Make do March...what to do when insomnia hits? Update my Christmas Album of course!

I love getting Christmas cards!  It's great hearing from friends and family and I love seeing how families have grown and grown up.  I hang them up on my cupboards to enjoy them during the Christmas Season but what to do with them when Christmas is over? I hate throwing them out so several years ago I started a Christmas album.  It's a great way to use up my vast stores of scrapbook supplies and it's fun to look back on years past!

What do you do with your Christmas cards?

Happy make doing!

Nathania

Make Do March...getting Granny done

Yay! I finished the granny square afghan. It is the most eclectic, random afghan ever...but to be honest...that's why I love it. Now the real question is...do you?

 

I started this crazy-take-forever project in the beginning of February...with the intent to use it for Make Do March. I started with putting the squares together in long strips with the white. I had a huge skein of white yarn and thought I could do the whole thing with the white.

 

Yeah not so much.

 

So when I started doing the cross portions of the framing part I started from the middle with the white...knowing I wasn't going to have enough, but thought it would be nice to have in the center.

 

Then I grabbed a skein of the turquoise that I had and completed one side and part of the other.

But it wasn't enough.

 

Then entered the dark blue.

 

I edged it with the dark blue and green and called it good.

Its a super comfy lap blanket. Not big enough to cover my 5'11'' frame...but close:)

 

Considering I wasn't sure how to put them together when I started...I really like the end result!

I don't think I'll be doing any crochet projects in the near future. I think I've filled the years quota and then some.

 

Happy Make Doing!

Sarah

 

 

Make do March....DIY body wash

Another pinterest pin completed, yippie!  I found this post on DIY Dove Body Wash recently and it was so simple I had to give it a try!! Grate soap, dissolve in water, let cool, add to chosen container and done!!

I only had 2 bars on hand so I decreased the amount of water I put in.

I forgot to take a pic of the melted phase but it was pretty thin but thickens up nicely once it cools.  So for 3.88  I ended up with a full body wash container plus some.  Much better than 6.99 for a big container! It works really well, doesn't suds up as much as store bought but gets you nice and clean!  I just bought some scented Dove bars and can't wait to try using them!  Bonus was that they were on sale for 6.99/6 bars with a coupon for another $1 off. Woohoo!!

I reused my old body wash container and stored the rest in a mason jar.

Happy Make Doing

Nathania

Make Do March...random here we go..

So I am in the midst of a couple of projects, plus I'm not feeling to hot...so you're gonna get the most random post I think I've ever written:)

Enter the bad iPhone photos...

I made this very large poof. It's extra wrinkly in the picture but you get the point:) I'm in the process of stuffing it. I am not allowed to buy stuffing...so I'm stuffing it with plastic bags. Good way to recycle. right? The only down side is that it requires an astronomical amount of bags. So it's half stuffed. I will update when its fully stuffed. Mind you it may not be until December.

I was driving along the other day and saw this beautiful van...with the above written on it. The passengers looked a little sketchy...so I took the picture sneakily:)

Do you see things like this where you live? Or is this a purely Alaskan thing?

For spring break, Andy and I went north a bit to Talkeetna. We had fantastic weather. Look at the view! The mountains from the left are: Hunter, Foraker, and Denali/McKinley. They are huge!

Denali

SOO big. We can actually see it from Anchorage, but being so much closer it is so much grander!

You may be getting a whole lot of posts about this mountain...as Andy will be climbing it this June.

What have you been working on?

Sarah

Make Do March...A Granny Tale

Granny squares that is.

Once upon a time there was a whole box of granny squares.

And they sat in the box.

And waited for someone to come and put them together.

And waited some more.

Until one day they got taken out of the craft room.

They were so excited!

They were being put together...something they had dreamed about for so long.

But being put together took...

F.O.R.E.V.E.R.

SO...they are still getting put together.

This where I am in the process...

to be continued....

Happy Make Doing!

Sarah

Make do march...50/50

I got invited to a baby shower last week and I got this idea stuck in my head that I wanted to make some fun onesies BUT I didn't have onesies. Hmm, dilema when one is currently in the throes of make do march! I decided that since I had all the other supplies to make them I could justify buying them and it was way easier than whipping up anything else. So this is a 50/50 make do march post :)!!

One set of bought five white onesies mixed with on hand ribbon, fabric, double stick fusible web and a free iron on design = cute onesies. I had a lot of fun deciding which designs to make and I love them all. I hope the new Momma loves them as well!!

Every little boy needs at least one fun tie and one for serious occassions!

A mustache...need I say more and well I just love bow ties!! 

And well cute baby booties need kissing too!!

Happy Make Doing!

Nathania

Make Do March...a little cooking

I've been terrible this month about posting...especially this week. It's my spring break, so that's my excuse! Anyways. I have a soup and a sweet for you. I made it with everything that I had on hand. Didn't go out an get anything.:)

 

All inclusive veggie soup:

Put a variety of vegetables in a pot and cover with water.

I used: celery, 1 tomato, 1 yellow pepper, 1/3 of a large red onion, 4 cloves of garlic, a large handful of carrots

Boil until softened.

I added some parsley and cooked for a minute before blending.

 

 

When softened, pour into a blender and blend it all up!

I then added some salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and some curry powder.

Serve with some good crusty bread!

 

The other thing I made was bark of sorts. I had some almond bark and I looked through the cupboards and found a variety of stuff to put on it. I used: Marshmallows, almonds, pecans, chocolate chips and craisins. If I were to make it again I think I would mix the ingredients into the melted almond bark then spread it on a silpat...but it's still super tasty!

Spread on a silpat and wait until it's cool and break it into pieces!

 

Hows your make doing going?

Sarah

Make Do March...DIY puzzle

Many months ago I came a across a post with lots of ideas to keep little fingers busy while out to dinner, appts, etc...One of them was to make a puzzle using popsicle sticks and whatever pictures you had on hand. I decided to give it a try using some pictures from an old Tomie de Paulo book. I love his books and the illustrations are fantastic!
 Items you will need:  popsicles sticks (wide ones)
                                 modge podge
                                 foam brush
                                 pictures of your choice
                                 scissor or paper cutter

I cut the picture into slices to fit onto the popsicles. I then modge podged them on. I let them dry for several minutes and then placed them upside (picture) down and placed a large weight on them to prevent wrinkles. I let them dry overnight and then applied 2 coats to the top and voila my puzzle was done. I'm not sure if Aria is old enough to actually do the puzzle but I will give it a try when she wakes up from her nap. I might try some with slices 2 popsicle sticks wide, so there are less pieces...I'll let you know if that works!

Happy Make Doing!

Nathania

Make Do March...pretty little bag

I go to a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group and every other meeting we do a craft which I love. It's so nice to craft something simple without little fingers helping or feeling guilty that dishes aren't being washed or laundry folded! The most recent craft involved making your own fabric flowers and attaching them to a canvas bag. My friend Lisa picked me up all the supplies so I could also make one.
  The flowers are super easy to make.  Take 2 inch strips of fabric scraps fold them in half and then twist and form the strand into circles. I stitched the circles together as I went and you can make them as small or large as you like. I then stitched the flowers together in the design I wanted and then to the bag.  It's a great way to use up scraps! I think it turned out pretty cute and I'm very happy that I actually finished the project so it won't sit around forever unfinished!  It's a perfect size for library books, here's hoping I remember to bring it the next time we go! :)

Happy make doing!

Nathania

Make do March...sweatshirt fix up

You know what is frustrating?? Sleeves that shrink in the dryer and end up an inch too short!! It's the bane of us long armed girls!! Case in point, my brother sent me a sweatshirt with his work logo on it for Christmas and after washing it the first time I forgot to pull it out of the dryer, bah!!! Do you think it shrunk everywhere? Of course not!! Only the sleeves shrunk making it very irritating to wear! I'm constantly pulling the sleeves down and it drives me crazy!!

Today I decided to fix that and pulled out a ratty well loved grey sweatshirt to fix my sleeve problem. I cut my irritatingly short sleeved sweatshirts arms in two and used the grey sweatshirt to fill in gap. It turned out surprisingly well and I love how the grey ended up on the elbows. Almost like it was planned, not! I forgot to take pics of the sleeves before but here are my after shots.

Happy make doing!

Nathania

Make do March - Baked spaghetti braid

I love trying new recipes as I get super bored with making the same meals over and over! I found this on pinterest and thought it sounded delicious!!! I love garlic bread and don't mind spaghetti and my husband loves spaghetti and likes garlic bread so it was a perfect marriage for both of us. I had all of the ingredients and once the bread dough was thawed it took no time to put it together and pop it in the oven. I sprinkled the top with garlic salt and Parmesan and it came out amazing! My husband loved it so I will be adding it to my dinner repertoire!!

I'm hoping this link will get you to the recipe. My computer is in the shop so I'm doing all my posts on my iPhone and it doesn't let me do everything the regular site does so I apologize if it doesn't work!! And for any spelling errors I don't catch!

http://www.rhodesbread.com/mobile/recipes/view/braided-spaghetti-bread.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Happy make doing!

Nathania

Make do March...How do you measure up take 2

I'm very excited to show off my finished height ruler!!!! It turned out so well and it was so easy!!! Aria loves it and knows exactly how to use it!
I left off last time finishing up my lines. Now on to the numbers! My husband printed up some numbers in 200 font in a style he can't remember at work as my home computer is broken. I cut the numbers out and rubbed pencil on the back of each one. I placed the numbers where I wanted them and traced them all with a ballpoint pen. The pencil on the back then transferred onto the wood and I was able to then trace it and fill it in with my sharpie. Easy, easy!! Last step was to spray it with a clear coat and hang it up, done!!

Happy make doing!!
Nathania

Make Do March: Scrubby

Sorry I've been so bad about putting up posts. I know that most of you are in a different time zone than we are so this is even later...but a post late is better than a never post!

Today's post is a simple recycle project. I do mean simple. 

I don't like to throw things away...some may call it hoarding...I call it being frugal. 

I needed a scrubby to help me with the dishes...so I made one...out of an avocado bag.

I took the paper portion off of my avocado bag...I got the bag of avocados at Costco...but you can use a potato bag as well.

I then cut the bag into about 1 inch strips. It wasn't exact! I tied the strips together to make one long strip. Not hard:)

Then I got my crochet hook out and used a simple chain stitch and circled it around. I then did a single stitch around the circle until I ran out of the avocado bag.

And voila! Its a little scrubby! Sorry for the crappy pictures, I took them at night...which is never good..but it's what I got!

It has a little bit of a stringy look, but it works!

Have you been make doing?

Sarah

Make do March...how do you measure up?

I love make do march because it forces me to get my act together and do projects that have been languishing in cobwebbed corners! And there are so many!!! I swear if there is no deadline my motivation to complete projects is nil...it's so pathetic!!

Yesterday I finally got a start on my DIY height ruler that I have been talking about making for ever! I made some progress a few weeks ago when I bought the board and well you can figure out what I didn't do :)! I used this great tutorial I found at 517 . It was super easy to follow, so far...I'm missing a few necessities like a paint pen but I'm thinking of alternatives! I bought a slightly narrower board, a 1x6x8 for $9, sanded it lightly and applied a nice cherry stain we had left over from staining our front door. One coat was dark enough for me and after letting it dry 6 hours I started drawing in my ruler lines...it was tedious but went fairly quickly while I watched one of my fave TV shows Bones.

I marked my ruler slightly different than 517 Creations. I made a 1.5 inch line for each inch mark, a 1 inch line for each half inch and a 2 inch line to mark off each foot. I used a square to help me keep my lines straight, made it super easy! I didn't have a paint pen so I decided to try a fine pt sharpie over my oil based stain and it adhered well without bleeding or rubbing off so I went to town with said sharpie over all my ruler lines....such fun. I will post more pics soon, hopefully before I flat line....ha ha 

Happy Make Doing!

Nathania

Make Do March: Picture Revamp and a Link Up!

At the auction that I mentioned two days ago, I bought this really cool print...but it need a frame. Boo...

Then I remembered this frame that I had in my closet, that I had bought at a garage sale for $4. It had a wooded mat that framed out 4 pictures.

The picture that I bought at the auction fit in the frame without the mat, it had a white boarder around it...but it also showed the edges--about an eighth of an inch, and looked bad. Wah waah wah:(

So I checked to see if the picture would work in the frame if I cut the "t" out of the mat...and it fit!

Armed with an exact knife I was off...

and I cut out the "t"! But the mat was made out of particle board and showed the imperfections and I didn't like the look of it...it was messy.

What did I do? I took some sandpaper to it. I distressed it a bit!

I put the mat and picture into the frame...and it turned out great! The distressing actually goes along with the look of the print. 

What do you think?

Now it's your turn! Link up your own creations, crafts, recipes, sewing projects...that you finally finished! Or that you made with stuff you already had!

You can look up what Make Do March is all about here.

Please grab a button and let everyone else join into the fun!

 

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