FREE TIDE POD SAMPLE AT VOCALPOINT

From time to time Vocalpoint, a free consumer site that has articles on health and beauty, food and  recipes, household and family issues offers free samples and they are currently offering samples of the new Tide Pods, which is a self-contained  all-in-one pod laundry detergent, stain remover and brightener that you just drop in your washer. 

I am going to use my sample to see if the bright attractive colors in a squishy ball will attract my teen son into doing his own laundry as I know he will want to pop it and watch the colors ooze out like pus on a Pokemon; however, catching the rinse cycle, loading in the dryer and putting away will be part of the deal.. 

You do need to sign up to get the sample, but it is free to sign up.

Click here for the site

Disclaimer:  I have no affiliation with Vocalpoint, Tide or the parent company and have received nothing for this post - just sharing the link for others in case they are interested.

COUPONS FOR BARBIE FASHIONISTA, WWE ELITE ACTION FIGURES, LAUGH & PLAY PUPPY AND UNO CARDS

If you have an upcoming summer birthday party for a child, Coupons.com  has the following coupons that would make great gifts (I used zip code 46808).:

This cute little Laugh & Learn Love to Play Puppy is for ages 3 to 36 months.  It has a learning mode with ABC's and 123's and a singing one with popular children's tunes like Patty Cake and Itsy Bitsy Spider.
 

 Barbie Fashionista is for ages 3+ up with several different doll options for the princess or if your little prince needs a girlfriend for his GI Joes.   Many times when my son was little Barbie was saved from the jaws of an angry dinosaur by a GI Joe.

 WWE Elite Collection Action Figure is for ages 8 and up is of current popular wrestlers of the WWE.  I have always been of the opinion that wrestling is like soap opera for men with feats of athletic prowess and explained it to my son as such.  Admire the discipline that it takes to achieve their physique and the choreography that makes what the do believable, but not condone violence.

 Uno is a card game similar to Crazy 8's for ages 7 and up (although you can modify your rules to go by colors and take out the skip cards for younger children).   I am biased on this one as it is my favorite card game.  The goal is to get rid of the cards in your hand by achieving different goals and lose points having left overs.  You have to use sorting, multitasking and math skills.  Here is a link to the official rules.

Hurry as coupons like this go quickly!

Revamped Purse

Front after

Front before

Back before

Back after

I found the purse on sale at a thrift store for $1 and almost didn't purchase it because of the scrape on the back and the color combination looking a little early 90's Etienne Aigner, but decided I would try revamping it.   I am happy with the way that it turned out as the black really makes the hardware pop and it almost looks like a girly gothic doctor's bag.

Items used:

• Black shoe polish
• Black acrylic paint
• Sponge paintbrush
• Masking tape
• Clear gloss spray paint 

I first used shoe polish to buff out the scuffs on the back and elsewhere. 

I taped off the hardware with masking tape to avoid getting paint on it.

In painting the purse, I painted all areas that were a brownish maroon with black acrylic paint.  As part of the area was textured, I mostly dabbed the sponge over the area until it was completely covered.

Once all parts were painted, I painted the entire purse with a clear gloss spray paint to seal in the acrylic paint and to made the purse shiny.

Free Online "Sewing Machine 911" Class at Craftsy

Craftsy is currently offering a free online sewing class "Sewing Machine 911" with Claudia Miller.

I signed up and have gotten up to the first lesson and even though I have been sewing since I was in grade school and somewhere above but not quite intermediate sewer, I did learn a thing or two that I did not know before.

There are 5 segments:

1) Introduction
2) Parts
3) Types of Machines
4) Troubleshooting
5) Machine Hygiene


In addition to the online video, you have the opportunity to type in questions and others that are taking the class can answer them (and vice versa) to have a more interactive experience.  You can also take "notes" while you are watching the video that you can refer to later.

If you take watch the entire course online it will take about 80 minutes.  I would recommend it for beginners or anyone wanting to brush up on knowing more about sewing machines.

To sign up for the class click here

Disclaimer:  I have no affiliation with Craftsy and have and will received nothing for this post or referring anyone to Craftsy.

Call Your Mother (Infograph)

Although Mother's Day was yesterday, I wanted to share this infograph by Frugal Dad in hopes that everyone can appreciate Mom long after Mother's Day.

Source: http://FrugalDad.com

McDonalds - $1 off Cherry Berry Chiller, McCafe, Frappe, Smoothie or Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

McDonald's has a coupon good through June 15th for $1 off  Cherry Berry Chiller, McCafe, Frappe, Real Fruit Smoothie or Frozen Strawberry Lemonade. (Limit:  1 coupon

Currently, small Cherry Berry Chillers are on sale at my McDonalds for $1.00.


Click here to print a coupon

Help Stamp Out Hunger - Saturday, May 12th

Today is the day your postal worker will be picking up non-perishable items for donation to your local food bank.  Earlier this week postal workers left a plastic grocery bag in your mailbox that you could fill (or you could use a different bag.

Items that are good to donated:

• Canned goods
• Boxed cereals
• Plastic Juice bottles
• Boxed pastas and dinners
• Peanut butter
• Kool-aid, Crystal Light, Tang and other drink mixes

 Items they cannot accept

•  Expired foods - be sure to check the expiration dates to be sure it hasn't expired 
• Glass bottles and jars

Once item are in the bag, all you need to do is to put is out by your mailbox and your postal worker will pick it up.


I am participating and put out a bag with boxed cereals, canned soups and vegetables.

I would encourage other to do so also as not only does it help people in need, but a good opportunity to take inventory and check expiration dates in your pantry.

Black Flower Tote Bag

This tote bag is an existing bag decorated with black flowers made out of scraps and black glitter fabric paint for accents.

•  Tote bag
• Scissors
• Paper and Sharpie Pen
• Scraps of fabric for flowers
• Scraps of sturdier fabric for base
• Glue gun and hot glue
• Needle and thread (optional)
• Glittery Fabric Paint
• Acrylic Paint to match bag  
• Sponge paintbrush

I used all black scraps from t-shirts and other sewing projects (I used black, but any colors could be used) for the flowers and felt, denim and other sturdy fabrics for the base.

The flowers are the same concept as Twisted and Stoned Flowers except instead of stone in the center, you tie a few knots in the end of the fabric.

For the base, use a soda can or other circular object (I used a soda can and a lid of of a milk jug) to draw a circle on a piece or paper.  Cut out and use a template. Place circle on felt, denim or other sturdy fabric draw around it with a pen or Sharpie then cut out.














Cut fabric for flowers into strips that are approximately 1 inch wide.  Instead of using a stone for the center,  tie a few knots in the end of fabric for the center and the glue down

Use glue gun to glue down fabric and start twisting.  Dab a bit of glue on top of the fabric and glue down the stone.  Twists fabric, dab glue, push down and repeat all the was around the flower, twisting as you go until you reach the out edge.  Repeat until you have enough to cover the bag (I used around 50).

If you start with a plain bag, you can skip this step.

As there was writing on the bag, I used black acrylic paint and sponge paintbrush to cover the writing.  It took about 3 coats. 

Arrange the flowers on the bag, then glue down with the hot glue gun.  I also hand stitched around them to secure them to the bag, but that might not be necessary.

To accentuate the flowers (and cover up any hot glue splotches) with glitter fabric paint if desired.









Happy crafting!

DIY Shaun of The Dead Sweatpants

One of my fav zombie movies is "Shaun Of The Dead" and I printed off a free online stencil at Stencilpunks.org on an old pair of sweatpants to create an Halloween worthy garment.


To make your own, grab an old garment and either fabric paint and roller sponge or other brush or a bleach pen (I used a bleach pen on these), freezer paper, an iron and an X-acto knife to create your own spooky slacks or terrorific tee.


The stencil can be found over at  http://www.stencilpunks.org/ under "Movies" the scroll down to find the Shaun of the Dead Stencils.



For further details on using creating a freezer pencil stencil, see the following.

http://www.stencilpunks.org/print_stencil.html

Thanks to Annie for hosting the May Monster blog hop.  In October I will be participating in Countdown to Halloween blog hop over at Unique Unusual or Interesting.

Be sure to check out the other participants.

Happy May Monster Madness:)

Show your monster spirit

1.	Annie Walls	15.	Horror Author Vanessa Morgan	29.	blackdragon
2.	Little Gothic Horrors	16.	Cayce @ Fighting Dreamer	30.	Jurassic Goth
3.	Pensive Pumpkin	17.	It Came From The Man Cave	31.	Monsterfink's Midnight Monster Spookshow
4.	Queens of the Wild Frontier	18.	It's On Random	32.	Residentgamer
5.	Lady Bethezda	19.	Not This Time, Nayland Smith	33.	nitebyrd
6.	Le Professeur Gothique	20.	Artwork By Living Dead Girl Nicole	34.	Everything You Want
7.	wicKED	21.	Metamorphosis	35.	Kweeny Todd
8.	Shingle Creek Manor	22.	Crafts and Creations with KMOM14	36.	Ghost Stories and Haunted Places
9.	Daph's Dark Little Corner	23.	skarlett	37.	Jess @ Wickedly Bookish
10.	Jenny Krueger	24.	Dani Harper, Paranormal Author	38.	GingerRead
11.	Holly's Horrorland	25.	Manvshorror	39.	Lynoire
12.	blackwood	26.	Horror Shock Lolipop	40.	HorrorSmorgasbord
13.	Punk You	27.	Bob @ Beauty in Ruins	41.	The Purple Broom
14.	Kharisma Rhayne	28.	Precious Monsters

(Collection closed)

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(Note:  As my son was with a real life monster flu bug over the weekend, this is re-post from 10/20/09.

Attack of the Tanning Bed

When you think of "monsters" I am sure that "tanning bed" isn't the first thing that comes to your mind, but this fad, that became popular in the late '80's, from time to time it has been somewhat of a "monster" in pop culture.

In the late '90 those "friend of a friend" emails started circulating via emails, now called "Brown Betty" urban myths, where a female, usually tanning for a special occasion,  ignores safety warning at the tanning salons and "overbakes (For detailed stories, visit Snopes here). 

Source: listal.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

In the 2006 horror flick "Final Destination 3"  best friends Ashley and Ashlynn just want to banish their blues and make the skin tan after witnessing classmates die after being hurled off a runaway rollercoaser and look great for graduation, but death's design has another plan for them in the tanning booth.

Source: jezebel.com via cognitive on Pinterest

In this 1986 gem, in the beginning of the movie model Valerie wants to celebrate and look her best for an upcoming Cosmopolitan shoot so she heads to the tanning booth but the lid on the bed is the last cover she sees.

Source: hysteria-lives.co.uk via Kathryn on Pinterest

I have not seen this 1989 movie, but Rare Horror Movies, which has the movie for sale indicates:

"Death Spa is like a series of outrageous death scenes set in a chi-chi health club which is haunted by the murderous spectre of its owner's late wife (who, of course,  was burned to death). First taking control of the club's computer-controlled circuitry, the killer ghost then decides to possess her gay brother, who begins parading around in sis's clothes and continuing her devilish deeds."

Source: coverbrowser.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

 

An then their are the real-life victims of the tanning booth, that have been brainwashed don't even realize they have been attacked and damaged:

Source: Uploaded by user via Bonquisha on Pinterest

Source: justchillout.net via Cheeky on Pinterest

Source: badtans.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

 - (This site is devoted to pictures of Bad Tans)

Skin cancer can be the scariest monster of all, as it sneaks up on you over a long period of time "A Death by Suntan at 26" is true.  It is an article that appeared in where Cosmopolitan magazine about Glenna Kohl, who tanned for years in the sun and in tanning booths developed melanona while in college and died at at 26. 

For more information on skin cancer signs, prevention and stories visit SkinCancer.org

Be sure to wear your sunscreen this summer!


Show your monster spirit

1.	Annie Walls	15.	Horror Author Vanessa Morgan	29.	blackdragon
2.	Little Gothic Horrors	16.	Cayce @ Fighting Dreamer	30.	Jurassic Goth
3.	Pensive Pumpkin	17.	It Came From The Man Cave	31.	Monsterfink's Midnight Monster Spookshow
4.	Queens of the Wild Frontier	18.	It's On Random	32.	Residentgamer
5.	Lady Bethezda	19.	Not This Time, Nayland Smith	33.	nitebyrd
6.	Le Professeur Gothique	20.	Artwork By Living Dead Girl Nicole	34.	Everything You Want
7.	wicKED	21.	Metamorphosis	35.	Kweeny Todd
8.	Shingle Creek Manor	22.	Crafts and Creations with KMOM14	36.	Ghost Stories and Haunted Places
9.	Daph's Dark Little Corner	23.	skarlett	37.	Jess @ Wickedly Bookish
10.	Jenny Krueger	24.	Dani Harper, Paranormal Author	38.	GingerRead
11.	Holly's Horrorland	25.	Manvshorror	39.	Lynoire
12.	blackwood	26.	Horror Shock Lolipop	40.	HorrorSmorgasbord
13.	Punk You	27.	Bob @ Beauty in Ruins	41.	The Purple Broom
14.	Kharisma Rhayne	28.	Precious Monsters

(Collection closed)

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DIY Monster Hoodie in 30 minutes

This is based on this tutorial at Cut Out and Keep by Cuppy Cake Girl  decorating a hoodie using 3 different colors of felt.

See Monster Hoodie! Roar! and 1000's of others - or share your own on Cut Out + Keep
Instead of using felt,  I used outdated or damaged clothing I had on hand.  The "teeth" are made from an old pair of white polyester shorts s, the "iris" of the eye from a silk dress and the "pupil" was off of a pair of parachute pants. 

I also changed the eye to look more reptilian and placed farther apart so I could make it look like a "normal" hoodie with the hood down and I could tuck the "teeth" inside.

I sewed mine and from cut to finish took a little under half hour, but it could be possible to make using a craft glue that works on fabrics and it might take even less time.


Item I used:
-  1 old hoodie
-   Paper and pen
-  3 different colors of felt or fabric
-  Straight Pins
-  Sewing Machine and Thread
-  Sewing Needle
-   Heat N Bond
-   Iron

For my teeth, I drew I folded a piece of paper and cut at an angle to make a triangle on paper 41/2 inches wide and 4 1/4 tall, but if you have drawstring hoodie you might want to make it longer.   I then pinned to the shorts and cut out each one then flipped the pattern upside down next to it (as illustrated in blue in the picture below) and repeated until I had a total of 8 teeth.

For the eye, I folded a piece of paper into quarters and cut off the edges to make somewhat of a semi-circle that was 4 1/2 inches wide and 2 3/4 inches tall

Here is the "eye" unfolded.  I made the "pupil" by folding paper into quarters then cutting a triangle that was wider at the bottom and sharper curve inward toward the top that was 1 1/8 inches wide and 4 1/4 inches tall (pictured on top of the "iris".

I drew the eye and pupil on top of the Heat N Bond and cut out then ironed on to the back for the fabric for the "eye" and "iris"

On the "pupil", peel off the backing, position where you want on the eye and iron on.

Peel the backing off of the "iris", position it on the hood.(you might pin then try on and check first).  Once it looks the way you want on the hoodie, iron it to the hoodie.

To keep the fabric from fraying and secure it to the hoodie,  I zigzagged around the edge of both the "pupil" and "iris" using a sewing machine.

For the "teeth", I had to position the edges behind the string in the hoodie (about an 1 5/8 inches from the edge), pinning four "teeth" on each side, overlapping slightly and stitch into place around 1 1/2 inches from the edge.

I also hand basted the "teeth" along the edge of the hoodie to help keep them in place.




 You now have monster hoodie to wear:)

Be sure to check out the other participants in the blog hop for May Monster Madness!

Show your monster spirit

1.	Annie Walls	15.	Horror Author Vanessa Morgan	29.	blackdragon
2.	Little Gothic Horrors	16.	Cayce @ Fighting Dreamer	30.	Jurassic Goth
3.	Pensive Pumpkin	17.	It Came From The Man Cave	31.	Monsterfink's Midnight Monster Spookshow
4.	Queens of the Wild Frontier	18.	It's On Random	32.	Residentgamer
5.	Lady Bethezda	19.	Not This Time, Nayland Smith	33.	nitebyrd
6.	Le Professeur Gothique	20.	Artwork By Living Dead Girl Nicole	34.	Everything You Want
7.	wicKED	21.	Metamorphosis	35.	Kweeny Todd
8.	Shingle Creek Manor	22.	Crafts and Creations with KMOM14	36.	Ghost Stories and Haunted Places
9.	Daph's Dark Little Corner	23.	skarlett	37.	Jess @ Wickedly Bookish
10.	Jenny Krueger	24.	Dani Harper, Paranormal Author	38.	GingerRead
11.	Holly's Horrorland	25.	Manvshorror	39.	Lynoire
12.	blackwood	26.	Horror Shock Lolipop	40.	HorrorSmorgasbord
13.	Punk You	27.	Bob @ Beauty in Ruins	41.	The Purple Broom
14.	Kharisma Rhayne	28.	Precious Monsters

(Collection closed)

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Monster Coin Purse

(This is a re-post back from February of '09, but my Day 4 submission for May Monster Madness Blog Hop)



My inspiration for this project was the Monster Coin Purse posted by Katherine B at Cut Out And Keep.

Here is the link to her tutorial:

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/monster_coin_purse_2

I decided to make mine a girly one with over-sized wonky eyes, big eyelashes and big red lips and dress her up with left over gold ribbon.

It took about 10 minutes and cost almost nothing to make and you can get everything you need at the Dollar Store:

Items used:
- 100 googly eyes of different sizes for $1

- Felt pieces 4/$1.00,

- Ribbon $1 or 2 for $1

If you don't already have a glue gun, you can pick one of those up for $1 and a bag of glue sticks for $1.

I also picked up a mini sewing kit and used it for the stitching on this project for $1, but stitching is optional - you could just use the glue gun for everything.

It just takes a wee bit of pink felt for the body and scraps of fabric, ribbon, googly eyes and velcro from my stash to make the rest of it.

Her eyelashes are just a piece of fabric that is cut into until about 1/8 inch away from the edge and then fanned out.

The sides, the spine on the back and the googly eyes were hand stitched but the rest is done with a hot glue gun. 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you will check out the rest of the participants of this blog hop.

Show your monster spirit

1.	Annie Walls	15.	Horror Author Vanessa Morgan	29.	blackdragon
2.	Little Gothic Horrors	16.	Cayce @ Fighting Dreamer	30.	Jurassic Goth
3.	Pensive Pumpkin	17.	It Came From The Man Cave	31.	Monsterfink's Midnight Monster Spookshow
4.	Queens of the Wild Frontier	18.	It's On Random	32.	Residentgamer
5.	Lady Bethezda	19.	Not This Time, Nayland Smith	33.	nitebyrd
6.	Le Professeur Gothique	20.	Artwork By Living Dead Girl Nicole	34.	Everything You Want
7.	wicKED	21.	Metamorphosis	35.	Kweeny Todd
8.	Shingle Creek Manor	22.	Crafts and Creations with KMOM14	36.	Ghost Stories and Haunted Places
9.	Daph's Dark Little Corner	23.	skarlett	37.	Jess @ Wickedly Bookish
10.	Jenny Krueger	24.	Dani Harper, Paranormal Author	38.	GingerRead
11.	Holly's Horrorland	25.	Manvshorror	39.	Lynoire
12.	blackwood	26.	Horror Shock Lolipop	40.	HorrorSmorgasbord
13.	Punk You	27.	Bob @ Beauty in Ruins	41.	The Purple Broom
14.	Kharisma Rhayne	28.	Precious Monsters

 (Collection closed)

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MUMMY VASE OR CANDLE HOLDER

You can turn a glass wine or juice bottle, an old white t-shirt into a mummy vase or candle holder for almost free from items you may already have on hand.

As I have always been creeped out, but at the same time fascinated by mummies I wanted to craft something mummyish as a tribute and came up with this.  It could be used to hold flowers or you could stick a candle in at the top and allow the drippings to collect on the mummy to give it a creepier look.  

Items used:
-   Old white t-shirt
-   Glass bottle
-   Scissors
-   2 large googly eyes (Dollar Tree sells bags with mixed sizes for $1)
-   Glue

 I used a slightly oil stained t-shirt so it was already a bit weathered looking, but if you wanted to give it an aged look you could heat up a few teabags in a large pot an then put the t-shirt in, steep in for a half hour or so then dry it. 

At the bottom of the shirt, start cutting at the bottom around a inch strip, except before you get to the end, angle upward to keep a continuous strip and continue to do so until you have enough to wrap the bottle (I went up to the mid chest on mine)

After cutting the continuous strip, wrap it up into a ball as it will make it easier to work with.

Wrap the end around the bottom then tie a knot.  Start wrapping around the bottom covering the knot and continue upward overlapping a half to a quarter inch to cover the bottle completely.

 When you get to the area that starts curving it will start to pucker, so I start wrapping higher up and go around a few times before you start working your way back down.

Glue the eyes a little below where it starts to curve then continue wrapping, except not as close and leave an area for the eyes to peek out.  I used E-6000 glue as it is sturdy, but any strong glue or a hot glue gun and sticks would work.

When you get to the bottom cut the t-shirt and tuck it in a bit in back then dab with a bit of glue

 Be sure to check out the other participants in this blog hop to see what monster madness and mayhem they have to share:)
 
Show your monster spirit

1.	Annie Walls	15.	Horror Author Vanessa Morgan	29.	blackdragon
2.	Little Gothic Horrors	16.	Cayce @ Fighting Dreamer	30.	Jurassic Goth
3.	Pensive Pumpkin	17.	It Came From The Man Cave	31.	Monsterfink's Midnight Monster Spookshow
4.	Queens of the Wild Frontier	18.	It's On Random	32.	Residentgamer
5.	Lady Bethezda	19.	Not This Time, Nayland Smith	33.	nitebyrd
6.	Le Professeur Gothique	20.	Artwork By Living Dead Girl Nicole	34.	Everything You Want
7.	wicKED	21.	Metamorphosis	35.	Kweeny Todd
8.	Shingle Creek Manor	22.	Crafts and Creations with KMOM14	36.	Ghost Stories and Haunted Places
9.	Daph's Dark Little Corner	23.	skarlett	37.	Jess @ Wickedly Bookish
10.	Jenny Krueger	24.	Dani Harper, Paranormal Author	38.	GingerRead
11.	Holly's Horrorland	25.	Manvshorror	39.	Lynoire
12.	blackwood	26.	Horror Shock Lolipop	40.	HorrorSmorgasbord
13.	Punk You	27.	Bob @ Beauty in Ruins	41.	The Purple Broom
14.	Kharisma Rhayne	28.	Precious Monsters

(Collection closed)

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