Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!

DIY Yellow Ruler Growth Chart - Little Acorns By Ro

2013-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

This post is sponsored by Little Acorns by Ro

If you have spent any time on Pinterest, you've probably seen these awesome growth charts that look like giant rulers. I love that they are both beautiful and functional, and have the potential to become treasured heirloom pieces with your children's heights carefully marked off over the years.

When Rosanna from Little Acorns by Ro asked me to develop a project using her vinyl ruler decals, I jumped at the chance. We brainstormed a few ideas and ultimately decided to make a classic, yellow schoolhouse ruler with the words "HASKE & SONS est. 2001" (I chose the year we were married as our established date).

I am blown away by the finished growth chart! The vinyl decals give it such a professional look and were sooo much easier to apply than attempting to hand paint each tick mark and number. They are priced very reasonably, so if you've been looking for the perfect handmade baby shower gift, this is it!

Classic Yellow School Ruler

Growth Chart Tutorial

Materials
6ft piece of 1x8 wood board
White primer
Yellow interior/exterior flat paint (7.25 fl oz. sample size)
Spray varnish, satin finish
Antiquing medium
Growth Chart Ruler Vinyl Decals
Custom Name Vinyl Decal

Tools
Sandpaper
Paint roller
Tape measure
Pencil
Scissors
Stiff card or popsicle stick
Dry rag
Damp rag
Sawtooth picture hanger
Small nails/brads
Hammer

See the how-to after the jump!

Before I give you the how-to, I want to note that while this is an easy project, it does take several days to complete because of drying times. Make sure that if you are planning on making this as a gift that you give yourself several days to get it done!

Prepare and Paint the Board

I used a 6-foot long piece of 1x8 (1-inch thick, 8-inches wide) wooden board. Since I was painting the board, I didn't go for the good stuff and chose "common board" at Home Depot. I did, however, try to find a piece with the fewest number of knots in it.

I lightly sanded the whole board, then primed the front and sides, leaving the back (the part that will face the wall) plain.

When the primer was dry, I used a paint roller to apply three coats of yellow paint (I used a shade called Twenty Carat). Yellow can be tricky because it is usually somewhat translucent, so make sure you have enough!

Now, this is super important, allow the paint to dry and cure for 48 hours. If you don't the vinyl decals may not adhere properly to the board, and the whole thing could be messed up, so be patient and wait the full 48 hours!

Prepare the Vinyl Decals

The vinyl decals from Little Acorns by Ro come with a very clear instruction sheet telling you how to measure, mark and place your decals. Since the growth chart will be hanging above the ground, the ruler should not start at Zero. Instead, we'll place the 1 foot line at 4" above the bottom edge of the board and continue to mark every 12 inches. This way, we can hang the growth chart on the wall, 8 inches off of the floor. So, lightly mark along the left side at 4", 16", 28", 40", 52" and 64".

Place the decal sheets along the edge of the board, with each long tick mark at the pencil marks you just made. (Don't peel anything yet, we're just laying it out right now). The final sheet should hang over the edge of the board with three tick marks hanging over. Cut them off and bring them to the bottom of the board, placing it one inch below the first tick mark you placed at 4".

Center your custom name decal, if you have one, below the ruler marks.

If everything looks dandy, you're ready to stick down the decals!

Place the Vinyl Decals

Take your first decal strip and flip it over so it is backing paper side up (the side with the grid). Keeping it on a flat surface, sllloooowwwllly peel off the backing paper, making sure the tick marks stay stuck to the transfer paper.

When the backing paper is all the way off with the decals are sticky side up, flip the paper over and carefully place the decals along the edge of the board. Make sure the longest tick mark is right on top of your pencil mark. You don't want to pick it up again, or it will lose it's stickiness, so be careful and get it right the first time :)

Press down with your hands first, then take a stiff card or popsicle stick and rub over the transfer paper to really stick the decal down and eliminate and tiny air bubbles. I used a card here, but later switched to a popsicle/craft stick and I found that easier. A bone folder would probably work well, too.

Slowly peel back the transfer paper. If the decal starts to peel up, you'll need to go over it again. Continue along the edge of the board until all tick marks are placed.

Using the same transfer method, add the numbers just to the left of the longest tick marks and the custom name decals.

At this point, you *could* be done. If you want a clean, modern look, then finish up with a couple of coats of spray-on varnish and skip down to how to hang the growth chart. If you want an antique finish, read on!

Adding an Antique Finish

I used Folk Art/Plaid Antiquing Medium #811. Have ready a paint brush, a dry rag and a slightly damp rag.

Working in one small area at a time, paint on the antiquing medium. Take the dry rag and rub it off. It takes awhile for it to dry, so don't freak out if you get a spot too dark. Just use the damp rag to rub off more of the medium and lighten it up. Be careful when you rub the medium off over the vinyl decals so you don't accidentally peel them off.

Step back periodically and look at the overall effect to make sure you are happy with the results as you are working. Also, remember to add antiquing medium to the sides. I made it a little bit darker in the corners and along the edges, too. When you're finished, allow 24 hours for the medium to dry completely. Finally, add 2-3 coats of spray-on varnish with a satin finish, drying for the recommended time between coats. Follow the instructions on the varnish. Most likely, you will need at least 4 hours of drying time.

How to Accurately Hang Your Growth Chart

Now you need to hang your growth chart exactly 8" off the floor. The best way to do this is to place your hanging hardware in a precise spot on the back of your chart. For this step, you will need a sawtooth picture hanger, small nails/brads, measuring tape, a pencil, and a hammer. Important: Make sure your nails are not long enough to go through the board and pop out of the front. That would stink!

Place your tape measure along the back of the board with the 8" mark lined up exactly at the bottom of the chart. Near the top of the board, make a light pencil mark at 72", or 6-feet.

Now, place your tape measure across the width of the board across the mark you just made. Most likely, your 8" board is not actually 8", so figure out where the center is and mark that spot with a pencil, crossing over your previous mark. If you look on the other side of the board, this mark should be right at the 6-ft. hash mark.

Place the sawtooth picture hanger so that the center dip is right over the pencil mark and hammer it in place.

To hang it on the wall, measure up from the floor and mark the wall exactly 72", or 6-feet, up from the floor. If you have drywall, you'll want to anchor a screw into the wall, otherwise hammer a nail at the spot 6-feet off of the ground and hang your growth chart!

And you're done! You now have an awesome, giant yellow schoolhouse ruler hanging in your house and all your friends will be totally jealous of you and your mad crafting skillz.

Thanks again to Little Acorns by Ro for sponsoring this post and for this gorgeous piece of art hanging on our wall! Be sure to check out her shop on Etsy for more ideas, and pick up some vinyl decals for your own project!

Teacher Appreciation Door - We Think You're Super!

2013-05-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

I had to throw together something cute and fast for this year's teacher appreciation door (you can see last year's here). I decided to go with a super hero theme.
I almost got caught putting this up, too! As I was getting out of my car with a big bag of clouds and paper and clothespins, I saw Huck's teacher walking to her car. EEP! I ducked down and crouched under my dashboard. I don't think she ever saw me, but I felt really silly hiding in my car! At least I knew for sure that she was gone for the day!

My husband pitched in and made the buildings out of kraft and construction paper. The clouds are made of poly batting, and each one has a silver lining made from tissue paper. I clipped everything to some baker's twine with simple wood clothespins, but it was a windy day and this door is on the outside of the school, so I had to tape everything down, anyway. Here's a close up of the top portion:

Monster Sleep Masks Tutorial on Spoonful!

2013-05-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

I just uploaded a tutorial for these cute Monster Sleep Masks to Spoonful. Head on over for the PDF template and instructions to make your own. They are a really easy sewing project. Great for kids who are learning how to sew!

Latest from Spoonful!

2013-05-08T16:29:00.001-07:00

I have been awful about sharing my latest posts from Spoonful here! Here are my latest projects and round-ups since the last time I updated! Click on the photos or titles to see the full posts and how-tos!

Fill-in-the-blank Mother's Day Poems

These fill-in-the-blank Mother's Day poems will melt mom's heart (and make her giggle).

Mad for Plaid: 10 DIY Carfts

Plaid is back in a big way. (Did it ever really go away?) Check out these 10 crafts that feature this hot trend

5 Homemade Grass Stain removers Put to the Test

I tried out 5 homemade grass stain-remover recipes. See which ones really work.

Mixed Up Family Magnets

Mix and match your family's faces with this fun craft!

Marshmallow Note Guy

A funny and creative way to leave a lunchbox note from Mom.

But, wait! There's more! Also check out these posts:

17 DIY Musical Instruments

14 Easy + Cute Grass Garden Projects

20 Fine Motor Skills Activities for Preschoolers

Sparkling Lemonade & Mixed Berry Gelatin

Homemade Goo Remover

Calming Glitter Bottles

5 Easy Tips to Style Everyday Food Like a Pro

13 Craft Table Must Haves

8 Festive Mini Piñata Ideas for Cinco de Mayo

Eat Make Grow - Picnics - May 2013

2013-05-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this month’s Eat Make Grow Blog Hop where you share what you have been eating with your family, growing in your garden or making with all your creative impulses. Eat Make Grow is a collective link party that is shared across three blogs and runs every first Thursday and goes for 20 days. Whichever blog that you choose to link up your post, it will show up on all three sites! Eat Make Grow is a way to share with many people posts about your domestic doings, whether that’s growing veggies, hosting parties, sewing, mixing up cleaning supplies, or trying out a new recipe. We want to learn about it! Every month, we will feature the most popular link, one chosen by the the host and a group favorite.

Your Hosts:
Foy from Garden. Cook. Write. Repeat.
Miranda from Pocket Pause
Marigold from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!

We’re not big fans of rules so there are just two of them:
1. Link up posts telling us how you cooked it, made it or grew it with your own hands. Eat Make Grow is about sharing our projects. Please no advertising, propaganda, corporate giveaways or information-only articles. We may remove links if they aren't on topic.
2. Please link your posts back to one of the hosting blogs.This is a common blog hop courtesy. This link helps build the Eat Make Grow community by sending your readers to all of the other participants' posts.We will feature three posts each month and we will only consider posts that have a link back. A text link is fine, or you can grab our button and put it anywhere on your blog:

This month your host is Foy from Garden. Cook. Write. Repeat.

Hi, everybody!

It is finally starting starting to look like spring here in Indiana. Our weeping cherry tree is laden with pale pink blooms and the rhubarb seems to double in size daily. I've heard a couple people have found morels and I'm ready to go out and harvest the wild onions known as ramps! When the weather is nice it seems a shame to be indoors any time you don't have to which is why picnics are the theme for this month. Share any crafts, recipes or projects that work for outdoor dining!

Last months April fails were excellent reads. I learned a surprising amount and even found myself calling my husband over to check out some of your antics. I even got distracted for a good long while looking through Pinterest Fail websites. This list of 20 Pinterest Fails from Bored Panda was by far the most entertaining. Some of your blog posts surely could have made this list.

The most clicked post was:

photo: www.betterwithjune.com

The Great Cookie Bowl Adventure from Better with June

Corey recounts her attempt to make cookie bowls. The worst part was the magnificent mess. At least she made the best of it by using the cookie crumbs she pried off the pan to make an inside out cookie bowl.

photo: www.budgetfairytale.com

I've been eyeing these Mod Podge glitter shoe tutorial showing up on Pinterest. It sounds like such a perfect way to rejuvenation a shoe that's too scuffed up to be presentable. Or in Mindy's case to make her wedding shoes! Although as she points out in her post When Good DIY Goes Bad - Glitter Shoes, you might not get it right the first time. It had not occurred to me that the color of the soul of shoe doesn't get podged so it had better be a color you want.

I appreciated learning along with you guys. If you aren't failing you aren't trying, am I right?

Mini Piñata Tutorial - Cinco de Mayo Dancing Girls!

2013-04-29T17:21:00.002-07:00

I have always loved the colorful dresses worn by the dancers at Cinco de Mayo celebrations, and I thought it would be cute to make some mini piñatas that look like the dancers. Your guests would love to find one of these lovely ladies sitting at each place setting for your Cinco de Mayo party. They could easily be adapted for other celebrations, too. Imagine them in soft pink for a ballerina party, or in natural tones with fairy wings. So many adorable possibilities! Check out the full tutorial and more pictures after the jump!

Mini Piñatas Tutorial

Materials & Supplies
Empty toilet paper carboard tubes
Tissue paper
Masking tape
White glue
Scissors
Small candies & prizes

Layer three 3-inch squares of tissue paper and Cut out a circle of tissue paper that is slightly larger than the opening of the cardboard toilet paper tube. This pic shows you an easy way to do that.

Place the layered circles of tissue paper over one end of the t.p. tube and wrap a 6" piece of masking tape all around the edges.

Fill the open end of the tube with small candies and prizes.

Repeat the process using circles of tissue paper in black to seal the other end. Make sure you don't put your masking tape flush with the edge of the cardboard tube-you want to let the black hang down over the edge just a little bit. Your t.p. tube should now look like this.

Make the bottom layer of the skirt. Cut a 6" piece of masking tape put it sticky-side up on the table. Tape a fringed piece of tissue paper for it. (For metallic tissue like this one, make sure you place it shiny-side down). Fold a long (maybe 11" x 4") piece of tissue paper in half lengthwise and cut scallops along the open end. Stick the folded end to the tape just above the fringed tissue, gently pleating every inch or so.

Wrap the tape around the bottom of the t.p. tube and let it hang off the bottom by about 1/4". Remember to keep all of your seams in the back by starting at ending at the same place.

Open up the double layer of tissue the orange tissue pictured above), gently spreading and pushing it up so that it flares out from the base.

Make a second layer of the skirt the same way. This time I cut out bunting-style triangles instead of fringe, and I used a wider and longer piece of red tissue, pleating it every 1/2" instead of every 1" to make it a fuller layer.

Tape it above the bottom skirt layer and flair it out by separating the layers of tissue paper. The skirt is finished!

Now let's make the bodice. Cut a 6" x 3" rectangle of tissue and fold it in half lengthwise to get a 6" x 1.5" rectangle. Apply white glue to the t.p. tube and then wrap the tissue all the way around with the folded edge touching the top of the skirt and being sure to cover up any visible masking tape.

Add a ruffle or fringe piece to the top of the bodice. Using a 6" piece of masking tape, sticky side up, place the fringe close to the edge of the tape and then wrap it around the tube. The masking tape should go over the masking tape that was already there holding the black hair piece in place.

Make some hair and hair accessories. You can just scrunch up black tissue, or try this method to make a pretty poof. Fold a long rectangle of tissue in half and fringe along the folded edge. Then roll it up and fluff the loops. Use white glue to stick the hair pieces to the top of the tube.

A simple fan fold glued behind the hair piece makes a petty hair accessory. Experiment with different styles! The eyelashes are small fringed pieces of tissue that have been curled by gently running the blade of a pair of scissors along the fringe. Glue the eyelashes and a snippit of red tissue for a mouth piece to the masking tape. Using a toothpick or tweezers may help if you have trouble handling the tiny pieces.

All done! And here a a couple more pics with better views of her beautiful dancing sisters:

Now, I know you're thinking that you'd hate to bust these gals open, but if you punch in the tissue paper from the bottom and remove the prizes from there, you won't even notice. Of course, if you want to whack at them with a chopstick, or something, that's cool, too!

A Not-So Stylish Surprise and the Messy Dye Job

2013-04-19T16:47:00.001-07:00

Every once in the while I like to roll the dice, just to remind myself that in games of chance I'm always a loser. A little while ago, ModCloth offered a deal called A Stylish Surprise where for $15 (non-returnable) + shipping you would get a piece of clothing valued between $30-$300. I like a lot of ModCloth's stuff, and I thought maybe I would get lucky and get something super cute or interesting at the very least, but what ended up on my doorstep was mostly meh.
It was one of those boho dresses that you can buy at craft fairs for $15. It is a knit t-shirt material that is really, really thin--you can see my underwear right through it. I will be surprised if it lasts a whole season. Still, it was very comfortable, and the fit was right on, so I thought maybe it had some potential. Unfortunately, it was also a really bland sand color with green-ish undertones that looked really awful against my skin. I put it on and took it off several times because I felt so washed out and sickly-looking in it.
So I decided to dye it and see if I could salvage it. The end result is better, but eeesh. What a mess!

So, first of all, I should say that I live in an apartment complex with shared laundry facilities. That made in-laundry dying impossible (or, at least impolite). Since the dress already had a sandy base color, I thought a raspberry would have a chance of turning out okay. I researched a few dyes, and read that Rit dyes (which are the most common kind that you can buy in the grocery store and stuff) didn't have great reviews for reds and colorfastness. I decided to go for Jaquard Procion MX cold-water dye in Fuchsia since it had great reviews.

I haven't messed with dying clothes since doing tie-dye in middle school, so this was totally new to me. You have to mix dye powder with salt in warm tap water, and then add soda ash and stir it all up for a long time. It was really messy. And with the deep purpley red, it kind of looked like a Psycho scene in my shower stall. I don't know if I would be willing to do this again unless I was dying a LOT of clothes. I did end up tossing in an old t-shirt that was also an unflattering sand color and a gray skirt that had faded and had a little oil stain that never came out. Both of those came out great and will have new life in my wardrobe.

As for this dress, I think it looks a lot better now. The overall color is a dusty mauve and the embroidered details are a bright fuchsia. I may change out the buttons if I'm not lazy.

I was hoping the darker color would offer more coverage for the see-through material, but it is not much better in that department. Because of that, I think it is probably destined to be a beach cover-up dress. Or maybe I'll cut off the weird fairy-point hemline and turn it into a tank top since the embroidery along the top is pretty and provides more coverage. I mean, I don't mind being able to see my bra a little, but my pantywares are a different story. I briefly considered becoming a thong person, but at 35 I think I'm too much an old dog for that new trick.

Ultimately, I think that from now on I'll just spend the extra few bucks to buy something that looks good right off the bat.

#SONP2013 is coming

Join the SONP Google + Community!

Eat Make Grow Blog Hop - Fails - April 2013

2013-04-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this month’s Eat Make Grow Blog Hop where you share what you have been eating with your family, growing in your garden or making with all your creative impulses. Eat Make Grow is a collective link party that is shared across three blogs and runs every first Thursday and goes for 20 days. Whichever blog that you choose to link up your post, it will show up on all three sites! Eat Make Grow is a way to share with many people posts about your domestic doings, whether that’s growing veggies, hosting parties, sewing, mixing up cleaning supplies, or trying out a new recipe. We want to learn about it! Every month, we will feature the most popular link, one chosen by the the host and a group favorite.

Your Hosts:
Miranda from Pocket Pause
Foy from Garden. Cook. Write. Repeat.
Marigold from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!

We’re not big fans of rules so there are just two of them:
1. Link up posts telling us how you cooked it, made it or grew it with your own hands. Eat Make Grow is about sharing our projects. Please no advertising, propaganda, corporate giveaways or information-only articles. We may remove links if they aren't on topic.
2. Please link your posts back to one of the hosting blogs.This is a common blog hop courtesy. This link helps build the Eat Make Grow community by sending your readers to all of the other participants' posts.We will feature three posts each month and we will only consider posts that have a link back. A text link is fine, or you can grab our button and put it anywhere on your blog:

This month your host is Marigold from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!
Hi, everybody! April's Eat Make Grow theme is one I think we can all relate to: FAILS! This should be a fun one! In honor of April Fool's Day we want to see what happens when things go wrong in your kitchens, craft rooms and gardens. We're looking for glitter mishaps, pot roast tragedies and rotten tomatoes. We can't all be Martha, all the time, so link up at the end of this post with the worst of the worst!

We had fun going through all of the Spring themed links from March. I hope is is actually starting to feel like spring where you live!
Here are the Eat Make Grow featured posts from March with the theme "Spring":

photo: http://www.thehobbyroomdiaries.com/

Our Most Clicked post comes from The Hobby Room Diaries. Jody shares an easy tutorial about making your own Newspaper Seed Starting Pots. A little folding, a dab of glue, and you're ready to get your spring garden started!

photo: http://www.mamamiss.com/

Shamrock Shakes are a guilty pleasure of mine. Every March, I drive-thru McDonald's way, way more often than is reasonable and/or healthy. I do it secretly, when my kids are in school, so they don't have to witness their mother on a minty sugar high. I'm a junkie for the Green Magic, as we call it on the street. (Not really. Nobody calls it that.) So when I saw this Leprechaun Shake on Mama Miss, I had to make it my Host's Pick. It is made with lowfat milk and frozen yogurt. Maybe this is my chance to get clean. She has a diary-free version, too. I'm not ready for that, though. Baby steps.

photo: http://www.deeprootsathome.com/

And finally, our Group Pick is from Deep Roots at Home. Jacqueline writes about starting a Straw Bale Urban Garden with great links to resources and inspiration for starting an above ground garden with a straw bale base. This is a great way to start a garden if you have space limitations or use a sunny spot that may not have ideal soil conditions. She also shares the beautiful melons and berries she has successfully grown in her own straw bale gardens.

Is one of these featured posts yours? Grab our “Featured Blogger” button to post on your blog and show off how cool you are. You can also visit our Pinterest Eat Make Grow Featured Bloggers pin board to see some of our past favorites.

<a href="https://pinterest.com/marigoldhaske/eat-make-grow-blog-hop-featured-posts/" target="_blank"></a>

Link up your posts about Fails here:

Baby Clothes Quilt for Katherine Sandoz!

2013-04-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

Ta-Daaaaaaa! Here it is. My first full-sized quilt project. For those of you who missed my previous post about this project, the short version is that I've decided to commission an artist/illustrator every year to paint or draw a small portrait of our family. Out first portraits were by artiste extraordinaire Katherine Sandoz. She painted these amazing portraits of our family:

I love them so much! I got chills when I first opened the package. I'm pretty excited to see how this project evolves over the years.
In exchange for the portraits Katherine asked me to make a quilt made from her boys' outgrown baby clothes with bits of mama and daddy clothes thrown in.

This is a picture heavy post...see more after the jump!

As I said, I have never made (or at least completed...) a quilt this big before. I kept telling myself I would simplify and not go too crazy on the little details. But, well, that's what I do. So I did.

Funny thing, I kept calling different sections of the quilt "moments." I don't know why that word kept popping into my head, but as I mentally divided the quilt up, I thought about which moments were complete and which moments needed more stitching, etc.

So here are some of my favorite moments of this quilt:

Tags, labels and elastic waist adjusters all lined up.

I wanted some areas with a lot of obsessive hand stitching. Luckily, Steve was willing to take on some of the hand stitching with me, and we spent many nights sewing together and watching Game of Thrones and House of Cards.

The frayed edges of boy pants and the lining of a jacket.

Lines of pants waists, hems and sleeve cuffs.

Baby socks on mama's jeans, with some ghost socks thrown in.

And, finally, here it is in it's new home. I can't believe how perfectly it goes with the painting she already had! I had never seen the painting, so this was completely unplanned, but the colors, the lines--they just fit together so well. I love it when things like that happen.

You can read more about the project here. And Katherine's take on it here. And see our Pinterest board about it here.

Latest Spoonful Posts! April Fools Wormy Apple! Phone Number Bracelet! Fun Round-ups! Oh My!

2013-03-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

April Fool's Wormy Apple

Here's a fun April Fool's prank to play on your kids: Hollow out an apple and stuff it with gummy worms! Get the step by step on the Spoonful blog.

I've been slacking a little with adding my latest Spoonful projects and round-ups here, so here's a list of the ones you may have missed:

7 DIY Superhero Capes
8 Creative Ways to Store & Organize Legos
Spring Around the World: How Other Parts of the World Celebrate the Arrival of Spring
12 Adorable DIY Bunny Ears

Phone Number Bead Bracelet

Egg Carton Sorting for Preschoolers

I hope you check some of them out! Happy Easter weekend!

Bloglovin'

2013-03-19T09:07:00.001-07:00

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Trying to set Bloglovin' to head off the impending Google Reader Crisis!

Pencil Eraser Stamping!

2013-03-13T19:02:00.001-07:00

Have you ever tried using a pencil eraser as a stamp? It's easy to make super cute, polkadotty little illustrations. Check out my post on Pencil Eraser Stamping on Spoonful.

I also compiled 8 Creative Crafts Using Pencil Erasers that other folks made ranging from greeting cards to trendy jeans. Check out the round-up here.

SONP 2013! Sign Up!

2013-03-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it, the Summer of No Pants 2013 is coming! Find it here May 27th - June 1st.

Google+ SONP Community
For past SONPs, I have used a combination of Flickr and Link Parties to try to showcase everything that you guys make for the challenge. Well, this year, I've found a beautifully organized solution that I hope will allow everyone participating in SONP to connect with each other. Google+ Communities will allow us to share all of our SONP pictures and blog posts and exchange ideas, progress, frustrations and triumphs. We can ask and answer questions, get each other's opinions...heck, we can video chat, if you want! That might be a little weird. But we COULD!
The SONP 2013 Community is public, but it is moderated. So I'll have to approve your membership request, but everything you post will be open to the public so they can jump over and check out your blogs and stuff. This is where I'll be looking for your projects to feature. And if you're like me, having a community helps keep me accountable when I'm doing a challenge like this. So..

Join the SONP 2013 Google+ Community!

Once you've joined and are approved, use the drop down menu under the "Share what's new" box to put your post in the correct category so we can all easily navigate the posts and quickly find what we are looking for. Go ahead and introduce yourselves, share what you 're thinking of making, and get some opinions and advice from fellow SONP participants.

And if you're not yet following Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! on Google+, please do!

Newsletter!
I'll be sending out a newsletter with the latest information about SONP. You can sign up right here!

Guest Bloggers!
There is still room for more guest posters, so check out this post and then email me at sadsilver@gmail.com if you think you'd be a good fit!
Psst! If you wrote to me about becoming a guest blogger, and I haven't gotten back to you yet, it doesn't mean I'm not interested. I'm still working it all out, and I WILL get back to you soon, I promise!

Easy Sew DIY: Tic-Tac-Toe On the Go

2013-03-08T08:50:00.003-08:00

I posted this super quick beginning sewing project on Spoonful yesterday. It is made from felt, and takes just a few quick stitches and snips to make a travel version of the classic game of tic-tac-toe. The game board doubles as a pouch to hold the X and O game pieces. Click through for the full tutorial!

Check out all of my Spoonful projects!

Who You Callin' a Chicken Bootie?

2013-03-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Many years ago, when nobody read this blog, I made Chicken Booties from Heather Bailey's free and easy Bitty Booties pattern. I have always meant to make a tutorial for them, so when Aubrey from Homegrown and Healthy asked me to join her for a virtual baby shower in honor of her talented friend, Shay Bocks, I knew exactly what to make:

Head over to Homegrown and Healthy to check out my Chicken Booties tutorial!
But wait! There's more!

As part of this fun series, one lucky duck will win all of these awesome prizes:

You can enter right here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

See all the details of the amazing Oh Baby! Ultimate Prize Pack! on Homegrown and Healthy! And remember to check out my Chicken Booties tutorial!

Eat Make Grow Blog Hop - Spring - March 2013

2013-03-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to March's Eat Make Grow Blog Hop where you share what you have been eating with your family, growing in your garden or making with all your creative impulses. Eat Make Grow is a collective link party that is shared across three blogs and runs every first Thursday and goes for 20 days. Whichever blog that you choose to link up your post, it will show up on all three sites! Eat Make Grow is a way to share with many people posts about your domestic doings, whether that’s gardening, crafting or trying out a new recipe. We want to learn about it! Every month, we will feature the most popular link, one chosen by the the host and a group favorite.

Your Hosts:
Miranda from Pocket Pause
Foy from Garden. Cook. Write. Repeat.
Marigold from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!

We’re not big fans of rules so there are just two of them:
1. Link up posts telling us how you cooked it, made it or grew it with your own hands. Eat Make Grow is about sharing our projects. Please no advertising, propaganda, corporate giveaways or information-only articles. We may remove links if they aren't on topic.
2. Please link your posts back to one of the hosting blogs.This is a common blog hop courtesy. This link helps build the Eat Make Grow community by sending your readers to all of the other participants' posts.We will feature three posts each month and we will only consider posts that have a link back. A text link is fine, or you can grab our button and put it anywhere on your blog:

The theme for March is SPRING! The robins are out which means it's time for planting asparagus, planning your spring wardrobe and sewing projects and cooking up fresh veggies again - or at least planning for them! It has really been feeling like spring the last few days at my homestead with balmy days and lighter misty rains. I've been out planting shrubs and am sketching up a storm getting ready to build some mobile tractors for my chickens and rabbits. I can't wait to see what you're up to in anticipation of spring! Link up with your favorite spring-themed posts, new or old and be sure to visit some of the other posts for inspiration. You can also visit our Pinterest boards to see past Featured Bloggers and Posts That Inspire to see our favorites. Just scroll down to the 'linky' tool at the bottom of this post and enter your info!

Link up with YOUR spring projects - What have you been eating, making or growing in anticipation of spring?

I certainly enjoyed reading everyone's "No Buy February" posts last month. I for one was a spending fool with the new homestead and all, but it was great to see all the wonderful things you can make with 'stuff' you already have on hand.

Last month's featured bloggers are:

Taco Seasoning by Brown Thumb Mama

Brown Thumb Mama with her "Five things you should be making (and not buying)" post was a hit with our readers! I love the looks of that taco seasoning mix.

It does NOT get cuter.

She may be a contributor here at Eat Make Grow, but i'm not biased! This project is absolutely the BEST re-use tutorial on the web. Here's to Marigold and her "Making a Boy's Tie from a Man's Tie" post and tutorial.

And finally our "group choice" post was Plain Jane's camping seats made from milk crates. I want to make some of these!

Is one of these featured posts yours? Grab our “Featured Blogger” button to post on your blog and show off how cool you are. You can also visit our Pinterest Eat Make Grow Featured Bloggers pin board to see some of our past favorites.

<a href="https://pinterest.com/marigoldhaske/eat-make-grow-blog-hop-featured-posts/" target="_blank"></a>

Bring on your spring themed posts - new or old and be sure and visit other bloggers' posts to see what they've been up to and maybe find some inspiration!

Picky Eater Solutions: Faux "Fast Food" Pretend Play

2013-03-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Do you guys have picky eaters? I have two. Today on Spoonful I'm sharing one of the games I play with my little fast food junkies to encourage them to eat real food. Visit my post Picky Eater Solutions: Faux "Fast Food" Pretend Play for recipes and activities that make eating at home *almost* as good as eating processed drive-thru junk.

Kids Geometric Shape Tee Tutorial

2013-03-04T11:08:00.002-08:00

Geometric designs are all the rage, and since simple shapes and kids are a natural match, I threw together this fun project for my guys. The project was a big win. The boys really had fun with the process and love their tees, and I think they are super stylin'. I kind of want one for myself now...See how we did it after the jump.

DIY Geometric T-shirt

You will need:
T-shirt (pre-shrink)
Cardboard that fits in the tee
Masking tape
Paper
Scissors
Round sponge brush
Soft fabric paint (3-4 colors)
Hair dryer (optional)

Place a piece of cardboard (or one of those cardboard t-shirt forms, if you have one), inside the t-shirt to keep paint from seeping through to the back. And protect your work surface, if you care about stuff like that.
To make the triangle, I cut two pieces of 8.5"x11" paper in half lengthwise. I placed three of the pieces onto the t-shirt to make a large triangle shape in the center of the shirt, and then taped off the inside edges using masking tape. You can make any straight sided shape, but bear in mind that more complex shapes (like the star) take a bit more effort and precise placement.
Use any excess paper to mask of any parts of the t-shirt that may be peeking through.

Use the round sponge brush to pounce on your first layer of fabric paint. I helped both of my boys, especially in the corners and the edges. Cover all of the exposed shape area, but leave it nice and textured. Allow to dry, or use a hair dryer on low to speed up the drying process.

Once the first coat is dry, use the masking tape to tape off areas within the shape. Kids love to tape things, so this is a fun part to let them help with. Make sure to run your fingers over the edges to make sure they are securely taped down.

Choose another color or two (Milo picked blue and metallic gold), and pounce some more.

Fill in some shapes completely, and don't for others. Allow the second coat to dry, or again use the blow dryer to speed up the drying time.

Pull off some or all of the internal masking tape. Go back in with your first color and pounce a little bit more, breaking up some of the hard edges. Dry the paint for the final time.

Once the paint is totally dry, remove all of the tape and paper masking. Follow any instructions for heat setting on your fabric paint.

Now put on the shirt, go outside and strike a bunch of silly poses with your brother!

S'mores Pancakes!

2013-02-26T17:14:00.002-08:00

I hope you know by now that if you are looking for healthy recipes, I'm not the person to come to. Check out Spoonful today to see my S'mores Pancakes!

Patterns for Sale and Licensed Vendor Program!

2013-02-25T11:32:00.002-08:00

Pattern Shop!
Today I am launching some Patterns for Sale right here on the blog! I'll still always have bunches of free tutorials available, but this is a way for me to offer some of my more detailed patterns, or more complex versions of my free tutes.
I'm starting off with two PDF patterns today, available for purchase and immediate download!

Just like a fanny pack, but awesome! These clear vinyl Toy Holster Pouches are perfect for keeping toy cars and small action figures ready for play at a moment’s notice. The Velcro® closure makes it easy for little hands to put toys in and take them out. And it’s one less thing Mom has to carry. The pouches can be slipped on and off of a belt (belt pattern not included), so make a bunch and take along as many or as few as you like! Available for $8 in the Pattern Shop.

And...

This tote bag is monstrously cute! This is an advanced version of my simple, free Crayon Monster Tote tutorial. Unlike the free tutorial, this version contains pattern pieces for the monster’s head and mix-and-match facial features. The tote itself is made from thick, sturdy canvas and is fully lined. Available for $10 in the Pattern Shop.

Licensed Vendors!
I am also excited to roll out a Licensed Vendor Program today. Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!, the blog, and all works contained within designed by Marigold Haske are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Certain conditions of this license may be waived by purchasing a Limited License to Sell, which allows handmade vendors to make and sell handmade items using my patterns and tutorials.
The License to Sell is $10 for the first year, with $5 annual renewal fee.

In return, I'll help promote you and your shop. Here's what you get:
Your Etsy Mini (or a comparable widget or ad, if you sell on another site) posted on this page.
A "Featured Vendor" blog post showcasing you, your shop and your products.
Access to the Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! Licensed Vendor Pinboard.
A code for one free month of a 250 x 125 ad in my sidebar.

Contact me for more info on how to become a Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! Licensed Vendor!

I hope you'll check out the Pattern Shop today, and do let me know if there is a past project that you've seen on the blog that you'd like to see made into a pattern!

How to Flash Freeze Drop Cookie Dough

2013-02-22T11:57:00.002-08:00

Cooking up a batch of fresh baked cookies anytime is easy if you keep a stash of frozen cookie dough in your freezer. Visit Spoonful today to see my how-to on flash freezing drop cookie dough. I've also compiled ten of Spoonful's best drop cookie recipes, if you need some inspiration!

Ninja + Ballerina Paper Finger Puppets!

2013-02-15T12:40:00.001-08:00

Visit Spoonful today and check out my paper finger puppets. You can download a free pattern to make this cute ninja or a sweet ballerina from craft supplies you probably already have in your stash. See you over there!

The Summer of No Pants 2013! Call for Bloggers + Sponsors!

2013-02-11T17:29:00.001-08:00

The Summer of No Pants is coming back! This year the skirt and dress sewing challenge will run from May 27th - June 21st.

The Summer of What What??
The Summer of No Pants is an annual skirt + dress sewing and wearing challenge hosted by yours truly right here on Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! Along with my readers, I sew four skirts and/or dresses in the four weeks leading up to the first day of summer (late May-early June). We share our creations in a Flickr pool, on our blogs and across social media with the hashtag #SONP2013. Then all summer long we swear off two-legged apparel and wear only skirts and dresses until the first day of autumn.

To make it more fun, I invite some fantastic guest bloggers to share tutorials, reviews and round-ups. We also have some amazing sponsors who offer giveaways.

The Summer of No Pants welcomes all levels of sewists. If you're a beginner, a skirt makes a great first clothing project. For more advanced sewists, we challenge you to try out new techniques and share your skills with us.

Want to be a Guest Blogger?
Guest bloggers are the backbone of the Summer of No Pants! My guest bloggers pool the best information and inspiration from around the web about sewing skirts and dresses.

I am looking for:

Tutorials and patterns related to sewing skirts and dresses for women

Upcyling ideas

Reviewers of all levels for skirt and dress patterns:

Beginning level sewists who want to try sewing apparel for the first time

Mid- and Advanced level sewists to share tips, tutorials & advanced techniques

Round-ups by those with a great eye for fashion and trends (no sewing skills necessary :)

Fabric ~~hoarders~~ lovers

Women of all shapes and sizes

Do you have an idea? Or perhaps you already have an existing tutorial that fits perfectly with this theme? I welcome your thoughts and ideas! All I ask is that the content be related to skirts or dresses for women, not little girls. If you are interested in participating, please email me at sadsilver@gmail.com with the subject SONP2013 and your idea for a post and a link to your blog and/or relevant content.

Want to be an SONP sponsor?
I am seeking sponsors and vendors for the Summer of No Pants 2013.

Ways to sponsor:

Sponsor a giveaway. Anything from skirts and dresses to patterns, books, fabric or any sewing supplies and notions would be welcome!

Provide products for guest blogger reviews. I will have a team of guest bloggers ready to give your products a fair look! I'm looking for patterns, fabrics, notions, books, ebooks, etc. Reviews may or may not include a giveaway.

Sponsor one of my outfits. I will be sewing four skirts and/or dresses for the challenge. Ask me how you can sponsor one of them!

Purchase ad space. The Summer of No Pants gets more and more popular every year. Ask me about advertising opportunities during the challenge.

If you are interested in sponsoring SONP, please email me at sadsilver@gmail.com with the subject SONP2013.

Still curious? Read more about The Summer of No Pants.

Eat Make Grow Blog Hop - No Buy Month - February 2013

2013-02-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to February's Eat Make Grow Blog Hop where you share what you have been eating with your family, growing in your garden or making with all your creative impulses. Eat Make Grow is a collective link party that is shared across three blogs and runs every first Thursday and goes for 20 days. Whichever blog that you choose to link up your post, it will show up on all three sites! Eat Make Grow is a way to share with many people posts about your domestic doings, whether that’s gardening, crafting or trying out a new recipe. We want to learn about it! Every month, we will feature the most popular link, one chosen by the the host and a group favorite.Your Hosts:

Foy from Garden. Cook. Write. Repeat.
Marigold from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!
Miranda from Pocket Pause

We’re not big fans of rules so there are just two of them:

Link up posts telling us how you cooked it, made it or grew it with your own hands. Eat Make Grow is about sharing our projects. Please no advertising, propaganda, corporate giveaways or information-only articles. We may remove links if they aren't on topic.
Please link your posts back to one of the hosting blogs. This is a common blog hop courtesy. This link helps build the Eat Make Grow community by sending your readers to all of the other participants' posts. We will feature three posts each month and we will only consider posts that have a link back. A text link is fine, or you can grab our button and put it anywhere on your blog:

This month your host is Foy from Garden. Cook. Write. Repeat. You can also visit our Pinterest Eat Make Grow Featured Bloggers pin board to see some of our past favorites.

Eat Make Grow Featured Bloggers Pin Board

This month's theme is No Buy February! February is a short month. Let's inspire each other to live on what we've already got.

Do you have a post, old or new, about how to live on less? How to say up-cycle a pillow case into a skirt, how to make your own tooth powder, the outcome of a previous no buy challenge? Then share it!

Get ready, next month the theme is Spring hosted by Miranda.

Just a Spoonful of Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!

2013-02-06T15:38:00.001-08:00

I've been dying to tell you guys some big news.
As I was sitting in the terminal about to board the plane to Altitude Summit, I received an email from Babble.com/Disney Interactive Blogs inviting me to become a regular contributor on the new Disney Family site, Spoonful.com.
I was like
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so surprised/humbled/completelyfreakingout that I was even on the Babble/Disney radar!
But I have to admit that I was a little nervous about signing on--they would like at least 3 posts a week from me. That's a whole lotta creative juice that needs pumping. But when I saw that Spoonful focuses on four family-friendly ideas: Cook, Create, Play and Celebrate, I realized that Spoonful is a perfect fit for me. Plus, my boys are already crazy for Disney! So you'll be seeing a whole lot more from me!
Which brings me to today. This, right now, is my Spoonful debut! Please visit my very first post about the king & queen of hearts valentines I made for Huck's kindergarten class. If you stop by the post, please say hello in the comments! I'd love to know that you visited me!