What to do with an ... old ladder

I always liked the idea of using an old ladder inside, ever since I saw how Martha Stewart put it to use in a bathroom as a towel rack.

Now, Funky Junk Interiors uses one in an even better way!

Fashion statement ... Tights

Modcloth has some great tights

They look like they would last forever and be warm, and they are pretty reasonably priced. You can find them here.

What to make with .... toilet paper rolls

I get so amazed to see how creative people are -- who would have thought that you could make this out of a toilet paper roll?

This would be really pretty as a Christmas ornament, or even to dress up a package. Michele Made Me shows you how to make one in her tutorial here.

how to make a ... What-Not shelf

Bee in our Bonnet gives a great tutorial for making what I would call a "what-not" shelf.

She makes it sound easy in this tutorial. I'm so jealous of women who are able to work with power tools -- I can do a lot of things, but for some reason, I have always been intimidated by power tools. I need to conquer that fear.

What to do with ... shoeboxes and meat trays

Wow -- If I hadn't of seen the title to this blog post, I would have never guessed that this was made of a shoebox and those ubiquitous foam meat trays! Look at what Michele Made Me Wow, this is incredible.

Thank you Michele Made Me for sharing your tutorial here!

How to make a .... Necklace

HoneyScrap shares her tutorial for making this “verveine necklace,” which she created for only $5!

I'm not too crazy about the bow, but that's just me, and you can leave it off.

What to do with ... old sweaters

Old stained sweaters -- what to do with them? They don't even have to be stained, they can be just out dated, but you hate to get rid of them, because they have such a pretty pattern. Well, now they don't have to just take up space in your closet. Thrillingly Thrifty shows us how to make these adorable slippers.

These are child size, but she also shows how to make the pattern here, which can easily be adapted to any size.

She did what?

I was just browsing around on Clover Lane's blog, when I stumbled upon this post, "I caught up! 6 Years in 3 Weeks!" She was talking about scrapbooking her photos -- but as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter what she caught up with. That is an incredible accomplishment! She's got some good ideas.

Did you ever?

This has been a great fall so far -- the leaves are such vibrant colors of reds and yellows (hope the trees don't lost all their leaves with the rain today). Growing up, I always picked up leaves that were colorful and pressed them between the pages of a book. Of course, I didn't do too much else with them -- they pretty much where they stayed, and as they dried, they lost their colors.

Waxing leaves, a craft from yesteryear, would probably save that color. All you really need is a box of wax. (and the leaves, of course). Clover Lane has some great pictures, along with a tutorial on how to do it.

 

Now I just have to figure out how to display my waxed leaves or what to do with them when I'm done.

Whooo, hooo whooo ...

I've been on the lookout for owl crafts ever since my daughter started going to the Temple University of Pharmacy -- their mascot is an owl. Here's one from Purple Paisley Pinwheels.

Pretty easy, and very cute (I can also use all the yarn scraps from the pom pom pumpkin to stuff them). They can also be stuffed with lavender or other herbs for sachets, or beans for a paperweight. They can be made from Chrstmas prints, Halloween prints -- no limits here.

What to do with ... old t-shirts

Kim at College Fashion shows how to make cute scarves out of old t-shirts.

You can wear this another way as well, but I don't think it's half as cute.

I have another one that I have to locate where it braids the t-shirt material, which is really cute too.

Finding Time to ....

Here is a post by Lain Ehmann, an EzineArticles.com Expert Author, about making time for scrapbooking. I don't scrapbook (I just save everything in boxes), anyway -- you could substitute the word scrapbooking for almost anything -- sewing, exercise, cleaning (hah!).

She has some other good articles -- take a look at the one on conquering clutter by asking yourself four questions:

• Is it unique?
• Do I have a project in mind?
• Is it easy to store?
• What's the worst that would happen if I threw this away?

Rocking Tights from Refinery 29

I have always liked wearing black tights, but this year tights are in, and so I'm thinking of trying different styles and colors.

Refinery 29 has some suggestions on how to wear them. I love the textured tights on the right.

I can't find that sweater dress, but Urban Outfitters has some cute ones

And here are some colored tights

And here is a style that I don't care for, but I love the suit!

Halloween Crafts

Domestifluff shares how to make these really cute pom pom pumpkins. Great for Halloween or even into Thanksgiving.




I always loved doing crafts with my kids (okay, maybe love is kind of a strong word). Anyway, I did love the crafts that kids could make, and ended up looking great. The Mother Huddle shares this one, which I wish I could have made with my kids. Isn't this a cute spider?

Here's another spider craft by  Every Crafty Endeavor  -- probably not for the little ones though -- a thistle spider. This is great! Reminds me of all the ornaments at the Brandywine River Museum.

I'm going to have to post two entries today, because I was just too, too exhausted when I got home from work. Anyway, yesterday on 10/1, I spent my hard-earned money on a solenoid. On a what, you ask? A solenoid for the gear shift in my Subaru. My car had not been going into park, so $78 were spent on this item.

today, I had to use a LLBean $10 coupon before it expired. So, I bought a shirt ... it looks cute ... What do you think? So, it ended up costing me all of $2.99, including shipping.

no purchase today?

I should have taken a picture of a gas station -- I didn't spend any out-of-pocket money today, YAY! ... But I did go to work, and the gas I used to take me to work was probably my biggest expenditure today.

no park

Today, I get to spend $95 to have the gear shift mechanism in my car cleaned so that I could put my car in park. Oh boy, they thought I had a dog because of all the hair in there ... that is food for thought. Unfortunately, I still can't put my car in park.

My purchase for today -- a new shovel! I have been wanting to get one for awhile, and I have been needing to get one for awhile. Well, I finally splurged on one. Spent more money than I should have, but what do you think? I think it's pretty, and that it'll hold up for awhile.

1. Applied to a job.
2. Had a friend who reviewed my cover letter.
3. Sold a few things (wooden swan planter, planter stands, square plastic planter).
4. A friend cared enough to send me a private message to see how I was doing.
5. Got a check for some transcription work that I did.
6. Finished reading a book.
7. Jenny made me a grilled cheese for dinner.
8. Erik and Jenny helped me with my cover letter.
9. Erik took the bed frame off the porch and put it in the basement.
10. Erik brought the toy chest up from the basement.