So, I will admit that I never thought too much about freezer paper…until last week when my neighbor showed me just HOW COOL it really is!

Did you know, that if you take a multiple sized pattern and trace the size you want with a permanent marker (be careful not to mark the surface you are tracing on because that pattern paper is a tad bit thin…oops—magic eraser did wonders thankfully—):

and then trace your pattern onto a sheet of freezer paper (draw on the papery side not the shiny side)

that you can then iron your new pattern onto your fabric (and yes it will STICK!)

and make it super easy for you to cut out with scissors. How crazy cool is that!?! Anyhow, if you didn’t know….know you do

Okay, so the moment you have all been waiting for! Here is the secret on how to pin on a Boutonniere. Very valuable information if you ask me…

1. Make sure that you have 2 bout pins. Take the first pin and push it in and back out of the mans left lapel:

2. Then push the pin upward into the stem, but not back out. The point of the pin should be safe inside the stem so no one will get hurt

3. Repeat on the other side of the flower, with your 2nd pin:

And it should end up looking like this:

And I  promise it wont fall off, or tip to the side, or look stupid! YAY!

Also, make sure to check out my tutorial on how to make a boutonniere.

Tile….ughh, while I like it, I also hate it!  And the tile at my place is a pain in the pa’tush! I don’t think that the grout was properly done or sealed, meaning: it gets SUPER DIRTY, SUPER EASY! And I hate cleaning it, because the only thing I’ve been able to use that really works is bleach. I’m not really a fan of bleach because it smells so strong, makes me a little dizzy while I’m cleaning if you know what I mean! And no matter how hard I try not too…I ALWAYS seem to get it on myself and ruin my clothes. UGH.  Nothing worse than bleach specks on your shirt…

Well, this go around I tried Oxi Clean. You know, the stuff on the infomercials, that you use on your clothes. I was looking at the box and it says you can mix it with water and use it to clean all sorts of stuff: lawn furniture, carpet, sports equipment and I though hmm. So I gave it a shot:

Before:

After:

I must admit I am impressed. It worked every bit as good as bleach PLUS I wasn’t afraid to get it on my clothes AND I was even able to let my 3 year old help me clean! (In fact she thought scrubbing the tile with a toothbrush was a lot of fun=) Imagine that…I didn’t have to wait until nap time to mop the floor. It was great… You all gotta try this stuff!

Multiple-Size Patterns are Fabulous. I buy 1 dress pattern for my little girl and it comes in 5 different sizes! What a deal…but also what a pain! I hate  ✄——- cutting them out, because it’s always a trick trying to figure out how to cut out that smallest size when you don’t want to ruin the pattern for the bigger sizes. Usually I end up folding the pattern over which works fine until you get to the curved parts—then it gets tricky and I usually start making little  cuts in my pattern so I can get it to fold right.  It usually turns out to be kind of a mess. Now, I vaguely remember in sewing class there was something about using tracing paper and one of those weird little bumpy rollers. (technical terms here??? anybody?) But just in case you don’t own those particular sewing supplies here is an alternative:

Just place a clear (thick plastic) garbage sack over your pattern and trace it –making sure to also trace any important markings and the size. That way you can store your plastic pattern in a separate ziplock bag or fold it up and put it back in with your original pattern so you can use it again later.

Happy Pattern Tracing!

When I decided, as a New Year’s Resolution, to make 50-80% of the gifts my husband and I gave this year, I thought I’d be incredibly stressed out. Homemade gift giving can sound (and be) intimidating and stressful. But I also thought it sounded like fun (yes, fun and stress are not mutually exclusive). Homemade gift giving is a great creative outlet for me  and my husband loves it because we don’t have as many random craft projects laying around the house. Now I craft with a purpose!

So how can the stress and intimidation of gift giving be alleviated? From my experience I’ve found that following these steps helps reduce the stress (and increase the enjoyment) of homemade gift giving:

• Plan ahead. I usually start brainstorming for gift ideas a month or so in advance. Using Anne’s Birthday Calendar is a great way to keep track of what’s coming up.
• Don’t procrastinate. Start making the gift about 2-3 weeks before you plan on giving it. This way if something comes up last minute, you won’t be in a time crunch.
• KISS (“keep it simple, stupid”). Realize that most homemade gifts do not need to be elaborate. For most gifts, it’s ok to keep it simple. Expecting too much from yourself only makes homemade gift giving a stressful experience. Start with smaller homemade gifts, maybe paired up with something you bought. It’s ok. As you get more time or more comfortable with the homemade process, gifts can become more complicated.
• Work with what you have. When first starting out, try and think of gifts you can make with the supplies you have on hand. As you continue making gifts you can gradually increase your craft supplies. Too much too soon can be overwhelming.
• Find inspiration. It’s ok to see what other people have done and adapt your ideas. Oftentimes I don’t know exactly what I want to make, but I know I want to use felt (just using what I have… ) or make a pincushion so I’ll go to flickr, etsy, or oneprettything and search and see what other people have made.
• Generic gifts. Making and keeping generic gifts on hand is a great way to still give handmade gifts for those forgotten unplanned events. I try and have coasters, embellished dish towels, and appliqued onesies on hand at all times… just in case.

• Bookmark ideas. Ever come across an idea that you might want to use later? Bookmark it! You never know if that tutorial on how to cover a 3-ring binder will come in handy. I have an entire folder of bookmarked gift ideas.