“Rubber ducky, you’re the one. You make sewing appliques lots of fun! Rubber ducky I’m awfully fond of you. Bo-bo-bo-di-o.” Yes, I was a child of the 80s, and yes, I grew up learning my letters and numbers with Big Bird and The Count on Sesame Street. So, inevitably, when one works on one’s first applique project involving a cute rubber ducky shape, one inevitably hums Ernie’s bath song. It’s just what one does. As promised yesterday, {read more…}
With the high seas still on the brain after my cruise to the Bahamas last weekend, I think this day calls for some pirate humor. Won’t you indulge me in my love of piratical puns? Why are pirates so loud? They just arrrrrgh! Or how about this one: Why does it take pirates so long to learn the alphabet? Because they spend years at C! And here’s a new one: What did the pirate ask {read more…}
Three of my major fears in life include shark attack, shipwreck, and being out on open water, not knowing what lurks beneath the surface. But if there’s anything I’ve learned in my 30 years on this planet, it’s that a life ruled by fear is no life at all. And you can quote me on that. So, last weekend, I confronted my fears head on and boarded a cruise ship: Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the {read more…}
None of us wake up and decide, “I’m going to be a disorganized slob today!” Most of us start off with the best of intentions; but as the second law of thermodynamics tells us: There is a universal tendency for all systems to go from order to disorder. My fabric stash was no exception to that rule. What began as a neat, nice stack quickly turned into the leaning tower of Pisa…three leaning towers, in fact. {read more…}
“Yo yo yo, this is your girl L-Money, comin’ at you live on the microphone with a bliggitty blogging tip to help give your John Hancocks some suga’ and spice. Bricka, bricka, what?! It’s gonna be tight, y’all. You feel me?” Before you all run for the hills, let me explain that intro. I taught 9th grade English for three years when we lived in Ohio, and I would sometimes start my classes in a {read more…}
I am one of those people for whom it is one of life’s big thrills to label things. Yes, I’m a dork type A, an oldest sibling, a perfectionist…all of those personality traits that point straight to label-loving. Yes, I totally own a label maker…you know, one of these: Although I’m not into labeling “tax forms” as this photo would suggest, when I taught English, I did label nearly every single thing in my classroom. Scissors {read more…}
Wow, folks. We topped 557 entries with this Silhouette Portrait Giveaway, which I consider a raging success. It delights me to know that so many people got to join in on the giveaway goodness. My favorite part, though, had to be reading your comments and learning what you would choose to have playing in the background of your happy dance if you won a Silhouette. I’ve had my head bopping to your song suggestions all {read more…}
“It is a truth universally acknowledged…” that Lauren is atrocious at remembering birthdays. And when it comes to anniversaries? Fuggetaboutit. They don’t even stand a chance. Even my besties will attest that they’ve received many a belated birthday wish from me…and not just a day late, but in some shameful cases, months late! It’s embarrassing, really. And something just had to be done. I present to you, The Thinking Closet’s edition of a Birthday & Anniversary Calendar: Below, you’ll {read more…}
It’s not a metaphor. Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. It’s a true story. You (yes, you!) have a brand new opportunity to win a Silhouette Portrait giveaway here at The Thinking Closet! Holla’! And as my face in these cheesy photos suggests, I couldn’t be more thrilled about it. In fact, let the happy-dancing commence! Before we dive into the juicy giveaway, details, I wanted to share with y’all about the special promotion {read more…}
I hope everyone had a great weekend! We enjoyed a game night with our small group, a birthday party for my niece Clara, and a breezy bike ride around Orlando. The rains finally gave way to some gorgeous weather, which meant I got to rock some brightly-colored spring clothes and my newest d.i.y. creation, color-blocked bobby pins! My bobby pins went from plain-and-simple to bright-n-bold…just the way I like it…and all in the matter of {read more…}
Would you believe that I wrote my blog content for today in five-minutes? I almost don’t believe it myself. I am slower than a tortoise when it comes to writing. I write and re-write and re-write some more. Forget about it when it comes to a tutorial with photos of each step that need editing and watermarking. And to thicken the plot, I have this problem where I can’t do anything halfway…so I tend to {read more…}
Here’s reason #459 why my M.I.L. is awesome: Last summer, the night before we moved into our new home in Orlando, she gave us one of the most precious gifts a Floridian could ask for. A gift some deem more precious than gold…. That’s right: RAID! She is a Floridian herself and knows how very pesky critters down here in tropical climes can be (even in the cleanest of households). Roaches or “palmetto bugs” are resilient little big {read more…}
Happy, happy Friday, friends! As you may recall, one of the highlights of my sister’s surprise visit last month was a crafternoon shared together working on a banner to hang above her books in her bedroom. It only seemed fitting to use book pages as our primary material and to incorporate a quote by one of our favorite authors, C.S. Lewis: “We read to know we are not alone.” How true, Mr. Lewis. How true. {read more…}
I had the opportunity to try my hand at a project using Silhouette’s frosted vinyl, which allows you to create the impression of etched glass on mirrors and glass, but without the scary chemicals or the permanence; if you don’t like it, you can just remove it! That’s my kinda project. On the roll, the frosted vinyl almost looks silvery… …but you’ll see when you peel the vinyl from the backing that it’s transparent with {read more…}
First of all, a huge thanks to everyone who entered the Silhouette giveaway that ran here the past three days. I was blown away that we racked up 561 entries, and I delighted to meet so many wonderful new visitors to The Thinking Closet. Truth be told, I wasn’t planning to respond to the comments for the giveaway, but those of you who know me know that I can’t resist the opportunity to connect with others…so, I {read more…}
Okay, I have one of the most exciting announcements ever in the history of The Thinking Closet. {Screaming inside. Must. keep it. together.} It brings me great joy to share that not only is there a silhouette promotion going on with Silhouette right now, but one of my readers has the opportunity to win a Silhouette machine of her very own! Yes, it could be YOU! I can’t keep it together any longer. Gotta let loose! {read more…}
One small step for YouTube. One giant leap for The Thinking Closet. Today, I share my first ever video tutorial, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Sure, I’m a theatre person, and I’ve gotten up in front of some tough crowds in my day (remember, I teach high school students). Still, there’s something about putting yourself out there on video for the world wide web to see that is a little {read more…}
