Calling All Lilly Lovers!!!

OMG!!! How many of you Lilly Pulitzer lovers have old agendas lying around just because you can't bare to throw away such beauty??? Raise your hand.....yep.  I thought so.  Look at all of these ideas I've come across for repurposing all of those pages....All you need is an old agenda and a little Modge Podge

Coasters

 

 

 

Mirror

 

 

 

 

Bangles

Wall Letters

 

 

And here are a few recommendations from Lifeguard Press:

• Use the patterned monthly divider pages as unique scrap-booking paper or decoupage paper.
• Cut out and frame the monthly "Lillisms" (sayings, rhymes and quotes on each monthly page) for cute and clever artwork.
• Use the decorative pages as wrapping paper for small gifts.
• Cut or tear the patterned pages into a variety of geometric shapes and create a collage by gluing them to a piece of paper, then slip that into the exterior clear insert sleeve of a ring-binder to create a Lilly-patterned binder.
• Cut out dress-shapes from the patterned sheets (being sure to include tabs at the shoulders and around the waist) to create Lilly-patterned paper doll dresses.
• Cut the agenda's patterned sheets into squares and use as unique Lilly-patterned origami paper.
• Make rolled paper beads from the more colorful pages of the agenda and create unique jewelry, hair accessories, or even a beaded curtain.
• Glue or mod-podge your favorite patterns or pages to blank ceramic tiles and then coat them with polyurethane for DIY coasters.
• Using a variety of sizes of hole-punchers, punch out small circles or shapes to create Lilly Pulitzer confetti!
• Re-purpose your favorite pages into note cards or gift tags

Want more? I'll be pinning these ideas and more over on our Pinterest page! 
Follow along with us at http://pinterest.com/mmmonogramming/

Personalized drop cloth pillow tutorial

I love pillows.  Love to change em around, personalize em, make em.  They just add a little something special to your decor, you know?


So, I wanted/needed some new pillows for various places in my house.  As usual, budget was low.  I have plenty of old pillows to use for stuffing, so I just needed the covers.  I also wanted them to work with my new design vision: cottage chic, funky junk, whatever you want to call it.  I didn't want new shiny pillows from the store.  I had some dropcloths that I had bought to make curtains out of, so I started there. 


First, make your pillow cover with any tutorial you wish.  We have an easy one here.


Then, buy or make a stencil.  I used my vinyl cutter to make a seahorse, then pulled the seahorse out and used the outline for my stencil.  I especially like this because I was able to adhere my stencil to the pillow.

Then, I took out a sharpie and colored it in.  Here is what I came up with.  

So easy, my 11 year old can do it!

The Shabby Creek Cottage
House of Hepworths
Somewhat Simple
Brambleberry Cottage
The Trendy Treehouse
Savvy Southern Style
Somewhat Simple

The Most Amazing Stain Remover Ever

So, I finally fit back in to a pair of cute, white cropped pants from over a year ago! Yay!  Except, there are stains on them from over a year ago when I tried to iron them and some kind of rust/goo was heat pressed on to them! BOO!  I tried stain treating and bleaching when it first happened; but nothing seemed to work.  For some reason, I hung on to them anyway.

But wait! Over the past year I had read an article in a magazine about a miraculous stain treater!  And guess what, I've been using it on everything! 2 parts Dawn Dish Soap and 1 part Hydrogen Peroxide.  This stuff is amazing. 

It works better than any stain remover I've ever bought at the store. Just mix it up, pour over your stain and scrub lightly.  I've been using it mostly for sweat and makeup stains and it is nothing short of a miracle.
 

Let it sit for a few minutes before washing and you'll be amazed at the results.  So, let's see if it can take on these pants!

Look Mom!  No stains!  Even better than bleach! They're still a bit wrinkly; maybe this time I'll use the steamer!

Homemade Banana Peppers

It's that time of year when our gardens begin to yield their harvest and everyone shares the fruits of their labor.  We were fortunate enough to have some friends share their banana pepper harvest with us.

We love banana peppers around our house.  We love them on salads, sandwiches and even pizza.  But, there's one problem; I've never pickled or canned before. EVER.  One good thing?  My family has a long history of "putting up" vegetables, so a good pickling recipe was well within my reach.  Here is the one suggested to me to be the easiest, so I decided to give it a try, and it IS easy.

Seed your peppers and cut them in to rings. 

In a saucepan, bring the following ingredients to a boil:

2 cups Distilled White Vinegar
2/3 cup White Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Mustard Seed
1/2 tsp Celery Seed

Pour the hot liquid over the peppers, filling the jar to within 1/2" of the lid.  Wipe the rims to be sure no liquid is on them, and then screw your lids on.

Now, here is the most difficult part, wait 2 weeks!  It's gonna be tough, but I'll let you know how they turn out.