The most amazing post ever

Smile! Life is fun.

My husband complains that I speak in absolutes. That is just me. I like to use expressive words like, the greatest, best, wonderful, and worst. There are some things that fall in the middle, but if they are just mediocre, I don't think twice about them. That said, I am so excited about the upcoming Tutorial Tuesday. I think it is going to be the greatest new adventure. I have some really fun ideas in the works. The first couple of tutorials will be all about re-purposing t-shirts. See you tomorrow.

Tutorial Tuesday

I am on a quest to learn as much as I can. It is important to exercise your body as well as you brain. With that thought, I came up with Tutorial Tuesday. Every Tuesday I will be posting a tutorial on something new. The tutorials will be mostly focused on re-purposing, but I may throw a couple of different things your way. I have some fun stuff planned, so make sure you tune in every Tuesday.

Here is an example of a tutorial I wrote a year ago about composting. 

Simple Composting

Materials needed: compost bin, browns, greens

What are browns and greens?
Browns (carbon) - these are leaves, very small twigs, dryer lint, hair (animal or human), paper, card board, hair
Greens (nitrogen) - non meat by products, fruits, vegetables, egg shells

You can use a commercial compost bin or a large plastic container. I would recommend a large bin if you have 2 or more people in your household. The large plastic container would be good for a 1 person household. I would also recommend a container that will allow you to stir the contents easily.

Standard composter

Tumbler composter

Location, location, location
A good spot for the bin would be close enough to the house so you will be inclined to dump your stuff, but not too close to the house just in case it smells. Behind a garage or down wind of the house works best.

Outdoor stuff
Walk around your yard and collect leaves, mulch, small twigs (do not put a lot of twigs in the compost it will take forever to break down! I did this the first year I composted. A pain in the butt.) Throw that stuff in the bin.

Kitchen scraps
Designate a container in your house for your veggie food scraps. I try to dump my household scraps everyday, but of course I am not that dedicated, especially in the winter. Don't be lazy like me and put your kitchen compost scraps in the freezer, just go ahead and take it to the compost bin. I have since stopped doing that because I would end up with a freezer full of banana peels. Geez!!

Basement lint
I have the hardest time remembering to save my dryer lint. I just put a bucket next to my dryer to help me remember.

Misc stuff to add
**I collect my dogs hair after I brush him. He likes the brushing and doesn't mind sharing some of his excess hair.
**hair from my hair brush
**I tear up the card board inside of toilet paper rolls
**paper bags
**paper napkins and paper towels that do not have any meat products on them

Let's speed up the process (For more tips....Make better compost)
If you are in a hurry to produce some brown goodness, then you will need to be more exact about what you add to the bin. You will need a good ratio of browns to greens. Technically, it should be 30:1. I think this is hard because I typically have more greens than browns. If you add too many greens the compost will smell. Yuck! If you add too many browns it will take a long, long time to compost. 

A couple of tips;
**Water the bin. If I know it is going to rain, I will take the lid off my bin or I will empty the old ice out of the ice maker into the bin. You want the compost to be moist, but not soaking wet.

**Keep it hot. A covered bin is better for maintaining a warm temperature.

**Do not put weeds or other plants in the bin unless you want to grow weeds everywhere you deposit your compost.

**No dog or cat poop. You don't want to contaminate the compost with intestinal parasites.

**Stirring the mix every couple weeks will allow air to circulate so bacteria can thrive.


What is the most creative things you have added to your compost bin?  Q-tips, I got that idea from Recycle bank. What about you?

Things I love

I found some really cool stuff online, and I like to share things that I have learned, so here we go. Hope you enjoy my current love's.

Wine cork planters

I love succulents because you can forget about them and they will be okay. Water them once a month or every couple of months and they still survive!!  This tutorial by Jannicake demonstrates how to plant the succulent buds in wine corks. I haven't tried this yet, but it is on my "to do" list.




Tutorial and picture by Jannicake

Pretty purse

The Grandview bag

I am a sucker for cute purses, so of course, I really liked this one. You can't go wrong with ruffles.
Tutorial and picture by The Boy Trifecta












The 1 minute chocolate cake by Chocolate-Covered Katie.
I made this single serving cake everyday for an entire week, it was delicious. I was thinking about mixing the dry ingredients and putting it in a container, then when I wanted cake I would just need to add the wet ingredients. Okay, so I have an addiction to chocolate. I also have made the flourless chocolate chip cookies, which were very yummy.

Check back next month for more "Things I love". Let me know if you make any of these things I've posted. I want to know how they worked for you. Have fun.

The one cold day of winter

I found some pictures from the holiday City Flea . It was a beautiful winter day, with lots of people dressed as Santa. 

We featured patchwork stocking at the Flea. They were a hit.

Thank goodness for the outdoor heaters and Coffee Emporium, it was just a little chilly.

New space

This month, we welcomed a new house guest, my brother. He moved into my sewing room, so I had to find a new workspace. I am currently sharing the computer room with my husband. My husband designated this room as the disaster area. He liked it the way it was, messy. Since it was an unorganized room, I had to create some inspiration and order in my corner of the room.

I purchased some cork squares and stick on flower decals from the craft store. I typically dislike the stick on decals, but I kind of liked these flowers and sometimes you just have to try new things. I also used a bookshelf as a room divider. I covered the back of the bookshelf with a table cloth.

Here is the final product.

My new space inspired me to make some neck tie bags and a shoulder sling bag!

Market Side Mercantile

You may be wondering what we have been up to this winter? Here is a preview of some new stuff.

Shoulder bag made from a re purposed tent. I love the pattern and the red button. 

Ipad bag!

Piecing together a new tie purse.

We recently found a great new store in Northside called Market Side Mercantile. The concept of the store is re purposing, so it is perfect for our stuff. Currently, they have some of our wrist purses, aprons, and reversible shoulder bags. Stop by and give this local business some love.

What's holding you back?

It is easy to become comfortable with daily life, but maybe not really enjoying the life that you have chosen. Sometimes, you are forced into a lifestyle that doesn't reflect your true self. Ask yourself what you really want out of life and don't be afraid to go after your dream. Today, I read an article about letting go and going after you true desires. This article inspired me to define the things that are holding me back from being the best me I can be, so I wish the same for you. Hope you are inspired too.

http://www.positivelypositive.com/2012/02/05/letting-go/

Even kids like aprons

Our most recent custom order was for a children's birthday party. The theme of the party was baking, so we were asked to make aprons for each of the kids. The aprons turned out adorable and the kids look like they had a lot of fun at the party.

The evolution of baby TIto

I was looking through my pictures today and decided to make a Tito collage. Enjoy the cute puppy pictures. He will be 3 years old next month. Where has the time gone.

Here he is all grown up!

Time for holiday shopping

The Seasonably Chic Showcase is just 2 weeks away. This is a great opportunity to get all you holiday shopping done early. We were apart of this event last year and had a blast. When you register tell them that you heard about the showcase from Purdy Everyday. Also, the entry fee is a canned good or non perishable item that will be donated to the Freestore Food Bank.

We are excited to feature our window treatments at the showcase. We will have a display of the Purdy Roman blinds for customers to admire.


Last Thursday we had a couple of our purses features on Fox 19 News. The segment was a sneak peak at some of the goodies that will be available at the showcase. Click here to watch.

Inspiration

With the change in season I find it easy to get inspired. The leaves changing colors, the evening sunsets, the pumpkins and Holiday decorations. What inspires you?

My inspiration today is from a lovely maternity dress that I am going to re purpose into a scarf. Thank goodness I don't need that dress anymore.

It is done

With much pain, sweat, and tears the new Purdy website is now up and running. I had been working on the site for a couple of weeks, but I just couldn't decide on the color scheme. Then one day, when I was shopping, I found inspiration. On a lonely shelf at Anthropology, I found an adorable set of bath towels. They were way too expensive for me to purchase, so I thought maybe I could take some inspiration from them. The towels were gray and mustard yellow, kind of reminded me of the 1960's. I liked the way the colors complemented each other. Which, by the way, I love the way people dressed in that era. My quest for the perfect color scheme was finished. Anyway, stop by the site and let me know what you think. Visit us at www.purdyeveryday.com

One persons junk is another persons treasure

I grew up in an area of town that is called "the boonies". That translates to living out on a farm with not many neighbors. In this rural area, trash was trash. You put out your trash the night before and the garbage collectors would pick it up in the morning. Since childhood, I have moved much closer to the city. I love every moment of the melting pot and new experiences. One experience would be the friendly people that scavenge on trash night. Every week, we have folks that drive down the street looking for treasures at the curbside. Some are modest but most are very open about what they are doing, and will pick through your garbage right in front of you. So when I had a piece of furniture that I did not need anymore I didn't feel too bad about putting it out for the garbage. It took about 45 minutes and someone was stopping in front of my house to load up the cabinet. My husband even when out to help the man load it into his truck. I was glad that someone found my unwanted piece of furniture as something that was wanted.

Cleaning out the unwanted items in my house has been a welcome occurrence lately. Getting rid of things that just collect dust is one of my favorite things. I sometimes keep things that have a sentimental value rather than enjoying them for the time being and then purging them when the time is right. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in such a short amount of time. For the time being, I am free of some of the items that clutter my world.
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Behle Street Revisited

Recently, Christina and I visited our friends at Behle Street Cafe to checkup on our aprons and to take some pictures.

The girls said, "We get lots of compliments on the aprons and they are reversible!"  We love to hear that. Probably one of the best things is that each apron is different so the staff can express their individuality!

Behle Street Cafe is such a cute restaurant with an old world charm and decor, great outdoor seating and yummy food.  Stop by and say "hi" to the staff and tell them how much you like their aprons!

Missing in action

The past couple of month, nine to be exact, have been filled with lots of new and exciting stuff. Purdy has been alive and strong but kind of on the back burner because a new addition that will be joining us in the next couple of weeks. I am expecting a baby boy to be born August 23rd, so the Purdy family has been busy prepping for the big day.

Christina and I have lots of fun stuff planned for this fall...so don't think we have bailed out. We are still here working diligently to plan a fabulous fall line of aprons and bags, as well as, personalized window treatments and more community classes. Hopefully, things will be back to normal in a couple of months.

Come visit us this Sunday at  Sunday at Second Sunday on Main. We will be featuring our window treatments and purses made out of fabric from St. Theresa's Trove. See you Sunday!

Happy Purdy People

We love to see smiling faces!

This Friday

  Friday marks the first Indie Craft Show on Fountain Square. There will be music, food and shopping, guaranteed to be a fun event. We will be there 5-11 with lots of aprons and clutches for sale. Stop by and say "Hi"

What's coming up?

We have been busy this year making window treatments and custom aprons for some local restaurants, but what is next you may ask? The summer is filled with great local summer events, featuring unique artists and yummy food! Of course, Christina and I will be frequenting the ever popular Second Sunday's on Main in Over the Rhine, but first up is the Yellow Springs Street Fair. If you are not familiar with Yellow Springs, then you are missing out. This little town is home to Antioch College. It is an eclectic, artsy area of Ohio, that features some great restaurants and unique shopping experience. If you like the outdoors, just up the road is the local Bike Trail and John Bryan State Park.

June 11th..... Yellow Springs Street Fair
June 12th, July 10th, August 14th, September 11th, October 9th.... Second Sunday on Main
November 5th..... Seasonably Chic Showcase

We are at Behle Street Cafe

Christina designed some ultra cute aprons for the staff at Behle Street Cafe, located in Covington Kentucky. They wanted something fun and different. So stop into the cafe and enjoy a bowl of Cajun Bayou Linguine and check out the aprons.

If you really love the aprons, they are also available for purchase, just ask the staff at Behle Street for details or contact us at purdyeveryday@gmail.com

New stuff and some old

Large spring clutch

Lime green and purple arm bag

The ever popular evening clutch