger brother due to a tragic rowdy boy mishap, yes that was a very sad day around here.  And I just didn't love what was in there anymore so I didn't replace it after Christmas so there it sat...sad, empty and lonely.  Until...balls on a stick.  It just makes me happy.  It is very Dr. Suessesque. 

And there you have it, some stuff I have been working on.  Now it's your turn...what are you working on...I'd love to see it.