The Glassy Crafty Day :-)

I promised a recap of our crafty, glassy day where I invited a group  of my girlfriends over to play with some crafty stuff with me. There were a bunch of glass projects I have been wanting to try, and this seemed like the perfect time to try out a whole slew of them. And then we also threw in a hair flower craft for good measure, which was a big hit. :-) Here's how it played out:

I went shopping at the Salvation Army and bought up their entire selection of vases, votive holders and pretty glass cups. The lady at the checkout counter HATED me. :-) Although I did help her wrap everything up, which I thought was pretty nice of me.



Then I washed and de-price tagged it all. THAT was fun. :-)

My goal was to experiment with a few different projects - glass painting, glass coating and glass.. enhancing I guess you could call it. For Saturday, I just assembled all of the supplies, as well as a gallery on my laptop of inspiration ideas. Here are some of the crafts we did:

The glass painting (wine glass) was more difficult than I anticipated. The DIY mercury glass (silver votive) was super simple and easy, and the glass coating, (white cup and red vase) was time consuming but simple and fun.

It was a full house, and we had a blast.

I told the girls they could bring their own projects to work on, or do what we had planned. Most elected to do the crafts I had planned.

Not Andrea though. She's a rebel. :)

My sister in law Anna brought her daughter Becca with her. Becca is the sweetest girl I know. My friend Sara brought her daughter Lily, who is definitely the sweetest girl I know. And Andrea (the rebel) brought her daughter Grace, who is for sure the sweetest girl I know. The rest of us gals are daughter-less, so we just brought ourselves. :-) Speaking of sweet, my sis Steph brought these aMAzing cookies, that were scrumptious.

That's not Steph. That's Bekah and Chelsea. They are awesome girls. :-) This is Steph.

(on the right) :-)

Speaking of awesome food, Lover surpassed his usual awesome self and cooked us up an amazing array of treats. This is just a sample of what he made.

SO good. :-)

Gosh, my hair is getting really long. :-)

Grace made an adorable vase with polka dots and her initial on it.

Sara and Lily made mercury vases and hair flowers.

So that's pretty much it. We had a great time and made all sorts of fun stuff. Lover fed us so much we were all stuffed. And Andrea made up for her rebel self by bringing me flowers. :-)

Here are the links to the projects we made.

DIY Mercury Glass

Glass Painting with Markers

Coated Glass Bottles

I couldn't find a link to the type of hair flowers we made, with flannel and tulle, but if you google "hair flowers DIY" you'll get tons of results. All in all it was a super fun time and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Although maybe not right in the middle of a busy weekend with twelve other things on the schedule. My bad. :-)

How to Write a Thank You Note.

credit

For the last few years I have had the tradition of writing thank you notes for gifts we receive throughout the Christmas season. I began it as a way to remind myself to actually be thankful for the gifts I was receiving, and now it is a tradition I really enjoy.

While email, Facebook and texting are becoming our communication methods de facto, there's nothing quite like receiving a handwritten card in the mail. It says you cared enough to find the time in your day to personally remember someone. Handwriting a thank you note, however, can be a daunting task. Here's how it's done.

I like to find cards with a pretty design on the front, that are something that I think is stylish. Thank you cards are a great way to express your own sense of style.

Find cards with a blank inside. I find this easier, as I don't feel boxed in by what is already written, as a thank you note is generally straightforward and to the point.

Write neatly, so that the recipient doesn't have to struggle inordinately to understand your writing. However, don't worry if you don't have perfect handwriting, as the simple fact that you took the time to handwrite the card will make it special.

Start with the recipient's name, using a title if appropriate. (Mr, Mrs, Grandma, Grandpa, etc)

Dear Jessica

-or-

Hi Grandma!

Explain that you are writing to thank the person for the gift that they gave to you.

Just wanted to send you a little note to

say thank you for the lotions you gave me.

-or-

Just wanted to send a little note to

say thank you for having Luke and I over for dinner last week.

Mention the gift (item, time, effort, service) specifically, and mention something that you like about it.

I really like the scent you picked out, vanilla is one of my favorites!

-or-

We had a great time, and the food that you made was delicious!

Chicken Marsala is one of my favorite meals.

Wrap up by mentioning again how grateful you are for the gift, and thank them for the time and sentiment behind the gift.

Thanks again for thinking of me, it made me feel so special!

-or-

We really appreciate the time and effort, and look forward

to spending time together again soon!

Express a closing sentiment that is appropriate for your relationship with the person.

Your friend,

-or-

Love,

And sign your name. A first name is fine for anyone you are friends with, and also for family members. If it is someone from work, or a more distant relationship, it would be more appropriate to sign your full name.

Jenny

So, in summary, your written sentiment will look like this.

Dear Jessica,

I wanted to send you a quick note to say thank you for the lotions you gave me.

I really like the scent you picked out, vanilla is one of my favorites! Thanks again for thinking

of me, it makes me feel so special!

Your friend,

Jenny

-or-

Dear Grandma,

Just wanted to send a little note to say thank you for having Luke and I over for dinner last week. We had a great time, and the food that you made was delicious! Chicken Marsala is one of my favorite meals. We really appreciate the time and effort , and look forward to spending time together again soon!

Love,

Jenny

A few tips:

- Write with moderately large handwriting, so that your card is easily read. The bonus of this is that it will fill up the card!

- Start your greeting about one fourth of the way down the blank part of the card. This makes the card look nicer, and helps to fill in the card.

-Send the card within one to two weeks after the gift has been received (or the event has taken place). It's acceptable to take three to four weeks after a large event like a shower or a wedding. That said, the expression better late than never definitely applies to thank you notes.

So there you have it. A quick and simple guide to your very own handwritten thank you note. Now get to it!

Kitchen Valance Tutorial

As promised, here I am with a step-by-step tutorial of how I made the cute little valance that is now helping to prettify my kitchen window.

Materials you will need:

• Dishtowel


• Curtain rod (or spring rod like I used)


• Bias Tape or Ribbon


• Thread

Tools you will need:

• Sewing machine


• Iron, ironing board and starch (optional)


• Measuring tape


• Bulldog clips and/or pins


• Seamripper


• Scissors

I started out with a dish towel (the smooth, thin kind) from Big Lots that set me back $1.50. The colors were warm like the colors of my kitchen, and I have a coffee/cafe theme going on, so the little cappuccino cup worked great.

1. The first thing I did was rip out the seams from the top and the bottom of the towel. These are the narrower ends of the towel, and I just used a seam ripper to yank those little threads out. Leave the side seams intact, as they will save you a lot of extra sewing! Once I had the seams out, and had ironed the towel flat, I began measuring the towel.

2. My window was 31" wide, and the towel was 16" wide and 27" long. I decided that I would cut the towel into three parts, each about 9" tall. (1a) The middle part would have the cappuccino cup on it, and then a plain piece would go on each side. Once I had each piece cut out, I matched the right sides of the side seams together and ran a straight stitch down one side and then the other. (2a)

Then I pressed the seams open so they would lay flat.

3. Now I had one long piece, hemmed on both narrow ends, with a raw edge on top and on bottom. Using the previous hem as a guide, I pressed the first 1/2" of the bottom up, towards the back side,

then rolled that over again to make a nice neat hem for the bottom of the valance. I ran a straight stitch all along the bottom of the valance to make an even hem.

4. I had some oyster colored bias tape left over from a different project that I used to dress the valance up a little bit.

If you have ribbon you could use that as well, or you could leave this part out entirely. :-) I measured the length of the valance (now 48") and cut about a 50" length of bias tape. This will allow enough tape to wrap around the back of the valance so that the cut end doesn't show. This is like the closure on a bag of coffee, where you pinch the little twisty tie back over itself to seal the bag. Same idea.

5. I positioned the bias tape just above the hem I had just created on the valance. Using white thread and a zig zag stitch, I attached the tape to the valance. If you are using ribbon, and it is wide enough, you could also use fusible hem tape to simply iron the ribbon onto the valance.

6. Next I pressed the top of the valance down about a 1/2", towards the wrong side of the fabric. The next step will be to make the pleats, so this way the top has a nice smooth hem to work with.

7. Here's where you will need to do some math. I knew that I wanted the cappuccino cup to be centered on the valance, and the design was about 8" wide. From there I decided the pleats would be about 2" worth of material, and then figured out how many more pleats would fit based on the width of my fabric, and the width of the window. For my valance, that meant two 4.5" panels on either side of the main panel.

8. Here's a little diagram of the measurements for the pleats, and the order that you should iron them in. Use plenty of steam, and starch if you want, to make the pleats very crisp. They'll be easier to manage if you do.

9. I used little bulldog clips to hold the pleats in place across the top until they were all done and I was ready to sew them in place.

Then I ran a straight stitch across the top of the valance, making sure that each pleat was laying down flat and smooth before stitching across it.

My fabric was very light, but if you are using a heavier weight fabric I would run a second seam beneath the first to help the valance hold its shape.

10. Next I cut seven 4" sections of bias tape for the loops that would attach the valance to the curtain rod.

I folded them in half and attached them at even intervals along the back of the valance. I sewed them on by hand so that the thread would not show through on the front. By the way, isn't the engagement ring my lover got for me beautiful? I love it. :-)

11. You're all set! Slide the loops onto the curtain rod, and hang in place! Enjoy your custom, frugal valance that you made all by your onesome!

Linked to DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land. :-)

How to make Weekly Meal Plans

Image taken from here

If you're anything like me, figuring out what to make for dinner each night can be quite the struggle. After a few years of "fulltime" cooking, I've come up with a pretty foolproof plan that eliminates the 4pm meltdown of "what's for dinner?"

There are a few things that make meal planning easier:

• Stocked pantry (items you regularly use in meals, such as cream of mushroom soup)


• Freezer large enough to stock up on meat (when meats go on sale)


• Crockpot (for those days when it is just too busy or too hot to cook)


• Grocery Database (to track sales and prices... it'll save you money!)

First, look at your calendar and determine how many meals you will need to make this week, as well as any notes about what those meals should be.

Image taken from here

For us, this week is a little busy, but we don't have anything major going on. Monday thru Wednesday we have an event at church every evening, so meals need to be quick and simple in order to make it on time. Thursday, Lover has a meeting over dinner, so he won't be home, and we may be going camping next weekend, which means that meals need to be campfire appropriate.

If we were having someone over for dinner, I would make a note of that, and if we had plans to go out to eat I'd put that into the plan as well.

Usually, I end up with 4-5 meals over a week's time, or 8-10 meals over a two week period. (which is how I usually make my meal plans)

Now I am going to take a look at my stocked meats and frozen foods. Do I have anything that needs to be used up? There's some beef in there that is nearing its expiration date, so I'll put that on the menu. Nothing else is reaching its past due point, so anything is fair game. (Get it? Fair game? Tee hee) I'll also look at sales this week for meat. Chicken is on sale for $1.79/lb at my local store, so I know I'll be stocking up on chicken. I make a note to include several chicken meals this week.

Next I will go through my recipes, noting any favorites that look appealing, as well as any new recipes that I've been wanting to give a try. This is where I also ask Lover if he has any "cravings" for the week. He usually answers "Mexican" so I'll include fajitas on one of my days this week.

Next I make up my grocery list, while consulting my pantry, freezer and fridge to determine what ingredients I'll need to make the meals this week. This is when I also write down items needed for lunches throughout the week.

Instead of assigning a meal to each specific day, I simply post a list of the "weekly meals" somewhere on the fridge. This allows me to choose whatever meal I am in the mood for on a particular day. My meals for this week are:

• Chicken Caesar Salad


• Fajitas


• Beef Burgandy (in the crockpot)


• Barbecue Chicken and Grilled Veggies


• Chicken Pasta Salad (my new recipe to try this week)

So, in conclusion, our steps are:

1. Check your calendar to see how your social activities will affect your meal plan.


2. Determine how many meals you will need to make.


3. Check stocked meats for expiration, and sales for bargain meat.


4. Go through recipes and decide on your required number of meals for the week.


5. Make shopping list, after checking pantry, fridge and freezer for supplies.


6. Go shopping


7. Assign a meal to each day, if you prefer.

How to Develop your Own Cleaning Schedule

Image courtesy of nowsourcing.com

Have you ever struggled with keeping your house looking spick and span, but still having time to do other things? I hear you, my friend, and what you need is a cleaning schedule. Having a cleaning schedule ensures that you won't forget important tasks that need to be done, and you will always know when it is time to do them. My schedule has every cleaning task for each room in my house, and it tells me when to do these tasks. This simplifies the process and allows me to have room in my brain to remember much more important things, like my parents' international phone number. (Not!)

The first step I took to assemble my own comprehensive cleaning list was to find exhaustive cleaning lists. Flylady.com has a great detailed cleaning list, and Martha Stewart has a great spring cleaning list here as well.

Next, I customized this list for my own home. We don't have a family room or a master bathroom, but we do have a deck and a porch that I wanted to include. I made a list of each room that would need cleaning. They are:

First Floor: Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Front Entryway and Porch, Back Entryway and Deck

Second Floor: Master Bedroom, Bathroom, Hallway, Office and Guest Room

Basement: Rec Room, Laundry Room, Bathroom and Kitchen

Then, I listed each task that needed to by done by room, and how often it needed doing.

Example: Dining Room - Wash inside of windows - Seasonally

Bathroom - Wash fixtures and mirrors - Weekly

Kitchen - Wash outside of cabinets - Monthly

Once I had each task assigned to each room it was valid for, and when to do said task, it was a cinch to assemble my lists by frequency; Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Seasonally, along with Spring Cleaning and Fall Cleaning.

An important point to remember in making your lists is to customize the tasks and frequency

to your own home. We don't drink coffee regularly, so cleaning the coffeepot is not a part of

our daily routine. It may be for you. However, we spend a lot of time on our deck in the summer,

so I like to add that to my schedule in the summer months. Don't be afraid to add some things in,

or delete ones that are not necessary.

I have summarised the lists by frequency for you to use, if you would like. These are not the

exact lists that I use on a regular basis, as I like to have my tasks broken down by room so that

I can see that everything is getting done. I'll show you where I keep my lists in another post, it's

a lifesaver!

Oh and you may be wondering why my fall cleaning list is longer than my spring list. I am

anti-tradition, what can I say. :-) Actually, because we are inside all winter, I clean a lot more and there really isn't a need for a big spring clean. But, throughout the summer, with parties, bare feet, gardening, and open windows, the dirt piles up. Come fall, the house needs a good cleaning! Plus, a big cleaning in the fall means that everything is spick and span for the holidays, and ready for the hard winters here in upstate NY.

Sure hope this helps you keep your sanity, and still have a clean house!