DIY Sewing Ribbon on Burp Cloths

As many of you may already know, we're expecting our first baby in about four weeks! Several years ago I purchased a pack of plain white burp cloths with the intention of adding some ribbon to them as a gift. I never made the time to do this, and instead stashed them away in a box labeled "Baby" for our future first born. Now that I'll be a mommy soon, I finally bought some ribbon with the intention of using them myself.

If you suck at sewing, then this is the perfect project for you! I can barely sew a straight line (and these admittedly aren't perfect), but they'll be covered in spit up, so I wasn't going for perfection here. I'll just jump right in and you can check out the photos for a more detailed view.

Items you'll need
One pack of burp cloths
3 spools of 9-ft ribbon
Sewing machine
Pins
Scissors

Directions
1. Choose a ribbon and measure from end-to-end on the burp cloth. Leave about 1/2-in on the top and bottom.
2. Pin to the burp cloth and use the trifold creases as your guide. I wanted mine to be on the edge if it was folded, and I achieved this easily by eyeballing it.
3. Start with your short end of the ribbon and stitch back and forth a few times to secure it really well.
4. Sew along the sides of the ribbon and again, backstitch for durability on the short end of the ribbon.
5. Trim the excess ribbon from the top and bottom of the burp cloth.

Update Your Loveseat for Only $12—in Less Than 2 Minutes!

When we moved into our house, I knew the formal dining room in the front was way too fancy for our lifestyle. Early on (even before we officially owned the house), I had designated the front room off of the entry a playroom for our little Eleanor (due in roughly six weeks!). When we moved our furniture into the 1,653-ft house, I loved that we had plenty of room to roam and that it wasn't super cluttered.

I'm all about saving money, so after we had our things where we wanted, I asked my mother-in-law if I could have a small couch that was sitting unused in her garage. She used to own a farmhouse and had some extra furniture that wasn't claimed yet by her children. While I supervised my brother-in-law dragging the coffee table out of the garage that is now sitting in our living room, I spotted the couch but didn't think too much of it.

The next day, I asked her if we could have it, thinking I could use it for a small sitting area in the playroom if grandparents decide to visit or if I need a place to lounge while watching Eleanor play. It measures 52 in wide × 32 in deep, so it's small enough to not take up the whole room, yet offers enough sitting for two. I didn't love the fabric and dreaded the thought of trying to sew pillow covers for the six pillows (two on the back, two on the bottom, and one for each side). My sewing skills are subpar, so I knew I needed to find an easier fix.

Hello, Pinterest! I saw a pin that had a canvas drop cloth draped over a couch and knew that would be the answer to this situation. Durable, washable, and a quick fix to modernize this little loveseat with minimal effort. And I mean like two minutes worth of effort... EASY! After some quick Googling, I found the best deal on a canvas drop cloth within a 10-mile radius of me (Harbor Freight Tools had a 9 ft × 12 ft for $24.99 on sale for $14.99). When I used my 20% off coupon (that I also Googled while standing in line), I only paid a little over $12 for the cloth.

I won't lie. I pulled that mofo out of the bag and made a face when the smell of the drop cloth hit me. It smelled like straight up chemicals, but I also had a quick fix for that, too. I tossed it in the washer using hot water on the Ultra Wash setting. And I repeated four more times. So yeah, that was kind of annoying, but then I pulled it out of the dryer and it smelled wonderful (mountain breeze, anyone?)! I'll stop talking now and just show you the results...

Before

...and only two minutes later!

Tutorial: Rice-Filled Baby Warmer

I bought a sewing machine late last year before our big move, and I went ballistic for a while on projects. Then we started packing up boxes as we prepared to change cities in less than five weeks. The sewing machine was packed up along with everything else, and then stayed upstairs in my parent's garage for nine months. I pulled it out of their garage recently to tackle some projects I had saved up our baby and other miscellaneous items.

My sister-in-law had told me how their daughter hadn't yet grown accustomed to her crib. I don't know too much about sleep schedules and four-month-old babies, but I'll definitely know by the end of winter when my own baby is born. I found a tutorial for how to make a baby snuggler, a rice-filled fleece warmer that you lay next to the baby to sort of trick them into thinking there's a warm body next to them. I immediately thought of my niece and wondered if it work for her.

Since I've been super frugal lately, I kept putting off going to the store to buy fleece fabric. I have a small stockpile of random cotton fabrics that I had purchased last year during my aforementioned sewing frenzy. As I picked through the pile, I found a fun chevron pattern with lots of bright colors that I thought I work. I think it's important to mention that I'm very much a novice when it comes to sewing, so I loosely followed the instructions in the tutorial. Here's some quick notes if you want to try making one, as well.

Rice-Filled Baby Warmer

1/2 yard cotton or fleece fabric
Rice

1. Cut two rectangular pieces of fabric (mine measured roughly 4 in. × 22 in.; I know that's random, but I just used scrap fabric that I had on hand!).
2. Lay one piece of fabric face up and the second piece on top face down.
3. Sew the edges with a 1/4 in. fabric left on two long sides and one short side. Leave one short side open to fill with rice.
4. Trim the corners off on each side.
5. Flip the fabric inside out. Your corners that you trimmed should be 90 degrees once you're done adjusting the fabric.
6. Sew a trim around the heating pad with 1/4 in. seam.
7. Fill with rice so that you can at least fold it in half to fit in the microwave.
8. Warm in the microwave for 45 seconds when ready to use.
9. Lay the warmer next to the baby.

This was a super quick project, and I made one for my niece and my own baby. I can't wait to try it out, but I'm currently only four months along, so it may be a while before little Oliver or Elanor can test this.

DIY Lace Wedding Stationary Programs & Invitations

With my recent post about the baby announcement design I created for my niece, I thought about digging up some of my own wedding stationary that I created about four years ago. If I'm being completely honest, I actually designed most of this a year and half before my husband actually proposed. We're going to be together a total of ten years in August 2014, so by then I had already known we were going to be married at some point.

I worked at a print shop during my engagement, and I was able to print over 150 invitations, 32 namecards, and 75 programs, all for the low cost of $40 total! I also printed some signage that I designed, although I need to look for these files on another computer. DIY invitations can be done, and you can save hundreds on couture, designer invitations. I used an old copy of Adobe InDesign for this, but I do these now in Paint.NET, which is free to download and not too hard to master.

Here's some of the designs that I created for our special day!

Wedding invitation design.

Front of the wedding program.

Inside left of the wedding program.

Inside right of the wedding program.

Back of the wedding program.

Namecard for bride.

Namecard for groom.

Picking Up My New Hobby: Sewing

My husband has recently picked up his new hobby of homebrewing, and I've been toying with the idea of trying out something new, as well. For several weeks I thought about sewing, and wasn't even sure where to begin since I am an amateur. A friend let me borrow he sewing machine, but after three hours and lots of yelling via Skype with my parents.

DIY Mini Banner Garland Decor

I am quite the Pinterest addict. I'll sometimes take a long break from the site, and then find myself getting sucked in to all the beautiful photos and projects that await. I loved several of the mini-banner garlands that I kept seeing and vowed to make one of my own one day. This project started over a year ago and over this past weekend, I finally finished it. I promise it doesn't take more than a couple of hours total, but you'll need some patience.

Natural Cleaners & Chemerical Documentary

Like most people, I used to have 10 or 15 household cleaners under my kitchen sink. Clorox, 409, Pledge, Windex, Ajax, etc. You know what I'm talking about. I just bought what my mom had under her kitchen sink when I was growing up. I didn't think twice about what was in each one, the impact it had on the environment, or why I probably shouldn't be using it. Then a year ago, I watched the documentary Chemerical and all of that changed.

Soon after watching the film above (which is available to stream on Netflix!), I opened up the cabinets and started to look around for ways to minimize the toxic chemicals in our environment. Since then, I've fallen back on homemade cleaners and have even shared my recipes on my DIY page. If you have some free time, definitely make a note to watch this documentary, as it may open your eyes to what make be lurking in your cabinets.

Check out some of my favorite recipes here:
All-Purpose Cleaner
Laundry Detergent
Powdered Dishwasher Detergent
Liquid Dishwasher Detergent

DIY Headlight Cleaner: From Grime to Shine

For over a year now, I've been complaining about my "high" beams in my car being my "low" beams and my "low" beams being utterly useless. Try driving down a dark street at night and not be terrified that something with jump out in front your car! I kept putting off using one of the kits that you can buy in the store, and I again complained one night while a friend of mine was in the car.

A few days later, he sent me an instructible on how to fix this problem with three things that I already own. The process was super simple and I was highly skeptical that this would not work. However, I am frugal and I had the tools necessary to try this out.

DIY Headlight Cleaner

one old washcloth
one tube of toothpaste
water

1. Apply a generous amount of toothpaste to the washcloth.
2. Scrub your headlight completely for a minute.
3. Rinse with water.
4. Repeat until the desired result has been achieved.

DIY Peanut Butter & Seed Bird Feeder

When we were looking for an apartment earlier this year, a stunning view from my balcony was not even on my list. My husband and I lucked out to find a great deal on our apartment on the Barton Creek Greenbelt in Austin, Texas. Our balcony is huge and we are lucky to have a wall of windows and two sliding doors that offer views from the bedroom, kitchen and living room.

I've always enjoyed seeing birds on our balcony and I slowly started adding more bird seed outside to attract a larger variety. I was excited to see more and remembered a little project I had made as I child. I don't remember what we spread the peanut butter on, but this seemed to do the trick! Within a couple of hours, I had about six red birds outside and a few other variety flying around and checking out their new treats. Here's a quick little tutorial below on how to make your own!

DIY Peanut Butter & Seed Bird Feeder

toilet paper rolls

bird seed

peanut butter

scissors

1. Cut toilet paper roll down the side if attaching to a rail or leave intact to hang from a branch.

2. Cover with peanut butter.

3. Coat in birdseed.

4. Attach to balcony rail or slip onto a branch.

5. Enjoy the sights and sounds from the variety of birds your new feeder will attract!

DIY Dry Erase Weekly Meal Planner

After a few weeks of unorganized cooking in the kitchen, I realized that I needed a different strategy. I'm usually pretty good at organizing my life, but for some reason, I could not plan in advance for my vegan meals. I was adjusting to cooking way more at home, and was usually just tossing some veggies in a pan for a stir-fry. The idea of having an idea of what meals I would make a week in advance was appealing.

I was browsing Pinterest one night and stumbled upon a really quick and easy project for a meal planner. This could be used to track your family's schedule or even notes to remember for the week. This can be an effective way to make sure you're using up any perishable food, as well! I soon found myself in the picture frame aisle at my local craft store and also picked up a few sheets of colorful scrapbook paper to finish off the project.

DIY Dry Erase Weekly Meal Planner

One collage of picture frames
3 sheets of scrapbook paper
scissors
dry erase marker

1. Remove the stock images inside each frame.
2. Trace the glass or back of the frame onto the scrapbook paper for sizing.
3. Cut the scrapbook paper and insert into each frame.
4. Write down anything you wish with your marker!
5. Erase at the end of each week and repeat.

DIY Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

I've been trying to find ways to be more eco-friendly around the house. This goal has resulted in some small changes with a big impact. For example, I noticed I was going through way too many paper towels in the kitchen. A spill on the counter usually had me reaching for a paper towel. Did I mention I am a messy cook? I blame it on my novice skills in the kitchen, but I knew I was going through too many.

In an effort to lighten my carbon footprint (besides going vegan, which is also super eco-friendly!), I switched to Method hand soap and dish soap, made my own batch of laundry detergent and even starting using washcloths to wipe up spills before tossing them into the laundry.

While washing dishes one day soon after, I realized my dishwasher detergent bottle was almost empty and hopped on to the good ole' internet to find an eco-friendly alternative that I could make myself. I quickly found one and was delighted at how easy it was to make. Luckily, I had the ingredients on hand since I had recently made my own laundry detergent. Add a few drops of essential oil to give an awesome scent. I used lemongrass and it smells like candy every time I do dishes!

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
yields 64 loads of dishes

2 cups 20 Mule Borax
2 cups Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
6 drops of an essential oil (optional)

1. Place contents into a storage container and blend well with wooden spoon.
2. Use 1 tbsp. or a per load of dishes. (Pro tip: I use half of a shot glass!)
3. Enjoy clean dishes.

5 Things You Didn't Know About Me

I was inspired to do a short version of Happy Herbivore's 10 Things You Didn't Know About Me. So here's my list of five!

1. I have a degree in journalism and used to dream about working into the wee hours of the night in the newsroom as a reporter. Unfortunately, the economy wouldn't allow for that dream to be realized with the decrease in ad sales which resulted in job cuts in the newspaper industry. I did work at a magazine as an Associate Editor, though!

2. I've been married for close to two years and have been with my husband for eight years. We met in high school, started dating as seniors, moved off to college together and settled here in Austin, Texas over four years ago. Yowza!

3. I'm a sucker for the band Rooney. After watching the Princess Diaries at the age of 14, I was in love with the lead singer [Robert Schwartzman] who is Mia's love interest in the movie. He also happened to be the reason that I had to shut down my first blog (The Little Red Journal, version 1.0). I had discussed in length some lyrics from Bow Down Daisy Duke and this led to an embarrassing teenage drama that I'd like to soon forget. Read more about that here. Also, I still rock out to Rooney!

4. I was a terrible cook only six months ago. I'm still not an Iron Chef, but my dad liked to joke that I couldn't even boil water. Fortunately, vegan cooking is super easy and straightforward and has taught me so much (inside the kitchen and out)!

5. I love DIY projects and have an entire board on Pinterest dedicated to this. I always like to change up the custom wreaths on my door and make homemade gifts for family during the holidays.

DIY Coffee Table to Ottoman

I love mid-century modern furniture. A friend of mine was clearing out some things from her house and asked me if I wanted an old table that used to hold a fish tank. Once I saw it, I was in love. The coffee table was the perfect size and had the most amazing legs on it! A year later, I bought a new coffee table and stashed the vintage one under my bed.

After a while, I started to feel really awful about this. It was such a great piece and I used it every now and then. Pinterest has been really great for me to find awesome new ideas on repurposing your current items or even just redecorating. I stumbled upon some really cool ottomans and decided to repurpose the vintage table.

I promptly visited my local Hobby Lobby and snagged a fun fabric to "reupholster" the piece, along with a 2" piece of foam. The whole process took less than 45 minutes and turned out beautifully. There was an easy DIY that I followed, but here's how it turned out!