Tool Time Tuesday...Sheet Magnets

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. You know I love sharing thoughts, ideas and great finds on Sew Many Ways. Sharing is pretty much the reason why I blog.

Well, today I want to share something with you that someone shared with me! 

At the end of March, I received an email from Dinah...a teacher in Indiana. She found a fabulous product in the hardware store that she uses in her classroom and wanted to share it with me. Dinah doesn't have a blog and has given me permission to share her tip with you!!

You know I love magnets and here is the best deal out there...

Vent Covers. Magnetic Vent Covers that is.

Magnetic vent covers are used to close off heating or a/c vents when you don't want the flow of air through that vent any more.

Vents are usually made of metal, so the magnetic sheets work great to seal it off.

What works great for me is that the magnetic sheets are BIG...8 inches x 15 inches and there are 3 of them in a package.

The BEST part is the package is about $4.50!!! You can find it in the heating section where they sell the air filters and vents.

See...3 big sheets just waiting for you to craft away.

The possibilities are endless with these sheets...sewing to hold you pins and needles, magnets for the refrigerator (Dinah used puzzles pieces glued to the magnetic sheets) and these would also work great to make magnetic games for kids in the car. They'll never lose the game pieces. Car bingo, matching games, checkers, tic tac toe etc. The best part is you can design and create the games yourself with your children.

Maybe you can add some of your ideas in the comments section too!!

Thank you so much, Dinah, for taking the time to email me with this wonderful idea...very much appreciated. Something from the hardware store turned crafty...Tool Time at it's best!!

Have a great Tuesday,
~Karen~

Heavenly Hash or Ambrosia Recipe...

I want to wish all of you a safe and relaxing Memorial Day. Here in the states, Memorial Day honors all those who have made the greatest sacrifice for their country and all those still serving to keep our country free. Thank you to the men and woman who are serving at home and abroad and to their families who sacrifice so much.

Memorial Day is a day for family, friends and food, so I wanted to share a great picnic recipe we always have at any function. We call it Heavenly Hash, but some call it Ambrosia. No matter what the name is...it is delicious.

Heavenly Hash Recipe

One 15 ounce can Mandarin Oranges...drained
One 20 ounce can Pineapple chunks...drained
One 30 ounce can Fruit Cocktail...drained
One 10-14 ounce bag Sweetened Coconut
One 10 ounce bag Mini Marshmallows
One 16 ounce container Sour Cream

The measurements of the fruits don't have to be exact...just whatever can size you have on hand or which fruit you like more of!

In a large bowl, mix all drained fruit with coconut, mini marshmallows and sour cream. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Make a few hours before or the day before you need it to incorporate the flavors.

Enjoy!!

Have a great day,
~Karen~

Sew Darn Craft...Week 67

Sunday has arrived again and that starts another glorious week of Sew Darn Crafty. We all love to craft, cook, sew or spend time with our families. We also love to blog about it and share what we do with people. Sharing really is the backbone to blogging.

Sew Darn Crafty Linking party is another place to share what you do during the week on your blog. Link up all week long...whatever you'd like, as much as you'd like...because we LOVE to see what you've been up to!!

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If you're NEW to Sew Darn Crafty, then grab a cup of something tasty, sit back and join in on the fun (starts Sunday and lasts all week long here at Sew Many Ways).

If you want to add the button to your blog's side bar or your list of parties that you're in each week...Click HERE for a tutorial for adding a button

WHAT IS A LINKING PARTY...

I subscribe to a linking service, which provides the ability to link thumbnail pictures on my blog. The picture is a link that other bloggers provide to share their projects.

Two things can happen at a linking party...looking and/or linking

• you can be greatly inspired by wonderful projects, ideas or vacation pictures (looking) and/or
• you can share what you've been up to (linking)

If you want to be inspired by all the great ideas...just click on a picture and it will take you to that post from a wonderful blogger who was willing to share her thoughts and ideas.

HOW AND WHAT TO LINK TO THE PARTY...

Sew Darn Crafty is all about YOU!! Show off your projects, share a tutorial, show us your vacation pictures, share a family favorite recipe...share anything. Not only does linking inspire us all, it also brings lots of new people to your blog for a visit. Click here for past parties and lots of inspiration

Easy steps to join in on the fun...

• link up to the specific project post, not your whole blog. Makes it easier to link right to that post and not  search through all your entire blog. To find the http address to a specific post, just click on the Title of your post. Copy and paste the address that's at the top of your computer into the linky steps.
• link as many projects as you'd like...old or new
• anything goes...cooking, sewing, knitting, crafts, organizing, remodeling projects, vacations, parties etc...
• visit other links to share some blogging love! You know we all love comments!
• linking is open til Saturday night, so plenty of time to join in
• just click the blue "click here to enter" button below and follow the easy steps

Have fun linking up! Don't forget to come back and take a look at all the great projects during the week

~Karen~

Sew, Sew, Saturday...Fixing Waistband Gap

Welcome to another Sew, Sew Saturday. Each Saturday I've tried to make an "appointment" with myself to get a little sewing in, especially if I couldn't squeeze any in during a busy work week.

You know I always extend an invitation for you to join me every week, so you can have a Sew Sew Saturday too.

Today, I thought I would share with you some of the "mending" I did last weekend. You know that pile of clothes that needs to be hemmed, button sewn on, taken in or let out. Well, I worked on a couple things last Sew Sew Saturday.

Here's a quick fix I wanted to share for that dreaded gap in women's jeans. You know the gap...that space that doesn't lay flat against your waist or hip. It kind of just flaps away from your body. My waistbands have to be big enough to fit over my hips, but once the pants are up, zipped and button there is that little "gap"

The first picture is the finished waistband...

See the 2 seams where I took a little tuck?

Close-up of the outside seam.

Close-up of inside seam.

Here's how you do it...

Fold over waistband, right sides together.

I used chalk to show you the direction of the seam. About a 1/4 inch wide at the top and then narrows down at an angle to the bottom. I think it's better to take a few "little" tucks verses one big one. I also took 2 small ones in the front too.

Don't you love my camera skills...looks like I focused in on the chalk instead of the jeans...what the heck! It's after midnight and I have these jeans on right now, so I don't have the stamina to take them off and take another picture... Lol !!! Chalk looks nice and clear though!

All sewn up.

I put 2 pins in the seam so you can see them. The seams disappear under a belt or shirt.

Easy, quick fix for all pants not just jeans. This works even if you don't have the gap and just want to take in the waistband. .

Have a great Sew Sew Saturday,
~Karen~

Find a Friend Friday...

Hi everyone! Thanks again for stopping by Find a Friend Friday. According to my stats each week, more and more wonderful friends are stopping by Sew Many Ways, so what a great place to link up your blog.

Not only will you find new and exciting blogs...friends will find your blog too!! There are millions of blogs out there, so let's start finding them.

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If you are new to Find a Friend Friday (FaFF), you are in for a treat! It's a simple linking party to add a link to your blog so friends, old and new, can stop by and visit.

It's great to share your blog with everyone, but it's also fun just to look around. Even if you don't have a blog, you can find a wealth of great people willing to share their talents. and another great blog to follow.

Tell your blogging friends about the linking party too and more will join in with us!

This is an easy one to participate in...you are just linking to your own blog. No projects to sew, no furniture to paint, no cookies to bake or pictures to take. You are just sharing your blog and then friends will stop by for a looksy.

• click on the blue "click here to enter" link below
• copy and paste or just type in your blog address...example: http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com
• enter title of link...your blog name or phrase to grab attention
• add a photo of you, your profile picture or your blog button or whatever you think will grab some one's attention...(I'm thinking a picture of a big piece of chocolate cake, but that just me LOL)

That's it...super easy. Just think of the possibilities of finding some wonderful blogs.

Thanks for participating,

~Karen~

Thoughts on Thursday...

Let's take another stroll down memory lane... 

My daughter Kelsie and I were watching a repeat episode of Mad Men and someone on the show sang "Hello My Baby..." Come on, sing it out loud in that voice. Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal...

I told Kelsie that song was on a cartoon I watched when I was little. It was about a singing and dancing frog who only sang for one person. The man attempted to make money on the talented frog, but he only sang for him.

Do you remember that cartoon? If not, Click HERE for the link to the you tube video for a blast from the past.

What was your favorite cartoon when you were little?

Happy Thoughts,
~Karen~

No Reply...We All Might Be One

Hello all my wonderful friends. I know what you're thinking...please, not another "No Reply" post. Sorry, but it is. You know it's one of my blogging missions to free the world of "No Replies" Lol !!

Some of you who are new to blogging may be asking what is "No Reply". Well, here it is in a nut shell.

• you leave a comment on someone's blog
• that blogger has her comments sent to her email inbox
• she reads your comment in her email
• she clicks the reply button to reply back to you, but...
• in the email address section it says the dreaded...No Reply-comment instead of your email address
• no blogging connection made

Over the years, I have had several posts showing how to change your "No Reply" status, but what does Blogger do...change their interface and dashboard.

Recently, I have had so many bloggers email me saying they have NEVER been a "No Reply" before, but since switching to the new dashboard, they are now.

It doesn't seem to be everyone, but I wanted to send out a little friendly reminder to check your profile settings.

Here is a picture tutorial on how to check, because it's in a different place on the new dashboard. Click picture to enlarge.

Go to your dashboard. In the upper right hand corner is your blog name and your profile picture or blog icon. CLICK the DOWN ARROW.

A pop up window will appear. Click BLOGGER PROFILE.

A new pop up window will appear. In the upper right corner, click EDIT PROFILE.

Then the old Privacy section will show up.

You MUST have a check mark in the box that says "Show my email address". You MUST click SAVE at the bottom when you're done.

That's it...easy!

PART 2 of this post...

I wanted to mention the new Google Plus. It's Google social networking version of Facebook. However, people are leaving comments with this platform and most seem to be "No Reply"

I am not on Google +, so I have no idea how to change that setting. If you are using Google + to leave comments, you may want to look into your profile setting for your email address.

 and Part 3...

The comment section on blogger now has a Reply button under each comment that's been left. Here's how it works.

• someone leaves a comment
• another reader wants to comment to that "specific" comment and clicks the reply button
• she leaves her comment and it is posted just under the first, indented just a little.

here's an example (below) of one if you haven't seen it before.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew that the "reply" doesn't go to the person leaving the original comment. It's just posted there for future readers to see.

I've also seen this when the blog owner replies to the comment in that section. It's great when you leave the comment and it's there for all future readers to view, but I don't think it goes directly to the commentor herself.

The only way the commentor can see the replies is if she "subscribes" to that post. See that circled item in the picture below? If you click that, you are now subscribed to all the comments on THAT particular post and that post only.

Meaning, every comment that is left on that post will be sent to your email. Great if you want to read what everyone is chatting about on that particular topic.

When you click the SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL button...

It will say..."follow-up comments will be sent to (then your blogger email address shows up)

If you don't want to follow that specific post any more, just go back and click UNSUBSCRIBE.

Hope this helps all bloggers new and old.

My next mission is to figure out the fix between Blogger and all the Typepad and Wordpress bloggers, because they always show up as No Reply.

The solution would be for Blogger to create a comment form like Typepad where you just put your email address and blog URL in to leave a comment. That way EVERYONE can leave a comment whether you have a blog or not and it would eliminate "no replies". The option to have an email address show up would be for the person to decide.

Blogger can you hear us? Can you please fix this comment issue?

Have a great day,
~Karen~