Product Photos - Tools for the amature ... or budding photographer perhaps!

So, I was all excited last August when I got a new fancy camera!  It is a Canon Rebel DSLR and it was replacing my 7-year old Canon point and shoot.  I was a little overwhelmed, so I met up with a friend that I hadn't seen in 20 years (since high school!) who was a professional photographer.  It was a great morning!  Great to catch up with an old friend, and also great to go over all of my camera settings.

Kevin was a great teacher, so I have to give a big shout out and thank you to him!!  You can see his work on his facebook page - Kevin M. James 

Unfortunately a new camera didn't solve all of my photography woes.  It certainly improved them, but not quite to the point that I wanted to get to.  I needed lighting and I needed a better setting.

I started out purchasing a fake floor mat on Amazon.  I decided on it because it was heavier than just the vinyl ones that are used as back drops.  But, at 23 inches x 34 inches it fell short when I was photographing larger magnet boards.  I also invested in some lights, stands, and a white backdrop - also from Amazon - and they really help on those darker days in my house.

So my new fake floor arrived today!!  It is 4 feet x 5 feet - plenty large enough for what I needed.  Actually I could have used 2 feet x 5 feet, but that size wasn't available.

Here is a photo grouping on of the fake floors - so you know what I am talking about!

 And here is the result!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE what is going to happen with my pictures!! 

Yarn Wreath Tutorial

Last weekend it was a bit chilly out.  So, I decided to make a new wreath for the door!  I have been trying to get a wreath to put up for each season, so this is my spring wreath!

The supplies for this were less than $10 (I used a coupon for the wreath form, and the silk flowers were on sale!) and it took me a couple hours to make - most of that is wrapping, and wrapping, and wrapping yarn ... and my skein of yarn was giving me fits so some of that time was undoing the skein and making a ball of yarn.




Here are my supplies:
1 14" wreath form (I would probably like a 16 inch one, but apparently they are hard to find!)
1 skein of yarn - I probably used about 2/3 of it
1 bouquet of silk flowers and other embellishments

Tools needed:
scissors
glue gun
wire cutters (for cutting ends of silk flowers)
clear tape



You want to start by tying your yarn on to the wreath.  I left about a 6 inch tail on the yarn for the hanger at the end.  This is more than you need, but will make it easy to tie.  I would also recommend tying in at the seam of the wreath form (not shown in this picture) as when you tighten up your wrapping it won't keep moving around.

Now the wrapping begins.  If your wreath form is smooth like mine you can wrap the yarn several times and then tighten it up.  However, I wouldn't recommend that you get the wraps far apart and that you push them together every 4 wraps.

Also, when you tighten up your wraps DO NOT twist your hands.  You want to push and pull them together, but twisting will cause some of the wraps to loosen and some of them to tighten creating nonuniform wrapping.


 
If you need to take a coffee break use a couple of pieces of the clear tape to secure it down.  You may also want to tape down the tail that you left at the beginning so that it doesn't get in your way.









After many many many wraps you will get close to the end.  When you are about 3/4 of an inch or 1 inch from the end you can make your hanger.  Tape the tail down, tie it to the wrapped yarn and then finish wrapping over the taped section.









When you get all the way around you can tie the two ends together like this to form a little hanger.

Now your wreath is done and you can put your flowers on!

You will want to trim your flowers, but leave some of the stem to push into your wreath.  For the larger stems I leave about 1/2 to 3/4 inch, for the small wires I leave 1 to 1 1/2 inches.

Next you will want to dry fit all of your flowers.  I generally put all of the flowers in until I decide on the final arrangement.  Please note that the holes will not look this large.  Apparently my camera did not take the pictures the other day so I had to remove one after it was glued to show these pictures.

Once you have decided on the placement of all of the flowers use your glue gun to secure them in place.  Take the flower out, inject hot glue into the hole, and then replace the flower before the glue cools. 

I recommend removing and gluing one flower at a time.





An alternative to the hanger that I showed you is to use a wide ribbon. I will be adding a ribbon when I get some that coordinates with the flowers.

Homemade Spray Starch Tutorial

I really dislike ironing.  However, since I work with lots of fabric, it is a necessary evil.

I tend to use a lot of spray starch, just because I do think that it adds a crispness to the fabric and ultimately makes my job a bit easier.

I do not, however, like the smell of spray starch that you purchase at the store.  So again ... in my quest to find more natural products and things that will save me money and I can make at home ... I have discovered the spray starch recipe!

This one is so easy!! 

Just one pint of cold water and one heaping tablespoon of corn starch!  You can add a drop or two of essential oil, but since I am sensitive to scents I do not add any smelly stuff.  Shake it well!!  and remember to give it a good shake before each use!

I had to try it out on some black cotton fabric, and I was pleasently surprised that there were very minimal if any at all white flakes ... which is almost always an issue when using store bought starch.

I had to make a pretty label for my bottle!

Other homemade recipes:

Weed Killer (White Vinegar and Dishwashing liquid)
Bathroom Cleaner (White Vinegar and Dishwashing liquid)

Homemade weed killers ... a tutorial and results

I really dispise spraying chemicals all over the place ... seems that you need a gagillion chemicals around your house for cleaning, pest control, weed control, and all sorts of other things. I have seen a lot of neat ideas for storing all of these bottles of stuff on Pinterest lately, but what I would really like to do is take a different approach.

First, I would like to reduce the number of chemicals in my house significantly! Second, I would like to take a more natural approach for tackling these things. Lastly, I would really like to have more space for things I actually want in my house and not so much space dedicated to stuff I dislike having in my house.

Therefore I have been really researching homemade remedies for things. Now, it would be wonderful to say that I could eliminate my need for weed killer 100% by mulching and pulling weeds. However, since we live on almost 7 acres and I love to garden veggies and flowers ... I am fairly realistic that I don't have what it takes to maintain all of that without a little weed killing intervention.

So ... I have seen several recipes for weed killers that are a mixture of distilled white vinegar and diswashing soap. Which is absolutely fantastic since it is the same two things that I am mixing together for tub, shower, sink, and general bathroom cleaner. You can find a post about that here: http://mooremagnets.blogspot.com/2012/01/skeptical-about-homemade-cleaning.html

So, I am trying out the recipe for 1 quart white vinegar with 1 tablespoon of Dawn dishwashing liquid.  I have to note that the mixture that I am using today has more Dawn dishwashing liquid because I am using my partially empty bottle of the shower cleaner mixture which is 2 parts white vinegar to 1 part Dawn dishwashing liquid.  However, at the moment I don't have another spray bottle empty.

Here is the weed ... I gave it a good spray

 

And this is 24 hours later - Please note that we have not had any rain and our temperatures just barely reached freezing, so no frost was involved.

 

I am actually pretty pleased with the results on this particular weed.  However, there were several others that I sprayed and the results were not nearly as significant.  So, this morning I poured more vinegar in my mixture to make it closer to the 1 quart to 2 tablespoons recipe.  I will update you again in a few days! 

Skeptical about homemade cleaning products ... But this one works!

For years I have been really sensitive to fragrances and cleaners, and I have had to change the types of things that I buy because of it.  This runs the gamut from laundry detergent, to lotions, to hand cleaners, and especially cleaning products!

I have seen many receipes for cleaning, and I have no doubt that dilluted vinegar does a great job cleaning windows, and lemon is a life savor for smells in the kitchen.  However, those hard to clean places, like tubs and showers ... well I confess that I have always just broken down and purchased commercial cleaning products.

I recently came across a pin on pinterest for a tub and shower cleaner - Tub and Shower Cleaner that used Dawn dish detergent and white vinegar ... and I just had to try it because even the commercial cleaning products just don't do too well on the soap scum and mineral buildup from our well water.

The mixture is a 1 to 1 ratio of blue Dawn dish detergent and white distilled vinegar.  They recommend hot vinegar, but I have mixed it with the vinegar cool and gotten the same results.

Update!  I recently mixed it as a 2 to 1 ratio with 2 parts vinegar to 1 part blue Dawn and achieved the same results.  I may try reducing it even more as it is very soapy!

I have to say that I am THRILLED with the results!  I will absolutely not be buying any commercial tub and shower cleaner again!  I can't say that I didn't do any scrubbing, because I did ... here's the picture to prove it ... But the amount of scrubbing I did was the same as I do when I use a commercial cleaner ... Only I wasn't gasping for air, running the bathroom fan, and had to sit outside for at least 30 minutes after I was finished.

My house does smell a bit like vinegar, but it must not be that bad because my son isn't complaining about it!

I only mixed up a small amount.  Instead of the 12 oz and 12 oz mixture they indicate, I only did 4 oz and 4 oz ... frankly cause I didn't want to use all the vinegar I had, and I also didn't want this strange mixture around if it didn't work to my satisfaction.

The mixture wasn't nearly as clear looking as the picture above - that looks more like glass cleaner to me.  Mine was thicker and milky looking.  I will try increasing the vinegar and lessening the Dawn next time.  However, I do think the thicker mixture allowed it to hang on the walls of the shower for a longer time.

Now, I can't wait to make my tub all sparkly and remove that film!

A Handmade Holiday!

Whew! What a whirlwind of a last few weeks! I'm actually still in the middle of a bit of a whirlwind, but I thought I would take a few minutes and show you some of the goodies that I have made!

After turning my hobby into a business, I've decided that I need some new hobbies! Hobbies that I have no intentions on turning into businesses =)

So, several weekends ago I taught myself to crochet! I bought some yarn, hooks, and a book ... after trying for days I just couldn't get the hang of it, but after a few youtube videos and a phone call with a friend I was off and running! So, some lucky people are getting some scarves handmade by me this year!

I have also wanted to dust off my sewing machine for a while ... for something besides hemming pants! So here are a couple owls that I made by following a tutorial from Hammer & Thread that you can find here: http://hammerandthread.blogspot.com/2010/07/owl-stuffies-tutorial.html These cuties will be finding homes in the snuggly arms of my nieces.

I would love to see some of the goodies you have made for family and friends this year! And, now that I have made the owl stuffies I would love some more links to tutorials!!