:: Test Sewing with my Elna ::

So, The Honey was on me to sew something with my newly repaired Elna ®.  

I pinned this sewing tutorial, it's something small just to make sure my machine was running smoothly...

I made this little pocket tissue holder. 

I originally found the link on youtube after clicking over from Frugal Hacks 

I also had this little tutorial pinned from Home Frosting

I thought it was cute... and I use this tutorial to make a reversible liner for my Longaberger® basket; when I bought it last spring, it didn't have a CLOTH liner at the time. 

 

(yellow striped) 

I made one today minus the ruffle. It's reversible. 

 Actually the basket has a plastic liner inside; did you know that some of them came with liners?  I didn't know that until I bought mine. I made my cloth liner to fit that basket. Why? because, I didn't think that far ahead that's why! 

Live and learn. 

 (Floral Side...washed out color?) 

(Floral side- TRUE COLOR...but blurry, hmph! ) 

So sorry for the blur on that last photo. I thought I got an accurate color and good shot. But no... Anyway, the second photo is closer to the true color... 

I DID use some vintage pillow cases for the fabric. 

I will have some vintage sheets for sewing; aprons, bags, etc., in the shop soon. 

2 cute little projects...the machine is running fairly well. The zig zag isn't running top notch, that may be something for the repair man. We'll see. 

Have you done any small sewing projects lately?  Have you sewn something you've 'Pinned' on Pinterest?  Do you use vintage textiles to sew with? 

These are some things I'm interested in lately. Especially, now that my Elna is whirring! 

Linking this post here: 


deborahjeansdandelionhouse

Then he said to them, 

"Go, eat of the meat, drink of the sweet and send portions to those who have nothing prepared; for this is a holy day unto the LORD. 

Do not be grieved;  for the joy of the LORD is your strength. 

~Nehemiah 8:10

:: The Subtleties Of Man ::

So... this is where my sewing machine has been sitting for two days. 

I've dreamed about and pinned all sorts of things I want to sew and make with it-- while it's NOT been running. 

On Tuesday, The Honey made some repairs and adjustments to it for me; and got it running top notch again. (to think, it's been sitting waiting for repairs; that I thought could only be done at a SHOP. But No. He fixed it!) 

Since Tuesday-- Periodically, I hear the machine WHIRRING away.... but only for a brief minute. 

Then on Wednesday...again a couple of times ...whir-whir-whir.... 

Finally, he says..."Look, there's SL-oooowww; and there's FAST. " 

I said , "yep, cool...it seems to be working" 

Finally,he said,  " I fixed this thing for you; and you haven't used it yet." 

Hmmm... so I guess I GET TO SEW today a little bit. :) 

Follow-up
 Click here: Test Sewing with my Elna

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Then he said to them, 

" Go eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared; for this is a holy day unto the LORD. 

Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. ~~Nehemiah 8:10

::Frugal Fodder ~3~ FULL TILT! ::

As the weather changes; so do my living arrangements. 
I move the furniture around so to get closer to the warm fire in the wood burning stove. 
I pull the chairs and couches in away from the windows...with a table behind the couch as a buffer. 

One thing I always try to do-- Change the TILT on the blinds in all the rooms. 



In the Summer time-- I keep the blinds 'tilted' down. 

                                              Blinds Turned Down

 Most people would argue "that allows the light to stream into the room, thereby heating up the room." BUT I SAY, NO.  By tilting the slats on the blinds down or inward...YOU KEEP THE HOT AIR OUT.  
Hot air rises...so if there is HOT AIR in the room ...it will rise UP AND OUT of the room through the slats in the blinds. 

Now that it's cooler outside and I want it stay warm inside. Eliminating the need to turn up the heat... I say "TILT" the blinds UP or outward... 

Blinds Turned Up
This does two things... First, since COLD AIR FALLS and the cold air outside NEEDS TO STAY OUTSIDE... it can't come through the slats and fall onto your shoulders as you sit in your comfy chair...trying to stay warm.  Second, the warm air from the heat source (in our case wood burning stove) that is rising into the room and keeping us nice and cozy; IS NOT LOST BY RISING UP AND OUT THE BLINDS, BECAUSE ...they are tilting outward. 

Maybe you know this or maybe you don't

I thought I'd share it with you. It is something you can do for FREE in your home. I don't know how much it will save you monetarily...but it improves the comfort of the room to some degree.  If you're like me and you have old drafty windows you can try this. Also... lined curtains help, too. Opening and shutting them according to the breeze, sunshine and time of day helps. 

I also learned something from Elaine, Sunny Simple Life (rather, she made me aware of) . If you're trying to conserve energy--regardless the season (but mostly summer time)  and you have ceiling fans. Turn them off when you leave the room for long stretches of time. Ceiling fans are designed to give comfort to those in the room. The room doesn't need to be cool or hot; only the people or pets in that room. Running them while no one is in the room is a waste of your money and/ or resources. 

 

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Remember I still have a sale going on in my shop 9th and Denver 

I've added new things to the shop this week and will continue to add so check back often! 

USE CODE:  YEAREND12 
For 20% OFF at checkout! 

He has told you ,O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you?  But to do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. ~ Micah 6:8

 

:: Using What you Have- Mud Room Shelf ::

*Feb. 1, 2013: Adding this here: 

FJI-SNS #173
&
FJI Rustic Shelves 

Last Week I showed you a couple of pictures of The Nameless Room-- 

It has so many different uses-- I think I like MUD ROOM best. 

 Right now...I'm focusing on the LAUNDRY SIDE OF THE ROOM. 

I tend to work backwards. As I've been doing some tweaking...I'm thinking the entire room needs a fresh coat of paint. 

As it is November... I think I'll wait a while unless, I happen across a great price on some WHITE PAINT. I think white will calm everything down in here nicely. 

Anyway-- I wanted to show you how I made the shelf that now sits right across the back of my dryer. 

That is a picture of two metal drawers from a beaten up old tool box. They were in the shed-- someone tossed them out to go into the junk pile. I saved them. 

THEN ... I WENT TO Elsie Mae on Market, in downtown Mabank,TX

... for some awesome inspiration! 

After that... I drew

 This pattern for a gusset or corbel... on some wood. I traced an odd shelf I had on hand and this is pretty much the jist of how I work.

I used a power tool!  I like that name POWER TOOL...  it sounds like you could do ANYTHING! A jig saw-- for the technically accurate. 

 I originally cut 4 corbels out...yes, now I have an extra pair... he he he... 

I screwed two boards together and cut them at the same time; after clamping them to the work table of course. 

I then removed the screw and sanded down the rough edges... 

This part isn't exactly pretty...  AND yes! I really am showing you this! 

You have to squint really hard...'cause I didn't take pictures of this part.  I mounted a scrap piece of board (skid wood) to the backs of the corbels; and between them (under the drawers) I put a piece of wood (also skid wood) lengthwise too. 

So there you have it... my tweak of the week. Rusty-Vintage-Repurposed-Shabby-Turquoise-Red- Laundry Side- of- the -Mud Room- Shelf! 

...AND newly added metal basket for my homemade soap ingredients! I paid a dollar for that metal basket. Not bad and it keeps everything together.

Oh...and a clever little Chalk Board Ad Magnet Note to self to set the Temperature on the Washer to "cold"...when I wash.

I'm joining up here: 

CLH 


Deborah Jeans Dandelion House

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Shop 

9th and Denver get 20% off now until Dec.31 

Use code: YEAREND12  at checkout for discount. 

Then he said to them, "Go,eat of the fat, drink of the sweet and send portions to those who have nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not be grieved; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. " 

~Nehemiah 8:10

:: Relaxing after the Holiday ::

Today, I spent time cleaning up around the house and putting things back in order from our Thanksgiving dinner. 

All six kids were home and all but 4 grandkids were here. 

The cousins made up for that. I was so glad the weather was nice. 

We had a Thanksgiving Picnic... eating outside! 

It was lovely. 

So anyway today, I caught up on all the wash and hung it all out. 

I love hanging my laundry out...our weather is mild enough most of the time to hang it out all year round. 

I recently got these pins . Though I don't use this type to hang my laundry. 

 

So instead--

 I have 3 bundles of them for sale HERE in my shop. 
*edited to remind you everything is 20% off right now in my etsy shop! Coupon is in the sidebar and at the bottom of this post!

I also got the kitchen put back in order.

 We have one plate of small cherry tomatoes that are ripening up;

 on a platter in the kitchen.

I love the way the sun is hitting the tree outside the window over the sink. 

Finally, we have some color in the yard. 

We generally have a brown Fall; 

 Nothing showy...but this year has been a little bit different. I'm not going to complain. I think it is beautiful! 

How are you spending your Sunday? 

I'm sharing this here: SSS 

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Please visit my shop: 

9th and Denver

Check it out.   

Just use coupon code:   YEAREND12  for the discount!

Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not be grieved for the joy of the LORD is your strength. " ~Nehemiah 8:10

:: Outdoor Dining ::

 I didn't show much Fall/ Thanksgiving Decor this year; because well... I didn't do much of it. 
I painted this screen earlier in the week...it was headed for the trash on Monday...and I painted a fall scene on it; using paints I had from my stash of Ooops! Paint. ...it got lots of laughs. Apparently my pumpkins ...had kind of a pinkish hue (because I didn't have orange and had to mix my own) and looked more like FANNIES than pumpkins. You can just imagine! 

But knowing that we'd have all 6 of the kids here with their kiddos too... I figured we'd need extra seating. 
We generally do a buffet style and let people sit where ever with a table set up for the kids.

This is something a drug up from the barn and threw together on Monday too. 

I had fun with this table and chairs...it was easy enough a 3 year old could help with no worries of messing it up!  
I'll show you next week probably the befores and afters of this little project and it took no time at all!  AND. WAS. PRACTICALLY FREE!  

I wish time would have allowed---I would have painted the bench seat green to match. I may still do this, as I have green paint left over! 

This is one of my favorite things right now.  A cute spot eat outside! 

                               MHC- 

 

Then he said to them,

 "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord.

 Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Nehemiah 8:10

 

:: Year End Sale on Etsy::

Everything in the store is on sale now until Dec 31--

 with a 20% off coupon at check out!

New merchandise will be added too.

It's a Black Friday,

Christmas,

Year End 

Rolled into one. 

Check it out.   

Just use coupon code:   YEAREND12  for the discount!

Then he said to them,

 "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. 

Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

 Nehemiah 8:10