Sugar and Health

There are really no redeeming health qualities about sugar. So next time you're measuring out a cup for baked goods, put a heaping tablespoon back into the container. It'll save sugar and calories and your baked final product will taste the same.

When Brown Sugar Turns Rock-Solid...

Put a piece of bread into the container! It will soften right up.

I am still working on finishing my 'unfinishable projects'. Stay tuned.

Finishing the Unfinishable

Do you ever start a project (sewing? home improvement? crafting? cooking?) and then deem it 'unfinishable'? Sometimes this happens to me. I have a very hard time with final seams or topstitching for sewing projects. This may stem from impatience. As a result, I have a variety of projects I have just not finished sitting in my fabric box. Sometimes I end up cutting them up to use for other projects. Or sometimes I just try and forget about them and feel sad when I see them!

This weekend, I wanted to start a new project. I don't really want to buy any supplies, though, being my frugal self. (I am thinking I may need to buy grommet pliers to make a few projects I have in mind...) So, I decided to pull out a few of my problematic projects and try to fix them. (ie ripping seams...or troubleshooting!) I'll hopefully have some pictures and tutorials next week!

In the meantime, here's information on rescuing your t-shirts (which can provide great project starters!) from grime and sweat:

How can the smells and stains from the underarms be removed from t-shirts?
Try this:

1) Mix 4-5 teaspoons of baking soda with 1/4 cup water. Rub it into the shirt; allow it to dry.
2) Fill a sink with water and 2 tablespoons of salt and soak it overnight. Rinse and then spray the shirt with vinegar from a spray bottle.

Yoga Skirt Tutorial

Want to know how to make a 'yoga' skirt? I got the idea from this website (found another tutorial here) and adapted it slightly. Very slightly. Only to make it easier for my impatient self to finish as fast as possible so I can wear it as much as possible!
I finished it while my little boy was taking his nap this afternoon...it took him 25 minutes to fall asleep and then he slept for an hour, so it took me less than 1.5 hours from start to finish!Get your fabric. I used 1 yard of fabric for $6 that was 58" wide and 5% spandex (make sure it has spandex! this skirt relies on that to stay up! no elastic!) First, take two measurements. Your waist. And then from your lower hip to however long you want the skirt to be.

Then take the waist measurement and subtract 3" (this allows it to fit snugly and stay up!). Then divide by 2. You are now ready to cut the two panels you'll use for the waistband. Cut each one 15" tall (they will be doubled...you'll see) and then the other edge will correspond to your waist measurement minus 3 divided by two.

Now sew the two panels together like a tube. I used a zig-zag stitch. Make sure you sew along the sides that are 15". Your waist will go through this tube.

Now just fold the panel in half.
Easy.

Now, remember that other measurement you took? I used the full 58" width of fabric for my skirt and cut the length to my specific measurement. It hits below my knees. After you cut it, you're going to gather the fabric. This isn't hard! Just set your sewing machine to the longest running stitch setting...(mine is 5)...sew along the top border but don't back stitch at either end!

Then take the top thread and pull gently (don't break the thread). You'll need to go along and even out the gathers as you go so you don't have an extremely gathered end and then one side with no gathers. (You'll get the point when you do it.)

After you have it gathered, pin the edges and sew up the skirt part.

Now attach the waistband of the skirt to the 'skirt' of the skirt with pins. Make sure you try and even out the gathering. It doesn't have to be perfect, but make sure you don't have any areas that are just flat.

I used a lot of pins.

Then I zig-zag stitched to secure this seam.

You will want to go back and pull out the gathering stitches you made. Make sure you pulled out all the pins, too!

I chose not to hem the bottom of my skirt. The fabric I used curled at the edges and I hate hemming anyway! End result:

Shower Cleaning Tips

Our shower accumulates a lot of soap scum. I have managed to keep the bottom pretty clean, but the sides have needed some TLC for a while now. I tried something new today!

Take some Borax (sold as '20 Mule Team Borax' for less than $3 at Target) and sprinkle it on the surface of your shower. Scrub with a scrub brush and the soap scum comes off easily. Borax rinses without leaving residue, so it is great for this purpose!

Try Murphy's Oil Soap on the sides and hardware of the shower. I wouldn't use it on the bottom because it will probably make it slippery. (Don't spill the oil soap all over your bathroom floor like I did!) The Murphy's Oil Soap will help keep soap scum from building back up. It also helped remove some of the soap scum in spots that were tough to hit with the scrub brush.

It sounds like I love to clean with all the posts on cleaning lately...but I really don't!!