Table Runner for $0? Priceless.

Whenever I finish a sewing project, I always hang on to the leftover fabric in hopes that I can somehow use it in some future project. Whether you sew every day, every week, or every blue moon, this is a practice I highly recommend. You never know when you'll need a scrap of something, and a box or bin of extra fabric can save you money when the spark of inspiration hits.

For example, one day last week I was out running some errands at Target and found myself (as usual) wandering through their holiday decoration displays. A really pretty table runner caught my eye, but when I looked at the price tag, I thought to myself, "Now, I could make one myself for half that..." And suddenly I realized that I already had the fabric to make a table runner very similar to the one in my hands, and that it would cost me exactly $0 to do so.

Cut to me, at home, one week later. I've pulled out my magic bag of fabric and oh, joy! Not only do I have plenty of red satin and gold crushed velvet, I've also got more of the green and gold ribbon I used for my fall wreath. It's all coming together according to plan. Mwahahaha!

Sorry... So, 30 minutes later I've sewn my table runner and lined it with some extra muslin I had left over from who knows what, pressed it and placed it on my dining room table along with the fall pumpkins I found at Hobby Lobby for 66% off.

Best of all, the red, green and gold will serve me well not only for the fall/Thanksgiving season, but will carry me on through Christmas and New Year's as well. All I have to do is change out the pumpkins for some more Christmasy decorations. Ah, it feels good to be thrifty...

Homemade Cookie Cake

This year for his birthday Logan decided he wanted a cookie cake. I've always like the idea, I have to admit. Who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie? And people always say, "The bigger, the better." But like many families, we're trying to stay on a budget; and with me home most days, it just made much more sense for me to make Logan's birthday cake myself rather than paying someone else to do it. (And those cookie cakes are expensive!) So with just a little effort and an icing piper, I made this homemade cookie cake in under an hour.

Most cookie recipes can be done this way. I always use the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe (minus the nuts.) Prepare the cookie dough as usual, following the recipe guidelines, and preheat your oven to the normal baking temperature. Once your dough is ready, simply spread it out onto a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper) or a well-seasoned baking stone. If you're anxious about the cookie sticking to your baking stone, smear some butter or margarine onto the stone before you drop the cookie dough onto it. On my first attempt, I tried to roll out the cookie dough into a circular shape with my rolling pin. This, however, did not work at all. With a more bread-like dough that may have worked better, but for the chocolate chip cookie I would just stick with spreading it out by hand. Work it into a roughly circular shape, maintaining a consistent thickness of about 1/2 inch.

The main difference between one giant cookie and lots of small cookies at this point is the baking time. Whereas you might normally bake a sheet of cookies for about 9 minutes, the one large cookie will take about 18-22 minutes, depending on your oven and taste preference. (I personally like my cookies soft and moist, so I only baked mine for 18 minutes.) Keep in mind that like most baked sweets, the cookie will continue to bake for a few minutes even after you take it out of the oven, so unlike most cakes, you don't necessarily want to stick a toothpick in this one to see if it's done.

Once the cookie is cooked to your satisfaction, let it cool for a little while before you frost it. I used store-bought icing that I put into a piping bag that I found at Walmart for around $3. Just spoon the icing into the bag, place whatever tip you want on the end, and squeeze away to your little heart's content. If you've never used a piping bag before, spend a few minutes practicing on some wax paper to see how the different piping tips look. You'll also want to gently squeeze the bubbles out of the icing before you get started on the cake. Pipe your personalized message onto the center of the cake, and decorate the outside rim with whatever border you like best.

The homemade version may not be quite as pretty as the one from that cookie store in the mall, but it will definitely taste better, and the money you save will be well worth the effort.
Store-bought cookie cake: $25
Homemade cookie cake: around $7.

Not Quite Underwater Basket Weaving 101

I have to say, I'm quite pleased with my Thanksgiving wreath. I've always enjoyed decorating for the holidays, even if it's only a little bit here and there. And wreaths are a great way to incorporate your own personal tastes into some holiday traditions. They're easy and inexpensive to make yourself, don't take up much space, and give your home a "pop" of welcoming color. This one was extraordinarily easy to make and only took about 10 minutes.

Here's what you'll need: A plain grapevine or straw wreath (whatever suits your taste), some wide wire-edged ribbon, and some festive colorful picks (odd numbers are  more pleasing to the eye.) I used some 2.5 inch green and gold ribbon, a couple of faux gourds in red and orange, three floral and leaf picks, and a couple of pheasant feather picks for my wreath. For yours, just browse through your local craft store and pick out whatever strikes your fancy.

Start by wrapping your ribbon around the wreath, making sure to leave enough space for your picks. Next make a big bow towards the bottom. The wire-edged ribbon gives you the freedom to fix all the parts of your bow exactly as you want them so that they'll stay in place. Now you're ready to insert the picks. Weave the stems into the wreath so that they'll stay in place when you hang it up, and try to give it a balanced look. (Remember, the rule for visual art is "visual weight goes on the bottom." This means that the larger objects need to go around the bottom so that your wreath doesn't look "top heavy.") If you see something that you really like, but you're having trouble visualizing how to incorporate it, just play with it. Put it in different places and see what you like best. Most of all, have fun being creative and expressing your personal taste.

Painting Tips for the Do-It-Yourself-Her

One of my current projects involves renovating a master suite at my parents' home. They've taken up two closets to add a completely new master bathroom and will be converting the old master bath into a walk-in closet and laundry room. Since the closets were only standard closet depth (roughly a couple of feet) they didn't exactly provide adequate space for a bathroom, which meant that more space needed to be taken from the room on the other side of the wall--in this case, the dining room. So while Dad is handling the addition of the bathroom, my task has been preparing the dining room wall to well... be a wall again. As with most renovation projects, the more we do, the more we see that needs to be done. Looking at the dining room from a new perspective, Mom realized that perhaps the old curtains needed to go.... And so begins a complete renovation for the dining room as well. New curtains, new cushions for the dining room chairs, and definitely a fresh coat of paint.

All of this reminded me that there are some very simple, practical tips to painting at home which bear repeating.

#1: Invest in good quality supplies. The quality of your paint brush really does make a difference. The cheap, synthetic brushes have a tendency to lose bristles, lose their shape, and end up posing more problems than they're worth. For my money, I like a natural hair or high quality synthetic angled brush with a very short handle. I have one that actually nestles in the palm of my hand and drastically reduces hand fatigue. The quality of your roller covers makes a difference, too, although not to as great an extent as the brush. If you're painting a particularly bumpy surface (like brick) make sure your roller cover has a long nap. This will enable you to get paint into the crevices more easily than a typical roller cover designed for flat walls.

#2: Prime. For new or repaired walls, or for painting over stains, priming is a must. If your paint color is dark or otherwise significantly different from the current wall color, I highly recommend having your primer tinted a color similar to your paint color. (For example, if your walls are currently taupe and you're painting them red, have your primer tinted as dark a pink as possible.) Most paint suppliers will do this free of charge, and it saves you having to put 3 coats of paint on your wall.

#3: Technique. Painting the right way will actually save you lots of time that you would otherwise spend putting up and taking down masking tape. This is where that angled brush really comes in handy. Wet your brush with the paint about 1/2 inch, then wipe about half of it off onto your paint can or roller pan. Starting in the corner, carefully wiggle your brush into the corner of the wall where it meets the ceiling or  trim. Slowly and steadily drag the brush along the seam, reapplying paint to the brush as necessary. A little practice, and this technique will be faster and cleaner than putting up tape and simply painting over it.  Just keep in mind that you want to do your brush painting before the roller painting, so that you can use the roller over and onto the places where you've painted with the brush, giving you a smoother look on your walls.

A good technique for rolling is to saturate the roller, roll off the excess in the roller pan (so that it doesn't drip when you hold it up--otherwise the paint will run on the walls) and roll the paint onto the wall in a V or X-shaped pattern. This spreads the paint more evenly than a simple  up and down pattern.

#4: Have fun! A really dramatic color on the walls can completely change the tone of a room, but if your taste is more subtle, consider adding drama through the use of faux finishes, stencils, or stripes and other patterns. Some options to consider include tonal horizontal or vertical stripes (which can be achieved either with two different but related paint colors, or the same color in eggshell and glossy finishes), a stenciled border (or a larger all-over pattern if you like the look of wallpaper but not the hassle of changing it), or a marble faux finish. This last option is actually much easier than it sounds. Start by painting your wall the base color. Once that layer is dry, mix equal parts paint (a different color from the base coat) and clear glazing medium (available at your paint store.) With your roller brush, roll this mixture onto a 2-3ft section of the wall, from floor to ceiling. Now press some thin plastic (cheap painter's drop cloth works really well) onto the portion of the wall you've just painted. Smear it around with your fingers to make "veins" of paint and leave it up for about 10-15 minutes. While that's still up, go ahead and get started on the next section of wall. When you pull down the plastic, start at the bottom and just slowly pull it off in one controlled movement. Try not to let it stick back onto the wall, but you can wad it up as you remove it. (You do not want to reuse the plastic. It just doesn't work right.) We painted our bedroom this way and the result was breathtaking.

The Many Faces of Vinegar

It happens every year. Time for the science fair, and some kid builds a volcano out of paper mache and chicken wire, with baking soda and red-dyed vinegar "lava." And for this they bring home a blue ribbon? I mean, a homemade volcano is cool and all, but vinegar has many more practical (and lesser known) uses than just modeling miniature Krakatoas. Today's Tips: The many faces of vinegar.

Laundry brightener: Add 1 cup of vinegar to your laundry to add an extra boost to your detergent's cleaning and brighten your colors. Just add in your washer where you normally put the liquid fabric softener. (I've yet to find any machine-washable fabrics affected by the vinegar, but you may want to spot test new items.)

Wrinkle Spray: Mix 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar in a small spray bottle and spray on wrinkly clothes to soften wrinkles.

Flea & Pest Deterrent: Mix equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle or pour in laundry to deter fleas. Soak rags in vinegar and place on stakes around your garden to deter garden pests. Re-saturate the rags every 7 to 10 days.

Analgesic: Saturate a cotton ball with vinegar and dab on the skin to help relieve sunburn, bug bites, poison ivy or poison oak rashes.

Fruit & Veggie Wash: Mix 4 tablespoons vinegar in one gallon of water (for future use, store in a clean used milk jug.) Rinse store bought produce in the mixture to remove sediment and wax buildup.

Deodorizer: To rid the air of smoke and paint smells, fill several bowls 3/4 full of vinegar and set out all day. (This will greatly reduce smells, but further deodorizing may be needed.) Up to once per week, pour 1 cup of vinegar down the kitchen drain, let stand for half an hour, and rinse with cold water. To remove foul food smells (like fish, onions, and garlic) from your hands, simply rub them with vinegar.

Furniture Restorer: Remove white "water" rings from wood furniture by mixing equal parts vinegar and olive oil and applying with a clean soft cloth in the direction of the wood grain. Use a fresh cloth to polish and shine.

Mildew Remover: Spray on painted surfaces, tubs and showers, tile (ceramic, but NOT stone--especially marble, limestone, and travertine), plastic curtains, and bathroom fixtures.

Astringent: Mix with water in a 3:1 ratio (as with the wrinkle spray above) and dab on your face with a cotton ball twice daily. This formula is gentle enough to use as an infant acne remedy.

Flower & Christmas Tree Preservative: In one quart of warm water, dissolve 3 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Keep the stems in 3 to 4 inches of this solution for longer lasting blooms.