Erica and Wes are growing a garden!

Indie Trunk Show kinda took over my life last month, so I have to apologize for not blogging about this... I GOT MARRIED!!!

ERICA AND WESLEY ARE HUSBAND AND WIFE \(^.^)/ WHOOT WHOOT

I'm going to be in another show in August so I'm pretty sure my life will be taken over by my sewing machine once more pretty soon. (Its a good kind of takeover, though.) I want to do a show each quarter. My spring show was Indie Trunk Show. My summer show will be (appropriately titled) The Summer Show in Yukon. I applied to be in Earlywine YMCA's Arts and Crafts Fair in south OKC for my fall show and The Santa Market in Edmond for my winter show. I also plan to apply for a show at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds (also for fall) but that hasn't happened, yet. I don't even remember what it's called so I can't shamelessly promote. LOL No word on my official acceptance into these shows but I feel pretty good about it. They were all referrals from vendors I met at the Indie Trunk Show who all had good things to say about RagsReborn. They are also smaller shows so they'll be a much better fit for me.

But before craft show insanity sets in, I want to blog about my wonderful domestic life with my husband. <3 I usually don't do mushy barf stuff but I figured I should at least once since I am married now. Wes and I are trying to get a little garden together on our balcony. We have a couple plants from last year and two new crops I started a few months ago. Look, progress!

I took some really awesome pictures in the daytime and got some action shots of Wes pruning the pepper plants but then I accidentally deleted them off my phone. So now we have "oh shit, I deleted the good pictures so here are some make up ones" pictures.

One thing Wes & I always do together is cook and eat our meals.  No matter how busy our individual schedules get, we try our darnedest to have dinner. Over the last year or so, I've gotten into the organic farm to market movement.  Last summer I decided that we should just grow our own herbs and some vegetables. (It's cheaper than shopping at Whole Foods!) We started with some mint sprigs a friend of ours gave us. Then we got some seeds for peppers. This year I got some more seeds and now, we have mint, basil (actually no real basil, yet, they're just tiny little sprouts now), green beans and banana peppers.

The basil has sprouts... even if you can't see them in this picture.

I can't say I'm an expert but there have been lessons learned from our two summers of gardening that I would like to share. This was actually Wes' idea. He goes, "You should blog about our plants since they're doing so well." I guess he wants me to diversify... crafts, recipes, infertility, shows... what don't I do?!?! LOL Anyway, back to this week's topic. Top three tips for home gardening:

1. Don't let the soil stay moist! 

Last year we experienced gnat-mageddon. It was TERRIBLE!  I didn't even water the plants that much. But it was just enough to get a few gnats and then those suckers laid eggs and then we could not get rid of them for months. I think we had gnats from March until November. The apartment supposedly came out and sprayed and we had fly strips all over and around the plants but nothing helped. 

So there we were with our little baby plants and an army of gnats... AND moldy soil. Since we let the soil get too moist, fuzzy patches of mold started showing up. We ended up having to stop watering the plants completely and then we pretty much re-potted the plants with new dry soil. We use a spray bottle for watering now. I spritz the indoor plants about every other day.

2. Take them outside. 

I didn't want to bring the plants out this spring because of all the rain we've been getting. I was afraid that our plants would all just drown. And all the seed packets say to start your plants indoors for x number of weeks. Wes pushed for them being taken outside so I finally gave in. They looked like they weren't going to make it after the first few storms. But then, our mint grew a lot fuller and our banana pepper grew into a really hardy stalk.  We had the spindliest banana pepper plant last summer and it barely had any buds on it. Took it outside for a month and it has improved tenfold. The only thing we still have indoors is our baby basil.

Our luscious mint.

3. Get multiple small pots.

Last year, we got two large pots and I crammed all our seeds into them. I had a packet of basil seeds, a packet of pepper seeds and the sprigs of mint from Kristin. At first they all grew... then they all died. The mint took over everything and the basil never made it.  Our peppers were looking more and more weak. I finally let the mint have their own pot and separated the peppers into two pots with one stalk each. This year, I got four Jiffy Strips. Two for basil and two for green beans. We only put one green bean seed in each and a few basil seeds in each. The beans are sprouting up a storm and the basil is starting to grow, too.

I want to grow other vegetables but I think planting season is over. I think we'll add to our garden each year. Maybe two new crops a year since that's what we've been doing. We are going to have tons of banana peppers this summer. Wes suggested pickling them. I've never pickled anything before and Wes made it sound like a difficult ordeal. Has anyone out there pickled peppers? And can you give us tips?

Erica is a little late posting this but... National Infertility Awareness Week was April 19-25

I have three loves: 

        RagsReborn, infertility awareness & acceptance and pet rescue/adoption. I'm sure by now you're sick and tired of RagsReborn and craft show stuff.  I've already talked about my dogs quite a bit so now its time for infertility awareness.

Watch out because shit is about to get heavy.  No fun little crafts or recipes this week. I'm actually going to do my first personal blog post.

National Infertility Awareness week was about a month ago. I have great reverence and respect for women and couples who have to suffer with infertility. I think its pretty rude that one of the most common questions to ask a couple is if they have kids and if not, when they plan to have kids. Infertility is real. (#thestruggleisreal) Society has made it the norm to have gaggles of children and for women who cannot, there is a huge sense of shame and embarrassment. How many people do you know talk openly about infertility? Zero, I bet. I read some statistic that women who have infertility issues get just as depressed as patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. And the suicide rates for infertiles is pretty wild.

Luckily, there is help. The rates of infertility are so high, that organizations and support groups have sprung up. There is an organization named Resolve that does a pretty great job setting up events, online discussions and PodCasts for National Infertility Awareness Week. The whole shebang. None of the events are in Oklahoma, though. : (  I read a bunch of the articles and discussion forums. I meant to post this blog as my contribution but that was the same week that my laptop died and then Indie Trunk Show completely took over my life. There is a 5k in Texas that I plan to participate in next year. I'll probably do some other stuff, too.

I am part of the one in six or one in eight or one in ten (depending on what statistics you prefer to believe) women who cannot get pregnant naturally. Yup, Erica suffers from infertility. It is actually more of a medical health concern rather than a reproductive concern in my case. My uterus is tilted unbelievably backwards (and it could be folded in half, the jury's still out on that) and I have several cysts on my ovaries. They're mostly on my left one. I am monitored by my ob/gyn and I have to take close care of myself. I have to get regular trans-vaginal ultrasounds and its probably one of the worst things in the world. Luckily, none of my cysts are cancerous.

This was never a known problem (aka medical diagnosis) up until about a year ago. Pain in that area of my body has always been an issue but I just assumed it was part of life. I didn't really start my mensies until my late late teens and its sort of been problematic ever since. Sometimes, I'm regular on my menstrual cycle and sometimes, I'm not. Sometimes, I just spot for days on end for no damn reason. Over the years, my periods started getting heavier and more painful. Believe it or not, I have literally blacked out from the pain. (O_o) I have cramps like you would not believe and I have persistent abdominal pain throughout the entire month. But, I thought this was all part of being a woman and I never wanted to have children when I was younger-- I was too ambitious and too adventurous. But for a brief and fleeting moment last year, Wes and I decided that maybe we might. So we did the dance with no pants ... and no precautionary measures. But time and time again, Aunt Flo paid me a visit and reminded me that I failed. It gets pretty upsetting and you end up finding yourself in a very dark place. When that shit happens, you have to "look on the bright side"... so, here goes...if I never tried to get pregnant, then I would have never gone to my ob/gyn to get diagnosed. It was with my infertility diagnosis that I discovered that I have other issues with my reproductive system and now I'm getting answers and hopefully pain relief.

I believe it was extra difficult for me because I'm in a pretty unique position. All other couples I've met and read about go through their infertility journey together. They cry together and they talk together. They understand each other because they're both in the same boat. Well, not me. I suffer alone. Wes has experienced pregnancy and child rearing before. He and his high school sweetheart went through that. I have to live the rest of my life knowing that my husband had something magical with another woman and he cannot have that with me. Ever. Knowing that you're in that position gives you a sense of sadness, anger and jealously that I don't even want to begin to talk about.

So, I started my journey and went through the five stages of grief. I read about and researched infertility; I read medical articles, forums, two actual hard cover books and numerous blogs. Oh boy, did I read blogs (a REALLY good one is Life Without Baby)!! Some were uplifitng & positive and some were written by women just as crazy and depressed as I was. We changed our diets and I went to a handful of infertility support group meetings. I even talked to two separate people I know that went through adoption. I got a lot of insight and understanding into the world of infertility. I completely respect all the couples that go through the treatment but in the end, I decided that a child is not what life has planned for me. I know I will not be giving birth naturally and it will be pretty impossible to accomplish an international adoption.  My only option is fertility treatments and I don't believe in using science to make a child. The odds aren't too great and the infertility clinics prey on your emotions and deep longing to give birth.

Now, here I am. I wouldn't say I'm entirely okay but I have come to acceptance. I had to read "Good to Great" in one of my college business classes. I didn't really like the book but what I remember is a chapter on knowing when to move on and pursue other dreams. You may want to accomplish something with every fiber of your being, but in the end, if you can't do it, you just can't do it. Not everyone is going to get drafted into the NBA or be the next Steve Jobs. It sounds terrible but you have to know when to quit and start something else. Realign your goals and find new passions. My new baby is RagsReborn. It's as much a child as any real child a woman can have. I have to work at it and spend countless hours with it in order for it to grow properly. I certainly brag about it and am proud of all its accomplishments. Wes finished all his child rearing at an astonishingly young age so we have the rest of our lives to travel and be happily married. On days that I get especially moody and suicidal, I remind myself that although he experienced the gift of life with another wonderful woman, he chose ME to marry. We will have many joyous experiences and while nothing we have can measure up to spawning an heir, we still have each other and the rest of our lives to live together.

For all those who are reading this and find yourself in a similar situation as I am in, I leave you with two things:

One is an amazingly written book. "Waiting for Daisy" details the journey that Peggy Orenstein and her husband went through. It brought me to both tears of sadness and fits of giggles. I read it in two days and would say it's one of my favorite books. I really want to own it. (*hint, hint for those of you who want to buy me stuff*)

The second thing is this silly little article. http://www.babble.com/pregnancy/10-people-you-hate-when-youre-trying-to-get-pregnant/  I'm not bitter or angry at women with children. I actually have two close friends who are pregnant right now. But sometimes you just gotta laugh at the hell that life has dealt you. After that, you can get through it in your own way and start charting a new life for yourself; universe be damned!

Erica survived her first craft show!

Friday and Saturday were two extremely exhausting days but I made it! My first Indie Trunk Show is done and in the books. I didn't do as well as I hoped but it was still a very good experience. My main goal was to sell enough to recuperate the booth/vendor fee charged by the show. Unfortunately, I came up a few dollars shy. (Ok, more than a few dollars but I'm trying to stay positive.) After talking to other vendors, the consensus was that there were tons of lookers but not very many buyers. Many other vendors also complained about low sales but praised the high amount of exposure. I need to get my name out there so high exposure is good for me. I talked to many customers & vendors and passed out several business cards.  In theory, those connections will lead to future sales so I guess I can't really beat myself up too much over poor sales at the show.

My booth display

I took notes during the day and came up with my top five tips for first time vendors (or any vendors, really, if you are interested in craft show advice).

1. Do your research BEFORE the show.
        This is the one that really got me into trouble. I was so excited (and naive) to get into the Indie Trunk Show that I did absolutely zero research about the size and scope of the event. Its a big, big, big show. My booth was nowhere near as good as my neighbors' & my presence there wasn't very "professional." Its hard to explain but you could tell that this was my first show. Live and learn, right?
        Also, its an expensive show (I later learned that most smaller shows charge vendors only half of what Indie Trunk Show booth/application fees are) so a majority of the vendors there are experienced with large budgets. One of my neighbors does craft shows full time. She has an established customer base and people come to shows just to buy a onesie from her. Can you imagine driving 25 miles out of your way just to buy baby clothes? Sounds crazy but this woman had customers all day; she knew the ropes and this was definitely not her first rodeo...on the other hand, I was a complete rookie and you could tell.
        During the week before the show, I learned that you don't just start out at a huge show. You start small at local fundraisers or community craft shows. You slowly build your customer base and then go do something like Indie Trunk Show. It was too late to back out by the time I gained this knowledge so I just decided that I would chalk it up to being ambitious. Looking back at it now, I wish that I had some experience before jumping into one of the largest shows in the metro. I spoke with another one of my neighbors and she mentioned a small show at the Earlywine YMCA. Its basically a small fundraiser benefiting the Greater YMCA. I've already applied for it. The size of that show and quality/quantity of vendors who will be there fits my experience a lot better.

2. Make friends with other vendors.

Networking is key!

        Other vendors, especially your neighbors are not necessarily competition. They are actually your best source of advice. I was lucky enough to be right next to Lil Nana's Creations (the onesie lady) and across from Wood Warriors. Both are extremely successful and experienced crafters. Both were more than willing to answer my questions, calm my stressed out self and offer tips and tricks of the trade. Lil Nana's Creations told me about a discount shop where I can buy display furniture and Wood Warriors went as far as to conceptualized a booth layout for me! Wood Warriors also told me about several upcoming shows (that are a lot smaller and cheaper than Indie Trunk Show).
       Gather business cards. Talk to any vendor who is willing to chat. Several vendors came up to my booth to exchange cards and "talk shop." I would name them all but I met so many that I can't even remember them all. It was great! Friendly faces make the day go by a lot faster. I actually made two pretty good friends who were nowhere even near my booth: CulbertsCreations Jewelry and Cyndi-Lou Fashions. They walked by several times throughout the day just to check on me because they knew it was my first show. One of my coworkers at Delta Dental, Glass Soldier Gifts, was there which made it tons better after finding out I had a friend I knew outside of the crafting world.
       Check out other vendors' displays. Get ideas for your own booth and sales pitch. If a booth is loaded with customers, go in and observe. What are they selling? How is their booth set up? What are they saying to customers? I did a quick walk through before, during and after the show and got quite a few booth layout ideas.

3. Bring a friend.

I'm an independent woman but I also have basic human needs like going to the bathroom! LOL

     
        You absolutely will need someone to help set up and tear down before and after the show. One of my neighbors, Zahara Clothing, had it down to an art. She and her boyfriend got her entire booth (structures and items) up in less than half an hour. It was entirely because they had a buddy system going. If she was there by herself, there is no way she could have managed. You can run your booth the day of the show by yourself but I would not recommend it.
        Because of scheduling conflicts, Wes was only able to help me set up before the show and stay a while the morning of the show. He left right as the show started and was out for 3-4 hours. I was doing okay on my own until I had to pee. Then there's the other biological function of needing to eat. My mom and Mike were scheduled to bring me lunch at 1pm. I ended up getting hungry before then. I preferred to not eat in my booth so I spent a few hours starving myself and almost pissing my pants. Plus, you just need a break. Its good to leave your booth and walk about for a little bit. Get some fresh air and take it all in.  I didn't get to shop or meet as many vendors as I would have liked to because I was the only one manning my booth in the morning.
        Luckily, Wes, my mom and Mike all showed up around the same time to rescue me and Wes stayed the rest of the day so the afternoon went a lot better. We took turns walking around and scoping out other vendors. We also had regular potty breaks. LOL

4. The show "rules" are really just guidelines.
        Being a newbie, I followed all the rules. (I'm also a square in real life so following the rules is just what I do.) The most basic rule of "handmade, vintage and repurposed" was not followed. I saw tons of vendors who were just reselling items. A lot of the clothing vendors were selling clothes that I could swear I saw at Forever 21 and Fossil. I saw one booth that was selling some baby contraption that was still in its original packaging.
        Other rules such as stay within your chalked booth perimeters, set up and tear down times, and parking were also not followed. Some vendors started packing up as early as 4:15pm when the show ended at 5pm. Parking and unloading was a NIGHTMARE. There was a rule to park up front as you unload and then move your car when you're done. No one followed that rule. Also no one parked within actual parking spaces. Everyone was doubled parked or parked in the fire lane. One woman walked around shouting, "Whoever is in the HHR needs to move their car because I almost hit you!"
        I'm not saying to be a complete rebel but the packet of rules they give you before the show should not be something of concern. Follow them as best you can but don't worry if you can't abide by them all. Also, don't be angry when you see other people openly breaking the rules.

5.Look busy in your booth.
        I know that not everyone can do this. But, if your craft is something that can be transported, bring it to the show.  You make ceramics? Bring your wheel and clay. Trust me on this one. If you don't follow any other tips in this blog, be sure to at least give this one some consideration.
        I brought my sewing machine in anticipation of custom orders. I also brought three shirts that I didn't finish before the show. I had a lot of traffic come through my booth. Tons of people stopped to look and take a card. I would smile & say good morning and they would smile back. Most either just looked at my booth without really coming in and those who did come in, only took a brief look around. I'm not an intimidating person! But me just sitting there prevented a lot of people from feeling comfortable really looking at and handling my items.
       Once I started sewing my left over shirts, that completely changed. People came in to ask what I was doing, people came in and asked if it was okay to browse while I worked, people noticed that I wasn't watching them so they rummaged through my bins of pillows and picked them up. I actually got a few sales. I would say that the only times I got sales was when I was sewing and paying my customers no mind.
        The best part was that Wood Warriors' child came over. Cute little kid of 7 years.  He wanted to "help" me. I let him hang out and because of him, I attracted a teenager (who had money) and another little boy (who asked his mom for money). Then another one of the vendor's children, little pre-teen girl, came in and started telling me what's hip and what would sell. She said her friend loves Snoopy and if her mom gave her money, she would come back and buy my Snoopy Knowledge is Power pillow. She never came back but now I know what will sell in the younger market. I can't have kids so I'm not in tune with that niche. Kids don't have money but their parents do and about half my shoppers were kids who asked their parents for money to buy a pillow.

So there you have it. I learned a lot during my first show experience but I condensed it to my top five just for you. I'm still selling. My items are on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RagsRebornGifts) and will slowly be posted on Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/RagsRebornGifts). I'm always available for custom orders--those are my favorite, actually. If all goes well, I will be at the Earlywine YMCA Arts and Crafts Show on Saturday November 14th, 2015 and possibly again at the Indie Trunk Show (but sharing a booth with Jessa & Mason Summer is Glory) on Saturday December 16th, 2015. Don't quote me on the December Indie Trunk Show, though. And next spring at the Country Glam Pop Up Shops On Monroe in Crescent, Oklahoma in April 2016.

Aftermath of the show. I have a lot of cleaning, organizing, Etsy posting to do.

Erica is going to be in the Indie Trunk Show!!!

The 2015 spring Indie Trunk Show is this Saturday!! I'm going to be there...I'm going to be both a confident artist and a bundle of nerves. It'll take a lot to successfully pull that off so send me well wishes and better yet, come by and say hello.  \(^_^)/ I will be in booth #148 (booth numbers won't be posted so just look for my RagsRebornGifts signs). I'll be in my official shirt, too! I bought an Indie Trunk Show promotional tee and got my company name screen printed on the back. Snazzy!

I feel like I have a week to finish up a thousand and one things. As of now, I am one frazzled mess O_O  I have to keep passing out fliers and amp up my presence on social media. I plan to post an album on my Facebook business page with all my inventory. Luckily, I'm done with all my sewing. (big sigh of relief here!) I have about 80 pillows and 20 totes. I haven't done a full inventory count but my goal was 100 items and I know I've done at least that. Really, all I need to do is calm my nerves and think positively. Easier said than done. *rolls eyes*

This is my first show...period.  I opened my Etsy store and started this crazy adventure last November (yeah, only seven measly months ago). I'm not quite sure what I got myself into, honestly. My business hasn't even been operational a year, yet I'm going to be in one of the biggest shows in the metro. Was this a mistake? No, no, no. I can't think like that. Even if I fail terribly, it would have been a really good learning experience. On the flip-side, being in a show of this magnitude could be my gateway into a lot more successful ventures in the future.

The Indie Trunk Show has a Facebook page specifically for vendors. It's been a wonderful resource and networking tool. After reading posts and commenting on a few myself, I learned that you really need to start at small local fundraisers or church craft shows. You're not supposed to just jump into a huge show that has over 200 vendors and an expected turn out of a couple thousand shoppers. Ooops. I guess its go big or go home, right? To try to get a handle on things, I have been reading up on blogs and forums about craft shows (here's a really good one: https://blog.etsy.com/en/2008/seller-how-to-craft-fair-tips/).

Here's a fun promotional picture I made. I needed something for a transitional point in this blog post. 

Anyway, since its Monday craft night, I suppose I should share a craft.
Each vendor at the show gets a 10x10 foot block (literally a square on the floor that's taped off) of space for a booth. I have no walls. I have no display structures. But I do have crazy ideas. LOL This weekend, Wes & I built the main structure for my booth. We built it out of cardboard, cloth, craft glue and Velcro. (I know, I know, insert doubt here)

I wanted my pillows on a bed or couch (something that you would normally find pillows on). And I wanted my booth to look comfortable and homey. Remember in The Lego Movie when they had a double decker couch? Well, that's what I settled on making. I'll have other small display structures in my booth but that is what I wanted to be my main fixture. I lacked experience in furniture building but I had my vivid imagination and supportive husband. So off we went...

It was a behemoth task. I had a small breakdown in the middle of making it but I kept the tears to a minimal. Wes was wonderful to work with (man, check out that alliteration!) I ended up spending a lot more money on this than I wanted but I am happy with how it turned out. It's still not as stable as I'd like but I think it'll do the job.

I knew Indie Trunk Show would be really hard work going into it but I never imagined the magnitude of time and effort -emotionally and physically- it would take. Now I know for sure that it takes blood, sweat and tears to get something like this done. For anyone who goes to a craft fair or arts festival and remarks, "Oh, is that considered art?... I can do something like that at home and not pay $20 for it here," I dare you to apply for a show then do all the work and try saying something like that again. Trust me, you won't. Items are priced at a premium for a reason. Shows.are.hard.work! I don't want to sound like I'm complaining (it's really just the nerves talking here and causing all my negative thoughts). I really am glad I'm in a show like this because its really making me reevaluate how much I really want Rags|Reborn. to work out.  And I do. This is a goal I must accomplish. I don't want a day job anymore... I love you Delta Dental, but I have bigger things in mind! I want to be an artist. I want to do shows and make custom pillows and I want my Etsy store to be a real source of income. I can't slack off anymore. Is this a challenge? ...Yes of course but it's one I can steer the course of.  The universe loves to throw shit at you. I've had my fair share of ups and downs but I feel like this is something I can control. I can apply for more craft shows, I can network and I can sew. If I'm going to make my dream a reality, I gotta be serious about it and conquering Indie Craft Show is the first step. Its been quite the journey.  I keep going back and forth between excitement and pessimistic thoughts of crashing and burning. It's driving me crazy!!  Arrgh, can't it just be May 16th already?!?

Erica is back!!

My poor laptop's fan died so it was overheating... a couple of trips to Best Buy and $150 later, its fixed and Monday Craft Night blogs are back in business. I've been posting heaps on Instagram (@RagsRebornGifts) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RagsRebornGifts) so its not like I was completely out of commission. I'm becoming pretty good at posting pictures on social media.

Stenciling and cutting letters was probably the worst thing I've had to do for my business thus far. OMG, it took forever!!

T-minus 12 days to the Indie Trunk Show! I've been a busy bee. I'm done sewing all of my inventory (I have 115 items for sale). I am now working on things for my booth. Here's what I have so far:

I've been keeping all of my scrap cloth in a bag. (I have an idea for it later!) I decided I needed an official scrap cloth box. I used one of my old tutorials and made not only a box but a matching cup for my sewing supplies. It was super easy; just wrapped cloth over the box and cup and glued it down. Then added some burlap and felt for decoration.  Sadie loves to model : )

One of Wes's friends, Travis, gave me one of his old cigar boxes. Its a really nice box so I decided to paint over all the cigar logos and turn it into my "cash register." I'll be using Square at the show but just in case I get cash, I'll have a nifty little box to store it in.

"Where's the tutorial?" you ask.
          I have one more small booth item to make. I saw these decorative lids at Michael's that were mason jar lids that had other stuff on top of them. One was slotted so when you screwed it onto a jar, the jar would become a piggy bank. One was painted like a blackboard (it also came with some blackboard stickers and some chalk for you to label your jars with). The last one I saw had a pin cushion on top. Perfect for RagsRebornGifts! Instead of buying it, I decided I need to just recreate the pin cushion jar with stuff I knew I already had at home.

Pin Cushion Jar Tutorial:
             Materials needed - empty glass jar with lid, cotton stuffing (not pictured), hot glue gun, scissors and any other decorative items

1. Eat some pickles or peppers or whatever comes in a jar that you like to eat. LOL I have one large and one small pickle jar.
     Wash the jars with hot soapy water. I had to wash the pickle jars a few times to get the vinegar smell out.
     Scrub the label off (Wes did that part for me).
     Dry and spray Fabreeze into the jars. Let air dry. The vinegar smell finally came out after a few days of air drying.
2. Get a hand full of cotton stuffing and hot glue it to the lid. I would use more stuffing than you think you'd need. You'll want a tight ball so it'll be a good firm pin cushion when you're done.

It starts off as a crazy fluff ball but you can squish it together before the next step.

3. Cut a out square piece of cloth and hot glue it to the rim of the lid. The size of the cloth depends on how big your jar lid is. Make sure the stuffing is tightly glued into the cloth.

4. Cut off the excess cloth from around the lid. Screw the lid back onto the jar and you have yourself a pin cushion lid.

5. Decorate the rest of the jar as you please. I put some r|r. tags in one and my bobbins in another one. Oddly enough, even with all the sewing I've been doing, I have never used a pin cushion...and I've spilled pins all over the carpet at least three times. Which, I suppose isn't good so now I keep these jars by my sewing machine.

Craft night at Courtney's!

My friend Courtney is having her wedding DIY style.  She is making it all... her invitations, her centerpieces and her wedding favors. She had a few impromptu craft nights that I couldn't make it to but I did still get to participate in a little crafting. : ) It wasn't really a "craft night"; pretty much I needed to charge my phone and instead of sitting around doing nothing for an hour, I decided that we should craft.

Our task was the table centerpieces. They are super easy and cheap to make. Courtney estimated they're about $6/centerpiece and we made 20 in a little over an hour. Courtney said she saw some centerpieces with marbles online and knew that's what she wanted. (The rest of the design were her ideas.) But she didn't want to buy vases. So inspiration struck and she used old juice containers. This girl recycles -- no wonder we're friends!

Wedding centerpiece tutorial:
              Materials needed - juice container, ribbon, box cutter, marbles, hot glue, scissors and flowers

This isn't quite all the materials but I LOVE this hot glue gun. It works so well!! I want it!!

1. Cut the top half off the juice bottle, remove the label and clean. The bottom half now should look like a vase.

2. Add marbles. Courtney used about half a bag of decorative marbles per vase. After we finished our project, we decided it might be a good idea to put sand at the bottom of the vase and then add the marbles so it looks a little more filled.

3. While the hot glue gun is heating up, measure and cut the ribbon. Stick the end of the ribbon to the sticky part of the bottle where the label was. Then you won't have to hold it in place as much when you measure. 

4. Put a dab of hot glue in the center of the bottle and glue the flower stem into the bottle.  Hold in place until the glue is dried.

 Courtney bought bouquets of silk flowers and cut them into individual stems. Its a little extra work but it was more cost-efficient than buying individual stems.

5. Glue the ribbon around the bottle.

They look really nice when they're done and you get the satisfaction of knowing that you made them. This doesn't have to be a two person craft but it goes faster if it is. Courtney did the ribbon measuring and held the flowers in place while they dried. And I got to do all of the gluing (mostly because I was in love with her hot glue gun).  

I want to thank Courtney for letting me be a part of her wedding and helping me with this tutorial. 

Wes is making deliciously amazing pot roast.

Ahhh date night <3 Dinner on the patio. With lanterns!! Welcome spring : )

One of the first things that Wes cooked for me was pot roast. (Actually, the first thing he cooked for me was a pork tenderloin but that's not a regular in our recipe rotation so we'll just skip straight to the pot roast.) Not long after we started dating, one of his co-workers gave him some left over pot roast. Seeing as he was a bachelor, she gave him enough to last a week. LOL Since he had so much, Wes was nice enough to share. I've never had homemade pot roast; it was so yummy! Why have I never made this before?!?! After that, we (mostly Wes) felt inspired to make our own pot roast. Wes doesn't cook often, but there are two things he does well. One is chili and the other is pot roast. I'll blog about the chili another time.

We're having it for dinner tonight so I'm here in the kitchen taking pictures and typing as he cooks...
Slow-Cooker Pot Roast Recipe:
INGREDIENTS -                   3 cups vegetable broth      
    2lb of roast                         2 bay leaves (1 leaf for each pound of meat)




1 large potato                     1 pinch of minced garlic
1 cup lentils                        1 dash of parsley, salt and pepper (or however much you'd prefer)
1 cup carrots                      1 packet of soup mix



Disclaimer: Wes prefers mushrooms but he knows my favorite is lentils so he's doing lentils for me. You have to really like lentils to add them in your pot roast. If you aren't a huge lentil fan, I'd say go with mushrooms instead. Since the lentils are in the crock pot all day, they get super mushy and soak up all the broth. And its a crazy gravy-like consistency mess if you try to heat up the left overs. When I studied in Spain, my host mom made this really thick lentil soup and I LOVED it. It was one of the tastiest things that she cooked. So, I'm okay with mushy stewed lentils but they aren't for the faint of heart.

1. Thaw the meat. If you forget to thaw it, defrost the meat by running it under cold water (not hot water). Wes saw Alton Brown do some experiment with defrosting duck shaped ice sculptures    using either running cold water or in the oven and cold water worked better. Poor melted ducks!!
2. Cut up the meat, potatoes and carrots into chunks.

3. Put into the slow cooker in this order - meat, bay leaf, lentils, carrots, parsley, salt, pepper, soup mix, garlic, broth and, then potato. Save the potatoes for last. When they cook, they'll get soft but not mushy because they're left on top. (Some of this I'm quoting directly from Wes.)

4. Cook for 8 hours on low heat. If you only have 6 hours, you should have it on low for a majority of the time and then switch it to high for the last hour.

5. If you aren't going to be at home, no need to check on it. But if you are home, stir the stuff in the crock pot around every 2 hours. After your 8 hours are done, it should look awesome and like this.

So there you have it...my man can cook! : ) I'll ask him to make chili so we can have a blog on that, too. Using other people's recipes makes blogging easier. Maybe, I can bug my mom into getting some of her Chinese food recipes. Mmmmm!