Amy Butler CLEARANCE at Fabric.com!!!

I am so happy, and you soon will be too!  Thanks to Pinching Your Pennies, I just ordered 5.5 yards of Amy Butler Home Dec fabric for $27.92, including tax and shipping!

Go to Fabric.com and search for Amy Butler, then you can sort the results by price.  Here are some codes you can use to get the clearanced fabric for even less:

Free shipping over $35 - no code required.

30% off $150 3PLTRY9

25% off 2WMYP9

$5 off $20 BBOW5

 

I bought a mix of Amy's Nigella and August Fields home dec fabrics, including the one pictured above.  The stock is still really good right now, so go buy some!  Now I need to think of some new projects :).  Let me know what you buy!

Jessica just let me know that there is also Heather Bailey and Joel Dewberry (lots of his Ginseng home dec line) on clearance!  I was so excited I didn't even think to check the other designers, now I need to have another look :).  Thanks Jessica!

We Did It! Wednesday.

Welcome to another We Did It! Wednesday, a chance to show off your latest projects.  As a wise man once said, let's Git R Done!

Here's how it works:

1. Enter a link (specific blog post, not your homepage) using the MckLinky below to something you made that you want to share.
2. Try to check out at least one other link on the list (and I'm sure they'd love it if you left a comment too).
3. Post the We Did It! Wednesday button below to your post or sidebar to let others know your participating.

I will make sure to check out all your links too so I can highlight some of your projects next week.



Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.
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Your Linky Highlights.

We had some SUPER links from last week's We Did It! Wednesday.  Take a minute to check out these great ideas.

Design Intervention reupholstered an old chair into this beauty:

Jamee Homemaker shows us how to make this play holster (having a son named Wyatt, how could I pass this up? -- Joel would have seriously named Weston "Doc" (as in Doc Holiday) if I would have let him):

My Backyard Eden shows us how to make these ADORABLE ruffle flats:

Are these great eggs? Corner Crafts made a tutorial so we can make our own!

Richelle's Creative Corner made these shoes from an old purse!

Infarrantly Creative rescued an old tv stand and turned it into this:

No Money Mama teaches us how to make these paper birds (recycled paper, of course... right?):

Here's a button for those of you who were featured:

Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.
<center><a href="http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy351/jdsmit21/gogreenbuttonflowerfeaturedcopy-1.jpg" /></a></center>

Come back tomorrow for another We Did It! Wednesday linky party!

Tutorial: Homemade Laundry Detergent

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I have tried a few different recipes I found online for homemade laundry detergent, and ultimately decided to make my own powdered recipe that works best for me.  Most ingredients online are similiar, so feel free to adjust quantities to suit your own needs and preferences.

Description:
This tutorial will guide you through the steps to make your own homemade powdered laundry detergent.

Ingredients:
1 bar Fels-Naptha bar soap
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1/4 cup Baking Soda
*All of these items are found in the laundry isle next to the laundry detergents.  If you live in Utah -- I had best luck at Winco for all the supplies, I was not able to find the Fels-Naptha soap or washing soda at the Walmart or Target in my area, but you may have better luck.
*If you try this recipe and like it, you can double or even triple the ingredients the next time you make it to get a larger batch.

Directions:
1. Grate the Fels-Naptha bar soap finely.  I grated mine first using a hand grater, then put it in the Magic Bullet to finish it off.  A food processer works great too.  Coarsely grated, this equals about 2 cups.  Finely grated measures less, of course.

2. Add 1 cup Borax.

3. Add 1 cup washing soda.

4. Add 1/4 cup baking soda.

5. Find a helper and stir well (that is banana on his nose, if you are wondering -- no need to be grossed out).

6. You should have a nice powdered mixture that looks like this:

7. Place in an airtight container.  Use 2 tablespoons per regular load of laundry. 

Here's a label you can use for your container.  Click on the image below, then right click to save it.  I recommend opening it in Word or Publisher and printing it from there.  That way you can resize it to fit your own container. 

Linked to:

Twice Remembered

The Girl Creative

It's So Very Cheri

Making the World Cuter

Cottage Instincts

Made It Monday

Crafts Keep Me Sane

Skip to My Lou

Reinvented

A Soft Place

Today's Creative Blog

DIY Showoff

We Are That Family

My Backyard Eden

Blue Cricket Design

Someday Crafts

Me and My Bucket

Just a Girl

The Train to Crazy

Strut Your Stuff

I Made It!

Thrifty Thursday

Get Your Craft On

Flashback Friday.

Here's today's Flashback Friday:

Today we have another Flashback Friday courtesy of Ada.  Here's what she said:

This 2-piece sweatsuit was just one of the many outfits our mom created. She always made them plenty big so we could wear them for extra years. Stylish. Just in case you are wondering...yes, I had the chicken pox in this picture. I'm sure I appreciated my comfy lounging outfit while I was home sick.

I actually don't think my mom ever made me a sweatsuit.  I'm sure I wore Ada's though a few years later.  And speaking of my mom making things big so they could get more use, I even remember her buying me an outfit when I was younger that fit Ada instead of me, and I didn't even wear it until a few years later as a hand-me-down.  Makes me wonder if the outfit was really for me in the first place?  Hmmm...

If you would like to be a part of Flashback Friday, email me by clicking on the button to your right. Send me a pic or two, a short description, and a link to your blog (if you'd like), and you'll be featured on an upcoming Flashback Friday.

Guest Blogger: Noodlehead and Reusable Sandwich Bags

I've been really excited for today's guest blogger.  Anna from Noodlehead has a blog FULL of great tutorials and photographs.  Do you ever look at a blog and just find yourself staring at the photos?  You will on Noodlehead!  Everything is bright and refreshing and I'm so glad that today Anna's bringing some of that to Sew Much Ado with her super tutorial for a Recyled Reusable Sandwich Bag.

You'll need:

• 1 pair men's khaki pants
• 1/4 yard for lining, or find some scraps
• (2) 8.5"w x 4" tall pieces of fabric for exterior accent
• sew in velcro (3/4" wide)
• thread

 Cutting the pieces:
Carefully cut the pieces from your khaki pants (you'll want to be sure to include the pocket lining when you cut), the pocket part of the pants will be the front of the bag and the opposite (plain part of khaki pants on the front side of the pant) will be the back.

Cut 2 pieces 8.5" x 8.5" from your pants (each pair of pants will yield two sandwich bags) and why not use the leg pieces for some drawstring backpacks while you're at it?!

Cut 2 pieces 8.5" x 8.5" from rip-stop nylon (if you want a water resistant lining), or just cotton will work too!

Sew on the accent fabric:

Iron down the long side a 1/4" on each piece.  Line up the fabric with the bottom of the bag, topstitch along top part of accent fabric.  Repeat for backside.

Sew the bag:

Place exterior pieces RIGHT sides together and sew along both sides and bottom. 

Repeat for lining fabric.

Turn lining piece right side out and place inside the exterior piece.

Sew around top of sandwich bag leaving a 2-3" opening for turning.  Turn right side out through hole.  Press.

Topstitch around entire opening of bag.

Sewing on the velcro:

Cut a strip of velcro approximately 5.5" long.  Pin in place on lining.  Sew around all four sides of velcro.  Repeat for other side of velcro.

If you want to add a special touch, replace the khaki pants pocket button with a pretty one.  You can even personalize them with a freezer paper stencil.  Another option would be to skip the accent exterior fabric and grab some fabric markers and let your kids decorate their own bags!

Slip in your sandwich, tuck in a little note, add a mint or piece of candy for after lunch and you're set!  Yum!

Terms of use: for personal use only.

You love her already, don't you?  Thanks so much for being a part of Go Green Month Anna!  I love things that are cute, fun, and practical all at the same time.  Be sure to visit Noodlehead, you'll become a regular reader, I promise!

We Did It! Wednesday and Last Week's Roundup.

Here we are at another We Did It! Wednesday.  Before we get to today's party, let's see what fun things everyone linked up to last week.

The Gaines Gang made this cute crepe paper fringe:

Check out this Easter basket made from a hat by Two Succulent Sisters (try saying that 10 times fast):

House of Hepworths got creative and made this from a cheese dome and candlestick!

I'm always amazed at what Suzannah from Adventures in Dressmaking comes up with.  Here is her Anthro look-a-like:

And lastly, this cute ruffled shirt from Blue Cricket Design cost a whopping $2 to make!  I like her style :).

Here's a button for those of you who were featured:

Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.
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Thanks to all who participated! Now let's get on to today's We Did It! Wednesday.  Here's how it works:

1. Enter a link using the MckLinky below to something you made that you want to share.
2. Try to check out at least one other link on the list (and I'm sure they'd love it if you left a comment too).
3. Post the We Did It! Wednesday button below to your post or sidebar to let others know your participating.

I will make sure to check out all your links too so I can highlight some of your projects next week.




Copy and paste the HTML text below to your own blog or website.
<center><a href="http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/yy351/jdsmit21/smawediditwednesdaycopy-2.jpg" /></a></center>

Guest Blogger - That's So Cuegly and Home Beauty Remedies!

Today for Go Green Month we have a FUN guest blogger!  She's cute, she's stylish, and she generous enough to pass along her talents.  Linds from That's So Cuegly is always giving us THE BEST beauty tips and fashion advice to keep us looking our best, and today we're so excited to have her here at Sew Much Ado!

Hey Blogger Buddies!

My name is

Linds

I'm the author of:
"Something JUST ugly enough to be SO cute!" Basically a blog full of Crafts, including refurbishing, mod-podging, and spray paint, and also Beauty Tip Tuesdays are something to look forward to! No need for Shape or Us Magazine when I'll give you honest and useful beauty tips! I'm a liscenced Cosmetologist as well as a wife for 5 yrs and Mother of two kids of each gender:) That's So Cuegly is full of other wonderful knick knacks to keep you (and myself) entertained. Come visit me :)

*****

Today I'm GOING GREEN with

Rori's Simple Home Remedies!

Over at That's So Cuegly, I have a Beauty Squad of 9 animated girls...Isn't she lovely?

Let's start off with:

Vanilla Lip Gloss: 1 tablespoon grated beeswax
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil (or grape seed oil to give you a sun block as well)
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
smudge lipstick (optional)
shimmer (optional)
Place the beeswax, coconut oil and vitamin E oil in an ovenproof container. Heat gently until the wax and oils are melted. Stir in the vanilla extract and mix well. Pour the mixture into a clean container and allow to cool completely before using.

Hand Scrub :
• 50 percent white cane sugar

• 50 percent vegetable glycerin to moisten the sugar. (Olive Oil works great, and I recently tried Grape seed oil and love it better.)
• Small amounts of aloe vera gel, vitamin C crystals, or anything healing that dissolves in water
• 1 or 2 drops of essential oil if desired (I dont like the smell of Olive Oil, so this is a must for me)
• If you’re going to use on your feet, try 25 percent sea salt, 25% cane sugar, 50% oil.
Combine the ingredients in a bowl. Scoop some of the scrub onto your hand and massage gently onto your skin for a minute (the scrub will actually tighten onto your skin like a masque). Leave on for 3 to 4 minutes before rinsing. If you made enough, find a cute jar to put it in for storage!

Facial Firming Masks:There's SO many types of masks for the SO many types of skin. But I chose two great masks beneficial for firming and anti wrinkle.

Yogurt mask.- Mix one spoon of natural yogurt, five strawberries and one drop of olive oil (or grape seed oil in my case), when all ingredients are well mixed, apply the mask on your face and neck, leave it there for 15 minutes and then remove it with cold water.

Banana mask.- Mix one banana with one spoon of honey and one spoon of almond oil (or grapeseed oil:), then apply on your face and neck (repeat this mask 2 or 3 times a week). This anti wrinkle mask is wonderful for the skin, makes it look more beautiful and soft with a youth appearance.

THANK YOU ABBY for inviting me out! Take the time to take care of your self. And remember:

Be your OWN kind of beautiful!

Okay ladies, get to work and try some of these out!  I can't decide which remedy is my favorite, I think I may just have to try them all!  Thanks again Linsday!  Keep up with That's So Cuegly for everything you need to know to look your best!