Change the world one bee at a time. :]
Breathe for almost free, no replacement filters necessary.
– Mushpa
Category Archives: Clean House
Sewing Around the House: A few easy projects!
I’ve been friends with my sewing machine for a bit now, and we have grown closer over the past year. I have kept her near me and loved her very much, but one thing is that I have not been very good about covering her. One reason is because I have the old (ugly) plastic cover that it came with.
I got inspired and decided to make her a little outfit using refurbished material and gifted fabric! Now my sewing machine is not so cold, wont get so much dust, and actually looks pretty!
Tip: I used the old plastic cover to draft and cut out the pattern pieces to make the sewing machine cover. You don’t need a pattern as long as you have the old cover. If you are not afraid to go for it, you can just measure the height and width of your machine and make five rectangles to sew together!
For this project, I also used as a guide this sewing book that I like very much, the Sew Everything Workshop: The Complete Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide. It is written by Diana Rupp, and it is fabulous for people getting into the sewing world. It comes with patterns, instructions and lots of practical information about different fabrics and tips as well as historical facts and fun sewing projects.
This book was part of a gift from Mushpa, who not only included the book, but a class to sew a “Naughty Secretary Skirt” with Ms. Diana Rupp herself! If you live in NYC and want to practice some guided sewing, check out the Make Workshop for amazing classes of all types!
Tip: Get a sewing book. There are TONS out there. I have a couple that I use as reference all the time. I think it’s helpful for little details, how-to and random information. Any time I get stuck in a project, or need inspiration, I look at them. Also, if you can, take a sewing class. It really helps with understanding the process as a whole, and you get to hang with other sewing aficionados!
I also got inspired and made some new yoga pants as well using this book! With some risky adjustments to the pattern, I had just enough scrap fabric to make some new pants by refurbishing old curtains! Sound of Music anyone?
Fortunately the adjustments that I made to the pattern were fine, and I was able to cut the pieces just right!I thought the fabric would be OK to wear these pants out in public, but they ended up looking too pajama-ish! That’s OK though, because now I have some super fancy pajama pants!
Tip of the Universe: If you have almost enough fabric, but not quite enough, try hoping for the best when doing pattern adjustments! I literally visualized and prayed to the universe that the adjustments I made to the pattern would work… With a little faith, anything is possible!
Finally, the last project for the house I sewed was our darling ironing board. The old cover was gross and old… This was a very easy project though. I pretty much traced a pattern around the ironing board and left a good 4 inches or so of seam allowance.
Then I folded the seam about an inch and sewed it down in order to leave a space for a cord to run through the seam, and left an inch wide opening to be able to pass the cord through. After attaching safety pins to the cord, I pushed the cord through the seam and covered the ironing board. Pull tight and knot it at the end! Not so bad huh?!
Updating our home, one sewing project at a time!
Much love,
-Mensa
Before January ends….Re-Calendar!
In the time it takes you to get in your car, subway or bike to the office supply store to buy a calendar, you can easily make a calendar for the new year yourself! For free if you have the supplies, and Eco if you reuse old paper and use supplies from home!
We did this half way through last year, and last week we took the old calendar down, flipped over the old pages and drew new lines for the new days and months of the new year!
Steps.
1. Find any 18×10 inch paper or card-stock. We had some around, and it turned out to be the PERFECT size. You can make a smaller too, just make sure you divide it in 7 equal parts for the days of the week.
2. Using a ruler, mark off every 2 inches on every side, and draw vertical and horizontal lines to make the little boxes. This size was perfect for 7 days (each day was 2×2 inch squares) and it left a nice (2×4 inch space each week) for additional “notes”.
3. Mark the days of the week with a marker, and while LOOKING CAREFULLY at a calendar (I looked on my phone) mark the days down when the month starts, through its end.
4. Add some colors and decorations….and any special dates you may wish to remember….and you’re done! : )
Happy crafting!
-Mensa
Mushpa y Mensa’s Project Clean House 2014
I begin this year starting fresh with my posts, as I know that in December I was not keeping up with my partner in crime Mushpa’s amazing word press posting skills and motivation.
Here I will start by telling you that it was necessary for us to start the new year with an amazingly clean and organized home. For the past few days Mushpa y Mensa have re-energized our apartment, thrown out unnecessary trash, given away unused items, and said good bye to old memories, to make space for the journeys of the new year!
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My favorite project so far has been re-organizing the kitchen cabinets. We used old jars of pasta sauces and pickles, and we cleaned them and re-labeled them in order to super organize everything from baking soda and stevia, to oats and chia seeds. We also bought spices sold in bulk so we refilled empty spice jars, and re-labeled others for new spices! You don’t need anything fancy to make the labels…only card-stock, pen and tape…and voila!
Here are some good tips on what a good New Year Cleaning might be deserving of.
1. Kitchen: Clean all the cabinets inside and out, above and below…. and give away any unused cooking items. Our street-found iron pan, an old recipe book, a coffee grinder and random containers were among the items we left in a brown bag for people to pick and choose from at the entrance of our building. Some people’s “trash”, other people’s treasures! Reduce, and someone else will most definitely reuse!
2. Bedroom and Studio: We cleaned and are almost finished reorganizing our studio and bedroom, yet one really important aspect of the process was to get rid of (and RECYCLE of course) all old paperwork that only took up space. Sometimes little mementos are nice to keep, and we do so in a small box in our bedroom where later on in they year they will probably be compiled into a scrapbook. Other papers/old pictures/brochures/receipts and such are in the “out” pile. It might seem crazy, but the house feels lighter without these items cluttering everywhere.
3. Clean clean clean: And I mean clean….everything. I even vacuumed inside the stove stop where my hand and sponge couldn’t work. The best part of this is that you DO NOT NEED any harsh chemical products to have a clean home. We used our trusted Vinegar + Water + Peppermint Oil concoction for every surface. Works like a charm, and it smells nice too. For the very touch stains, grease grime and soap scum, we use our trusted Bon Ami cleaner. It only has 5 ingredients including limestone, feldspar and baking soda derived from sustainable resources that won’t harm our earth!
Now our home feels lighter with better energy to start a new year. A few good prayers with incense and candles burning will add the perfect touch to the amazing energy that circles our home….
From our clean home, we wish you all a very Happy New Year!
Much love,
Mushpa y Mensa