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Archive for August, 2009

Let your walls talk with Red Letter Words

posted by cindylouh on August 31st, 2009 | Giveaways |

Today we have a generous guest giveaway from Dee of Red Letter Words

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Hi I am Dee.  I make Art out of Words.  I started to design things for my own house because I want the things in my house to have special meaning for me and my family. You will find some of our favorite cities and places listed in the travel section. For the scripture prints, since I am madly in love with anything that God has ever said or done I couldn't possibly pick my favorite scriptures - I just love them all :)  I am thrilled to be able to offer this giveaway to Skip to my Lou readers!  I really hope you find something you LoVe!!!

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Winner gets to pick their favorite 12 X 12 gallery wrapped print!

Rules are simple:

1. Visit www.redletterwords.com and choose which 12×12 print you would get if you won.
2. Come back here and leave a comment with your favorite print by September 6th at 12:00 p.m. CST
3. To double your chances-- tweet, blog or post on your facebook about this giveaway and come back and leave another comment.

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Peeps

posted by cindylouh on August 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized |

Have you joined our Chic Chick Media widget yet?

Have you become a part of our flock?  Chic Chick is a group of four women who all became friends through this crazy blog journey.  Laurie with Tip Junkie, Kim with Today's Creative Blog, Tiffany and Heather with Secrets in the Sauce and me.  We all have a passion for supporting women and have found a way to help you and your site gain more exposure without breaking the bank.  By joining our flock, your blog link rotates amongst 100s of blogs.

Tanna Clark with Complete Organizing Solutions has been a member since April and has received over 1000 hits!

Kara Cook with Creations by Kara has received over 700 hits since the middle of June.

Heather with The Fabulous Finds has received almost 200hits in one week!

So if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to gain exposure for your blog……this is the ticket.

Kara , one of our fabulous peeps, says it best --" For any of you out there that haven't signed up yet, I would highly recommend it. Not only have I gotten lots of hits, but I love having the widget. It is fun to check out all the other amazing blogs, and I have made lots of new blogging buddies!

Become a Peep in the month of September and you will be entered into drawing for a $25 gift card to Amazon.com

Gazpacho

posted by cindylouh on August 28th, 2009 | recipes |

I love Gazpacho and there is not better time to make and eat this yummy cold soup but now when gardens are overflowing with tomatoes.

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I am always trying new recipes for Gazpacho looking for that perfect one.  This one is pretty close. It is a tangy and chunky. The chipotle gives it a nice amount of heat and smokiness.  The recipe is from a local restaurant, New City Cafe.

Luis' Gazpacho

2 pounds Roma tomatoes

1 large cucumber

1 medium red onion

1 large roasted red bell pepper (available in jars, use approximately 1/2 cup)

1 chipotle pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

Chop tomatoes, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 onion and 1/2 roasted pepper into large chunks.  Transfer to food processor(I love this machine--I found one on a super sale), add chipotle pepper and puree.  Transfer to a bowl. Dice remaining cucumber, onion and roasted pepper and add to the bowl.  Add chopped cilantro, vinegar and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate. Recipe can be prepared two days ahead.  Serve well-chilled (chill for a minimum of 3-4 hours). Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with chopped cilantro.  Makes 6-8 servings. (Notes: I used regular garden tomatoes. Next time I will cut down slightly on the vinegar and only add  2 T to 1/4 Cup)

Do you have a favorite Gazpacho recipe, post about it and link it up below so we can give it a try!

How to make a designer hospital gown

posted by cindylouh on August 27th, 2009 | gifts for sick friends, Gifts for those that are sick, handmade gifts |

When love overflows you get this kind of story!  A reader emailed me with a project she and her sister made for her mother during an illness.

Julie writes-

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My sister and I have had a ball making designer hospital gowns for our mother who has suffered a severe stroke and will be in the hospital for a long time.  We looked for designer gowns online and they started at $50-$96, so we decided to make our own.  We used a free pattern from Lazy Girl Designs.

Our mother, ever stylish, is fully aware but unable to move much yet.  Since we can't stand to see her in another hospital issued gown that looks like men's underwear, we decided to make our own.  We've made zebra print with pink trim, purple and green batik, Lilly-Pulitzer inspired prints, cowboy print, etc.

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My little sister wanted to learn how to sew and I am a home-ec major so we customized the gowns and have really gotten a kick out of how well our project has turned out.

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The nurses get a real kick out of dressing my mother up and we love to see her in some color.  Even better, you can widen the pattern for a maternity patient by using two right-sides in the back, instead of a right and a left.  What a great shower gift for an expecting friend!

Some recommendations we would make for this pattern are:

-use double fold bias tape for the trim (easy and fast)
-lengthen the pattern at least 6 inches, not 3 as offered on the pattern, as it is very short for some reason.
-cut two right-sides of the pattern and skip the button in the back, using 4 pieces of grosgrain ribbon for the ties
-Use hammered in snaps, instead of Velcro on the sleeves (no sewing).
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We really should send some pictures, but she's wearing all of the finished ones! We've found if you use 2 right sides, you only need about 2 1/2 yards or 2 3/4 yards for each gown. We also skipped the pocket and cardiac monitor slash in the front, because we have yet to see a nurse thread them through the front of the gown and use it.

For bedridden family members, expecting friends, or even surgery or cancer treatment (for which this pattern was designed), it is a treat to give someone something special and practical to wear while they are sick. -Julie May

I could see these fabulous gowns adorned with a flower pin like on this apron! The flower pins would also make cute gifts for the female nurses. I also thought a pocket on the inside front would be perfect for holding any monitors or drainage bags.  I think Julie and her sister went the extra mile to provide their mom extra comfort. Such a caring and thoughtful idea.  I am sure their mom is so proud to have such kind and loving daughters!

How to make homemade stickers

posted by cindylouh on August 26th, 2009 | children's activities, craft recipes, kids, kids crafts |

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Yes, you can make homemade lick and stick stickers. If you want to make some too you will need gelatin, light corn syrup and flavoring extract. We used LorAnn's flavoring (in apple) but you can also use the extract from the spice isle at the grocery store. You might try lemon.

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Homemade Sticker Gum

1 envelope (1/4 oz)  unflavored gelatin

4 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1/2 tsp flavoring extract

Add gelatin to the boiling water and stir until dissolved. Stir in corn syrup and flavoring.

sticker2Paint sticker gum on backs of pictures cut from magazines or pieces of wrapping paper.

sticker3After the backs of papers are coated allow to dry completely.

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Once paper is dry use punches to cut out fun shapes from the wrapping paper. Once you have all of the shapes cut out ---- lick lick away!

sticker5Then stick!

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These stickers really work and the possibilities are endless. They could decorate note cards, lunch sacks, favor bags or make adorable stickers for gift wrapping with matching gift tags. Around here one special four year old has requested an alphabet book. Finding all of the letters and items that begin with the letters in our magazines will keep us busy!

Note: If you have left over sticker gum it will harden into a gel. To re-use, heat until it becomes liquid again.

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