Pintesting: alcohol for a microfiber couch

Right before we found out I was pregnant with my first baby, we bought a house. To furnish said house, we bought a microfiber couch and loveseat.

In off-white.

Yeeeeah.

Allegedly the couches were treated with some sort of protectant that meant you could only use water on the seats. But using water to clean your cushions leads to watermarks, which look even worse than the stains themselves:

The spot-cleaning with water solution is pretty much worse than the problem here.

Naturally, even though I'm not much of a deep cleaner, I had to repin this cleaning idea.

Source: chrisandrobinsnest.blogspot.com viaJordan on Pinterest

The basic idea: use rubbing alcohol instead of water.

Alcohol dries faster than water (the technical term for this chemical property is "volatility." Now you know), so the alcohol won't leave those big watermarks. Once it's dry, you take a scrub brush to the fabric to lift the fibers again.

Results!

A lot better, but obviously not perfect. I might have been able to get better results with more alcohol and more scrubbing, but it's very hard to tell how much scrubbing you still need to do when the entire cushion is wet! And if you're getting the entire cushion wet . . . hm.

Verdict:

My other solution to this problem was to liberally wet the entire couch top of the cushion: no edges, no watermarks, right?

Frankly, my solution was a bit easier. Both methods require considerable elbow grease, but my hands got tired from working the sprayer (a very wet rag is sufficient to clean the couches with water). Plus alcohol fumes are NOT fun. Alcohol does dry a lot faster (the above pictures were taken about an hour after the before shots, and the couch was dry enough that we put the cushions back on).

Also, neither method is effective on stains like pen, candy or permanent marker, and neither really helped with the very dirty arms of the couch.

And of course, a year later, the couch is just as bad—worse in places where my youngest has decided to express her artistic side. :\

Pintesting success:

I don't want to be all bad news. I tried this pin this weekend, and as you'd probably expect, the results were perfect:

Source: Laura on Pinterest

Line a bowl with foil before draining meat for easy cleanup! My husband thought this was so clever, he had to tell me twice!

Framing your own art

Confession: I am cheap. Not as cheap as some, but I don't like spending money on things I can do myself for less. Case in point: Matted artwork. Having a professional do this can cost hundreds of dollars. Yes, they do a lovely job, but I don't want to spend that much on my art.
Here's a couple ways to save money on matted artwork.
First you need a frame with similar dimensions to your artwork plus a mat. It doesn 't have to be exact. I use coupons from Michaels or go to thrift stores to find frames.

Since it is likely you won't find a precut mat to fit the frame and the artwork, you have a couple choices. You can purchase a mat cutting instrument and do it yourself. I tried this with moderate success. I don't recommend it.

OR just google mat board. There are many places that have larger pieces that you usually cannot find in craft stores. You can also get a custom opening cut. There are some ways to select the size based on whether you want your artwork centered or weighted.  Look into it a bit and decide what your prefer.

This is a print that my family bought me a few years ago. It is weighted on the bottom. That means the mat is wider on the bottom.
I couldn't get rid of the glare, but you can see how it turned out.

With shipping, the mat cost about $30. I bought the frame for about $20. I will try to get a better picture, but it turned out well.
Here is what this beautiful painting by Liz Lemon Swindle looks like.

 You can see this work and many other here. It is called "Why Weepest Thou." I love it!

Try framing your artwork! It will work!

Mailing Easter Eggs!

So you may have seen this pin:

Source: giverslog.com via Jaime on Pinterest

I did sometime last year and have been patiently waiting for Spring since! Here's what I came up with for my nephew and nieces.

 

For my nephew: A growing, glow in the dark skeleton, a spinning top, a Lightning McQueen pad of paper, a Phineas and Ferb sticker and a little squirting animal.

My niece's wasn't too different: a spinning top, a Mater pad of paper, a Phineas and Ferb sticker (not pictured for some reason!), a little squirting animal and a pretty necklace.

All these small items fit inside a somewhat larger egg (it's not huge!). All my items came from the Dollar Tree, including the eggs. I will send these out soon and let you know how they fare in the mail!

Wedding receptions!

We've been sharing a lot about Jasmine's fantastic wedding reception, but she's not the only member of our family tying the knot. Our cousin, who happens to be just 8 days younger than Jasmine, got married last month! Jasmine and I were able to attend. If you're looking for wedding reception inspiration, check out these fun ideas!

The ceremony

(sorry, no pictures allowed inside)

The happy couple!

My son, always the bridesman.
(This is amazingly clear of snow. Some people had to hike up other stairs
that were so full, their high snow boots also filled with snow!)

The luncheon

Hosted by the groom's parents, the luncheon was held in their church building. 

Friends and family provided soup, salad, rolls and desserts.

Tablescape, table of honor

Lots of Valentine candy to match the very, very varied color scheme!

My kids with my aunt, the lovely mother of the bride

My grandparents with my kids. This picture is true life.

The reception

The reception was held in an event room at the local library. They also coordinated with a decorator through the library, which was weird for the Wayward Girls (we seriously asked three times when we needed to be there to help set up), but also really nice.

The entrance: guestbook, a vintage suitcase for cards, along with some other cool vintage touches. 

The picture of the couple is from a photo session they did in advance (along with her bridals?).

Table centerpieces: fresh flowers, engagement photos, books, birdcage, ceramic birds . . .
(My youngest under the white flowers)

The receiving line and backdrop (Jasmine isn't a part of it, she's just chatting)

FOOD!

It's what you really want to see, isn't it?

A rainbow of lemonades to match the wedding colors!

Lemonade, blue raspberry (with blackberries?), pink, peach (with blueberries) and water 

My son made sure our whole table stayed topped off with the color of their choice.

Some of the cupcake spread--friends and family provided 600 cupcakes! 

Also to eat: pre-plated cream cheese chicken salad on croissants, chocolate drizzled strawberries, and cucumber/mozzarella/tomato toothpicks drizzled with dressing. Yum!

The wedding cake: white cake layered with raspberry filling, with an ivory and white lace stencil pattern on fondant.

The groom's cake: Chocolate mustache cake!

Fun!

A friend set up a professional photo booth in a side room and provided props, a backdrop, lights and a photographer (her husband) for a fun photobooth. My kids loved it!

It was a lot of fun!

To pick out or not to pick out, that is the question!

It is the wayward crafter's eternal question. Is it good enough or should I do it over?

I am still working on the baby quilt for Jordan's baby. I was a little disappointed with the front because not every angle matched perfectly. I was extra careful in the back. I picked out seams and recut and squared up. And guess what. Yep, still not perfect. 

When do you decide your product is good enough and when do you decide you must redo it? This was my dilemma when I was doing free motion quilting on the quilt. I can sew for about an hour on one bobbin. After one bobbin change, I didn't change my thread tension back to where it needed to be.  When that happens, the top thread shows on the bottom of the quilt too much. It makes the stitches feel rough. I didn't realize this until the next time I changed the bobbin--an hour of free motion quilting later.

Was it good enough? Did I want to take out that much stitching? 

I decided I did. It took as longer to pick it out than it did to put it in. What a pain! 

All those little dotted lines used to be stitches. All told, it was about 2 square feet of stitching or about this much thread.

I am getting ready to do it over now and I don't regret my decision at all. I know I will be much happier with the result. 

In this case, I decided to pick out, but earlier I decided not to redo the angles in the quilt that weren't perfect. I don't really understand my criteria or my tolerance level for my own imperfections, so I am asking my fellow crafters what they think. (Of course this assumes that a few of you are also less than perfect, too.)

Here's what I want to know...

• How to you decide when your craft is "good enough?"
• Is "good enough" really good enough?
• Do you feel compelled to point out mistakes in your own work when others look at it?

Choosing THE Dress

You may have noticed but Latter-day Saint members cover up a little more than the average person. No, we don't wear turtlenecks and floor length skirts everywhere we go but we do believe in dressing modestly (Click here for more information on LDS dress and grooming standards.) Dressing modestly is a sign of respect for our bodies. Wedding dresses are no exception especially if you are marrying in a Latter-day Saint Temple (Click here for information on LDS temples.)
 It is very hard to find a wedding dress with sleeves and a modest neckline outside of Utah and Idaho. Very very hard. Luckily we have an amazing and wonderfully talented family friend who was willing to make my wedding dress (along with Brooke and Jaime's dresses too!) I still had to figure out what looked good on me however. So I went wedding dress browsing. We went to a big ol' wedding dress store that had heaps of wedding dresses in all sorts of styles. It was almost like going on Say Yes to the Dress but not quite that huge of a selection and you had to pull your own dresses. I tried on dresses of all sorts and it turned out a style similar to my dream dress looked  not so great on me. I tried on A-Line, ball gown, and lacey. I even tried on a dress named "Princess Jasmine." Then I found it. A dress that I could hopefully ask to be made just for me, except with sleeves...and lace instead of all the intricate beading that would take a million years to do and we only had 15 weeks.



So here's what I learned in trying on dresses:
1. Pull styles that you don't even want to see on you. Try on different silhouettes. Big poofy to slender or mermaid. Just do it! See what you like and what looks good then invest more in that style.

2. Take pictures of what you like. Necklines, waistlines, backs, fronts, bodices, I could go on and on. Take pictures or at least notes to remember what is flatter and what you feel good in. You can piece it all together and find or make the perfect dress for you.
3. Sit down in the dress. I don't mean roll around on the floor but sit down. See if you can breathe or if it's even comfortable while sitting.

4. Try on a veil and ones at different length, layer and style. Even if you don't want one, it could change your mind or keep your decision. It's good to have those options.

5. Write down the dress item numbers and designer so you can look them up online, at another store, at the same store but another day or whatever! Make sure you know what you've tried on especially if you like it.
6. Eat!! Carrying around heavy dresses and putting them on and taking them off gets tiring. Eat something good and filling before you go. Not too filling though, you want to feel good in those dresses and not uncomfortable from a full stomach. Bring a small snack and take a break in the middle of dresses if you need to.

For more information on LDS marriage click here!

Newborn Hair bows

I love hair bows. Currently the only ones PB will wear are clippies in her bangs. I jumped at the chance to make some hair bows for a new niece!

The total I spent on these was $1. I had all the basic supplies for making the bows but I purchased these headbands at the dollar store. I have found these at two different dollar stores so I would totally suggest checking out the hair section at your local store. I made these 12 inches long unstretched for newborn size. These are made for children so I think the elastic is extra stretchy since I only cut off the knot and glued the ends together. I didn't think the knot would be very comfortable for a baby.

I went through my hair bows and was very grateful to my self for making extra bows the last time I made some for PB. I completed all 6 headbands in less than an hour so these are super easy. Here they are:

I did a round up of hair bow tutorials when PB was born that can be found here. Below I referenced which ones I used. 

I thought that little bow on the green one would be so sweet. I happened to have the perfect color button to go in the center. The directions for the flower on the yellow headband can be found here (tutorial #1)

The pink bow can be found here (#5 the pinwheel bow). The crocheted bow on the purple headband can be found here. I didn't leave a long tail for the head band or the button. 

 The flower for the blue headband I made out of felt. I cut three layers, two with four petals and one smaller one with three petals. To make it slightly curl up I only used glue in the center and pushed hard each item I glued on. The flower for the orange headband is again tutorial #1 found here.

I just love making things for babies, don't you?!