How to Dye Suede Shoes

I bought a pair of cream suede oxford shoes similar to these thinking they would look cute with jeans but didn’t wear them very often because of the color. Changing the color is easy as dying the shoe. Since these are basically an extra I have and don’t’ wear I decided to go with something fun and dye my suede shoes blue with this exact suede shoe dye. *Cue Elvis joke here* (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience)

I was very nervous about messing up this project and put it aside for quite awhile after I bought the dye. Once I got up the nerve to do it I learned dying shoes a new color isn’t hard, just a little messy so make sure you protect your work surface and you’ll be fine.

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How to Dye Shoes a New Color

How to Make a Jester Costume

One of the things I love about sewing costumes is the challenge and I try to do that with every jester dress I make. Normally I cut each piece of my sewing pattern out of a different color fabric to create a color block jester costume, I load it up with jingle bells, and I’m good to go with a costume that’s close to jester’s motley.

I need a new jester costume for renaissance festival and historical performances and when I want to dress to empress on Halloween.

This time, I went for the Crazy Person Challenge of sewing a jester costume with a homemade diamond pattern quilted fabric. I made new everything from the skin out:bloomers, hoop skirt, skirt, bodice, and hat. This project took four months to complete.

Which just goes to show you I don’t just play a fool on weekends, it’s more of a 24/7 lifestyle. I’ve never quilted before and after this project I may never quilt again!

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Photos by Jay Robinson and Checkmate Photography

How to Make a Female Renaissance Jester Costume

How to Make an All Weather Elizabethan Jiffy Pop Hat

I need a new jester hat for my renaissance festival character that will still hold its shape when it gets wet in the rain or snow. In the past I have used the traditional buckram (learn what buckram is here) which unfortunately can quickly lose its shape and not really recover it when it gets wet in a thunderstorm. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

I’d like to make something a little different than the traditional jester asses ears I’ve worn in the past. (Asses ears are the name of the jester’s hat with the points and bells on the end.) Since Elizabethan jesters and fools often made fun of their betters and sometimes wore parodies of the style of the nobility to mock them, I decided to make a HUGE British bonnet as an homage to my jester mentor who wore a GIANT flat cap.

But most importantly, I want a hat with a brim to keep the sun out of my eyes.

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This style of brimmed hat with a poufy top goes by many names: British toque or bonnet, Spanish toque or bonnet, Italian toque or bonnet, or by the modern nick name The Jiffy Pop Hat because it looks like a Jiffy Pop pan after it has popped (learn more about Jiffy Pop here if you are unfamiliar with this treat that’s fun to eat.)

Elizabethan men and women wore this style of hat. The poofy hat in the sepia photo is made with buckram. The hats in the color photos are made with plastic canvas. As you can see you can't tell from looking what the hat form is made from. the only difference is the plastic canvas is weatherproof and also stands up any and all abuse an actor may put it through.

How to Make a Hat with Plastic Canvas Instead of Buckram

How to Clean Rusty Chrome the Non Toxic Way!

Taking my bathroom décor que from hotels I stayed in I hung a chrome towel rack shelf in the Master Bathroom shower. It is handy as a towel rack and even better when I need a place to hang some hand washing up to dry. I popped a little plastic tray on top so I can use it as a storage shelf for shampoo and such.

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Unfortunately, the chrome is developing tiny rust spots.

Fortunately there is a quick, easy, cheap and non toxic way to remove rust from metal chrome.

How to Wash a Baseball Cap the Easy Way

I like to wear hats. Hats keep your head warm during the winter and jazz up your outfit any time of the year.

Not to mention, putting on a hat = instant good hair day!

Baseball caps are my casual hat go to. I often wear one when I am working in my workshop to keep my hair out of my face and out of the way of power tools.

Which means over time, my baseball hats can get sweaty, yucky dirty.

How do you wash a baseball cap without ruining it?

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There is no way I am ruining my favorite baseball cap by using one of these ball cap washing things to wash my hat in the dishwasher. Washing dirty clothing in the same place and time I wash the dishes I eat off of skeeves me out. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

More importantly, most dishwasher detergents aren’t made to clean fabrics and have ingredients that fade fabric.

But mostly it’s the heebie jeebie skeeved out thing.

Fortunately there is a very easy and non toxic way to clean a baseball cap that doesn’t involve doing dishes or ruining your hat in the dishwasher or washing machine. Here’s how.

How to Make a Pendent Necklace into a Pin Brooch

I was going though my costume jewelry collection to bling out my Husband’s and my Halloween costumes. I have more costume jewelry necklaces than I do pins in my princess treasure chest. Naturally I actually need the opposite.

No worries! It is super quick and easy to turn a necklace charm or pendant into a pin brooch!

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How to Make Embroidered Insulated Can Koozies

Somewhere along this road we call life, we ended up with several matching  promotional insulated can and bottle drink holders.* 

*Or can Koozie.Or coosie (cozy, cosie.) Or huggie. Or bottle hugger. Or beer sleeve. Or bottle jacket. Or the so awesome I can’t decide which name is my favorite: coldy holdy or the Australian stubby holder.

I didn’t think they were very useful at the time and tossed them into the back of a kitchen cupboard that is so close to the ceiling I never use it.

It was only after I learned you can ripen avocados in a neoprene can Koozie like the avocado bag I don’t have (an avocado ripening bag looks like this for reference) that I put those now deemed useful beer huggies into a lower cupboard where I can easily find and use them to ripen avocados.  (Disclosure: I am including some affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

If the insulated bottle holders didn’t all match I could pull the drink cozies and use them as drink marker charms when we treat ourselves or guest to our recent retro soda pop (check them out here!) obsession.

Let’s fix that and make embroidered insulated bottle koozies!

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How to Machine Embroider Insulated Bottle Sleeves

You can easily sew insulated beer Koozies from scratch (you can buy the insulating fabric here) or machine embroider on a plan insulated neoprene can sleeve (you can buy plain can cooler sleeves here ) if you like.

In my case, I wanted to upcycle the  free promotional insulated beer coolies I have into something cuter than a walking advertisement for a company I’m not going to use.

You will need the following supplies for this craft project:

Insulated foam drink holder

Jersey fabric – I tried covering a soda pop sleeve with cute cotton fabric and it didn’t have enough give to put a can inside it. A few experiments later, jersey fabric worked the best as a functional can holder. I used plain t shirts I bought on clearance at the craft store.

Embroidery sewing machine – I have this sewing and embroidery machine and love its versatility!

Machine embroidery stabilizer

Embroidery machine thread

Sewing machine thread – yes, there really is a difference between machine embroidery and sewing thread

Seam ripper – I have a handmade seam ripper necklace similar to this one and never lose it while I’m in the middle of a sewing project !

Scissors

Sewing gage

Tailor’s chalk or pencil

Straight pins

Step by Step How to Make it Tutorial

1.  Hoop your stretchy fabric and embroidery stabilizer and use the embroidery machine to machine embroider a design onto the fabric with embroidery thread, if desired. You can hand embroider the design if you desire.

Caution: It is better to pick an embroidery design that is light on thread that will allow your fabric and cozy to stretch around a can or bottle than a more dense and thread intensive design that doesn’t allow fabric movement.

2. Use the seam ripper to open the sides of the foam drink huggie and lay it flat. We will use this as our pattern in Step 3.

Hey! It looks like a Tie Fighter! Pew! Pew!

3.  Using the flat bottle cozy as a pattern, trace it with the tailor’s pattern onto your embroidered fabric.

Tip: Make sure you trace your pattern slightly larger than the cosie on to leave a seam allowance on the sides and enough fabric to fold over the top of the coozie and sew into place to make a neat top hem. The sewing gauge will help you measure and mark a consistent seam allowance.

4. Pin the fabric to the bottle snuggie. Use a stretch stitch to sew the bottom sides of the fabric to the snuggie. If you do not have a stretch over lock (serger type) stitch on yours sewing machine like I do, you can use a stretch zig zag stitch.

Tip: You want to use a stretch stitch when sewing your beer cozy so it will allow the neoprene to contour to the bottle or can you put in it.

Tip 2: To keep the embroidered stretch fabric from slipping and otherwise trying to go wonky when removing the pins to sew it, I use a quick spritz of textile spray adhesive like this kind to keep the fabric and neoprene in place while I remove the pins as I sew.

5. Fold the the fabric over the top edge of the beer coolie, pin it into place, use a stretch straight stitch to sew the hem into place. Repeat this on the other side of the coolie. Trim the excess fabric with a pair of scissors if needed after sewing the hems.

You might want all of your pins to go in the same direction - unlike me - oops!

6. Fold the koozie in half, right sides (the pretty part) together and pin into place. Use a use a stretch straight stitch on each side to sew the koozie back together again. Trim the excess fabric with a pair of scissors if needed after sewing the side seams

Tip: To make sure you don’t sew the bottle holdy too small to hold a can or bottle, you can try sewing just over the foam and onto the fabric. Or not. It’s up to you.

7. Turn the koozie right out, pop your favorite drink inside, and enjoy
If you’d rather buy than DIY, check out the following options –and more! – below!

Check out these unique can cooler hacks on my food blog Lazy Budget Chef!

12 Ways to Reuse and Recycle Can Koozies

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How to Fix a Ripped Screen in a Door or Window the Quick and Easy Way

Lacey is a good watch dog.

She watches out the patio door as cars go down the street.

She watches out the patio door as kids play in their yard across the street.

She watches out the patio door as the next door neighbor’s cat struts outside.

And she barks at them.

A lot.

While trying to tear through the screen door.

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Not only do I have a big ol’ rip in the screen in my sliding patio door but also the upstairs window screen where Lacey’s good for digging dog nails have ripped it too.

How to Make a Grill Cover

The four seasons have taken their toll on the cover on my outdoor gas grill. I need a replacement grill cover. 

I don’t want to buy a vinyl grill cover because they rarely last more than two years in the elements. Fabric seems the best way to go since the BBQ cover I made from a drop cloth lasted seven years.
I planned to scope out the heavy duty outdoor fabric at the fabric store after a stop at Homegoods when I found a cheaper and cuter outdoor fabric option – an indoor /outdoor tablecloth.

Which also just so happens to go with this majestic beauty that I also picked up for the front yard.

Her name is Divine.

She is 6 feet tall.

And I love her.

Yes, I am THAT neighbor. You know the one.

You can find a smaller version of my metal lawn flamingo here.

How to Make an Outdoor Grill Cover from a Tablecloth

12 Ways to Reuse Old Pillows

When our bed pillows flatten I fluff them up after washing them by popping a couple of dryer balls like these into the dryer along with my pillows. (I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.) That usually does the trick but after many years, there isn’t much left to fluff in our current set of bed pillows. It is time to replace them.

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How to Hang a Shelf on the Side of a Kitchen Cabinet

I hung a shelf on the side of my kitchen cupboard to give the succulent planter I got for Christmas a fighting chance at life by the only sunny window in my house. I’ve always wanted add an aloe plant since they are so handy when it comes to burns and to add visual balance by hanging a plant shelf on the empty cabinet on the other side of the window.

Which was a little tricky because I have thin builder grade kitchen cabinets. There just isn’t enough wood in the cabernet wall to hold a nail for a picture let alone the weight of a lightweight shelf.
But it can be done and all you need is a simple wine cork.

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How to Hang a Shelf with a Recycled Wine Cork

Gardening Hack: How to Know When to Water Your Vegetable Garden the Lazy Way!

The only reason my first attempt at growing a vegetable garden survived is because my husband and I worked on the project together.

Basically, I forget that plants need water to grow.

Gardening experts say vegetable gardens should be watered 2 to 3 times a week to promote healthy growth and nice deep roots. I start out doing that after I plant my garden but once you throw rain into the mix,  I either accidentally over water or under water depending upon if I wait for a rainstorm.

Either it doesn’t rain enough to water the plants enough or I don’t want to take a chance on the weather forecast for rain failing me again and water the garden only to be followed by a heavy thunderstorm.

So yeah, up until now my garden fails are a result of watering too much or not enough.

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Photo used with permission by MSI Sakib on Unsplash

How to Research, Buy and Install the Best Personal Home Weather Station for You!

Ohio weather changes so wildly and so often you can’t help but be some sort of weather nerd if you have to spend any time outside during the year. It also doesn’t help if like me, weather changes affect your have seasonal allergies. That really makes you pay attention to the local forecast. Good times!

At my allergist’s suggestion I have a humidity monitor (this is the exact indoor thermometer and humidity monitor I have. I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.) on each level of the house. It is accurate and an easy double check if I need to change the indoor climate controls but all of that goes out the door the second I step outside.

Sure, I ask Alexa the temperature but she’s only going to give me the outdoor air temperature reading from the local airport (all official weather equipment is installed at local airports) and not factor in things like the wind chill factor or the heat index which, as you know, is why you get local TV weather forecasts of: The temperature is X but it feels like Y.

If you don’t live in close proximity to your airport summer (and other factors beyond your control) your home’s outdoor temperature may vary from the “official” local reading. That difference can be a super huge big deal when my husband takes off on a long run or I will be marching in a parade during the summer.

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Which is why I bought my husband a personal home weather station for Christmas. (Actually he asked for one.) I gotta tell ya, it was nerve wracking trying to research the best weather station for us because home weather station vary wildly from a cheap standard outdoor thermometer to hundreds of dollars for something that measures rain, wind, humidity, temperature, and the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.

How to Make a Bed with Folded Hospital Corners

Apparently it is a huge big deal whether or not you make your bed and use a top sheet. This something that is totally out of my frame of reference because if you don’t use a top sheet, you need to clean blankets and/or duvet weekly and is way too hot and gross to use during the hot and humid summer.

In other words, not making a bed without a top sheet is gross! Don't do it!

Stuffing a king size top sheet in a washing machine on the regular is way easier than trying to cram king size anything thicker than a sheet in a washing machine. If you have a smaller size bed than I do I guess it might be easier but nonetheless I’m rather replace a worn top sheet than shell out the extra bucks to replace s spendy duvet

I understand the argument of the to sheet getting all twisted up and becoming tucked itself when tossing and turning while you are sleeping. I get it. That used to happen to me until I found an easy fix: Make your bed with hospital corners. Problem solved!

How to Keep Sheets from Slipping off the bed

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The One Thing You AREN’T Doing to Save Money on Your Heating Bill but Should!

In 2008, my husband and I started a year long project to reduce our utility bills by what we though was a too lofty goal of 20% with cheap home improvements and new habits. We beat our original goal and reduced our electricity and natural gas our use by 32%!

We’ve kept our yearly average lower than comparable size energy efficient rated homes in our area for 10 years running and with all of the things that make life worth living: holiday lights, electronics, and toasty warm toes in the dead of winter.

So while my heating bill stayed low and the rest of the house is toasty warm (thanks in no small part to adding weather stripping like this to the bottom on my window sashes installing a programmable thermostat like this one and using it) my laundry room was always colder than the rest of the house. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

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How to Watch Spectrum Cable without a Digital Cable Box

Spectrum Cable TV is switching all of their customers over to digital cable boxes. Which means you now need a digital cable box on every TV in your house in order to watch to watch Spectrum’s new and supposedly improved digital cable TV signal.

That’s all well and good for our main television set in the living room but I’d rather not rent a second cable box for the older flat panel TV we intermittently use in our home office.

Yeah, yeah. I know. Cable TV is old fashioned and costly. This extra annoyance has made me think about cord cutting. (Well, this and I think Spectrum’s service has gotten worse since Charter bought them.)

But as of now cable TV is part of a bundle and I’d like to use what I’m already paying for to watch the news or a movie on the second TV in my office without the extra expense of renting a second cable box or buying a new TV.

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How to Watch Spectrum Cable on an Older TV Set

How to Repair a Front Load Washing Machine that Will Not Drain

I think I am one of the only people in the United States who actually likes her front loading washing machine. That’s why I panicked when my trusty Whirlpool Duet washer stopped in the middle of a cleaning cycle and flashed me a F21 error.

I didn’t want to use a washing machine that will not wash as an excuse to buy a new one. We’ve been good to each other. I wanted to save her, not replace her.

Fortunately, an F21 error on my washing machine means the drain is clogged and is a very simple fix you can do yourself!

 

How to Clean a Clogged Washing Machine Drain

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How to Extend a Downspout the Easy Way

Your local building code my differ but most recommend the water running through the downspouts of your house discharge the water at least six feet away from the house’s foundation. Otherwise, the water can splash back and erode the soil around the downspout where rain water can get in to damage the foundation of your home.

Putting a splash block under each downspout is the easiest way to divert rainwater away from the foundation of your house and fix the problem.  That’s what the builder of my neighborhood did to our houses.

The results are hit and miss because the builder used a one measurement fits all approach and some of our downspouts are too high due to hills in the neighborhood and some of us have soil eroding under their splash blocks like my neighbor’s house shown below.

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Two Easy Ways to Extend an Existing House Downspout

How to Repair a Ripped Flag

Last summer, I repaired a rip in an outdoor garden swooper flag a new sewing client flies in front of his business to give it a second year of life. (I am including some affiliate links in this post for your convince.)

I didn’t write a tutorial at the time because I didn’t think there was much of an interest in how to machine darn rips and holes in a garden flag. Based on the number of questions I answered after I did the job it turns out I was wrong.

Luckily, I get a second chance to write a flag repair tutorial because the twin outdoor feather banner has a tear and a hole in the same place where flag sleeve (the part where the flag pole runs though) sits on and pulls against the top of the curved metal pole when the wind blows. The client asked if I would repair Flag 2 like I darned the tear and hole in Flag 1 since Flag 1 is still rip, roaring, and ready to fly.

The blob at the top is the client's attempt at repairing the hole in the flag with hot glue.

 Needless to say it didn't work.

How to Machine Darn a Rips, Tears, and Holes in Fabric

8 Zero Waste Lies

If you are trying to be a Zero Waste or Trash Fee home you try to reduce the need to use the landfill by refusing, reducing, reusing, repairing, recycling, and donating your household waste to get your output to as close to zero as you can.

There are some in Internet Land who show you how they do it with Pinterest perfect photos of bamboo toothbrushes like these, stylishly minimalist rooms (you can learn about the minimalism movement here), and  haughtily looking down their nose at people who  – gasp! – follow low waste practices because their primary goal is to pay off bills, live within their means, or save money, with environmental concerns coming in a close second or even lower down the list.

Disclosure: I am including some affiliate links in this post for your convenience.

8 Truths of Trash Free and Zero Waste Living

In my over 10 years of blogging about green living and doing it in one form or another for even longer, I know there are some truths to Zero Waste Living and I also know that the reality is not always what you see in those Pinterest perfect Zero Waste Kitchens either.

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