PinkPetunia's House

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Excuse me while I brag for a moment...This bread was awesome and it looked really pretty too.

The Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book was not lying. With only 5 minutes, I can have homemade bread in the oven. YUM!

 

You all should try it. I have a big tub of fresh dough in the refrigerator so I can reach in and grab a hunk, shape it and and bake it. Before you know it, I have a house that smells divine and fresh, hot bread to slather with butter. MMMM. I think I need to have some now.

A Missive to my Local Crafty Library Patron

Dear Crafty Library Patron,

I love that you and I love all the same crafty books and clearly share the same tastes in crafts however, imagine my surprise after waiting for weeks on the Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials 'want list' I finally open the book and pick out the Reversible Wrap Skirt project I was prepared to start immediately only to find ALL the patterns are missing. Did I leave them in my library bag? Nope. Are they at the library? Nope, Ms. Librarian said she does not have them and she does not see any comments in the computer either. Hmm. I am quite certain I have been in this situation before. Because of this, I feel the need to share my concern with you.

It seems each time I get a book that contains patterns, you have inadvertently forgotten to replace them in the book before returning it to the library. Now, I have done that on one occasion but the act of tracking the book down to replace said patterns was a total and complete nightmare. Since I am pretty sure you will not be doing that any time soon, I am back on the wait list for another copy of the book. I am only hoping my luck will be a little better this go-round and you have not decided to borrow the only other copy the county has of Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials.

 

Please be more considerate of my delicate crafty feelings and limited free time the next time you check out a crafty book that I would like to borrow too.

Sincerely,
Christine

New Patterns, Magazines and My Love Hate Relationship with Joann

This past weekend I got a Joann flyer in the mail and saw that Simplicity sewing patterns were on sale. Since I am getting ready to start a new job I thought it would be nice to make some skirts and tops to wear to work. I went over to the Simplicity pattern site and scouted out what clothing patterns I wanted and headed on over to Joann Fabric.

I was pretty surprised when I discovered each sewing pattern I wanted was in stock. Yippy for me since this almost never happens. Here is a sample of the patterns I picked up.

 

 

 

Joann Fabric also had the spring editions of the Stitch and SewStylish magazines I wanted.

The Stitch magazine has a couple of really cute kids patterns in it plus a whole lot more.

(Oliver + S  Ruffled Halter Top Pattern is a free download.)

 
The reason I got the SewStylish magazine is because they have a tutorial in it for copying your favorite tshirt. This is so timely since I just dripped curry sauce on my FAVORITE white tshirt. Ruined unless I want to dye it a yellowish-green color. Perhaps not.

Now on to my love/hate relationship with Joann Fabric. Please explain to me why each time I actually think of getting book, or magazine in this case, and have a coupon greater than 40% off that I plan to use, they have a measly 10% off sale on them? Why can't they charge me regular price and allow me to use my 50% coupon? That would have saved me $7.50 off the Stitch magazine! I know, I could have waited until the following week and used a 40% off coupon but I really, really, REALLY wanted to get it today. Who knows, I might get a few hours of free time this weekend from my fairy God mother. It could happen.
 

A little Retro Giveaway with fabric, buttons, a pattern and a book

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Thought I would do a little giveaway to celebrate the first week of June.

What I am I giving away? Two yards of Apples and Pears fabric from Alexander Henry, one new McCall's Fashion Accessories Retro Aprons pattern (M5643), two vintage buttons and one Retro Diner: Comfort Food from the America Roadside cookbook.

 

To enter, do one or more of the following and then come back to the blog, leave a comment, a link (if appropriate) and a valid email address for each entry.

• Add PinkPetunias to your blog roll
• Post about PinkPetunias on your blog
• Post about PinkPetunias on FaceBook
• Subscribe to PinkPetunias blog feed (upper left-hand corner)

This giveaway will stay open for one week. I will choose a winner next Friday.

Good luck and be sure to check back often as I will be decluttering my craft room in the coming months and will be hosting a giveaway each month.

Suddenly Frugal? How about just plain cheap!

6/11/10 Update: I got a comment from author Leah Ingram on this post and in all fairness, once she explained the reason for the dehumidifier was that she had a damp basement (I can relate there) and needed it anyway, her point of view made a little more sense. I still stand by my toilet comment but again, in all fairness, she did say she used the water for plants as well. That makes me feel better. Thanks to Leah for stopping by my little blog, offering her side of the story and having a good sense of humor about it.

So last night I was reading another one of my 'frugal' books and I had to laugh out loud. The book Suddenly Frugal, How to live a happier and healthier life by Leah Ingram had a couple of things that I found just plain stupid. In chapter 3, Appliances that Don't Suck...Energy, That Is, she writes about using a dehumidifier to get free water. First, I am on a well so my water is already free to me but I went on to read. She writes:

Speaking of water, I wanted to share with you how my dehumidifier, which I run in the summer to help me keep my house cool, has become a free source of water for me. Here are some of the ways I use that free water to save money on my water bill overall.

• Pour it into the washing machine as I'm filling a load.
• Use it to flush the toilets. The force of the water being dumped "flushes" the toilets without my having to touch the handle.
• Fill the kitchen sink with the water to let the dirty dishes soak.
• Dump it in the swimming pool. 

I'm sorry but I find this very odd. If I recall correctly, dehumidifiers are pretty expensive to run for a long period of time and this sounds like she is running it all day. The part about flushing toilets is just gross. If you are that cheap, uh, I meant frugal, maybe you should just go outside in the yard like your dog. 

I think the next party we have, I am going to ask guests to use buckets of collected rain water to flush after using the bathroom. We can call it a social experiment.