4 Things I Learned in September

I learned a few new things in September.

1. I am adverse to most change; however, I have already found two things I like about the new iOS 7. The first is the new calendar. I am so greatly relieved that they finally improved the calendar.  The second thing, which I find very handy, is when I swipe up from the bottom of the screen I can access a flashlight, stopwatch and calculator toot suite. There are several other handy options with that swipe, but those are my favs.
2. The bottom crisper drawer of our refrigerator was dead to me until this month. I would put things in there and remember a month later the bag of apples or Costco sized spinach. The drawer just above it got regular use but for some reason that bottom drawer was always forgotten. UNTIL I started putting the beer in there. Problem solved.
3. A quick swish in a cup of rubbing alcohol and your make-up brushes are clean as a whistle. I actually learned that last year but it was so helpful I wanted you to know this trick too.
4. The Jimmy Fallon lip sync-off made me laugh so hard I snorted. A few times.

I'm linking up with Emily Freeman and her community at Chatting at the Sky where she is sharing what she learned and one involves how we have been using the restaurant ketchup cups wrong.

Did you learn anything new in September?

We Moved To Colorado!

Good bye, Virginia.

We did it! We moved from Virginia to Colorado the week before Christmas!

Hello, Colorado!

There are lots of stories and details and blessings that came from this cross country adventure. We are so happy to be in our new home.  And even happier that our neighbors have such an awesome Christmas light display.

Having neighbors like this was a huge selling point!

Raising our kids in Colorado has been our dream for many years. What dreams are you chasing down in 2013?

Bye Bye Batwing Drawer Pulls

Our kids share an old dresser with the most annoying drawers pulls.  I think Kimba calls them batwings. 

 

They are annoying for a few reasons.  They clank and bang loudly when you open or close the drawers and half of them are falling off. The worst part is there are 5 drawers with 3 different size pulls, making it next to impossible to find matching pulls.

I found some pulls I liked but didn't want to drill new holes to make them all fit.  So I used those on the 2 drawers they fit and I used clothesline on the rest.  That's right, clothesline.

 

I doubled the clothesline and poked it through the hole with a screwdriver and tied a knot.

 

Then I twisted the two ends (my husband's suggestion) and I thought that looked better than the untwisted look.

 

 

I tied another knot and fed the clothesline through the other hole and tied the two ends together on the inside of the drawer. Clear as mud?

 

 

 

 

 

Before

After

 

 

I would say this took about 30 minutes, and maybe 5 bucks to get rid of the batwings.

Footstool Slipcover

This is another project that, due to my lack of sewing skills, should have NEVER worked.


A few years ago I "reupholstered" a footstool  I found at Home Goods.  I never warmed up to that scary clown monkey fabric and finally decided to give it a new look.  Click here if you want to see the creepy monkey fabric.

So, here we go with the slipcover.  I cut and pinned a piece of fabric to fit the top.  So far, so good.

Next, I cut a bunch of strips to make the pleats.  My friend Pink (I can call her a friend, right?  After all, I met and sewed with her once) gave a great tutorial on making knife pleats.  She said measure twice around and add about a foot.  Well, you should really do that.  I only added about 6 inches and I came up short and had to add another section.  Grrrr. 

I sewed the strips together and hemmed the edges.  I eyeballed it because I am too lazy to pin.

Then I had a piece of coconut cake and caught up on a sweet mom from our church that is fighting pancreatic cancer.  Please pray for Leigh.

There is no getting around pinning and ironing on this part.  Again, I eyeballed it because I am lazy and I enjoy "good enough" sewing.  A real seamstress would probably measure each pleat for precision.

Chloe woke up from her nap at this point, so I got a little help.

I pinned the pleats (right side, to right side) on the footstool.

Next, I attached the pleats.  I was amazed all this fabric fit through my sewing machine.  I was also shocked I didn't break a needle with all those pins.  I removed the ones I could see as I went but I ran right over a few.

And here she is, my little beauty.

...and the rest of the room.

I am linking this to YOU:Create and Works for Me Wednesday, go check 'em out. And don't forget to go to Pink and Polka Dot's Slipcover party!  She taught me everything I ever needed to know about making slipcovers.

Lost and Found

We rearranged the furniture in our sun room a few weeks ago and look at all the treasures hiding under the couch I thought nothing could get hidden under:

Click the photo if you want all the gory details.

So that's where all the pens, cat toys and Hot Wheels end up.

Stay tuned I should have a post one of these years about our kitchen makeover.

Security

Where is your faith? Is it in a deadbolt? I didn't realize it until this morning as I kissed my husband goodbye and closed the door, but I had faith in a deadbolt. Faith that as I shut the door and turned the lock our family would be safe from harm.

When I turned the lock this morning I realized the window next to it could easily be broken and the lock turned. Then I looked at the other two points of entry in our house and they also have windows near the locks.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:1, 6

So, where is your faith? Is it in a deadbolt? Or the One who made you?

Square or Round? Part Due

A few weeks ago I tried to drum up a discussion on preferences for square or round. When it comes to storage, I'm a square girl. They just stack and organize and play together so nicely.
However, we are considering a new kitchen table and I think I want round. Something along these lines:









I don't recall having a round table for any period of time, so I may be mistaken. There is no head of the table at a round table. There are no table legs if it's a pedestal table, thusly allowing more people to be stuffed at said table when we have guests. (Did I use thusly correctly? This is one of my current favorite words, along with whilst. Oh, and I am practicing my Italian via a Chic-Fil-A kids meal CD, hence the part Due.)

What kind of table do you have? What are the benefits? I need to know these things.

Don't Do This to Your House

Last summer we were making a delicious dinner on our deck. And then, there was this little mishap with the grill:
When you smell something odd while grilling, it's time to move the grill away from the house.