Clean house

I like to organize. That is not to say that our house is always neat and tidy, I still make my share of messes (just ask Phil), but I like to go through, sort, and get rid of things. A lot. (You should have seen me in my pregnant nesting stage, all things cluttered were unsafe). For me, organizing and getting rid of items is therapeutic. I always feel better when I have done some good sorting and throwing out.

I like to follow a few steps when I decide to clean something out:

1. I prepare myself for things to get messier before they get cleaner. When organizing or cleaning anything, it usually requires pulling all items out (of a cupboard, box, drawer, etc) so I can see what I have. It always seems a little chaotic at first. But don't worry, it gets better. 
2. Make piles. As I sort, I usually have a keep, maybe, and a throw away pile. I go through the whole mess and put each piece in its pile, then put it in its place once I'm done. 
3. When deciding what to keep (usually the items in the maybe pile) I ask myself: "Is it useful? Is it beautiful?" If I answer yes to either of these then I will probably keep it. But its important to not be too vague, even to yourself. Useful should mean its something I actually use, not just something that could be useful because I don't want to throw it out. And beautiful means that I currently find it beautiful, or that it helps to beautify my home/office/self/etc. Something that I loved in seventh grade may not still be beautiful in the sense I am using it here.
4. Finally, everything has a place (Phil is big on this). Once I have gone through my piles, I consider this as I am putting things back. Even if I initially put the item in my keep pile, and I find it useful and/or beautiful, if I have nowhere to put it, it defeats the purpose. I think this is where my biggest desire to throw things out comes from. I don't like things to just be out. I want them to have a spot. So, if I can't figure out how to store an item appropriately, it will probably end up going to Goodwill.

We almost always have a donation bag or box around our house because we get rid of items pretty frequently. It a great way to clean out the house, and contribute to your favorite thrift store. However, in an effort to make a little extra money (see why here), we started saving our donation items over the past couple of months to participate in a garage sale with some friends from church. That sale will be happening this weekend. Can't wait to see what sells and what we make!

Making the Most of Your Clothes - Part Two: Minor Repairs 1

So now that you have cleaned out that closet, you may have be feeling a bit lighter on the clothing side. Its ok. Part of the point of this series is to help you appreciate the clothing that you already have. We live in a consumer driven, "gotta have it NOW" kind of world. But the fact is, most of us probably don't have the money to have all those clothes that we see on the fashion blogs we love so much. And hopefully, we are also unwilling to go into debt to get them. So we have to make do with what we have.

Learning how to do some minor repairs can make your favorite items last just that much longer. To start with, knowing how to sew a few simple stitches can sure come in handy. Even if you don't have a machine, hand sewing can work on most little repairs.

Somehow, I've had too many shirts come out of the dryer with little holes in them. I'm not sure how it happens, maybe I am washing them with something rough that snags them, but I just bought this shirt a couple months ago and didn't want to get rid of it already because of this little hole.

The best way to repair a hole like this is to use a single strand of thread, you don't even need to knot it at the end because the stitches you will make are pretty much like one big knot (usually you would double up the thread and tie it together at the end). Also, this repair works best on knit fabric (like cottony t-shirt material). It would not work on silk or very sheer fabrics.

 To start, turn the shirt inside out and start stitching on one end of the hole, making sure not to pull the thread all the way through (once you make your first full stitch the thread will be secure).

 Overcast stitches (like a loop around the hole) are best for this tip of repair because it pulls the fabric back together. Try to make your stitches as close together as possible and as close to the edge of the fabric as possible.

After you have sewn all the way down the hole, sew back up to where you started to really secure it. This also helps to tighten up any spots that maybe you missed with your first few stitches.

Once you have finished sewing up the hole, knot off your fabric by making a loop and pulling your thread through the loop. Do this a couple of times and you wont need to worry about the stitches coming undone.

Snip off the excess thread and you're done! You can barely see the stitches when you turn the shirt right side out, and now its fit to wear again.

Making the Most of Your Clothes - Part One: Clean out your closet

As it has become much harder to get out and take fabulous pictures of myself now that I have a little one in tow, I thought I would devote some time to some fashiony tips that have helped me stretch my budget and make the most of my clothes.

Part One: Clean out your closet.

I have discovered that sometimes it can actually be better to have fewer clothes. (I know, I know, what is this crazy talk?) I have never had a lot of money, and so sometimes it can be hard to buy all of the items I would like to have in my closet. Because of this I have often given into the "its a good deal" syndrome and have bought something just because it was a good price and I was able to get more for my money (but not really), not because it was the thing I really wanted.

For the past year or so I have been really trying to make an effort to buy fewer, but better quality clothing. In addition to that, I regularly clean out my closet. It has taken me a while to sufficiently pare it down, but it is now only contains items that I really like and really wear. I have less than I used to, but oddly, it feels like more. Maybe its because I am not sifting through old clothes that I don't like, or that don't fit, trying to find something to wear. I used to do this thing where I would "save" my favorite clothes for special occasions and wear my old, less cute stuff on just regular days. But I never really felt happy in them. Now, because I only own pieces that I really like, I am happy with my outfit pretty much everyday, no matter what I wear. So, I recommend that you clean out that closet and see how it makes you feel.  Here are some tips:

Get rid of items that:

• Don't fit
• It may not fit because you have gained or lost weight, or it may be an item that just doesn't fit your body type (ie: a maxi skirt on short legs, or a shirt in your size that just doesn't fit across your broad shoulders)
• It may be an item that once fit but has since shrunk in the laundry, or stretched out from use
• You haven't worn for over 1 year
• Look, the truth is you are just not going to wear it. If its been over a year its time to let it go. Go on. You can do it.
• Have irreparable damage (holes, broken zippers, stains that won't come out)
• If you can sew, rips on seams, lost buttons, or minor alterations can all be taken care of, but any damage greater than that probably means its time to retire the item
• Looks worn out from excessive wear
• Sometimes we just wear clothes out. And you can tell. So even if its your very favorite item, if its pilling (although there is a trick for that that I will share later), stretched out, faded, has armpit stains, or any other signs of much love, it may be time to say goodbye.

I know this may seem difficult, but cleaning must come first before any other tips will be effective. Heck, you may even find some stuff in there that you forgot about. If nothing else, cleaning is therapeutic, and you will be on your way to fully appreciating your wardrobe. 

DIY: dress-turned-skirt

My mom is quite the seamstress. She has been sewing since she was a teenager, and from the time I was very little I can remember her making me clothes and piecing quilts. She taught me to sew when I was young, but I never got very good at it. I mostly stuck with hand sewing because it was easier and I could do it by myself without needing help with the machine. I used to sew little clothes for my dolls out of scraps and then as I got older I started to make alterations to my own clothes. I finally bought my own sewing machine about two years ago and it was one of the best investments I have every made. I am by no means an expert, but I try to make clothes go as far as possible, (if I don't mess them up first). 

I have had this dress for a couple of years and while I liked it when I first bought it, I grew tired of it pretty quickly and haven't worn it for months. I didn't like how the top half fit me, but I still felt like the bottom half had potential and wasn't ready to completely get rid of it. 

Starting with a seam ripper I separated the top half from the bottom, the elastic came off with it, so I had to pin it back on to the skirt. For projects like this I would recommend buying a pack of thread like the one below. It says the spools are for hand sewing, but I got it to stay on my machine and there was more than plenty for this project but now I don't have a whole spool left of purple thread that I will never use again (plus I have 23 other colors for other projects!).

I sewed the elastic back on and then folded over the top and sewed it again, and wah lah! Brand new skirt!

Shirt: Old Navy

Dress turned Skirt: DownEast Basics

Ankle Booties: Call it Spring

Pocketwatch Locket: Touché

NaNoWriMo

So, I've decided to write a novel. 

Seriously.

My cousin Catie gave me the idea because apparently November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.  Anyway, she posted on facebook that she had signed up to do it and had the workings of a story. I had no clue what NaNoWriMo even was (good thing we have google) but once I found out I totally loved the idea. 

The gist of it is that you try to write every day in the month of November. You just write and write and write and by the end of the month you should have a novel. The website has tips and forums and a word-count-o-meter (something like that) and basically just motivates you to get from start to finish in 30 days. 

I had absolutely no idea what I would write about, but I really wanted to do it (I've always wanted to write a novel) so I created a profile and started up my count-o-meter.  I started writing about nothing really, and then it kind of turned into something, and then something else, and now I actually have a real idea and am writing a real story. Its a like a miracle.

The thing is, I really have always wanted to write a novel. But I am such a perfectionist that I never get very far because I over edit and I tend to judge myself.  I want my work to be perfect from the start and that keeps me from ever getting to the finish.  I want whatever I write to mean something because the books I read mean so much to me. I don't want to just author cheap story lines that sell thousands of copies and are made into movies, but then don't really mean anything to anybody because they don't actually have much substance (cough, cough, Nicholas Sparks, cough).  

But, having said that, you can see that that is part of my problem. Maybe I need to just sit down and spit out a story, whether it means something or not so that I can just say that I have written a novel. You have to start somewhere, right? It doesn't have to be a masterpiece. 

And, lets face it, I'm not Charlotte Bronte, nor will I ever be. But I want to do this. And I'm going to do it. So, I am posting this on my blog, against my better judging type A personality, because I want to hold myself accountable. 

The goal is 50,000 words and a completed novel by November 30. I'm at 3,923. Only 46,077 more to go!

Happy Halloween!

I LOVE Halloween.  I think I love it more each year.  I especially love dressing up, and for me the fun is in finding/making the costumes. Phil doesn't want to have to work, he just wants an easy costume that he can put on and be done, but I don't just want any old store-bought costume.  Which is ironic because when I was a kid I always thought the store-bought costumes were the best, but my mom (wisely) was never willing to spend the money and always made my costumes. They were of course way better and much nicer than anything I could have bought at Wal-Mart, but its only recently that I'm really starting to appreciate her hard work. 

These days, I pride myself on being able to find everything we need to dress up at the D.I.  Even better if I can find something ridiculous and alter it into something great. I also really like have couples costumes. A few years ago Phil and I dressed up as Princess Peach and Mario and his roommate Brian was Luigi. 

My dress was a giant size 20 that I found at the D.I. and took in by hand!  So grateful to have a sewing machine now!

Then last year we dressed up as Gnomeo and Juliet, which was really fun except that people kept mistaking us for either Smurfs or Keebler Elves.  

A combination of D.I. alterations and clothing we already owned.  I made our gnome hats out of felt.

This year I wanted to have a theme again, its just more fun that way. We were thinking for a while that we could be the Mad Hatter and Alice in Wonderland, but I wasn't thrilled with the idea and we were on such a tight budget I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to make our costumes good enough.  Finally, after searching online for ideas, I got the idea to be Sandy and Danny from Grease. I of course decided I would be the "good" Sandy which would be an easier costume, not to mention more appropriate for our Ward party. Phil's costume was what made me really excited though.  As you all know, he is attending Thunderbird School of Global Management. Well, all the students at Thunderbird are called T-Birds and what could be more iconic than Danny's T-Bird jacket?  

After a mishap with spray paint, I was able to use acrylics to paint the "T-Bird" logo on Phil's jacket.  I told him he should just start wearing it to school, I think its awesome!

My skirt was made from a large yellow muumuu dress.  The sweater and all of Phil's costume were also bought at Goodwill. 

Happy Halloween!

Trash and Treasure

Do you remember when you were in elementary school and someone would ask you who your favorite teacher was?  and it was always the teacher you had that year?  When you were in first grade it was your first grade teacher, in second your second grade teacher, and so on.  But, that all changed for me when I hit fourth grade.  Mrs. Finley was my favorite teacher that year, and the year after that, and the year after that.  15 years later she is still my favorite teacher. She was so creative and I still remember things I learned and activities we did as if they were yesterday. 

We memorized a lot, but not just times tables or spelling words, we memorized poems like "Sea Fever" by John Masefield, and speeches from Shakespeare, and the Gettysburg Address, and the Preamble to the Constitution.  Mrs. Finley taught us manners.  And I don't just mean she reminded us to say "may I go to the bathroom" instead of "can I go to the bathroom"  I mean she set up a full size table in her classroom set with plates and cups and fancy silverware and we sat down at it and learned proper etiquette.  We studied Ellis Island, and then recreated it.  We all were given characters to play and had to come to school dressed as if we were immigrants from our respective countries migrating to America.  I was Bridget O'Reilly from Ireland.  I had two sets of twins (I had to borrow some dolls from my friends and carry them to school) but my husband had died.  We all had to pack suitcases and bring them to school and Mrs. Finley would search them as if she was a real guard at Ellis Island.  Some students were inspected and told they had a disease and could not enter.  One was found to have silverware in her suitcase and was accused of stealing it. We had to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and Preamble and know all kinds of facts about America to be allowed to come in.  I learned way more that day than I would have just reading a book. 

I could go on and on about all the incredible things she did to peak our learning, but this post is already getting a bit lengthy and I do actually have a point. 

So what is bringing on all this nostalgia you ask?

One of our projects was this:

Yes, that's right.  Each of us made an entire doll house out of, basically stuff people throw away, in fourth grade, in a matter of weeks.  This one is mine.

The dollhouse (the boys made castles, by the way) was inspired by the early 1900's Victorian Era. 

This is the nursery. The bed is made of a little soap box covered with felt.

Next, the bathroom.  See the little old-fashioned toilet in the back? The toilet seat part was a little creamer cup and the bathtub was made out of two little cups cut in half and glued back together to make more of an oval shape.

 The sink was made of one of those little cups that chocolates come in.

This was the other bedroom, the older sister's room. You can see the little hat on the bed and the tiny perfume bottles made from beads and pins stuck into the vanity which was made out of a tea box covered in fabric.  

Oh, and recognize that little white stand in the corner by the fireplace (made of a kleenex box)?  Thats one of those little plastic table things that comes in the middle of your pizza when its delivered.

 This is the parlor.  Another kleenex box fireplace and cardboard furniture.  The things on the wall, as well as the plants, rug and little lamp were all cutouts from magazines.  

This is the dining room.  The cake was made from a variety of lids, the top layer being a toothpaste cap. I like the chandelier, also a magazine cutout.

 And finally, the kitchen.  Actually, this isn't my favorite room because I feel like it's kind of boring, but the little sink is cute.  It's a little sauce box that you would get from someplace like McDonalds with sweet and sour sauce in it, cleaned out and put into that brown box with the "faux marble" top. 

We colored floors (wood and tile patterns) for days and used wall paper for the back wall of each room.  The frame of the house is made out of cardboard bolts that fabric is wrapped around at a fabric stores. 

I don't know where Mrs. Finley got these ideas, but I'm sure grateful I got to be in her class. 

After I moved on to fifth and sixth grade I still loved and played with my dollhouse.  With time it got moved to a corner of my closet and finally out to the garage.  Then, when my mom was here visiting a couple of weeks ago, my dad insisted she bring it to me.  The plan was that I would clean it up (it had gotten pretty dusty), take some pictures for memory's sake and then throw it away.

But now that it's here and so cute, I haven't quite been able to bring myself to just toss it out.  What do you think? To keep or not to keep?

Desk revival

I realized I never posted pictures of the cute desk that I fixed up recently.  When I saw it:

I just knew I had to have it.  I convinced Phil that it would be perfect for my craft and sewing stuff, with all the little drawers and compartments, and it really is.  Of course, when I bought it, it looked like it had been chewed on both sides by either a ferret or some kind of bird, so I had to sand that down a lot.  Then, I coated it twice with primer and painted it bright red. 

Unfortunately with DIY projects, sometimes what seems like a great deal at first ends up not being such a great deal in the end.  I don't mean the desk itself, just the cost it took to make it cute.  Once we had bought sand paper, brushes, primer, paint, and new knobs it went from being a $25 desk to a $70 desk.  

Its a little crowded in our living room, but hopefully we will be getting a 2 bedroom apartment when we move and can put it in the extra room.  I love it, and best of all, if I need to straighten things up fast, I can just put everything inside and roll down the top.  I guess it was a pretty good deal after all.

Muumuus are dresses too

Over Spring Break I was inspired by this blogger and her expert seamstress skills.  After staring amazedly at her creations for some time, I immediately headed to the closest D.I. to find some muumuus.  

I found two: 

I brought them home and begin cutting away at the first one.  I soon realized that while she may be an expert seamstress, I am NOT.  But after learning a few lessons on the first dress (still yet to be finished) I took a break and then some weeks later pulled out the second, blue dress.  It went much smoother  having already learned a few things and I created this:

Not bad considering what it was right?!