Name my serger contest/giveaway

My new serger is in, but it doesn't have a name.  You know me, it needs a name.
I had been planning to do some sort of giveaway when I reached 100 followers. Since I reached that milestone while we were in the middle of moving it got pushed back.


So I'm having a contest. Name my serger! 

Name me!!!

This is a Singer Stylist Serger.  I'm open to the strange and unusual names. In case you were wondering here are the names of my other 2 machines:
I have a Singer Stylist Sewing machine named Zoe (Zoh).  Because the first stylist to come to mind was Rachel Zoe.
My sewing/embroidery machine is a Brother machine from the Project Runway line. He's names Mondo, because Mondo was cheated out of a win.

The rules for this contests are really simple:
1: You can enter as many times as you want.  You can have multiple entries in 1 comment.  I'm choosing the winner by the name I like best so feel free to comment with any names you think of.
2: You need to be following me. Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Network Blogs, etc...just let me know how you are following me when you comment.
3: If you don't have an email attached to your name when you comment please include one so I can contact you if you are the winner.


The winner gets to choose their hand made prize (within reason).
Want a lunch bag?
How about a tablet cover?
Even homemade baby legs. 

This contest will be open until Thursday June 7th (which also happens to be my birthday).

Let's give 'em something to chalk about

I've always wanted to do a chalk wall.  Just one problem...we're in an apartment right now.  While I could paint the wall and then paint it back before we move I figure that is just too much work if it isn't going to be permanent.
I leave myself a ton of notes and love the dry erase board we have in the kitchen. But I needed something in my craft room for projects.  I told Ben I wanted to go to Tuesday Morning to look around. If you haven't been to a Tuesday Morning you should check it out. (No, I am not getting any compensation from them, I think it's a great store with some amazing deals)

I came across stick up chalk boards.

Great price

I couldn't decide between the cup and saucer or the teapot. So I got both.

It fits perfectly on the wall

Now I can write my projects on the chalk boards instead of on papers I keep throwing out.  And I promised that shelf is on straight.  I was just at a strange angle getting the shot.

My first NBA game

Last night my awesome friend Michelle of The World According to Michelle (as well as my FORCE Memphis Co-coordinator) treated me to an NBA game.
Not only have I never been to an NBA game but I got to go to a playoff game between the Memphis Grizzles and the LA Clippers.
The atmosphere was great, I had a ton of fun and the Grizzlies won!  I didn't care that we were up in the "nose bleed" section. I was too busy having fun.  All the fans were cheering and everyone put on their free shirt over their regular shirts to cheer for their team. You can see the sea of white shirts.

My voice is half gone but I had so much fun, I can't wait to go again.

I'm bouncing around the apartment and squealing.  I've been lusting after a serger for some time now. It would be great to have with all the clothing I'm making for myself and others.
I know Ben had been setting money aside to get me one, but my mother is visiting and decided to cover the rest of the cost. 

It should be here in a week and I was so excited I started crying.  Now to buy some thread cones.

Lovely lunch bag

oh how I love instagram!

Today Garrett started at Transformations. I'm excited about him getting extra therapy and I think it's a great transition to him starting school this fall. He'll be going twice a week for 4 hours each time, which means he'll be eating lunch there. I loved packing him a lunch today but hated using a brown paper bag.

You know me...that didn't last long. Once I knew he would be going I ordered some Insul-Fleece because I had found a simple lunch bag tutorial. However I hate buying laminated cotton.  It's really expensive and you can just make your own with iron on vinyl.
Now before anyone says anything about food safe I did check on this. It is food safe, they just recommend not using it for anything your child will chew on. 

So I laminated a couple pieces of fabric I got on clearance at Walmart. I really love making my own laminated cotton because I can choose any pattern I want without paying $20 a yard.



I have a snap press but you can always use velcro.  For the next bag I'll make sure I change out my thread and use something matching.  It's bigger than a plastic bag and I know it will keep things cool while we go from home to his classes (it gets hot here in the Mid-South).

And yes, I know the ships are upside down, they are right side up on the other side. The fabric was too cute to pass up and I did this one quickly so I had it for Friday.

Tennessee is adding an Autism license plate

When we moved to Memphis about 6 months ago I was disappointed that there was no Autism support license plate.
Well now there is.  You can bet we preordered ours.  The kicker is that they need 1000 orders before they'll mint the plate.
Please take the time to read the story:
http://teachingtheboy.blogspot.com/2012/04/giving-getting-back-tns-new-autism.html

Nightstand face lift

We don't have much bedroom furniture but we do have matching nightstands we got at Target several years ago.  They've served us well but I hate the dark color in the bedroom right now.

I found some remnant home decor fabric last year that was really cute. I had no idea what to do with it though.  A few months later I found the same fabric in another color...now I have it in pink and in blue.  I decided to do a his and hers nightstand makeover.

I've been planning to fix them up for a while and thought the blue and pink would be a fun touch.
This project doesn't require much and is great for a beginner.

Supplies:
Furniture to be painted
Paint (I love using a spray for this)
Fabric (I prefer home decor weight)
Adhesive (Mod Podge, spray adhesive, glue, whatever you prefer)
Q-tips (only if you are painting the drawers)
Sand paper
X-acto knife

There was certainly a bit of water damage on these

Take the drawers out, knobs off and sand paper any rough spots or edges. Any bumps are going to show when it is painted.

If you are painting the drawers:
Stick Q-tips in the knob holes and the ends of the knobs (if you are painting them). This will prevent paint from closing the holes up.  Since my fabric has some white and I didn't want the dark wood to show through I painted the drawer front. 

We did a couple coats to completely cover the dark wood

Spray paint your pieces.  I also spray painted the knobs so we didn't have to buy new ones.
Let the paint dry.

You can add the fabric to the drawers while the paint is still a little tacky.  Cut the fabric a little larger than the drawers. Apply your adhesive, I chose to apply it to my drawer and then put the fabric on.  You can cut off the extra fabric or fold it around the edges.  I chose to cut the fabric off and make sure it had plenty of adhesive so it wouldn't peel away.

Once everything is dry, poke through the knob hole and make a small hole in the fabric.
Put the knobs back on and the drawers back in.

It's an easy weekend project that adds some personality to your furniture.

I love our his and hers nightstands. They really brighten up the room.