Joyful Abode

I made this by embroidering on foam:

And then I scanned it and made it into this:

Which you can get by clicking here: download free valentine card. (The inside says “Just sayin’…”)

Just open the PDF and print it out, then fold it into a card. I don’t have borderless printing, so I had to trim mine a bit, but that’s ok. And if you have a borderless printer, lucky you! You won’t have to do a thing!

Enjoy! Let me know who you plan to give yours to.

There’s a fantastic giveaway going on at The Apronista!

Deanna and Eren will each send the winner one of their own vintage aprons, and the winner will also receive an autographed copy of “The Apron Book.” Now, I already have that book, but I would trade it out for an autographed copy in a second.

In case you’re not familiar with the book, in the words of …Barnes and Noble? (well, from their site anyway)

Vintage aprons and modern designs are turning up in movies, magazine spreads, upscale shops, and hip retail venues like Anthropologie, whose trendy line of aprons is selling as fast as they can stock them. The Apron Book is an infectiously enthusiastic guide to aprons, old and new, that are suddenly everywhere.

Aprons take us back to our favorite place, hearth and home. Vintage aprons help us remember home and family the way they used to be, while bright and sassy contemporary aprons confirm that nesting is all the rage. Actress and trendsetter Julia Roberts has a closetful of vintage aprons. Celebrity custom-made apron auctions have become an annual event for several popular charities in the past few years.

The Apron Book provides full-color photos of new and vintage aprons from the author’s collection, patterns for four basic apron styles and myriad variations, recipes, tips on collecting and preserving vintage aprons, and heart-tugging stories from the author’s traveling apron exhibit. The book also explores the heyday of aprons and looks at the various roles aprons still play when worn in the kitchen, around the house, by the backyard grill, on the job, and for special occasions.

Warm and inviting (but like an apron quite practical!) this book is a celebration of a great American icon and reminds us of what we loved about the people who wore them.

Anyway, it’s a fantastic book… and could be yours (or mine) along with 2 vintage aprons, just by commenting on the Contest post at Apronista.

Check out this fantastic tutorial for cocktail napkins at The Purl Bee. You could do these for any holiday or any time of year.

Sewing Stars has posted a cutesie little skeleton that you can print and cut out. If you put it together with brads, it’s movable. I think it would look really cute in a little apron.

My Paper Crane has made some adorable printable Halloween garland along with a smaller version that can be used as sucker toppers.

And this one’s not Halloweeny, but Turkey Feathers has a tutorial up for a beautiful Autumnal patchwork pillow (again, of course you can adapt it to different seasons).

Check out the Joyful Abode coloring contest entries, too! We’ve got FIVE entries now, so the contest is officially on. If you want to get in on the action, submit your entry by the end of Monday, October 29th. After that, the race to 13 votes commences. 

Almost two weeks ago, I posted about a Halloween coloring contest here at Joyful Abode.

Since then, I have received… zero entries!
So I am amending the contest. If there are fewer than FIVE (5) entries submitted by the deadline (October 29th), the contest will be called off. If five or more entries are submitted, the winner will be announced when one picture receives 13 votes or more, or the deadline occurs, whichever happens later.

I took a few copies of the coloring page to the preschool class (where I am the assistant teacher), and I tried to get the kids to help me figure out the lack of interest.

I said to each child, one-on-one, “I drew this picture and gave it to a lot of people, but no one wanted to color it! What do you think is wrong with my picture? Why doesn’t anyone like it?”

(All children’s names have been changed to protect the REAL kids in the school. Just in case.) 

Nate said, “The bat isn’t black.” Then, when I explained to him that it was the color-er’s job to make the bat black, he reconsidered and speculated, “Maybe ’cause everybody don’t like spiders.”

Aiden plainly said, “It’s too scary.”

Julie-Ann said, “Well I like it!”

Kenny’s answer was, “I don’t know. Hey, I like it! I can draw (color) it for you. Want me to show you how?

Russel said, “Because the ghost can’t move. It’s stuck.”

Samuel’s answer was, pointing to the grave, “I think it’s ’cause that think’s broke.”

Mary Ann, the sweetheart, said, “Nothing’s wrong with it. I like it.”

Basat’s answer was a very grumpy,  “Because you make it not good.” Then he pointed out all of the things that weren’t good in the picture one by one, which ended up being everything.

After these conversations, several of the children asked for their own page to color. Their pictures really turned out well.

I actually haven’t carved pumpkins this year yet. I’m going to wait a bit longer so that the pumpkins don’t rot before Halloween, BUT… I wrote up this tutorial last year, and I thought it would be helpful to some people who might be reading Joyful Abode this year.

Before:

The pumpkin awaits its transformation. Tools await their destiny.

Step 1: Cut a lid. Make a notch in the back, so that you can easily replace it the right way.
Mine’s bleeding!

Step 2: Remove the lid and cut off all the nasty stringy stuff.

Step 3: Scrape out all the gooey stuff from the inside. Save it so you can get the seeds for baking!

Step 4: After everything is all scraped out, tape your pattern to the pumpkin. If you are drawing it on, go ahead and do that instead. I made mine in paint and printed it out. If you like my jack-o-lantern carving template, it’s available in free stuff.

Step 5: Use a poker (a toothpick or a seam ripper would work if you don’t have one just for pumpkins) to poke holes around your pattern lines. If you drew on your pumpkin, you can skip that.

Then remove your pattern.
It’s hard to see the pokey holes, isn’t it?

Step 6: Rub flour into the holes so you can see them. Wipe off excess with a damp paper towel or sponge.

Step 7: Carve away! Start with the smallest holes, then proceed to bigger ones. This will help keep the stability of the whole thing as you cut.

Step 8:
Light with a tea light, and turn off the lights! (I rubbed cinnamon onto the underside of my lid, so that when I burn the candle the room smells yummy.)

This is a really cute box template I found, and I added illustrations to it to make it Halloweeny. It’s a milk carton style box that would be perfect for filling with candy for party favors or small gifts. I hope you enjoy it! The template is in free stuff.

It’s just print, fold, and glue!

I love Autumn, October, and Halloween. So in honor of these three times of year, I am hosting a Joyful Abode Halloween Coloring Contest.

The winner will receive a lucky (or is it unlucky) $13.13 gift code for Joyful Abode!

Currently, the shop is full of lovely aprons, and soon we’ll be adding some supplies for sewing-type folks!

So… are you ready?

Step 1: Save the coloring page to your hard drive. Please click here to download the large version.

Step 2: Color it. You can print it, color it with crayons, markers, pastels, or paints, and scan it back in if you’d like. Or you can use a Photoshop-esque program to color it digitally.

Step 3: Email it to me at emily at joyfulabode dot com (please in .jpg or .gif format). Feel free to include a little blurb about yourself or about how you colored your picture. I’ll include it in the description when I post the entries.

Step 4 (really a step for me, not for you): I put every entry into the flickr album for the contest (with your blurb if you wrote one).

Step 5: Tell your friends to vote on your entry by commenting on flickr with their choice. Remind them that only one vote will count per voter!

Step 6: Wait until the winner is announced on Monday, October 29th!

I can’t wait to see the creative ways you color your pictures!

PS: I’ll accept submissions until the contest is over, but the sooner you submit your entry, the more time you have to garner votes for your picture. Only one entry per person, please!

Thinking about starting your own blog or website?

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(You can see the chart better at my flickr.)

Dreamhost.com is a great webhost… I’ve been using them for years with no problems. Customer service is always quick, and they are very patient with non-code-savvy people (like me).

When you sign up for hosting with them, you may use a discount code that another user creates through their rewards program. Most people set theirs to be 50 dollars off, so they can keep some of the reward money. I’ve maxxed out the discounts for you (as shown in the chart).

Why? Because that makes my discount code The Very Best… so you get the best deal. Seriously? A year of hosting for less than 25 dollars? Awesome.

And if you refer someone, I get $5 because it’s a second-level referral. So I only get reward money if you refer someone, and you win by getting the very best deal on webhosting. (And you can make your own 97-dollars-off coupon code too, to do the same thing).

Promo Code: JoyfulMax

How to boil an egg: Colored Wallpaper
Click to download 1024 x 768

How to boil an egg: Color your own Wallpaper
Click to download 1024 x 768

These will also be in the “Free Stuff” section. Should I make more things like this? Would you be interested?

Also, if you color the “Color your own” version, post it in the comments so everyone can see!