Is H for Hilyer or Hilarious?

Found this cute letter K wrapped in garland on Pinterest, also found a letter Y (sorry no photo). Looks easy huh? NOT!!! I went to HobLob (mile from the house) and found a big size easy, non fancy letter H. The letters used in both examples I found were not at my Hobby Lobby as the tutorials had said!
Started wrapping it, it has to be done in two sections by the way. There is not way to do one continuous wrapping on the letter H (that K neither!). I should have married a Smith, cause S would be a cinch. The garland was wired so it formed easier than say string (juke) where you would have to glue every swipe to the back and around. Well, I got the garland all around and boy do I wish I had a photo of that. I laughed for 10 straight minutes...it looked like a solid rectangle of garland. The garland in between the 'arms' and 'legs' of the H was overlapping and completely filling the spaces. It reminded me of a little green monster that needed one big eyeball. Those of you who know me are suprised i didnt go with the eyeball and call it a day! But hey, this Pinterest thing has got me to thinking I am some kind of creative genius so I figure I gotta give the little monster a haircut and get to my original desired ending. Scissors was taking too long, so I got out my husbands beard trimmer/shaver (the thing they give you crew cuts with in the Army). Worked like a charm and faster. Then it looked plain and the eyeball would not have been funny at that point but well, creepy. So, i got some floral Christmas embellishment at the Hob. Had the ribbon and oh boy do I need to work on ribbons. I am over it and going with it. Phew, I am tired and it was suppose to be a small easy project.

Another embellshed wreath

Also got this wreath at Lowes Warehouse and embellshed it with the letter, an ornament and floral Christmas pick (snowflake). All supplies except wreath came from Hobby Lobby. I painted the letter 'M' myself. This project was so easy. Any Mommy who sews for their child can walk into Target or Walmart and see a basic simple dress or tee shirt and think of embellishing it to look like Boutique clothes, I just applied that to a wreath!

Purchased wreath with my embellishments

Made this wreath for my Mother-in-Law. I got the wreath on clearance at Lowes Home Improvement Store. It was marked fall clearance, but white berries do not say Fall to me. Looked Christmas and wintery to me. Got the deer ornament at Hobby Lobby and the red glitter snowflake as well, though the snowflake is a floral embellishment and not an ornament. Letter and paint also from the HobLob. Very Easy project.

Auburn Wreath

More gifts...wonder if my Husband's administratvie assistant and receptionist are excited to see what I make them every year for Christmas or making bets on how tacky the craft, lol! Again, found a variation of this on Pinterest, everything came from Hobby Lobby or my stash of supplies. I am surrounded by Auburn-ites living here in the University town, and even though we are Bama fans living in Tigerland, I will support them #2. The bow is made from satin ribbon and will never make it outdoor but I threw this together late at night and Hobby Lobby was closed so this will have to do. It is not glued on, so she can remove it. Working on my gluing the letters on more carefully next time as well. Still the most fun was the rosettes I made with scrap fabrics.

Alabama Wreath

Gift time for Christmas and I have always loved making my gifts. Though some friends and family would probably prefer I just buy gift cards or something normal. Where is the fun in that? Is it all about me ya know...well, maybe not. But I like crafts! Saw this wreath or a variation of it on Pinterest. I love mine other than maybe the A needs to be a lighter grey, it looks black but it is more charcoal. These rosettes made from fabric scraps are loads of fun and I can do those while watching TV at night. There are about a jillion tutorials of those as well on Pinterest, find one, get started.

Cleaning burnt & cook on grease off cookware

Found this: http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/how-to-clean-burnt-frying-pans-with-vinegar-bicarb-140547 and I have this cookie sheet like thing that came with my toaster oven that is in deep need of a clean (or the trash). I did not have a way to heat it directly with this recipe because the pan has holes in it so I put it inside another pot and performed the recipe. It worked OK. But I could see how it would work magnificently with direct heat.

My very own EZ Bow Maker!

Well, you have probably seen the EZ Bow Maker in craft stores http://www.ezcraft.com/PDF/ez_bow_maker_instruction.pdf , where it teaches you to make a bow with their bow maker which is just a wood plant and 2 wooden dowels (mine is a hair different). Saw this at BHG http://www.bhg.com/christmas/gift-wrapping/festive-bows/ , which is their homemade creation. So I went to Hobby Lobby and got the supplies to make my own: There are lots of forms to use as a base, this was the cheapest at $1.99 and I already had a wooden dowel, that I cut off two pieces of to make the rods. Then I pushed them into the foam (florist department) to make 'premade holes' and then shot hot glue into the holes, put the dowels back into the holes, let dry...ta-da! And it worked just fine.

Halloween Decor

Sorry if you are looking for sewing ladies! Ashley started to a school with uniforms and I hardly have a need to sew. But I found Pinterest and now I am a crafting fool. Here is an idea I got from a BHG article from years ago. Got everything form Hobby Lobby.

Bonus Tile Floor Grout Cleaner Experiment

Well, one last try but it was not even worth a photo. I mixed 2 scoops of Oxi-bleach and water enough to make a runny paste. Poured it out on a interestection of grout and put a bowl over it to make sure the cats didnt eat any. In 10 minutes it was rock hard, had to scrap it off with the scrapping end of my dish brush. Ir idid make cool looking harden snow caps that I could maybe use in my snow village, lol.
All in all, these experiments werea lesson in baking soda. That baking soda is divine! And day 1 was my best! Guess I will make a bucket of it next time.

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 7

Final day (but check back, i have another concoction on the mind). Today's ingredients are:
*3 parts baking soda
*1 part Hydrogen Peroxide

This was pretty good! I even waited to see how good before snapping the photo. I did scrub a little but not much. It gets a 6 out of 10!

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 6

Today's experiment needs these ingredients:

*1/4 cup bleach
*1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
*1 cup water

Anytime I get out bleach, I get nervous. It is so easy to spill it on your clothes and it does not wash off your skin very easily. Plus the smell is very revolting!
This time it tooks lots of elbow grease and did not do much. It gets a 3 out of 10. Day 1 is still my favorite!

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 5

Todays ingredients:
*1/2 cup baking soda
*1/3 cup ammonia (ick on the smell)
*1/4 cup vinegar (ahhh, the childhood aroma of dying easter eggs!)
***This can not be used on travertene or limestone*** Isn't grout limestone? I don't know that is just what the directions said.

This judge gives it a 2 out of 10, lots of elbow grease and not alot of result. Plus the ammonia gave me a headache. My Mother also noted she wondered if my male cat would spray or tinkled in that spot now b/c male cats do that in places where they think other cats have marked. and cat urine, especially male cat urine smells like pure ammonia. (So after a little bit I mopped back over it with lavendar scent pine sol).

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 4

Today's experiment of ingredients are: lemons (or lemon juice) and baking soda. The directions did not give amounts but by day 4 I know I do not need more than 1/3 of a cup of anything for the small cross section. So I used 1/3 cup of baking soda and enough lemon juice to make it slightly pasty and a little runny. This got my lowest total yet, a 2 out of 10! While it fizzed a little when I added in the lemon juice that was the most excited I got. This took lots of elbow grease and it did the least amount of its own work so far. Back to Day 3 and Day 1...They are looking better daily so I decided to mop with hot water to make sure I got out all of the white substances (baking soda mostly) still on the surface and giving me a false outcome. It looks like they just got better on their own and it was not build up. Guessing maybe I should wait to judge after an hour or more.

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 3

Todays experiment's ingredients are: 1/4 cup of bleach and 3/4 cup baking soda. So this made a gooey like paste and I spread it on a 't' shape of the intersection. I would give it a 6 out of 10 because it did do Ok but took some elbow grease. An hour after I had cleaned it up it looked better, almost as good as day 1 solution. So I wonder what it would look like had I left it longer? Either way, this baking soda is awesome! makes me want to use it to brush my teach but a little scared it might eat away the enamel, lol!

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 2

Today's concoction is:
1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup vinegar
EXPECT a fizz over! This is a cool science experiment but not very good in the cleaning grout department. Today's experiment gets a 4 out of 10 because it took a lot of elbow grease and hardly made a dent. I wonder how much of the work was done by the salt and brush friction? And what a mess to clean up! It is like tracking in a cup of sand and then cleaning it up on a wet floor. Skip this one, read Day 1 for better results.

7 Day Kitchen Tile Grout Cleaning Experiment Day 1

My kitchen tile grout use to be a cream/peach tone. But now it is more the color of toe jam. I have tried to leave bleach on it for hours and it does not make a dent. I have tried Cola Soda (read it somewhere thought i would try) for hours, that certainly didnt work. So I ventured out to find a homemade DIY grout cleaner and found a whole bunch. So I have decided to tackle one a day. (sorry that I do not have a before photo on day 1).
RECIPE FOR DAY 1: 3 parts baking soda to 1 part water, if you have a small job use 3 tsp bakingsoda to 1 tsp of h2o or 3 cups to 1 cup for large job. I bought some baking soda to use but decided to put it in the fridge and pull out the old baking soda and use it up.
The photo is obvious what it looks like now and what it use to look like by the other intersection close to it. I give this concoction a 9 out of 10 because it worked fast 9in minutes!) and took very little elbow grease.

Fall Wreath

Ok, not really been sewing lately since Ashley went to wearing uniforms. Then I discovered Pinterest, the land of to-do lists! Now I have this craving for wreaths, one for every month maybe. I had already done a mesh wreath for Halloween (wasnt worth photos) without a tutorial so cant wait to do another different Halloween one for next year.
And burlap (jute) is the new wreath fabric craze for outdoor wreaths. I found this wreath: http://pinterest.com/pin/24629129181771205/
and decided to try it. I am very happy with it. I used a straw wreath form (kept the plastic on for less mess) then wrapped it in black burlap, hot gluing on the back side every few wraps. Then I wrapped the wood letter (.79 at hobby Lobby) with Jute string/twine. That was no easy feat! Get letters with simple edges. That 'H' was aweful, glue, glue, glue. My husband said the H was crooked, but that was suppose to be that way, i like it and I am the only one who needs to like it!
Then I found this cute houndstooth barrette at Hobby Lobby and since we are Bama fans, I decided to go with a fall/football wreath. The red button is a fabric covered button (old craze of mine), i just glued it on. The pumpkins were out of a mixture set from Walmart, I painted them red, they were cheap orange. The pine cones came from that too.

Now the bow, that was gonna be a bugger but the floral lady at Hobby Lobby helped me. I wanted to buy some burlap ribbon (with wire) but there was none to be found in a small town. I got red burlap fabric cut and cut it in 3- (4") strips as long as the fold over of the fabric. I made one loop with one, one loop with the other and the bow knot with the last. (find any bow tutorial on that one) I made the bow but it was very droopy. The girl at HL suggested I stuff the four loops with store bags, inside out so the print wouldnt bleed and the plastic would not stick like newspaper. Then buy floral spray that stiffens, it is over in the floral department for $4.99 a can! I sprayed it 3 times and it stiffened it very well. A 35 degree night in the garage might have helped as well, or not. tada! I finally made something on Pinterest! But I think I need to read some photo taking tutorials cause this photo needs work.