Thursday, July 23, 2020
Quick and Easy Popsocket Makeover and Friday Favorites Link Party Week 539
Sunday, July 19, 2020
How to Water Succulents the Lazy Way!
Two years ago I was given an echeveria plant. Up until that time I had no idea how to keep a succulent, well truthfully most indoor plants, alive. Fortunately it came with watering instructions, an eye dropper pipette thing that looks like this, and a little bamboo pokey stick. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.) The instructions said to poke the stick in the soil. If the stick is damp/wet the succulent doesn’t need watering. If the stick comes out dry, water the echeveria with one graduated pipette full of water. I followed the same instructions (with slightly more water because it is a bigger plant) with the aloe vera plant buddy I bought the echeveria so he wouldn’t get lonely.
And whaddaya know? Both plants not only lived but they grew so much I had to repot them after I found an even easier and lazier way to water but not over water my succulent plants.
How Much Water Does a Succulent Plant Need to Grow?
Save this plant hack to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!Thursday, July 16, 2020
Soapmaking and Friday Favorites Linky Party 538
Monday, July 13, 2020
How to Make a Recycled Aluminum Can Butterfly Necklace
I don’t drink a lot of soda but every once and awhile a pop can will cross my path. Once I finish the beverage I have two choices:
1. Recycle the can in the recycling bin.
2. Recycle the can into a cute necklace.
Today I am going with Option 2 because it will make a much more entertaining tutorial than Option 1 and it will give me a chance to answer I often get: How do you smooth the edges of a cut aluminum can?
It’s easy! Let’s get started.
How to Smooth and File the Sharp Edges of a Cut Aluminum Can
Thursday, July 9, 2020
Quilted and Embroidered Cloth Face Masks and Friday Favorites Linky Party 537
Sunday, July 5, 2020
1950’s Wrap Sundress
A good long while ago, I fell in love with the 1950’s vintage wrap sundress sewing pattern Simplicity 8085 (you can read about it in detail here.) I bought a super cute cotton cherry print fabric with the intent to make a dress for myself. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convince.)
Two years later I still had a sweet vintage sewing pattern reprint and super cute cotton cherry print fabric in its shopping bag in my sewing room. *sigh*
I need a dress for a wedding reception (hopefully? maybe? We’ll see how group events play out when the time comes) later this summer for a wedding my husband and I attended on Zoom. That’s all the incentive I need to finally sew my 1950’s wrap sundress. I made a few tweaks to the pattern because as my husband observed long ago, I always hack a sewing pattern in one way or another.
Save this fun retro dress to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!
How to Sew a 1950’s Inspired Wrap Sundress
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Friday Favorites Linky Party Week 536
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Thursday, June 25, 2020
Three Dollar Patio Vegetable Garden Tour and Friday Favorites Linky Party Week 535
Thursday, June 18, 2020
Victory Rolls and Friday Favorites Week 534
Sunday, June 14, 2020
How to Make an Insulated Growler Caddy
My husband and I have a couple of glass growlers for those times we want to bring home a local craft beer from a brewpub that doesn’t put it in cans or bottles. We only tend to use them when there is a BBQ or party where a group of friends will be there to help us drink a little under 2 liters of beer (an open growler goes flat more quickly than a 2 liter of pop) over the course of a long afternoon into the evening with a bonfire. In other words, not very often.
No to mention in Ohio to go growlers have to be made of glass, which are hard to keep cold and carry if you are also juggling pot luck food as you walk from your car to the party spot. There are a lot of wood growler caddies out there but I really want something insulated. That way I can also use the growler as a water jug to refill our sports bottles from the car when we are out and about.
When I can’t buy, I DIY! I dove into my fabric stash, grabbed some leftover corsetry fabric, and sewed an insulated growler caddy. If you are looking for a handmade gift idea for men, based on my husband's reaction, this is a good one. He liked the idea so much that he encouraged me to make a second insulated tote bag for the other growler.
Let’s sew!
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How to Make an Insulated Beer Growler Tote
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Lighting Question and Friday Favorites Linky Party Week 533
Sunday, June 7, 2020
How to Strip Paint the Non Toxic Way
I have a love – hate relationship with spray paint. I love that spray paint will cover almost every surface (if you use the right formula) and easily paint hard to paint areas like indentations and intricate moulding. I hate that many of my spray paint projects en up with paint bubbles and drips.
The best way to avoid spray paint bubbles and dripping paint is to hold the can further away from object you are painting and use several light and even coats of spray paint rather than blasting a thick coat of spray paint from close up. Using a spray paint handle (you can find several types of spray paint trigger handles here) will help you paint with even coats of paint and not kill your fingers from pressing the can’s spray nozzle.
Spray paint bubbles are also caused by painting a second coat of paint on an object when the first coat is not completely dry. I know this because 9 times out of 10 I get spray paint bubbles because I thought my last coat of paint was dry after 24 hours and it was not. The joys of living in a humid area!
2 Ways to Repair Spray Paint Bubbles and Drips
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Easy DIY Small Space Under Sink Water Filter Friday Favorites Linky Party 532
Sunday, May 31, 2020
How to Hang a Hook on a Hollow Core Door
I want to add a robe hook to my guest bathroom. The logical place to hang it is on the bathroom door.
Unfortunately it, like all of the doors in my condo is a hollow core door. Can you hang towel bars and hooks on a hollow core door?
Yes you can!
The secret to hanging towel bars and hooks on hollow door without them crashing to the ground is all in the type of wall anchor you use – in this case Molly Bolts!
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Growing Vegetables from Scraps and Friday Favorites Linky Party 531
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Red, White, and Blue Face Masks and Friday Favorites 530
After all that sewing, I had to take my workhorse sewing machine in for repair and my backup sewing machine when it decided it wanted to break too. Oh no!
Monday, May 18, 2020
How to Clean Caulk Off Clothing
I had a quick little caulking project I needed to do and didn’t bother changing into paint clothes because I didn’t think I’d get messy.
Which of course meant I got several big smears of caulk on one of my few pairs of good jeans.
It. Never. Fails. Why won’t I learn?
Pin this hack to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!
Can these jeans be saved? Yes they can! It is very easy to remove caulk spills from clothing. here’s how.
How to Remove Caulk From Clothing
Thursday, May 14, 2020
DIY Mental Health Jar and Friday Favorites Week 529
After one too many social media conversations about being disappointed about upcoming plans, events, and whatnot being cancelled due to Covid-19 (and then feeling guilty afterward for being sad over something so trivial when so many people around the world are going through much, much worse) I started to think that for my mental health I should try to focus on what little good things are happening around me instead the daily mountain of bad.
No good or happy event or moment is too big or small for my jar, because let's face it, things are so weird that I road the happy until the wheels fell off the day I ordered Instacart groceries and the original delivery date was a week away until I added my product substitutions and the delivery date changed to later the same day of the order - which hasn't happened in a very long time. Kinda silly, I know, but at least it points my head in the direction of complimenting rather than complaining.
Monday, May 11, 2020
20 New Sewing Tips, Tricks, and Hacks for Beginners to Professionals!
Lately I’ve been fielding questions from folks who are breaking out their old sewing machines after a long hiatus – a quarantine will do that, you know. I’ve also been brushing up on new sewing hacks from fellow sewing and costuming friends as we dive into sewing cloth face masks for our family and friends. I figure it is my turn to share what I know to help you make your sewing projects go a little easier, a little quicker, or allow you to make that one little unexpected tweak that takes your sewing project from OK to Wow!

20 Sewing Hacks That Will Make Your Life Easier!
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Elizabethan Chemise (Shift) and Friday Favorites Week 528
Thursday, April 30, 2020
3 Quarantine Bottle Cap Crafts and Friday Favorites Week 527
Sunday, April 26, 2020
How to Build Recessed Bathroom Storage Shelves
I figure I better replace it and poked around window shopping while I was searching and pricing every thing else I needed for the guest bathroom remodel.
Have you ever priced medicine cabinets?
Be prepared for some sticker shock. Even the cheaply made medicine cabinets like the one I have are a couple of hundred bucks. The medicine cabinets made from actual wood are even more expensive while still lacking style. That’s more that I wanted to pay for a medicine cabinet in a second bathroom we don’t use often.
I really don’t need a medicine cabinet with a mirror door because there is a mirror hanging over the sink. Actually I really don’t need a door either because the way it was installed, the current medicine cabinet door smacks into the bathroom vanity light if we’re not careful. Open bathroom storage shelves are the only answer.
I stood in the guest bathroom staring at the wall and trying to visualize how to turn the medicine cabinet hole into an open storage niche as pretty yet affordable as possible when I realized I was standing on my answer – use leftover tile from the bathroom floor!
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Mini DIY Ceiling Light Makeover and Friday Favorites Week 526
Because quarantine mini makeover sounds so much nicer than bunch of nagging DIY projects I put off forever and need to do something to keep from going stir crazy in lockdown so I'm finally getting around to it.
Ahem.
My late project is getting rid of one more ugly builder ceiling light in the in our upstairs hallway. I installed this industrial beauty while my husband was making dinner. One more light banished - 2 more to go!
The thing that made my heart sing "this is the ONE"are the Edison style bulbs (you can buy Edison style light bulbs here) because they work with tapestry and pendulum clock. Best of all you can buy LED Edison bulbs so I get the energy saving LEDs I like and my husband gets the warm yellow light of an incandescent light bulb he likes. We both win.
I showed you my project. Now you show me yours!
Monday, April 20, 2020
How to Sharpen Scissors and Rotary Cutting Blades at Home
Unfortunately using them to cut fabric also dulls the blades on your scissors and rotary cutter. Have you tried to cut fabric with dull scissors? It’s more like chewing fabric than making nice, crisp, clean cuts.
As a kid, I vaguely remember fabric stores holding fabric scissor sharpening events to draw shoppers to the store. In all honesty, I’ve never heard of one now that I’m an adult with a drawer full of dull fabric cutting tools and blades that need a little sharpening love.
What to do?
Easy! You can sharpen scissors and rotary cutting tools yourself!
How to Sharpen Fabric Scissors and Rotary Cutting Blades the Easy Way!
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Friday Favorites Week 525
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Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Let's Play Quarantine Bingo!
In other words, we've been in quarantine for 6 weeks and as for how much longer nobody really knows. Which makes it difficult to come up with ideas and tutorials for you. Do I go business as usual with regular DIY and crafting projects or something else? Let me know in the comments below.
Really the only thing that has my attention right now is sewing cloth face masks for friends and family who don't sew. I'm in limbo on that very helpful mental health project until my sewing machines come back from the repair shop. I am so thankful sewing machine repair is considered an essential service. I have people counting on me.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Homemade Cloth Face Masks and Friday Favorites Week 524
A family member asked me to make her some and the ball started rolling from there. I guess saving every scrap of leftover fabric has its advantages in an emergency.
Time to link up your fantastic and creative craft and DIY projects, recipes, and ideas!
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Tuesday, April 7, 2020
8 Reusable Cloth Face Mask Tutorials
As of April 7, 2020 the United State Centers for Disease Control (and well as the Governor of Ohio) recommends that everyone wear a cloth face covering when out in public. The idea behind wearing a face mask in public is not what a someone yelled at me for falling for “pandemic panic” or a “false sense of security.” My reply was just as less than kind because I'm battling an allergy related sinus infection that never seems to end and don't want to pass this misery to anyone else (unlikely but I get horror looks when I sneeze with and without the mask.)
The idea is that by wearing even a simple, non medical grade cloth face mask when you are in public is so you may be less likely to unknowingly pass a virus to someone else when you aren’t showing symptoms and don’t know that you are sick. This precaution leaves the medical grade and N95 filtering face masks and respirators to our front line COVID 19 heroes who need to be protected from known viruses in the air around them in a front line setting.
How to Sew a Reusable Cloth Face Mask
Sunday, April 5, 2020
How to Clean Furnace and Air Conditioning Ducts at Home
A few days later it was back.
So. Gross.
Why do I have Black Stuff Around my HVAC Registers?
Friday, April 3, 2020
Cute Quarantine Dogs and Friday Favorites Week 523
Time to link up your fantastic and creative craft and DIY projects, recipes, and ideas!
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Wednesday, April 1, 2020
How to Make a Quick and Easy Quilted Petticoat or Skirt
The first Quarantine Costuming project I made is a quilted petticoat to wear under my historical skirts in cold weather, just like the ladies of yore used to do – as the temperature when down the number of layers (in this case skirts) goes up.
A traditional quilted petticoat would be made out of cotton fabrics and hand quilted similar to a blanket quilt. If you look at quilted petticoats in museums some of the quilting makes elaborate designs on the solid fabric which are gorgeous but incredibly time consuming! I didn’t want to put that much work quilting something no one is going to see but me when I wear it.
Monday, March 30, 2020
How to Caulk Around a Toilet
I went with a Watersense rated Delta Faucet Company toilet (you can find similar toilets here.) (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.) I had such a good experience installing one in my powder room because every single thing you need to install the toilet comes in the box down to a screwdriver and the Watersense rating means it is water efficient (I think of it as the Energy Star rating for plumbing) without the hit or miss of not quite flushing everything that needs to be flushed like a duel flush toilet.
But before I can completely cross Install New Toilet off my punch list, I need to caulk around it (and also along the new tile next to the bathtub. Fortunately, you caulk around a bathtub the same way you caulk a toilet. Let’s do this!
Why Should I Caulk Around the Toilet?
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Friday Favorites Week 522
Time to link up your fantastic and creative craft and DIY projects, recipes, and ideas!
Let's Party!

Tuesday, March 24, 2020
How to Deep Spring Clean Your Bedroom with a Free Checklist!
Save this Spring Cleaning checklist to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!
According to my allergist, I have been dusting my house all wrong for someone who has seasonal allergies. He told me to stop using a feather duster (or Swiffer type dusters like these) to dust shelves and doodads because they don’t actually remove dust. Dusters clean by throwing the dust on the shelves into the air. Oops! (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience. If you make a purchase through these links I receive a small commission that allows me to keep the lights on. Thank you for your support!)
He also told me to stop using dusting sprays, especially the scented kind, because they can affect seasonal allergies too. He told me the absolute best dusting spray to use is plain, old fashioned water.
He’s right.
I cleaned and filled an empty spray bottle with water, sprayed it onto a piece of an old towel I cut up to use as dust rags, and was amazed (and kinda grossed out) and how much dust plain water on a rag picked up from a surface that didn’t look dirty or dusty. Oh, and the price is right too!
My Bedroom Deep Spring Cleaning Checklist for Dust Allergies
Thursday, March 19, 2020
A Personal Update and Friday Favorites Linky Party 521
One of the hardest hit communities are Renaissance Festivals. There are many performers, food and craft vendors who make their living traveling and working all aspects of the faires and festivals that have shut down with no idea if they will reopen this year. To help, here is a Facebook group called Faire Relief 2020 that is full of shops and performers from all over the United States and selling everything imaginable. You can search the group so if you need something like a chainmail potscrubber for your cast iron skillets or a crocheted hat you can do so since people are adding their shops to the group daily. I suggest trying the Facebook group before searching Etsy as many of these stores don't have one. (
If you want to keep or start exercising and no longer have access to a fitness center or gym (all are closed in Ohio) I highly recommend the At Home Workouts Lead by Circus Performers Facebook group here from my friends who performed in the Cincinnati Circus (it is a people only circus with trapeze and aerial classes/performances, jugglers and such) until all of their bookings for the year were cancelled in one horrible half of an hour. Here's the group description: "At this time when so many people are stuck at home, we want to raise their spirits and help them stay healthy. Since we too are stuck home out of work, we will be asking for a $1 donation per person per workout. It is not necessary since we know others are having financial difficulties as well, but if you have the capabilities we would really appreciate it." There are several classes throughout the day to fit your schedule. (Neither of these two links are affiliate or sales links. I'm just trying to help out some folks who need it by spreading the word.)
I'm trying to keep the writing ship afloat despite Facebook's glitch marking the urls of Condo Blues and Lazy Budget Chef post to our Facebook page here as spam but will let me post memes about cakes that look like toilet paper all. day. long. Weird but a minor thing I'm sure will be sorted out eventually.
Since I also have some extra time on my hands, I'm attempting to relearn how to crochet. I haven’t crocheted since my grandma taught me as a little kid to keep me out of her hair when babysitting. I figure it is time relearn. Good to know my technique is still that of a six year old’s.
I showed you my project, now you show me yours!
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
How to Plant an Indoor Hydroponic Herb Garden the Easy Way!
Also there is the whole I forget plants need water to grow thing. The only reason I can keep a succulent alive is that they thrive on low light and neglect.
I’ve been interested in hydroponic gardening (growing plants in water instead of soil) ever since my husband and I saw an exhibit on aquaponic gardening (similar to hydroponics except fish in a tank fertilize the plants.) I looked at several of them off and on but most of them needed preparatory (and spendy) seed pods that weren’t always what we were interested in growing or eating. Fortunately, on Christmas morning my husband unwrapped our gift and learned that you can use your own seeds to grow whatever you like in an AeroGarden.
We set up our indoor hydroponic herb garden and have been enjoying cooking with fresh herbs all winter which feels decadent because up until now, that as been a summer only thing.
How to Set Up an AeroGarden Indoor Hydroponic Herb Garden
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Friday Favorites Linky Party 520
Take care of yourselves. Take care of your neighbors. Be kind.
Time to link up your fantastic and creative craft and DIY projects, recipes, and ideas!
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Sunday, March 8, 2020
How to Install a Bidet Attachment
I’m working on the details of the guest bathroom renovation while looking forward to the master bathroom renovation. Well planning actually. I’m not looking forward to this even more involved project where are water leak began.
Anyway.
I would have liked to add a bidet in the bathroom to save on toilet paper because according to Tushy it takes 37 gallons of water to make a roll of toilet paper and most people use 1.5 toilet rolls a week! That is a lot of water to flush down the drain, which doesn't include the amount of water it takes to flush it all down the drain.
But more importantly, with a bidet, even if you run out of toilet paper at the time you need it most, you have an option.
Unfortunately all of our condo bathrooms are too small to add a free standing bidet. I didn’t think much more of it until friends raved about just installing a bidet toilet seat. I was intrigued. A bidet toilet seat attachment I can do. Then I promptly forgot about it because I'm awesome like that.



































