How To Use Pinterest

I am in love with the site Pinterest. Seriously,  I could forgo all work for hours and just surf the net "pinning" things.

But how do you pin, you ask? First, get invited. If you want an invite, message me at www.badgereels.etsy.com with your email address and I'll invite you! :) Find my board at: www.pinterest.com/mamaslilmonkeys

Okay, so you signed up, now what?

**Fill out your profile and privacy/email settings just like you would on any social site. Now to pin!

**First off, add the "Pin It" button to your browser bar. (I use firefox.) To do so:

Go to your Pinterest.com.
Click "add a pin"
See the little thing tell you to drag that "pin it" symbol to your browser bar? Do that, literally, dragging it up into your browser where your most visited sites are.

Now the "Pin It" bookmarklet is in your browser. So any time you are on a website with any images, you can just click "pin it" and it will automatically lead you to pin the item.

(nice swagbucks I got there, eh?)

Okay, now what?

**FIND YOUR FRIENDS!! Pinning is most fun when you connect with your friends and repin what they find awesome.
From Pinterest.com, look at "people" in the top right sidebar and find friends. Connect your facebook or twitter accounts and find your friends. You don't have to do this, but I find it fun.

**Organize your boards. Pinterest gives you some automatic boards but I found them boring so I created my own.

When you pin something to a board, think of it as a bulletin board for online life. You can click my Organize board and see all the links I find interesting. Keep clicking til you get to the actual pinned item and it will eventually take you back to the original site, whether I pinned it or RE-pinned someone elses find.

**Give credit where credit is due when pinning!! There is a space for a description, use it! If you find the tutorial on a blog, or the item on etsy, credit the artisan!! This makes it easier also should the original post disappear, if you have written "blog.mamaslittlemonkeys.com" under the pic, the reader knows to go find my blog at least if they are faced with an ugly Server 404 or "your stuff ain't der no more" sign.

**Think outside the box when creating boards. What makes you happy? Sad? What do you want? Need? What do you have that is great and you want to share with others? Self promotion is fine but try to keep it to one board and don't forget to share the love!!

**Update who you are following. I don't know if this is a glitch, or just the way it works, but it seems, for example if I'm following my friend Merry. I follow all of her boards. But if she ADDS a board later, it seems it won't automatically show me those pins unless I "unfollow" and then "follow all" again. This could be a glitch, could be I'm not noticing the new boards, I dunno. Either way, just for kicks, from time to time, I go unfollow friends then follow all again just to be sure I'm getting everything they pin. Because, well, my friends are awesome, and I wanna see what they love!

**Pinterest is growing. I do find from time to time the servers are busy. Hang on and bear with them. I get the feeling they never knew this site would take off as it is.

Enjoy and happy Pinning!!!~~Amy

Impatient Craftaholic Series--Sewing a Scrunchie

Oops, I did it again, another video tutorial. I'm being a goof in this one but hope you like :) Yes, I still wear scrunchies. I realize they're not cool, but alas, I don't care. I can't STAND hair in my face!!

Enjoy!

Flower Ball Tutorial- Impatient Craftaholic Series

You'll love how easy this one is! This makes my No Sew Fabric Wreath tutorial look like hard work! Seriously, you'll love this!

Materials Needed:
Styrofoam Ball (available at many craft stores)
Artificial Flowers
Satin Ribbon (however long you want your ball to hang)
Screwdriver
Wire Cutters
Tacky Glue or Craft Glue (Optional)

Step One:
Snip the bloom off your flowers. Save some of the greenery on the bouquets because those add nicely to the flower ball! If you purchase your flowers in a bouquet at craft stores when they're on sale, you'll get more for your money.

Step Two:
Insert your stem into the stryofoam ball. If you want to put a little glue on the tip of the stem you're inserting in the ball, that's fine but it's not really necessary.

Shove the bloom into the ball until its snug against the ball. Continue to do this over and over until the ball is covered in flowers!

Step Three:
Insert your ribbon. You can use your screwdriver to push the ribbon into the ball. You first poke a hole with your screwdriver in the ball, add some glue in the hole and then push your ribbon in if you'd like. You want to push the ribbon in folded in half so the two ends of the ribbon comes out, allowing you to tie a knot where you want to hang your ball.

That's it! For real!

Enjoy!!

Easy Pillowcase--Impatient Craftaholic Series

In keeping with my for the Impatient Craftaholic series...allow me to introduce "The Easy Pillowcase". 

This tutorial is what happens when you bring your children to the fabric store with you just to get ONE THING (I swear!) and they find fabric they like. Sigh. It's hereditary.

Materials:

1 yard of your chosen fabric (we chose Spiderman..natch.)

Thread

Serger and thread (if you have it, if not, its ok)

Scissors and the usual sewing odds and ends.

Sewing Machine (unless you love hand sewing..which if that is the case you probably aren't needing this series of impatient crafting...)

Set your coffee to brew...this project is pretty darn fast.

Step One: Measurements, Schmeasurements.

I just grabbed a pillow from the house and used it as my measurement. Because this print is a directional print, I had to fold it raw edge to raw edge. In the end I ended up with a piece of fabric, folded, right sides together that measured about 33x18 or so. Your final measurements will vary based on your pillow size.

Step Two: The Almighty Serger

Now don't fret if you don't have a serger. If you DO, head on over to it with your fabric still in its nice little 33x18 inch or so fold. Since there is already a fold, you don't have to stitch that side of the pillowcase. So serge down the shorter side first (looking at the above picture, its the right hand side first). Then the longer "raw edge" side. This leaves you an unfinished pillowcase!!

Step Two: If you don't have a serger:

You can still sew down the same sides as the serger in the step above with your sewing machine. Because it is a pillowcase, it really doesn't matter if you have a raw edge inside the pillowcase---at least in my world it's okay. Just stitch with your machine in a straight stitch as I said in the serged instructions. If you really feel the need, use pinking shears to 'pink' the edges along the stitches for security.

Step Three: Hemming It up

After the inside of your pillowcase is done, move on to your hem. Keep the case with wrong sides out, and fold down a small hem. How big your hem is, really depends on the size of your pillow and how much extra fabric you want hanging off your pillow.

Use your iron to press your first hem.

Step Four:

Fold down again until you find a hem you're comfortable with. Nope my lines aren't totally straight. Ahem, Impatient Craftaholic....

Step Five: Head back to your regular sewing machine

Now at your regular sewing machine, just stitch your hem! Sew one line close to the folded edge, then if you'd like, sew another line on the outer edge.

Now fold your pillowcase right side out and viola...a nifty spider man pillowcase!! (Yes I know, I need a picture of the finished pillowcase...but the kid is sleeping on it right now..)

And if you keep some fabric left over, you can make a nifty SpiderMan shirt for your little one :)

***Enjoy and happy sewing! Let me know if you have any questions! Stay Tuned for the Next Installment of the Impatient Craftaholic!

~~~Amy