Links

Hey, Froggers. Yours truly has been quite busy. I'm having a dinner party aka hurry up and clean the house, wash the kitchen cabinets that haven't been washed in 5 years, landscape the yard, powerwash the front walk, scrub all of the carpet stains, flip the cushions on the furniture that are deathly dirty, re-decorate the entire house, clean, clean, clean, and oh yeah, cook. Needless to say, I'm not getting much crafting done this week. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some more pics next week when I have a little more down time. In the meantime, I'm linking to these great blogs:
No Minimalist Here
The Graphics Fairy
The Shabby Chic Cottage
Have a great weekend, Peeps!
Fondly, Tami

I'm so sorry, Froggers!

Hey, Froggers. I just wanted to let you know that if you left a comment on one of my recent blog posts, I accidentally deleted them (ditz moment). So, PLEASE know that I REALLY value your comments, suggestions, and blog love!
Fondly, Tami

No Sew Drop Cloth Curtains, Glue Gun Style

So, Froggers. I've been reading about drop cloth curtains and I was intrigued, especially since we've lived in this house for 5.8 yrs. and I'm JUST getting around to putting window treatments up. You see, I'm very cheap, and I wanted to make my curtains, but I wasn't inspired in the least to use my sewing machine. I was blog hopping, and I found a gal who just used a glue gun on her curtains. "Hot dang," I thought to myself. I could get excited about that! So, I got to work.

Miss Mustard Seed says to wash your drop cloth fabric several times to get it soft and pliable. Since she's practically an idol of mine, I did as she said. What I didn't read was her post about bleaching them. Bummers. I would have liked that look, but I'll save that technique for when I cover my wing backed chair. 

Anyhoo, I really didn't have a particular room in mind to adorn, but when I opened the drop cloth package, I was hit with a wave of brilliance (which happens on occasion). The cloth was put together in three identically sized panels, so I decided that this piece of *expensive* fabric was going to be used for my three windows in my bedroom. Yipee!

All I did was separate the panels with a seam ripper, cleaned up all the little threads that had a magnetic attraction to my black sweater, and went at it with my glue gun. Now, I have to be honest, it would have been quicker and easier to sew these babies, but I really wanted to empower my Froggers who don't like to sew. Notice I didn't say "can't", because everyone can learn to press their foot to the pedal and guide a piece of fabric through a little moving needle that threatens to impale your finger through the nail bed, showering your new fabric in a lovely blood-red color. 

I glued the seams back together, and turned the raw edges under that were "faced" the wrong way. You have to be careful here. Imagine the panel hanging up, and fix your raw edges accordingly. Then, I glued some trim that I purchased from Joann's, for half price, of course.

Trim on the Curtain

Once that was done, I simply clipped them to my curtain rod with those wonderful ring clips that save House Divas like us from having to use that #$()*&% sewing machine.

Now, I really wanted some more color, so HubbyDoc and I went to the Calico Corners Outlet and discovered a wonderful sale. I spent $47 on about 5 different coordinating fabrics. Now, one of the fabrics was $37/yard at the normal price. REALLY? Well, I expect Kate Middleton's wedding gown will be fashioned out of one of those fabrics. Know what I'm sayin'?

I took one of the coordinating fabrics and fashioned a plain rectangular valance that was wider than the curtain. This way, when I clipped the valance to the rod with the panel, it would be a little bit bunchy, thereby giving it the "designer look" that I so desperately desired but for which I didn't want to take out a second mortgage (how's that for excellent grammar?).

Here's the valance:

And my adorable chandelier that I bought for a little too much money. Oh, well.

I needed some sashes, so I made some small rectangular pieces out of one of the fabrics and sewed plastic sash rings to the ends. I mounted a 3M removable hook on the wall beside the window moulding. Then, I threaded a fabulous tassel (that I found at Tuesday Morning for about $5 each) on each sash. I gathered the fabric and hung the sashes onto the hook. Voila!


 

This chick is one happy crafter. The best thing is that the whole deal (with rods, braided trim, clips, and all the matching fabric) only cost about $100- $125. Can you say THRIFTY? Now, I know it's not as impressive as some of my Fellow Froggers, but I was pretty tickled.

Now onto the dining room.

Fondly, Tami
I'm also linking to :
A Bowl Full of Lemons 
Tatertots and Jello 
French Country Cottage

Crafting mania!

So, I had a great SAHM Homeschooling Mom Day. It was the next best thing to Mother's Day. Cooking, spending time with friends, having my Fam all at home, and working on craft projects were the order of the day. I looked a little crazy. My Happy Place (aka craft area) is in the basement, and today, I was up and down the stairs with clean paintbrushes, dirty paintbrushes, pastry bags replete with couplers and tips, a phillips screwdriver, and my Droid, newly loaded with a recipe (I e-mail myself recipes from the internet, then take my Droid into the kitchen and thus- a new cookbook!).
So, today was Multi-Tasking (aka PADD- meaning Project Attention Deficit Disorder) Day. Let me run down the list:
-Had tea with good friends from church, but I had to finish up the homemade box and card set for the hostess (pics below).
- A quick trip to AC Moore for white spray paint (with a coupon).
- Put the first coat of paint on my next bedroom project.
- Made Challah bread in the breadmaker (do you REALLY think that I made it by hand, I mean, do you really think I am a house diva???) which I procured from Freecycle. OK, I just might be a house diva after all.
- Made meringues from the leftover egg whites from the Challah bread (after doing algebra to figure out the ratios- OH YEAH!), while listening to Oldest Daughter singing "Tell Her" (by Del Amitri) and playing her acoustic guitar. I have to admit that she plays quite well and her voice is SO pretty. (Homeschool Mom Moment- I love my girls. They are the greatest. I homeschooled them from kindergarten and first grade. Now, don't go getting all "homeschooling is weird" and "all the kids I know that are homeschooled are social reprobates." Believe me, I've heard just about all the ignorant comments. I'm not anti-public school. As a matter of fact, we gave Oldest the option to go to public school in high school. She chose to stay home. Scholarships, Teen Volunteer of the Year, Phi Theta Kappa, playing violin in the world premier of Mendelsohn's Elijah in four different cities in Spain, which was accompanied with choir singing in Spanish, an offer of a classical guitar scholarship at a prestigious college, almost a full year of college credits in high school, and being told they're delightful young ladies, I think we've earned our keep in society. THIS mom is pretty proud. Sorry for the bragging). And PLEASE, when you feel like criticizing homeschooling, please get your facts straight before you judge. After all, that's how I could use algebra to figure out the ratio for the meringues. Just sayin'.
- Painted the first coat of white on a dull, dark wood picture frame that I got for *c*h*e*a*p in the clearance bin at the Pottery Barn.
-  Refurbed an architectural element (funny story to follow), which will be strategically placed in my bedroom. I'm not sure what HubbyDoc thinks of my new shabby chic style. I think he'll eventually get used to it. He wasn't sure of drop cloth curtains, but he actually likes them (btw, there will be pics of the curtains after I make the sashes, that I'm stuck on, which have to be perfect, you know).

Btw, if you don't see any more posts on my blog, it means we all died of carbon monoxide poisoning from having to prop open the oven door during the 3 hours it took to bake the meringues. Just sayin'.

The algebra for the ratios. I do love math.

 

Here are some of the cards I made for my friend, whose name obviously starts with "J".

Hi Froggers! Wow, when they say bloghop, you all are HOPPIN'. There was lots of traffic on my site! I sure hope that you all were blessed and went away with some new craftin' ideas. I LOVE encouraging people!

So, I've been admiring all the subway art that's out there in Blogland. I absolutely love it, and I am thrilled with how it can be so personalized. Well, here's my latest project. I wanted to put something in my kitchen, so HubbyDoc and I thought about all of the creations we make. He is a good cook, and often cooks on the weekend. Boy, did I ever marry the right one!
Digression- speaking of marrying the right one...
On the first day of our honeymoon (I promise, this is rated G), we were getting ready to go to a lovely restaurant for dinner. HubbyDoc asked me kind-of a strange question. He asked what I was planning on wearing for dinner. Considering I hadn't really packed tons of clothing, I thought it was a little weird. Anyway, I told him I was wearing my purple dress (and if I'd wear that dress now, I'd be the laughing stock of the restaurant. I kind-of looked like Alex P. Keaton's sister). So, after I got dressed, HubbyDoc presented me with a little box. Inside was a pair of lovely purple amethyst earrings. Oh, my. BIG husband points! I was thrilled. Then the next night...you guessed it. The same thing happened, only this time, I received a matching necklace, replete with fresh water pearls. Well, to make a long story short, he gave me a piece of jewelry on every day of our honeymoon. He had planned it and shopped for months. Then, when we arrived home, awaiting me was a mahogony jewelry box with my new initials engraved on it.  What a guy!
And, I've been thrilled with being married to him ever since. Don't get me wrong. It's not all been perfect (after all, we had 2 children to raise), but if I had to do it all over again, I SO would.

So, without further delay, here's the subway art.

 

I hope you all are having a FAB day. Stop in again, and as always, leave a comment if you like what you see!
Fondly, Tami

Blog Hop and New Key File

So, Froggers (read my previous posts to find out why I call you all that), I'm busy creating today, so I don't have time to write a lot, but trust me- I'll have pics soon of what I'm working on. I'm SO excited to show you. Let's just say it has something to do with subway art.
I'm into keys lately, and here's another file.

*This file is no longer available for free. To purchase, go to www.diecutdesigner.com after April 23, 2011. Thanks. Tami

So, stay tuned for my next blog post SOON. 

And, don't forget to check out all these other FAB FROGGERS!

 http://c90designs.blogspot.com/ 

 www.createNcraft.com/  

 http://vickiscreativecraftingcorner.blogspot.com/

 http://sueinct.blogspot.com 

 www.patternsbysher.blogspot.com

 www.creativepointe.blogspot.com

 www.eyeinspire.com/blog/

 http://maestraorquestra.blogspot.com 

 www.thisandthatfromtami.blogspot.com

 http://craftyblonde.blogspot.com/  

 http://dscrapbookingroom.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Fondly, Tami

 

Duh moments

Hey, Froggers! (friends who are bloggers) So, I got contacts again, except that now that I'm older (don't tell anyone), it's a lot more complicated. I tried bifocal contacts, but I couldn't STAND them, in spite of the fact that I have a good friend who popped hers in, loved them, and never looked back (well, I suppose she really DID look back, since now she had new contacts that worked and was probably thrilled). I'm now wearing monovision contacts, which is an oxymoron, since one of them is bifocal and one is for long-distance sight. I'm still getting used to them, and as a matter of fact, I'm squinting at this very moment.
Diversion...(most people call it multitasking, but I think it's just really ADD), I'm watching a very real commercial right now about Pajama Jeans. Seriously, it looks like an SNL skit. I'm waiting for Tina Fey to show up on the screen. It's truly ridiculous.
So, I was trying to take a picture of my new craft with my brand new *not-cheap* camera. I tried and tried to get it focused, and it wouldn't work. I got quite frustrated when I realized that I was looking through the viewfinder with my bifocal eye. When I switched looking through it with my distance eye, it was miraculously clear. So, I guess I'm going to have to change my old ways.
Anyway, I think I'm nesting again. You see, Youngest is leaving for college in the fall (she's such a sweetie). She's currently homeschooled, but she's approaching the end of her senior year and has so much on her transcript, she doesn't have much that she needs to do. She's currently taking 2 college courses, and when she graduates from high school, she will have 27 college credits. So, I don't need to do a "lot" with her concerning school since she's a smarty-pants and can plan her classes on her own. So, after MANY years of homeschooling, I finally have a little bit more time, thus the Crafting Frenzy.
A few days ago, I saw something in a mag., and as usual, I thought, "I can make that", so I did. I have many types of dried flowers in my basement, so I tapped into my reservoir. I use a variety of methods to dry my flowers, and one of my fave methods is drying them in a desiccant (yes, I had to look up that spelling) called Silicagel, although there are several different types out there (and NEVER buy it at AC Moore or Michael's without a coupon). Here's my newest project: These are my delicate little Japanese Dogwood flowers, although my Oldest (who's a smarty-pants college student) tells me that these white "flowers" are actually leaves. I so rely on her to be botanically correct. These "leaves" were dried in Silicagel. You must cut or pick them when they've only "bloomed" for a day or two. You lay down a nice thick layer of the sandy substance in your container, then you lay these pretties right side up. Once they're placed, with edges NOT touching, you carefully sprinkle more desiccant on top, covering them completely. Seal the container (I usually use Rubbermaid) and don't peek for a few weeks. After you have waited patiently (I put the date that I can peek on the calendar which gives me something to look forward to), you carefully open your container, tilt it slightly, and expose your "flowers". They will be dry (after all, that's the point), so be careful. These blooms are at least 6 years old. I dried many when I HAD a J. Dogwood (I have one now, but it's a baby and isn't producing for me yet). I often use them on my Christmas tree or my stairway garland. They are just so pretty. I just realized that this blog post has become l...o...n...g. So, without further delay, I wanted you to see my round key svg file.
*This file is no longer available for free. To purchase, go to www.diecutdesigner.com after April 23, 2011. Thanks. Tami

I hope you enjoy my creations. I really do aspire to encourage!
It's time to go take these *&^%$#@ contacts out! Fondly, Tami