What would Martha do?

Young Martha, bossin' it up.

Gosh, I am so sporadic at this! I just realized that while I have posted 4 times in October, and 3 (I think) times in July, I posted nothing in between!

However, I am thinking about re-thinking my strategy. You see, currently, my interests are willy-nilly. Whatever I am making at the moment, I post. But, if I took the Martha Approach, I would have much more structure.

Martha Stewart is kind-of my hero. (Heroine? Also, searching for the word heroine in google to make sure you are spelling it right automatically brings up tons of articles on the drug and rehab services.) She is business savvy and can make pretty much anything. She's the real-life MacGyver. She's my inspiration for wanting to share my projects with you, so I feel like this site should to more to be like her. Again, the Martha Approach.

I thought about renaming the whole thing "The Modern Martha," but Martha IS modern. That's part of her charm, she never goes out of style because she MAKES trends (and, conversely, she shows you how to make (craft) trends).

So, maybe I'll do a little house-cleaning and organizing. (Yes, I am aware this is the part where Martha would say "It's a good thing," but from anyone else, it doesn't sound the same.)

Halloweener! PT 2 (and other great costumes)

A gaggle of Sailors in 2007 (I'm third from the left, and my little sis is 4th)

Halloween's almost over, and while I DID go out (dressed as Audrey Hepburn aka Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's), I didn't get ANY photos! TERRIBLE!

I believe I will have to dress in the whole outfit again, and take some photos to post. Ugh, but the hair! I had my Mom tease it into a beehive-like thing. It was a total mess! At the end of the night, when I took out my bobby-pins, my hair just sat there, not moving. And I was worried that it might fall down!

So, since I've totally failed this year at producing photos of the costume, here are a couple more year's past. Look, I know what you are thinking, "Today IS Halloween dummy, just dress up tonight!" But tonight is the Saints v. Steelers game, and I have been counting down the weeks until it is cool enough out to wear my Saints sweatshirt! Wait, I did wear that last week...

As Ursula, for the place I was working at the time, the Grove Park Inn's Employee Costume contest. A pirate won.

As Lady Liberty, with my sister (Hulk Hogan) and friend Sara (as a troll)

Halloweener!

HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEN!

It's here!

And I'm in a tizzy! Today is October 28, and due to my lack of luck in the job department, I have spent very little on decorations. Did I say little? I meant NOTHING. Not even a freakin' pumpkin. BAHHH. So, to prevent Halloween sadness, I am going to relive various costume ideas over the next couple posts. Who knows, maybe even the creative stroke of genius will strike and I'll have a little Halloween Miracle! (I kind of have a cheapy idea already!)

So, lets start with 2004

.

This is the best picture I have of this costume, but that year, I was a plumber. I made a pretty cute little plumber, if I do say so myself. Then, I topped off it all off with a cute lil plunger and plumber's butt. It's harder than you would think to show a little bit of butt crack without being excessive.

In 2005...

My sis (the one in the middle picture with me) talked myself and our friend Janie into being carrots. I was skeptical, but joined in by making our little green carrot tops. The whole thing turned out fantastic, and we spent the night looking for a rabbit to complete the whole scene. We finally found one at the very end of the night, after the bars shut down and kicked everyone out. We pretty much bombarded him, and I think he might have actually been more than a little startled. Gosh, I wish I would find the picture we got of that moment.

A few rando's

A Sweet Little Box

and an Embroidered and Scented Neck Pillow

This little box is made to hold just about anything, and as an added bonus, soaks up some of those scraps you've been saving for... well who knows what we save those for? This, I guess. It was quite easy, and was modeled after a box

This should be pretty self-explanatory. First, measure out your fabric using the top of the box, and get an idea of what you want the finished box to look like. I grabbed some fabric glue from AC Moore (be sure you get clear!), and glued one end of the first strip to the box, starting on the end that I glued, and moving across. The glue holds pretty quickly, so you only need to press the fabric for about 5 seconds to get the placement you want. The whole box top was done simply ruffling the fabric and gluing. Self-explanatory, right? Don't over complicate it, and this project can be a quick and easy way to get a cute little box!

Above is my sweet little honey modeling the lavender and flax seed filled neck pillow I made. First, I made the pattern. Then, I cut out a top and bottom piece, as well as mulsin liners. This is the point you would embroider your monogram, if you so choose. I used water-soluble Stabilizer to keep my embroidering nice and neat. When finished, I went ahead and disolved the Stabilizer. You won't want to stick the finished pillow in the washer, pup.

Stitch all of the pieces together, just like a pillow, leaving a small opening for the filling. Your stack of fabric should be stacked like this:

muslin

wrong side up of outer fabric

right side up of outer fabric (So rights sides of the outer fabric facing)

muslin

Pull the ends through the whole to make the pillow right side out.

Then, I mixed lavender and flax seeds together, and filled the pillow until it was full, but still flexible in the middle. If you over stuff, it will be stiff. I sewed up the muslin liner first, and then carefully stitched the outer pieces together.

Enjoy! (Heating up this in the microwave, or sticking it in the fridge for a while makes it extra delightful. Remember to put it in a plastic bag either way, so that it doesn't soak up the smells of the fridge/micro.)