What I Learned Wednesday - Tipnut.com

I was searching the web for a good clutch purse tutorial - a free one of course :) I have bought patterns from etsy before, but only for patterns that I couldn't really find anywhere else.

Then I stumbled upon this little treasure...

TipNut.Com

I want to introduce you to a resource website that compiles a boat load of free tutorials written by a slew of bloggers. It is categorized in cleaning tips, crafts/diy projects, recipes, gardening ideas basically anything and everything that a woman and a mother.

Naturally I gravitated to "crafts" and there I found subcategories of "Sewing, Knitting, Crocheting, Paper Crafts, Embroidery etc".

Each of these subsection contains a whole list of different projects and within those projects are about 10-20 different resource sites/blog posts that help with you create the project.

The DIY projects section had an outdoor subsection and even a list of "fix it / how to repair" references. How cool is that?

Please take a moment to browse this site and you will be glad you did. If you're like me - it will definitely make your favorite's list :)

Happy browsing!!

What I've Learned Wednesday: Mom's Rule!

Ok. So I ran across this article and thought it was to good funny to pass up!!!

Carolyn Hax is a writer for the Washington Post and readers can write in questions. 

 "Why don't friends with kids have time!"

 Dear Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .

Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.

Sincerly, Tacoma Washington

Dear Tacoma Washington,

Relax and enjoy. You're funny. 

Or you're lying about having friends with kids.

Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.


Internet searches?

I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.


So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. 


In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.


It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.


It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.


It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. 


It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.


It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.


It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.


Carolyn Hax. Write to Tell Me About It, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, 

WOW!

If you're a Mom you are either peeing yourself from laughing or on the verge of screaming "Amen, Sister!" I was doing both.

I LOVED "It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense." So true!!!

So if you're a Mom here is my pat on the back for you!

But..... (I know the 'B' word) in all seriousness, I am trying to make the effort to call, write or even text, my un-Momed friends out there. You do matter. And I do love you.

I'll leave you with a couple photo's of  "my brand of joy"!!!

Have a great day!!!!

What I Learned Wednesday - Cover Buttons!!

Ever Try These Nifty Thing??

Many of you may say, "Is she for real? She's never used a cover button?"

And some of you may say, "What's a cover button?"

For the latter - this post is for you :)

I have seen fabric covered buttons here and there but never actually tried one out myself. The idea of "how do you get the fabric tucked inside?" can be a bit thought provoking. These nifty things have a very simple - fool proof method that can work for anyone.

Wanna see how easy it is?

read on...

A circle template is printed on the back of the packaging.

 I chose to copy the circle onto a more sturdy cereal box cardboard for future use.

This is the pattern you will use when cutting your fabric.

Start with the small supplied rubber "container" on the bottom, followed by your fabric and the outer cover button piece.

Push the cover piece into the container, then tuck all the fabric inside the container as best as you can.

Align the back piece of the button on top of the stuffed fabric and use the "pusher" to shove the back piece down into the container, thus clamping it into the cover piece. You will know you have it complete when the back piece is even and not angled.

Then pry the covered button out of the container (remember: it's rubber so it will bend).

There you have it!

What I've Learned Wednesday

What I have learned recently is that good intentions sometimes fall short. Jackson's grandpa found these Thomas the Train slippers at a rummage sale over the summer. I laughed because at the time Jackson had no interest in Thomas and was sporting a shoe size 4... these slippers are a whopping size 7-8 :) So they got stuffed in his closet for another day.

Another day came much quicker than I thought when he discovered the slippers with great excitement. I laughed again because I couldn't believe how smitten he was with them. Good job, Grandpa! By this time, Thomas had become a member of our family and was so happy to be wearing these "flippers" - he is still only a size 6 now.  

This is how Thomas looked when he joined our family. A tad worn and in need of some tlc.

Thanks to a brand new black sharpee... Thomas got his eyes and eyebrows back.

I was very proud of my 15 second restoration job which made a 100% difference that I just had to photographed it! 



Silly me for turning my head to adjust the camera setting... someone's little hands got ahold of the sharpee and wanted to be "like mommy".

Poor Thomas

Because my first reaction was "Oh No Jax!"... he then refused to wear the one he drew on and only wanted to wear the other one. Nice!

What else have I learned? That the Magic Eraser is purely that - Magic!

What I've Learned Wednesday: Crazy about Marbles

Does anyone read "Real Simple" magazine? I personally love it. There is a lot of great idea's in there and most of them are just "real simple". (I couldn't resist!)

This month they had an article about the many uses for marbles!

1. Playful Arrangement: Add marbles to the bottom of a vase to keep your daisies in the drink and make arranging, well, child's play!

2. Curtain Weights: Light weight drapes and fabric shower curtains can billow with the faintest breeze. Keep them in place buy cutting a small slit into the seam, slipping in a few marbles into the hem, and sewing the opening back up.

3. Muscle Smoother: Store a handful of marbles in the freezer, drop them into a thin sock, then roll it across your sore spots for ahh-inducing relief.

4. Spray-Bottle Aid: To pull the last bit of cleaner from bottle, drop in a few marbles to raise the liquid's level to the spray tube.

5. Heartfelt Cupcake: After filling a cupcake liner with batter, wedge a single marble between the liner and the pan to create a heart-shaped indent.

6. Soap Saver: Add a layer of marbles to a soap dish to keep the bar from sticking (and the soap dish from getting slimy!)

Who knew these fun colorful marbles had so many uses! 

Can't wait to use a couple of these tricks.

Thanks for reading! 

Introducing: What I've Learned Wednesday!!!

What is 'What I've learned Wednesday'??? In simplest terms it's a place to share what we've learned!

I know, I know thats not giving you much.... but really thats it.

It could be anything. A life lesson. A new craft tip. A random fact. 
Basically anything we've learned and feel its worth sharing. Simple. 


Soooo... here we go!


What I've Learned Wednesday: Houzz dot what?


Anyone ever heard of houzz.com??? I just heard of it yesterday (from my husband of all people. He gets me.) and I am in L-O-V-E!!! 

About Houzz

"Houzz is a community of home design enthusiasts from around the world. It's the online version of cutting pages out of magazines and stuffing them in a folder - but much easier to search, save, and share. "

Speechless??? I was at first too. And it just gets better from here.

"Design professionals showcase their portfolios, sharing their work with a community dedicated to home and landscape design. 15,000+ professionals have uploaded more than 80,000 inspiring photographs, making Houzz the Internet's largest database of design and decorating ideas."

There are literally thousands of pictures to browse and get idea's from. You can search by room, style, geographical area, keyword, designer... anything really.

Wait there is more! You can create an "ideabook" and save everything you like. 

If you see a chair you like, SAVE! "Oooo I like that floor", SAVE! "That looks like a great DIY", SAVE! Dream Kitchen, SAVE! There is even a comment section, to put your private thoughts, so you remember WHY you saved that picture. Genius!

AND as if that wasn't enough??? You can ask questions and they ANWSER!!!

It's like a magazine that talks back! Have you ever flipped through photo's and thought, "That would be the perfect color for my bathroom wall!"??? Well no more 'wondering' . Ask them. They will tell you... CRAZY right?!?!

I feel like I have only scratched the surface of this website and I am SO excited already. Last night the hubs and I spent an hour just looking at things and playing the "one day" game. It was fun!

I'm pretty sure this website jumped to my top 10 all time favorite things. Husband, Kids, Houzz.com, Chocolate... Ok maybe not quite right there, but it really was love at first sight. 


Here are some pictures that I've added to my "Ideabook"

(Love the Pictures)

(Cute and Easy)

(Kids 'clubhouse')

(Love all the colors)

(A girl can dream... right?)

Well I could talk all night about how much I love this site. So go and explore and get that creative mind cranking!

Happy Browsing :)