8.23.13 DIY Friday

Sheet to Curtain Tutorial

For Christmas this past year, my dad got me a sewing machine, and I've been in love ever since. I'm no sewing-pro yet, but every chance I get to practice, I take it. My dad is in need of new curtains to match his new bed set. He's been using a green sheet for the past couple of months while we were looking for matching fabric, when all of a sudden it dawned on us... the sheet he's been using as a curtain actually matches quite nicely with his bed set. So I converted his make-shift sheet curtain into actual curtains!


Materials:
Sheet
Measuring tape
Pins
Thread and needle/sewing machine

Instructions:

Step 1: measure your window. My dad's window is 60" wide and 50" tall.

Step 2: measure and cut your fabric. I measured mine to be 90" wide and 60" tall, and then I cut an extra 2 inches to allow for seams.

Here is what I started with, as modeled by the very talented Sophie. 

Step 3: pin and sew the two rectangles of fabric you have

Step 3: fold one end over to create a slot for the curtain rod to go. Pin and sew. 

My dad waiting for his curtains to be finished. The anticipation was too much to handle. 

Step 4: hang up your curtains and enjoy! 

TA-DA! And look how nicely these match his comforter. 

This would be awesome to do to vintage sheets. Or if you buy a new bedding set and want perfectly matching curtains, just pick up an extra sheet of the bed set collection. It'll match perfectly and will be cheaper than buying the actual matching curtains, and it'll be much easier than going to the fabric store to try to find matching fabric. 

Happy DIY-ing!

8.21.13 Laughable Wednesdays

Girl Humor

I guess this would be a spin off of my Monday post, the part with the Always commerical. I've never understood why their slogan was "have a happy period". The only reason a period is a "happy one" is if you were worried about being pregnant and kids are not in your immediate future, but even then it's happy the first minute, and then PMS from there out.

Anyway.

So this post is dedicated to PMS/menstral humor. First on the list:

1. If my dad was a grocery store owner/manager, this is something he would do. You can tell he has 2 daughters, because he keeps "emergency" chocolate in the freezer for when we are...how do you say... irritable. Some might be offended by this because it's stereotyping, but there's not much I can say about it when I am the stereotype on this one. Sadly, a little Hershey's mini-chocolate bar works when I'm PMS-ing. I think my dad may have clued my boyfriend in on this early in our relationship. He quickly learned that for me, chocolate can take the edge off...chocolate and margaritas.

2. I've always gotten a kick how awkard guys are about periods. I mean, yes there such a thing as going into too much detail when talking about periods, but just say the p-word, and guys get all "uhh....oh.....uh...". I plan on taking full advantage of this complex when I move back to Fargo this school year. I'll be living with my boyfriend, two of our friends (who happen to both be guys), and one more guy. So in order to hide my treats like a squirrel with a bad chocolate addiction, this is what I plan on doing. This is both a good laugh and a useful idea.

Now for the videos, oh yes period humor vidoes do exist. My favorite is by far the U by Kotex video making fun of tampon and pad commercials.

 I love the part where she says, "the ads on TV are so helpful. When they use that blue liquid, I'm like, 'Oh, that's what's supposed to happen'." That always confused me when I was little.

This next one comes from HelloFlo, a company that ships tampons, pads, and other products to your door when you need it each month. Pretty neat idea, check out their website: http://helloflo.com/about. Anyway, not only was the company a good idea, but their commercial was pretty entertaining as well.

Hopefully this will get you through the rest of your week!

Happy Wednesday!

8.19.13 Post It Monday

Watching TV Workout

Happy Monday everyone! 

Okay, maybe saying "happy Monday" is like the Always commercials saying "have a happy period". . . it's just not going to happen. 

I digress. 

So lately, I just haven't felt like going to the gym at all. Normally I run 2-3 times a week so I really don't have to worry about skipping the gym, but my knees have been hurting, thus letting my food sins catch up with me. Thank God for Pinterest, because I found this at home routine that burns 100 calories each time you do it:

And it really doesn't feel like 100 calories worth of work! So what I've been doing recently is sitting on my butt watching tv, but doing this routine during the commercial breaks, repeating the circuit until the show I'm watching starts again. So from what I've heard from a quick internet research, a typical 30 minute sitcom has 3 acts with two commercial breaks separating those acts. The average length of a commercial break varies, but from what I've been reading, they usually last around 3 minutes per break (hard to believe when you're watching an episode of Big Bang Theory, the stinking commercials seem to take forever!). Any how, this routine will usually takes me around 2 minutes (depending on how enthusiastic I am), so I burn 150 calories per commercial break, so that's 300 calories per show! That's almost double calories I burn when I go for a 2 mile run! And let's face it, with TBS's back to back of Big Bang Theory, I usually watch 2-3 episodes. 

It may be hard to get up during the commercial breaks and do this routine when you're all snuggly with a blanket and your dog on your lap, but it beats going to the gym for an hour. Do this for at least one show a day, and you'll start seeing results.

Happy Monday!

8.14.13 Laughable Wednesday

More Disney  Humor

I grew up in the 90's, so naturally I grew up on Disney movies, especially since we didn't have cable or any video games in my house when I was growing up. That meant we were either outside playing, getting crafty, playing inside, or watching movies in the winter. Growing up in Minnesota, there were a lot of days when it was too cold to go outside, so naturally I became a Disney expert. And I loove Disney references and jokes. Like this:

compliments of http://imgfave.com/

I just found this on youtube the other day, and I loved it! So funny:




Hope this little pick-me-up is enough to get you through the rest of the week! Happy Wednesday!

8.12.13 Post It Monday

Fail-Proof Potato Soup

Here is another recipe my boyfriend loves. It's most definitely not the healthiest recipe, but it's pretty easy to make and very tasty. And it's perfect for fall, which is on it's way.

I've made this recipe a few times, and it always turns out different, but in a good way. So no matter how you make this soup, it always turns out good. I would attribute this fail-proof quality of this recipe to the bacon. Anything with bacon always tastes good.

Ingredients:
1 medium onion; chopped
1 stock of celery; chopped
1 clove of garlic; minced    OR   a few teaspoons of garlic powder (I don't measure the seasonings, I just put them in there until there's a good balance)
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 lb bacon (cooked and diced)
3 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups of half and half cream
Your choice of seasonings (again, I don't measure the seasonings, I just keep putting them in there until it tastes good)

In a soup pot, place all the ingredients except the cream and bacon. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. While waiting for the ingredients in the pot to cook, fry the bacon. Wait for the bacon to cool and cut into small picies. When the potatoes are ready, add the cream and bacon and continue to cook until piping hot but do not let boil. Serve with your choice of garnish (cheese, parsley, etc.)


If you are looking for a healthier alternative, you could try replacing the bacon with seasoned chicken, and the half and half cream with 2% milk.  This recipe is also good after a big ham dinner. After Easter dinner, my aunt gave me the juices left from the ham, and I used that instead of chicken broth to make the soup. It was sooooooo good! I would definitely recommend doing that if you have the chance.

8.9.13 DIY Friday

DIY Computer Chair Slip Covers

Being that school is going to start soon, here is a DIY for jazzing up an old computer chair with some slip covers. 

What You'll Need: 

-an old computer chair

-measuring tape

-fabric (depends on the size of your chair, but I used probably around a yard and a half)

-1/4" flat elastic

-pins

-needle and thread or a sewing machine

Here's the beautiful fabric I used for this project: 

It was at Hancock fabric for $9/yard, which is a little more than I usually like to spend on fabric, but I've used it for this project, and a very very cute apron. 

Step 1: Clean off your chair as well as you can. The one I used was our old computer chair that was sitting in the dog room, so the dog hair was nearly impossible to get out. This is what it looked like after I cleaned. That's right, after. 

Now you understand why I wanted to cover this messy monstrosity up. 

Step 2: Using your measuring tape, measure the seat and backrest of your computer chair. This will determine the dimensions of your slipcovers. Remember you'll have to start your measurements from under the seat, so the slipcover will stay on. Don't measure the whole seat because that would be a waste of fabric. Start 6 or more inches under the seat and run the measuring tape up and across the seat to 6 or more inches under the seat on the other side. Do the same for the backrest. Also remember to leave an inch or two for sewing in the elastic. The dimensions for mine were: 

                          Seat-26"x26"

                          Backrest-15"x 24"

Hint: to make the curviture of the corners the same, use the left over fabric from the first curve cut for the rest of the curves. Like this: 

Step 3: When I did step three, I just pinned the fabric over where I was going to sew, leaving enough room to string the elastic through after I was done sewing. This was a mistake. It took forever, and I actually had to cut it up just to make it work. So on my second seat cover, I first pinned the elastic to the fabric, and then folded the fabric over on top of the elastic, pinned it down and sewed it. I left a little opening where my elastic started and where it ended so I could tie them together. 

Step 4: Make sure you anchor one end of the elastic down. Pull on the other end, cinching up the fabric so it will hold onto the seat of the chair. I kept cinching until it was tight enough to hold onto the chair, but not too tight so it wouldn't fit over the seat. Once you have the desired amount of tight-ness (no that's not a word, yes I know there's a plethora of words I could have used that would be linguistically correct, but I just didn't feel like using them), tie the two ends of elastic together and snip off any excess. The nice thing about this method is that it's a) much faster and more efficient, and b) you don't waste any elastic

Step 5: Enjoy your new chair! This is what my chair looked like after------------------------------------>

Much better! And on stage left, you see one of the suspects for all the dog hair on the chair.

Anyway, the reason I chose to use elastic instead of simply reupholstering the chair is for several reasons:
1. It was much easier to do and took much less work, and I like less work

2. If the cover gets dirty, I can easily take it off and throw it in the washing machine

3. I can easily change the look of the chair in the future by making a new cover. 

8.8.13 Laughable Wednesday

Kids Say the Darnedest Things
 

It's true, and I love hearing kids say hilarious things. If you read my post from Monday, I just got back from a mini-vacation in Grand Marais, and there was a little girl and her family who we were camping with. Her parents don't give her a lot of sugary foods, but since she was with her grandma and grandpa, her world will never be the same. They gave her a flavored shaved ice treat, which I am told is almost pure sugar. Before they gave her this sugary treat, she was really tired and groggy from not getting enough sleep the night before. After she ate the shaved ice, she said, "I'm freaking out!" and she started running around like crazy ha ha ha. Oh, and this little girl is almost 2 years old, which makes it even funnier. 

So, here is something funny my boyfriend posted on Facebook. I'm not sure if this is the criteria he's using to decide if I'm the one or not, but irregardless, some of these kids are too funny: 

http://dailynewsdig.com/how-do-you-decide-who-to-marry-written-by-kids/

And if you liked that, here are some for you religious (and non religious) people: 

And some more. Seriously, I could probably have a whole blog called "Shit Kids Say"