add touches to clothing to change a look....

Some ideas for those torn or faded jeans

Jeans skirts - I love them! 

Here are some links in my search for ideas and how to's for making my old, worn jeans new again!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4471672_sew-jean-skirt-torn-jeans.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2123013_sew-jean-skirt.html

http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/jeanskirt/  this one has pictures - great for us visual learners :)

http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?page=section/classroom/sewprojects/ruffledjeanskirt/ruffledjeanskirt.html  This one looks hip and my daughter may wear :)

http://creativechicksatplay.blogspot.com/2008/07/jean-skirts-longer-versions.html

A little short for me but you can make longer - http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11994

A good use for leftover material and jeans - http://www.fashion-icon.com/fall_2001/jeansplicing.html

A Swirly, Twirly Skirt -http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_needle_arts/article/0,,DIY_13768_5128110,00.html

Great illustrations - make from two pairs of old jeans  http://www.sewnews.com/library/sewnews/qa/aaqa1202a.htm

Well, I hope this inspires you.  We have several pairs of jeans that have holes or rips in and my daughter and I want to repurpose.  I think this is a great fall project.  Wish us luck!

Let me know if you try - this might be fun if we all post pics :)

Flossie

I am in a pin cushion swap over at Down to Earth Ideas and so I have been looking at a lot of cute ideas:

cupcake pincushion

Easy Felt Needle Holders

Strawberry Needlebook

Needlebook

From Vintage Threads - Grandma's Needlebook

22 free pincushion patterns from tipnut

Easy Pin Cushions

We are busy working on the soda bottle pinchushions and soon the Easy Felt Needle holder.  Stay cool!  IT is very smoky here in California and so we are trying to stay in doors!

As I said in previous posts, I am on a simplicity journey.  So... here is my next try!

Wednesday is Mending Day

Hey also check out this website: http://www.sunbonnetsue.com/suehistory.html

Ok - mending is not my thing... so this may not stay on my list...

Blessings,

Flossie

Well, as I said Yesterday I am trying to follow some guidelines as to keep up with everything.  I find it hard.  I tend to be an all or nothing person.  That means I give my all to one thing at a time but have a hard time always balancing... So today, I will iron as we do schoolwork. 

I do love ironed fresh smelling clothes!  I am also trying to teach each of the children to iron for themselves.  I think this is an important tool.  I do believe in traditional roles but when it is necessary, everone whould be able to take care of themselves.  My husband does not iron on a regular basis (neither have I - lol) but when we are running full steam and I have not had time, he goes and irons a shirt on occasion without asking me.  How I love him!

Have a blessed Day!  We did the wash yesterday and all smells soooooo good.

Flossie

It is breezy out today and it is Wash Day!  Is this a mandate? No!  By all means, this has begun to be a labor of love for me.  As I look back over my life I see how a great deal of ladies influenced and inspired me.  My great grandmother and my mother both hung laundry out on the line.  My mom did it mainly, I believed to save money - which is a good thing and it has helped my budget.  My great grandmother (who lived next door to us), did it because it is what you did :)  She was a very wise woman who did a great many things I am learning are the better way and because I am sure of her biblical upbringing.  Not that this was expressed in so many words but her legacy shows me this.

So Monday is Wash Day!!!

I love when the clothes come in and smell so fresh.  My husband has been amazed how clean they smell and loves it.  I have found that hanging the clothes on days like today with a breeze in the air makes them so soft!

Are mothers before us and those who still live by these ways, have an order to the way things are done.  As I study Amish culture, I see that Monday is Wash Day.  I study the pioneers with my children and Monday is Wash Day!  So, for me, I have declared Monday wash day! - This is the day we hang out the clothes on the line (weather permitting :) and I try to get the bulk of the was hdone.  This does not meaqn that my washer is not going on other days nor that I don't use the dryer - we do.  But, I am trying to do this more often and the results are sweet smelling clothes, a reduced electric bill - which helps as the summer months come and the AC runs it up and a chance to be outside and slow down and talk to God!  I like to use this time to pray over my family, distant family and friends! 

Have a Blessed Day!

PS The above graphic came from Down to Earth's blog where she has many free stitchery patterns.  This blog has become a favorite of mine!

Flossie

Well, I had a great time in the last swap making a tote bag and then meeting a new friend!  Now the Down to Earth blog is having a Seed Swap = could be fun!!  Check all the details out at

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-swap-heritage-or-heireloom-seeds.html

Blessings,

Flossie

Cleaning a Room - Tip of the Day

Sometimes when I am deep cleaning, cleaning or straightening up, I get interrupted.  It is frustrating when you go back to remember where you left off.  So my tip for the day is to clean a room from "right to left".  Pick a spot - I usually start at one corner and then work my way around the room from right to left, (I am right handed) until I reach the starting point.  Also, starting from the entry way or door helps me to know mentally when I can leave that room and move to the next. Try it!

Blessings

Flossie

 Today's Tips:

Spring is here and for many of us that means spring cleaning! Today's tips are meant to help you make cleaning easier.

• If you have old linens that have yellowed, turned brown or are dingy, soak them in buttermilk or sour milk to brighten them and remove some of the stains. This works especially well for items like quilts or old doilies that you don't want to use anything harsh on.
• Soak colored cottons overnight in salt water to reduce fading of the colors.
• If you get a build up of spray starch or fusible web on the sole plate of your iron, just run it over a dryer sheet to clean it off.
• Keep a toothbrush by your kitchen sink to clean things like graters, choppers, mixer beaters and openers. You will be surprised how often you grab it to use on hard to clean places.
• Clean your coffee pot once in a while. Pour 1/2 to 1 cup of vinegar into it and run it through as if you were making coffee. Repeat a couple of times using the same vinegar.
  
  Pour 1/4 cup baking soda down your drain. Then pour the used vinegar from the coffee maker down the drain. Let it sit for a minute or so.
  
  Next, pour 1-2 pots of water through the coffee maker to wash out the vinegar. When each pot of rinse water from the coffee maker is done, pour it into the drain. You now have a clean coffee pot and a clean drain.
• Take care of all your small appliances. It really does help them last longer.
• There is a little door on the bottom of your toaster that catches the crumbs. Open and clean out the crumbs once in a while. (UNPLUG THE TOASTER FIRST!)
• Wipe down your hand mixer after each use.
• Run your iron over a dryer sheet to remove anything gummy, including fusible web
• Blow the dirt off of your fans, computers, or air purifiers. (You can buy cans of air for use with computers at office supply stores. These can be used to blow dirt off of other hard to clean items. I used to use an air compressor to blow the dirt off of house fans and grates.)

 Also, I learned this at the JH Ranch and will pass along.  Do you have mini blinds? metal or wood?  The gal Grace who is amazing and runs all the behind house blessings of JH Ranch, takes down the blinds and hangs them on a line.  She then uses a pressure washer - house type to clean them.  Wow- I try wiping etc. but never seems like I get it all!!!

Have a blessed Day - I am off to hang my new cotton sheets on the line!

Flossie

 Well, here is my morning project - I got up with hubby at 4:30 am and then thought I would attempt a tote bag.  The tutorial I used is found at  http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177482.msg1837265#msg1837265

So... or is that sew :)

You use a grocery bag as your template

Here is the finished product.  I will have to practice more but fun to get back in the sewing mode!!! 

I love to make things but usually need a purpose or reason.  Weird?  Just the  way I am.  As I talked about in a previous post, http://www.homesteadblogger.com/Flossie/90230/ I joined a tote bag swap.  Well, now I have my partner but have not made anything yet!!

Here are some links for making totes: 

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/02/market_bag_crochet_pattern.html
http://oohprettycolors.blogspot.com/2008/01/esthers-tote-tutorial.html
http://www.purlbee.com/the-un-paper-bag/
http://www.alteredcloth.com/blog/2007/07/top-7-tutorials-for-making-your-own-shopping-tote.php
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177482.msg1837265#msg1837265

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/sewing/shopping-bag.shtml

http://pleasantviewschoolhouse.blogspot.com/2007/11/how-to-sew-cloth-shopping-bag.html

Hopefully this will get you in the Spring mood :)  One of the above patterns calls for using a plastic shopping bag as your pattern - I like!  I am very visual and this helps me bunches.  I will let you know how it turns out!

Flossie

A Tote Swap - Check it out!  Looks like fun!  Today is the deadline to sign up.  So hurry!!!

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/search/label/shopping%20tote%20swap