2009 Goals-update

At the beginning of the year I made a list of goals for 2009 (copied and pasted below). Here is the update.

1. Learn to make basic childrens clothes (lucy dress) DONE
2. Learn to use pleater and make bishop dresses-- Signed up for the class but it was cancelled (so I did try)
3. start playing tennis again-- DOING, then took a break
4. enjoy life-- DOING, trying
5. compliment people more often (totally subjective goal but working so far)
6. Read a Beethoven biography IN PROGRESS, DONE!
7. Finish MLK's autobiography IN PROGRESS, STILL in progress
8. Finish the Ethics for the New Millenium book IN PROGRESS, DONE!
9. Create craft space that is organized --Done, messed up again

How to make a tutu

I found myself wanting to make a tutu and decided to write the tutorial up with what I hope are clear pictures. The tutu's came out great and I am quite pleased with them. I gave one away to a 7 year old little one who wanted to be a ballerina for Halloween. Now what to do with the other 9...?

How to make a tutu
(Will approximately fit 18 months-7 years)

Tweezers

Why am I talking about tweezers? I realize this must seem dumb, and I too would have probably thought so earlier, but I found these tweezers and they are fantastic. Rubis Tweezers are the best, the best, the best tweezers around. Get rid of whatever tweezers you have (unless it's Rubis) and buy a pair of these. They are fantastically sharp and precise and you will never have a problem using these or pulling out the tiniest splinter.
Had you asked me, pre Rubis discovery, how much I would pay for tweezers, I would have said, 12-15 dollars max. However, now that I have used these, I will gladly fork over the 25 or so that they cost. Seriously, go try them.

Rubis Tweezers

Craft Rooms

Looking for a new place to live in the next year or so. With that in mind, I am going to look for something where I can have a room designated as my crafting space (I know that's a lot to ask). So I am starting to look for ideas for craft rooms so that when it comes time to move, I will have a rough layout of the room and can come prepared instead of haphazardly throwing stuff in there.
All that to say, I will be periodically posting craft spaces on here that I find, or people send me. So if you have a craft space you would like to share, please pass the pictures along.

Click here for more pics of the HGTV Craft Room

Mod Podge and Tea Bags, What?

So I found a new blog I am enjoying that had inspired me to make the fabric covered clothespins and I saw she had a link to a really fun tutorial to make a tea bag covered clipboard.

This is very fun, I could think of at least five different things one could do with this method. For one, I could make my own tea bag box by buying one of those wooden craft boxes at Michael's or some other craft shop, and applying the tea bags to that. Fun!

Now I need to start saving up all of my tea bags...

How to make fabric covered clothespins - Scrap Buster

Sew Mama Sew is having a Scrap Buster Month for October so I came up with an idea to cover clothespins with scrap fabric (truly scrap since it's so small) place a magnet on the back and instantly have both magnets for the fridge and "chip clips." Fun!

Here is the PDF of the instructions.

Printable Recipe Cards

a list of printable recipe cards

1. Cute 4 different stylish recipe cards
from messyvegetariancook.com

Click here for the version that you can type in

2. Cute 4 different Fall themed recipe cards
from messyvegetariancook.com

Note: this would be great to make a stack of them, put a cardboard (heavy cardstock) backing on, cardstock or cool front cover, and then use padding cement (also known as padding compound) to seal the stack together and give away as a gift.