24 Clever Ideas to Make Life Easier

My Aunt Natalie sent me this email and I had to share it.  I am so using some of these ideas!  Some, not so much but I am going to take the time this week to do that with my sheets.  Why didn't I think of that?! :0) 


Why didn’t I think of that?!  We guarantee you’ll be uttering those words more than once at these
ingenious little tips, tricks and ideas that solve everyday problems.

Hull strawberries easily using a straw.

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture
will disguise dings and scrapes.  
Remove crayon masterpieces from your TV or
computer screen with WD40.


Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box
by securing with a rubber band.


Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets
inside one of their own pillowcases and there will
be no more hunting through piles for a match.


Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone & iPod
in a bowl.  The concave shape amplifies the music.


Re-use a wet-wipes container to store plastic bags.


Add this item to your beach bag.  Baby powder
gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?!


Attach a Velcro strip to the wall to store soft toys.


Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls
against the ceiling, rather than cluttering up the
floor.


Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a
stocking over the vacuum hose.


Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting
crosses into a box lid.


For those who can’t stand the scrunching and
bunching: how to perfectly fold a fitted sheet.


Forever losing your bathroom essentials?  Use
magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers
and clippers, behind a vanity door


Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty
soles rubbing on your clothes.  And you can
find them in just about every hotel.


A muffin pan becomes a craft caddy.  Magnets
hold the plastic cups down to make them
tip-resistant.


Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.


Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so
much more fun and easier for kids to eat.


Microwave your own popcorn in a plain brown paper
bag.  Much healthier and cheaper than the packet
stuff.


Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.


Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough
over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit
or ice-cream.


Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing
sunburn relief.


Create a window-box veggie patch using guttering.


Use egg cartons to separate and store your
Christmas decorations.

Ear Bud Pouch

Had to post this one last thing!

I told you, you need to follow SewMamaSew! 

It took maybe 15 minutes to sew.  I used the little scraps that I can't seem to throw away and now I'll never throw scraps away again.  Yes, this is a new must-make EVERYONE!!!

Christmas Stockings

Since I mentioned these in my last post and wanted to share pictures of them, there is no better time then now.

Here are my Christmas Stockings.

Tucker's.

Thad's.

Norma's.

My husbands.

With each one I did they got a little better.  You can see where I was in my life at the time I did each too.  I love my Christmas Stockings.  I wanted to keep to a theme with my kids and have them with Snowmen and animals.  That is really hard to stick too.  But I found one for my baby last year and this is what is will look like.

This is what it looks like right now.

 I have a week to finish it.  I'm afraid it may not be til next year. :0/

I made this stocking holder when I was 16.  I have upgraded the pole to make it longer and we had to replace one of the reindeer heads as it got broke beyond repair.  Now my husband and I share a holder and that leaves one for each of the kids.

Awesome Christmas Gifts

 I so had to share these!  My sister Becky gave them to our family for Christmas.  They are awesome!  Each one has our name on them with a picture that is just us.  She couldn't have picked a better picture for each of us.

Norma is my social butterfly and Thad is amazing when it comes to art.  He wants to be an artist when he grows up.

Tucker is my gamer and this is perfect!  He loves it!  Me and my books.  :0)

Katy is all girl and Nate does love his sleep. :0)

Mini Bag

 I am telling you, SewMamaSew is the best blog ever!  Here is another project I got from their Handmade Holidays this year.

This is a mini bag and I changed it a bit.  The one that I got the template for was really small and I had quite a few things that I needed to fit in this bag.  So I tried to make it taller but didn't take into account the sides.  So its a bit thinner than I wanted but everything fit so it worked great.

I like that the side is pleated.  I think that is my favorite part.  I will be making more of these for those little gifts that I want to give out.  I'm thinking for the rest of the Christmas gifts I'm making today. 

I'm working on two more projects from the same site and I have today to do them.  I have to focus this next week on finishing my baby's Christmas Stocking.  It's cross-stitch and I have done one for every one else, (minus me) and I really want it done for Christmas.  We'll see. I'm not even half way done.

Christmas Projects

I have been sewing up a storm lately!  Man have I had a blast doing it too.  I have so much to show you.  A lot of them come from the SewMamaSew blog that did the Handmade Holidays in November.  These are all the Christmas gifts I've made and are giving out so if you are on my list, don't look. :0)

I saw this cute little pattern for this flower bag that is perfect for what I'm giving my sisters.  I didn't take a picture of what I put in them because I know Winni is going to peek. :0)  But they are so cute and you can do them in non-holiday colors for any time of the year.

I made this Layered-Drawstring Bag from the same post as the last.  I made mine bigger to try and fit everything that I'm giving to the Conklins but it's still not big enough.  Love it though and will so be making more of these too.

I Love all the things that I have been making because I have been able to use scraps.  I haven't bought any holiday material at all.

The next thing I made was corn bags.  Another scrap project that the only thing I had to buy was corn.

These are my neighbor/co-worker/teacher/kids friends gifts this year.  The big ones are for the adults and I made little ones for the kids to give out as hand warmers.

I finished up some more count down blocks and have them all done up to give to a few people.

But this is the one I'm most excited about.  Last year for Christmas I made Katy some minky blankets.  She loves them and can't sleep without them.  But they are small and she hasn't been staying covered up at nights.  My solution.  Make her a new blanket for Christmas this year.

It is one of her Santa gifts and I love how it turned out!  I found the pattern off Pintrest. (Yes, I'm addicted.) I have now decided this will be my new baby gifts that I make for people.

I really love the "K".  When Nate was drawing it on for me to sew we didn't even think what it would look like on the brown back.  Pretty awesome huh!

I've been trying some new recipes lately too from Pintrest but we eat them so fast that I forget I want to take pictures of them to share.  I did take pictures of the gingerbread men I made.

Nate likes taking them to work and putting on a puppet show for the guys before he eats them.  "No, no!  Don't eat me!"  "Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"  "You've been caught."

Now I'm finishing up the corn bags, making new dog beds and a few other little scrap gifts.  To think that Christmas is a little over 2 weeks away is a little crazy.  I still have so much to do and just a little shopping left.  Mostly for Nate. ;0)