Friday Faves: Super cool blog and GIVEAWAY!

I know a girl named Serene. I've been reading her blog for a while, and folks, I just love it. She blogs about her life as a mommy of 4 cute kids, and she has such a way with words. She makes the most mundane daily occurrences SO funny. I need to take a lesson from her and just enjoy the time while Bitty's still bitty instead of getting so frustrated when he makes so many messes!

Anyway, it's a fun read. And on top of that...she's having her first ever GIVEAWAY! She's drawing for the winner on Monday, so you better go enter! There's even a choice of TWO different but equally amazing prizes.

Would you like to win either of these?

Then click on over to Serene's blog and leave her a comment!

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Cleaning Tip: non-slip bathmat

I have one of these suction non-slip bathmats in Bitty's tub. Because when he takes a bath without it he's sliding all over the place... I guess he's just a slippery boy.
While I was cleaning his tub out this week, I noticed that the underside of it was looking a little iffy. Like it needed a good cleaning, you know.

So, I used the big scrub brush I use on the tubs and scrubbed at it for a little while before I figured out that I was doing things the hard way. So...

I decided the best and easiest thing to do would be to put it in the washing machine. So I did. I put the mat in, poured in a swig of regular liquid bleach, and set the water temperature to warm/hot.

It came out looking seriously as good as new! Don't you love when the BEST solution is also the EASIEST solution?

I know this is so simple that anyone would probably think of it, so I apologize if I'm insulting anyone's intelligence by posting this. Just sayin'...maybe you should go see if your rubber bathmat could use a spin in the washing machine!

Join the party:

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Freebie craft instructions!

So, a while back I had heard about You Can Make This, a website where you can buy instructions for lots of different sewing and craft projects. I thought it was a neat idea, but didn't ever check it out, because I've usually got more projects in mind to do than I have time for, so I didn't really want to pay for more project ideas, ya know?

Well....I just found out that they have a whole ton of FREE instructions for cute craft projects!

So this week I created an account with You Can Make This and downloaded probably about 10 sets of free instructions...sewing projects, crocheting instructions (flowers and little beanies!)among other things. I would highly suggest it! And they have tons of other patterns/instructions you can buy too, of course. Most of them are around $5, so it's still fairly cheap.

Here are some of the freebies I downloaded. These will be great for my goal of making homemade gifts this year. And the flowers could work on a fabric bead necklace!


Happy Crafting!

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Fabric covered bead necklace tutorial

I've been wanting to make some of those cute fabric covered bead necklaces for a while now, and today I found this great little video tutorial on Studio 5's website.

I love how she got creative with the simple idea on the necklaces the mannequins were wearing. Love the long double strands, and of course the fabric flowers! My sister's got little girls and is always making fabric flowers, and I keep trying to think of an excuse to need to make some too...maybe this is it!

Maybe I'll have to make making some fabric necklaces a reward for finishing quilting my star quilt.

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My 2010 To Do List

Happy New Year everyone! I always get excited when it's the new year, because I love making new goals. There's just something about the start of a new year that makes me feel like I can start over and that maybe I can accomplish more this year. I love it!

I decided this year, that in addition to my new year's resolutions (which are generally self-improvement type goals) I would also make a "To Do" list of projects I want to complete this year. I always have so many projects in my mind that I want to do, but never seem to get much done. I thought making this list would help me keep in mind what I want to accomplish. And posting it on here will hopefully make me more accountable. Even if no one actually reads this blog... :)

Without further adieu...

Elizabeth's 2010 To Do List

• Finish the star quilt I started when I was 16(-ish? I can't remember exactly when I started it, but it was a long time ago!).
• Finish my quilt from quilt camp. {started May 2008}
• Make a totally awesome quiet book to take to church.
• Make a twin sized quilt for Bitty for him to use when he goes to a big boy bed.
• Create at least one 2-page scrapbook layout for each month of the year. {And if I get really ambitious, I'll do more!}
• Make homemade gifts. {birthday, Christmas, etc. Not that every gift I give will be homemade... but I love that homemade gifts can be so much more thoughtful and budget friendly!}

What are your goals this year? Leave a comment!

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