Pinterest Pick of the Week: Spoonflower, baby!

I know you're expecting a craft.  Or maybe even a recipe.  But today, I'm not going to give you either of those. Instead of that, I'm going to share with you my newest obsession.

So for a few weeks now, I've been seeing these prints pop up all of Pinterest.  I thought they were just pictures or print outs until curiosity got the better of me and I actually clicked a thumbnail.

These prints aren't pictures or print outs at all.  They're fabric swatches.  Fabric swatches from the amazing company, SpoonFlower.com.

(Somewhere, my husband is rolling his eyes.  He's tired of hearing about fabric, I think.)

And this is why I'm so in love!

ART DECO RIO DE JANEIRO

Robots On Brown

A Walk in the Dark Woods

Sunny Day Rain

Mock Pacman

Dark Grey Jelly

Fox Tails

Brilliant!  And this is just a sampling of the amazing fabrics that are available.  Not only that, if you for some odd reason can't find a fabric you absolutely love, you can design your own.

Let me repeat that.

You. Can. Design. Your. Own.

Amazing.  And at $16.20 a yard, it isn't going to set you back too much.

So get on there, buy some fabric, make some curtains or a tote.  Or just look at it.  Which is pretty much my plan.

Happy Monday!

Keeping It Clean: DIY All Purpose Spray

It's been a while since I've given a good cleaning recipe and with the buzz all over the boards about DIY cleaners, I think it's high time I share another.

There are a million different cleaners available on the market for a million different things.  Yet the one that most of us is most interested in is an All Purpose cleaner.  After all, there's something seemingly easier about using a cleaner that cleans darn near everything.  Not only are they convenient, most aren't terribly pricey either.

The problem with store bought cleaners isn't really the price though.  It's the ingredients.  I mean, do you have ANY idea what's in those store bought cleaners?  Nothing you really want your kids or pets around, for sure.  It was that thought that led me to start making my own.

Now there are several recipes available all over the internet.  However, it took some playing around with a few recipes and tweaking things to my liking to come up with the perfect all purpose cleaner. Not only is it safe and effective, it actually is cheaper to make it than buy.   And it only takes a few minutes to make.  Perfect for people who are big on green cleaning but short on time.

Sugar Crumbs Quick and Easy All Purpose Cleaner

First, you'll need a few basic ingredients.

• 1/2 cup of vinegar
• 2 tbsp of baking soda
• a squirt or so of Castile Soap
• a few drops of Tea Tree Oil

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda.  Allow it to sit until the fizzing stops.  (Feel free to giggle over the reaction.  It always brings me back to elementary school, volcano days!)

Once it stops fizzing, transfer the mixture to an empty spray bottle.  Fill the bottle nearly to the top with HOT water.  Make sure it isn't completely full, though, as you need room for the last ingredients. Then add the castile soap and the tea tree oil.  Close the bottle and shake. 

And there you have it!  Super easy but totally effective home made cleaner.  If you don't like the smell, you can always add a few drops of essential oil to the mix.  Essential oils are readily available at craft stores.

Can't find an essential oil that you like?  Or can't find one at all?  The bloggers at We Heart This have a recipe that utilizes liquid potpourri that is available at nearly any department store!

Happy Friday, folks!  Keep it Clean!

Pinterest Pick of the Week: DIY Chandelier

I don't think I'm the only one out there who is CONSTANTLY finding things on Pinterest that I want to add to my home.  The real problem is that most of the things I really really like look seemingly impossible to recreate ooooor I'm just to busy to be bothered with things that take 8 million years.

Turns out I found something that caught my eye enough that I was thinking about it for nearly 3 weeks.

Okay, so I came across this DIY faux capiz chandelier from thesweetestdigs.com.  And I loved it. Sorta.  It seemed simple enough, just iron a few sheets of wax paper together, cut out a million circles, glue them together with fishing line and attach to a hanging plant basket.

Yep.

It was missing something though.  I'd all but given up on finding a way to make this work for me when I found this beauty.

This mobile from beingbrooke.com is made in a similar way.  Only instead of wax paper circle, she made dimensional hearts out of book pages!  Oh, and she sewed them together.  Which sounds way more daunting than it actually is.

After a few minutes of staring at the book page mobile, it dawned on me.  I could COMBINE the two ideas for the perfect faux chandelier in my bedroom!  There's no overhead light in there so my ceiling needed some love.  And so, my book page mobile was born.

Awesome.  I just love that mobile... Even though it's hanging crooked in this picture because I took pictures before straightening it.

All I did was punch a million circles out of an old yard sale book with a 2" hole punch from Michaels. And then I sewed a bajillion strands that measured 8 circles long and a bajillion more strands that measured 6 circles long.  So I had the body of a capiz, the flat and one dimensional look of the capiz and the lovely look of book pages like the book mobile.

After all the pieces were sewn together, I hot glued them to a wire wreath form, thread a ribbon around it and hung it on the ceiling.

That's. It.

So all in all, I spent maaaaybe $6 on this whole project.  It was easy to do but a little time consuming.  If you want to make your own, I highly recommend punching out more circles than you think you need.

Want to make your own?  Check out BeingBrooke.com and TheSweetestDigs.com for full tutorials.  Each is picture heavy and offers helpful tips for each step along the way.

Oh.  And don't be scared of the sewing.  It goes WAY faster than gluing. And leaves less burn marks on your fingers. Trust me.

** Have a pin that you want me to review?  Leave me a comment or email me at yaysugarcrumbs@gmail.com!**

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Sick Days

Everyone has been sick around here.

Why is it that every time the weather shifts around someone ends up deathly ill?  Sigh.

Either way, Sugar Crumbs is taking a sick break.  Regular blogs will resume Monday, February 20th.

Until then, enjoy this picture of an adorable kitten.

(Because Mondays are always better with adorable kittens!)