My First Giveaway!

****UPDATE: The Giveaway has been extended until Midnight ET on May 20,2011****

If you’ve been living under a rock, you might not know that Mandi at Vintage Revivals is giving away a makeover.

And wow, some of my favorite bloggers REALLY want to win…
Like..
Kim aka the girl with the glue gun

and
Michelle at Someday Crafts







And this got me thinking… Wait. I’m a designer. I do this stuff for  A LIVING.  A LIVING people. 
And while I’m not as cool as Mandi to have sponsors to give me money to give you a makeover a la Trading Spaces, I do have skills. And I’ve found, a lot of times what you need is a concept.

So here’s the details:
I will give away one E-design of a room of your choice to one lucky winner chosen by random.org.

What’s a E-design?

Basically, you and I have a chat about your room, your family, your life, and what you love/ don’t love/ want to keep/ want to trash. And oh, that all important thing, money.  You send me pictures of all four walls of your space, and as many measurements as possible.

Then, you get:

A floor plan showing a suggested furniture layout

Elevations of any walls that get a special treatment (like gallery walls, media walls, etc.)

A concept board showing your design  scheme

Sourcing and pricing for everything I show on your concept board.

Then, it’s up to you to implement your design.  Do it yourself, hire it out, take one week or one year, it’s all about what you can afford. Financially and emotionally.  Interior design is not worth a divorce. just saying.
Most designers charge at least $150 for this, some as much as $2000! And it could be yours for free!

So here’s how to enter:
1. You must be a follower of this blog. One entry per person please :).
2. You must be willing to have your project featured here on the old blog.
3. Leave me a comment telling me what room of yours you REALLY want to get a makeover.

The Giveaway will end on May 13,2011, with the winner announced on May 14.
If you don’t win, you can still email me at MissSusieHomemaker (at) gmail (dot) com for an E-design. Click on the  “Interiors” tab for pricing.

Good Luck!
****UPDATE: The Giveaway has been extended until Midnight ET on May 20,2011****

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Tasty Tuesday- Buffalo stuffed celery

 

It’s Tasty Tuesday time again!

I love wings, but I always think about how bad for you they are every time I eat them. I was so glad when I found this recipe!

This is a recipe I found on weightwatchers.com, but I LOVE it for grilling, tailgates, super bowl parties, basically anywhere wings can be found. It’ s a great healthy alternative to fried wings, but still gives you all the wing flavors! I’m sure it’d be great alongside wings if you’re not watching your figure.

 

In a small bowl, mix together:

2 oz softened blue cheese (or some ranch powder if you prefer ranch with your wings)

1/2 cup light cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Frank’s hot sauce to taste

Once it’s all combined, put it into a zip-top bag and snip off one corner. Pipe the cheese mixture into celery sticks.

Put them on a plate and serve.

Easy, yummy, healthy. What more could a girl ask for?

Burlap Table Skirt

For my bedroom, I made a ruffly burlap table skirt. I was inspired by the beautiful burlap skirts found in Ballard, and the ruffly skirts I saw in Charleston at GDC Home.

Mom and I had help from our favorite four-legged paperweight:

First we made our ruffle, ours is 5” plus seam allowances.

Measure the width of your strip and make a small 1/2” or less snip to mark the spot.  Pull the thread to create a straight line, and cut on this line to get your straight strip.


Iron pleats in your hem. You can either do them regularly spaced, or make it random for a more casual look.

Then sew the pleats down using a zig-zag stitch.



When you’re finished, you will have a long strip that looks like this. In order to ensure you have enough to go around,  you will have to do some math.  You need enough to go around the circumference of your circle (that’s 2piR for your geometry refresher) * 2-3 depending on your pleats.

Next, sew widths of the burlap together so that it is at least as wide  as your total tablecloth (drop + top round+ drop) (ignore the ruffle height, so you’ll have some flub room).


Fold your big ol’ piece of burlap into quarters.

At the folded corner, pin your tape measure.

Make your first mark at what I’m going to call point A. Point A will equal the radius of your circle + seam allowance+ seam allowance.

After you’ve made marks across at Point A, now on to Point B. Point B is the drop of your skirt – the ruffle + seam allowance + hem.

When you’re done, you will have a piece of burlap with a bunch of pins.

Now play connect the dots. Gee, isn’t this fun?
       
Take your top Round (which you cut out along Points A). and pin the ruffle to it.

Sew using a zig-zag stitch for stability.

You’ll have a blob like this when you’re finished.

Next, take the piece  you cut along Points B, and pin it to the other side of your ruffle. Sew this using a zig-zag stitch.
Now, all you have to do is hem, and put it on display!


Here’s the finished product. I have to give major kudos to Mom and her awesome sewing skills, because my brain just couldn’t figure this out!

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