For awhile now I have been interested in more natural cleaning products.  It’s the whole move towards simplicity and more natural ingredients that our family has been moving towards slowly but surely.

The week after Easter this year I finally made my own laundry soap.  It was SO EASY!!!  I can’t believe I waited so long to try it.  Now we are at the end of May and I still have about 1/3 left.  It should easily last until the end of June.  So for 15 minutes of my time and about $7.50 I have had laundry soap for 3 months.  I am definitely converted!

Here is the laundry soap recipe that I used.  Most seem to be pretty similar so I finally just picked one and went with it.

I ran out of chemical cleaner so yesterday I picked out some all purpose cleaners to try. I really don’t like the smell of vinegar so I found this citrus cleaner to try.  I used three oranges, but there is still room in the jar so four would have been perfect.

The jar looks so pretty sitting on my counter!  But it takes 2-3 weeks to meld, stew, ferment?  I don’t really know what it’s doing except that it will be a lovely smelling (hopefully) all purpose cleaner eventually.

That didn’t help me for today when I needed some so I tried this all purpose cleaner.  You probably have everything you need on hand.  It worked wonderfully on my kitchen counters and it didn’t smell very vinegary at all, yay!

There are a boatload of recipes out there, everything from glass cleaner to toilet bowl cleaner.

Any suggestions for what I should try next?

The post Homemade Cleaning Supplies appeared first on Lovely Messes.

I love handmade greeting cards, totally love them!!  Fun mail is one of the best things in the world so I also love to randomly send out handmade cards just because.  This week I needed a thank you card for a very dear friend and so I thought I would stitch one up with the plum pop color palette.

I adore how the threads separated in the lazy daisy stitch to make it look doodley (did I just make that word up)?

Did you make anything inspired by one of the color challenges?  I would love to see it in my Flickr group!

The post Handmade Greeting Cards: aka Fun Mail appeared first on Lovely Messes.

Have you ever fallen in love with a piece of fabric but don’t know what to do with it? Sometimes fabrics don’t need anything but to be displayed!  They are so beautiful on their own that all they need is the embroidery hoop frame.

Fabric only hoops are now in the shop!

If you still need a teacher gift I have an apple fabric hoop and another that is perfect for the coffee lovers!

I have limited amounts of fabric that I use for these hoops so grab yours before they are gone!

Find my shop here!

The post Fabric Lovliness appeared first on Lovely Messes.

This color palette is so bright and summery!  It brings to mind the beach with those sandy yellows and fruit smoothies with those delicious looking pinks.  Or maybe strawberry lemonade?

I’m excited to stitch something up with this color palette!

Did you make something for plum pop?  I made a greeting card this week and I can’t wait to share it with you.  I would love to see your projects!  Feel free to jump in at any time with any of the palettes.

What can you create with these colors?  Do you have watercolors, scrapbook paper, buttons, yarn, or embroidery thread like me?  Pick your favorite medium and create a work of art this week using these colors.  Then share it with us in my flickr group.

What do these colors bring to mind for you?

The post Pretty Palette: Fruity Ice appeared first on Lovely Messes.

This project is so fun and a great way to let kiddos try an easy bit of sewing.  My son wanted to make a pirate sewing kit so that’s what we did and it turned out super cute!

He learned some very handy things by making this sewing kit: how to thread a needle, how to stop and start his stitching, running stitch, and how to sew on buttons.

Here is the inside.  It has a pocket for his scissors, a pocket with a button closure to hold extra thread, and a small piece of felt to hold pins and needles.

Supplies:

• felt – 4-5 colors
• needle
• thread
• 2 buttons
• scissors

3. Attach pockets and needle holder.  We pinned our pieces in place and then stitched them onto the blue background piece with running stitch.  Make sure you only stitch around three sides for your scissor pocket!

4. Attach your design.  This is when you can design the front of your kit.  My guy wanted a skull and crossbones so I just freehanded with a marker onto a piece of white felt and we cut it out.  I cut out circles for the eyes and he added details for the nose and mouth with stitches after all the pieces were attached.

5. Put it all together.  Now you get to sew on the blue piece with all of the pockets to the cover (the black piece for us).  Pin it together and then sew a running stitch all the way around the edges.  It’s ok if you have to stitch along a pocket again, our green pocket has extra stitches over it.

6. Sew your button tab and attach your button.  Sew about 1/2 of your tab to the back of your cover first.  Close your kit and see where the tab lines up.  This is where you want to sew your button on.  Once your button is on, fold your tab over and pinch so you can snip a hole.

He did such a fantastic job for his first try, I’m so proud of him!  He’s thinking about making a bag or pillow next.

Now I need to go make one for myself because I’m constantly using my couch as a pincushion!

Would you try this with your kids?  What design would you put on the front of yours?

The post Felt Sewing Kit for Kids appeared first on Lovely Messes.

I designed this little flower motif to stitch this week, I hope you like it.  The color palette used was tropical elegance and the stitches I included are satin stitch, chain stitch, backstitch, lazy daisy, and french knots.

I was inspired by a flower on a shirt that baby girl was wearing this week!

Did you design anything for the color challenge?  You are welcome to share it in our Flickr group or leave a comment below.  I would love to see it!

The post Tropical Elegance appeared first on Lovely Messes.

You know how embroidery floss comes in 6 strands and you pull them apart to work with them?  If you’ve never embroidered you have no idea what I’m talking about, if you have embroidered you do and I want to tell you the best trick I have learned to save time.

It took years for me to start doing this for some reason.  Ready to hear it?  Then listen up.

Separate your embroidery threads and then put them back together.

The very next time you start stitching, do it.

I thought it took too much time to separate and put back together.  If I needed two strands I pulled two strands out at the same time instead of pulling out one thread at a time and then putting them back together.  Guess what?  I wasted more time because I kept getting knots in my thread.  Most of the time I could pick it out, but sometimes you just can’t and have to start fresh.

Once I started separating my strands the knots almost completely disappeared.  I can’t believe it!  All these years I thought I was saving time.  Definitely not!

Is this new to you or have you always separated your threads first?

The post Simple Embroidery Tip appeared first on Lovely Messes.

When I asked my 7 year old what these colors made him think of he said mountain wildflowers and I would have to agree.  As soon as he said it I pictured a beautiful wildflower meadow with pointed, snow capped mountains in the distance.

I’m in the middle of stitching my tropical elegance piece.  Will I have it ready to share by Wednesday?  Did you make something?  I would love to see it!  Feel free to jump in at any time with any of the palettes.

What can you create with these colors?  Do you have beads, pastels, icing, colored pencils, or embroidery thread like me?  Pick your favorite medium and create a work of art this week using these colors.  Then share it with us in my flickr group.

What do these colors bring to mind for you?

The post Pretty Palette: Plum Pop appeared first on Lovely Messes.

If you’re down to the wire with your Mothers Day prep, here’s a printable card to make your life easier.  A little vintage flair for you.  Just print, fold, and give!

Mothers Day Printable

Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or your favorite blog reader to make sure you don’t miss any other printables or fun tutorials!

The post Mothers Day Printable Card appeared first on Lovely Messes.

Another color palette is up now too, tropical elegance.  Pick a palette and get creative!

If you made something with the any of my color palettes I would love to see it!  You are welcome to post it to my new flickr group, share it on my facebook page, or leave a comment here with a link to your blog!

Are you ready for summer yet?

The post Sunshiny Day appeared first on Lovely Messes.