A Vision to Remember All Things Handmade Blog: January 2015

Valentine's Day Free Printable: Love XOX

I'm all about doing simple and fun decor. Especially if it is for holidays. I don't have time (nor the budget) to create a huge set of decorations for each holiday.

That is why I created these cute Valentines Day printables. To download, right click on the picture and click save. Then you can upload to your favorite photo printing company.

Square Love XOX Printable:

Random Shape Love XOX Free Printable

The 8x10 Love XOX Free Printable

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Ruffled Heart Wreath for Valentines Day

I never seem to have enough time to make elaborate and beautiful wreaths, but I hate it when my door is blank and boring. So this is the wreath that I came up with for Valentines Day. A simple Ruffle Heart Wreath. It only uses a little bit of fabric and a wire hanger. Simple right?!? The bonus: its cheap!

Train Crib and Toddler Bed Rag Quilt and Standard Size Pillow Sham

I just adore how this quilt turned out. A cute mix of polka dots, raw edge appliqued trains, with red, navy blue, and black.

Cute new boy set. Standard Size Pillow Sham HERE and Rag Quilt HERE

Lead Me, Guide Me, Walk Beside Me~I am a Child of God Free Printable for Girls

Today I am inspired by the song my family was asked to sing in Sacrament Meeting. It is a song called "I am a Child of God".

8x10

Book Reading Suggestions for 3rd-5th Grade ~ Boys and Girls

The other day I sent out a plea for help with my 3rd grader. She reads at close to a 5th grade level and needs a challenge but also something that isn't too advanced. She loves to read and either gets bored with a book easy or she reads it so fast that she is looking for another one. So far she has read the first 2 books of Fablehaven, loves Geronimo Stilton and Thea Stilton, and she got bored with Little House on the Prairie

So here is a compilation of the books suggested by everyone. If you have any to add to it, let me know in the comments and I will make sure to add it to the list.

PS. I have tried to link up most of them to Amazon. They are my affiliate links, just FYI.

Book Titles for 3rd-5th Grade Reading

Harry Potter

The Phantom Tollbooth

James and the Giant Peach

The Education of Little Tree

Janitors

Leven Thumps

Fablehaven

Gregor the Overlander Series

Hank the Cowdog Series

Walk Two Moons

Peter and the Star Catcher

Percy Jackson

The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

Wildwood series by Colin Meloy

Fairyland by Catheryne Valente

Lion Witch and the Wardrobe

Who Was Series (Short Biographies)

Sign of the Beaver

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Series of Unfortunate Events

Pillage Series

Charlie Bone Series

Indian in the Cupboard

Dragon Slayer's Academy

Author Suggestions for 3rd-5th Grade Reading

Blue Balliett
Frances Hardinge
Trenton Lee Stewart
Shannon Hale
Pseudonymous Bosch
Lemony Snicket

Maryrose Wood

Maile Meloy
Roald Dahl

The Cleaning Benefits of Vinegar- 7 Ways I Use Vinegar to Clean

I use vinegar all the time when I am cleaning. I think it makes things smell nice and fresh. Plus, its pretty darn cheep, and not so hard on the brain cells if you know what I mean.

So here are a few ways that I use vinegar to make my life easier:

I use it to wipe down my kitchen counters. It doesn't leave a residue like some cleaners. If I want to kill germs, then I will sometimes use hydrogen peroxide, but most of the time I don't have enough on hand. So I will use a disinfectant wipe.
I use it to mop my floor. I grew up using vinegar to mop my moms hard wood floors. It was the only cleaner that she had found that didn't leave a smoky look to her floors. I still to this day use vinegar on my floors. I have linoleum now and it works great!
Whenever my towels or clothes start to get that funny mildewey smell I wash them with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of vinegar depending on the size of the load. It takes that smell away right quick. I first wash them like normal, and then I do another cycle of just vinegar. Works wonders.
Whenever I get that greasy residue in my cupboards I will fill the sink up with a little vinegar, water, and baking soda. Then wipe all the cupboards down inside and out. It cleans that greasy residue right up
I always clean out my fridge with the same mixture of vinegar, water, and baking soda. Same thing. It always smells great and is nice and clean!
To wipe walls walls down. I will fill up a 1 gallon ice cream bucket with vinegar and water and wipe the walls down. Unless its during the winter and I want to kill germs.
Whenever my glass top stove gets nasty then I will take baking soda and vinegar and make a paste and rub that stuff all over the stove top. I'll let it sit for a little bit and come back and check to see how well the stuff has come up. If not very well, then I will take my finger and rub it all over again giving extra care to the bad spots. It works really well. All in all I don't spend a lot of time doing the actual cleaning. More, just letting the cleaner do its work.

I took this info from the Vinegar Wikepedia page (so take the info with a little grain of salt:)

Cleaning

White vinegar is often used as a household cleaning agent. Because it is acidic, it can dissolve mineral deposits from glass, coffee makers, and other smooth surfaces.^[55] For most uses, dilution with water is recommended for safety and to avoid damaging the surfaces being cleaned.

Vinegar is an excellent solvent for cleaning epoxy resin and hardener, even after the epoxy has begun to harden. Malt vinegar sprinkled onto crumpled newspaper is a traditional, and still-popular, method of cleaning grease-smeared windows and mirrors in the United Kingdom.^[56] Vinegar can be used for polishing brass or bronze. Vinegar is widely known as an effective cleaner of stainless steel and glass.

Vinegar has been reputed to have strong antibacterial properties. One test by Good Housekeeping's microbiologist found that 5% vinegar is 90% effective against mold and 99.9% effective against bacteria,^[57] though another study showed that vinegar is less effective than Clorox and Lysol against poliovirus.^[58] In modern times experts have advised against using vinegar as a household disinfectant against human pathogens, as it is less effective than chemical disinfectants.^[27]

Vinegar is ideal for washing produce because it breaks down the wax coating and kills bacteria and mold. The editors of Cook's Illustrated found vinegar to be the most effective and safest way to wash fruits and vegetables, beating antibacterial soap, water and just a scrub brush in removing bacteria.^[59]

Vinegar has been marketed as an environmentally-friendly solution for many household cleaning problems. For example, vinegar has been cited recently as an eco-friendly urine cleaner for pets.^[60]^{[unreliable source?]}

Vinegar is effective in removing clogs from drains, polishing silver, copper and brass as well as ungluing sticker-type price tags.^[61] Vinegar is one of the best ways to restore color to upholstery like curtains and carpet.^[59]

Vinegar also can help remove wallpaper. If the paper is coated with a mixture of vinegar and boiling water, it breaks down the glue for easy removal

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How to Sew a Ruffle Crib Skirt Using Ruffle Fabric (Includes Bed Sizestoo-Twin, Queen, King)

One of my favorite things to make for my customers right now are these really cute Ruffle Crib Skirts using Ruffle Fabric. They are an easy way to make a ruffle crib skirt without a ton of time ruffling fabric. Here is a quick and simple way to make the crib skirt (can also be used for any size of bed)

This really is a simple and fun way to dress up your nursery. Don't you just love the chevron and blush pink combo?

First off here are the measurements and how many panels you will need in total for each size of skirt:
Crib-27"x52" (3 panels)
Twin-37"x80" (3 panels)
Full/Double -60"x80" (4 panels)
Queen -72"x80" (4 panels)
King -76"x80" (4 panels)

You will need to cut whatever the length of drop you would like from the bottom of the mattress to the floor (or wherever you want it to hang). A normal skirt is a 16 inch drop.

Next you will need to cut your velcro that you will sew your ruffles to. I use the softer side of the velcro for this. I also use Sew on for this side. You will need to cut 3 pieces. 2 for the sides of the bed and 1 for the end of the bed. For the bed sizes the side of the bed measurement is 80".

Now take your pieces that will need to be sewn together (For example the crib skirt will need 2 panels sewn together for the front of it)

Now take 1 of your pieces. Fold it in half, 3 times (or 2 times for the short pieces). That will divide the panel into 4 pieces or 8 pieces evenly. Put a pin at each of the corners ( you will have a total of 9 pins on a longer panel if you put on in at the ends)

Next, take your velcro and do the same thing with it. I normally just use a marker and mark the divided pieces.

As you are sewing, you will be making sure that each of the evenly spaced spots on the velcro and on the ruffle fabric fit in the same spaces. The ruffle fabric will need to be gathered so that it fits in between your markings. I normally just kinda stuff the fabric under my presser foot as I sew and try to keep it even as I go.

Repeat with your remaining sides.

To attach the skirt to your bed or crib take sticky velcro, I use the rough side or the hook side. I stick the velcro all the way around the edge of the crib or the bed. Then just take your skirt and stick the velcro pieces together.

Also, make sure to NOT let the hook side of the velcro to touch your ruffle fabric. It will ruin it. It grabs it and pulls little strings and makes runs, much like in nylons. Just a heads up.

If you don't want to make your own skirt but would rather buy one, I have a ton of different colors available in my Etsy Shop (A Vision to Remember)

If you enjoyed this tutorial make sure to check out:

How to sew Ruffle Curtains

http://www.avisiontoremember.com/2014/06/how-to-sew-simple-ruffle-curtains.html

How to Add Minky to a Quilt:

http://www.avisiontoremember.com/2011/06/adding-minky-to-rag-quilts.html

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