The Nester Club...Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

My nest was full for a little bit this weekend. If you want to join the The Nester Club, click here to read the first post. You can also click here to read all the posts for The Nester Club...so many great comments too. You might find some one in your same "nester" situation!

It is a long holiday weekend here in the states, so both our daughters, Courtney and Kelsie, came home for a few days. Love them to pieces and love it when they're here. They left last night, so the nest is empty again, but we did a lot in a few short days. We had a big dinner at home, stayed up late watching tv, sewed, colored hair, went out to dinner etc...

One project we did was make the girls new scarves...I found fabulous silky fabric at Walmart for $1.50 a yard. It's great!!

Here's the TIP...use your tile floor for

• squaring up fabric
• measuring

Here's the fabric laid out on the tile floor (Annie the dog helped). See the "cut" edge from the store? Nice and straight huh? Lol !!

Line up your selvage edge (the finished edge of the fabric) on the horizontal grout line of the tile...

Here is Kelsie, my trusty assistant, pointing to the vertical line.

Use the vertical grout line to cut a straight line.

Here it is all cut away and straight!!

Now to measure.

I roughly needed 2 yards per scarf. Each tile on my floor is a little less than 12 inches...plus the grout. Just count over 6 tiles for 6 feet or 2 yards!!

See Kelsie cutting way down there to the right using the grout line again?

Just sew a hem on the 2 cut ends and you're done...INSTANT scarf! I left the selvage edge alone, because it's already finished.

Here is Courtney modeling the scarf. Kelsie wasn't "picture" ready yet!!

Courtney said...please don't take a picture of my face...

Sorry, couldn't resist...too pretty!

Here is some extra Nesting Club FYI...

Courtney had a gift certificate to the Red Door Salon. She wanted to color her hair red! Her hair is brown, but auburn hair is in our family, so it wasn't a scary step.

This was the best picture showing the red...isn't it pretty? The shadows are blocking the full red though.

$90.00!!! It was $75.00 to color it and they automatically add in the tip! Thank God for gift certificates or she would have NEVER done it.

Here is Kelsie's hair we colored this weekend. She wanted to color over old blond highlights she had done at a salon a long time ago. She wanted her natural dark hair back...

Here's the before with older high lights..

Here's the "after". Looks good huh?...$7.00 from a box!! Beautiful! Next time we need a front picture too.

Here's the box...only took 10 minutes!

Medium Brown #21...

What happened in your Nest this weekend?

Have a great day,
~Karen~

The Nester's Club...Make A Wish List

If you haven't joined The Nester's Club yet...come on in and let's hear from you. To read the other posts for The Nester's click HERE. Lots of comments too on each post

To add The Nester's button to your blog, the code is on the right side bar. Click HERE for a tutorial on how to add any button to your blog

No matter what kind of nest you live in...

• almost empty (older kids at home, but don't need so much of your time)
• semi empty (kids sharing homes between parents or your elderly parents live with you and need just a little bit of your time)
• or a nice quiet empty

...there are ways to make your "different life" a little easier when it's so empty.

One thing you can do is make a wish list of things you'd like to do, now that you may have a little more free time. It can be something as easy as learn to sew or knit...or maybe take a class or start an herb garden

My wish list...

• work on my hand sewn hexagons more
• paint a set of chairs stored in the basement (I don't know if this is a "wish" or a "to do" list...I do "wish" I had painted chairs though
• organize old photos

How about you? If you're a Nester, what might be on your wish list now that you have a little more time.

Take care,
~Karen~

The Nester Club...Raisin Bran Muffin Recipe

Hi to all who joined the Nester's Club last week. What's a Nester's Club you ask? You can read the whole post by clicking HERE or in short, it's a club for any one and everyone who has a change in their home...kids growing older and moving out, kids sharing house between mom and dad, kids going off to college, older parents moving in, finding yourself in a quiet home etc...

Nesters...kids or family about to make their way at some point
Semi Nesters...kids share homes or you may be an empty nest but, your elderly parents live with you
Empty Nester...a quiet home all to your own or with your significant other

What ever the case, the Nester's Club shares thoughts, ideas, tips and tricks. Read through the comments of the Nester posts too, you may find someone in your same circumstance and make a connection.

Want to join? All are welcome. Grab the button on the right side bar. If you don't know how to grab a button...click here for a tutorial.

Well, I thought I would share a recipe that is perfect for any Nester...

Refrigerator Raisin Bran Muffins. It's a big batch of muffin mix that stays in your refrigerator for 6 weeks. Just scoop out the amount you need and make muffins for 1 or muffins for 40!! There are so many different versions of this, but this was my mom's.

The recipe calls for 15 ounce box, but they seem to be only 20 ounces or larger.

Here's a quick tip...

According to the box, 1 cup is about 2 ounces. So if you need 15 ounces that would be about 7 1/2 cups give or take.

Refrigerator Raisin Bran Muffins

4 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 quart buttermilk
5 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
15 ounce box Raisin Bran Cereal...I've seen about 6-7 cups in other recipes

Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Store for at least 6 hours before making the first batch of muffins. Batter keeps for 6 weeks in the refrigerator

Grease muffin tin or use paper liners. Pre heat oven to 375*. Bake muffins 15-20 minutes.

source

Hope you enjoy this recipe. If you have any other great Nester type recipes, let us know in the comments or maybe link to one you've posted on your blog.

Happy Nesting,

Karen

Join The Nester Club...Empty or Not So Much

I had so many responses and emails to a post I did last week about our 2 daughters going back to college. Click HERE if you'd like to read that post.

An "empty nest" doesn't necessarily mean that your kids have gone off to college. They may have moved out permanently and started a life of their own or you may be the only person at home for unforeseen circumstances, etc. An empty nest is still an empty nest.

For my husband and myself, with the girls being gone for 9 months of the year, there is a flood of mixed emotions being "Empty Nesters"...

• we miss them like crazy...they still like to hang out with us, so it's a big change for us
• are they safe and sound
• they have a car there, so that's an issue to worry about too
• cooking for a few instead of a flock of friends
• I won't miss the mess
• makeup all over the bathroom sink
• clothes all over the floor...I gave up on that
• running the dishwasher 2 times a day
• did I say we missed them like crazy

There's a hitch in my "empty nest". Our side of the house is "empty", but my 87 year old dad lives in an in-law apartment just down the hall. I think we're called "semi empty nesters" which brings another whole set of issues...

• hubby and I now have the freedom to go anywhere, but not quite...we have to find someone to stay with dad.
• worrying about whether he'll burn our house down when he leaves the stove on cooking
• or if the house will float down the street from another flood he caused (5 and counting)

Here's where the "Nester Club" starts. Are you a...

NESTER~~~kids leaving in a few years and you're getting emotionally ready
EMPTY NESTER~~~children are gone and your house is truly empty
SEMI NESTER~~~children are gone, but a parent or parents live with you or your grown children are back with you again

HOW TO JOIN THE CLUB...

• leave a comment on this post
• grab the button code on the right side bar and link back here, so we have more "Nesters"
• make sure your email is not a "No Reply". Click HERE to find out if you are
• if you don't have a blog, leave your email address in the comment so others can connect with you

Each week or so I will write a post on a "Nester" topic and we can all talk about it through the comments. I think all us "old birds" need a place to chirp...don't you!

Hope you can join,
~Karen~