May 2010 – Page 2 – Grocery Shrink

Frugal Wedding Gifts: Boutique Kitchen Towels

By Angela Coffman on May 13, 2010

Wedding season is in full bloom. If your wallet is getting slimmer, perhaps this fun project will help. Click to download the tutorial: Download Boutique Kitchen Towels 1 yard of cotton fabric is enough to make 2 towels.

These towels were born when my friend, Jennifer, fell in love with some screen printed towels on etsy. They were fantastic! The towels were sold out, out of my budget, and I don't screen print. So I had the brilliant idea of hand embroidering a similar design. The only problem was the wedding shower was in 4 days, and I was still in the throes of a huge custom sewing project with a fast approaching deadline.

It only took me a few hours to realize that hand embroidery was out of the question. I ripped the stitches out and came up with this alternative that I finished in 15 minutes! I love the look and Jennifer did too.

To complete the gift, I added a half apron and a full halter style apron in coordinating fabrics. Why, oh why, didn't I take pictures with them unfolded?

Enjoy your free pattern for the towels here: Download Boutique Kitchen Towels

Be sure to tell a friend.

I love comments!

Refashioning: The Zebra Skirt

By Angela Coffman on May 13, 2010

My friend, Jamie from California, saw this skirt in a thrift store and knew it would be perfect for her friend. . .as a pillow. The fabric has a beautiful touch to it and the lining is high quality and very silky and soft. She packaged it all up to me with handwritten instructions. In a few days I mailed back this:

The lining is now a coordinating ruffle, and Jamie even had the great idea to use the tags for decoration on the front, to remind the pillow what it had been.

For those of you wondering if I do custom work, I used to. I'm focusing my time right now on my kitchen remodel, my kiddoes, and new patterns to publish. Jamie is very special. She's the kind of girl that sends you $100 when your husband loses his job and I would do anything for her that was possible. I didn't consider this a custom project, just a gift from one friend to another.

Kitchen Remodel Phase 1

By Angela Coffman on May 12, 2010

Kitchen Before

Why remodel? We were rewarded an insurance check for water damage that is buying a new floor! While the floor is being replaced, we decided it's a good time to change the layout. In this photo the only place to stand to prepare food is where the baby is. There isn't room for more than one person to cook at a time, and I have 5 helpers! Also notice the hole in the cabinet under the stove (left by a specially shaped stove no longer in production which caught fire several years ago). We will need to replace this cabinet unit to repair the hole. Also notice all the wasted soffit space. By extending the cabinets to the ceiling we can expand storage space without adding on. In addition, the refrigerator and oven are in a precarious position. The passage space between them and the peninsula doens't meet current code standards. It's impossible to open either door and allow someone to pass through the space. And if those aren't good enough reasons, the new kitchen will be so pretty :).

Since DH and I are doing our kitchen remodel ourselves, I started the project prepared to be without a kitchen indefinitely. This meant I needed to plan to cook at home without a kitchen.

Step 1. Prepare a menu of items to be prepared without an oven or stove. Click here to see my May menu plan (to be repeated monthly until the kitchen is complete.) Download May menu Almost all the items can be made in the crock pot. All of the recipes are my own creations or tweaks and many of them will be tested for the first time this month, then tweaked some more and photographed for a special project TBA. Here's a photo of a meal we've enjoyed without a kitchen:

Step 2: Clean out the linen closet and put the bare cooking essentials there.

Step 3: Box up all other kitchen items and store in the garage. I labeled well, just in case I need to find something later.

Step 4. Rearrange the living room to make room for the kitchen table.

Before

After

My biggest temptation is to start too many projects while we are working. I'd love to redo the entire house at once, and have lots of frugal ideas for new floors, new walls, new trim, new stairs etc. I'm thinking right now about how much I can take on, finish in a reasonable time, and still pay enough attention to my other duties. I'm embarrassed to show you pictures of my home, because I know it's not awesomely decorated, and the furniture is placed all wrong. That ceiling fan is glaringly hideous and I could use some serious organizing lessons. Hopefully someone other there will feel a little better by seeing that my house isn't perfect.

Spring Cleaning with Homemade Organizers

By Angela Coffman on May 11, 2010

I love this one from design sponge, because it looks pretty and is custom fit to the drawer. They used cute wrapping paper and corigated cardboard to make their simple design. Covering the cardboard with fabric and fusible web would work too.

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/03/diy-wednesdays-march-11th.html

Here's a similar idea from apartment therapy:

Organize your Crafts with this tutorial from Craftynest

Do you have good organizing ideas or links. Put them in the comments section. I need all the help I can get!

It’s Time to Harvest Lamb’s Quarter!

By Angela Coffman on May 3, 2010

We are heading to the farm and hoping for great weather. I enjoyed the lamb's quarter we put up last year so much, and I'm glad I made a video to remind myself how to do it again this year. Here's the link to last year's post with all the nutirion fact on lamb's quarter: http://groceryshrink.typepad.com/the_grocery_shrink_blog/2009/05/freezing-lambs-quarter-for-winter-use.html

Bath Rug Tutorial

By Angela Coffman on May 2, 2010

My new bathroom needs a new bath rug. I really loved the look of this rug: http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/how-to/how-to-recycled-bath-mat-080526 But I didn't think it would work for me. It's made from strips of cut towels that would otherwise be destined for the rag bag. I love the idea, but I know too much about cutting up old towels and how bad they fray and leave lint balls for days and years to come. I also wondered if tying a single knot would hold through all the walking and washing that goes on at my house.

I decided the project would be better out of recycled sweatshirts which fray very little. By using a simple slip knot it will last longer too. This new method required different size strips. Here's my version which cost me $3.29:

Materials:

Old sweatshirts or sweatpants, or new sweatshirt fleece. (I think polar fleece scraps would work well too.)

A piece of latch rug fabric. I bought a 30×36 piece from Hobby Lobby normally $5.49, but I had a 40% off coupon making it $3.29. All other items I had in my stash.

1/2 in wide double fold bias tape–enough to go around your rug

A rotary cutter and mat with ruler

A nut pick

Instructions:

1. Cut the mat to desired size. You can make it round, heart shaped, flower shaped. You choose.

2. Bind the edging with bias tape. I like to use a triple zig-zag stitch for this to make sure I catch both sides well.

If you have square corners, mitre the corner as you work your way around.

3. Use your rotary cutting set to cut fleece strips 1/2 in wide. Cut each strip into 5 inch lengths.

4. Fold one strip in half and use the nut pick to poke it through a hole. (The tool I'm using here is similar but from our Knifty Nitter Kit.) Bring it up on the other side.

Then slip the raw ends through the loop and pull tight.

Work a complete row before moving onto the next one. You will only need to tie strips on the verticle lines and can leave the horizontal lines free. The next pictures shows where to place the next strip on the first row.

I started the second row early to show you where the strips will fit together. Put the next strip where the nut pick is pointing.

Here's what the back looks like so far. You can see 2 partial rows
.

One row finished! The next row will go on the blue line.

Use your imagination to make your rug uniquely you. You can use a sharpee to mark a design like polka dots or stripes to guide your fabric placement.

Answers to common questions: A latch hook is too flimsy for this project and a crochet hook when small enough to fit through the holes is too small to be usefull. A knitting needle would work to help guide the fabric through the grid though. Yes it is machine washable and dryable as long as the fabrics you chose are also.

Other fabrics to try: denim, corduroy, twill, t-shirt knit (may want wider strips), felted wool sweaters, and polyester double knit.

Places to use your rug: At the kitchen sink, bathtub, bathroom sink, by your bed, in front of the fireplace or make a huge one for an area rug.

Make it fun: Invite friends over for a rug bee. Watch a movie while you work. Invite a child to work with you. My 10 year old daugheter could do it easily, but tired more quickly than I did.

Illustrated Guide to Faux Leather Floors

By Angela Coffman on May 1, 2010

Update: Click here to see how the floor wears and why not to put it over vinyl.

I posted last year about putting in a faux leather floor in my guest bath. I love it so much I put the same floor in the children’s bathroom. This time I took lots of photos to show you more clearly how easy it is. We plan to put the same floor in our living room and hallway as soon as our kitchen remodel is finished.

The good things about the floor: It looks great! It is durable and wet moppable. You can do about 800 square feet for only $65! Since it is a thin layer on the subfloor you can lay a new floor right on top when you are ready for a change. It’s easy to patch if the floor gets damaged. It’s easy to customize the look and color with different wood stains or paints.

The downside to the floor: It takes 3-7 days to complete plus 7 days to cure. The polyurethane doesn’t smell very nice while it’s drying.

You will need:

1 gallon or less of Elmer’s Glue ($10)

1 roll of brown paper (found in the painting section at Lowe’s, Home Depot, or Walmart) $10

A pair of rubber gloves (or several pairs)

An empty bucket and paint stick (An old ice cream pail works great.)

A small can of wood stain, ($5) I used Minwax oil based in Mahogany

A gallon of floor grade polyurethane ($40) I used clear gloss from Minwax

1-2″ wide sponge brush

3 3-4″ wide sponge brushes

There is enough paper, glue, and poly in this supply list to do about 800 square feet for $65.

1. If you want to do any painting on walls or trim, do that first. We removed old vinyl stickers from the formerly blue walls, sanded and painted the worn wood trim and vanity white, and painted the walls a light tan.

2. Remove old flooring as much as possible. I was able to get down to a paper backing that was fairly smooth and started there.

3. Vacuum the area really well, then use a wet rag to pick up any fragments of dust. If you have had mold or other yucky stuff in there, bleach the area well, let it dry and prime with Kilz.

4. Tear the factory edges off your brown paper. Keep them in a separate bag for edging the room. Tear the inside paper into 8-12 inch squares. Wad the torn paper into balls and keep them in bags. Kids are great help here.

5. Before you start make sure the room is well ventilated. There are no windows in this room, so I turned on the exhaust fan.

Mix one part of elmer’s glue with 3 parts of water in your empty bucket. (For example, 1 cup of glue to 3 cups of water .) Stir well.

6. Start with the edge pieces and dip a crumpled ball into the glue mixture. Squeeze it tight to accentuate the wrinkles and remove excess glue. Carefully open it flat and place it along the edge of the room. Use your gloved fingers to smooth it flat. It’s important to take time here to get a good smooth adherance to the floor. Work from the middle towards the edge to force out large air bubbles.

7. Continue in like manner overlapping each piece so there are no gaps. Work only as far as you can reach and then stop. Lots of glue is not a problem. It will dry clear, absorb into the paper and seem to disappear when dry. A lot of glue is better than some sections not adhered completely.

8. If you have a lot of glue on the floor, it’s a good time to take a break and let it dry a few minutes. If you were good at squeezing out the glue, you can start with the stain. Dip your 2″ foam brush in the stain and paint it on the floor. Since the stain is oil based and the glue is water based, the stain will be easy to move around to the areas you want it. Blotting with a paper towel will absorb and remove stain if necessary. A nice blotchy appearance is great. Keep in mind as the floor dries it appears lighter in color.

9. Continue by laying another glue and paper section as far as your arm can reach, then stop and stain it. I used scissors to cut a clean edge around the floor vent. The nice thing about using elmers is it washes out of clothes and off the scissors even after it dries. My pants were stiff with glue by the time I finished, but they washed out great.

10. Finish the floor in this manner and then turn a box fan on it from the other room if possible to help it dry. It will need to dry overnight (mine took 2 nights since it was very humid and I used a LOT of glue.)

11. When the floor is dry enough to walk on, use a 3 or 4″ sponge brush to apply a thin coat of polyurethane. I did this barefoot to keep from tracking lint onto the floor. I found it handy to have a wet paper towel in my hand to wipe any oops poly off the wood work. Check for dryness after 4 hours. If it is dry enough to walk on, add another coat. Repeat until you have 5-7 layers of poly on the floor. My brush held out for 2 coats. I put it in a zip lock baggie to keep it from drying out between coats. When the brush fell apart I tossed it and grabbed a new one.

You can walk on it and use the bathroom 24 hours after the final coat. Don’t place rugs or furniture on the floor for 7 days to allow it to cure. We were able to reset the toilet after 3 days.

Click here for another paper bag floor tutorial, including working with a concrete sub floor and adding shimmer.