Problem & Solution

Problem:

What do you do when an entire pack of Trident gum is washed and dried with a load of children's clothes? The clothes seem to have survived, the washer and dryer, however, had pieces of gum stuck to the interior and a sugary residue was left, streaking the interior of the dryer.

Solution:

First I scraped the visible chunks of gum off the surfaces. Then I used a sponge and spray cleaner to remove the sugary streaks. No matter how hard I rubbed and scrubbed, the streaks remained. Not knowing what else to try, I pulled out my Magic Eraser. I, myself, am a Magic Eraser novice. Oh, sure I have heard my friends talk about how the magic eraser gets lipstick drawings off the walls, and crayon off the hardwood. But, I only just recently bought and tried the famed Magic Eraser. I had my doubts, what could be that easy?


Now I am a true convert! I never knew how well it worked. It removed all the streaks and residue from my dryer. Do I sound like a commercial? I'm not. Just one happy customer.

Note to self: Always check pockets before running the wash.

Oh Baby!

Two of my friends have had babies recently. I decided to try my hand at making baby blankets for their wee-ones. I have been drooling over the super-soft polka-dot fleece at the fabric stores for quite some time, but had no reason to buy pastel blue, pink or yellow for myself. So now the occasion arises. Having never made a baby blanket, it was a learning experience.

My concept was simple. One side of the blanket would be a super soft fleece, the other a cute cotton print, all bound together with one of those satin blanket bindings.

The execution of the concept was a learning experience. The fleece, I found, tends to bunch up in the sewing machine. The satin, I found, tends to slip. The woman at the fabric store gave me a tip, use a walking foot on my machine, but I don't have one. My solution was to use lots and lots of pins to hold all the pieces in place while I stitched. ( I really hate pinning! It's so tedious.)

First I borrowed one of my daughter's blankets to figure out what size. After washing the material, I cut the two pieces to the appropriate size. Cutting the fleece was an exercise in fuzz-making. Then I pinned the two blanket sides, right sides together and went to the sewing machine to stitch...and realized, I needed to pin them with the right sides facing out. So, I un-pinned an re-pinned the blanket--did I mention, I don't like to pin. Next tip, stitch so the cotton is on the feed-dogs, not the fleece, that will help avoid the bunching. After the two pieces were stitched together, pin (again) the satin binding on the edge of the blanket. Working one side at a time, I attached the binding and mitered the corners. Again, the stitching worked better with the cotton side down.

With one blanket done, the second one was a breeze! Wow! Two blankets done in one day! What do you think? I will put them in the mail, and hopefully my friends and their babies will be happy with their new cuddly blankets.

The Imperial WE is never acceptable...

Just in case you didn't know, the imperial "WE" is never acceptable. (And the use of "WE" can often be misconstrued as such.) For example,

• We should do our homework.
• We should take out the trash.
• We really shouldn't wear spandex, should we?
• We need to mop the floor.
• Are we having a bad day?
• We should practice our handwriting.
• We should bag the meat separately from the vegetables.
• We should finish the projects we start.
• We should clean our rooms.
• We need a haircut.
• It's about time we get a vasectomy.

A Functional Project & Practical Tip

Practical Tip:

Line one cupboard or pantry door with cork. You can use a roll of cork, or cork tiles that are easily found at stores like Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabric. Use this newly corked door as a place to hang things that are important to keep at hand. It becomes a mini-office in the heart of the kitchen. We hang the school lunch menu, coupons and our take-out menu pocket. It is even a handy place to hang art work that comes home in the kids' backpacks.

Sometimes I am bound by a need to make things functional, not just pretty. I think this is an mental battle I wage: can art or craft just be for art's sake, or does it also have to be functional. It is nice to make some of our functional objects also artful.

My project for the day is a Take Out Pocket. This is where I keep all those Take-Out Menus and Coupons so that we can find them when I have the urge to order instead of cook.

The process is quite simple. I used a plain manila folder. I folded additional paper and glued it in place to close the sides of the folder and create a pocket. Then, I collaged the folder with varoius papers, letters, vintage stickers and stamps. Of course, I used a food motif. I "aged" the paper with a brown ink pad. I sealed the whole thing with a few layers of
Mod Podge. Sealing it with Mod Podge will both protect the collage, and strengthen the pocket since it may be used frequently.

Back to the idea of form versus function. Should the items in our home be only functional? Can we also improve their form with our artistic touches?


What everyday items have you put in your home that share interesting or artistic form and useful functionality?