I think I am going to start a new feature here on the blog called Jo’s Favorite Finds. I have five adult children and they are always sharing stuff with me that I, as a person over fifty, have no idea about…and occasionally I find some pretty cool things. Some things might be thrifted…some things might be able to be purchased brand new. Here are today’s featured items.
I have four things I’m sharing with you today and the first thing comes from Julie our quilt finisher and Holly our blog reader.
Julie was telling that she is working to provide 60 pillowcases for a new Veteran’s home that is being built in southern Minnesota near her. She is especially looking for patriotic fabric as she is working on making 60 pillowcases for the area Veteran’s home that is being built. That’s a BIG task!!
Here is my favorite part and what makes this one of my favorite things that I want to mention…
Holly, our blog reader, put out this challenge:
“I have a challenge for our readers here. I volunteered to make 10 pillowcases for the veteran’s home for the 60 needed. This is 10 yards of fabric. I will send the burrito method of making them to anyone who wants it. I challenge 10 people to donate 5 yards OR 5 pillowcases in patriotic colors. Let’s get this party started.”
WOW!! Great idea Holly!! I’m so impressed. I love this challenge. If you are willing to take Holly’s challenge by either sending fabric to Julie or making pillowcases that would be amazing. You can contact Julie at this email address. doggymom2two@hotmail.com What a great way to help our veterans and Julie too. Oh, I just love your group!!
Now to the next topic…
I have had TERRIBLE fly problems in my house. With 9 grandkids and 5 adults children, the doors around here are opened all the time. Sadly, they don’t always get closed. Thus, fly problems. I am constantly swatting. When I sit down to eat at the table, I always bring a fly swatter. I just hate flies.
When we lived at the farmhouse, we always had flies…those of you who romanticize about farm life, the truth of it is…summer=flies. When we moved to town, I thought I’d be fly-free, but until the grandkids learn to shut a door, I’m going to have flies…and if I have to choose, grandkids or flies, even though I hate flies, grandkids will win every single time.
Kelli shared this with me the other day…her new favorite product. These are plug-in flycatchers.
It looks like this on the outside when plugged in.
BUT…look what is hiding behind…FLIES!! Kelli lives on a farm and fights flies too.
I immediately went to Amazon and ordered one. HERE is the link.
I also ordered refills. You can find them HERE.
I am SUPER excited about this flycatcher. If you have fruit flies, these will be great for that too!! I love that they are no chemicals!! I don’t like spraying for flies unless I have to.
Martha W asked:
“In your photos, I noticed you were rolling out the crust on a round thing. What was that? We use a piece of wax paper and it is so hard to judge the size of the circle for the crust. Your fluting looks beautiful.”
I have a pie mat, from Pampered Chef. I liked it but it was a little small.
In fact, after making the pie, I decided that I’d really like a bigger mat (you can see that the crumbs are still getting on the counter) so went on Amazon and ordered this one…
I make cinnamon rolls, stromboli, and bread so I wanted one that would be able to be used for that as well. This one is big and will still be super easy to wash and manage because it rolls up. You can find it HERE.
The mats are silicone so super easy to clean and super easy to store because they roll up. If you’d like to see more, there is a video you can see in the Amazon link. I tried to embed it into this post but I couldn’t figure out how.
The next thing I want to tell you about is my new favorite, a new duo to the Flosstube community. You might remember me saying that I often watch Flosstube (find flosstubers by searching “floss tube” on Youtube).
The duo is Linen and Scraps. You can find them HERE.
One of my favorite things about them is that Molly, on the left, and Cathy on the right both stitch and scrap in different genres. Molly stitches on Aida and Cathy on Linen. Cathy likes samplers and antiques…Molly likes more modern and finished. I love the contrast between the two and love to see the comradery between them. They always have me smiling and wanting to make/do something they are doing. They incorporate a lot of scrapbooking into the cross stitch. They often have recipes or crafting tutorials including the one I’ve embedded.
Right now they are doing Christmas in July and are making it so fun.
I’ve really enjoyed all of my new finds. Sometimes, it’s little things that make life easier and more enjoyable whether it’s a way to eliminate flies or a new silicone mat…or a new floss tube to watch!! I love them all.
Like you Jo I roll out on Pastry sheet. Mine is from Tupperware and is at least 1000 yrs old. I’m interested –
how easily does the crust come up from the sheet? On the one I have it’s a little iffy sometimes. I’d love it bunches if it’s just release easier.
Oh my goodness CA Bobbie, I have an old Tupperware one and for some reason I can’t seem to get rid of it even though I never use it lol. It never lays flat and is a nightmare!
Rinse it in hot water dry quickl. Lay it out and weight it on the corners. Store it flat if you have the space. Mom had one and she kept it on her counter covered. I l
Well Judith, space is the main issue. I just don’t have the space for storing it flat. For a while I kept it under my wool ironing mat, but then I found a new table top ironing board at the thrift store so I don’t even do that anymore. I think I need to give myself permission to let it go.
I don’t have any trouble with it releasing from the silicone. I had the old tupperware one and it just doesn’t roll up and store as nicely.
Jo, Really like your new blog idea “Jo’s Favorite Finds” I put them on my Amazon wish list. Thank you. Think Molly and Cathy will be fun to watch. Will get more ideas. Hurray! Was just wondering, I have gone through your email box from Amazon to put my orders in. Is there a way to find out if you are getting credit for my orders? You sure had a busy last week, but fun. Grandkids and kids are so great to have around. Thank you for your blogs/emails. Have fun at the retreat.
Oh my goodness Jo it’s like you are reading my mind. We have flies and are driving me nuts have been told welcome to the south. In seeing this I immediately ordered one thank you thank you. Like you I HATE flies
I also have a silicone pastry sheet and absolutely love it. It stays in place when I roll out and cut cookies and rolls or pie crust. I had (still have it) a Tupperware one, but it wouldn’t adhere to my counter and it was frustrating. I’m very interested in the fly catcher. We don’t have an extreme amount of flies, but any is too many! Can’t wait to watch the flood tube.
I love the fly catchers. The exterminators use the larger version in convenience stores. I have the larger sconce ones. If there are any bugs flying around, especially after the house lights are off, they all head right to it. It not only draws the flies, but attracts way more little gnat type flies I never knew I had, moths and even a June bug and a wasp.
What a good idea about product recommendations. My kids always fond stuff too.
What a good idea about product recommendations. My kids always find good stuff too.
Jo, I just recently discovered this flosstube duo and I love it! So much fun to watch!!
We sometimes have a problem with flies at our beach house, when the winds are coming from the west, rather than the ocean, so this would be a great product for us. Thanks so much for sharing the information!
I love this new addition to your blog postings.
I also use a silicone pastry sheet and absolutely love it. I have, but don’t use, a Tupperware one but it did not adhere to my counters, even tried using clamps. I am very interested in the fly catchers, and will see if my sister would be too. I plan to view the floss tube video. Thanks for sharing all of this information.
Jo, do you think this would take care of the ants that I sometimes get in my kitchen?
I got a big silicone mat from Pampered Chef and love it. I use to have the Tupperware one but the pampered chef one is so much better that it was easy to get rib of.
I donated all of my patriotic fabric to Julie a few months ago. There was at least 10 yards. I’m sure it will be a good start for her.
I like this new post. It’s interesting and fun. Looking forward to more
.
Doing a pillowcase quilt along is a great idea to help Julie out. Our guild just made them for Alive Hospice and some were patriotic. I might have to check out those fly catchers. So many new items out in the world today, I will enjoy this new blog title. Thank you, Jo and family, for sharing your finds.
Love love Jo’s favorite finds blog. Great information. Looking forward to another like this.
Ugh. FLIES!! I hate them so much. Have actually had 2 fly infestations in the house 2 years in a row!! Had hundreds and HUNDREDS of them!! YUCK!! Had so many over the course of 3-4 days that I would just stand by the bay window on the east side of the house and suck them up with the vacuum cleaner. It was just terrible. Put up fly traps on the windows which Mande the flies stick to them. Had to change them daily there were so many flies!! Have no idea where they came from, why they chose ME, and no idea why they left. Just glad they were gone each time it happened. I still have flies that congregate by the front door so that when I let dogs in and out, I get a few inside. They drive me crazy. Will be getting that fly catcher to help me out. I got one similar for smaller flying things a few years ago, but it doesn’t work on flies. The one you showed looks promising. Thanks for the tip.
Flies. I hate them. This is How I get rid of them. IRISH SPRING SOAP. Take a bar of soap & rub onto the door frame and screen frame. No water needed & no mess. It looks a little weird but works great. I then leave the bar by the door or window. Works great. So!bed the problem for me. I haven’t seen a fly since I started doing this!