Upcycled Hoodie in Action

It's January. It should be snowing and frigid. However, I can't complain about the mild temperatures we've had! I took my boys to the park today and my oldest wore his upcycled hoodie! I was so proud to see something I'd made in action.

I'll be back tomorrow with a tutorial!

A Kitchen Disaster

I just had to share this minor major disaster that happened at my parents’ house. The following picture shows how a jar of peanut butter appears to have exploded everywhere.

A little background: both my family and my parents buy organic peanut butter that requires stirring prior to consumption. My dad developed a method of stirring it that includes his drill. (He attaches the mixing blade to the drill.) My mom wanted to show him how much better it was to use the hand mixer and the single mixing blade.

She accidently let go of the jar.

Leading to the disaster.

The funniest part was that it was in their hair.

This will help me determine if my parents follow my blog on a regular basis. I just had to post these pictures. But I know I’ll hear from them about it if they see them!

Winner of the HarmonyArt Giveaway!

The winner of the HarmonyArt Giveaway (of 1 yard of Apricot interlock fabric!) is #8!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:8Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Comment #8 belongs to Gwen, who said, I love the "let it grow" print! gingerbreadgal41 (at) gmail (dot) com

Gwen, I’ll email you for your contact information!

Nursing Cover for a Friend

A good friend of mine is having her third child this month! She needed a nursing cover and I was excited to have the opportunity to provide a gift she needed.

Here is what I made using the tutorial found here:

I got this great fabric at Hobby Lobby. I love it--my husband had the opinion that it looks like an old bedspread.

He gave me this opinion after I had it all cut out. There was no turning back for me.

There you have it. I love it. I hope she does, too.

Car Appliqué on Backpack

When we had our little boy this summer, we were the recipients of two plain black backpacks containing free formula. We use one of them for our two-year old to carry his quiet activities to and from church each week. I thought it needed a little something special.

So I added a car appliqué. I used felt and heat and bond; here’s a brief tutorial on how to make your own iron-on appliqués.

I used a car template I printed off of the internet.

First, I bonded all my felt to the heat and bond. Place the shiny side against the fabric and fuse it.

I cut the large car out of blue felt. I next cut out the windows and wheels to use as separate templates.

I peeled each piece of the heat and bond backing off and then I fused it to the blue felt.

I did this for each piece. And then I added a “3” to the car.

To finish it all off, I peeled the heat and bond backing off of the blue felt.

Then I bonded it to the bag.

This technique could be used to make any type of appliqué!

Around My House: Toddler's Room

Our two-year old has a big-boy bed now. He loves it and tells everyone about his bed.

There are lots of things in his room that have been hand made.

1. Pottery Barn Knock-off Truck, made by my dad!

2. Rocking Chair

3. End Table I repainted.

4. Shag Rug

5. Pillow & Shams

6. Blanket

Have a great weekend!

Rustic DIY Coat Rack

When my husband and I got married seven and a half years ago, we registered for wedding gifts. As we were about to get the scanner from the sales woman, she happened to ask what our home’s theme would be. Before I could open my mouth to answer, my husband responded enthusiastically, “Rustic.”

???

That answer was not quite what I had in mind at the time! However, as time passes, our home is slowly taking on this theme. This coat rack is an example of the “rusticness” creeping into our decor.

My husband took a rough cut piece of lumber from my dad’s shop and we put some English oil and shellac on it. I picked out some hooks from Lowe’s. For $9, we have a great looking solution for organizing purses, coats & hats in the mudroom.

I love it. My husband is so clever.

And after seven and a half years of marriage, he's got me sold on the rustic theme.

(Why are husbands even more attractive while holding a baby?)

Pottery Barn Kids Knock-Offs

My dad has talent when it comes to music and woodworking. I wanted to show off his woodworking skills today with some pictures of some toys he made for my boys at Christmas.

The inspiration came from these Pottery Barn Kids toys I saw in this picture:

Using that picture for inspiration, my dad made a few extremely cute vehicles for my boys.

These two were the ‘prototypes’.

Then he deviated a bit from the PBK inspiration and made this enormous fire truck. My dear two-year old has a great interest in “Pirepighters” [firefighters].

I was seriously impressed with my dad’s ability to make fun toys.

Crayon Organizer with PLAID Paints

Crafting is way more fun when you’re organized.

(We’ll see if my two-year old feels that way. He hasn’t had much time lately for crayons.)

So I made him this.

I saw this idea for a knockoff Pottery Barn Kids craft organizer and decided to make my own from garbage stuff I already had.

To duplicate this project, you will need:

round cake pan

baby food jars with lids

one color of spray paint

glue

masking tape

various colors of acrylic paint

I used the Martha Stewart paints that PLAID sent me a month ago.

I set the jars into the pan to see how many would fit (I used 11) and where I wanted them to be placed.

I masked off where each jar would go. I didn’t want to paint where I intended to put glue.

Then I used blue spray paint to cover the pan.

Here’s a spray painting tip: Place the pan in a box for painting; that way you don’t have to drape your whole garage with drop cloths. Also, if you are spray painting outside and it is windy, a box acts as a windbreaker to keep the paint from blowing around before it reaches the surface you’re painting.

Coat all sides of the pan with spray paint.

Next, choose the colors for the jars. You’ll be painting the inside of the jar. I found that the best way to do this was to squirt some paint into the bottom of the jar, add a tiny bit of water, place the lid on the jar and shake, shake, shake to coat the inside!

These will take forever to dry. Keep them on their “heads” for an hour or so to dump extra paint out. Wipe the rim with a paper towel to remove any paint.

Then turn them onto their sides. Then keep turning them every few hours to distribute any extra paint around the sides of the jar. I dried mine for about 3 days before they were totally dry.

When the jars are fully dry, remove the masking from the pan’s bottom and use the glue to adhere the jars to the bottom of the pan in the intended positions. I used some crazy adhesive that promised to adhere anything. I didn’t try hot glue, but it might work.

What do you think? Will this entice my two-year old to color more often?

Also, one of my goals for this year is to start taking better pictures. I’m pretty happy with how these turned out! I’m trying to learn how to use my camera more effectively. I have been enjoying some sunny weather; it’s far more conducive to picture taking!

A HarmonyArt Fabric Giveaway!

If you haven’t already heard of Harmony Art Organic Design Fabrics, go familiarize yourself NOW!

Harmony graciously sent me some beautiful organic knit yardage in her solstice print and apricot solid to test drive. I chose to use the fabulously popular flat front yoga skirt tutorial to make a cute little skirt. (I can’t wait for it to be warm and sunny!)

This fabric was so wonderfully easy to work with. It’s a great weight, soft, easy to cut and sew and the edges won’t roll up like a lot of knits.

I will be hoarding my scraps for future projects!

If you’re interested in starting to sew with knits, I think Harmony Arts is a great fabric line with which to learn. And the flat-front yoga skirt is a fun pattern to make! (It’s very comfy.)

Now for the really good part. Harmony sent me an extra yard (it’s a little more than a yard, actually!) of the apricot color knit to give away to one of my readers! It’s a 60” wide piece, big enough to make yourself a skirt or two. (If you have girls, make a few matching skirts!)

To enter to win this yard of apricot interlock fabric:

1. If you’re a follower of Monkey See, Monkey Do, go to HarmonyArt.com and comment about which is your favorite fabric!

2. For a second entry: go “Like” Money See, Monkey Do on Facebook! Then leave a comment telling me you did this!

3. For a third entry: go “Like” Harmony Art Organic Designs on Facebook! Leave another comment.

And if you don’t win and want to purchase some yardage, be sure to order from HarmonyArt retailers.

This giveaway will close on January 24th at 9 am! It is only open to US residents. Get your comments started.

A Cleaning Discovery

If anyone had told me five years ago that I'd be writing a blog post about cleaning products, I'd have laughed at them.

But I just had to share that I found the very best stuff to clean my cast iron sink with.

I didn't know what a cast-iron sink was until we got one. So here's a
[really bad] picture of part of my kitchen in case you are wondering:

That picture was taken before we moved in. The counters are never that clear nor is the sink ever that empty.

Not only have I found the perfect cleanser for my sink, but I also found some stuff to clean stainless steel and my flat cook top stove.

First, the cast iron sink. I bought this powder cleaner called Bonami that promises it won't scratch. It worked better than the baking soda I had been using. I had a few scratches from pans that it took off right away. The packaging is a little retro. My husband asked if it was from the 1970's. And it only cost $1.19!!

(No, Bonami is not paying me. I wish.)

Next, the stainless steel stuff. I found this stuff called Bar Keeper's Friend next to the Bonami at the store. I had read somewhere it works well for cleaning All-Clad cookware, which we have. It was only $1, so I bought some of it, too. LOVE IT. Not so much for the All-Clad stuff (although I haven't tried it for the food surfaces yet, just the outside, wanted to research if it was food-safe first) but I used it to clean the outside of our tea kettle that was in terrible need of scrubbing. It worked so well I decided to try it on the cook top, too. (It worked better than the stuff I bought specifically for the cook top!)

Bar Keeper's Friend is not paying me to say this stuff, either. But again, feel free to contact me! Hah.