CD Sleeve Tutorial

I wanted to make one of these for my son's CDs. I planto hang it in the kitchen cupboard or in his bedroom if he has a CD player in there when we get a new house.

This is what I cut: nine 8x5" scraps of flannel (for the pockets) and two 14x8" pieces (for the back and the backing for the front). I also had some pieces for the middle that contained interfacing.

I pressed the tops of each piece and then hemmed them. Then I attached all the pieces to one of the 8x14" pieces. Make sure to sew all the way around each pocket individually or the CDs will slide through to the bottom. Position each pocket about 1" from the top of the one above.

Now trim the edges as close to the stitching as possible.

Next, you will attach the front to the back piece. I added interfacing (it was attached to a scrap of green gingham) into the middle. If you want to attach velcro or ribbon pieces to the outer seam, now is the time to do that, too. Attach by sewing all the way around the perimeter.Clip your seams again as close to the last perimeter seam as possible.

This is how mine looked from the back:

You're almost done! Just do the binding! Start in the middle, not at a corner. Then bind to the corner, turn, miter the corner, and keep going. Fold the raw edge of binding over to finish. I finished this in under 2 hours (my son's nap time!)

Jewelry Making: Bracelet

I really love beads. I haven't been making much jewelry lately because I'm afraid my 15-month old will eat the beads. But I needed to re-string these beads and did so during his nap yesterday. I love this bracelet now! Should I bother posting a tutorial for jewelry-making? Or is that something that is too self-explanatory?

Moving and Organizing

I found this list of blog posts about moving and staying organized! Love it.

De-Cluttering to Move

We're in the middle of moving. As I write this post, I have a zillion things to do. Like de-clutter the entire house, refold linens to make the closets look nice, and shop-vac the bugs out of the basement. All of these things will make the house look more appealing to buyers. I think I liked this house in the first place because it was neat, tidy, and clean. And because it had a big kitchen. See?

I love our kitchen. I should've written a tutorial on doing your own wood floor. My husband and I did ours. I was 10 weeks pregnant at the time! But I digress.

When we first listed the house to sell four weeks ago, I went through and put away all of our pictures, my husband's bobble head collection, and other random things that just are always 'there'. Safety pins, snow globe that doubles as body spray, a ribbon from a stuffed animal that our son took off, you get the picture!

But the lesson is that I like the way my house looks without all the stuff around. It is nice to not have piles of mail sitting on the kitchen counter. Or by the computer. I'm wondering if I'll even unpack the other things when we finally get settled into our own place. To enjoy our new space more, I'm maybe going to leave it "de-cluttered". I might have to convince my husband to go along with this. Even though his bobble heads were free (at sporting events), I'm not sure I'll be able to give them away without some convincing.

Focaccia Bread

I like to make bread. I have made this focaccia bread several times. I use this recipe from AllRecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 pinch ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.
2. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

When I say we all like it, I mean everyone: