Archive for the ‘Misc.’ Category

Ribbons Part II

Monday, April 26th, 2010

I recently participated in a ribbon swap with Linda – one of the nicest gals you could meet in blogland.

She spends time in Spain and England and she makes loads of really cute creative things.

I hope you’ll check out her blog: Chalky’s World!

Here are the wonderful goodies she sent to me:

Love these colors.

Keepin’ it cute!

Hot pink/magenta seems to be finding me alot lately.

Lots of ribbon goodness!

Even a pretty card, little wooly goodies and pretty hearts.

Thank you so much, Linda!

You’re the best!

Jenn : )

Like Bill Shakespeare Said…

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

…”To Swiffer or not to Swiffer?”

That is the question.

Years ago, Josh and I moved into a duplex that had beautiful hardwood floors.  We adopted two cats.  And then one glorious day, someone (who I’ve said on numerous occasions should receive the Nobel Prize), invented the Swiffer.  Best. Invention. Ever.

Cut to now – and we are in a new home, also with hardwood floors, and still two fuzzy (shedding) cats.

But times have changed, haven’t they?  One day you’re happily Swiffering away, and the next you think to yourself; “I keep buying these Swiffer cloths, using them, and then throwing them away.  Hm.  That can’t be good for the environment.”  Dang.  Once you’ve had that thought, there’s no going back.  Swiffering was now tinged with just the littlest bit of guilt.

What to do?

A-ha!  There are plenty of online tutorials for making your own, REUSEABLE cloths for your Swiffer!  You don’t even need to buy anything.  An old flannel shirt, t-shirt or sweater would work just fine.  In our case, we discovered that a cloth baby diaper, with a little creative folding, was just right, and picked up as many cat hair tumbleweeds as the disposable cloths.  Perfect…

…until the first time they needed to be washed.  I stood for a moment, scratching my head.  These things were covered with cat hair, people hair and misc. gunk.  I couldn’t just toss all that into my machine.  But, do I stand there for 20 minutes and pull all this stuff off of each of these clothes before I put them into the wash?  That would significantly decrease the “ease” factor of the Swiffer process.

I ended up removing as much of the gunk as I could and then throwing the cloths into the wash.

Done and done…

…until a few days later when Josh said something along the lines of: “What was that big wad of hair and stuff I pulled out of the washing machine filter?”  Ugh.  Apparently, homemade Swiffer cloths have their own pros and cons.  And standing around cleaning cleaning cloths is not something I have time for.  And clogging up a good washing machine is not something we have the money for.  Now what do we do?  Go back to disposable, un-earth friendly cloths?  Spend ridiculous amounts of time cleaning the homemade cloths before putting them in the wash?

???

Oh, yeah.

Problem solved.

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I’ve discovered over the years that in many situations our Grandmothers and Grandfathers had some things figured out.  We should think about how they did things and see if we can learn from them. Our generation is trying to re-invent the wheel.  We make up problems so that we can buy things to solve them.  We make up reasons to consume.  Our grandparents figured out ways to conserve.

Today is Earth Day.  Consider giving your Swiffer, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, etc., a break today.  Get out the broom.  Expend a little elbow grease.  Do something good for your home, without consuming more resources.

Or consider checking out MadeInTheRedBarn, a family owned business on Etsy. They make and sell “UnPaper Towels”.  These are fabric sheets that you can use just like paper towels.  You don’t throw them away, instead you wash them and either throw them in the dryer, or (better yet) hang them out on the line or on a drying rack in the sun.  They also sell very well made, attractive wooden dispensers.  I have one myself – Josh and I are using up the last of our paper towels and don’t plan on buying anymore.  I was just thinking this morning that these would make nice Christmas gifts.

“Talking isn’t doing. It is a kind of good deed to say well; and yet words are not deeds.” – Bill S.

Silly…

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Silly Christmas cactus.

That’s okay.

You can bloom any time you want to.

We think you’re gorgeous.

Jenn : )

A Little Kawaii

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

I recently purchased this cute little stamp

from Kawaii Things on Etsy.

I’m going to use it when I write my thank you notes to my great Etsy customers.

I may also stamp everything in my house with this!

(To learn more about “kawaii” – click *here*)

Jenn : )

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Jenn : )

What I’ve Been Up To: Day 6

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Spring cleaning!

Not that I’m all that jazzed about cleaning all the rooms of our first floor. And not that I always give my house a thorough cleaning, just because it’s spring.

But after the renovation of our upstairs… there was dust everywhere.

Like this:

Yeah.  I’ve got two more rooms and a hallway to go.

Yay spring!

Jenn : )

What I’ve Been Up To: Day 3

Monday, March 8th, 2010

So, having a baby around sure makes the time fly.

Especially when it comes to haircuts!

I finally couldn’t stand myself anymore so I left the family to fend for themselves, and went to see my girl, Heather.  All the way to her shop I thought about exactly how I was going to describe the cut I wanted.  And, true to form, I got there, sat in the chair and said “You decide!” And walked out feeling fabulous!

While I was there I decided to treat myself to some frou frou hair stuff that smells wonderfully like vanilla.  I’m usually a pretty practical kind of gal, but there’s something about smelly hair stuff that can lift one’s spirits on a grey, drizzly day, so I bought myself some fancy hair goop.

Little did I know until after I got home…..

Do you see that?!?

“FOR WIZARDS” you guys!

I’m not sure what that means…. but if Hairy Potter (see what I did there?) stops by the house – I’ll be sure to tell you guys all about it!

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And while I’m chatting about hair…

Have you ever tried a shampoo bar?  Well, I hadn’t.  But I recently took the plunge and got a sample assortment from Soap Lady Oregon .  For a very reasonable price I received 8 good sized samples of organic shampoo bars.  I’ve gone through 1 already (the sample size lasted about three weeks – and I have thick, shoulder length hair).

My conclusions:

1.) These smell terrific!  I keep them in a pretty dish in the bathroom and it smells lovely in there.

2.) I like them.  They do make my hair feel alittle different than regular shampoo, in a good way.  And my husband told me last week that my hair looked great.  He even asked if I’d gotten it cut again!  I’d say that’s a pretty good incentive to keep using these.

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Have you’ve tried something new with your hair lately?

Have a funny hair story you could share?

Tell me about it!

Jenn : )

I’m ahead! I’m ahead!

Friday, February 5th, 2010

So I was at the grocery store today and the clerks were passing out fortune cookies to celebrate Chinese New Year.  I’ve just Googled Chinese New Year 2010 and so far everything I’ve read says that on the western calendar it begins on February 14th (Year of the Tiger). Today is the 5th….

…so, thanks to the local grocery store I am finally ahead of the game on something!

Hurrah!!

I still have Christmas gifts to mail, but by God, I’ve got the Chinese New Year covered!

What, you guys haven’t celebrated yet?  Well, GET ON IT!

Martha Stewart and I will be sitting back with a cup of tea.

(Cause I imagine that Martha probably has the next 10 Chinese New Years all mapped out already.)

Happy Chinese New Year to you all!

Jenn ; )

Fall Baby

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Josh bought me this beautiful handmade doll and it just arrived today.

(I’m a big fan of Mimi’s dolls – I have this one, too!)

It reminds me of Madeline, all swaddled for a nap.

Thank you, Josh!

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I’m working on some new additions for the shop.

I hope to share those with you soon!

Jenn : )

Lots of Dots

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Woolfelt dots for decorating my next round of pincushions.

Dots

And more dotty goodness:

Key Lime Dot Scarf made by Mountainavenbaby

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Elephant Stuffed Toy made by SewnNatural

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Stuck On You Card made by Michellenstamps

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Jenn : )