Sweeeeeet Yard Sale Find

I love yard sales. And here's the reason why:

This beauty was $5. Seriously. FIVE DOLLARS. I nearly jumped for joy when the lady told me she just wanted it out of her garage. It's real wood and solid.

I'm thinking I'll rip off the diamond shaped moulding on the sides, paint it light turquoisey blue and love it forever.

What do you think I should do with it???

The Mermaid Blanket

I am excited to share a fun new project with you today. My baby sister just graduated from high school, so I wanted to make her something special. Something that would be fun to take to college. Something unique and fun to match her personality. Well, I think I succeeded...her gift is definitely unique. What do you think? ... 

It's a bright-colored, funky mermaid scale blanket. Definitely unique. It's made with 210 pieces of felt layered like shingles, sewn onto a cotton backing and lined on the back with purple fleece. It is a thick, warm blanket with a lot of texture and even more personality. Perfect to brighten up a dorm room.

So here's how I made it.

Materials:

- 4 colors of 72 inch felt, 2/3 yard each (or less if you use more colors)

- Backing fabric (I used a cheap $5 sheet from Wal-Mart)

- Fleece (60x70)

- Rotary cutter and mat

- Sewing machine/thread/scissors

Step 1: Cut strips of felt 7 inches wide. 

Step 2: Now cut the strips into rectangles 5.5 x 7 inches. 

Step 3: Find something hard and round that you can use to cut one edge into a circle shape. I cut through two layers at a time to speed up the process. 

Now you should have a big stack of mermaid scales!

Step 4: Draw lines onto your backing fabric. Mine were 2 3/4 inches apart and I used my cutting mat as a straight edge because it was the biggest thing I could find. 

Step 5: Lay out your design. I did a chevron pattern, but you could choose any design you want! The first row starts 1/2 inch from the edge. To off-set the pattern, start the second row 2 3/4 inches from where you started the first edge.

Step 6: Now stack up all your rows carefully, so your design pattern stays in order when you are ready to sew.

Step 7: Start sewing! Line up the felt pieces with the lines you drew on the backing fabric and just zip across the top straight edge, grabbing the next piece in the stack until you get to the end of the row. 

Here's a more random pattern I laid out before choosing the chevron design.

 

Step 8: Sew on the fleece backing just like you would sew a pillow: right sides together, sew around the edges and leave a hole to turn it right-side-out. This step was challenging because cotton and fleece do not mix well. I had to pin like crazy. I easily used 100 pins to make sure the fleece did not stretch or move as I sewed it to the cotton. And I hate pinning. But it was necessary for this project.

I left a 1/2 inch border of the blue backing fabric around the entire blanket so that none of the scales would get caught in the outside seams when I sewed the backing on. Make sense?

Here's a few more pictures of the finished project: 

 Perty, ain't it?!? Very mermaid-ish and funky. Perfect for a college apartment.

Pinterest Tested: Tub Cleaner

Welcome to Pinterest Tested! Ever wonder if that miracle cleaner is really miraculous? Or what about that homemade facial cleanser or delicious-looking recipe? This is the place to find out! Each Monday I am testing Pins that catch my eye to see if they really live up to the claims made on Pinterest. It's like the Mythbusters of Domesticity!

Today I am testing this PIN:

THE TEST: The claim in this Pin is that you can spray on a solution of one part vinegar and one part dish soap, leave it for an hour, then wipe your tub clean. Does it work, no scrubbing or scouring involved?

I am skeptical of Pinterest posts like this because the claims are so fantastic. This is one I’ve been wanting to try for a while because I hate cleaning the tub. It’s usually one of the jobs that gets left undone until overnight house guests are coming. (Come on, I know I’m not the only one who does that. Haha.)

So I mixed up a solution of one part Dawn dish soap and one part vinegar, sprayed it on half my tub (so I could compare the two sides for more clear results). About an hour later, I came in with a rag, wiped that side down, and this is what I found:

Score! I did not scrub one tiny bit and my tub is sparkling white. The pictures just don’t do it justice. I could actually see the line down the middle where the solution touched the tub. Look:

And no scrubbing! Really… I just wiped the grime away!

THE RESULTS: This is one Pin I feel I can recommend whole-heartedly. I think I am in love!

P.S. Did you know they sell cleaning grade vinegar? I found mine at Wal-Mart by the other multi-purpose cleaners. It’s cheaper than food grade vinegar and is perfect for jobs like this.

Update: I tried using a different kind of dish soap and it still worked, just not as well. It's the original blue Dawn for me from now on! And I also tried heating the solution. Worked awesome! 

I just saw the coolest thing to add to this post: put the Dawn/vinegar solution in one of those dish scrubbers that has soap in the handle and a sponge on one end. Then you can wipe down shower doors and the tub surround easily. Brilliant. I love you, Pinterest!

Make sure to read all the comments. There are some great tips! Thank you, readers!

Oreo Crumble Cookies

I love it when happy accidents occur. A few weeks ago, my sister was making chocolate chip cookies to take to a party. She went into her pantry and discovered that she was completely out of chocolate chips. With no time to run to the store, she started looking for ways to salvage her cookie dough. She crumbled up some Oreo cookies, mixed them into the batter, and that was the creation of Oreo Crumble Cookies.

Don't they look delicious? They are like cookies-and-cream ice cream in the soft, chewy, buttery vanilla form of a chocolate chip cookie. What could be better?

So here's the recipe:

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup margarine
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 3/4 cup flour (may need more for correct consistency)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 package Oreo cookies
ALL IMPORTANT RULE: Use a wooden spoon and stir everything by hand. Absolutely no hand mixer or Kitchen Aids allowed!!!
Mix all wet ingredients together; add dry and stir until just moistened. Place cookies in a Ziplock bag and smash to make large chunks. Mix gently into dough. Drop by the tablespoon onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for around 11 minutes. Watch the cookies---when they barely start getting brown on top and are no longer shiny, take them out but WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT OVERBAKE! I suggest making one test cookie to see how long to bake them and if the texture is right. Then you can increase/decrease baking time when you put in a full batch.



Pinterest Tested: Peanut Butter Banana Bites

Welcome to Pinterest Tested! Ever wonder if that miracle cleaner is really miraculous? Or what about that homemade facial cleanser or delicious-looking recipe? This is the place to find out! Each Monday I am testing Pins that catch my eye to see if they really live up to the claims made on Pinterest. It's like the Mythbusters of Domesticity!

This is the Pin up for testing this week:

Peanut Butter Banana Bites 

 This looks like an easy treat that at least has some nutritional merit.

THE TEST: A no brainer here... are these as scruptious as the picture makes them look?

Here's how mine turned out:

 

.

THE RESULT: To tell the truth, these did not stay in the freezer long enough to get frozen. I was too impatient to, ahem...."research" them. Even without being frozen, they were just as tasty as I had hoped. Yum! 

Little Candy Scriptures

My kids came home from church on Sunday with the cutest little gift from their teachers...miniature scriptures made of candy! I thought they were too cute not to share...

Adorable, right? They are made from these:

To make your own candy scriptures, this is what you will need:

1. Two Hershey's Nuggets per book you want to make

2. Black cardstock cut into rectangles slightly bigger than two nuggets set side-by-side.

3. A thought or scripture typed up on white paper (you'll have to make it just the right size to fit over the candy).

4. Red ribbon

5. Glue gun

Start by wrapping both nuggets with the words you typed out. Glue on back to hold that part together. Then drape the red ribbon down the center and tack it down with glue. All you have left is to glue the candy to the black cardstock backing and you are done! It's that easy.

You could also modify this idea to make plain books instead of scriptures for a summer reading kick-off reminder or to give as rewards to kids at school who meet their reading goals or to thank your favorite librarian. The possibilities are endless!