Happy New Year!

We hit some big milestones this year.  Over 86,000 unique visitors, 125,000 total visits, and 1.25 MILLION page views in one month!  Thank you all for the feedback, ideas, and comments that keep me motivated and inspired.

Things might be a bit quiet over here for a few days, as I am armpit-deep in fabric while I move my studio (and the rest of our house) to the NEW house. But rest assured that I have lots of awesome in store for WhatTheCraft in 2012!

How does your garden grow?

This post brought to you by Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done.. All opinions are 100% mine.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, we just bought a new house. That means a new yard to play in! One thing I planted a lot of in our current house were tulips and daffodils. They’re some of the first flowers to bloom in spring, which is probably part of why they’re two of my favorite flowers.

I might dig some of my bulbs up and take them with me, but even if I don’t, the good news is that bulbs are SUPER easy to plant and grow. They really are one of the most idiot-proof flowers. The only problem I’ve had with my tulips is the squirrels stealing my bulbs! I moved most of them from around the yard to right next to the house, and that helped a lot.

Aside from being super easy to plant and maintain, a lot of bulb varieties naturalize, which means that just a few bulbs will multiply to fill in an area all on their own! I planted a bunch of naturalizing crocus bulbs in my lawn, and the purple and gold colors looks so pretty poking up through the grass and (sometimes) snow. I always do a happy dance when I see the first crocus blooming, because that’s when I know it’s REALLY Spring!

If you’re new to bulbs, I’d suggest you visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more about bulbs.

I love Marcy’s tip here:

I rake my leaves over every part of my garden! It beats bagging or burning and the plants love the mulch.

Because bulbs are so easy, they would make a really nice holiday gift. One thing I learned from the DigDropDone website is that you can actually plant bulbs in snow!  A lot of bulbs are also suitable for “forcing” indoors during winter, so you can have a little splash of spring color in January!

Bulbs work well in pots, too. I love this little collection of potted bulbs. I have a red polka dot enamel tea kettle that’s just begging to have some jonquils planted in it (they are THE best smelling daffodils on the planet!).

After you check out the DigDropDone website, be sure to submit a photo of your yard at Curbside Chaos to be entered to win a $5000 yard makeover and help from landscape master Taniya Nayak.

Curbside Chaos has a great Garden Guru tool that can help you determine when and what to plant depending on your planting zone and when you want your flowers to bloom. Just pick your country, location, and what month you want blooms.

Here’s one of the suggestions it gave me:

I love allium. The big globe shapes look really great in rows on both sides of a walkway!

For every share on Twitter, “Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done.” will donate $1.00 to Rebuilding Together – the nation’s leading nonprofit, working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities.

So be sure to tell your friends about the #curbsidechaos yard makeover contest from @digdropdone!

IZZE Holiday Craft Challenge!

I was invited to participate in the Izze Holiday Craft Challenge. A bunch of us craft bloggers were each sent an identical box of craft supplies and were challenged to make a holiday themed craft using ONLY the items in the box.

View the entries and vote here: http://craftgossip.com/blog/izze-voting/2011/12/12/
All voters are automatically entered to win a $50 Target gift card and some IZZE samples!

When I first got my box of craft supplies, I thought about making a hat or a tree topper or even a big decorative Christmas card, but I figured I should play to my strengths and sew something. The only problem was that the only fabric in the box was white. Plain boring white. What could I do with white fabric? Then it occurred to me- surely there are paint pens and glitter in here for a reason. I can make my own fabric! I’ve never used paint pens on fabric before, but there’s a first time for everything, and it worked out pretty well.

I drew a bunch of wonky little Christmas trees with the paint pens and used the glitter glue pens to give them some sparkly details. Once I had the fabric idea, I knew I wanted to make a retro-inspired apron, because I love cooking and baking for the holidays, and I also collect vintage aprons.

I drew candy cane stripes on the scrap fabric I had left over and used that for the ruffle trim and tie belt.  The paint pens also worked surprisingly well on the felt I used for the candy cane pockets. I painted a few wooden stars to top some of the trees, and I used some glitter ribbon for bows on the pockets and for the neck ties.

My favorite part is that this apron lights up! When I saw the fairy lights in the challenge box, I knew I had to use them. I used a few pieces of felt to make the light up trees so they would stand out from the trees I painted. A couple Izze bottle caps made the perfect tree toppers. Then I cut holes and poked the lights through and voila! My light up retro christmas tree apron!

 

Now it’s your turn to vote for your favorite! I’d love if you’d vote for my apron, but the other entries are so cool, I won’t hold it against you if you vote for someone else! But do make sure you vote, as you’ll be automatically entered to win a $50 Target gift card and some IZZE samples!

View the entries and vote here: http://craftgossip.com/blog/izze-voting/2011/12/12/

WhatTheCraft Handmade Giveaway – UnwindRewind Photography winner!

Congratulations to our lucky winner:

Katie!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Hope you’ll be back for more in the new year!

Stuff it!

This post brought to you by Dollar General. All opinions are 100% mine.

A stocking, that is.

Emptying out the stockings Christmas morning is almost more fun than opening all your gifts. Okay, that’s a lie, but we always got to check out our stockings first when I was a kid, and finding what surprises were crammed inside was a perfect start to the morning.

There’s a trick to stuffing stockings, of course. The items have to be small, but fun. What better place to find small, fun items than a dollar store?

I stocked up for stockings (ha!) this year at my local Dollar General.

For Mr. Smarmy’s little sister, I got a reindeer Pez dispenser (Pez dispensers are classic stocking stuffers, in my opinion) and a bunch of knee socks. I was obsessed with fun socks when I was her age, plus there’s something amusing about stuffing a giant sock with more socks.

 

For the cats, even though they’ve probably been more naughty than nice, a cute little owl catnip toy and some rattle balls (which I may or may not regret giving to them, depending on how noisy they are, haha).

And for the adults… a nice assortment of ornaments. As you can see, I’m quite partial to snowflakes. Oh, and some silly Christmas pencils for good measure.

When asked what item I’ll save money on this Christmas by shopping a dollar store such as Dollar General, I’d say the ornaments were the biggest steal. Everyone wants to have a tree covered in cool stuff, but when ornaments are $3, $5, or even $10 a pop, decorating the tree can get pricey. With ornaments for $1, you can’t lose.

Now I need to go make these stockings….

WhatTheCraft Handmade Giveaway – UnwindRewind Photography

This week’s WhatTheCraft Giveaway is sponsored by Laura of UnwindRewind Photography & Altered Ephemera!

The winner of this giveaway will receive:
your choice of any 8×10 photograph UnwindRewind, custom framed!
Valued at $40!

Special BONUS! From now until December 31st, WhatTheCraft readers can receive a 20% discount in the UnwindRewind shop! Just enter code WhatTheCraft at checkout on Etsy!

How long have you been doing UnwindRewind?
I have been doing UnwindRewind as a business for a bit over a year now, but I’ve been doing photography for much longer – about 8 years.

 

Want more?

Find more about UnwindRewind here:
Shop
Blog
Facebook

Giveaway Info:

UnwindRewind is giving away one custom framed 8×10 print.

There are lots of ways to enter, so even us lazy folk have a chance at winning!

This contest will close on December 5th at 11:59 PM EST. I will randomly select one winner after the contest closes.

You MUST comment on this post with your entries as you complete them.

If you do not comment, I will have no way to count your entries.
You can post a separate comment for each entry or
put all of your entries into one comment.

If you have Liked/Followed/etc. WhatTheCraft in previous giveaways,
you can still use that as entry, just comment saying you have done so.

Ways to Enter

On Facebook:
Please include your Facebook name in your comment

• “LIKE” UnwindRewind on Facebook
  
• “LIKE” WhatTheCraft on Facebook
• “LIKE” SmarmyClothes on Facebook
• Post a Facebook status update with a link to this giveaway
• Post a Facebook update with a link to your favorite item from UnwindRewind

 

On Twitter:
Please include your Twitter name in your comment

• Follow WhatTheCraft on Twitter
• Follow SmarmyClothes on Twitter
• Retweet this tweet from your Twitter
• Tweet with a link to your favorite item from UnwindRewind
  

 

Other Ways:

• Follow the UnwindRewind Blog
  
• Follow SmarmyClothes on Tumblr – include your Tumblr username in your comment
  
• Blog about this giveaway and/or about UnwindRewind - include a link to the post in your comment
• Subscribe to my YouTube channel – include your YouTube username in your comment

 

PLEASE make sure you include a valid email address on the comment form so I can get in touch with you if you win!

This giveaway will end at 11:59 PM EST on Monday, December 5th, 2011.

Stay frosty

This post brought to you by PackIt. All opinions are 100% mine.

We just bought a new house (YAY!) and there’s lots of be work done (BOO!). We’re staying in our current house until we have everything settled in the new house, so that means there’s a lot of comforts missing… like a fridge.

PackIt lunch boxes

to the rescue!

I just happened to get my PackIt  the night before we closed on the house, so when we started working the next day, we had ice cold beverages to keep us hydrated.

Here’s a picture of the cool blue PackIt I received with one of Mr. Smarmy’s yucky energy drinks, which it did an awesome job of keeping cold.

The packaging says up to 10 hours, but I took out an unopened drink about 12 hours after I’d put it in and it was still cold.

The coolest thing about the PackIt is that it doesn’t require ice. The entire PackIt itself is like a big ice pack. You fold it up, pop it in the freezer, and you’re good to go! No more melty ice cubes!

It’s the perfect size for lunch, picnics, the beach… any food or drinks you want to keep cold will stay ICE cold in this sweet baby.

You can get your very own PackIt, and their website is offering a really awesome deal right now. Buy one at $19.95 and get a second one free! That’s a steal!

What will you use your PackIt for?

Smarmy Sale Time!

I was having a Halloween sale over at SmarmyClothes, but I’ve decided to extend the sale because we have a tentative closing date on our new house! Yayyyyyy!
All ready to ship clothing is 31% off for the next few days! Check it out and help me clear some of this stock out before the move!

http://smarmyclothes.com

Avocado Contest + Extreme Avocado Grilled Cheese Recipe

This post brought to you by Hass Avocado Board featuring Hass Avocados. All opinions are 100% mine.

Two of my favorite things in the world are avocado and grilled cheese, so I don’t hesitate to combine the two whenever possible. So when I saw the Kick Off with Hass Avocados Recipe Contest, I new I had to share my concoction with the world.

So I know I’m not the only avocado fiend around… what recipe are you going to enter? Make sure you don’t forget to take a tasty looking photo!

Mr. Smarmy is going to flip if we win!

Olive Oil taste test!

This post brought to you by Carapelli. All opinions are 100% mine.

While I know the importance of buying quality ingredients when it comes to cooking awesome food, sometimes I just buy what’s cheap. The truth is, sometimes the cheap stuff is just as good as the high priced name brand. Other times, the difference is worth the extra price.

I have been known to get the ginormous store brand of olive oil because I go through it so fast.  I never thought much of the taste until I directly compared it to a sample of Carapelli’s Premium 100% Italian olive oil.

An olive oil taste test is kind of like wine tasting. Pour the olive oil into a small glass bowl or cup and follow the “Four S’s” – Swirl, Sniff, Slurp and Swallow.

With just the first two S’s, I could already sense the difference. The store brand had a slightly bitter, sharp smell, while the Carapelli smells smooth and nutty. I expected those flavors to be even stronger on the tongue. The Carapelli was indeed nutty and smooth, with a slight tanginess. There was also a distinct peppery aftertaste at the back of my throat, which I’ve never experienced before!

The store brand, which I expected to be even more bitter than it smelled, was quite bland, with a hint of mechanical flavor… like the oil I used on my sewing machines.. It had a slightly “raw” aftertaste, and it’s consistency was a bit watery.

No more cheapo olive oil for me… I have seen the light! You can too by doing an olive oil taste test yourself! To get you started, here’s a $1.00 OFF coupon at www.CarapelliUSA.com