Organizing for zero dollars

I've been trying hard to use what I have on hand and not buy a bunch of stuff... it's working out pretty well but mainly because it is so hard to get out with two kids to look at stuff... Winning : ) 

A friend was mentioning that she wanted chalkboard labels for her pantry and I had a duh! moment-- as in I had been wanting to label my pantry too, I also like chalkboard labels and had already made some for Micah's room... so why not my pantry?! 

Sometimes I am very slow. I still had a large roll of chalkboard vinyl from my stairs project so I put my sorely underused silhouette to work. I really need to use it more often!

 So my pantry went from this

 To this

 and Mom's went from this

 To this

Yes we use a LOT of pasta- which reminds me we still haven't told you about our new favorite recipe....  

Also while I am remembering I think I also forgot to tell you guys that I came up with the best pantry organization solution ever! And it's cheap! I once had my entire craft room organized with the plastic shoe tubs and as my supplies grew the boxes no longer organized everything well so I had a ton of them and no where to use them... until it hit me, they fit my pantry shelves PERFECTLY, seriously people! and they use up almost every bit of space on the shelf and are super easy to stack. So I organized Mum's pantry too... of course she didn't know where anything was because she was at work so I am not altogether sure it was appreciated- but I then labeled it for her ( a year later and also while she was at work... haha) Is it mean that I am waiting for her to notice to see what else she wants labeled? She's seen my pantry but I am pretty sure she hasn't looked up in hers! Does the meanness outweigh the help?!
Mum here - The help totally outweighs the meanness. If you hadn't posted this and I hadn't decided to read it before it went live, I'd have found out you labeled my pantry while I was at work. This way was more fun. I seriously looked at the picture and thought you'd photo shopped the labels on. Yes, I'm short. No, I never look up (except when Micah and I are looking at birds and planes). Yes, I love my labels.

Micah is allergic to Peanuts... so we now have our own snack jars (or I just don't want to share!)

 This next project was free because mom had the supplies laying around and she was nice enough to give them to me.

This is the window in our bedroom it lets in lots of lovely afternoon light. The parking lot actually does not bother me (it's ridiculously quiet in this community) and my absolute number one requirement for our house searching was lots of afternoon light. The only unfortunate thing to this window being SO huge is that I don't really like to open it since there is a sidewalk just one story below and you have to constantly remember that people could look up and see in... the master bathroom with large double doors is directly across from it... ahem... 

 So I used scrap 'adhesive' frosting on the bottom 18" of the window. I chose 18" because that is what I had supplies for. 

 So now I can comfortable leave my window open. Though most of the time the blinds still stay shut. It allows in so much light and it also cuts down on the how much the room heats up compared to when I opened the window and it wasn't there. 

 Isabella's room got the same treatment. The beautiful flower kept me from being able to fully shut the blinds at night... which is not so great since I am in there at night feeding her. 

 Much better!

 Micah likes to snack while I am fixing dinner. I decided yesterday to sit him in the corner with a peach. That is the longest he has remained happy and still while I've cooked! 

Now before I forget- the new pasta recipe! 

It's Pioneer Woman's Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce as the base. But then in addition add in a small (4oz) package of goat cheese and a whole rotisserie chicken shredded up. Also we use Rotini Pasta. IT IS AMAZING we eat it at least once every two weeks... and then we always make sure there are leftovers!

Mum again - The recipe is easy, but we make it even easier by having our pesto already made up. I freeze it in small containers that end up being the perfect size for this dish. By the way, this bowl is huge and we usually have just enough leftovers to fight over...... 

oh she just had to go and add a picture of it... now I WANT SOME!!!!! 

+ 

Mum

Happy Birthday to me - To you! AKA the Stand Mixer Cover Tutorial

***Have you made a cover from this tutorial? Please take the time to leave a comment or upload a photo to our flickr group we would love to see it!!!***

Yes that's right FINALLY I have this up for you guys... it only took... years. I was originally planning on putting it up for sale in my etsy shop but I decided that for my birthday I would give it to you all. So please make yourself one or give them away as gifts (just please don't sell them-if you would like to please contact me to purchase the pattern). And for all of you who don't sew there are still a few left in my shop for purchase. 

This was made to fit my Professional series mixer (and fits the Artisan though it's a little large) If you have a high capacity Professional mixer I now have the proper cutting instructions listed in the directions so please be aware and look for those. 

Supplies

3/4 yard outside fabric

1 yard lining fabric

1 yard one-sided fusible interfacing

miscellaneous coordinating fabric scraps

coordinating thread

printed pattern

Tools

Stand Mixer

rotary mat

rotary cutter

ruler 

tape

**FOR HIGH CAPACITY PROFESSIONAL MIXERS**

replace the above measurements with the ones provided in the list below. 

Outside Fabric

15"x29” rectangle

(2) 15”x3” rectangles

(2) 12”x3” rectangles

(2) outside pattern pieces

Quilted Stripe

Cut out enough fabric scraps to fill

(2) 15”x3.75”rectangles

(2) 12”x3.75” rectangles

Lining Fabric

15”x39” rectangle

(2) lining/inside pattern pieces

Interfacing

15”x39” rectangle

(2) lining/inside pattern pieces

Please don't forget to share your completed projects on my Flickr group!

I'm Guest Posting at Sew HomeGrown today

I'm guest posting over at Sew HomeGrown for Jessica today.

I'm sharing a tutorial on how to make your very own book of colors-

come check it out! 

Box of Chocolates Garland Giveaway *and the winner is*

 I want to thank everyone for participating in my giveaway and welcome everyone who is new- I hope you continue to visit because I have a lot of fun things planned! 


So without further ado the winner of the garland is~

The winner has 5 days to contact me or a new winner will be selected.

I really hate that I can't give everyone who entered a garland so I put together this tutorial for you and I hope you will make one for yourself! If you do please add it to my flicker group so we can all see!


Please do not sell anything made from this tutorial it was provided free to you for personal use only. 

Materials and Supplies

dark and light red felt*

white felt*

dark and light brown felt*

DMC Embroidery floss: (2) red, (2)brown, cream

4 feet brown grosgrain ribbon

1/8" wide brown ribbon - length of garland

scissors

pinking shears

hot glue gun

printed heart templates

*wool felt or a wool blend felt work best for this project. If using acrylic it's best to use felt by the yard as opposed to the small sheets of the felt. Felt by the yard is a thicker product and will hold up better with the embroidering. 

Instructions

Each heart will need two base hearts in addition to the top layer (if top layer is desired). Use one of the templates to cut out all three layers

 Use your scissors (or pinking shears) take the top layer and cut the heart smaller. Be sure to keep the shape of the heart consistant.

 Use your scissors to do the same to one of the base hearts. The heart you cut down will be used as your backing heart.

 When you layer your two base hearts they should look like this.

 The three hearts should now look like this.

 Take the top heart pair (on the left) and embroider as desired

Below are some ideas for decorating. 

*Helpful hints*

My personal preference is to use all 6 strands of the embroidery floss.

On the undecorated cream hearts  I use 3 layers since the cream felt is slightly see through

 When you have finished decorating all of the hearts, lay them out making sure the garland will look well balanced when its completed.
To prepare the ribbon. Sew 1/8" ribbon through the grosgrain and tie it off.

 Using your hot glue gun pipe a line across the top of the heart. Make sure to put the knotted ribbon far enough into your heart that the backing will cover it.

 Pipe hot glue onto the backing heart and let cool for just a second,

 then sandwich your ribbon so all of your thread and ribbon is covered.

 Continue adding hearts to the ribbon until the garland reaches the desired length. Repeat the ribbon tie off on the opposite side of the garland.

Start decorating!

And please don't forget to add your project to insanely crafty's flickr group so we can all see!

Box of Chocolates Garland Giveaway

*this giveaway is closed*

Finally a little giveaway for you! This garland might look familiar to some of you since I made a similar one for myself last year. (And I don't want to talk about it but I like this new version better) I thought that since I was nearing my 250th post (what?!) and Valentines day is just around the corner one of you might like to have it!
So up for grabs is this yummy (roughly) 8 foot long wool blend felt garland with hand embroidered detailing.

If you would like to enter please leave a comment.

For extra entry's you can

1. Follow me

2. subscribe

3. blog about my giveaway

Just leave me an additional comment for each one (if you're already a follower or subscribe it still counts as an additional entry so leave a comment!)

The giveaway will be open until next Friday (the 28th). When I will use random.org to pick a winner (If the winner does not respond within 5 days, a new winner will be chosen)

This giveaway is open to everyone anywhere!