6/1/11 - 7/1/11

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27.6.11

Learn Something New This Summer with These Great Resources

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Good morning friends! I’m preparing for a two-week ‘blogging break’ so that I can finish up my Dad’s estate work and the taxes. It’s a really big big job since I didn’t keep meticulous track of the expenses and their ‘purpose’ over the year. I will be trying to ‘re-create’ the past year and what was done and what it cost and it’s going to take some time and focus. 

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The only way I can see to do that is just to not blog for a week or two. Sniff…  I will miss you all but, wow—when I get done, I’ll be able to get back to some beautiful sewing projects…a fabric art piece, two antique quilts, and finish up some sewing tutorials I have.  Needled Mom, who is an avid, quilter, will enjoy those I’m sure! Trudy, of Sewing with Trudy, and Caroline of Church Sexy will also be thrilled. If you are one of my sewing savvy followers, be sure to check out these three ladies’ blogs.  

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Plus, I’m hoping to get started with painting our home when all the paperwork and quilting are over (probably later this summer). Thanks to remodeling my father’s house last year, I’ve learned how to tape and bed, texture, and do other things. No doubt I’ll have lots of fun stuff to share as Dear Hubby, the kids, and I work through the various rooms in the house. I can’t wait to see the colors of paint that Maria Killam of Colour Me Happy chose for my home on the walls!!

But the taxes and estate work are still ‘hanging’ over my head and I need to get them done so I can get on with life. :o)  If you know you are assigned to be the executor for a relative’s estate, please do some research now! You’d be amazed at what’s involved. I was so unprepared for what turned out to be almost a full time job!

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Anyway, as I said yesterday, the cookbooks are in the mail and I’m sure Rebekah and I will have lots of fun posts about our adventures to share. I seriously doubt that they will be as entertaining as Julie and Julia’s adventures (sorry about that  Julia :o), but no doubt we will find some great recipes and learn some new techniques. (By the way, Julia of  Julia’s Sew Sweet and Special Occasion Clothing for Children) is a fabulous seamstress..quilting and refashion…you name it—she does it!)

Cooking is one thing I’ve not put a lot of attention to over the years. What I cook, I cook very well…but after 25 years, I think it’s time to learn some new things. :o)  I’ve come across a wonderful resource blog called The Reluctant Gourmet. This guy..a stay-at-home-DAD…is the guru of cooking and cooking techniques!

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Reading his blog is like going to ‘cooking’ school for ordinary people.  If you’d like to learn more about things like de-glazing a pan or making a reduction sauce (a way to make tantalizing gravy or sauces for roasted meats), then you might want to spend some time at RG’s place. :o) Also, be sure to drop by Olive Garden’s website for some fantastic Italian recipes!

artisti The best book to teach busy mothers ‘real’ art!!

While I’m gone, you also might like to visit some more of my blogging friends who are experts in various topics that I occasionally post about:

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And all the rest of my tea drinking friends….

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Another great resource that I think would be worth a good peruse while I’m gone is…

 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way.

This is a great little E-book about homemaking and housecleaning.  Here are some chapter titles from the book…

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Now I can tell you for SURE that The Six List is from DAY 6!  (Whew!! Now I’ve got THAT off my mind!-I’d forgotten where I saw it when I wrote the post last week.)  Don’t these titles look great?! The chapters are very short and to the point. 

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She talks a bit about ways to really bless your home and the people in it..helping you have a more cheerful and loving attitude in all you do plus each day she gives you two assignments…one to bless your family and one cleaning job. Doesn’t that sound like a fun journey? 

So while I’m away, do have some fun exploring my super savvy friends’ blogs and especially these blogs which teach so much every day…

Colour Me Happy

The Reluctant Gourmet

Raising Homemakers

On Building a Better Blog

Digital Photography

Real Fat

The Essentials of Fabulous

and

31 Days to Clean!

Summer is a great time to learn new things!

I’ll be back on July 12 for Tuesday Tea. 

Do you have vacation plans? Let me know if you check out any of these resources and how you liked them.  I’ll be dropping by to visit any one who comments.

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25.6.11

Summer Fun…on the Beach at Galveston

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 Galveston with JP 138-2000

 

I wanted to do a more ‘informative’ post today, but spent most of yesterday making a meal for a friend. The day before that found me altering prom dresses for another friend’s daughters.

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Galveston with JP 032-2000

 

Peggy took my son Jacob to San Diego for the national speech and debate tournament, so this was one way I could say ‘thanks’.  I’ll be going back next week for a day too. It’s wonderful to spend a ‘girly’ day now and then with friends. :o)

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Galveston with JP 150-2000

Tomorrow morning will find our family dancing away for the  entire day as part of an all-day square dance workshop for our new members. We will all go as ‘angels’ or helpers since we are so experienced.

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Since we have to leave so early in the morning, I thought I’d just share some photos of our trip to the beach from last weekend. There was so much sand that I could only swim a bit. The ocean water sometimes looked brown! So I practiced my photography skills..such as they are..LoL! :o)

Galveston with JP 166-2000

 

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We have done some fun things this week that I plan to  share with you later. :o)  We just ordered The Way to Cook and The Art of French Cooking, both by Julia Child. Rebekah is really wanting to do ‘fancy’ cooking and we were both so inspired by the movie, Julie and Julia,  that we are wanting to try more.

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 Galveston with JP 100-2000

My newest favorite dish is an Italian one called Milanese Style Penne Pasta and it is just heavenly!  I’ve learned to ‘de-glaze’ a pan and make a reduction sauce!  This is great to know as you thicken by cooking away the liquid rather than adding a bunch of thickener. Great news for us dieters! 

But if I go on any longer, I’ll be writing my Italian cooking post..so I better stop. Ha!  

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      Galveston with JP 085-2000

Rebekah, Christian and Jacob with their friends from “Ultimate Frisbee’.

I also have been working away at my six things list and it really is as  life changing as I thought it would be! So this is what it feels like to be ‘caught up’! I’d never experienced it before! (That I can remember that is.)   So many good things are happening as a result of this habit.  I’m starting to enjoy what I do in a whole new way!

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And I’ve been able to do some extra things like pick flowers to take with my friend’s meal..and do something really special..rather than just my usual ‘casserole’.  I even volunteered to handle our square dance club’s ‘store’. (Donated clothes for the new dancers to buy very inexpensively.) I’ve been behind and had to say  ‘No’ to so many things, I was afraid I’d forgotten how to say ‘yes’.

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Galveston with JP 155-2000

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  It’s like I suddenly ‘woke up’ and could be a ‘giver’ again because I’m not so burdened down with things that should have been done a long time ago (and the accompanying guilt.) 

Galveston with JP 031-2000   Galveston with JP 007-2000

My brain seems to be functioning again and I had given that up for lost! Who knew that having so many belated tasks piling up would cloud your ability to think clearly. I certainly didn’t!

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Galveston with JP 148-2000

Today, I also took before and after photos of one of my VERY favorite cleaning tricks..Piling it!! It’s a fast and easy way to straighten the house, which is what I had to resort to in order to spend the day cooking and shopping. 

 Galveston with JP 048-2000      

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Galveston with JP 143-2000

Next week will be so fun! I can’t wait to join you all and drop by. (Finally got to do some visiting tonight! Yippee!)

I do hope you all have a lovely weekend and a blessed Sunday.

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23.6.11

How to Cover Baskets with Fabric…Sew or No Sew Methods


One of my favorite organizing ideas for our very busy office/ sewing room/ school room/ craft room, was to label a bunch of fabric covered baskets with the types of activities done in this ‘activity’ room. 


Up until a couple of months ago, this room was ALWAYS a mess. What can you expect when I have three-four computers and two sewing machines all being used in the same 14-16’ room?  We have four desks (one a huge U-shaped one) taking up most of the room. 


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So I purchased some small 6 x 11 fabric (approximate size ) baskets from Wal-mart at $2.50 a piece and labeled each with an activity. I have baskets for our main sewing supplies, devotional materials, school materials, pet food and medicines, bills & receipts, my father’s business papers, computer games, photos, gift wrapping and other postal supplies, returns, and filing.

I was thrilled to discover that this worked perfectly to contain the chaos. Someone can walk in, grab the postage/shipping basket, wrap a package and label it using the labels, sharpie, tape and scissors. Then all they have to do is pitch everything back in the basket and put it back on the shelf.


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The only hitch in my mind is that they were so ugly! If money is not problem for you, there are a lot of cute baskets out there, but I bought baskets that cost very little and were very plain. In fact the fabric was some kind of synthetic that wouldn’t last a week of regular use.

Really though, it’s nice to be able to coordinate your baskets with the theme of your room. I think there’s nothing prettier than a fabric covered basket. There are more involved ways that I can think of to make a nicer basket cover, but I didn’t have a lot of time to get ready for the company that was coming. I needed a quick solution.


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SEWING METHOD
I started out sewing these covers exactly the way I cover everything else..pillows, people, furniture cushions, podiums…

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  1. Cut out pieces to fit all ‘faces’ of the basket. (I cut a long rectangle for the big sides..and then ‘squares’ for the sides.
  2. Pin the pieces wrong side out onto the basket.
  3. Pull the perfectly tailored cover off.
  4. Sew the seams.
  5. Finish the raw edge by trimming off the excess.
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Then either ….
  • hem the raw edge
  • fold the raw edge over and glue in place
  • sew a ‘casing’ in the upper edge of your fabric cover and insert elastic.
  • or just glue the raw edge to the basket..which is what I did this time since I was in such a hurry.
If you want to this VERY nicely, you could do TWO covers…and turn one inside out to cover the INSIDE of your basket as well as the outside.

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NO-SEW METHOD 

If you aren’t a seamstress…or if you run out of time as I did AND you can wrap a gift..then this is the method for you! :o)
  1. Take your basket and simply place it in the middle of a rectangle or wide strip of fabric big enough to cover both large sides with just a little bit of excess. 
  2. Fold over the edges (over the rim and into the basket about 1”) and either pin or glue in place.
  3. Now trim off some of the excess where the basket angles down to the base since most baskets are usually wider at the top than at the bottom.
  4. Fold the fabric up and over the rim of the basket on both sides so the fabric is pretty snug. Pin in place if necessary.
  5. Hot glue the raw edges to the basket to attach it.


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  1. Now for the ends.  Lay your basket on one end and trace around it on the fabric with a pen (inside of the fabric..not the outside).
  2. Cut two end pieces out  of your fabric leaving a border of about a half an inch or so with enough raw edge to fold under neatly.
  3. Iron the end pieces so that the raw edges are folded to the inside and it’s the perfect shape of the ends of your basket. (Leave the top edge unfolded.)
  4. Now glue your end pieces in place. The folded edges should cover the raw ends of your wide piece of fabric.  Glue the top unfolded edge over the rim of the basket.
  5. If you want to this again for the inside, you can cut out two of your long rectangle and your end pieces. If you do this, be sure to fold under the top edges of everything so it looks nice at the rim of the basket.


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There are all kinds of ways to tweak this, but hopefully I’ve gotten you started. Try using scraps of color coordinating fabric. I used a lot of scraps so I had to find all sorts of ways to glue my pieces in place.
But I do think the results were pretty good. I loved having nice fabric baskets and it was the perfect touch for what is ‘mostly’ my sewing room.  



Be sure to email me if you have any questions. Have fun sprucing up your messiest room!  Baskets are lifesavers when it comes to clutter!  

What is your favorite way to use a basket in the house?



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“There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” ~ Margaret Sangster

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