Craft Fail and Red Room Reveal

This one has been a long time coming.  It all started several years ago when I found these cute long curtains that fit my son's room perfectly at a garage sale.  At only $3.00, they were something I could cut up without fear.

Next I found this amazing DIY for Roman shades, something I've always wanted.  Using the existing wooden blinds, I cut them up, retaining just a few for the shade. I cut the fabric, glued it to the blinds and I was ready to hang. That process took me months, because on some level I was nervous about the whole project.  In addition, my son wanted his room RED, which I agreed to do for one wall only.
After cursing my way through the painting (the reveal coming soon), I hung my fabulous shade

Ugggh!  Where to begin? The width was too wide and the "shades" didn't work.  This is about as good as I could get it positioned.  I worked so hard, but just didn't have the heart to take it down.  So I didn't.  For months.  Meanwhile, the other window had nothing on it for the same amount of time.  (Don't worry, the room opens to the backyard, so there was no problems with anyone seeing inside.)

Finally, about a month ago I decided I needed to correct finish the job.  I took the other matching curtain and tried to make it "look" like the other by sewing in pockets.  Once again, lots of work, horrible results.  This time I didn't even have the heart to take a picture of it.  I ripped them down and the nightmare experiment crashed and burned ended.

As an alternative, I thought I wanted to have straight long curtains.  Again, I was so proud, because I found some solid navy blue and solid red sailcloth curtains at Target for about $3.50 each (big sale).  My plan was to cut them up and sew the blue and red together in bands of color on the panels.  Good plan.  I bought them and got home to find I didn't have enough length for two panels on each window.  I ended up making a long panel for each window and swag it on one side.

I hung the Diamondback canvas art I bought at Target and a garage sale (all for great prices) and FINALLY the red wall is done!  It's not perfect, but I am so relieved to have it done!

cindy

Thinking Day

Girl Scout Thinking Day.  It's a day when girls around the world focus on an issue of global importance and think about ways they can make a difference.  This year was global sustainability, or environmental stewardship.

The girls in our troop made cards from recycled materials (paper, tin foil, fabrics, felt and yarn).  The purpose of the cards was to inform their parents of ways they could create better sustainability in their families and communities.

With "The Lorax" being such a popular movie for kids (and adults), it's likely your kids will be thinking about how to keep the world unpolluted (sustainable) for future generations.  As Girls Scouts, we thought of some very practical ways to help (reduce/reuse/recycle).  These also make adults very happy because they are money savers!

• Turn off water while you wash hands or brush teeth.
• Take showers, not baths (baths use a lot of water) and make those showers shorter.
• Don't wash your car in the driveway.  Car washes actually recycle the water so they use far less.
• Install low flow toliets, dishwashers, front loading washing machines and instant hot water devices.  Each saves a lot of water.  You may also be surprised to find your community or utility gives you a rebate for installing these items.
• Run washing machines and dishwaters only when they are full.  We also encouraged the girls to think about whether they need to wash every item of clothing they touch :)
• Drive less.  Plan trips so you can go several places at once.  Take the bus (I LOVE doing this for part of my commute).
• Don't use leaf blowers!  These things are horrible for air quality, especially when used on dirt, or hard surfaces (driveways, patios & sidewalks)
• Recycle - paper, glass plastic and anything else your community takes.  Please make sure materials are free from food or other debris or they get trashed.  
• Upcycling has been a trendy option for sustainability.  Reuse clothes by handing them down or donating.  Also, if you sew or craft, consider cutting clothing for fabric scraps and felting on wool items. (I'm dying to try this!)
• Turn off the lights! Unplug appliances (TV, DVR, DVD, computer & printer) when you leave for a day or more.
• Don't use plastic water bottles!  They are expensive and a huge burden on landfills (that much plastic doesn't get recycled)

After our Brownie meeting I heard back from several parents that their girls were full of great information.  They were also genuinely interested in sustaining our environment.  Let's hope they do.

cindy

DIY -Crepe Paper Roses

This is a great craft for a Valentine's Day decoration.  I was able to recycle materials I already had in the house.  I like the idea of using what I already have.  It's one of the ways I'm trying to be frugal, which is my New Year's Resolution.  I used some old styrofoam ornaments that I used for a holiday candle craft.

Because these balls are small, I had to put them together to make the larger ball.  I used toothpicks and then reinforced them with glue.

I then used some pink crepe paper I had leftover from this candle project.

Cut (or tear) a strip about 24" long and take one end in your hand, pinching it between your fingers.

Begin winding the crepe paper, continuing to pinch one side.  Wind the entire strip, forming a rose.

Use a little glue to attach the end of the strip to the rest of the flower.  Hot glue guns are the best.  Use the hot glue gun to attach the flower to the balls

Continue gluing the flowers onto the ball, covering all of it.  You can also glue the ends of some ribbon onto the ball, making a loop for hanging.

I'm embarrassed to say I ran out of crepe paper before finishing.  (You will need several packages for this project.)  Because I didn't want this to end up as an other incomplete craft, I'm showing it here.  These could have a number of uses, including hanging or placing it in a bowl.  It could also be used as a flower ball in a wedding for your flower girl or even as a bouquet if you cover the base.  They are so pretty!

cindy

2012 The Year of Frugality

I've been blogging a little over 6 months now and I'm starting to understand that if I write it down here, I'm making myself publicly accountable to do what I say.  With that in mind, I'm committing as my New Year's resolution to jump on the bandwagon (although I'm a little late) in cutting our costs and living more frugally.  This isn't just a nice idea.  Our home is now 15 years of and it's going through that first wave of replacement needs.  Moreover, we're going to have some fairly substantial costs this year for home maintenance.  We want to stay out of debt (and may have to dig out after the holiday excess).

Each month I'm going to focus on areas where we can save money.  This month we are going to go back through the last year and get a baseline of our expenditures.  (Notice I didn't say "expenses" but "expenditures.")  We'll use that baseline to track our spending each month compared to last year.  By the end of January, we should be able to pinpoint some areas where we might be able to save money this year. I'll report here the area we're focusing on and the progress in reducing costs.  I'm sure I will be reading more blogs on this topic to get some ideas.  I'm also happy to take some suggestions.

Wish us luck!

cindy