How to Become a Handmade Domestic Goddess: Pt 2

So as you might have seen yesterday here and here, I’m being a bit lazy this week since I’m hosting two parties. My Must Make Monday list is being stretched out into a week long list. Make sure to come back tomorrow for Pt. 3!

Today I’ve got a couple of tips for you to help on your quest to become a Handmade Domestic Goddess. Even if you have no intention of reaching Goddess status, these tips are handy for anyone!

We are paying homage to a few of the great today. Starting off is none other than Martha Stewart herself. There is no way you can have avoided going to her site or reading her magazines or seeing her TV shows, but here is a great little tip that I can’t help but share and hopefully its one you haven’t seen before.

Martha shows us the best way to clean cast iron pans. I actually learned this one from Hubs. Anything to do with salt and he knows about it. I’m not even kidding!

This one from Real Simple was a new one for me, but what a great idea for keeping your stovetop clean!

I LOVE to bake, but my cake decorating skills are horribly lacking. This tip from Country Living is one I’ll definitely be using in the future. Maybe even today!!

Stay tuned for more great tips all you Handmade Domestic Goddesses you!

Must Make Monday – Santa’s Little Helper

It’s not too late! There’s still plenty of time to make your kiddo or loved one something special for the holidays. Check out some of the tutorials I’m considering using.

Chez Beeper Bebe – A Dozen Animal Sewing Cards

Halloween Decoration Tutorials

This one is for my friend Cory. She and her roomies, the Scrapa Scrapa Scrapas are having a super fun sounding Halloween party and I’m the lame-o Mama who can’t attend. Boo! So for those of you hosting Halloween parties or for those who just love the holiday as much as I do, here are some creative spooktacular holiday decorations. 

Our Best Bites – Shrunken Apples

Tuesday Tutorials: the Halloween Costume Addition

Local Mama and Craftzine contributor Susan Beal gives us this awesome Yoda costume tutorial. Pearl looks so cute! Great job, Susan!!

Inspiration Wednesday – In the Neighborhood

Collette Patterns are supper sweet!
Sarai Mitnick has designed classic, vintage inspired pieces for women size 0-18 to make, wear, and adore for years. This is one of those situations where I’m sitting around really cherishing the experience of finding something new and then I roll it around and discover it comes from my own back yard. Sarai is a Portland girl, too! What can I say, Portland rocks! 🙂 Continuing on with that theme…

… there’s Emily Martin from Black Apple. I’ve loved her work for a couple of years now after discovering her illustrations on Etsy while I was decorating the nursery for my first daughter, Pannonica.

These are some of her new dolls. You might have seen her on the Martha Stewart show awhile back making dolls. She is another Portland, gal. Yay! I just love her work and am seriously considering trying to sew one of those dolls myself.

She also, I’m just discovering, has a fashion blog called Some Girls Wander by Mistake. So glad I decided to write this post, because now I have some new inspiration, too! Hope that gets you over the hump, happy crafting!