15 Tie Dye Projects

I'm no longer a Girl Scout camp tie dye failure thanks to the tie dye drop cloth shoe project I made for Tulip.

I wear these shoes everywhere. 

Researching and trying different types of tie-dye techniques besides the hippie dippy circle thingies that never came out for me (see Girl Scout camp tie dye failure and mean girl mocking) might have turned me into a wee bit of an addict.

Tie Dye Drop Cloth Shoes

I lived in black cotton Chinese Mary Jane shoes in high school because:

• I also wore them for my color guard uniform.

• China flats are one of the styles that always fit my weird kid sized feet and don’t give me blisters.

I need some kick around summer shoes.  I figure I’ll pick up a pair of China flats in a cute color since I don’t need black as part of a uniform anymore and I’m trying to stick to my One Small Green Change of only buying shoes that fit.

I dyed these shoes with a Tulip Tie Dye Kit. (affiliate link) 

It was easier and less messy than that  fussy stuff in a bucket.  

I didn’t anticipate how hard it was going to be to find a pair of China flats! I finally bought a new pair off eBay for $2.99. The price is right but the color is a bore.

9 Sneaky Green Ways to Save Money

I always struggle when it comes to writing an Earth Day post because everyday is Earth Day around here.

Frankly, my mind is more on trimming the fat from our family budget to pay for Blitzkrieg’s medical bills, and rebuilding our emergency fund which keeps getting knocked back after last year’s Back Luck Summer. 

A conversation with my newest sister in law Mrs J2 last weekend lit the CFL light bulb of inspiration over my head. (What other kind of light bulb would expect to go off over my head? An energy wasting incandescent? Pea-shaw!)

She and her new husband (I never get tired of saying that. I’m a gushy romantic - sue me.) are in Newlywed Money Saving Mode. I started kicking around ideas with her from Condo Blues. She politely said she wasn’t into the green thing so much because it is expensive. Her new family is more interested in saving enough money to buy a house.

The funny thing is, back when I was a newlywed and in Newlywed Saving Mode most of the things we did and still do to save money are green, only back then green was a color, not a movement.

Sister in Law, here’s a little list of  ways that save money and just so happen to be green. This isn’t a I Do All of These And I’m So Much Greener than You list. Everyone is different, has different priorities and preferences, and some green ways conflict with other green ways (which most people don't mention.) Consider this list a Swiss Army Knife of Money Saving Green Options, Not Absolutes.

One Small Green Change: Buy Shoes that Fit

Hi name is Lisa and I am a shoe gal, shoeaholic, shoe crazy, avid shoe shopper or whatever you want to call it. It’s genetic.

 These are two of few pairs of shoes that I kept that  fit.

Vowing to only buy shoes that fit my small and wide feet may seem like I’m reaching for a March One Small Green Change.

Not if you saw the large number of shoes on my shoe rack. 

Or saw the blisters on my feet from a day of heavy walking in shoes I bought that are the perfect width for the ball of my foot but technically too big in the foot bed or for my narrow heel.

There are many wasted resources in my closet. I have ill fitting shoes I settled for because I needed a dress shoe or whatever and was fed up shopping two malls and half a dozen shoes stores in between. I also have a big box of insoles and doodads to try to make those shoes fit my wonky feet with varying results. High end, low end, green materials, and not I have ‘em and I’m not wearing a bunch of them. Or I regret it when I do. This starts the shoe search all over again.

Glitter Tennis Shoes

 For Valentines Day I got:

• A dozen sustainability grown roses 
• A half dozen Godiva dark chocolate covered strawberries as big as a baby’s fist 
• And a kidney stone 

That explains why I’ve been carrying this kidney infection around like luggage for the last month. It won’t be gone in time for my Blissdom conference trip.

 Boo.

Needless to say, preparing for this conference is a little difficult because I feel like I’ve been kicked in the kidneys all day every day.

On the upside, it has kept me from being too nervous about my Newcomer Community Leader duties and the session discussions I will be leading for the Food niche bloggers.

I'm trying to conserve my personal energy to try to be well enough to be at my very best for Blissdom. I don't want to let everyone down! To reduce my running around, I shopped my closet for clothes to wear to the conference.


I still needed some cute and comfortable shoes to wear because the Gaylord Opryrland Hotel is ginormous! It's about the same size as an airport terminal. I don’t want to relive last year’s blisterfest which left my feet covered in swag SpongeBob Squarepants band aids. Which I rocked, of course :)

Free Hugs T Shirt

Learn how to make this shirt!

My big 2011 blog goal was to speak at a blogging conference. I have been working my tail off. There many talented speakers and not as many blog conference speaking slots.

I did back flips when I got the notice Blissdom 2012 selected me to be one of the Newcomer Community Leaders!  

What does a Community Leader do at Blissdom? This year, Blissdom changed their session format. Instead of doing a panel discussion with Q and A at the end, each session will have one speaker. Then we will divide into groups by blogging niche. The Community Leaders will lead discussions about how to translate the speaker’s information to fit each blogger’s situation and specific niche needs and quirks.

You can read my bio here. They make me sound very smart. 

(Smart like I know stuff, not smart as in Alec.)

My Top 10 Project Posts of 2011

Happy New Year! 2011 was a busy, busy blogging year. I went to my first Blissdom conference. This year I am going to be one of the Blissdom Newcomer Community Leaders! Please come! (More on that in a later post.)

I taught a great group of momand dad bloggers how to use tools at the Craftsman DIY Blogger Summit.

Richard from Craftsman, Primer Magazine, The Gadgeteer, Backpacking Dad, CC Chapman, Mom Start is hiding almost off screen), Wiskey in My Sippy Cup, Busy Dad Blog, and Attack of the Redneck Mommy.

Handy Ma’am Apron

I love spending quality time with my tools. I don’t always love being covered from head to toe in sawdust from those tools. If only there were a way to prevent that.

They have something for that. It’s called an apron.

I made this!

Make a Stenciled Bottlecap Bracelet

Husband gave me The Look. The bottlecap basket in the kitchen is overflowing again. “Are you ever going to make jewelry out of those caps you make me save?” he sighed.

I guess that time is now.

I’ve been putting off any number of painted bottle cap projects because I don’t like my decorative painting skill - or lack thereof. Every so often I stop by Michaels and drool over the new Martha Stewart Crafts paint and stencils by Plaid. Maybe stencils can help me with my craft paintaphobia? 

One of the things I like about Martha’s craft paints is that it works on wood, metal, ceramic/glass, and fabric unlike traditional craft paint. This cuts down on the number and type of paints I have to buy and store in my tiny house. I need a variety of paint types since I work with a variety of recycled materials.   

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday.

I shed my little girl sawdust and paint splattered armor.

I put on a confident and frilly woman’s dress. 

What Type of Sewing Machine Do You Have? Do You Like It?

At 39 years old, my Kenmore sewing machine has seen and sewn it all. My mom bought it in 1972. Mom put many miles on her. Bessie sewed curtains for my childhood bedrooms, countless Halloween costumes, and Barbie clothes. Mom sewed color guard uniforms, flags, and more high school musical costumes than I can count before, during, and after I graduated high school.

Everyone say hi to Bessie!

Why do I call her Bessie? Because when the machine acted up mom yelled, “Come on Bessie!” as she sewed and the machine snapped back in line. Bessie is a safer thing to say around little kid ears (mine) than saying what you really want to say when you are frustrated with things not going your way during a project.

Mom gave me Bessie after she got a new sewing machine. I put many miles on Bessie too. Under my roof, we sewed blankets and toys for Blitzkrieg, Christmas gifts, curtains, slipcovers, reupholstered furniture, and repurposed more things than I can count. Bessie and I designed costumes and historical clothing too. Bessie is Mommy’s Little Moneymaker when it comes to building costumes.

Sew a Luggage Tag from an Conference Badge Holder

I needed to replace a few luggage tags for a plane trip. I like covered luggage tags for security reasons.

I couldn’t find a style I liked and that was unique enough to distinguish my suitcase from everyone else’s  suitcase in the airport.

Pin this tutorial for your next trip or vacation!

Blitzkrieg offered to help in the bag identification and security department. I think he was trying to get a free trip and told him he couldn't go. I hate making Blitzkrieg sad. I told him he can eat any robbers that try to break into the house while I am gone. I thought that might make up for being left behind.

 I packed the most important stuff for your trip Lisa. 

By the way, you could use a luggage tag on this suitcase.

Columbus Craftacular!

Last weekend I went to the Etsy Team Columbus Eco-Chic Craftacular to support my friend Patti and her booth, to shop for birthday gifts, and since I was in the company of a bunch of creative, green types (my peeps!) break in my new reusable Glass Dharma straw.

 Hoo boy! I look like a shaggy dog.*cringe* I need to get a hair cut!

5 Recycled and Repurposed Laundry Room Organizers

After successfully organizing the linen closet with chalkboard labels, I set my sites on spring cleaning and decluttering the laundry room.

Um, no I didn’t redecorate my laundry room. It’s always been The Evil Dead Laundry Room**  and superhero action figure hangout. They are NOT dolls. Even though they look like dolls. Every guy I know says they are NOT DOLLS.

I still say they look like dolls.!

I think laundry, and ironing especially, is an evil chore. This room sums my feelings up nicely even though it looks a cubical in an IT firm. Some of these things may or may not have lived in former cubicals or the computer room of our old apartment, ahem. Does that mean our plastic toys fall into the green creative reuse category? Yeah, I didn’t think so. It’s an insane fun room though. At least to us.

On an more decorative note, I hope I can redeem myself in your eyes with my distressed wall treatment  and the sisal rope I used as crown molding. I was going for country rustic until the room turned into psycho toy land.

Accidental Anthropolgie Table Cloth Skirt

My sewing machine was deader than a doornail. My new to me serger never worked properly either (possibly why it was handed over to me.) I thought both were goners because my repair guy closed his shop. Fortunately, husband’s aunt hooked me up with her repair guy (thanks Aunt Judy!) Now both machines sew like a dream.

Whew!

Good thing because I couldn’t find a pencil skirt to save my life to wear to Blissdom last January. All I found where bathing suits when I schlepped from store to store in the snow. Silly me, wanting a skirt in December. I should have known better.

Well, if I can’t buy, I’ll DIY!

Sew a Quickie Cloth Camera Strap Cover

I’m going to Blissdom. I want something to identify my new black DSLR as mine because it looks like everyone else’s black DSLR camera. I don’t want someone to accidentally pick up my precious and get weirded out about the crazy amount of dog photos on my camera's memory card. What can I say? Blitzkrieg loves the camera.

I always meant to buy a wider camera strap for my Minolta and regretted it. Its thin webbed camera strap digs into my neck – ow! My Cannon has a wider strap – yay! But it’s webbed material – boo! I suspect more digging into my neck – ow!

Hey! A cloth camera strap cover would solve both of my problems. Let's do it!

My Little Edie Grey Gardens Costume

 After I saw the Gray Gardens HBO movie, I knew I wanted to be Edith Bouvier Beale or “Little Edie” (she was named after her mother who everyone called “Big Edie”) for Halloween. This year husband and I are going to a Halloween party in the Short North, our arts district. If anyone should know who Little Edie was or about Grey Gardens, it would be this crowd.

Little Edith Bouvier Beale was known for wearing scarves to cover her alopecia. When their fortune ran out and Gray Gardens disintegrated into a filthy mess that violated every health and housing code on the books, she obviously did not have money to update her wardrobe. Instead, she wore what she had in odd combinations. Tablecloths became skirts, wildly patterned hose, sweaters became head coverings to create what she called “bohemian” or “revolutionary" costumes.

I took my cue from this clip of Little Edie describing her “best costume for the day” in the 1975 Grey Gardens documentary.

Drew Barrymore recreates this scene in the HBO Grey Gardens movie.

10 Halloween Costumes for Dogs Who Hate Costumes

I love dressing up for Halloween. Now that I have a dog I want him to love dressing up for Halloween too.

But he doesn’t.

You wear a double coat of fur all the time. You won’t want to put on extra clothes, either.

We like to go to dog charity events to support the rescue organizations that have helped us rehabilitate Blitzkrieg and tell his story. Some of these events are Halloween events.

Blitzkrieg quickly learned the cuter the costume, the more treats humans give you. Blitzkrieg learned to tolerate several types of sorta dog costumes in order to swindle as many treats as possible celebrate Halloween.

6 Thrift and Shopping Scores!

I finished my Saturday errands and found myself less than a block from the Ohio Thrift Store. I had to go in. Ohio Thrift is one of the better thrift stores in the city because in addition to the regular thrift store finds they also accept donations of new closeout items that do not sell from major retailers. I purchased a couple of new tank tops there for a couple of dollars that were originally from a major retailer that goes by the nickname Vickie who is very Secretive about things. Thrift store score!

The Thrifting and Shopping Bargain Fairies were good to me. I think they were being kind after that depressing and horrible bathing suit shopping trip earlier this summer. Everything in every store I went to was either dental floss or granny and all looked awful on me. It still gives me nightmares just thinking about it.

Let’s look at the spoils of war!

I bought this cute sundress for $3.99.

Festive, fun, and flirty.

I didn’t realize it was a reversible sundress until I got it home.

This dress is perfect for traveling!

The Big Game Bargain Huntress kill came with this purse. Like the sundress, the condition was excellent; it was $20, which is high for a thrift purse. Then I saw it was a Kate Spade purse! I love Kate Spade!

It's a little tacky to keep the price tag on

 but wanted to prove I wasn't just dreaming.

Green? Yes. Cheap? Yes. Cute and in style? Yes and yes! Mine? – You betcha!

A week later, I was floored with an invitation to a very nice special event during BlogHer this weekend. I wanted a new dress to wear while I networked my face off at a place I consider Mecca. I thought my best bet would be at a consignment store. I always find something that fits and that I like at Clothes Mentor when stores selling new clothes let me down, which is often.

Consignment store prices are higher than a thrift store but I think it is worth it because Clothes Mentor has dressing rooms (unlike Ohio Thrift), everything they sell is in fashion (no revamps needed other than hemming), is in excellent condition, and they sell designer clothes at the fraction of the price. I feel a lot better cutting off six inches of designer consignment store pants to hem them than new designer pants.

As a green blogger, I know I should not be so concerned with name brands but I guess I am that shallow. I like how certain designers fit and their clothes look better on me than others do. I tend to mix and match thrift, consignment, and sale items in the same outfit because I like to live big and look nice on a little budget. Going to a high school that was straight out of the movie Heathers  makes me think more about my appearance a little more than I should I suppose.

I decided to check out TJ Maxx first because I have to pass TJ's on my way to Clothes Mentor so TJ's is more convenient.  Shopping at a closeout store is less green than shopping at a consignment store depending upon what you buy at the closeout store of course. It also means I'll spend more money. Based on the bathing suit fiasco I didn't expect to find something I liked at TJ's either.  I just wanted to rule them out because Husband went shopping with me. He isn't a big fan of shopping from store to store to store like most women I know like to do.I wanted to make it a little easier on him by trying a store close to home on the off chance I'd find something on the first try.

Boy I am I glad I went! TJ’s had a summer clearance sale and they had clothes that fit me that weren't hoochie short or granny moo-moos. Yay! 

I bought this kicky sundress for $25.00.

I needed new shoes to go with the dress. Famous Footwear was also having a super duper clearance sale. I got the sassy pink vegan cha cha  heels for $20 and the pink silk flats for walking to the event for $15.Since New York is a walking city most ladies wear flats to ride the subway/walk and then change into heels right before they step into a party.

The heels fit nicely in the Kate Spade purse.

Both pairs were regularly $50 – bargain! Not shopping in the children’s department for shoes this summer ? Priceless!

However the Big Game Bargain Huntress Score of the Day came with this top I grabbed on a whim on my way to the dressing room back at TJ Maxx. The blouse had the original store tag on it with a price of $168.00.

How lucky is that? Pinch me! I'm dreaming!

TJ Maxx had it marked down on clearance for $15.00! I said it was a serious shopping score. Husband corrected me and said it was a steal.

Thank you Universe for making these two shopping trips much more fun than buying my bathing suit! 

Do you have any favorite shopping places where you know you’ll get a bargain? What was your best Bargain Shopper Score?

Hey FTC: I paid for everything I purchased at these stores with my own money.

Make Patriotic Hair Bow Barrettes

I’m reliving my high school glory days and twirling flag in a parade with a local marching band this summer. It’s amazing how some things come back to you after *cough* years – just like falling off a bike!

Parade day is always the hottest day of the year without fail. It’s like marching across Vulcan’s anvil. I’m definitely wearing my hair up in a ponytail.

Since I am the only girl on the line (unlike high school) and my uniform is ever so butch (cargo shorts and a polo shirt) I wanted some little doodad for my hair that’s girly. The only one I have is this hair bow I bought from Lucky Kat.

Twisted and totally me but not fitting the Celebrate Our Families theme of the parade (unless you do not like your family I suppose.)

Oh and it has to be subtle because the band director has a strict “no bling” policy for band members even though we are all adults.

Maybe that’s because we are all adults :)

I found some ribbon in my craft stash that matches my uniform and a bare barrette from my professional jester days. I sewed clippie barrette thingies to the inside of my jester hat to staple it on to my head when I danced or did cartwheels. I decided to make my own hair bow barette instead buying one from Etsy because I've already shelled out some bucks for a uniform shirt and shorts I may never wear again.


How to Make an Easy Hair Bow Clip

You will need:
Ribbon (I used two colors of ribbon you can you more or less if you like)
Needle
Thread
Straight pin
Scissors
Barrette Clip (check your local craft store)


1. Wind the ribbon around your hand at least two times for a small bow or several times for a larger bow.

2. Cut the ribbon with the scissors, pin the front and back sides together.

3. Stitch the front and back sides together with the needle and thread.

Hand stitching is fine for this project.

4. Gather the ribbon in the center, stitch/wind the thread around the center, and tie it off to hold it into place.

5. Stitch a second piece of ribbon to the back of the bow.

I used pinking shears to cut my ribbon. If you don't have pinking shears don't worry about it.

6. Wind the ribbon around the front of the blow, clip the end and stitch it into place on the back of the bow.

7. Sew the bow to the barrette.

Almost done!

8. Fluff the bow.

Girly!

9. Wear it and look cute!

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