Dishwasher Doom

I am just going to take a little break from the crafting posts so that the Fabric Lady can take a breather and reassess her strategy. Who am I kidding? I am creaming her! I love winning. I thought that I would talk a little bit about a chore which I loath and I wonder if anyone out there feels the same way I do. But first, let me share a story that has nothing to do with the title of this blog and makes you wonder when I am going to get to the topic at hand and how this story relates to said topic.

Our Sweet Dog, Bruce.

Our dog, Bruce, is not a big fan of getting a bath. He knows what's up when we start talking to him sweetly in a voice that is an octave above our regular speaking tone. He hears the water running in the bathtub and somehow knows that it is not for one of his humans to take a soak. We have to bribe him into the bathroom and then close the door. The whole time he is getting bathed, his tail is between his legs and he stares up at us with his sad, puppy dog eyes, pleading with this inhumanity to be done. After he gets toweled off and we let him escape from his prison (A.K.A. the bathroom), he runs around the house like wild beast. Let me tell you, Bruce is a fast dog. You might think that by looking at him, he would be a runt, but he can keep up and pass the big dogs. When he gets done with a bath, he runs even faster than when he is at a dog park. I think I need to become friends is a cop so I can borrow his/her radar gun. I would love to know what speed Bruce is clocking. I heard that dogs run like crazy after a bath because they have so much anxiety pent up from the actual bath that they need to release. I also think they are just really happy that the chore is over.

I can relate to Bruce when it comes to emptying the dishwasher. I hate it. I don't know why. I am a very diligent person. My house is always clean and things are always put away. There is just something about having to unload a dishwasher that makes me want to run away. I usually avoid it as long as possible. I will even hand wash the dishes I use so that dirty dishes don't pile up in the sink instead of emptying the dishwasher. I carefully avoid that part of the kitchen, eying the appliance closely they way Bruce does the bath. I think of every excuse not to put the dishes away. Eventually, I muster the will to put them away - that will would be the knowledge that Troy is on his way home and since he was the one who loaded and started the dishwasher, I should probably put them away before he gets home. But even this afternoon as I begrudgingly put the clean dishes away, I almost avoided the task again by thinking about how I should blog about how much I hate to put the dishes away. You will be happy to know that I did complete my task and felt like I should have gotten a sticker. (See my thoughts on Adult Sticker charts here.)

Z's reaction when he has to empty the dishwasher.

The best feeling is when that last dish has been put away and I know that the dishwasher is empty. I will have a good length of time (though not nearly long enough) before I have to do that chore again. I am so excited, that I run around the house with top notch speeds, much like my K-9 companion, Bruce, which can be somewhat embarrassing should we be hosting company.

This would be a great opportunity to talk about how awesome my husband, Troy Ronald Carlson is. He knows how much I hate to empty the dishwasher and often will do it for me even though he doesn't like to do it either. There are always a few dishes which have their home in the kitchen that Troy is unaware of, so he will leave them out on the counter for me to put away. Honestly, it is a sight for sore eyes because when I see that, I know I only have to put away two or three items and the rest is already done thanks to my sweet and fantastic hubs. The other night I actually gave him a high five. It was a really good high five too; full contact, great "smack" sound, little palm pain.

So, in conclusion; my name is Pam and I suffer from Dishwasher Doom. Anyone else need to go to a support group with me on this issue?

More Nautical Nursery Decor

After I wrote about the nautical flags I made for Zachary's room, I thought I would do a quick little blip about the other nautical crafts I made for my sweet sailor's nursery. Unfortunately, I don't have step by step pictures, but the crafts really weren't that challenging, and you would be able to easily make them yourself.

When we first moved to our new house, Zachary's room already had window valences that were navy blue which was perfect! I wanted to spice them up a little bit and make them look more nautical. Since I didn't buy the curtains, I figured I could mess around with them without feeling bad if they turned out to be heinous. As I mentioned before, my mom and sisters threw me a baby shower which was also nautical themed, so I had a lot of rope and ribbon that they used as decoration. I decided to use a thick piece of cord rope and cut it in two equal pieces - one for each curtain. Then I knotted and unraveled the ends. My sister made two cute clusters of ribbon that I put in the middle of the rope and then I pinned the rope to curtain. I sewed across the rope and the curtain and TA-DA! I was done.

Alright, here is where I am going to be brutally honest. I actually broke my sewing machine needle while sewing the first curtain. I guess the rope was too much for the old girl to handle, so for the second curtain, I hand stitched the rope to the curtain and honestly, you can't tell the different and it really didn't take that long.

The curtain rods had dump trucks on the end which I took off. Then I knotted more cord and tied it around the ends of the curtain rods and let the rope hang down. I stepped back to look at my work and was really pleased! I thought the curtains looked great and was a nice way to give the room a nautical feel without having to slap a sailboat in your face.

The finished curtain.

After I hung the curtains, the wall opposite to Z's crib looked bare and needed something. I was looking on Etsy for nautical prints that I could frame. Once again, the cost inhibited me from pulling the trigger. I could find prints that were reasonable but then they didn't come with a frame so that would end up being more than I wanted to spend. I decided to make my own art. I went to Michaels and bought two canvas prints (on sale!) and some acrylic paint. I measured my canvas and then divided the area by how many stripes I wanted. Using my trusty painter's tape, I taped off my canvas and then painted the open space blue. I used a paint brush because I wanted to be able to see the brush strokes, but if you don't like that, then you could probably use a sponge and paint a few coats to ensure full coverage. When the paint was dry, I pulled off the tape and then used a clear sealant on the whole canvas. I found a wooden 'Z' and a wooden anchor that I decided to put in the middle of each canvas. I painted them both with red acrylic paint and then after they dried, I sanded them to distress them a little. Then I also sealed them. To finish up the project, I hot glued the 'Z' and the anchor to each canvas and voilá! I was done. I hung them up and they look quite spiffy.

Take that, expensive Etsy sales lady!

I know that I made these before the Fabric Lady challenged me to a craft off, but since these projects were inspired and executed, I am going to look at this as a win for me. As a favor to her, I will only count both of these projects as one. Let's take a look at the score thus far:

Pam 3, Fabric Lady 0 . . . . . Sha-zam!

In Your Face Fabric Lady! (Part II - Nautical Flags)

Well, if that Fabric Lady isn't scared after my last post about the cute Pennant Bunting, she will be after this one. (If you are confused as to why I seem to have a personal vendetta against a woman I am calling "Fabric Lady," read my post Fabric, Glue and Macaroni and it will all become clear.) I guess I am on a little big of a flag kick as my next project was the real reason why I wanted to go to Jo-Ann Fabrics in the first place.

As I have mentioned before, Zachary's room has a nautical theme. I really wanted some kind of decoration to hang above his crib. I thought about putting a couple of wooden oars on the wall, but I couldn't really find any that I liked which were also in my price range, which was cheap. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a room that would likely be covered in band/car posters and pop stains in ten years. (Let's be honest, my sweet little boy is going to turn into something gross, as all boys do, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.) Then I found a woman on Etsy who would make a flag using martime signal flags to spell out anything you would like. I thought it was such a cute idea! I messaged her and since Zachary's name is a little on the long side, and she was located in the United Kingdom, this project was going to cost me over $100. Ummm......thanks but no thanks.

I knew I couldn't spend that much on decor, but I couldn't get those gosh darn signal flags out of my mind! I loved how each pattern represented a letter or number. I decided I would try to make one myself. I Googled the maritime signal flags and they seemed easy enough; they were mostly stripes and straight lines. So, I bought some white canvas (which the Fabric Lady cut for me while she openly challenged me to a craft-off, though I can't be certain that was her true intention) and made another template out of a cereal box to the size I wanted my flags to be. Then I cut out the flags using my fabulous rotary cutter. I used a thick piece of blue painter's tape at the top of the flag because I was going to fold that part over and sew down when I finished with the painting so that I could string all the flags through rope.

Oh, how I love that rotary cutter.

Next I sewed all around the edges using a straight stitch to keep the canvas from unraveling. I put the presser foot at the edge of the fabric and sewed around the whole flag. I decided not to fold the fabric under and then sew because I thought it would look cool to have some of the canvas fray. Now, I was ready to paint! Oh, how I love to paint. I am not very good at it thought so straight lines were right up my alley! I used my painter's tape so my stripes would be straight. After all, these flags are used in the Navy and they needed to be ship-shape!! Aye-aye, Captain! (Side Note: we have a painting of a sea captain that Troy acquired from an old roommate. He has become part of the family despite the fact that no one in their right mind would willingly use him as a serious piece of decor - except us. I even put a Santa hat on him at Christmastime. Zachary LOVES him. We walk by him multiple times a day and I say "Aye-aye, Captian!" and Z smiles super big. It's awesome.) Anyway, back to the project at hand....

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the letter 'C.'

After I finished all the painting, I held my breath and pulled the tape off. To my surprise, the flags looked great!! There were a few spots where the paint had bled through a loose part of the tape, but I just took a very small paintbrush and fixed it with whatever color it should have been. My last step was to fold the top part over and then sew it down. I realized that I didn't want to sew across the flag because I didn't want to be able to see the stitch line across the top of the flag, so instead I sewed down vertically a few stitches on each side of the flag. Then using cable cord, I strung the flags and tied a knot between each flag. Then I stepped back and admired my work. I thought it looked great! Even better than the one I would have bought for over $100. The hubs helped me hang it in Zachary's room and it looks great!

It was the perfect final touch to our little man's room.

Z-A-C-H-A-R-Y

Umm, this still spells Z-A-C-H-A-R-Y, just a more artsy-fartsy view.

Z loves the flags too! Oh, that face. I just love it.

This was one of my favorite projects. I loved working on each step. Dare I say, I enjoyed it even more than the gold painted macaroni ornament circa 1989. I have already been commissioned to make a nautical banner, which I am excited about! If you are interested in having me make you one, let me know. I realize this seems a little shady, pimping my crafting out, but hey, a girl's gotta eat. 

Pam 2, Fabric Lady 0 . . . . . . . . Bam!

In Your Face Fabric Lady! (Part I - Pennant Bunting)

Welcome back! Thanks for showing up to watch me cream that Fabric Lady from Jo-Ann Fabric with my awesome crafting skills. In case you just tuned in, I mentioned in my last post, Fabric, Glue and Macaroni, that the woman who cuts fabric at a JoAnn Fabric told me that she never (nor knows of anyone who does) tries any of the pins that she finds on Pinterest. So, I am devoting a series of blog posts to show you all that I don't just go and buy materials for crafts and then never follow through like Fabric Lady, which is what she shall be called henceforth because Lame-and-Lazy-Not-Creative-Unwilling-to-Use-All-the-Resources-that-are-at-her-Fingertips-at-Jo-Ann Fabric Lady just seemed a bit too superfluous.

Anywho, Zachary's first birthday is the end of May and I have decided to do a nautical theme which I thought would complement the nautical baby shower my mom and sisters threw for me when I had the bun in the oven. I wanted to make some decorations for the party that could be used again either in Zachary's room, which is also decorated in nautical decor, or as a part of seasonal decorations for the house. I thought I would start with a really sweet fabric pennant bunting project. While at Jo-Ann Fabric, I chose three different fabrics that I thought would look cute together, then I brought them to the Fabric Lady to cut while she openly challenged me to a craft-off (that last part might have only been in my head).

When I got home, I made a template out of cardboard to be the size that I wanted my pennants (which is really just a fancy word for 'triangle') to be for this project. (Side Note: Don't throw away cereal boxes when you are finished with the yummy goodness inside. Cereal boxes make great templates because the cardboard is thick enough to use as a guide but not too thick to cut. Plus Mother Earth will thank you for reusing a resource.) I always flirt with the idea of not doing this next step because I hate it, but I ironed my fabric so the wrinkles from the bolt of fabric wouldn't hinder the cut. I always tell myself to not be so lazy and just iron the darn material, but something about it is just too hard. Next, I used a rotary cutter because it was faster, but if you are following along at home and don't have one, go old school and use scissors. I would like to take the time to mention though, that I have gotten oh so much use out of my rotary cutter and if you are on the fence about getting one, allow me to push you off in the direction of YES!

I love my rotary cutter!

Now, here is where I am going to be brutally honest with you even though it makes me look a little like a boob. I had planned on sewing a straight line all around the edges of the pennants to keep them from fraying; however, I was having a heck of a time making the stitch look nice. It seemed to pull the fabric funny, no matter how much I adjusted the tension on the sewing machine or on the bobbin. Then being the perfectionist I am, if the stitch wasn't absolutely straight, it drove me crazy. Enough was enough; I got out my trusty seam ripper and decided against the stitches. I think the problem was that I only had a one-sided pennant, so I was only sewing through one piece of fabric - I could be totally wrong about that. I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to the seam ripper. Seam Rippers are the best tool for sewing. My mom gave me some advice that I always think about when I sew. One time I was whining to her about not being able to sew something and she told me as long as I had a seam ripper, I could do it. Meaning, you're going to make mistakes - and that is totally okay! Just rip out the seam and start again. (Cue the Full House, "we have fixed all of life's problems" music.)

Going rogue was freeing and I thought that if the fabric did fray, it would look cool, so I decided to jump right to the fun part, pinking. If you haven't heard of pinking shears, they are scissors that leave a zig-zag pattern instead of a straight edge and they are super fun. I had debated buying these fabulous shears because they were in the twenty five dollar range at Jo-Ann Fabric, but then I found a great pair at Michaels for about twelve bucks! Win! I carefully "pinked" around the two longest sides of each of the pennants I cut, leaving the top "un-pinked". That part will get hidden but if you are having a blast with your pinking shears and want to keep going, then don't let me stop you! 

All pinked and ready to go!

Next, I bought double fold bias tape which you can find near the zippers, thread and ric-rac at your fabric store. This kind of bias tape made the next part super easy because there was no folding, ironing or subsequent migraines and/or temper tantrums involved. I slid the top part of the pennant between the folds of the bias tape and then folded the top part of the bias tape down. I pinned each side of the pennant so it would stay snug inside the bias tape. When I went to insert the next pennant into the fold of the bias tape, I made sure that the corners of each pennant where just barely touching. That way, I knew that I would have a uniform look when the bunting was complete. Remember the perfectionist I mentioned earlier? She would hate to look at pennants that were not equidistant.

I even took a picture of the bias tape for you. You're welcome!

All the pennants are pinned and ready to be sewn.

After I pinned all the pennants to the bias tape, I was ready to sew. This was really easy. All I did was sew a straight line. Anyone can do that. Even if you have never used a sewing machine before, you can do it and if you think you can't - just keep your seam ripper in view. I put the presser foot on the edge of the bias tape, closest to the pennants because I wanted to make sure that the thread would be going through all the material. When I finished, I measured the extra bias tape on each end and cut it so the length would be the same on both sides. I sewed down the raw edge so there would be a loop on each end since I am not sure yet how I want to hang this.

The presser foot is right on the edge of the bias tape.

Sewing up the loops on the end.

 After that, I was shocked to realize that I was finished with my project. I was finished before I knew it! I thought the best way to celebrate would be to hang up my work of art, take a few photos of it and revel in my greatness since I won the first of many craft battles against Fabric Lady.

Ta-Da!!

Super cute and super easy!

Pam 1, Fabric Lady 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . Boo-yah!

Fabric, Glue and Macaroni

When I was in kindergarten, I made the most fabulous craft. It is probably my favorite work of art, which is really a shame and somewhat sad that I am openly admitting that I "craft-peaked" at the age of five but this piece was really the cat's meow. It has all the characteristics needed to make a glorious craft; pasta, metallic paint, Christmas-themed, picture of a sweaty kindergartener (our school didn't have air conditioning so when we took our school pictures in the fall, everybody's hair had a matted down, wet look thanks to the perspiration.)

The craft was to make an ornament to give to our families for Christmas. (Schools weren't politically correct way back in the late 80's, so we openly celebrated Christmas in school. Gasp!) We were given a wooden, circular disc and we glued various kinds of macaroni all around the edges. Then our teacher spray painted the whole thing with GOLD paint (I know!) and finally, we glued the school picture of our sweaty selves in the middle. It was/is fabulous. 

Fast forward to twenty-(cough-cough!)-some years later and I am still that little kindergartener who loves macaroni and paint projects. This is one reason why I waste spend so much time on Pinterest. I have found some great little gems and had many successes with crafts, recipes and ideas.

Rewind to the beginning of February. My whole family went to visit my sister and her hubs in the Mitten, A.K.A. Michigan. The girls wanted to do a little shopping, so my sister took us to her local Jo-Ann Fabric and I decided to get a bunch of fabric to use for different projects that I have been thinking about making. Plus, my husband was in charge of watching the wee babe which meant I had the rare privilege of using TWO hands AT THE SAME TIME! Needless to say, I went hog wild. At one point, I think I had ten bolts of fabric in my cart. (I widdled it down to six bolts when all was said and done.) I went to the fabric cutting station and rattled off the measurements for each bolt of fabric. The lady at the counter was making small talk with me as she cut my material and asked what I was planning to make. I told her there was a few things I saw on Pinterest that I gave me some ideas for my creations. Then she told me that she NEVER makes anything she pins on Pinterest. After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I asked her if that was true. She said she always pins stuff but never does it and she didn't know many people who did.

Now....I know a lot of people who are not, shall we say, go-getters. But for the love of gold spray painted macaroni - she works in a Jo-Ann Fabrics!!! A mecca for crafters!! She has a surplus of hot glue sticks, beads, and ric-rac at her fingertips and she never tries anything she pins on Pinterest?! Blasphemous! Well, I was so upset, that I left Jo-Ann Fabrics.....

....right after I purchased all my goodies. 

These past few weeks as I worked on my crafts, I kept thinking about that Jo-Ann Fabric lady. I decided that I should probably blog about this, since this is my electronic diary. Therefore I am going to devote the next few posts to my super awesome crafts that I have made and I am going to entitle the posts "In Your Face Fabric Lady!" in case you want to check back in and see how I showed her. And, oh, how I will show her!

Until then, I will leave with this little gem. That's right, it's my ornament I made as a wee kinder. I thought that you too would like to revel in its awesomeness. You're welcome.