Soldiers' Angels featured my Blankets of Belief challenge on their website yesterday. Hopefully now there will be more visibility of this challenge. There is so much work to do. Have you decided to participate yet? Remember, I showed you how inexpensive and easy it is to make one. And I added lots of prizes for the contest. How can you NOT do this? :)

Hancock Fabrics is running another sale on their fleece - some are 30% off and some are 50% off. And Joann's has some of their fleece products on sale too. Here is a cute flag fleece print on sale for $7.99 a yard. The Fashion Fabrics Club has this nice USA flag print on sale for $7.00 a yard.

So why is it again you aren't making one of these blankets?

After thinking about how I wanted to organize my coupons, looking at the awesome suggestions you gave me, and considering what is practical for my style, I finally settled on a coupon organizer.

I work well with planners and usually there are a size that I don't mind toting with me from place to place. Now with my Blackberry, this process isn't quite so necessary but I can't exactly store coupons on it, can I?

I wanted to be able to take my coupons with me to the store. But in addition to that I wanted a place to put receipts, a shopping list and maintain a price book. I didn't want to take separate pieces of paper or mini-notebooks. So here is what I found that appears to be just the right fit - the Price Planner.

I looked at it at least twice a week for about 2 weeks. I'm not usually an impulse shopper, so I mulled it over for a bit. Finally yesterday, I broke down and ordered it. It should arrive in 5 days.

It has a calendar for tracking sales events and planning menus, a shopping list, price book, clear pockets for the coupons, customizable divider tabs, and a bargain reminder pad. People who reviewed this organizer said they saved between $20 - $70 on their first shopping trip after using this. That's pretty impressive.

I'll let you know how well it goes when I get it.

If you have clipped coupons you won't use or you discovered some that have just expired, you can send them to our troops overseas. Yes, they can still use them if they have only been expired about a month. I found a site, Overseas Coupon Program, that tells you how you can recycle them.

Our program serves military families by assisting you to forward "manufacturer's coupons" to overseas military bases. These bundles of coupons are placed on tables, at the PX and Commissary, or handed out for use by military members and families on base. This helps the family save valuable dollars and stretch their budget. Your totals are listed at our site.

This is not a tax deductible charity. This is a patriotic charity. You are supporting the service person and their family by sending coupons that you do not use, and all of the extra ones that you can find, to them. The service pay rates are no longer below the poverty level, but they are in no way great. They appreciate your assistance.

Click on their How to Participate link for all the details.

I sometimes use Photobucket.com to upload photos for use on some of the sites where I contribute. I think it is a very functional site and it is free. Today, I received an email telling me about another website they feature called Scrapblog.com.

Scrapblog is a website where you can upload your photos to a digital scrapbook online and share with friends and family. You can create your fancy pages, use editing techniques and even add videos. I watched the five minute video to see a quick tour of the application and I was surprised how many features were offered. You can also order prints and other items using the scrapbook pages you create.

I'm not a scrapbook crafter, probably because I'm not a parent and because I don't seem to have the space for it. But I'm sure there are many of you who enjoy this hobby and might find this site useful for sharing those precious moments digitally while giving the photo or video some extra creative bling. Some of you may very well be already using it or another such tool. Have an online scrapbook you want to share?

For those of you who like to entertain guests and have garnishes for your fancy cocktails, how cool is this? (no pun intended)

I wantssssssss one. Gimme, gimme.

I have most of my crafts supplies stored in large plastic bins stacked 4 or 5 in a column, in two closets. Yeah, I know - it's too much. I'm working on it. Meanwhile, when I want to get a particular skein of yarn from a bin, I have to pull out about 4 bins and open them to determine where that yarn is. It's painful and frustrating.

So I saw these storage bins by Sterilite and I have been thinking of getting them for my closet. I can roll them out of the closet easily, the drawers are clear and can be labeled and my tons of yarn would fit in them neatly. Also, there could be room for all my crochet/knitting patterns and pattern books. Then I could re-use the storage bins for my finished projects (such as used in this Blankets of Belief challenge/giveaway) or for started but incomplete projects and leave them on the top as incentive to finish them more quickly.

I haven't purchased these yet because I'm wondering if there are any better ways to store lots of yarn. Have any of you used these storage bins before? Any other creative suggestions for storing your craft supplies?

Oh yeah, and after the yarn is organized, I have to move on to organizing cake decorating supplies, candy making supplies, painting supplies, sewing items and event planning items. Baby steps, baby steps... Just be glad I haven't taken an interest in scrapbooking and beading crafts - YET. Heh.

I stumbled across Dealigg.com today. It is a social bargain hunting site where you can submit stories related to coupons, sales, specials to one central location, much like the Digg.com concept. Then members can review and vote on the submissions.

I clicked on the "Freebies tab first, naturally. It was there that I found this giveaway of the Ziploc Vacuum Freezer Bag System starter kit. I don't know if I'll be one of the first 20,000 people to apply for it, but I did. It was that link that sent me to another site - Right@Home.

Right@home is an S.C. Johnson & Son website. It has newsletters, tips, crafts, recipes, organizing ideas, etc... on it. And coupons! Just look at this yummy recipe I discovered for Chunky Chicken Peanut Wraps. Mmmmm. Enjoy!

I was tagged by Deanna. The book closest to me is Real Change by Newt Gingrich. Thankfully it wasn't the crochet pattern book. Somehow I don't think you would enjoy reading - "for the next 20 rows repeat row 2, dc and finish off."

"It is the poorest citizens who bear the deepest burden of the failures of a city. It is the poor who have the least ability to move to a better place. It is the poor who have the least ability to send their children to private schools. It is the poor who cannot follow the jobs as they leave the city. It is the poor who find themselves victimized by the criminals produced by a society in decline."

For context, he was referring to the bureaucratic education system we have now which is flawed and he was defining the circumstances that exist presently so that readers understand why a new solution is required.

The Rules for this Book Meme:
Grab the nearest book.
Open the book to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your blog along with these instructions.
Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.
Tag five other people to do the same.
TAG You Are It...

Okay, so I'm not into the tagging thing. Sorry, but you are welcome to grab the meme and do this for fun on your own blog.

A few years ago I came across this crochet/knitting pattern for Yellow Ribbon scarves for people to wear to show support for the troops. The project, sponsored by Lion Brand Yarn, was called Knitting the Distance. These scarves can be made in just a few minutes and given to family members of soldiers to wear - moms, sisters, grandmothers, daughters, etc... I found this pattern again and I'm posting it for those of you who want to do a bonus project for them.

The pattern links for crochet and knitting can be found here.

Here is one I crocheted.



They are the easiest thing I have ever crocheted.

And guess what! I will agree to make 1 scarf each to donate to the families members of our troops, for the first 30 people who comment here that they are committed to making a Blanket of Belief. So if you let me know you are making a blanket, I will make a scarf to give to them - up to 30! That's how easy they are. If you want to make one to give away, package them with your blanket with a note attached indicating what they are for.

My Cotillion sister and friend, Greta from Louisiana's Soldiers Angels (and other great blogs) notified me that we can give $2 to Soldiers Angels just by voting for them in this poll.

SOLDIERS ANGELS: Vote once and Soldiers' Angels gets $2
(http://www.squidoo.com/squidoo-charity-giveaway)

Please go vote and spread the word. Voting ends on October 15th.

This money could help pay to ship to the troops, those Blankets of Belief you have already started making. ;)

In the Blankets of Belief challenge I posted earlier, I told you that I was going to post a picture of the one I made and give you some cost-saving tips.

When I decided to make the no-sew blanket, I was so excited. I actually have a blanket like this that a friend made and gave to me a few years ago. I love it. I lounge with it on the sofa all the time. The fleece is warm and comforting. So I took a look at the pattern and the materials required and set out on my shopping mission.

Fortunately for me, I have a Hancock Fabrics Store nearby so I stopped by there one evening after work just to browse their fleece fabric selections. They have a ton of solids and prints, many of which have patriotic colors and military prints (i.e., Navy, Army, etc...). I went to the table with the sale/clearance fabrics and looked at them too. I made a note of the print I wanted and went home to see what kind of special deals I could find and do some comparison shopping.

I went to the Hancock Fabrics Store web site and pulled up the weekly ad. You may recall that I found they had coupons in it. I found one that gave me an additional 10% off of the final purchase. There was no mention of exclusion from use on sale items. Yay! I printed the coupon, clipped it and took it back to the store the next day. I purchased 2 yards of the printed fleece fabric, which was on sale 30% off. And I purchased 2 yards of a matching solid fleece fabric, which was on sale 50% off. I applied the 10% off coupon at the end and my total purchase cost was under $20. Sweet.

Here are the fabric choices I selected.



As you will find from the instructions, you don't need many materials.

Good sewing shears
4 yards of fabric
straight pins
4" x 4" cardboard square
tape measure/ruler

I followed the instructions exactly. I found a discarded box at the office and cut out the cardboard square for measuring. You can always use part of a box discarded outside your local liquor stores, if you don't have access to boxes. I spread the materials out on my dining room table and put this whole things together in less than 2 hours. Did you hear that? Less than 2 hours and less than 20 bucks!

Here is the finished blanket. I put the scissors and pin cushion on top so you could see the large size. It hangs off of the table. And I flipped up one edge so you could see the reversible view.



What do y'all think? If I can do this, ANYONE can do this.

I'm going to look for some pretty ribbon this weekend to wrap up the finished blanket and add the note suggested by Soldiers Angels. I want the recipient to know this was hand-crafted with love and appreciation from me.

Helpful ideas: You can get your children involved by asking them to help you tie the knots, cut the strips or place the straight pins, depending on their ages and abilities.

I can't wait to see the pictures of your blankets and hear about how you made yours.

Remember a soldier during the holidays will be warmer and feel more appreciated for your efforts.

For nearly a year I have been communicating with blogging friends who are members of an organization called Soldiers Angels. Soldiers Angels is a non-profit group of volunteers all across the country to work on various teams and projects to bring comfort and provide aid to men and women in uniform (and their families) in the United States military. I wanted to be a part of something that in some small way gives back to our troops who sacrifice so much for us. From their 'About Us' page:

Our slogan, "May No Soldier Go Unloved," encapsulates the motivation behind Soldiers' Angels. By working together and sharing a common vision of service, the volunteers of Soldiers' Angels continue to demonstrate active care and concern for veterans, the wounded, deployed service members and their families.

This year they have team project called Blankets of Belief. This is an attempt for volunteers across the country to make a large number of blankets to send to our troops, particularly during the holidays when they are away from their families. The goal is 180,000 blankets!

We want them to know that they are remembered, that we are thinking of them during the winter Holiday Season, and that we are grateful for their service. Since we can't wrap our arms around them in person to show how much we love and appreciate them, our goal is to wrap all 180,000 of our deployed service members in blankets representative of our support and faith in them, Blankets of Belief. The Blankets will be a physical reminder that they are not alone during the Holidays. When deployed service members receive a Blanket of Belief, they will know that somebody back home remembered them, that somebody labored over a handmade blanket with thoughts of them and hopes or prayers for their strength and comfort.

I decided to make a couple of blankets - one for another team project called Blankets of Gratitude and one for the Blankets of Belief drive. That is when I discovered how low they were on donations. They have only received around 1,100 blankets for their holiday drive, when they need 180,000. Sadly, this is way below the mark. So, I decided this is a great opportunity to do a blog challenge and a blog giveaway.

So here is how it works.

First, set aside all your "I can't sew or do crafty things" reservations and put on your "can do" attitude. Remember this is for those in our military who always have a can do attitude for us. This project is easy and you have OPTIONS!

Option 1: If you can sew or quilt, here are the guidelines for your blanket. (Adobe Reader required to open) This document gives you the measurements, choices of fabric, patriotic colors and how to package and ship your blanket.

Option 2: If you can't sew, here is your project - a no-sew blanket. This is the option I chose and I created a blanket over the weekend for under $20. I'll be writing a separate post to show you photos of the blanket I made and some tips for saving on the materials and some helpful hints.

Option 3: If you knit or crochet, you can make a blanket for our veterans in the Blankets of Gratitude project. [Note: I'm making one of these as well and I will do a post at the end of the month to display the finished blanket. I found a pattern, in one of my crochet books, that looked masculine and I am using patriotic colors.]

Here are the prizes I'm giving away and the contest rules:

I'm giving away three (3) matching scarf/hat sets that I crocheted. And I'm giving away two (2) pairs of flip-flops that I decorated with yarn.









PRIZE #1: If you agree to make a blanket for the Blankets of Belief drive and email me (or link to) a photo of your completed item, I will post it and at the end of the month we will have a contest to vote for the best blanket. Whoever gets the most votes in three days, will win a scarf and hat set (pictured above).

PRIZE #2: The person who makes the most blankets for the Blankets of Belief and shows me a photo of them, will get a scarf and hat set PLUS a pair of the flip-flops.

PRIZE #3: The first person who makes a Blanket of Belief AND a Blanket of Gratitude and shows me photos will receive a scarf and hat set PLUS a pair of the flip-flops.

SURPRISE PRIZE: For all others who don't win one of the three prizes mentioned, I will have a drawing and the randomly selected winner will get a special prize which will be revealed in the beginning of November.

Wait. We have a deadline. November 1, 2008. That means this is a 30-day challenge. You have to commit to your project, complete it and let me know the results in order to qualify for the prizes by the end of October. And you can spread the word on your blogs to help out with this challenge. Tell your church groups. Tell your bunco friends. Tell your quilting/sewing club. We have to get approximately 179,000 blankets made by November 1st and Soldiers' Angels will never meet that goal unless you tell others and get them involved. If you have posted this on your blog, be sure to let me know so I can recognize each one of you in a separate post. I'll do as much free promotion as I can.

This should be fun and heart-warming at the same time. Thanks so much for helping me with this endeavor! After all, it's the least we can do for our men and women in uniform. Who's with me? Will you accept this special mission? Will you commit to the Blankets of Belief challenge?

Blogging has been light because I'm working on some craft projects, a blogger challenge for a special charity and FREE PRIZES for you! All are tied in together. Stay tuned for lots of pictures, patterns and did I mention - PRIZES! Woo-hoo!

I should have the post up by tomorrow. (hopefully)

Here's a hint. It could possibly have something to do with warmth, appreciation and bravery.

The home where I grew up has a dark paneling all over the wall in the family room. The house is over 30 years old. The paneling has dark knots and texture throughout. The room is always so dark, until she opens the curtains which adorn the sliding glass doors.

My mother still lives in this house and is preparing it for sale on the market. (I'm trying to get her closer to me.) We both hate that paneling and it is one of the first things that people will see when looking at the home. There is large ceramic tiles on the floor and a brick fireplace. The tiles are a cream and beige neutral mix. (Sorry, I don't have actual photos to post. I'll try to get some later.) Here is a picture I found from Google images that resembles the wood on the walls and the tile on the floor.

I'm not an expert on these matters so I thought I would ask my readers for help. Should she do something about this paneling in order to get more money for the house? If so, should she paint it? Is that a difficult process? What are the options for dealing with 70's paneling? Or is it just not worth the investment? Have any of you done this? Pros and cons?

What do y'all think?

Last week I told you about a bridal shower that I was helping plan. I made the Mock Champagne Punch with the fruit ice ring. I also made chocolate-dipped strawberries with gourmet flair.

Let me tell you - the strawberries were the first to go. People were picking out the one they wanted from the trays before the bride-to-be even arrived! I kept hearing people saying how good they were and asking others if they already got one so they could go back for another. Ha! That makes me feel so good. :) I was even asked if I purchased them from a local gourmet candy store.

So here is the recipe:

Belle's Gourmet Strawberries

Ingredients:

2-3 large containers of fresh large strawberries, washed and dried
1 1b. package of milk chocolate flavored bark coating
1 lb. package of white chocolate flavored bark coating
1 package of mini-sized, semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-2 cups of chopped nuts
[wax paper for cooling]

Instructions:

Pick out the largest and freshest strawberries from your containers. Wash them the day before you plan to decorate and serve them. You need to allow enough time for them to be dry. I line cookie sheets with paper towels and place them on there to absorb some of the water and place them in the fridge to dry.

In a medium bowl, melt the milk chocolate bark in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir and then continue heating in 30 second intervals until thoroughly melted. In a separate medium bowl, melt the white chocolate bark in the same way. Be careful removing the bowls from the microwave, as they will be warm. [Note: The bark coating I use is purchased from Kroger and it comes in little trays that look like large ice cubes.]

While the chocolate is melting in the microwave, take two small bowls and place the chopped nuts in one and some of the mini chocolate chips in the other. Line at least two cookie sheets with wax paper.

For the striped strawberries, take each chilled and dried strawberry and alternately dip into one of the chocolate bowls and lay on the wax paper. You want to hold the strawberry by the leafy stems when you dip them so they don't get chocolate on them. You can place a toothpick horizontally through the top to dip if this is easier. I usually dip a couple of rows strawberries into the white chocolate, then a couple of rows of milk chocolate. Let sit until the surface of the chocolate strawberry no longer appears shiny (wet). Take a spoon and dip it into the opposing color chocolate and drizzle over the rows accordingly.



For the fancier strawberries, take each chilled and dried strawberry and alternately dip into one of the chocolate bowls (using the technique explained above), then roll the strawberry into the nuts and place on the wax paper. The mini chocolate chips are a bit more complicated. The weight of the chips on the melted chocolate tends to slide right off the strawberry when rolling them in the mini chocolate chips. You have to let the chocolate get a little tacky after dipping in the melted chocolate but not completely hardened. Then roll them in the chips. WARNING: This requires a bit more patience and takes more time.



Tips and Suggestions:

You can substitute the mini chocolate chips with chocolate sprinkles, colored sugars, or other similarly small, edible, decorating items. Some craft stores and Wal-Marts carry bags of colored chocolates that can be melted for candy decorating. You can choose the colors of the special event (yellow, purple and green for Mardi Gras for example, or the bride's wedding colors) to drizzle onto the striped gourmet strawberries. Lining each of your serving platters with a paper doily makes a pretty presentation. Try substituting other fruit, such as orange slices,dried apricots or apple wedges for a yummy alternative.

Here are the strawberries moments before they were all snatched up at the shower.




(I was so busy getting the other items set out on the tables and decorating that I forgot to take photos of the punch. Next time I make it, I promise photos.)