How To Meditate

  How do we meditate? Well, I have got some tips for everyone interested in meditation!

How to Meditate:

Meditation is simple (but harder) than most people think. Read these steps, make sure you’re somewhere where you can relax into this process, set a timer, and give it a shot:

1. Take a seat

• Find a place to sit that feels calm and quiet to you.

2. Set a time limit

• To begin your journey it can help to choose a short time, such as five or 10 minutes.

3. Notice your body

• You can sit in a chair with your feet on the floor, sit loosely cross-legged, and kneel all are fine. Make sure you choose a stable position that will allow you to be there for a while.

4. Feel your breath

• Follow the sensation of your breath as it goes in and out.

5. Notice when your mind has wandered

• Inevitably, your attention will leave and wander to other places. When you notice that your mind has wandered, in a few seconds, a minute, or five minutes, return your attention to the breath.

6. Be kind to your wandering mind

• Don’t judge yourself or obsess over the content of the thoughts you find yourself lost to. Just come back.

7. Close with kindness

• When you’re ready, gently lift your gaze (if your eyes are closed, open them). Take a moment and notice any sounds in the environment, and how your body feels your thoughts and emotions.

How To Clean Up Makeup Brushes

 Lets talk about our makeup brushes shall we! So do you keep your makeup brushes and reuse them over and over again? If so here are a few tips for you to help keep your brushes good longer.

Quick-cleaning with a spray:

1. Spray your brush a few times, with the heads pointing down to prevent any moisture from seeping into the glue.
2. Swirl your brush against a clean cloth or paper towel to loosen up the pigments.
3. Air-dry your brushes on a flat surface.

Quick-cleaning with a liquid cleaner:

1. Fill a small bowl with a thin layer of the solution (for super-concentrated options like Cinema Secrets, less is more).
2. Dip the tip of your brush into the solution.
3. Gently run your brush back and forth on a clean paper towel or a microfiber towel until all the product buildup is loosened up and your brush feels clean.
4. Air-dry your brushes on a flat surface.

Deep-cleaning with soap and water:

1. Holding your brushes with the bristles facing down, gently run lukewarm water in the sink and wet the tips of the bristles. 
2. Add a drop of your soap of choice to a textured cleansing pad (or even something like your palm), and swirl the brush into the soap until it’s fully lathered up and any pigment or dirt is removed. Or, if you’re using a bar soap, gently rub your makeup brush or sponge into the soap, creating a lather.
3. Gently squeeze your makeup brush or sponge to remove any excess cleanser or water.
4. Rinse again with clean water, with the bristles facing downward. 
5. Gently squeeze out any excess water, and mold your bristles back into place so they will dry correctly.
6. Lay your brushes flat to dry on a towel or paper towel. 
7. Want to speed up the drying? You can direct the breeze from a fan at your makeup brushes. Just make sure that you’re avoiding heat from devices like hair dryers, which can dry out the bristles.

Tips For Keeping Stress Down During The Holidays

Don't Binge:

It's perfectly fine to indulge a little during the festivities. In fact, it's impossible not to give in when you're surrounded by deliciousness! But remember that to much of something good is a bad thing in the long run.

It's Okay To Have A Moment:

Families around the world have lost people right before, during, or right after the holidays. Take a moment to realize that those wonderful people are gone but remember all the great times that you had together and instead of being sad that their not around for the holidays anymore, show a smile for all the times you had together because truly that is what they would have wanted. They would have wanted to hear the laughs and seen the smile and don’t forget the little accidents that the little one had.

Have Mercy On Yourself: 

First, you are only one person and you can’t do everything in a day without running yourself crazy. Second, I understand that most of us moms think that we are SUPERMOM but over the holiday season it’s best to stop thinking that way and be nice to ourselves. Trying the do everything is only going to cause major stress and a million headaches.

Make Amends: 

There is no better time of the year to forgive and forget. Even if you don’t want to do this it will make you feel better about yourself and you’ll be better in the long run for it.

Make A Budget:

To anyone who has loved ones getting gifts is important to them. During holidays make a budget for what you can afford to spend not based on what everyone wants. If you have a budget of $ 200 for 5 people then you don’t spend $100 of that on one person just because they want a certain thing or certain brand of something. Family and friends will understand that you had to follow a budget and will like the things they get just because you still thought of them. Try dollar stores, goodwills, salvation army, garage or yard sale to buy things.  A lot of times you can find really good stuff that people will like at these places and you won’t have to stress about going over you budget. Another option is to DIY Christmas gifts if you have the time. ( Pintrest)

SEEK A FRESH PERSPECTIVE:

Change the way you do things. Find easier options for all the things that you need to do for the holiday season. (Pintrest) Look up ideas to make things easier for yourself.

DROP EXPENSIVE, HIGH-STRESS RITUALS:

If your spending extra money, time, and sanity to keep up with traditions then find a cheaper, time saving, and sanity keeping way to do those things or find a new tradition to start and drop the old one if it isn’t to sentimental.

FOCUS ON WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT:

If it helps you make a list of the most important things first and while you make this list ask your self how important it actually is. While making this list you may be surprised that somethings can be totally left out, done an easier way or just left for later. 

REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN:

Don't forget that the holiday is a time for family, friends and fun. If you can make decorating the house or cooking the holiday meal fun then do so. Having fun and laughing will help you keep the stress away.

HOLD ON TO DAILY  SCHEDULES/RITUALS:

If you always get up in the morning and start cleaning or planning or working out then stick to that. Don’t change what you already do just because its the holidays. If you change the way you usually do things it will leave you feeling like your missing something or you’ll just feel bad in the end. So do what you usually do first then start on the holiday stuff.

SCHEDULE A BREAK:

Take a ten minute break just to sit down and breathe. Meditate for ten minutes about things that make you smile and you’ll feel better afterwards.

DO SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY:

Take a little time away from all the holiday craziness. Take a drive to Starbucks and treat yourself to your favorite coffee, read a book, listen to your favorite music while taking a relaxing bath. Anything that will take your mind off the holiday stuff will help keep your stress down.

REQUEST GIFT WRAPPING:

Stores don't always publicize this service, so be sure to ask. There are some sites that will do gift wrapping and personal messages for a small fee such as Amazon.com. In using these services it helps you save time and keeps you from stressing about if you have time to get everything wrapped.

MAKE A GAME PLAN FOR THE MALL:

Ok, so have a plan for the mall that you can go by. My main plan for the mall is “ Don’t Go”. There is absolutely no reason for you to have to walk around the mall for hours looking for gifts. If you need gifts from the mall then go to the specific store website, buy it, and have it shipped to your house. On another note, if you can’t find what you need on the website then shop around on the internet for the same item and at the same time cheaper prices then you can still avoid going to the mall all together.

DON'T HESITATE TO ASK FOR HELP:

Everyone needs help from time to time so on the holidays ask for help from family and friends to get ready for the big day.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TIME-SAVERS:

Order foods that are already made and if you want to make it look like you cooked it then just put it all in containers you have at home.

KNOW WHEN TO SAY NO:

First, don’t commit to anything that you aren’t positive you can handle. Second, say no to anything that will cause you unnecessary stress.

USE WHAT'S ON HAND:

Take the photos out of your everyday frames and replace them with leftover wrapping paper, gift bags, or printables. Put the frames back in their original places and you’ve got a nice centerpiece

USE THE 10-30 MINUTE RULES:

Sure, you want your home to look great for guests, but don't fall prey to holiday house fever. That’s when you try to make everything perfect instead use the 10-30 minute rule. Do not do anything that will take more than a half-hour to do. The goal is to make the house look nice, not like a museum.

Final Note: I hope this helps someone have a stress free or less stressful time during the holidays. Please try to make things easier on yourself this holiday season and don’t forget to have a little fun.

Meal Planning

 As moms we are always busy, tired, and we still have to figure out what we’re cooking for supper each night. Or we need to figure out our kids lunches and snacks for the week. I have found a great way to help moms out with that little problem. The reason I chose this particular on is simply because it helps moms make a meal, snack, or lunch plan from what you already have inside your home as well as what you might need to buy. I think we can all agree that food is not cheap these days and if we can use what we already have and only have to add a few things, then it not only makes it easier on us as moms but it will also help us save a little time and money in the end.

I found this planning idea on a website that I recently visited (can’t remember which one, sorry!) Anyways, if you look at it you can see that everything was put into categories which will make it simpler to go by as you do your own.  In the first part of the list you would put what you already have on hand, the second is breakfast options, third and fourth you have lunch and dinner options, and then the fifth and sixth you have the snack option and the whats needed list. I have found that if I do this at the beginning of each week the better it works for me ( usually Monday sometimes Sunday night if I have time). Good luck with your planning and I hope this helps a mom or to out!

DIY Wide Leg Pants

How to Make Paper Bag Pants

For this project, we will only be using the leg portion of our DIY palazzo pant pattern. Set the waistband aside.


Cut 2 leg pieces from the DIY Palazzo Pant Pattern and fold in half, right sides together. Pin along the outside seam all the way up the leg.

Use a standard straight stitch to sew up the entire length of the leg. From here, you will have 2 separate leg pieces that look like long tubes.

Attach the two leg pieces by pinning the center front together and working your way around the crotch until you line up the center back. Make sure the “right sides” of fabric are facing each other, or the sides that you want to show when you are finished with your pants.

Now it’s time to get creative and make the paper bag waistline! Slide your unfinished pants on to be sure the hips are wide enough (they may look like clown pants at this point-stay with me.) If your pants are big enough to pull on comfortably, then take them off and lay your pants flat on a table.


To create the paper bag waistband, measure the distance of the top of your pants and double that measurement so your waistband can circle your pants. Add 1 1/2″ for seam allowance and some extra room. Write that number down.

Now that you know the measurement of your new waistband, it’s time to cut! Cut a long rectangle 6″ tall and your new measurement wide. Fold the long rectangle in half hot-dog style and start pinning around the top of your pants beginning at the center front.

Once your basic waistband is sewn in place, iron it flat and tuck in the extra seam allowance. Your paper bag pants should be looking similar to this:

The last step in creating the paper bag waist of your pants is to top-stitch a straight line 1″ above the seam of your 3″ waistband. This creates the casing for your drawstring and the additional fabric needed to create the paper bag look. Sew the top, larger casing shut.

(Since we began with a 6″ rectangle to create the waistband and folded it in half, you should have a 3″ wide waistband.)

                                                       

Now the only thing left to do is create the drawstring. To do this just cut a 2″ long strip of fabric. I like to use a piece longer than I think I’ll need because you can always trim it later to your liking.

Fold your 2″ strip of fabric in half hot dog style. Sew it in place using a straight stitch.
Attach a sewing pin to the end of one side. Close the sewing pin so it’s smooth on either end and slowly feed it through the tube, flipping it inside out.
Work your way down the tube of fabric, slowly turning it inside out along the way. When you are done, tie a knot on either end to prevent fraying.

The last and final step to make these paper bag pants is to finish the hem of your pants. After that comes the best part- you get to wear your new creation!

Add Elastic To Kids Pants

 I try to only buy pants with an adjustable waist, but sometimes I come across a great deal or something super cute that I just can’t pass up. I decided to try adding elastic myself, and you know what? It’s super easy!
You can even do this without a sewing machine as long as you don’t mind a little hand stitching.

Materials:

• button hole elastic
• small, sharp pair of scissors
• two buttons that fit through your elastic
• Fray Check
• needle and thread

Step 1
Starting on the right inside of the waist, snip two holes to create a casing for the elastic. Make sure your scissors don’t go through to the other side! Apply Fray Check to the raw edges.Step 2
Cut a piece of elastic that’s about one inch longer than between your holes. Fold one edge over and sew. This is the edge you’ll be using to adjust the pants.Step 3
Sew a button in front of the casing you’ve created.Step 4
Thread the elastic through the waist casing with the finished edge going through the front. You can tuck the unfinished edge into the back.Step 5
Sew a line of stitches to secure the elastic. See arrow.Here’s what you’ll see on the outside of the pants.
Repeat on left inside of the waist.

                                               And that’s it!

Lengthen And Embellish Jeans

What do you do when your little one grows up and not out.. or her jeans look like she is prepared for a flood?

That is exactly the problem my daughter has with my daughters jeans. She grows up before she grows out. If you have little one's in your life you know how expensive those jeans can be. 

First thing you need to do is open the seam on the inside of the legs. I let the seam out a good 6-8  inches or more, depends on how high you want to go up the leg with your design. You don't want to struggle getting the leg under your machine.

Embellish the legs first.

My instructor had this little jewel to cut out her designs to embellish. 

If you sew you probably have heard of this wonderful invention. It is called the AccuQuilt. You can see a demo here

http://www.accuquilt.com/

I got this on my want list (it is a long list). But right now a bird house has this trumped.. you know the birds need a house soon. But it is next on my want list. The AccuQuilt comes with different templates of designs, and you can buy lots more. You lay your fabric on a plate, turn the wheel and presto, a perfectly cut design. It really is wonderful. Before you cut out your designs you  you need to iron wonder iron on fusible web on your fabric.. (you need to make sure both sides have adhesive) there are different brands. If you are not sure, ask for the kind of web that has double sided iron on. One side will peel off after you have ironed on the web to the fabric, stick to the jeans and iron it again.. (whew..confused.. I am)

Now.. for those of you like me that don't own one of these babies.. you can USE a coloring book or download an image. Trace the image on your fusible web, iron it on your fabric you want to embellish your jeans with, then cut the design out. Peel off the back and iron it on your jeans. Once your designs are placed and ironed on, use a small zigzag stitch to stitch them on. Now you don't have to worry about them washing off. Once you have your designs in place, you can embellish with all kinds of things.. ribbon, trims, buttons, jewels, etc.. just make sure a little one is not able to take it off.. you don't want them to put little things in their mouth.

 

Cute, huh?

Next to add the ruffles.

To make the base or the large bottom ruffle, (the one with polka dots) I measured how much I length I needed to add to the jeans, to make them a good length for my granddaughter. I added 1.5 inches or so to allow for a hem and cut my first width of fabric (one strip for each leg). For instance, the jeans may be 1 inch to short, so you need to add 1.5" for the hem.. so you need to cut the strip 2.5 inches wide. Now for the length, I cut the fabric 1.5 times the measurement of the bottom of the leg on the jeans. Measure from open seam all the way around, and add at least 1.5 times that amount to your length. Example your measurements may be 16 inches from seam to seam. So, you will cut the length 24-32 inches long.. (depending on how much tight you want your ruffle. So your widest (bottom) strip would measure 2.5 inches wide x 24 inches long. (Confused yet)? 

Now cut a second fabric to coordinate. (this is the middle layer on the ruffle). Make sure it is not as wide, so that your base fabric will show.  Repeat the same step as one as far as the width to ruffle. Now cut a third strip (this is the green ruffle on top). This strip will only be 2.5-3 inches when finished. I cut mine the width I wanted to use and finished the edges on the serger. If you don't have a serger you will need to add fabric for a hem on both sides.

I surged all my fabric to finish the edges before I ruffled.. this will make things a lot easier. Finish the bottom of all the ruffles except the narrow one.. you will need to finished both edges on this one. Ruffle the thin strip down the middle of the fabric. (This is the green fabric) You will use this piece to cover the bottom two layers. I really think you could used ribbon if you want.

After you finish the edges stack the smaller ruffle (the middle ruffle) on top of the larger ruffle (the one with dots) Pin right sides together to the bottom of the jeans and sew onto the jeans . I left the old hem on the jeans, and I sewed around the hem. Next sew the small piece on top of both ruffles. (this hides where you joined the pieces to the jeans) Now, last step is to sew the legs back together including the ruffles. Holla.. a new pair of designer jeans! It really is not as complicated as it seems. Hope I made the instructions clear enough for you. 

How To Tie A Tie

Everyone needs to know how to tie a tie. There are many occasions where you will need one.

The Windsor Knot

A Windsor Knot, or “Full Windsor,” is a classic tie knot—and one of the most popular. It’s fuller and more symmetrical than others, so tying the Windsor takes practice. In terms of when to wear it, this knot is worn for formal and semi-formal occasions because of its pristine, elegant appearance. Plus, it pairs best with wide spread-collar shirts, which are suited to dressier events.

 

1. Place the wide end on your left and the narrow end on your right.

2. Cross the wide end over the narrow end.

3. Pass the wide end up through the neck loop.

4. Take the wide end down and to the right.

5. Bring the wide end under and to the left.

6. Take the wide end and bring it up and through the neck loop.

7. Cross over the loop to your right to form the knot.

8. Bring it up through the neck loop from below.

9. Pull it through the loosened knot.

10. Tighten and adjust the dimple.

The Half Windsor Knot

This particular knot is suitable for almost all occasions—which is why it’s one of the most popular. Since it is smaller in size, it can be worn with more collars—such as the button-down, forward point or spread collar. It is appropriate for work and weddings—most semi-formal occasions, in fact. Learning how to tie a Half Windsor is relatively easy, too.

1. Place the wide end on your left and the narrow end on your right.

2. Cross the wide end over the narrow end.

3. Pass the wide end under the narrow end.

4. Bring up and through the loop.

5. Take the wide end down and to the right.

6. Bring the wide end up to the center and wrap around to form a knot.

7. Pass the wide end through the loop and bring it down.

8. Pull the pointed end up and then down through the knot.

9. Tighten and adjust the dimple.

The Four-in-Hand Knot

Easy to tie and super versatile, the Four-in-Hand knot is a slightly asymmetrical tie knot. Since it is adaptable to most occasions (except the most formal), it pairs well with casual collars—especially the button-down and forward point. It’s the one most men learn to tie first and therefore the most popular.

1. Lay the wide end on your left and narrow end on your right.

2. Cross left over right.

3. Bring the wide end under and back to the left.

4. Take the wide end back over once more.

5. Pull the wide end up through neck loop.

6. Bring it down through front loop.

7. Tighten the knot and adjust the dimple.

About the Dimple

Perfecting the dimple in your tie knot takes practice, but the confidence that comes from a masterfully-tied tie is worth the effort. To achieve the perfect dimple, pinch the tie with your thumb and middle finger, then use your index finger to keep the dimple in place as you tighten.

How To Reset Sleep Mode On Mac

 If you’re facing issues putting your Mac into the sleep mode, it’s likely you have some items interfering with the sleep procedure. There are a few things you can do to find those interfering items. Once found, you can have those items removed or stopped from running on your Mac.

These items could be anything on your machine. It could be a print job stuck in the queue, a Bluetooth device constantly trying to wake up your machine, or a misconfigured file.

Regardless, there are methods to overcome the issue and put your Mac into the sleep mode successfully.

Check The Energy Settings On Your Mac

Energy settings pane is what allows you to create schedules as to when and when not your Mac can go into the sleep mode. You might want to check these settings and verify that there’s no option preventing your machine from going into sleep.

• Click on the Apple logo at the top-left corner and select the System Preferences option.

• On the following screen, find the option that says Energy Saver and click on it to open it.

• When the Energy Saver pane launches, you’ll find some options that let you define some sleep behavior for your Mac. What you want to click on is the option that says Schedule at the bottom-right corner.

• On the following screen, if you or someone has set a wake up and sleep schedule for your Mac, you’ll see it. You want to make sure that these options aren’t causing your Mac not to go into the sleep mode.
  
  If you aren’t sure what to do, you can untick both the options and they’ll be disabled.

Find Apps That Prevent Mac Sleep

If you think it’s an app that’s preventing your Mac from sleeping, your Mac actually provides you with a method to find these apps. Once you have found the apps causing the issue, you can then kill their processes or force quit them to then put your Mac into sleep.

• Click on Launchpad in your Dock, search for Activity Monitor, and click on it when it appears on your screen.

• You’ll see a list of all the processes running on your Mac. To find the ones that could be causing the sleep issue, click on the View menu at the top, select Columns, and then click on Preventing Sleep.

• A new column will be added to the utility. This column should tell you if a process is preventing the sleep mode. The column should say Yes for all the processes causing the issue. If it says No, that process is fine and isn’t causing any issue.

• When you find a process for which the Preventing Sleep column says Yes, click on the process, click on the X icon at the top, and select Force Quit. It’ll force quit the process on your Mac.

Be cautious what processes you force quit as you may be working on some of these and you may have your unsaved work in them. Be sure to save your work before you close anything.

Force Quit Apps When Your Mac Won’t Sleep

Sometimes you already know the app that’s preventing the sleep mode but the app doesn’t seem to close normally. In that case, you can force close it.

• Press Command + Option + Esc on your keyboard.

• Click on the app you want to force quit and select Force Quit.

The app will be forcibly closed.

Disable Bluetooh Wake Up On Mac

One of the features your Mac comes equipped with is the ability to wake up your machine from a Bluetooth enabled device. This sometimes could cause issues when you want to put your machine into sleep.

You can disable the option, though, as the following.

• Click on the Bluetooth icon in your menu bar and select Open Bluetooth Preferences.

• You’ll see a list of devices you’ve ever connected to on the following screen. You need to find and click on the button that says Advanced.

• There will be a few options that you can enable and disable on the following screen. Untick the option that says Allow Bluetooth devices to wake up this computer. Then click on OK.

Now the option is disabled, your Bluetooth devices won’t be able to wake up your Mac and you shouldn’t have any issues keeping your Mac in sleep mode.

Clear The Printing Queue

One of the known causes when your Mac won’t sleep is having your print jobs stuck on your machine. You may have tried printing something but that didn’t go well and now you have a pile of print jobs stuck in a queue.

Clearing these jobs should allow you to put your Mac into sleep.

• Click on the Apple logo at the top and select System Preferences.
• Select Printers & Scanners on the following screen.

• Select the printer you use from the left sidebar. Then click on the button that says Open Print Queue in the right-hand side pane.

• Clear the stuck print jobs you have on the following screen.

Try putting your Mac into sleep mode after clearing the print jobs.

Disable Printer Sharing On Your Mac

You might want to turn off printer sharing on your Mac as this sometimes requires your Mac to remain on and prevents it from sleeping.

• Click on the Apple logo and select System Preferences.
• Click on the option that says Sharing to manage your sharing options.

• On the following screen, untick the box that says Printer Sharing.

Your printers are no longer shared and you won’t be able to access them from other machines. Should you ever want the functionality back, just turn on the option you disabled above.

Reset NVRAM On Your Mac

Resetting NVRAM might help you fix when your Mac won’t sleep and it’s a pretty easy thing to do.

• Turn off your Mac.
• Boot up your Mac and hold down Option + Command + P + R keys simultaneously. Let go of the keys after about 20 seconds.

• Your Mac will reboot.