Giveaway!

Giveaway is closed - the winner is Lee Ann! 
Congrats, Lee Ann! I hope you love your sonic scrubber as much I do :)

ETA: The people at Sonic Scrubbers sent me a note letting me know that there is a discount available right now! Go to http://www.sonicscrubbers.com/cleaneasy

I have been MIA for a while and I apologize for that! It's been hectic around here - there's so much going on this time of year! Plus, we went on vacation for a week, so that took a lot of time, too.

I'm returning with one heck of a giveaway, though!

A couple of months ago I was contacted about trying a new cleaning product and then posting a review for my readers. The best part was that the company offering the product was one who's cleaning products I already loved! Score!
I heart scrubbing bubbles - disposable toilet brush's rock :)

Anyway, they sent me this new, high tech toilet brush, and I tried it out.
Here's what it looks like
http://www.sonicscrubbers.com/tb.html

Like all the other scubbing bubbles toilet brush's, this one is disposable and has the cleaning solution build right in, so you don't have to squirt anything inside the toilet.
The cool thing about this one, though, is that it's battery powered. It does all the work for you!
I purposefully let my toilets go a little extra time between cleaning before I used this the first time. We have really hard water, and it stains the bowl...the longer it sits without cleaning, the harder I have to scrub. I figured if I was going to review it, I should really test it out ;)

Okay - the product itself:
So it's this long handle, and at the end is this square button looking thing.

Then the brush is a round scrubbing pad with a square hole in the back.

The handle clicks into the scrubbing pad and you're in business. Easy-peasy :)

Then you just push the button and it comes to life!

I'm not sure if it was the battery powered scrubbing or the cleaning solution that's built into the head, but this toilet brush REALLY cut through the grime! I was definitely impressed!
My one complaint is that when I pushed it into the deepest part of the toilet and started angling it around I popped the head off. I had a moment of panic, but all I had to do was push the button back into the button hole (still in the water - I didn't actually touch anything with my hand) and it was fine again.
Of course - I didn't really need to PUSH at all...I did it more out of habit than anything. On the second toilet I refrained from pushing and didn't have any more popping off :)
Also - this thing has plenty of cleaning power in it! I cleaned BOTH of my toilets with the one scrubbing pad and that was with them being extra dirty!

So here's the cool part!
The people at Sonic Scrubbers agreed to give one of my readers a Power Toilet Bowl Scrubber of their own!
Just leave a comment here to enter.
You can earn extra entries by "liking" them on Facebook - here's a link to that!
http://www.facebook.com/sonicscrubbers

Good luck to everyone! I sure do like mine!

(giveaway will be open through Wednesday, December 1)

Alphabet Magnets - made over!

Thanks, everyone, for entering!

The drawing is closed and the winner (Cami) has been contacted. If she doesn't get back to me in the new few days I'll draw a new winner.

Thanks, again!

Remember this?

It's my new copper magnet board under my kitchen island. I love it.
It needed some magnets, though!

I started with some regular plastic alphabet magnets from Target. They were 2.99 per package. I bought two alphabet packages and one number package - I wanted the kids to be able to WRITE things, and for that they'll need more than one package.
You KNOW those super bright primary colors aren't going to go with my kitchen though, right?
Once again, I broke out the spray paint.

Here's package #2, laid out on my garage floor, just waiting for a coat of paint.

I sprayed them with Heirloom White, of course.

Several light coats later they were a lovely cream.

Then I broke out my brown ink.

I let them cure for a good 48 hours before anyone touched them - I wasn't sure if the ink would stick on it's own or if I'd need to hit them with a clear coat, but it stuck all by itself! I even rubbed them with water to make sure and it's not budging :)

So cute, right?

Two sets are for me, but one set is for...

Leave a comment to be entered to win. If you are a follower you can leave a second comment for another entry. I'll use random.org to choose a winner on Friday, 2/26.

I'll be linking up all around blog-town...
So far:
TGC Just Something I Whipped Up
Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Made it Monday at The Persimmon Perch
DIY Day at ASPTL

Gorgeous Stocking Tutorial (and Giveaway!)

****Comments are closed! Sherri from Design2Shine is the winner and has been emailed! Thanks, everyone!****

If you're here from The Girl Creative's Creating Christmas Party, welcome!

If you're not, you really should go check it out!

Todays link party is all about creative wrapping, and I posted my pretty patchwork stockings.

I promised a tutorial on them, so here it is!

First, my customary sewing disclaimer...
I am not good at sewing. I don't do anything the right way - only the way that works for me.  If you read this and you think to yourself "how did this airhead ever sew anything?!" The answer is...idunno!

Step one is to make yourself a template/pattern.  Make sure to add extra room for seam allowances!
I drew out my stocking (on a brown paper grocery bag from Target!)
Once it was all adjusted to my liking I cut it out.

Use your pattern to cut out all of your fabric pieces.

 

The foot is the hardest part.  So that's where we'll start.
I'm going to show you the jester style foot, because it's the more difficult of the two.

Once your foot is cut out, sew it, making sure the right sides of the fabric are together(!)

Now turn it right side out.  I use a chopstick to get the tiny ends turned out.

The inside of the foot needs to be stuffed with batting for it to stand up and look right.  I use my chopstick again, and just push and push until it's all filled up to my liking.  The boot style foot is done the same way - it's just a bit easier without that awful curl at the end!
The foot is done, for now, so we'll move on to the leg.

 

Sew your leg fabrics together (right sides facing in) and then press your seams so they will lay flat.
You should have a rectangle of fabric now.

Then you take the right side of your bottom fabric and line it up with the outside of your boot (leave some room to sew the leg up later) and sew them together.
This can be tricky.
I take the removable portion of my sewing machine off for this part, so I don't have to work around it.

At this point you have an open leg sort of draped over the foot.

 

You COULD stuff the foot here, instead of before all this. I never do, though - I prefer to work with the foot first so I can see it better.

Now you sew the leg up. The foot will be inside, be careful not to catch it in the needle, otherwise you'll have to un-pick and you'll be cursing me.

Now...turn it right side out, and you're basically done!

All that's left is to add the internal sock and the embellishments.

To sew the inside sock use whatever scrap fabric you have laying around.
Take the pattern off the completed stocking and then sew it up.

 

Leave it inside out and place it inside the stocking, then sew the two pieces together.
I just let the seam show here, then press it under with an iron and sew an embellishment over the top.

 

Once that's done I add ruffles, trims and bells - usually where the fabrics meet, over the seams, because I like how it looks best there - by hand.

And that's it!

Now...if you got this far...

You can enter to win the boot stocking we just made!

Just leave a comment.
Followers get an extra entry!
You can post through Tuesday, and I'll drop it in the mail 1 week from today.  That will be Thursday, December 17.  I'm not positive that it will get to you by Christmas, but we'll try!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

PS...I'll be linking up everywhere! Go check out these parties!

     

Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage
Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special
The DIY Showoff
It's So Very Cheri's Monday party
Newly Woodwards Dare to DIY party
DIY Day at ASPTL

Winner # 2!

Since Sandy never got in touch with me (sorry, Sandy!) I used random.org to choose a new winner today.

Lucrecia is the new winner!
and her blogger profile even has her email address.  Yay!
I've sent you an email and will get your prize in the mail this week.

Thanks again to everyone who entered!

Winner!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

(name that movie)

I enjoyed my first giveaway SO MUCH!

Expect another one in the near future. These things could be addictive!

...and the winner is (drumroll, please)

SANDY!

Sandy (comment #71) said:

Sandy said...

Wow those are fabulous. Thanks for the great idea. I'm a new follower

Sandy, you didn't leave an email address and your blogger profile doesn't show a blog, so I'm not sure how to get in touch with you.

If I haven't heard from you in 48 hours I'll use random.org to generate another winner.

Thank you everyone for entering!

Gifts - and a Giveaway!

I like to get ready for Christmas early, mostly because so much of what I give is handmade and I need the extra time!
I saw some cute chalkboards at a local home decor shop last year.  They were Christmas themed and adorable - which they should have been for $50 each!
I filed the idea away for this year and started picking up cheap (but chunky!) frames at the thrift store and at garage sales late this summer.

Once I had a few, I got started.
Here they are - BEFORE.

(this was actually my second group, I did a couple before this to see how they would work out)

First, I removed the glass and pictures inside.  Then I used needle nose pliers to take out the staples.

I taped off any portion of the frame that I did not want painted (many of these were gold, and since my color scheme was red and gold, it worked out to tape some off.)

Then I spray painted everything with Rustoleum's Colonial Red.
Most took 2 coats, some took 3.

When they were dry I removed the tape and added some decorative painting with gold craft paint.
I'm not much of a painter, so most of my decor was polka dots, lol!

I started out using hardboard, one of my favorite crafting supplies, for the chalkboard portion.  Eventually, though, I did use the back of a few pictures, since they were sturdy and already cut to size.

In the past I've always used spray chalkboard paint, but recently I picked up another type at JoAnn's.
I don't love it as much as the spray on kind, but it worked okay.  It took a lot more time, (and several coats!) but seems like it will last longer than the spray did.

Once the chalkboards were dry and the frames were complete, I broke out the Gorilla Glue.
In my crafting I use 4 adhesives.  Hot glue, if the project might need to be taken apart later and/or doesn't require a 100% permanent bond.  Liquid Nails, if I'm gluing wood to a wall or if I'm gluing a particularly large area that will have plenty of time to set up.  Quick Grip, if I need something that will set up in a hurry and/or I want something that will last forever.
Gorilla Glue, if it's a small area that needs to be bonded fast and strong.
For this project, I used Gorilla's Super Glue.

I ran a bead of glue around the channel that the chalkboard would sit in, and used it to attach the chalkboard.

It requires a bit of time to set up, and a few of my chalkboards (the ones that were the backs of pictures before!) were bowed and needed some pressure to set up.
My colander full of fruit with a teapot perched on top was the perfect solution.

Keepin' it real, friends!

In the end, I have a beautiful collection of Christmas chalkboards :)

And they only cost me...
an average of $2 per frame,
plus $3 for the chalkboard paint and $4 for the spray paint.  I estimate the cost of each finished chalkboard at less than $4.  LOVE it!
The amazing Chalk Ink works best on these, of course.  I bought a package at my local craft store (with a 40% off coupon, of course) the other night.  They are pricey! I'll probably give a marker with most of the chalkboards, but not all.  Even with the coupon they come out to a little more than $2 per marker.

I plan to give the chalkboards (with or without markers) as gifts to neighbors, teachers and a few others.

Including one of YOU!

Leave a comment to be entered.  If you're a follower you will automatically get an extra entry.

I'm going to leave the contest open through the 11th.  Is that excessive?  This is my first giveaway, and I can't recall how long people usually leave them open...
11 is my favorite number.  11/11 is my favorite date.  So it seems like good energy to close my contest that day :)

I'll be linking up to as many parties as I can between now and then, to get the word out!
Starting with Ashley and Whitney's Gorilla Clue Party!

Also linking to Transformation Thursday at the Shabby Chic Cottage!

And DIY Day at ASPTL's new digs!

And the "I Can Make That" party at Just a Girl