Sewcial Studies Book Review

I went a little crazy on Amazon a few weeks ago. 


That's what happens when you don't leave work on your lunch hour & instead spend the time carousing the world wide web. 


Now before I give you my little review let me first say that I was not asked to do this nor am I being compensated in any way by anyone, anywhere. This is simply my honest to goodness, unadulterated, extremely novice opinions on some books I purchased in an attempt to hone my skills. M'kay? 

Oh and furthermore: I am purposely not providing prices or links because, not only do I not have an affiliation with any one source, but I don't want to make it THAT easy for you to spend money unwisely. As I may or may not have the tendency to do. If you want to know more than my measley opinion of these titles, you'll have to go searching on your own. This covers my buns in the event you go hog wild. 

And now down to business...

Sew Serendipity by Kay Whitt



I really like this book & am really happy to have it in my collection. It's written in a way that my pea-brain can understand & comes with paper patterns in the back. The pictures are adorable but to be fair they are simply cute vignette's are pretty girls wearing the finished frocks. The pictures of the steps are actually color pencil drawings and while they do the trick, I prefer photographed step by step instruction. Overall, it makes me HAPPY. 










The New Handmade: Simple Sewing For Contemporary Style by Cassie Barden

Not what I would call a "must have" for your collection, sorry. It has great photographs but any pattern pieces would have to be photocopied first. Not only that, but there isn't a single project in the entire book that you cannot find a free tutorial of on some amazing sewista bloggers blog. Just sayin. My copy may end up being a donation to my city library. My apologies Cassie, I'm sure you are a fabulous sewista and maybe at the time your book was published these were brand new ideas. I just didn't find it to be what I want in a book over $20. 






1000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts & Tips by Deepika Prakash

Oh Em Gee this book is a never-ending source of sewing smartness! Deepika compiled a THOUSAND idea's from various people from around the universe. Despite it's size being somewhat like a magazine only thicker I still think it's a great book to cart around with you to doctor offices or the beach. It reads kind of like one of those 1001 Things You Never Needed To Know Bathroom Readers that your husband probably has. Your husband doesn't read those? Oh um then neither does mine, haha. 


Last but not least, the book I forgot to take a picture of. Figures! But in case you care, its the one on the top of the stack in the first picture. 


The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible by Wendy Gardiner & Lorna Knight
Now for all of you that grew up sewing and were taught by Moms & Grandmoms - this book is probably nothing new to you. But for chicks like me who came to sewing later in life & without the benefit of having a family member close enough (or alive enough) to teach them, this is really & truly a Bible. It demonstrates the various feet & how to use them. I love it & will NOT be donating this one to ANYONE because its MINE MINE MINE!

Celebrity Apprentice Week 1

I admit it. You don't even have to twist my arm. 

I will say it loud & proud: I am a Celebrity Apprentice Junkie.

Go ahead & judge if you must, but know that I am without shame on this.

You can keep your Bachelor and your Bachelorette and your Survivor and every single one of those Look What Washed Up On The Jersey Shore-ites. 


Just leave me The Donald. 


I know, I know. He's orange. He sports a really bad comb-over. He's completely full of himself. I grant you all of it. 


But I don't care because I don't love the show for him. 

I love the show for the tasks and the creativity. And, fine, sometimes even for the sub-par celebrities too. 


But does that matter? Can't I just like a tv show please? It's not like I'm one of those middle aged Twi-hards. Gosh!

Last night was the 2 hour season opener, which required me to take a nap so that I could stay awake for it all. I really wish Mr. Trump would consider breaking the show into 2 one-hour episodes/twice a week – especially since we are talking about school/work nights. This would also keep me from having to wait an entire SEVEN days between shows.

I’m not much of a re-capper but here are my Week 1 opinions of the 2012 cast:

Tia Carrere – her facial expressions appear painful...are those cheek implants supposed to resemble shoulder blades?

Pauly Teutel Sr – Somebody please make him take his manners out of his acid-washed-Levi’s pocket.  I hope predict he will be the first dude to be fired.

Lisa Lampanelli - I knew right way I’d like her because I already enjoy her brash & sassy persona. Plus? She said “Holler”, emphasis on the -er. Funny!

Penn Jillette – this dude took my attention by surprise. When he stepped up to strategize on the whole “Chopper” branding thing, I was like “oh hey, he’s a smart one!”.

Adam Corolla – quick with the comedy relief, but kind of suspect he won’t know when the reel it in when in the boardroom. That may get annoying.

Victoria (OhMy!) Gotti - the only other human orange-er than The Donald. Can we get hair & makeup on damage control with this one please? STAT?!

Arsensio Hall – I think he’s just there for fun. I don’t see him taking anything too seriously.

George Takei – Not meek. Got it. Type-A fo’sho though.

Cheryl Tiegs – I didn’t think she’d be the first to go until she started separating cheese slices at a slower rate than it actually takes to process.

Aubrey O’Day – Who?

Lou Ferrigno – Hulk SMASH! Sorry, had to. Ok so how did he not know that “guns” was slang terminology for “My, what large arms you have!”?

Dayana Mendoza –could have sworn she was Marc Anthony’s ex. Anyhoo, pretty sure she’s hitching her star to Patreeceeah’s wagon.

Patricia Velasquez – I want to like her, but me thinks her pride will goeth before her falleth.

Debbie Gibson – Debbie, Deborah, Debbie again…does she just keep changing it Out Of The Blue? Haha, get it?

Clay Aiken – Tweeted during first episode that he didn’t want hear about George Takei’s loins…Oh Clay. Me thinks thou doth prostest too much.

Teresa Guidice – does not amuse Victoria in the slightest. Is it wrong to hope for a confrontation between these two?

Dee Snider – after having recently watched his wife Suzette on Celeb Wife Swap, I’ve decided he is an okay guy married to an wonderful woman.

Michael Andretti – the Cheryl Tiegs of the men…perhaps much too nice for this brand of competition. 

Hoping for Snow

We've had such a mild winter here in Southeastern Virginia that it's kind of hard to believe that we might actually have some snow on the way...but it's starting to feel like a possibility! The downside is the opening act is a Nor'easter...bleh. We're snuggled in here at Casa Jones (ho-nez) ready with snacks & waiting with blankets & movies. Too bad it's a Sunday!


Work has kept me busy and out of blogville for awhile so I don't have anything fun to share at the moment ~ but I've come acrossed some totally-awesome-must-make stuff that I thought I'd share instead...you'll love it!


Microwaved cake in a cup? In a minute? One of my dreams come true!
http://thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2011/11/aunt-bettys-1-2-3-cake.html


Puffy star pillows:
http://www.matchingpegs.com/2010/02/15/star-fruit-cushion-tutorial/


The Olfa Chenille Cutter is a pretty expensive little gadget. I know this because I found mine at Hancocks for 30% off this past week & still had a minor coronary. But what's a sewista to do when she see's making several of these in her future?:
http://www.aestheticnest.com/2010/08/sewing-heirloom-cut-chenille-baby.html


Enjoy! 

Thrift Store China

Following the advice of my coworker I decided to hit up the DAV thrift store not far from my day-jay-oh-bee this afternoon.


It didn't take much time to come to the conclusion that this place could pose a serious threat to my already very limited spending money. Everything was so clean and organized and clearly priced, oh my!


Luckily, tho, I'm limited by my lunch hour & it's not on my direct path home or I'd rapidly become the star of a new reality show: Bankrupt Hoarders. Lord knows I've already got the requisite felines.


I bumped into one of the ladies from our human resources dept there. She was scooping up the coolest little green John Deere wagon. It was the perfect amount of old: not shiny, not rusted. Much. She was adorable pulling it out to her car. Something tells me she could be my co-star. I wonder if she has any cats?


Anyways.....
As for me, I was hoping to score a glass/crystal punch bowl. There weren't any to be found which I thought was a little unusual - but it was a busy place.


What I did discover is that thrift store china is lovely! Some sets are pretty well complete but most are castaways....like The Island of Mismatched Dishes, shelves & shelves full.


I spotted the plate in the last pic below right away and had to have it. It's definitely not old ~ as a matter of fact it's practically brand new, very evident that it has never been used. It was a whopping $2.98.


LOVE!!!


I wanted to keep looking at it so I hauled inside when I got back to the office & set it out on my desk.


I was kind of clutching it for dear life at the store when I bumped into my coworker from H.R. and she gave me the best idea. What she said was she picks up pretty plates at thrift stores all the time so that when she takes cookies or what-have-you to a social gathering, she doesn't care if she doesn't get it back.


And then I started thinking what a sweet gesture it would be to give a plate of cookies on vintage china as a hostess gift when your friend invites you over....or as a way to welcome a new neighbor or thank an old one. So I'm totally gonna be on the lookout for unusual or beautifully colored thrift store china. It's a great excuse!


I also found these four very vintage, very femme teacup saucers....for 45 cents apiece.


LOVE MORE!!!


The silver edges have all but worn completely off but the grey-black leaves & stems with pink roses just make me smile. So does the hand painted "Made in China" with little squiggly Chinese letters on the bottom side. I only wish they had a date or pattern name.


I'm going to use them in my bedroom as jewelry dishes. In fact, they've even inspired a much needed bedroom makeover. The new color palette is going to be slate greys with shabby-romantic pastels. What do you think Mr. Jones will say about that? Oh nevermind, we won't ask.


This is a big change for me. I love reds together with earthy browns but I have that in just about every room. Time to give the bedroom a personality of its own.

Touch Text is Hard!

My blackberry died. It had been showing all the warning signs. After two lovely years together, it just couldn't hold on anymore.

Since I sensed its inevitable demise was approaching quickly I was doing my due diligence in "what to get next"....but I hadn't quite decided (read: talked it over with my kid who is way smarter than me). I was forced to make a hasty decision. Another BB, the highly coveted iPhone, or an Android.

Android won.

Its so much fun!

Earlier we were at the grocery store and I was letting Max play on it....totally being a bad mom letting him walk & play instead of paying attention to reality. Don't worry, he didn't fall into any fountains.

But he did innocently ignite a temper tantrum.

I was deciding which bbq'd sauce to get when a little boy scurried up to his father and says "Daddy!! I hear Angry Birds!!"...then he spots my kid and begs his daddy "Can I play Angry Birds on your phone Daddy??"

When Daddy said no the kid went all Alex Baldwin/Words With Friends bat sh*t crazy.

Holy moly I'm so glad those years are behind me! I don't know that I have the Herculian strength needed to tame a 4 year olds case of the gimmes.

At least with tweens/teens you can tell them to get over it!

Happy MLK Day!

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Basically, everything has a ripple effect. 

Deep, huh? 

No, I’m not about to go all profound blogger up in here. I just thought it was appropriate to quote some MLK Jr on MLK Day, m’kay? And I like that one. It really makes me stop and think. I have to be careful with that, sometimes I stop to think and forget to start again.

Especially lately because I’ve been pretty sick and taking quite a bit of cold medicine and pain reliever. What do they put in that stuff anyways?  I didn't even buy the kind they keep behind the counter and make you show ID for. Hell, I didn't even buy the name-brand for that matter. But it sure did make for some whackadoo behavior. 

For instance, Saturday, after having consumed the suggested dosage of daytime medicine + 4 Excedrin, I donned an outfit you couldn’t have put together if you stole a donation box from behind the Goodwill.

And then I drove my kid to work in it. 

Because my husband doesn't love me enough to not let me out of the house like that. 


Ok fine that's not true. He wasn't even home, he was off working & making money blah blah. Whatever. I still think that if he DID love me he would have sensed that I needed him and appeared out of no where to take the kid to work and bring me banana cream pie. 


But he didn't and so there I was. 

In gray velvet’ish sweats (that fit me better in 2005, when they were only 2 years old), a pair of my husbands tube socks complete with toe hole, and a crème colored fleece hoodie that left giant fuzzies all over my black t-shirt. I was feverish and didn't really want to wear the sweatshirt but I needed to. It helped camouflage the fact that I was bra-less.

BRA-LESS. 

I know. I'm not proud of it. 

I walked out of my house, got in my car, and drove away without a brassiere – BUT WITH those stupid Hanes His Way man socks on. You could tell they were pulled all the way up too cause' my velvet sweatpants kept clinging to my calves real sexy like. Oh and maroon slippers. (Is maroon even a color anymore?) 

I get that appearing in public like this doesn’t bother some weirdo's folks (we've all seen the People of Walmart. And Courtney Love.) – but it’s a major sign of sickness and/or impending dementia for me. 

I always wear a bra and I almost never wear socks. 

Let's be clear here, I don’t need to be dressed up to go outside & I love weekends without make-up - but bra’s are not generally an optional accessory in my book.

My girls are neither itty bitty nor full of silicone. They require full service support with underwire, thankyouverymuch.

Plus there is the whole issue of living in the House O’ Testosterone to think about. (Remember the MLK quote people: “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”)

The nipple ripple-effects of traumatizing my sons by flailing about all Kathy-Bates-in-the-hot-tub style are far, far too numerous to consider. 

I clearly didn't think about it at the time, but I shudder to think of what would have happened had I been pulled over...gotten into a fender bender...or worse...like pulled up to a stop light next to him:

I big-puffy-heart LOVE Jim Parsons!!!

Household Tips

I wish that I could tell you that I am the master-mama-mind genius behind

these nifty household tricks…but, sigh. I can’t. I received this as an email,

I have no idea how long it’s been floating around the internet or who

is due credit. I, for one, know that if it was ME who put all the effort

into something this ridiculously cool I would sign my name all over the

place. Then again, who knows, maybe the originator did do that &

some jerk head changed it. It is the internet after all.

In any case, enjoy these tips & blame my snarky comments 
(that look like this) on the DayQuil! 

I’d love to hear back from you if you find one you intend to try…

Hull strawberries easily using a straw.

Wait, where exactly do you find a straw strong enough to penetrate a berry?

And omg I just said penetrate a berry.

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture

will disguise dings and scrapes.

That’s just nuts! Will splurging on some Old English really bankrupt you?

Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or

computer screen with WD40.

This is cool. But kids who color on the tv are not. 

Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box

by securing with a rubber band.

This may work for girls, but as a mama of all boys I can pretty much

guarantee that rubber band, in a male child's hands, in a cafeteria, is a recipe for mischief.

Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets

inside one of their own pillowcases and there will

be no more hunting through piles for a match.

LOVE it. LOVE LOVE LOVE it…even though it will never happen up in my casa.

Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod

in a bowl.  The concave shape amplifies the music.

No. No. And NO. Silence is golden.

Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.

Where do you find such cute wipe containers???

Add this item to your beach bag. Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?!

BABY LEGS! Squishy sweet adorable baby legs!

Attach a Velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.

I say get industrial strength Velcro & stick the brats up there too.

Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls

against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the

floor. This I can do!

Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a

stocking over the vacuum hose. This I can do too!

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting

crosses into a box lid. This I can do, um, three! We’re on a roll!

For those who can’t stand the scrunching and

bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.

And the roll came to a screeching halt. This looks painful.

Forever losing your bathroom essentials?  Use

magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers

and clippers, behind a vanity door.

Also a cool idea in the kitchen.

Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty

soles rubbing on your clothes.  And you can

find them in just about every hotel.

You can also find them at the dollar store.

A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy.  Magnets

hold the plastic cups down to make them

tip-resistant. 

Cute!

Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.
 Ummm yeah, just a smidge too OCD for me. But thanks.

Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so

much more fun and easier for kids to eat.

LOVE!

Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper

bag.  Much healthier and cheaper than the packet

stuff. 

Eh. I prefer my hot air popper.

Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.

I will be doing this.

Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough

over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit

or ice-cream. 

On my “bake-someday” list for sure!

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing

sunburn relief. 

This just strikes me as sticky. And more yikes-that's-cold than cool relief.

Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering. Now this is simply cool!

Especially if a cute gardener is involved.

Use egg cartons to separate and store your

Christmas decorations. 

I’m not particularly a fan of this one, especially

since you can pick up plastic containers at the Dollar Store. (Dollar Store reference #2)

So that’s it, which ones can you imagine incorporating into your bag of tricks?