Love It: Photo Hooks

Photo Hooks
Originally uploaded by udandi.

Back in May, I bought these super strong magnetic hooks that can hold up to 7 pounds. Then I realized that they were peeling the paint off my fridge (think the landlord used regular paint to touch up my fridge or something). So now I've relocated them to my craft room door and hung photos from them.

The top frame is another inexpensive Ikea frame with a ribbon stapled to it. The side ones are swiss clip frames with the one on the right being a photo glued to a sheet of scrapbook paper and placed in the frame. The frame on the left has alphabeads glued on that say "sweetest thing" which is what I thought of that buddy when she was that age now, she's more like a drama queen - ha! ;)

Make It: Two-Paper Frame

Two paper Frame
Originally uploaded by udandi.

This is an inexpensive wood frame from Ikea that I painted orange because you can see the edges inside and out. Then, I glued (1/2 water, 1/2 white glue mixture) a sheet of scrapbook paper on top of the frame. Since I was using an odd size photo, I glued it to a piece of coordinating scrapbook paper and placed it inside the frame, under the glass. dunzo!

Love it: my new sewing machine

Sewing Machine
Originally uploaded by udandi.

My parents bought me* this Brother sewing machine from Overstock after I saw the recommendation on the Craft Zine blog. I searched online and found a coupon code so I got $11 off, then they ordered it on a Monday and it arrived on Thursday.

Last night, I finally had time to sit down with the directions and get to know my new machine and it is awesome! It is very easy to wind the bobbin, thread the machine and then the best part, you just press the button and it sews without the foot pedal, if you want.

I haven't finished a skirt, because I am working through the 60 stitches and then I'll get cranking on my skirts but so far it is a breeze to use and I like the other recommend it to beginning sewers.

*graduation gift :)

Libraries are wise investments

From a study in Pennsylvania:

Libraries in Cambria and Somerset counties do such a great job serving the needs of our region that it has been easy to take their values for granted.

Not anymore. Armed with the results of a statewide study conducted by the University of North Carolina, officials of our public libraries can now argue a return of $5.50 in benefits for every $1 in tax support.

A similar study was done for libraries in Southern Ohio, which found that:

the libraries’ cumulative expenditure of about $74 million returned a quantifiable direct economic benefit of $238.6 million—or $3.81 for each dollar expended in 2005.

Cincinnati among most expensive for commutes

Cincinnatians on average dedicate 20 percent of their total household costs to getting to and from work, making the city the sixth most expensive in the nation for commuting, thanks in part to its lack of light rail and other mass transit systems.

The ranking comes from Forbes magazine, which based its information on a study by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership, a nonprofit research firm that used 2003 Bureau of Labor Statistics data. According to the data, the annual delay per Cincinnati traveler is 30 hours.

Houston ranked as the most expensive commuting city, with travel taking up 20.9 percent of household costs. It was followed by Cleveland, Detroit, Tampa, Fla., and Kansas City, Mo.

Cincinnatians actually spend less than the national average on their commutes, Forbes reported, but it is still one-fifth of expenses.

[Source: Cincinnati Business Courier]

Pay Check City

my friend just sent me this web site, paycheckcity because am terrible at figuring out take home pay between different states. obviously this does not account for your medical or dental deductions, but gets you within the ballpark.

I thought it was rather fitting after having read the latest from the brazen careerist about five online financial tools to use with caution, including a salary calculator:

First of all, most comparison tools give you an average salary within a 25 percent margin of error. If you don't know what you're worth within a 25 percent margin of error, that's a problem.

Why not just compare salaries with friends who are in your field? If you're in a business in which you have no contacts, you're not worth the average amount anyway, because you're so ineffective at connecting with people around you that you're compromising your ability to add value to a company.

Library: Quotable Facts

I am assembling information and quotes for a library bulletin board highlighting the materials, services and general value of an academic library. Having a background in public relations I feel it should be one of our main responsibilities to promote our worth so that those who do not know or have not taken the time to understand what libraries do cannot make the decision to make cuts without full knowledge of our value.

I found the follow statistic that I want to use but I have a feeling but might blow the roof off this joint because who wants to faces how little money libraries get?

College libraries receive less than two cents of every dollar spent on higher education.

This one is also a little sad:

The number of librarians per 1,000 students enrolled in 2 and 4-year colleges and universities in the US dropped from 2.4 in 2000 to less than .5 in 2004.

[Source: ALA Office for Research & Statistics; ALA Public Information Office. Complied in 2006]

I do plan to use this quote as the centerpiece of my bulletin board.

"A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library. The library is the university." ~ Shelby Foote

I plan to start a new Flickr account for the photos of these displays along with creating a blog to highlight links to articles. It is all part of my plan PR plan for this library and I really cannot fail since they have never had one!

Love It: Giant Cupcake Pan

not martha posted about Wilton's giant cupcake pan. I hope my sister-in-law who likes to decorate cakes invests in one of these since $28 is a little too spendy for me, not to mention I would never be able to make it look as pretty!

P.S. while you are over at not martha, check out this wedding invite she got - so clever!

Free Stuff: Folgers Gourmet Selections

Finally some of these companies are catching on! After I filled out this form for my mom, who is a coffee drinker, there was an option to post the code to a free sample on my blog!

And there it is, to get your sample click on the image.

Make It: A Skirt

I was working on a round-up posts of skirts for my own reference and then a while back Craft Zine linked to one, but I'll keep what I started on...

Drafting a skirt pattern

Free Skirt pattern

Circle skirt tutorial

for kids

Sunny Day Dress & Top

I might get my skirt made in the new few weeks. With summer winding down, I am reluctant to sit inside puttering away on the sewing machine when I can be outside enjoying the sunshine!

Free Stuff: Listerine Whitening® Quick Dissolving Strips

I like Listerine products and like using the whitening pre-brush rinse so I was excited to be invited* try the dissolving whitening strips.

I just received my package the other day so I have only tried them a few times and it was odd at first because I was not sure how long it would take for them to dissolve. They take longer than the dissolving breath strips. I cannot tell if my teeth are getting whiter from this, because of the rinse, because I am not drinking coffee, tea or soda or because it is summer so I'm a little more bronzed.

What I do know is that because the strips are decently sized, I could cut one in half length-wise and use it for both top and bottom teeth. So a box of 56-count strips could be stretch if one is thinking $24 (before $3 off coupon) is a little spendy.

If you are interested, Walmart has a free sample.


*If you are interested in trying products by becoming a word of mouth marketer, email your name to udandi AT gmail DOT com and I will send you an invite

Free Stuff: iPod Nano from Key Bank

My Money Blog posted about another free iPod Nano from Key Bank.

I opened an account back in November and got my Nano, which I love to fill up with podcasts and listen to at pool and when I workout.