Telling It Like It Is

Door Draft Blockers – How to Make Door Draft Stoppers with Door or Window Draft Dodger Patterns

Lin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:00:06 +0000

Door draft blockers are called by many different names. Door draft blocker, door draft stopper, door draft dodger, door draft stop and even a “bean snake”. Simply put, a door draft dodger, stopper or blocker is a long tube of fabric that is sewn and stuffed with various materials and used to keep the cold and windy outside air from coming into your house or apartment through drafty windows, doors and fireplaces.

Using door draft stoppers under doors, along drafty window sills, to cover any cracks where cold air leaks in or around fireplaces helps keep warm air in and cold air outside where it belongs, and helps consumers save money on heating bills and energy during cold and blustery winter months. During hot summer months, cool air conditioned air can leak out through the same cracks around doors, patios and windows, substantially increasing your electric air-conditioning bills.

Stop Door Drafts! Every home has at least one leaky door, window or window sills, patio sliding door, basement doors or windows, fireplace or attic doors that should be checked for air leaks. To check for any air leaks or cracks, feel around every door, door frames, windows and other areas of your home with your bare hand or cheek and see if you feel any amount of air leakage or draft.

You can buy snake-shaped door draft dodgers to guard and protect against air leaks that actually look like a snake with a whimsical designed red felt tongue and button snake eyes, or various animals like dogs and cats. Grandpa and I love the Hallmark Maxine door draft dodger we found on eBay, which could be used to block door drafts or as a decorative fireplace mantel shelf sitter.

How to Make Door Draft Stoppers

Making door draft stoppers is an ideal, inexpensive craft project for sewing beginners and a great kids craft project for older kids, sewn on a sewing machine (with help from mom or Grandma), crocheted or knitted. Beginner sewing books and simple door draft patterns with easy to follow instructions are cheap, with suggestions on fabrics to use and a list of things needed to make whatever style door or window draft stopper you might want to make.

Free, printable, downloadable sewing patterns can be found online to make fabric snake door draft stoppers, patchwork door draft blockers and very cute character themed drafty door blockers that look like a dog (dachshund, sheepdog, husky, lab, etc), cool cats, cow, leopard, dragon, hippo, camouflage, giraffe, bunny rabbit, Santa Claus, snowman, Wizard of Oz wicked witch of the west ruby slippers and legs draft stopper, dolls, a Star Wars space slug, brown wood fireplace log, a tree branch with green leaves, gnome and mushroom, and many other ingenious ideas for craft hobbyists.

If you want to make your own fabric stuffed draft snake with your sewing machine, you will need enough fabric to cover the area where your draft dodger will be placed. Fabric needed for making draft stoppers can be heavy duty fabrics like corduroy, denim (old jeans), upholstery or quilt fabric. You can also use 100% cotton, flannel, heavy stretch knits or polar fleece, polyester blends, super soft micro-suede fabric, dad’s old neckties, etc. If you have any leftover fabric pieces from previous sewing/craft projects, these would work nicely for making patchwork draft stoppers.

Besides your sewing machine (unless sewing seams by hand -ugh!), you will need measuring tape, matching or coordinating thread, good quality fabric cutting shears, your sewing pattern/template (if needed), straight/stick pins, funnel and stuffing materials. Optional materials needed for DIY draft stoppers, depending on what kind of draft stopper you plan to make, might include a variety of decorative accessories such as buttons for eyes, felt material for snake tongue, etc.

What to stuff your door draft dodger with? There are many ideas for stuffing materials that range from eco-friendly recycled products you may already have in your home like old socks, cloth scraps, old sheets, pillowcases, cut up sweatshirts or t-shirts, cotton gloves and towels etc will all make great stuffing for recycled door draft stoppers.

Stuffing ideas may also be sawdust, sandbox sand, dried beans, peas, shredded up newspaper, un-popped popcorn, aquarium gravel, cat litter or “yesterday’s news cat litter” made from recycled newspaper, pieces of quilt cotton batting, fiberfill pillow stuffing, polypropylene pellets used in beanie babies which are washable and nontoxic. Uncooked rice and feed corn is sometimes suggested for filling draft dodger snakes but is not recommended for homes with pet dogs or cats, and anyone experiencing trouble with mice should definitely not use corn or other grains as an organic filler for draft stoppers.

5 online resources where you can learn simple and easy ways of making adorable homemade drafter stoppers are:

Door Draft Blocker Snake Craft that Kids Can Make at CraftJr.com
Martha Stewart’s Draft Dodger Tutorial and Template at her website
20 Door Draft Snake Ideas for Do-It-Yourselfer’s at The Daily Green
15 Door Draft Stoppers, Dodgers, Snakes with FREE Patterns at TipNut (love this site!)
FREE Download, Printable DIY Door Draft Snake in PDF at VonFrau

Detailed, step-by-step “how to” instructions, pictures and printable tutorials to make your own door draft stoppers includes my personal favorite which is the “hot dog draft stop” snake I found on the craft stylish website, that I am in process of making into a Lab draft stopper.

Crafter’s and hobbyists can turn their homemade sewn, knitted or crocheted door draft stoppers into wonderful wintertime Christmas gifts, donate the draft stoppers to homeless shelters, senior citizens, low-income families in need, church groups, or even sell them online at Etsy.com or at craft sales or garage sales. Fun, easy to make, and best of all…appreciated.

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How to Make a Fleece Blanket Throw – No Sew Fleece Blanket Kits, Instructions and Patterns

Lin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:00:31 +0000

Making a fleece blanket is a quick and easy craft project, so easy that kids and grandchildren can make a no sew, hand tie fleece blanket in less than an hour or so. I’ve been making fleece blankets myself since the standard size throw blankets found in stores are just too small and thin for us to keep warm during cold winter months snuggled up on the couch watching football or movies.

The fleece blankets I usually make are extra large, extra long two layer polar fleece blankets, larger than the much smaller standard sizes. The single layer throw blankets typically found in stores are not thick enough, large enough or warm enough, so it just makes sense to make your own do-it-yourself blanket throws for added warmth.

No Sew Fleece Blanket Kits

As nice as some of the polar fleece throw blanket kits are that I’ve seen online and in stores like Joann Fabrics and Hancocks, more often than not the particular theme of the throw blanket is either for young kids and quite small, or the fabric for the throw blankets are downright ugly and don’t match our décor at all.

There are several blankets and throws that will make wonderful blankets for the kids and grand kids, in colors and Disney fabric styles they would like, and the pretty hand tied fringe and easy-to-follow kit instructions means these fleece blankets are an excellent craft project for grandparents to do with their grandchildren.

Patterns for fleece throw blankets are really not needed, since it’s just a matter of deciding how big or small the throw blanket should be for whomever the blanket is for and cutting the fleece fabric to that size. For a so-called throw blanket pattern, some people just use an old extra long twin blanket and cut the fabric to that size/length, and then cut the selvage edging to make the hand tied fringe to the 4-inch or 5-inch length.

I’ve heard of people using an old square or rectangle tablecloth they aren’t using anymore as a blanket pattern, or a folded out newspaper like I’ve used and making very cheap baby blankets out of flannel or fleece. Once I finish making all the polar fleece blankets I plan to make, I’m going to try my hand at making some quilt blankets with medium to heavyweight fleece, or maybe even make a fleece knotted patchwork blanket out of the fabric scraps left over.

How to Make a Fleece Blanket Throw or Hand Tied Throw Blanket

As fun and easy as the no sew fleece blankets are to make, I still want to use my sewing machine to sew fleece or flannel blankets with fancy stitched edges and crisscross stitching and satin borders. There isn’t enough time in the day or in my schedule to complete all the craft projects I want and plan to do as quickly as I’d like, so I’m making a list of how much polyester fleece (polar fleece) and flannel fabric I need to buy and have on hand for making single layer and double layer blankets and pillows.

How much fleece is needed to make a throw blanket all depends on the size throw blanket you want to make. Some recommendations are to make a homemade throw blanket is to measure and cut a 54 x 54 or 56 x 56 inch square of two pieces of coordinating fabric. For infant babies, one yard each of matching or coordinating fabric makes a good size double layer blanket, or just one yard of fabric for a single layer blanket.

Toddlers and older kids, 1 ½ to 1 ¾ yards of coordinating or matching fleece fabric is considered by some to be plenty for making a good size blanket for bigger kids. Of course, if a double layered blanket is what you’re planning to make, you’ll need to double the amount of fabric purchased to make a warm, two layer blanket.

Most suggestions for an adult size throw blanket say two yards of fabric is plenty for grownups, two yards for pattern fabric and two yards for a solid, coordinating color, for a total of 4 yards of polar fleece fabric. Grandpa’s fleece throw blanket needs to be bigger and longer than the standard size adult throw blanket in order for him to keep his arms, feet and toes warm under the blanket.

For the extra large throw blankets I make, I buy three yards each of wide fleece fabric, wider than the standard size fleece fabrics sold in some stores. Sometimes I buy a few extra bolts of polar fleece in solid colors and pattern styles, make the throw blankets and give them away to friends, family, give as homemade gifts for Christmas or Birthdays, and I’m planning to give some away to homeless shelters and charities.

Make Your Own Do It Yourself No Sew Fleece Blanket

To make your own homemade fleece throw blanket or afghan, assuming you’ve already bought your fabric and cut the fabric to the size you want, lay the two pieces of fabric together on top of each other with the right side of the fabric facing OUT. Since these throw blankets don’t require sewing, and there is no turning the fabric right side out after stitching seams together, there is no need to put the fabrics together right side to right side.

Using a 5 inch by 5 inch square piece of paper or cardboard, lay the square on one of the corners of your fabric layers. Cut out the first corner of fleece, being sure to cut through both layers of fabric with good quality cutting shears, then proceed to cut the remaining corners in the same way as the first corner.

To create the fringe edges, take your cutting shears (scissors) and cut fabric strips 4 or 5 inches in length and 1-inch wide around all four sides of your blanket. The length of fringe is up to you. Some people like 3 inch fringe, others 4 or 5 inch fringe, and still others like extra long fringe and cut their sections 6 inches in length. To make sure your fringe lengths are equal, you may want to use a measuring tape or yard stick to make sure each length is even with the rest.

Starting on one side of your fleece throw blanket, begin to tie knots into the fringe-cut fabric pieces, either using a basic overhand knot or simply tie knots as if you’re tying your shoelaces together. What style or kind of knot to tie is a personal choice; there is no right or wrong way to hand tie knots in blankets. If you want the throw blankets to be reversible once completed, tie every other strip on one side, and then flip the blanket over to the opposite side and finish tying the remaining fabric strips so the blanket is totally reversible.

Be careful not to pull too hard on the fabric strips so the fabric doesn’t stretch too much, or you end up pulling so hard the square or rectangle blanket becomes a circle shape. Washing instructions: Wash the finished throw blanket in cold water (not hot water) to prevent shrinking, and tumble dry on the dryer’s low setting or just hang the washed blanket to air dry.

If you’d like to see a few pictures of some of the large hand tied throw blankets I’ve made over the last few months, check them out here on Pinterest. Making these throw blankets is a lot of fun and so easy!

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Recycling Coffee – 25 Ways to Recycle Coffee Grounds

Lin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:00:44 +0000

There are many new and commonly known ways of recycling coffee grounds. Recycled coffee grounds is an effective way to become more eco-friendly by reducing landfill waste and lavish garden plants and vegetables with natural, nutrient-filled compost for gardens. It doesn’t matter what coffee brands you use, and I’ve even heard that using decaffeinated coffee grounds is okay for composting too.

Coffee drinkers who brew their own grounds know that a week’s worth of used grounds add up fast, and there is no better way to dispose of old coffee grounds than to recycle the grounds instead of simply throwing brewed grounds in the trash. We usually brew two pots of coffee each day, which adds up to a lot of used grounds in a weeks time, creating lots of waste.

Coffee grounds are rich with vitamins and minerals, containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and a slightly acidic pH level between 3.0 and 5.0. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with used coffee grounds from your filter coffee maker, here are some environmentally friendly ideas to consider.

It is not recommended to use coffee grounds in your kitchen or bathroom drains to unclog sinks, tubs or showers. Using coffee grounds to unclog kitchen sinks will only cause the grounds to adhere to grease in the drain and make the clogged sink worse.

How to Recycle Coffee Grounds

Keep a small container of used coffee grounds by your kitchen sink. Use wet or dry grounds with soap to scrub greasy hands, pots and pans, grill grates and greasy surfaces alike. The coffee grounds act as a natural scrub and rinses off easily, with no leftover residue.

Compost coffee grounds to enrich nutrient content, including coffee filters and tea bags, which break down quickly during composting. Dump used grounds into your existing compost pile or bin, or start a new one.

Used grounds are an effective, natural way to fertilize roses. Simply sprinkle coffee grounds on the soil around the stem of the rose bush, but don’t allow the grounds to touch the plant itself.

Old coffee grounds are great for a worm farm. If you raise earthworms for gardens or fish bait, feed the worms cool, used coffee grounds.

Coffee grounds make an excellent wood stain for craft projects. Re-brew a sizable amount of used coffee grounds, allowing the water to steep with grounds for several hours, until cool. Pour the grounds through a coffee filter to remove grounds for a homemade wood stain for crafts. The amount of water used determines how dark the stain will be.

Rub a handful of coffee grounds over hands after handling or cooking fish, chopping onions or garlic, to remove strong food odors.

Coffee grounds also exfoliates skin during hand washing, leaving your hands soft and supple with a slight coffee fragrance.

Deodorize your refrigerator and freezer with used coffee grounds in place of baking soda. Place wet coffee grounds in a small open container in the back of the refrigerator until dried.

Reuse grounds to make fresh pots of brewed coffee. Dry coffee grounds (don’t roast them) on a cookie sheet in the oven at 150 degrees for an hour. Mix old grounds with an equal amount of fresh grounds for your next few pots of coffee.

Coffee grounds can be used for stuffing inside pin cushions, keeping the pins and needles rust-free.

Reduce or eliminate odors by filling cheesecloth or nylon knee-high pantyhose with used, dried coffee grounds and use in closets, cars, kitchen cupboards, bathrooms etc.

Use coffee grounds as an inexpensive sink, tub or shower scrub that won’t scratch. Use steeped grounds and a cotton swab to touch up furniture scratches.

Used grounds make a very cheap skin facial pack – similar to a mud pack. Mix Â¼ grinds with one egg white and gently massage onto your face. Grounds are also good for skin dermabrasion.

Coffee and henna mixed together are sometimes used to create homemade, temporary tattoos. Tattoo fans sometimes use this method to make dye for permanent tattoos as well, but the safety of this idea is questionable.

Coffee grounds work well as a natural pest control for trees, cutworms and ants. Ants will not cross rings of coffee grounds. Create a ring of coffee grounds near entryways, doorframes, windows and window sills (anywhere you may have an ant problem) to keeps the pests out.

Coffee grounds sprinkled around your yard appears to work well to deter cats from doing their business in your yard or ruin your garden. Cats hate the smell of coffee and citrus smells. Mix coffee grounds well with used orange peels and spread the mixture around your yard and the surrounding area of your garden as a natural cat repellant.

Reuse coffee grounds as a natural, organic plant fertilizer. Sprinkle coffee grounds around the base of indoor potted houseplants, outdoor plants, flowers and gardens, then dig them in a little.

Grounds can also be sprinkled directly on your lawn. Sprinkle on “bald spots” in your yard. After a few days, you will notice the grass is growing and spreading into a lush green lawn.

Apply coffee grounds directly to acid-loving plants and bushes (such as azaleas, rhododendrons, ferns, roses, palm trees, laurels, gardenias, blueberries, cranberries, oaks, and spruces) as an organic coffee-ground mulch.

As a pest control agent, it has been found that slugs and snails (common garden pests in cooler climates) don’t like caffeine. Studies have shown that using a spray solution with high levels of caffeine, such as 1 or 2 percent, kills off 60 to 95 percent of slugs. A 1% solution kills 60% of slugs while a 2% solution kills 95% of all slugs. The 2% solution has been found to be more effective than the chemical normally used in slug control, known as metaldehyde.

Reuse grounds to dye clothing brown, tie dye t-shirts, paper and even Easter eggs. Coffee grounds can also be used to make homemade crafting dough for kids projects instead of plain flour and water.

Make natural, chemical-free, liquid fertilizer from old coffee grounds by mixing one half pound can of coffee grounds into a 5-gallon container of water. Allow the grounds/water mixture to sit outdoors to achieve ambient temperature. Diluting coffee grounds with water creates an excellent, cheap liquid fertilizer for indoor and outdoor plants, trees, shrubs and bushes.

Make your fireplace go green. Fireplace logs made from used coffee grounds emits less carbon dioxide than manufactured logs, while also helping to reduce landfill waste. Java-Log is an eco-friendly fire log made from coffee grounds and recycled materials (instead of timber) and these fire logs burn cleaner than traditional wood logs or store-bought fireplace logs.

Throw old grounds on the ashes in your fireplace before cleaning it out, which helps reduce fireplace dust from spreading.

Use spent grounds as an organic flea dip for dogs by rubbing coffee grounds mixed with water on your pet.

Even if you don’t brew coffee at home, you can still reap the benefits by visiting your local coffee shop and ask for their spent coffee grounds. Starbucks coffee shops are active in contributing used coffee grounds to customers for personal gardening use through its free “Grounds For Your Garden” program.

Many Starbucks locations have bags filled with coffee grounds at or near the front door in a basket for people to take at no cost. The Starbucks website says used coffee grounds are also available for city parks and playgrounds.

You can find many more alternative tricks and unique tips on recycling coffee grounds and other household items from magazines, DVD movies, books on recycling and living green HERE, at your local book store or the library.

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Beginner Baby Blankets – How to Make a Baby Blanket – Easy Baby Blanket Sewing Patterns

Lin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:40 +0000

As a sewing beginner and the recipient of one of the best sewing machines on the market, I’ve jumped head-first into finding a variety of sewing craft projects that are simple and easy to do. Baby blankets! Baby blankets are simple, easy things to make for beginners like me.

Considering the fact that a baby blanket is a simple square or rectangular shaped sewing project, I figured there wasn’t much chance of making a baby blanket that wouldn’t turn out cute and usable. Even if I had to rip out out seams and start all over again until I got it just how I wanted the baby blanket to look. To date, I’ve made three very easy baby blankets in pink and other pastel colors with flannel fabric since flannel isn’t stretchy, and another blanket out of soft, stretchy fleece material.

Like other sewing beginners who aren’t quite sure how to make baby blankets that would look professionally made vs obviously homemade blankets, I went on a search for baby blanket patterns in order to get different ideas on various ways to make receiving blankets for baby girls and boys. Fortunately, I didn’t spend any money buying blanket patterns because a store-bought pattern is not needed.

To make a baby blanket the easy way, I just used a newspaper folded out all the way as my pattern, added a couple inches to my “pattern” for the cuddly fleece baby blanket because I wanted it to be larger than those found in stores. It’s typically recommended to make a baby blanket with two yards of different but coordinating print fabrics (or solid colors), which is then cut into two equal one-yard measurements.

One of these days I’ll get around to making a quilt baby blanket with batting or a large throw blanket for keeping snuggly warm in the winter while watching tv with Grandpa. For now, I’m doing good to use up all the purchased fabrics for blankets for our grandchildren and the leftover batting from when we reupholstered our dining room chairs.

Beginner Baby Blankets Instructions

It can be intimidating for sewing beginners to start making any craft projects, but let me tell you, if I can make a baby blanket after not touching a sewing machine since high school, anyone can sew a baby blanket together and have it turn out looking great.

Having made a few blankets out of stretchy and non-stretchy fabrics, I would suggest first making a couple flannel baby blankets or receiving blankets before trying to make a fleece baby blanket with stretchy material, but it’s just a recommendation.

Things needed for making easy baby blankets for beginners are:

Sewing machine or serger (of course)
2 yards flannel fabric cut into 1 yard measurements. Solid color fabrics or coordinating prints for double-sided, reversible baby blankets (fleece or quilting fabric – whatever fabric you wish to use)
Matching or coordinating thread
Good quality fabric shears
Newspaper or baby blanket pattern
Iron (to iron out/press out very wrinkled fabrics)
Straight pins

How to Make Easy Baby Blankets for Beginners

Prewash/preshrink your fabric. Iron the fabric to remove big noticeable wrinkles. Trim off the rough salvages or any fraying edges with your good cutting shears.

On a hard flat surface, place a one-yard piece of flannel fabric, right side up. Next, lay the second piece of one-yard flannel material on top of the first piece of fabric, right side down.

Carefully pin the two layers of fabric together, approximately one inch apart (or so), all the way around the two fabric sections until fully secured together. Sewing beginners should not skip this step, but the more experienced you become and feeling more confident in your sewing skills, you may choose to skip pinning the fabric together.

Using a straight stitch and a ¼ inch seam allowance, begin sewing along the edge in the middle section of one side. Don’t start sewing at a corner because you’re going to have to turn the fabric right side out, and if you’re not careful, you’ll find you’ve sewn the blanket fabric together completely and will have to rip out at least part of the seam in order to flip the fabric through to the right side.

Sew the first fabric edge until you come to the ¼ inch corner edge and are ready to shift and turn the fabric. Without cutting the thread, lift the presser foot on your sewing machine and turn the fabric, sew the second edge of the flannel using the same ¼ inch seam allowance, then repeat for the third edge.

For the fourth and last edge, only sew about half to ¾ along the edge, leaving a section of fabric not sewn together large enough to fit your hand through to turn the blanket right side out. When you’ve stopped sewing, reverse stitch three or four backward stitches to secure the seam, then forward three or four stitches and stop. Cut the thread.

Turn the baby blanket right side out, being sure to poke out the corner points with your fingertips. Smooth out the receiving blanket and corner edges, or use your not-too-hot iron to carefully smooth and flatten the blanket.

Turn under the area of fabric where you reached in and pulled the baby blanket through to the front side, and pin this area together every inch or so until secured. You’re going to sew the baby blanket again, but not on the same side your initial stitching was done. Sew all the way around the receiving blanket like previously done, including the pinned section not yet sewn (where you pulled the blanket through), using an 1/8 seam allowance if possible, so the initial stitching is not weakened.

Remember to back stitch at the beginning of the stitched seam and at the end when nearly completed. Make sure you’ve sewn all the way around all four sides of the baby blanket before back stitching or cutting the thread. Now, admire your finished receiving blanket and congratulate yourself for a job well done.

That’s what making an easy baby blanket is all about. My first homemade baby blanket is pictured above. Once you’ve made a few receiving blankets like this, step up the difficulty factor to include adding a fancy satin or lace edge to the blanket, or try making a fleece baby blanket with super soft and super stretchy fleece fabric.

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Best Sewing Machines and Sewing Machines For Beginners Consumer Reports Reviews

Lin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:00:04 +0000

What are the best sewing machines for adults, or in my case, sewing machines for beginners? My sewing experience is pretty much reduced to Home Economics class in High School many years ago, not counting typical mending, hemming or button replacement sewing done over the years. Mentioning my Christmas wish for a good quality sewing machine and sewing machine accessories to family and friends brought some humorous joking, with several teasing me that I’m officially a Grandma now because I wanted to buy a sewing machine.

Choosing the right kind of sewing machine for what I want to do as a sewer required educating myself on all the different brands of sewing machines to pick the best one for me, and of course reading consumer reviews and ratings. Consumer Reports Magazine or the CR website is often the first place I look when researching product reviews and recommendations, even though I use a few other online resources and compare the information to make a final, informed decision.

Sewing Machine Brands

According to CR, the most popular brands of sewing machines are Singer, Brother and Kenmore, selling about 70% of all sewing machine units. It came as a surprise to me to find that there are so many different brands of home sewing machines, with many brand names listed most people have never heard of. Bernina and Husqvarna Viking brands are gaining in popularity, making the list of the top 5 best selling sewing machines that are loaded with great features that sewing beginners and more experienced sewers appreciate.

Good quality, basic sewing machines can be bought for under 200 dollars, which are designed to handle most clothing and crafts projects, especially for kids or teens wanting a beginner’s sewing machine. The more expensive, top-of-the-line sewing machines offer many more options, including automated functions, producing professional-quality projects and designs, even if you don’t know how to sew and are just a beginner or intermediate sewer.

Best Sewing Machines For You

Buying the best sewing machine for you and your needs all depends on what type of sewing machine you need and what you plan to do with it. Craft projects, embroidery, quilting, making clothes, hats and outfits, baby blankets for grandchildren etc may require sewing machine models with different features than the cheap, basic models. Sewing machines for quilting make quilt assembly easier with a long-arm feature, with many quilter’s giving praise to quilting machines made by Singer, Bernina, Husqvarna Viking, Janome and Pfaff.

There are different types of sewing machines and a wide variety of price ranges to choose from. Mechanical sewing machines are very basic, less expensive sewing machines, controlled by a rotary wheel, where any necessary adjustment to thread tension, or the width or length of the stitches is made by moving a dial by hand. Mechanical models would work just fine for occasional sewers or if you’re on a strict budget needing a cheap sewing machine. Mechanical machines remind me of my mother and grandmother’s sewing machines, very old-fashioned machines with a foot pedal, lacking the updated or modern features today’s sewers want.

Electronic sewing machines is a step up from mechanical sewing machines in that electronic machines have some functions that can be accomplished simply by pushing a button, and have a number of motors for completing a variety of duties, running of course by electricity. If you are a frequent sewer and can afford to spend a little more money on a quality sewing machine, an electric model may be fine for you.

After comparing different electronic sewing machines with computerized sewing machines and the functions of each kind, it’s no surprise to me that computerized machines are what most serious sewers, seamstresses, quilting, serging and embroidery sewing hobbyists opt for.

Computerized sewing machines give more bang for the buck, so to speak. Besides the options and features found in electronic machines, computerized machine units offer the ability to do so much more. Monogramming, quilting, embroidery for craft projects like bedspreads, blankets, pillowcases, and so much more.

Choosing the best sewing machine for you (or me) not only depends on current skill levels and budget, but also considering how the sewing machine may possibly be used in the future with improved sewing skills. Considering the fact that most people typically keep a sewing machine for ten years or more, and while I don’t have any immediate plans to become an expert in quilting or embroidery, I want to make sure that I buy the best sewing machine now, thus allowing me to do everything I want to do and not have to upgrade to a better model later on.

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Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific Shampoo and Conditioner For Sale

Lin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:00:14 +0000

Back in the 70’s and early 80’s, the best smelling shampoo and conditioner was believed by some to be Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific by the Andrew Jergens Company. Jergens may have discontinued the very popular smelling shampoo and conditioner, but Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific (GYHST) is still available in the U.S. to buy if you know where to look.

I can still vividly remember the commercial for Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific, and the fragrant floral and spicy smell would last all day and night after washing and drying my hair. Teenage girls and young women loved the shampoo and conditioner but all of a sudden and without warning or explanation, neither the shampoo or the conditioner could be found in grocery stores or on pharmacy drug store shelves. Whatever happened to the Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo and conditioner that we all loved so much, is a question many have wondered ever since the products disappeared from sight.

About a year or two ago Grandpa (aka my husband) and I were discussing a variety of men’s colognes, women’s perfumes, shampoo and conditioner hair products that are no longer available but we wish they were. Grandpa mentioned how much he missed Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific by Jergens, and I was quite surprised because it hadn’t occurred to me that some guys would like the smell of the shampoo and conditioner as much as ladies did, or especially that teenage boys or grown men might want to wash their own hair with GYHST.

The fact that Grandpa remembered Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific from so many years ago, and his reminiscing and wishing we could buy some got me thinking about other retro hair products like Clairol Herbal Essence, the original Agree shampoo and conditioner, Prell shampoo, Body on Tap, LemonUp, Short and Sassy, and Protein 21. I haven’t seen Prell in stores for awhile now, but I do remember a hairstylist once telling me that Prell is so strong it will remove dark hair dye and red streaks from hair, and is harsh enough to strip off floor wax so it should never be used to wash hair.

I could tell from our conversation that Grandpa really wanted to buy Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific at least one more time for old times sake, so I searched online for places where I could purchase some for him and surprise him with a bottle or two just because. I loved the smell of Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific too and thought it would be fun to find out if our old favorite shampoo still smelled the same, and if the Original Herbal Essence shampoo and conditioner by Clairol was available anywhere, so the hunt for GYHST began.

It didn’t take me long to find new bottles of Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific online at a couple of different websites, and when I saw the whopping price of $14.95 plus shipping for just one 12 ounce bottle of shampoo or conditioner, I nearly fell off my chair. Fortunately, I was able to find the same size bottles of the shampoo and conditioner at a discounted rate on an eBay “buy it now” listing at a much lower cost than other places, so I bought him two of the larger bottles of the Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo and two big bottles of the conditioner.

Even after paying for shipping, I still paid less on that sale than if I had bought them directly from the online website who now sells the products almost exclusively. I say almost exclusively because sometimes hair care products like “Gee, Your Hair Smells…” can be found at Amazon or on eBay, but it’s been quite awhile since I tried to research where to find Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific for sale online.

As soon as Grandpa opened his “just because” gift of the shampoo and conditioner, the big smile on his face and shocked expression that Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific is still available after all these years said it all. Even though Grandpa wouldn’t mind at all if I decided to use a little of his shampoo and/or conditioner from time to time, the fact that the shampoo has alcohol in it and seems to make hair very dry and possibly cause hair breakage, I think I’ll pass. I’ve finally managed to get my hair looking and feeling very healthy with a brand new hairstyle, and I don’t want to mess that up.

Grandpa and I laughed out loud a few days ago when we found a new catalog from The Vermont Country Store in our mailbox and started flipping through the catalog right away to see what new and obscure items they may have added. The Vermont Country Store carries many previously discontinued items including the Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific shampoo and conditioner hair products and some of the weirdest, hard to find items you could imagine.

The Vermont Country Store is currently running a special on Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific for 3 or more 12 oz bottles at $9.95 each, so that totals up to a whopping thirty bucks for either the shampoo or the conditioner, but you’re going to want both. As a special one time thing or as a very unique Christmas stocking idea, Jergens popular shampoo sure made Grandpa a very happy man. Grandpa still has an almost completely full bottle of GYHST conditioner and shampoo, so I won’t be buying him any new bottles anytime soon, but the blast from the past brought up a lot of fun memories for both of us.

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