Toilet Paper Fabric Apple DIY Craft Project - Tutorial Tuesday

Do you have way too much toilet paper sitting around nowadays? Or do you have some you'd like to hide from everyone else? By looking at this apple you'd never know it really is a roll in disguise! No sewing is required for this quick and easy project.

Looking for more quick and easy sewing projects? 
Check out all the other free tutorials here at Deb's Days!

For this project you will need:

• a roll of toilet paper
• a piece of fabric measuring at least 18" x 18". (I'm using a fat quarter.)
• a scrap of green fabric. (I'm using a piece measuring 2.5" x 12" because it's all I had.)
• a twig, stick, or dowel

Looking for other fall ideas? Check out these projects?

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you sewing and crafting content.

You can find the step-by-step how to directions for this quick and easy stuffed fabric apple made from a roll of toilet paper right here:

Foster Kitten Friday

It has been another week of play hard/sleep hard in this foster kitty family. I gotta tell ya, Parsley and Rosemary are some kind of crazy girls.

This was the week of:
*Footwear thievery. Thinking about taking off your slippers while you have your feet up in the recliner? You might want to rethink that. For as soon as they come off, Rosemary will stick her head in one of them and slide around the living room with it.

Parsley will do the same.

Decide to switch to flip flops instead? Better not take those off, either. You'll find those shoes will somehow wind up all the way in the kitchen. Every. Single. Day.

*New toys. This week I bought some of these sparkle balls off of Amazon. They each picked a color and have been having a grand time running through the house with them in their mouths. But don't be surprised when you go to refill the water bowl and find one in there, soaking wet. Crazy girls.

*Bird watching. On the iPad, of course.

*Surprise attacks. When these two ladies start running and jumping and leaping and tumbling and sliding and...and...and... they are dang fast. Up and down, in and out, through and around. I even think sometimes they consider us to be cat trees. What a shock Parsley got when she ran straight up my legs and ran into my phone. I imagine my face looked just as shocked as hers did.

*Hair washing. When the gals finish eating their canned food they plop down on me to clean themselves. (Doesn't happen when they eat the hard food, though.) They clean themselves, my blanket, and my hands and arms and legs. And this week Rosemary decided to head to the top of my chair and work on my hair. Thanks for the wash, missy.

Want to help contribute to the work I do with foster kittens? I have an Amazon wish list right here. These are the things I use again and again, year after year. With daily laundry and frequent cleaning, items have to be replaced often. I’d love anything you’d be willing to send my way!

*Sleep. After hours of playing, they finally fall back asleep. When they sleep, they sleep hard and look pretty while they are at it.

Parsley

Rosemary

They are truly lap cats.

With each passing day, we know the time for them to head to their forever homes is getting closer. We'll have to say goodbye and will never get to see them again. But boy, what joy they have brought us these last couple months. 

Make a Quick & Easy Denim Heart Pillow - Tutorial Tuesday

For today's Tutorial Tuesday we are making a pretty quick and easy heart pillow out of denim. Yep, I'm still working off my old pair of jeans!

For this project you will need:

• 11" x 14" piece of denim, cut 2
• Polyester fiberfill
• Sturdy scissors
• Pins or Clover Wonder Clips
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread
• Rotary cutter
• Cutting ruler
• Cutting mat
• Heart pillow template downloaded from here 

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

Looking for something else? 

Check out some of my other Valentine's Day sewing and crafting projects!

Ready for the directions? You can find the how to tutorial video for the homemade denim heart pillow sewing project right here:

Looking for more sewing and crafting projects?
Check out all my free tutorials here!

Foster Kitten Friday

Did you know two little baby kitties are less work than four baby kitties? Oh, yeah. So. Much. Different.

With Sage and Thyme, the rambunctious boys, off to their forever homes we're down to just two girls - Parsley and Rosemary. Going from four to two kittens has meant fewer litter box changes, less food needing to be replenished, and not nearly as much laundry and cleaning to be done.

The girls have fallen into a schedule where they wake up before 6 AM, play hard, then take an afternoon nap before another playing-hard session. The energy these two have? Whew. Jumping and running and leaping and climbing and sliding. Oh, how they love running as fast as possible on the carpet before hitting the slippery kitchen floor. The legs inevitably go out from under them and they hit the refrigerator. The stove. The cabinet. And even each other. It's certainly fun to watch, but hard to capture with photos. I even tried getting them on video but I can't keep up with their speed.

It's just as fun to watch them when they sleep. The thing about raising bottle babies is they think their foster mama is their napping spot. If I'm in the recliner, I've got two girls with me. If I'm not in the recliner and it's their nap time, they take it and use it as their own.

Miss Parsley sleeping with her head up in the recliner. Crazy.

Miss Rosemary sleeping with her head over the side. Just as crazy.

They did think they might try out watching NASCAR over the weekend. 

Not sure if it was cars or cats with the loudest motors running.

They changed their minds about watching TV. Just a short 11 minutes later they looked like this:

It's so much easier to get pictures of them when they are asleep!

Something about kitties sleeping is calming, isn't it?

Yes, Parsley is sleeping upside down.

Want to help contribute to the work I do with foster kittens? I have an Amazon wish list right here. These are the things I use again and again, year after year. With daily laundry and frequent cleaning, items have to be replaced often. I’d love anything you’d be willing to send my way!

Now Rosemary is the one on her back.

Aren't they the cutest?

Another happy Foster Friday in this household!

How to Make a 4th of July Flag Large Hotpad - Tutorial Tuesday

As we approach the 4th of July, it's time for picnics and gatherings. Unfortunately, this year we may have to go with at-home socially-distanced versions. Even if it's just you and the members of your household, today's hotpad project made with red, white, and blue fabric strips can add a little festiveness to your holiday.

For this project you will need:

• 3 red fabric strips measuring 1.5" x 9"
• 4 red fabric strips measuring 1.5" x 16"
• 2 white fabric strips measuring 1.5" x 9"
• 4 white fabric strips measuring 1.5" x 16"
• 1 piece of blue fabric measuring 5.5" x 7.5"
• Backing fabric measuring 12" x 16"
• 2 pieces of cotton batting measuring 12" x 16"
• Basting spray
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• Matching thread
• Rotary cutter
• Cutting ruler
• Cutting mat
• Note: all fabric is 100% cotton

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

Looking for more potholder ideas? Check out some of my other projects!

You can find the step-by-step how to tutorial for the 4th of July flag large hot pad sewing project right here:

Deb's Pic a Day Project

I started this blog as a personal diary in 2011 during a rough patch in life. Out of work, in pain, without much hopefulness or thankfulness in my system. I knew then I needed something to get out of my rut so I set a goal. A picture goal. A take-a-picture-every-day-to-see-that-you-have-lived kind of goal. My intent was to take a picture each and every day for a year. In the end I wound up with 1000 straight days of pictures and stories. Then I moved on.

Over the course of the last several years the blog has morphed into many different things. Then with COVID-19 having closed down our schools and businesses while we sequestered in our homes, it seemed like the right time to shift back to the picture a day, at least temporarily. So Deb's Pic a Day Project Part II began. It lasted only 101 days, but it was long enough to help me refocus. Help bring me back to looking for new and interesting and beautiful things around me.

You can find Deb's Pic a Day Part I (that's the 1000 days one) right here.
You can find Part II (the pandemic one) right here.

Tip: As you're reading the posts, when you get to the bottom of the page click on “Newer Post” to get to the next day.

Happy reading!
Deb

Day 101 - The Long Haul

These last few months we've only been going out when absolutely necessary. Just doctor appointments and grocery pick ups (with one short visit to the home improvement store thrown in). We have not been inside a retail store, restaurant, or bar. No parks, trails, or campgrounds. To limit our exposure, we haven't even been able to hug our daughter.

With our outings confined to just the absolute necessities, we saw enough to know. Seeing as many people as we did crowded into spaces with no respect for social distancing and no masks being worn, we knew. 

We're in it for the long haul. 

We made it through several months already, but Mr. Ed and I are starting to mentally prepare ourselves for what is still to come. For the remainder of this year there will be no mall walks, no dining out, and no shopping in the stores. No traveling and no cruises. (Basically, many more months of the same.) Our county has become a hot spot and with the attitude of so many folks it's going to be that way for the foreseeable future. I'm afraid the behaviors of others will be impacting our lives for a long time to come. 

As we expect we'll need to stay away from the general public for many months more, we've started stocking up on food and supplies. We've started pacing ourselves with the home improvement projects. While we had been trying to get them all done in the summer, we are quite certain we need to save some for fall and winter to keep ourselves from going stir crazy.

I'm also needing to pace myself on the blog. I started back with my Picture a Day Project 101 days ago to get us through this time. Thought we'd be done by now, but boy was I wrong. As I can't see being able to find another 101+ days of pictures while still being stuck at home, this will be the last of the daily posts. I'll still be back on Tuesdays for the tutorials and Fridays with the foster kitties, though!

So as my last of the daily photos, today I took some that seemed to reflect the good/bad nature of life these days.

I came oh-so-close to grabbing this huge, nasty, ugly slug as I was picking the rhubarb this morning.

So GROSS!

Even if I had grabbed him, it might have been worth it. Okay, probably not. But if not for picking the rhubarb I wouldn't have made this delicious strawberry rhubarb pie. It is so good! (I have the recipe here, if you'd to make your own.)

Yummy

For some reason, wasps are making a nest in our sunflowers. I'm allergic to them (the wasps, not the sunflowers) so I really don't like them.

Caught ya in the act, buddy. Here comes the spray!

No more wasps means I can find yet another beautiful sunflower to take a picture of.

Having to be up before sunrise to feed kitties (ugh, I don't like mornings) means I get another beautiful sunrise picture.

Remember, tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to start over. I think we're all ready for a do-over, aren't we?

Thanks for following along with me these last 101 days. I'll see you back here on Tuesday for a new sewing project and Friday with foster kitties!
D