Life Hacks: Cleaning Themes Make Chores Painless

Theming Your Cleaning Can Help Yearlong

Spring cleaning will keep your home in better shape, allow you to entertain, retain a higher resale value, and your quality of life and health generally improve.

It's a vital chore. It just doesn't have to be a nightmare marathon.

That's where themes come in.

Themed Spring Cleaning
The idea is simple: instead of blindly moving out, cleaning and moving items back, create a purpose to spring cleaning that everyone in the house can get behind.

Some examples I've put into use were excess reduction, electronic clean up, linen love, find-donate-replace clothing, etc.

Let's look at how the idea works:

1. Define Your Theme (example: De-clutter & Organize) - The theme you choose is up to you. What you want to do is narrow it down so that while cleaning, a specific aspect of home life is addressed in a way that will carry through the year. So, using the example I am, I am clearly defining that what will be focused on during the month is specifically de-cluttering and organizing.

2. Define Your Needs (example: a variety of boxes and storage containers) - Based on your house and theme, you will have unique needs specific to your home. Using my example of de-cluttering, I need to focus on boxes, baskets and bags that match our home décor but give much needed extra space. You'll always want to think about actual design during this phase so that it can enhance - or even begin creating - a real look to your home that not only makes 'cleaning up' easier but looks great hanging around.

3. Define Your Parameters - Choose a day that major clean-up will be done on, allowing other household members to do some early work if they don't want a full day of cleaning. Be very clear about what your goals are. If you want every single piece of electronics in your home clean, state it. Write everything down and be as clear as possible so no one - even you - can bend the 'rules'.

4. Get It Done - On cleaning day, you can still go from ceiling-to-floor if you choose, but you don't have to. My process is to go through each room with my theme in mind. Hopefully everyone in the house has rallied behind me and is ready: a box of donations, bags of trash, and boxes to be stored. I scan each room to make sure the theme has been met to my eyes and move to the next. From there, I've eliminated an entire set of things to clean and can quickly do the scrub-down and disinfect.

5. Continuing On - The first Themed Spring Clean was so much less stressful that my family actually enjoyed themselves and were pleasantly surprised at things found that had been ''lost." We've continued this beyond Spring Cleaning, making each month a theme that keeps our home Spring Clean fresh and improving!

(Want proof? Look at and/or watch the remodeling as it goes ... Luxe Domestique is on its way but until then we have a haphazard home with spots of brilliance.)

Repurposing Project: A Luxe Cat Bed

The Backstory

When my daughter was born, she was gifted a beautiful wicker bassinet that had been custom fitted with a baby-safe cushion, bumpers, a thin pillow and matching blanket. My daughter was kept close and safe for many of her earliest months in it, so the sentimentality of the bassinet was enormous to me.

Brought out of storage for a quick clean-up to keep everything maintained for passing it down, two of the house babies (both the cats) decided that the bassinet was made for them. I was so upset that I couldn't stop muttering and raced to re-wash everything and put it back together.

That was when the cats' love for the bassinet was caught by me and I had a huge internal sigh of resignation. This would be a re-purposing and decorating project and when/if my daughter has children they will receive fresh creative beds of their own. They were just too sweet, and I love the feline divas.

Damien in front and Pandora at the back, showing flagrant disregard for my wish to get the basket clean, unstained, and fur-less. I think this is the moment the internal sigh came.

Day One: Base Layer of Paint and a Slip of Genius

Once I decided to take on the re-purposing project of turning this baby basket into a cat bed, I hit the hardware store for a very specific type of paint: Black Satin Enamel suitable for wood and outdoor pieces so it would shine and hold up to the wear it was (and has) going to receive.

For your own project, to get to Day 1:

• Choose a basket or baby bed made of quality, thickly layered wicker.
• If the basket you've chosen has been used before, make sure to scrub and dry well to make sure no 'ickies' are left behind to make kitties ill or - much more likely - to ruin your paint job.
• Choose the 'bedding' for the kitty bed with re-purposing in mind. In my case, I already had a cut-to-size foam padding for the bottom, and re-used a pillowcase for its covering that matched a mini throw pillow from the same set (which was tearing and heading for the trash otherwise). If you've been hitting pillows that have lost their fluff or have several old towels that need replaced out, these would make perfect 'bedding' for your basket.
• Consider design options. What sort of 'feel' do you want for your final basket? I'm going for a look that reflects the over-the-top luxe of the home I'm remodeling, so used rich thick satins with velvet flocking in deep purple and blacks that coordinate with the colors we're using in the remodel. Some of my initial ideas included using the satin from the bedskirt to create a new inside 'bumper', re-purposing some of the throw-pillows that came with the set, and using bits of the old comforter itself to create bedding. Obviously, don't jump into anything too fast. We're going to start with paint but you do want to have a good idea of whether you're going for a 'shabby chic', a 'country fresh', or whatever type of theme that will both look great in a kitty bed and work into its natural surroundings.
• Get quality paint. Go for a spray can style, but make sure it is intended to withstand even outdoor conditions and is an enamel, which will create a harder surface once dry. Also look to see that the paint is non-toxic. I chose a satin enamel, black, but any color or type of paint that fulfills the above criteria will work. Think about the color well because it's the first step in the overall look you'll achieve.
• Overload the space with the bedding and accessories you're considering. You won't use them all. But having them there once the initial paint job is done will help you decide what sort of things you absolutely want to use.
• Get something to cover your painting space - plastic drop, newspapers, etc.

So, I started Day 1 with the following items as outlined above:

The untouched 'cat bed' including dish that magically appeared once I'd muttered something about "Fine, it will be a gorgeous cat bed then."

Some of the linens to be re-purposed for the project. Beautiful things can stay beautiful - if you just keep using them right. So this is really the designs and fabrics I was looking at for the project - I'd already decided on satin black paint.

With a feeling of purpose I bound outside with the empty, cleaned basket and 3 cans of spray paint in hand. The plastic drop was ready. I felt awesome.

Then I realized just how large my basket was. It is, after all, sized for a year old baby. The three cans of paint I'd purchased also turned out to be thinner than I liked (so, HINT: ask if you can test the paint at the store before you purchase it, or get 1 can and test it at a time). With a bit of patience and working all the angles, I laid the base layer of paint and allowed the basket to dry fully.

Depending on your paint and the angles of your wicker, you may have to turn in several directions to see where it is fully painted and where it still needs sprayed. Work in even lines so that you don't get dribbles drying on the opposite side of the basket.

Even once you think you have it all for the base layer, look closely - wicker is tricky tricky.

Allow your base layer to dry fully - preferably outdoors - before bringing it in to continue the project.

Once your basket is fully dry, try playing around with a few of the repurposed items you are considering and layering them with items that were already in the basket (if applicable) so you can visually see your options. At the end of Day One, my dry kitty basket looked like this:

click for full view and text

Day Two: Finish Up and Blend It In

Obviously, 'Day Two' didn't happen the next day. First, once the inner mat was cleaned and dried, I encased it in a pillowcase matching the accent pillow and continued leaving things as they were to think about design ideas and watch how the cats used the bed most often.

Some things I considered while I let design ideas ferment was using the satin sash from the old bed skirt from the same set I was replacing out to create a new bumper. I also replaced out the yellow pillow with a bolster pillow from the set with the throw pillow. I took the food dish out as soon as possible for hygiene reasons when I noticed just how much the bed was used for sleeping.

As the few days passed, I started really looking at the minimalist approach closely. The kitties obviously loved the bed for sleeping in and now that Damien is larger she doesn't fit inside with Pandora when the bumpers are placed so the entire idea went out the window. The bolster pillow then looked all wrong. And since the cat bed sits on top of one dog crate, it needed to turn into more of a pet station than a simple spot for a bed.

What we settled on was a beautiful combination of my practicality and my daughter's ideas of what looks pretty. When working on your own, consider setting the bed on a food storage bench or a play area. It makes a big difference in space-saving and the look of a total care center for your beloved furry friends.

With a heart food dish and matching watering dish on either side of a sturdy board for safety and the remodeled bed behind it, we were already in love before we noticed that Nikita had already approved the beginnings of what will come to be a matching dog crate. And look at it raining out the window!

With the transformation on top complete for what will now be a luxurious pet center, the cats compete for the bed. Pandora, a complete diva bobcat mix, usually asserts her way with a glare that puts Damien laying and playing on the wood. They love it and it looks great in our slowly growing pieces of remodeled home. Stay tuned for what happens with the rest of the pet station below it!

Face Mapping: How to Create a Flawless Canvas for Your Makeup Look

Three Steps Before Starting Your Make-up Dramatically Impact Your Style

Want beautiful, dramatic skin that doesn't look like pounds of make up have been caked on? Start with a perfect base.
Copyright: african_fi

Face mapping probably was 'a thing' when I was a teenager. I loved playing with croquis (basically poses that fashion is drawn on) so surely there were face maps as well - but I never had the benefit of using one. And what a benefit face maps are, because they can do everything from instruct to create a 'look book' for playing around with just how dramatic you want your makeup to be.

First, Understand the Face Map

A face map is easy to find. You can use your favorite search engine for the phrase 'face map' and you should wind up with hundreds of printable templates showing different views of a blank, sketched face.

Why?

Practice makes perfect, my dear.

Seriously, put yourself back in kid shoes and pull out colored pencils and print out your favorite face map. One of my personal favorite face maps can be found at Ruby time. These are self-made charts that the artist is allowing for personal use. The language is not English, but you won't need a translation to find the perfect chart to start with. To grab one of the charts on the Ruby Time page, right-click, choose 'View Image' and save or print.

So, this is your first step in understanding a face map or face chart. I'll be using the 'MUM' face chart in the illustrations. But what are we looking at, really?

Going from the top, we have an almost barely-sketched face with only the prominent features drawn, and below that are lines for things like "Skin Care", "Foundation", and "Eyeliner". Things should already be starting to clear up. Using several pages of the same template, you will be able to first pinpoint the areas that need specific techniques for the base (a matte powder base, contoured cheekbones, etc.) and these will go together to create a total look you'll love.
 
PRO TIP: Want to start playing serious? Once you've got this article's concept down, you can do the same process using printed transparency sheets, permanent markers, and lay each layer of the makeup on a single sheet which will stack into a flawless look. These, separated by dividers, can be the basis of a makeup artist's lookbook.
 
Second, Understand the Map Makeup Layers

When working on paper it is especially important to pinpoint special steps that you need to take - things like shadow contours will make a huge difference in your final look, and knowing right off how you want them to look will save you a ton of time.

We'll be focusing on 3 layers: Face Contours, Face Highlights, and the Cheeks. Print out 3 sheets of your chosen template and you can follow along to create a complete base to play with.

The layers of makeup really are like the layers of transparency paper where you see an entire face come alive one paper at a time or, for those familiar with graphics programs, the layers used in a canvas. We start with the "bottom" or "base" layer and work our way out.

The contours should dramatize your natural shadows.

The bottom layer, or Step One, is Face Contours. This is where you will use bronzer, a powder about 1 shade darker than your natural color, or if you're very specific you can choose a matte eye shadow.

The idea here is to add shadow to areas of your face that are shaded naturally. This creates the illusion of a more chiseled, defined look to even the roundest faces. Reference illustration 02 in the images above for placement help; on your sheets use light, feathery strokes that will imitate a brush - when you apply this layer of makeup, you will want to use a small, fluffy brush that allows you to blend into your natural skin tone.

The second layer, or Step Two, is Face Highlighting. Think about it … if there's shadow, there must be light. In makeup terms, where there is^rd illustration above for placement advice. You can use everything from a very light powder to light blush, and even lighter flesh-toned (a shade or so lighter than your natural coloring) eye shadow to create this effect.

Highlights both bring out and counterpoint contours - where there is dark, there is light.

contouring, there must be highlighting. This is fairly easy to place once your contours are in place - highlights echo them. Reference the 3

Finally, our third and last step for a base to die for: we look now to our beloved bronzers and blushers to work on our Cheeks.

When choosing your bronzer, pay special attention to how 'glittery' or matte it is - this can impact your buying decision. For color, it should be as close to your natural color with a golden hint as possible. When you choose blush, consider the loose powder blush because they create a much less 'tight' look which floats across your cheekbones.

The blush should rest nicely between highlights and contours. A bit of brightness on the forehead can also draw more attention back to the eyes.

On your croquis, the bronzer should mimic all the places where sun naturally hits your face. This tends to be the outermost curves of your face where cheekbones, jawline, and forehead protrude more than our eyes, for example. Blush is so easy at this point it almost doesn't count. Sweep it very lightly at first and add more as needed in a gentle arc from your temple, down your cheekbone touching the highlighted area, and back up in a small 'u' shape where the contours of nose and lips begin.

All the make-up layers put together and blended out on the paper. Looks about right for trying out!

To Continue …

First, really play around with your face map until you're sure you have 1-3 base canvas looks you really like. Then, spend some time at a reputable cosmetics seller and ask the clerk for advice on coloring if you need. I have to often because two shades will seem to work so well in the mirror to me that I just need another pair of eyes. Finally, practice each chosen base until you're comfortable with each one of them and can blend them nicely into each other so there are no 'seams' on your face.
Next … shall it be lips or eyes? Hmmm we'll soon find out!

Top Five Face-Loving Eco-Friendly Makeup Brushes You Must Have

Think Green in Your Makeup Routine for Pro Makeup Results

The right tools make all the difference when it comes to a perfect canvas for makeup.



Copyright: flaivoloka

I once discounted all the makeup brushes, eschewed extra wands and tools. A waste of money, I thought.

Makeup brushes are actually so useful that I don't know how I did my makeup properly without them. Earth Day and beyond, I think Green year round, and my must-have top five makeup brushes reflect this.

The Brushes You Need

Yes, need. Even a set of 5 makeup brushes will cover your powder, blush, shadow, contour, and flat shading which are vital to a polished beauty look.

1. ecoTOOLS® Large Powder Brush - Powder sets a smooth canvas for your makeup without smothering your skin and clogging pores. You must start your makeup this way for a great base, and this is the makeup brush you need. Eco-friendly bamboo handle and recycled steel head, the number of bristles are as fun to play with as use. On the brush's page you'll find videos how to best use this brush, too.

2. Bdellium Tools Pink Bambu Slanted Contour Brush - Once your canvas is ready, play up the dramatic shadows of your face with a bronzer and this slanted contour brush. Pay attention to under cheekbones, the jaw line, and other areas that naturally attract dramatic shadow. The angle on this 100% cruelty free, vegan, hypoallergenic and bamboo handled brush make it easy.

3. Sonia Kashuk Bamboo Chic Flat Shader Brush - A good shader brush like this one will help you add specific flat shadow and highlight to areas of your face that need just a bit more contrast - a definite favorite for eye creases as well.

4. Beauty Blender - Once my areas of color are set, blending the hard lines is my next step. It helps everything look more natural, and the powder base will keep the blended color in place. The Beauty Blender does this easy, ergonomically, and without no latex.

5. Bdellium Tools Pink Bambu Large Shadow Brush - In typical Bdellium style with vegan soft bristles, bamboo handles, and boasting both hypoallergenic cleanliness and 100% cruelty free conscience, the large shadow brush is everything you need to finish your face off right (before putting on the final touches of mascara and lipstick of course). All it takes is a sweeping brush or two to create a dramatic base color on your lids that the shadow's included brushes will fill in nicely. Just make sure you use the blender once you're done for a set and perfectly glam look!

Crochet and Knit Pattern Template: Design a Fresh Minimalist Template to Boost Sales

Ready Your Crochet or Knit Pattern for Selling Online Using the Minimalist Template

Designing a professionally clean and minimalistic crochet or knit pattern template is easily done in a few minutes with Microsoft Word or a similar word processor.

The marketplace for selling online patterns that you have created is growing rapidly with the popularity of sites like Etsy.com. 

What holds most people back from either trying to sell or from having success selling their crochet and knit patterns? A professional layout.

If you sell crochet or knit patterns, this guide to a professional pattern layout is precisely what you need to get the most out of your online sales. We'll cover the complete design of the pattern using Microsoft Word (or any similar word processing program).

Seriously, if you are a crochet or knit pattern seller, this guide will help no matter how experienced or inexperienced you are in the design of layouts that will sell. In this guide, we'll focus on a minimalist template that puts the focus on photography and instructions, leaving the details subtle so they don't detract from the beauty of your crochet or knit pattern.

Why the Minimalist Pattern Template?

The Minimalist Pattern Template puts a strong focus on photography and instructions. What happens using this layout is that the viewer is immediately drawn in by the finished product, and then eager to read the clearly available instructions.

Pros: The minimalist structure makes the pattern extremely easy to read, and the finished product is put on display in a way that will keep the user of your crochet or knit pattern eager to keep going. Because of the layout, it is also very easy to keep instruction pages to a minimum. Psychologically, this affects your pattern user; because the instructions are all on one page, for example, the project doesn't feel nearly as daunting. Major brownie points that will pay off in return customers.

Cons: You absolutely must have professional looking photos that will draw the viewer in. You can't get away with poor lighting or a display that isn't right for the product you're showing off. The crochet or knit pattern viewer should be stuck on the photograph, and then they will be eager to purchase your pattern and dive into the instructions.

Design the Minimalist Crochet or Knit Pattern Template

To create the template, you will need a good word processor. The example illustrations attached to this article use Microsoft Word 2007. This version of Microsoft Word incorporates a PDF generator. If you don't have this option in your word processor, you will definitely need to consider grabbing PDF writing software that is compatible with the word processor you use. Selling your finished pattern in a PDF format will also boost sales because it is accessible to the most people and offers security options.

Instructions are written for Word 2007; you may need to adjust some instructions to find the right tools.

The coolest thing about the Minimalist Pattern Template is that it really only takes a few steps to design, and using it is easy because you just need to drop things into their proper place. So, let's dig into this baby and get to designing.

The Cover Page

Our cover page will be kept extremely clean, placing full focus on photography and subtly entering details that are necessary.

1. Fire up your word processor. Go ahead and play it safe by hitting 'Enter' a few times, creating new paragraphs so you can move around easily if something goes wonky.

2. First, create a single-cell table. Don't worry about the borders or anything else at this point. Go ahead and click inside the cell, and insert the photograph of the finished product you're selling the pattern of. Then, right-click the photograph and hover over 'Text Wrapping'. Choose the 'Behind Text' option.

At this point, your tables and cells should be set and your photograph (the highlight!) set behind text.

3. Now, we're going to create cells to fit our subtle content in. Click once beside the photograph and insert a new table that is one cell wide and four cells tall. Again, don't worry about the borders yet. Click in the top cell and type 'sample title text'. You may need to change the color of the text in order to really see it at this point, depending on the color of your photograph. Reference the second illustration attached to this article.

4. Before we play with text, let's set a border to the top so that our title is a little less subtle. To do this, highlight (select) the top cell that you just typed in, right-click it, and choose 'Borders and Shading'. Use the Shading option to choose a color that is complimentary (for the minimalist design, a complimentary or even matching color works best) to fill the cell. DO NOT remove any borders yet - they make things much easier to adjust. Once your cell's background color is set, you may need to adjust the width of your inside cells to fit your photograph. Do this now.

The completed cover page, with cell lines highlighted so that you can easily see how it is laid out.

5. It's time to enter all our text and play around with fonts. For the minimalist pattern template, clean fonts without a lot of swirls or extra lines tend to work best. The only place, if any, that you have fancy looking text should be in your logo. Text to enter: In the first cell, replace 'sample title text' with the actual title. The second cell should contain a short 1-2 sentence description that 'sells' the pattern. In the third cell, just keep hitting the 'Enter' key until your final cell is near the bottom of your photograph. The fourth cell contains your logo and/or name and copyright info. As you go through the text entering, you may need to adjust your photo by dragging it back up to the top of the outside cell. Reference the third illustration attached to this article (cell lines have been colored to make them easier to see).

6. When you're happy with the overall look, highlight all the cells and copy-paste them on to the next page in your document. Then, go back to the cover page and highlight the cells again. Right-click, choose 'Borders and Shading', and remove all borders. Reference the fourth illustration attached to this article. Voila! Cover page is done. Don't forget to save your pattern template at this point.

The finished cover page with all cell lines removed, ready to go!

The Instruction Page

Typically, you won't want to use the minimalist pattern template if it will take much more than one page for the instructions. Due to the layout of the instructions, you can fit a ton of info on a single page - but if it's going to take more than one page, you might seriously consider using a different pattern template.

With your template practically designed and your photo in place, this will take seconds to complete.

1. First, select your photograph and delete it by hitting the backspace key on your keyboard. If any text has 'disappeared' because it's white, change the color to black. The top cell will remain exactly as it is - don't edit it. In the second cell, replace the description with the pertinent pattern information: skill level, measurements, materials needed and exact brands and types used in the photograph, hook size(s), and gauge. In the third cell, insert a new table that is two cells wide and once cell tall. Copyright information should stay the same in the footer, but if you included a logo on the cover page you'll want to remove it from this page.

2. It's time to enter your pattern. Start in the left cell in your center table, carrying text over to the right cell when the left cell has pushed your bottom text to the end of the page. Don't have a pattern to enter right now but want to see what it looks like with text? No problem! Use the lorem ipsum generator freely available here.

3. Remove all the borders from your tables the same way you did in step 6 of the cover page. Reference the last illustration attached to this article. 

The complete instruction page, filled in temporarily with lorum ipsum text to give a feel for the completed look of how the pattern will appear once the template is used 'for real'.

You're all done! Save your work, and you have a Minimalist Pattern Template that you can use repeatedly for selling your crochet or knit patterns. The clean look and emphasis on lovely cover photos will make a huge difference in the success of your sales, too!

 

The Complete Internet Guide to the Tunisian Crochet Stitch

Everything You Will Ever Need to Know About the Tunisian Crochet Stitch - All Online

Tunisian Crochet is stunning in lighter weight yarns that offer more 'give' than thicker yarns.

Photo Copyright: ukapala

Anyone that knows me well can tell you one thing for sure: I'm avid about crochet. From the sketches for future pattern ideas that litter my crochet coffee table to the piles of skeins of yarn in varying weights and colors spilling out from beneath it, you can't miss one of my passionate hobbies.

The hard thing about crochet is simply learning the techniques and finding quality patterns. For most of us, the joy behind crochet is creation - but since it's a hobby for many, we don't always have a ton of money to spend on books teaching the coolest patterns or latest stitches. So we scour the internet, and it can be a frustrating search.

I've tried doing daily freebies before and failed so I will say this: I will post crochet freebies as often as I can. These are articles that I am not being paid for, but would very much like to share with you.

You are welcome to share more freebies in the comments - please keep them on-topic, though. 

Crochet Freebie: All About the Tunisian Crochet Stitch

The Tunisian Crochet Stitch often goes by a couple of other names: Tunisian Knit Stitch and Afghan Stitch.

Often called a knit or afghan stitch, the Tunisian Crochet Stitch is so called because it resembles a knitted stocking (stockinette) stitch that is nearly identical to the look of knitting. Some people go so far as to refer to the technique as 'knitting with a crochet hook'; while the finished fabric does resemble a knit piece, it has less stretch and is considerably thicker than a truly knit piece would have.

However, this is a beloved stitch to have in your crochet stitch repertoire because it does create such clean, knitted looking pieces. Just remember to go light on the weight of your yarn.

1. 6 Reasons Why Crochet Lovers Should Learn to Do Tunisian Afghan Stitch

2. Learning the Tunisian Crochet (Tunisian Knit) Stitch

3. Beyond the Basics - Get In-Depth With the Tunisian Stitch

4. Free Beginner Tunisian Afghan Stitch and Crochet Soap Saver Pattern

5. Free Beginner Tunisian Afghan Stitch Bookmark Pattern

6. Free Intermediate Tunisian Afghan Stitch Bag Pattern

7. Free Intermediate Tunisian Afghan Stitch "Bamboo Stitch" Beanie Pattern

8. Free Intermediate Tunisian Afghan Stitch Kindle Kozy Pattern

9. Free Advanced Tunisian Afghan Stitch Fleur de Lis Afghan Pattern

10. Free Advanced Tunisian Afghan Stitch iPod Hoodie Pattern 

Happy crocheting and I'll be back with a new 'set' of crochet goodies soon!