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…}
“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…}
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…}
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…}
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…}
For those of you who may have missed my guest post over at Dream a Little Bigger last month, here it is in full…plus a new photo addition of my “Teenage Mutant Ninja Polka Dots.” Intrigued? I hope so! About Ruth This purse holds great significance for me because it originally belonged to a beloved family friend named Ruth. I can’t remember a holiday meal during my childhood when Ruth wasn’t at our table, warming {read more…}
Happy Monday, everyone. So, for fun, I thought I’d review some of the crafting trends that I’ve tried my hand at: Chalkboard - check! Mason Jars - check! Gold Accents - check! Burlap - check! Maps - check! Subway Art – che–wait a minute. {Gasp!} We haven’t tried subway art yet. What are we waiting for? Apparently, “we” were waiting for my friend Gianna’s birthday {cough–which was in February–cough, cough}. #betterlatethannever As I dreamed and schemed a gift for my {read more…}
You think love is a battlefield, Pat Benetar? How about motherhood?! Sleepless nights, nonstop nursing, diaper change after diaper change…. A new mom needs an arsenal of weapons to combat the new challenges she faces. So, I present to you, the New Mommy Survival Kit: First, let me introduce you to the recipient of this New Mommy Survival Kit: my dear friend, Laura! She’s a gifted writer, director, and actor…and as beautiful inside as she {read more…}
So, my parents are kinda crazy. Crazy as in “crazy awesome!” For my 30th birthday last month, they decided to send me not one gift, not two, but…(wait for it)…thirty. Yes, thirty individually wrapped gifts to be opened by yours truly over the course of 30 days. 30 gifts to celebrate 30 years of life. I told you they were crazy awesome. I got permission to share their card with you all. In it, my {read more…}
So often, summer passes us by like a hazy dream, but the summer of 2008, my sister and I were determined not to let it. We decided that if we could be intentional with our enjoyment both of summer and each other, we could savor our time more fully. Thus, Sister Summer Camp was born. Here’s how it worked: about once every few weeks, one of us would “lead” sister summer camp and plan out an afternoon {read more…}
With my friends having babies left and right, you didn’t think I would stop at the rhinestone and heat-transfer vinyl onesies, now, did you? No siree, Bob! Time to bust out the sewing machine for some super cute, super easy burp cloths: I have to credit my M.I.L. for inspiring me with this one (and she credits her friend, Robyn!). Last year, she made some burp cloths for expectant mothers, including my two sisters-in-law, so, {read more…}
Now that it’s officially spring, here’s the full tutorial for my fabric spring wreath. You may have seen this earlier in the month on Or So She Says. This is my eighth month living in Florida, and I’m starting to notice that we don’t experience much of a change of seasons here. Well, I guess you could say there are two seasons: stinkin’ hot and less stinkin’ hot. But I figured that wreaths could be {read more…}
Looking at this post’s title, you might be thinking, “Dream a Little Bigger…we know that name!” And you sure do if you saw the amazing Gold Shoe Makeover Allison, author of Dream a Little Bigger, shared here on Monday. Well, Allison and I are totally in cahoots with a guest post swap this week (mwah ha ha!), so I’m sharing my makeover (also involving gold) over at her corner of the blog-o-sphere right now. A Vintage Purse Makeover to {read more…}
Friends, it is an honor to introduce you to my blog pal, Allison. After leaving my millionth comment on her blog saying, “Oh my goodness. I LOVE this!” I decided to invite her over here to one of her amazing refashions here with y’all today. Allison, they’re all yours! Hi, everybody at The Thinking Closet! Let me introduce myself, I’m Allison and I’m a blogging craftaholic over at Dream a Little Bigger. I’m a huge {read more…}
