A Little Hiatus

I'm going to be taking a little break from you.  Not because I want to.  Just call me the Queen of Klutz.  My computer just slid off of my lap and bent the jack all to bits.  When my battery dies, I'll have no way to recharge it.  Don't fret, I will be getting a new power cord.  I just don't know how long that is going to take.

I'll be back as soon as I can.

In the meantime, send me your fashion picks for Fashion Fridays.  I've gotten nothing, people!  I know you're all fashion-y!

Hand-made Goodie of the Week: Clothespin Hat Hanger

Last year, when we were decorating the nursery, I was looking for something for Bobby's hats.  I didn't want a hat stand, because that would be one more thing for him to knock over.  And I wanted something that I could put on the wall, up out of his reach.  While looking through my Land of Nod catalog, I came across this:

Photo courtesy of the Land of Nod

How cute!  Theirs is a "art holder" but I thought, that would be perfect for hats AND I can make one!!

To make your own, you'll need:

Wooden clothespins-I used 12 for mine

Ribbon, twine, whatever you'd like to use to string your clothespins-I used hemp

Wooden shapes-I used stars for mine.  And how many sections of clothespins you have will determine how many shapes you'll need.  I used 5-2 for the ends and 3 to separate the sections.

Paint and brushes

Fine-tipped permanant marker (optional)

Hot glue gun and glue

First, I painted my stars a bright baby blue.  While they were drying, I painted my clothespins brown using a dry brush to give it a wooden look.  Now, I took mine apart and painted each side, then put them back together.  I do not recommend doing this-it stretches out the spring and a lot of them I couldn't use and had to re-do.

Once the stars were dry, I drew a dotted line all the way around the edge to give it some character.  I used a fine-tipped marker since I don't have a steady enough had for a paint brush.

Next is cutting your twine and putting it all together.  The piece I used was about 45 inches long.  I hot glued a star to one end, then began threading on my clothespins.  I spaced everything about 2 inches apart.  

To keep the clothespins in place, I tied a knot on either side once it was threaded.  I divided my clothespins into 4 groups of 3, with a star in between each section, again, spacing each piece about 2 inches.

To make the loops to hang the stars with, I tied little loops in the hemp and then hot glued them to the top point of each star.

Time to hang and enjoy!

This is great nursery decor and can be made to match any color scheme or theme.  Makes a great baby shower gift : )

Giveaways!

How this for a nice start to your week? : )

Doesn't this bag just scream "Take me to the beach!"  Craftaholics Anonymous is giving away this tasty number-you can enter here.  The giveaway ends March 31, so get on over there!

I am in love with this dress.  It is simply gorgeous.  Elaine over at Clothed Much is hosting a William Riera giveaway-you could win this dress!  Enter here-giveaway ends April 9.

Laura over at Along for the Ride is giving away all of these lovelies-find out the details and enter to win here.  Giveaway ends April 2.

I'm trying to think of a better way to let you all know about the giveaways I find.  What do you think?  And I love for you to let me know about giveaways, so I can pass them along!

Good Eats and Yummy Treats: Banana Bread

My little man loves bananas so we almost always have a bunch hanging around.  That said, there are still times where some get a little too ripe to eat.  When that happens, I turn them into banana bread!  We had a couple that were too far gone but not bad (like rotten bad), so I made some last week.  It was so yummy!

Banana Bread

2 ½ c. flour

1 c. sugar

3 ½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

¾ c. milk

1 egg

1 c. mashed bananas

1 c. finely chopped nuts (optional)

Heat over to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour loaf pan (1 9x5x3 or 2 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ pans) or use a non-stick loaf pan.  Measure all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  Beat on medium speed ½ minute, scrapping bowl constantly.  Pour into pan or pans.  Bake 55-65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center.  Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove and cool completely before slicing.

A Bit About Blogging Etiquette...

Holly over at 504 Main shared her thoughts on blogging etiquette and I couldn't agree with her more!  I'm not pointing fingers at anyone-so far I've had really good experiences blogging and interacting with other bloggers.  I've met some wonderful, talented ladies who have been extremely supportive and encouraging of my tiny blog.  But it never hurts to talk about it.  I know that I personally need to be better with responding to comments and her post gave me a loving kick in the pants to get me on track to get better at that.  I don't ever want anyone who takes the time to stop by my blog and leave me a comment to feel like I don't notice it.  I appreciate each and every comment!  They seriously make my day!  So, I'm making a commitment to you, my lovely readers and commenters, to sincerely respond when you leave me comments.  With that said, I am a mom of a busy little one-year-old and no offense, but he takes rank over responding to comments and reading blogs and leaving comments of my own.  That doesn't mean that I don't value what you say, love your latest post or want to tell you what I think of your most recent awesome project.  It just means that some times I might not respond at the speed of light.  I promise I won't forget you : )  Just bear with me if it takes me a couple of days.

I liked what she said about giving credit when you share tutorials or pictures or ideas that you've found elsewhere.  They're not yours, so don't pass them off as such.  It's just not nice. Always give credit where credit is due!  Even if you can't remember where you saw the idea, at least admit that it's not your original idea.  Nothing ruder than stealing others things and passing them off as yours.  And let them know you've shared their idea.  9 times out of 10, when I do a feature on someone, I email them first, asking permission to share.  There have been times when I haven't done that-some bloggers want you to obtain permission before featuring them, some don't mind if you let them know afterwards.  Always check out their policies before using things from their blogs-but I always let them know that I've featured them, provide them with the post link and if they don't like the piece I've done, I'm more than happy to delete it.  Really, I think as long as you go through the proper channels, you can't go wrong.

I also found what she said about following other blogs to be right on.  We all follow blogs for different reasons.  I personally follow blogs that have something that interests me, inspires me or just makes me feel good.  Please don't get offended if you follow me and I don't follow you back because your blog just isn't my cup of tea.  There are plenty of blogs that I follow that don't follow me back and it might be for that very reason.  I don't take it personal.  Lindsay left me a very good comment on feeling weird following when it's someone's personal (family) blog.  I completely understand what she means.  I kind of feel like I'm snooping.  I usually just leave a comment saying thanks for stopping by or something along those lines and leave it at that.  I don't want to seem like one of those crazy stalkers : )   

At the end of the day, I think we just all need to remember this: We are first and foremost, people with lives. and though blogging is great fun, my family does come first. And I absolutely think people understand that.  Plus, most of the blogs I follow are by moms with kids still at home.  I know that they have lives just like me, so I don't get my panties in a twist when I comment and they don't respond immediately : )

What are your thoughts on blogging etiquette?  Do you agree with Holly?  Do you think she's way off?  Do you think she missed something?  I'd love to hear your thoughts : )

Fashion Fridays: It's YOUR Turn!

We're changing things up a bit this week.  

I want to see what YOU'RE wearing.  I want to see YOUR fashion picks.

So, leave me a link, email me pictures, whatever.  Just get it to me by next Thursday.  And I'm going to show you off in next week's Fashion Friday.

Who knows?  Maybe there'll be a little giveaway involved : ) 

Tipping Thursday: Skincare Part III-Moisturizer

For this week's Tipping Thursday, I'm going to cover moisturizer.  This can actually be quite intimidating for some people.  I'm going to make it a lot less scary and easy to understand.

Simply put, your skin needs moisture.  The everyday elements that your skin is exposed to take that moisture away.  Just washing your face can strip it of its natural moisture, even using the gentlest cleanser you can get your hands on.  The place that shows that the most is your face. Our skin will line and wrinkle more easily if it’s dry.  Even if you have oily skin-MOISTURIZE!  And moisturize EVERYDAY!  Moisturizer keeps our skin supple and younger looking.  That is why is it so important to use a moisturizer.  Picking the right one can be overwhelming because there are so many to choose from.  That, and a lot of people don't know what their skin needs and use the wrong products. 

 Just like with choosing a cleanser, you need to know your skin type.  Also, are there other things you'd like you moisturizer to do, like get rid of wrinkles?  If you skin is on the oily side, make sure to use a light-weight, fast-absorbing moisturizer.  The less time the moisturizer sits on top of your skin, the better and the less likely you are to get that sticky shine.  If you have dry skin, resist the urge to slather on a heavy cream and stick to a moisturizer that's just a step above light-weight.  You could even go with light-weight and do two or three thin layers on your face, allowing each one to sink in before applying the next.  You never want your moisturizer to feel like it's just sitting on top of your skin.  It needs to be absorbed to do its job.  If you have that feeling, your moisturizer is too heavy.  Like with a lot of skincare and make-up products, finding the moisturizer that works for you might take some trial and error.  What works for your best friend might not work for you. 

No matter what your skin needs are, always, always, ALWAYS use a moisturizer with at least 15 SPF and no higher than 30 SPF-higher than that and you're getting smaller and smaller amounts of added protection, which means a higher dose of unwanted chemicals.  The sun is the most damaging element to our skin and the delicate skin of our faces especially needs protecting.  And going back to "what do you want your moisturizer to do for you," look for ones that accomplish several goals in one lotion-the less "stuff" you're putting on your face, the better.  That keeps your skin from being overwhelmed.

When applying your moisturizer, try massaging it into your skin-this will tighten and firm the underlying fatty tissues and keep them plump.  Moisturizers are one skincare product that I say keep oil-free 100%.  This is one area you don't want extra oils rubbed into your skin.  

Hope that helped!

The Great Jewelry Organization of 2010

It all started when I saw this post on Sweetie Pie Pumpkin Noodle.  I realized that though my closet might not need an overhaul, my jewelry certainly did.  Maybe if I had a fabulous walk-in closet like Ms. Jackie, I would have needed to clean it up : )  But since my closet is only this big <-------->, it doesn't really allow for clutter. That, and I'm a little OCD about my closet (seriously, everything is very meticulously put away in there.)  I was really inspired when I saw the pictures of her jewelry section in her closet and it got me thinking.  Here's what I had going on:

A piece of lace tacked to the underside of my mirror was my earring "storage."  It served its purpose but I'm a grown-up now : ) I loved the idea of using a french memo board for my earrings.  But then I got stuck.  What to do with the rest?

Yes, that is a tin full of necklaces.  And a can full of other various jewelry.

My jewelry box wasn't too bad, but definitely needed some cleaning out.

So, first things first:  letting go.  I have a hard time sometimes parting with my jewelry.  For instance, I really don't wear yellow gold jewelry all that much.  But I have a few pieces that were giving as gifts from special family members that even though I never wear them, I can't bring myself to get rid of them.  So they just clutter up my jewelry box, taking up space that could be used for things I actually wear.  Part of my thinking is that I'd like to pass them on to my children.  So, I went through everything, set aside the pieces that have sentimental value but that I don't wear and packed them up.  They're in a safe place, I can still pass them on, but they're no longer taking up space in my jewelry box.  The rest I offered to my sister-in-law.  What she didn't want, I sold to a consignment shop and some I'm repurposing for other projects.

With what I don't wear gone, I moved onto the next step: where to put what I DO wear.  My biggest road block was my necklaces.  

I love long necklaces.  And I have quite a few.  I wanted something that I could hang them on, where they wouldn't get tangled ('cause the tin just wasn't cutting it) but that wasn't tacky.  Here's my solution:

I found this wooden plaque in the craft section of Wal-mart for $1.96.  I painted it this lovely peacock teal, let it dry, then spray painted the whole thing black.  Sorry there are no pictures for this step-I got so carried away in my excitement that I forgot to take some!  

After the paint had dried, I sanded it all over so that the teal could peak through, especially around the edges. 

Then I screwed in 11 tea cup hooks-this was actually a little harder than I expected because the wood was so hard!  My poor fingers were red for a good day afterwards.  I did them in two rows, 6 on top, 5 on bottom, alternating them so that when I hung my necklaces, they wouldn't overlap.  Then I hot glued some ribbon onto the back to hang it with.

Volia!  There's the memo board that was originally in my letter organizer-I covered the rough edges in a matching ribbon and attached two pieces to hang it.  It holds my earrings perfectly.

And it also gave me a place for my peacock feathers : )

I love being able to see all of my necklaces.  And no more tangles!

Remember this ugly necklace stand?  I gave it a nice coat of red paint and now it's the perfect home for some of my shorter necklaces and bracelets.

Now I have a nice, neat home for my jewels and since I can see them, I can better accessorize!  Which, as silly as it sounds, is one of my goals for the year.

What "spring" cleaning have you done or have plans for?