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Christians can [still] change the world. This year, Give Presence.

Removing the Eyesore - TT

My husband and I were talking about housework a few weeks ago, and my lack of affinity for it...and he said...I think you need to post pics on your blog more often of your problem spots...does he know me or what? I didn't say much and he then accused me of not thinking it was a good idea because it came from him...I was like - oh no...it's too good of an idea...and I know that it will help hold me accountable, I'm just not sure I want that much accountability! LOL

So here we are...this has got to be one of the worst resident hot spots in my house. I don't know what happens...I determine that I will keep all the junk off, and before you know it - it's covered again, and I'm the one who did the covering! Ugh..

In order to help keep the process moving along, and me on track, I decided to use my handy-dandy timer and see how quickly I could work. I started with 15 mins...and by the time it went off, the baker's rack was mostly cleaned off and ready to go, except for the piles of misc stuff then sitting on my kitchen table...so I reset it and continued to work...

And was able to finish in great fashion with almost 5 mins left...and - no piles lingering in other places in my house - I think I truly managed to deal with everything on it, and moved it to the place it belongs (and threw away a bunch of junk!)

Voila -now if I can just manage to be disciplined and keep it this way...I'll have to do some periodic update photos just to keep me on my toes! If you've got housework (or any other project) that needs to get done - just tackle it, blog it & then head over to 5minutesformoms and link up your post - I don't know about you, but in some areas, I need all the encouragement I can get! Happy Tuesday!

Christmas Planning - 4 Weeks & Counting

Photo by krisdecurtis
Yikes - not much happened Christmas related around here last week at all...guess that's what happens when you have a 2 year old, a business, embroider on the side and try to keep a house straight! Truth be told - last week was just a tiring week...B has been waking up most mornings between 4 & 5 and is then out the door sometime between 5 & 6 - even going to bed at 9:30 several nights didn't seem to be enough sleep for me! However...I'll give it another goal this week!

Christmas Goals 11/24 -11/30

• gather Christmas craft/wrapping - still need to hit a few more places
• keep an eye on Craig's List for 2 possible presents - I've actually been doing this consistently, just haven't found anything I'm happy with yet!
• make major progress on Christmas dish towels - this is go week for this one!
  
• sew W & A Christmas tees
• try Christmas pic
• buy Christmas stamps
  

Thinking Forward

• think through decorations - where to hang garland
  
• think through Christmas "schedule"

Christmas Accomplishments

• gift list made - several gifts purchased
• holiday budget tweaked
• purchased replacement Christmas tree lights (that we unfortunately did need) LOL
• purchased gift cards & World Vision gifts on Christmas list
• moved Trigger downstairs
• work on Christmas card list - finally (though it will probably still have some tweaks!)
• tree up - burnt out lights replaced
• gather Christmas craft supplies - partial
• transfer Christmas Club $$ into Savings Account so that it doesn't get mixed into regular spending
• get recipe for Fruit Cake cookies from MaMa
• check wrapping supplies
• design Christmas tee for W & A - both planned
  

I expect this week to be somewhat hectic with Thanksgiving taking place, however for our business, that should (fingers crossed) also slow things down a bit, so I'm hoping that will leave me room to get lots of other stuff done. We'll see! Have a wonderful & productive week!

Etsy Alert

In my journey through the blogosphere (thanks Meg!), I stumbled upon A bit of this and a bit of that - a super neat blog about a mom in Japan and her quest to teach her son using Montessori methods. I really don't know much at all about the Montessori world, but it's been so interesting to pick up bits and pieces through reading her blog.


I've now found out that she also has an Etsy store - so I couldn't resist checking it out - so many cute things! I'm particularly a sucker for fabric - and she has several unique Japanese fabrics that look so different from what is available here. And how stinkin' cute is this little Space Kadet - love him! Bibs, Christmas goodies, patterns/sewing kits, notebooks, buttons - the store truly lives up to the name - all so fun to look through and peruse! So take a minute and head on over for a gander...hope you'll enjoy it just as much as I did!

Giveaway Alert

Tsh over at SimpleMom is hosting a fabulous giveaway for all kinds of reusable bags - the one pictured at the left is from B. Happybags and definitely caught my eye! How chic & adorable at the same time! Any of you who know me (and I mean really know me) probably know that I'm not the most green person on the planet. For one thing...I struggle with clutter MAJORLY - the unfortunate truth for me (at this time) is that sometimes it's better to throw it away and get it out of my house & life rather than to try to hang on & reuse everything I encounter (which is, by nature, my packrat-self)...if I could keep all those goodies organized, it probably wouldn't be a problem...but I digress! If you're looking for reusable bags (and I have been giving it some thought lately) - SimpleMom is showcasing a myriad of choices - definitely a great resource if you're heading this direction already and a great encouragement for those of us who are thinking about it!


Kailani over at Island Life is hosting a great giveaway for these adorable growth charts from Olive Kids! There are so many cute ones to choose from! I don't know about you, but I had great plans of getting started early on keeping track of Walker's growth on some kind of chart, door - something. I can remember my grandparents marking a wall at their house when we were growing up for all of us grandkids - seems so precious! But as it is prone to do, time marches on - W is now over 2 and measured 36" at his 2 year check-up and still no marking has been done. I'd love to win this giveaway, but if I don't, may have to give some serious thought to buying one anyway, as it's time to get busy recording his progress! Make sure you head over and check it out when you get a minute!

WFMW - Free Mr. Yuk Stickers

Last year about this time I spoke to a friend of mine whom I hadn't seen for several weeks and she related their family's latest news...just a few days before she'd made an impromptu trip to the ER with her youngest, then just over a year old. You see, they had only recently moved into her grandmother's (furnished) house and unbeknownst to all, there was a box of rat poison lurking behind a sofa in the sun room. One evening, she walked in to find the finger/footprints of her two boys T (4) and Z (1) in the dust from the poison. She immediately began to feel the panic well up inside of her, but managed to stay calm as she and her husband interrogated T to find out if he had eaten any. He swore that he hadn't and as there was no evidence (coloration around his mouth) he stayed at home with his dad while she whisked little Z to the emergency room. Thankfully - all was okay - no p0ison had been eaten, the box was subsequently disposed of and everyone was safe.

Within a week of hearing her story, I saw a spot on TV talking about Poison Control and that most ER visits for poisonings can actually be avoided with a quick call to Poison Control - hearing that piece of info so close on the heels of her story etched it indelibly on my brain. They said for the most part, the Poison Control operators can assess the situation with the info you provide them and give you the best course of action - typically faster than you can even get to the ER - which could definitely save a life in a desperate situation! I immediately wrote down the number and have made sure to store it in my cell phone, computer contacts and in my home management notebook.

I really hadn't thought about Mr. Yuk in years until I had a baby - I remember him from my childhood, remember the stickers well - and have often wondered where those stickers ever came from, did they still exist, and if so - where do you get them now? I never have thought about it at the right time, though and then today, in doing a little blog surfing, ran across a post Whitney had done that linked to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburg and come to find out - they're the creators of Mr. Yuk. And even better - to get a free sheet of Mr. Yuk stickers, all you have to do is send a self-addressed stamped business size envelope to:

Mr. Yuk
Pittsburgh Poison Center
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
3705 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2583

I immediately grabbed a couple of envelopes, addressed them and they're now stamped and ready to go out in the morning and I encourage you to do the same! Not only are these stickers free, but they could save the life of one of your loved ones (or you!) and you certainly can't put a price on that! For more great WFMW ideas, head on over to Rocks in my Dryer!

Embroider even if you don't have a fancy-schmancy machine!

Applique has been around for a long time - many of our mothers and grandmothers were using the technique long before "embroidery-specific" machines were available on the market. The old-school embroidery look is very popular right now (just take a look around etsy), and is fairly simple to do - you can stitch it by hand or with a regular sewing machine - either way, the technique is very simple. If you have any questions - please don't hesitate to leave them in the comments or drop me an email - this technique can also be used with an embroidery machine and one of your favorite applique designs (with a few tweaks) - I'll be more than happy to share that with you too!


Unless you're super artistic/creative, I recommend starting out by creating a template - you can hand-draw one, copy a simple clip art, stitch one out, it really doesn't matter, you just need to have a starting point. I'm not much of an artist, so a simple template is a must for me! I stitched out my candy cane template and then trimmed it down leaving roughly a 1/8" allowance around the stitching.


Next, choose a fabric that you'd like to use for your applique. I chose this stripey one as it does remind me of candy canes!


Next cut a square of fabric that will comfortably encompass your template. I hate to waste fabric so I tend to cut the absolute smallest square possible, but sometimes that means it really is too small - so don't overly kill yourself trying to cut the perfect piece of fabric - my theory is it's better for it to be a little wasteful rather than to definitely be wasteful when I have to cut a second piece! Also - if your fabric has a "direction" - make sure that you cut it so that you can orient your template the desired direction on the fabric.


Now cut a piece of iron-on adhesive- I used this HeatnBond that I found at Walmart (make sure you get the kind that is sewable - not all of them are). Cut it the same size as your fabric & iron it onto the WRONG side of the fabric (leaving the paper backing on the adhesive) according to manufacturer instructions.


I usually keep a piece of paper on my ironing board so that if there's any excess adhesive (my 2 squares are never the exact same size) it gets stuck to the paper and not my board.


Now trim your piece of applique fabric (with adhesive paper attached) to your template. I'm not super artistic, so a template is a necessity for me...but if you are, you can also freehand your shape at this point...just remember that the more intricate your shape is, the more intricate your stitching will be. For me, simple is best.


Next, place your trimmed fabric on the item you want to applique - you can use a onesie or tee, dish towel, pillowcase, tote - the possibilities are really endless! For this project, I chose a pillowcase. Again following manufacturer directions, iron your applique fabric onto your item.


Next place your item on your machine and stitch the applique fabric down taking into account the fabric allowance you added earlier (I used 1/8"). The adhesive will help keep the fabric from fraying, but stitching inside the 1/8th inch also helps keep the fabric completely adhered to the item.


At this point, your item is appliqued - feel free to embellish it with ribbon, buttons, ric rac, etc. After looking at my pic I realized that you couldn't really see the red stitching holding the candy cane down, so I went back and restitched it in black.


I am fortunate enough to have an embroidery machine, so I am adding my little guy's name so that he'll have a festive Christmas pillowcase to use now that he's moved to a big boy bed.

I don't want to give away too much, as I'm giving embroidered items as several gifts, but here are a few of my other Christmas embroidery projects:


Santa with dangly feet (legs made of ribbon)


Christmas truck with tree - I need to get buttons sewn on in the middle of the wheels, but haven't gotten around to it yet! I think that would make it even cuter!


Santa frog - he's one of my favorites!

Hope your handmade Christmas is coming along nicely...for more great ideas, head on over to check out *holidays by hand* - this week almostfrugal is hosting!