no-mess tie-dye!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qIFxDbsxUkI filmed a quick and easy video for iLoveToCreate last week and it's ready to view!



Click here

filming today

One of my favorite products at iLoveToCreate is Tulip One-Step Dye. It is just so easy to add brilliant color to fabric with this product. I have hosted many demonstrations on dye and I always get the same reaction - "wow, I didn't realize you can do it without a mess"! Maybe it's my super-secret dye station setup that makes this possible...well, today I'm filming a quick video at work to share my secret. I'll post the video as soon as it's ready!

Wish me luck...I'm filming with a cold...my voice needs to hold up!

it's been a while!

Yes...it's been a while since I blogged...2009 ended in a flurry of parties and 2010 started in a flurry of work assignments. In the past two months, I've been to Lake Tahoe, Paso Robles, Anaheim, Germany and Carmel...nearly every weekend has kept me busy somewhere other than my home. While I've never turned down the opportunity to get away for the weekend (or even week), I'm ready to have a quiet weekend at home with nothing to do. Of course, the second I sit down I'm going to complain I'm bored!!

This weekend was the best so far of 2010!! I spent Friday night at my in-laws house to celebrate my husband making a huge accomplishment at work...we had a fabulous chicken cattiatore with polenta. Saturday didn't start out so well...Sophia started barking at 7am (so weird for her) and all I wanted to do was sleep in. I made breakfast (linguica, hasbrowns and eggs) and then hopped in the limo for a day of wine-tasting in Madera. The wineries hosted a "wine and chocolate" day and each one had vendor booths setup alongside the wine tasting...everything was handmade - olive oil, chocolate, cheese, jewelry, art and home decor. We ended the day with a sushi dinner. At some point in the day, we decided to take the limo to Carmel on Sunday. I was still brushing my teeth when the limo arrived the next morning so I threw on shorts and a tee and headed to the beach. It was a perfect 70 degree day in Carmel and we enjoyed every moment. Lunch at the Cypress Inn, wine tasting at Gallante Winery and Southern Hemisphere Wine Shop, walking down Ocean Avenue to the beach...it was a great way to spend a Sunday!

I'm excited to see what this week brings!!

Christmas...decorating is in full force

I took vacation last week (haven't done that since my wedding last year) and instead of relaxing all day, I filled my days with organizing, running the errands I had put off for months, cooking and decorating for Christmas!!! My mom loves to decorate for Christmas, but she was always adamant that decorations couldn't be out prior to Thanksgiving. So true to tradition, I waited until after Thanksgiving to go full force with the decorations...but when I say "after", I literally mean after I ate the turkey. On the way home from Thanksgiving dinner, I told my husband that I had to have a tree that night...no waiting...so we headed off to the store to pick out a 7.5' fake tree. Yes - fake. There are only three years of my life that I have had a fake tree...those were spent in my apartment because of fire hazards. Other than that, I have always enjoyed (and insisted on) a real tree...the kind you cut down yourself. But as I grow older and realize what a mess a real tree is to keep watered, vaccuum up, tear down and vaccuum for the hundreth time, I had decided that a fake tree is just fine by me!!!

This year I went with a traditional red, green and gold color scheme with LOTS of glitter!!! Here are a few of my decorations...

I love this Santa...he was a gift from our Christmas party last year. I'm trying to keep the tray filled with dark chocolate m&m's, but it's been a difficult challenge!I found these glittered wood balls at walmart of all places (the one time I went the entire year and I scored)!! I hung some of them on the tree too!
This may be the last year we'll have this brick fireplace as we're planning to cover the brick with granite, textured wall and a mantle...but instead of leaving the huge space empty this year, I made the best of it with a pine garland, glittered bows, stockings (my mom embroidered them for us) and a bunch of glass ornaments. I had to string the ornaments three times until I got the look I was hoping for. All that's missing is a wreath to hang from the top point.

I love a grand entrance and these wreaths give our home the entrance I love! We're still working on hanging the lights (1/2 way done)...it takes a while to compete with Chevy Chase!!
This tree was a gift several years ago and I've decorated it with the same mini chocolate brown Christmas balls and bows. This mini tree sits on my kitchen counter.

of course I had to add a bit of creativity (and our products) to my decorations...this year I made a ton of cinnamon ornaments with Aleene's Original Tacky Glue...they are incredibly easy to make and the house smells delicious for the rest of they day if you bake them in the oven for quick-drying!

A very unique approach to tie-dye!!!

I just came across Basketmaster's Weavings website and am so impressed with this unique use of tie-dye!!! You'll have to click on the image to find out more...plus, you'll find a free shipping code for the tie-dye in her post!!!

If you love fabric dye as much as me and want further inspiration, download a FREE eBook by clicking on book image below!

Me as a Tacky Glue bottle

I haven't even begun to think about a Halloween costume...I need to come up with something very quickly because Halloween at iLoveToCreate is a spectacular event and I'm down to just a few days. My first year working here was the best - I made (yes, from scratch) an Aleene's Original Tacky Glue bottle costume. I hurried over to Hancock Fabrics and bought a yard of really thick gold satin fabric, 2' wide elastic, velcro, boning and styrofoam...I grabbed a bottle of Tulip 3D Fashion Paint and Aleene's No Sew Fabric Glue from our company Hobby Shop. Okay...now I think I've made it pretty clear that I'm not an on-the-spot creative person...it takes me plenty of time to get a good result...so I remember fearing that I just dumped $20 on materials that would end up in the trash! Not so. I decided to paint the fabric first...honestly, I don't remember how I got the lettering so straight and legible...maybe I made a stencil (that's how I'd do it today). I was ultra-proud of the UPC (it's on the back so you can't see my marvelous work)!

Once the paint was dry, I made top and bottom seams with the boning, glued them in place, then adhered the velcro down one vertical seam so I could wrap the tube around me versus having to step in and out. I also glued elastic on both sides of the tube for shoulder straps. For the bottle cap, I used a flat circular piece of styrofoam and glued a cone styrofoam on top with Aleene's Foamtastic Glue.

I wore white leggings (they were extremely difficult to find a few years ago!) and a white turtleneck. I realized what a bad idea this was at lunch that day. While everyone else had made costumes that they could easily take off and be wearing normal clothes, I had to walk into the sandwich shop dressed as a glue bottle...since it wasn't a typical costume, I recieved a few awkward stares!!

So if you are looking for an extremely unique costume, try making a product costume...you are pretty much guaranteed that nobody will have the same one!

Junk Jewelry

We recently had a warehouse sale at work and it was an opportunity to buy the projects that the iLoveToCreate designers make...kinda like a sample sale at a retail buying office! I was four hours late to the sale so I missed out on the ultra good stuff, but I did score this necklace. It was originally designed almost two years ago and I loved it then...so when I saw it hiding under a ceramic plate I was giddy with joy!

The good news is that it's easy to recreate! I call it "junk jewelry" because all of the pieces are found objects...no need to buy new. Visit your local Goodwill or even your junk drawer at home to find random objects - some jewelry pieces, some hardware, some random objects that just look cool glued together! The only thing you need to buy is a bottle of Aleene's Jewelry & Metal Glue or Liquid Fusion.

Here's a pic of a similar necklace (I guess the designer made two different versions) so you can see the detail!

Click on the image for project instructions!

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