$0.99 Advent Calendar

This is a post about an cheap old advent calendar that I did NOT make. So this post falls into the "tip" category for the time when just cannot make everything yourself! (This is the category that I fall into) ...

Hit up your local Trader Joe's and pick up 1 or 10 of these adorable advent calendars for only 99 cents each! Each door has a little chocolate candy behind it ... so given that I have 2 kids and am not prepared to battle over an advent calendar, I got 2! Now we'll all be happy :)

And while you're there, you can pick up a kit to make a $4 gingerbread man! I'll post a finale shot when we get this little guy done!

Happy December 1st!

Pin It

Tip Post - Used Blades

This is another random little tip post, but you know this simple solution didn't occur to me until someone told me. So ... maybe you'll like the idea too!

Have you ever wondered what to do with / how to dispose of those used rotary cutter blades? You know they're still too sharp to just throw in the trash (ok, I have two toddlers in my house so this is of concern to me).

Someone once told me ... "oh, don't throw that away like that! Just mark 'used' on the dull blade with a Sharpie and store it back in the box until you have a box full of used ones!" Clever, right? Happy sewing :)

Pin It

Tip Post - Storing ePatterns

By now, I've realized that I'm an ePattern kind of girl. I love, love, love the instant gratification of purchasing an ePattern (especially from shops @ Big Cartel because the download is automatic vs. Etsy). At least half of my crafting is done on a whim and if I don't have the supplies on hand or available in oh, 5 minutes often times it doesn't happen. Enter the ePattern ... we are a great combination!

After accumulating a couple of these patterns, I pondered how to store them. I came up with the idea to use these rings (purchased at the craft store):

I punch holes in the top corner of my Master Pattern Piece as well as any copies I've made of the pattern. I loop all the pieces onto this ring and then clip it onto a clothes hanger. I have successfully taken over our entire office, including the closet ... so that is where I "hang" all my ePattern pieces.

How I print & trace ePatterns (basically I make a master copy on card stock and make copies for the sizes I need on freezer paper):

• Print pattern on regular paper, but print pattern pieces on card stock. I recommend using light colors of card stock because it's easier to trace. (That red up there ^^ is not traceable - boo!).
• Align pattern pieces as instructed. I tape mine together with packing tape. This becomes your 'master' pattern copy. Do not cut any size out from this Master ... It's just for tracing now.
• Now you're set up to trace the master pattern to make 'copies' for each size you intend to make. I use Freezer Paper for this. I go ahead and write on the Freezer Paper the Pattern name & Size. Then, when I want to make another Twirl Skirt in the 7/8 size, I'm ready to go!

Pin It

Sunday Sewing Tip on Thursday

I totally forgot about my Sunday Sewing Tip.  I'm middle-aged, forgetting is what middle-aged people do, right?

This is another storage tip post.  As you know, I love thrift stores.  One thing I'm constantly buying is old novelty planters.  These are great for ort catchers or miscellaneous doodad holders.  Here are some examples from my sewing room.

This is right next to my sewing machine.  I would guess this one is from the 1940s.  It's perfect for scissors, seam ripper, stiletto, and other miscellaneous tools.

These are on my ironing board right next to the bottle of Mary Ellen's Best Press (love that stuff).  The dog planter is an ort catcher (bits of thread or scraps), and the head vase holds a scissors and some other tools.  You could use something else for this, but this is much cuter, isn't it?  I have a poodle planter in my TV room, as well, but I forgot to take a picture of that one.

If you're off to your nearest Goodwill to look for an old planter, keep in mind that an imperfect planter is fine for this purpose.  As a matter of fact, if you can get a chipped or crazed planter for 99 cents to keep your seam rippers in, more's the better.  You don't have to worry if it gets knocked over and it's still cute.   We'll all be old and imperfect soon enough.  Let's hope someone out there still has a use for us.

One more storage tip.  I needed a button keeper.  One day, I came across this old glass humidor at a Savers store.  Buttons are pretty so this allows me to see the buttons, as well as the pretty old humidor.

The Mercury space program era lunch box isn't used for storage, but it's awesome, so I included it in the photo.  Please disregard the dust.  I have better things to do than clean.

So there's your Sunday sewing tip on Thursday.  Perhaps I'll remember the next Sunday sewing tip on Sunday, perhaps not.  But a tip is a tip so let's not quibble over the day.

Seacrest, out.

Pin It

Sunday Sewing Tip

Hello!  How's your weekend going?  Mine, you ask?  Well, it sucks.  I seem to have gotten the flu.   Who gets the flu in August?  I spent 90% of my day in bed, yesterday.  I did, however, get myself up for a couple of hours in the afternoon to work on my project for Sara vs. Sarah Challenge No. 2.  I don't want Sara to win twice in a row!

I thought I'd give you a quick sewing tip from my years of experience.  How many years?  I sewed my first garment at the age of 5 with the help of my mom, Ruthann.  It was a purple with white paisley halter top.  It was a stylin' look for a girl in 1971.  However, that halter top met a tragic end.  I was wearing it one day at my Grandpa Milt's farm where my cousins, brothers and I were playing with the hired man Ray's pet raccoon.  I was holding the raccoon when it took a poop all over my new halter top.  I refused to ever wear it again.  Can you blame me?

But, I digress.  The point is, I've been sewing for 39 years now and I've learned a couple of things.  The first is, if a raccoon poops on your garment, just throw it away.  Here's another thing I've learned.  Sewing baskets are a mess!  I have tried tons of different sewing baskets and have not been happy with any of them.  The lids don't stay closed, they are too big or too small, they are not very durable, and they are usually just a big box with no way of organizing your stuff.

How to solve the problem?  Go down to the sporting goods store and buy yourself a tackle box!

Genius!  The lid stays closed and there's lots of compartments to sort out your stuff.  I also like the way the trays fold out in a stair step fashion so that everything is right in front of you.  I'm telling you, the tackle box is an awesome organizational solution for your sewing supplies, especially if you travel with them.

I have found a much cooler vintage, metal tackle box that I want to spruce up and use instead of this girly frou-frou one, but I just haven't found the time yet.  Someday.  In the meantime, this has proved to be a very utilitarian solution to my "sewing baskets suck" problem.

Seacreast, out.

Pin It