I often wonder: when everyone is making LP bowls, LP coasters and now, LP bookends out of our adolescent artifacts, what is the world coming to? However, after seeing HRG's clever bookends idea over on Craftster, I willingly rifled through many worn album covers, feeling a few pangs of nostalgia, and finally settled on a Diana Ross (the later years) album and a generic Christmas album.

With hot water bubbling on the stove, and steamy water pouring from the faucet, I fumbled around trying to dip, pour and bend the albums at a right angle using a giant wooden spoon as my tool.

Now come on, a wooden spoon? The result was not so good. Read on to see what happened on my second attempt, and how to get it right the first time.

Back when I was writing about all the things you can do with one yard of fabric, I found that for many projects, a yard of material was actually too much. There are scads of things you can make using only fabric scraps, leftover from other projects.

This is good news for those of us who save everything, but really don't have a place for it all... so pull out those bags of fabric scraps and start sewing! Some of these projects make great gifts; you'll be customizing your gift for your recipient, and saving a lot of money, too.

Fabric flower cards: Maggie has written a previous post on how to make fabric flower cards. Using your fabric scraps, you can create a floral garden right on cardstock. What a beautiful gift.

Last year, my neighbor bought a new patio set, and I inherited their rusty, out-of-style set. Now that summer is near, it's time to spruce up that patio set and breathe some new life into it. I've purchased new seat covers and will start sanding and painting soon. But to really give it some flair, I want to add some colorful pillows.

Obviously, being made for the outdoors, the fabric needs to be water-safe. Martha Stewart Living recommends using inexpensive vinyl tablecloths. I think it's a great idea. A reader also suggested using shower curtains. So this weekend, I'm on the hunt for a cute vinyl tablecloth or shower curtain that will make my patio set pop with color.

I often wish that the pretty fabric I find could somehow be protected from sticky little fingers or grown-up messes. If only that pretty cloth came as an oilcloth or was water or dirt resistant. I could finish so many more projects if I could just preserve the cloth using oilcloth or vinyl.

Jessica at How About Orange has a tutorial on how to make iron-on vinyl coasters. She found the iron-on vinyl at her local craft store, and decided to try it out by making the gorgeous coasters, using some heavy weight fabric and glossy vinyl. She sewed the cloth and vinyl together, and then used pinking shears to give the finished coasters a nice edge.

The iron-on vinyl is flexible, water repellent and UV resistant. Imagine all the nice gifts you can make; after all, Christmas will be here before you know it. I can't wait to finish making giant bibs and smocks for my 3 year old, laminate my scrapbook paper, and finish the chair seat covers.

via: Craft

My husband usually takes sandwiches to work for his lunch. I always cringe when I see how many plastic sandwich baggies we go through in a month, and have often wondered if there was a way to reduce or eliminate using them. The short answer is yes.

The Small Object has come up with an awesome way to make reusable sandwich wraps. The wraps are shaped like an octagon, so that it can be used to wrap odd shaped bread or wraps, and can also be used as a placemat. The wrap is made out of vinyl coated fabric for the interior and regular fabric for the exterior. Velcro closes the sandwich wrap.

This is a great way to use up some of that extra fabric you have laying around. The pattern and instructions are easy to follow, and in a short amount of time you can easily whip one up for each member of your sandwich eating family.

via: Craft

In the past there were only a few choices for fence materials. You could put up a stone wall, block wall, brick wall, wrought iron, wood, or chain link. If you got creative you could combine a couple materials and get a fence/ wall by putting wrought iron on top of a brick base or wood panels between pilasters of block or stone.

Today the number of choices and alternative materials has exploded. Plastic, aluminum, and man made stone have given the homeowner a plethora (see, a college education can pay off!) of choices to choose from.

I am going to try to sort through some of the more popular choices for you based on affordability, difficulty of installation, looks, and durability. Hopefully this will make your choices clearer and easier to make.

Every sewing room I have ever laid eyes on has been a big mess. To the person who owns the room, it looks exactly as it should, because they know where every pair of scissors, every piece of felt, and every bit of yarn and string is located.

Secretly, I think they are too freaked to even start cleaning up their mess. Most sewing rooms I have seen are small, with barely enough room to work, let alone a place to store all their crafting necessities. Everyone wishes they had a way to end the mess and become more organized.

Craftster user StephaniePrice had an issue with accessibility in her sewing room too, so she decided to go to her local Lowe's and buy a pegboard. Her husband drew the tomato pincushion on the pegboard, and she got happy with a jigsaw. Several coats of primer, and red, black, and green paint for the tomato, completed her new board.

I think the pegboard is a fantastic way to end the clutter in any room. If you decide to do this project, be sure to read through all the reader comments; Stephanie tells how she hung the pegboard and the vinyl "pins" on the wall, as well as how she removed any excess paint from the holes.

I love the sewing tables that my mom had, but they are small. They certainly won't be able to support the memory quilt I plan to make from my oldest daughter's clothing. The quilt would end up dragging on the floor when I sewed the pieces together. Mom's vintage sewing tables are nice, but not big enough for a quilt project.

Marguerita had a work space that was too small for her quilts, so she decided to make her own quilting desk. She used two inexpensive folding tables from Sam's Club, and foam insulation and window insulation she bought from her local hardware store. The vinyl window insulation really helps to slide her quilts around so that she isn't pulling and tugging when she needs to move them.

I love her new quilting desk and it has really given me inspiration to get going on cutting up the clothes needed to make my memory quilt, and I especially love that I can slide pictures of my girls under the vinyl so that I will be inspired to keep going when I don't feel like quiting. It also helps that I don't have to shell out big bucks for a table that I won't be able to put away when I am not working on a sewing project.

Choosing new flooring? Experiencing painful indecision? Well, I sympathize. In fact, I just about tore my hair out last spring while trying to decide what should replace the disgusting cheapo vinyl in our kitchen. Here's why it's so stressful: a new floor is a big commitment, and you'd better choose correctly. Wish you'd gone with the hazelnut hardwood instead of the java bean laminate? Too late! Unlike a coat of paint, you can't just redo your floor in an afternoon. Then there's the expense factor. Phew. Flooring is darn expensive, especially if -- like us -- your sub-floor is uneven.

Before you give up in frustration, check out a really awesome interactive design tool. Flooring manufacturer Mannington's My Virtual Decorator is free and it's compatible with both PCs and Macs. It's easy to use and the photos look pretty real. Best of all, while the basic Virtual Decorator can be used online, the My Virtual Decorator program can be downloaded to your hard drive. Once it's on your computer, you can click in your own photo for use in mock-up designs. To get the proportions right, though, you'll need to use a photo that incorporates some special tags that you can print out from your home printer.

The photo of my kitchen (above) shows what correct tag placement looks like. Once it's up you can decorate the scene however you like, changing the color of the walls, and, of course, trying out all the different flooring types and colors.

You chose vinyl siding for its clean look, and because you'll never have to deal with it flaking or rotting the way cedar will. Vinyl siding has lost its tacky reputation and has quickly become the most popular siding material in the United States.

Although it's more durable than alternative sidings, over time vinyl siding can start to look dull and dirty. When that happens, you'll want to give it a good cleaning. Luckily, this is a project that you can easily take on yourself. You'll start with some important prep work, then grab your power washer or bucket and give your siding a solid clean.

How to prepare your vinyl siding for cleaning

1. Cover any outside light fixtures or electrical outlets
2. Move all your outdoor furniture and toys away from the house
3. Cover any plants close to the house with plastic sheets
4. Check for mold, mildew or dirt. These will be dark spots on the siding. To test it out, put a drop of bleach on the dark spot. Mold will turn white while dirt will stay black.
5. Get rid of mildew with 5 parts water to 1 part oxygen bleach.

Once you've finished the prep work, you're ready to get started washing the siding. There are two schools of thought when it comes to cleaning vinyl siding. Many people prefer using a power washer, while others use a bucket, cloth, and some good old-fashioned elbow grease. Whichever you choose, these are some great instructions on how to clean vinyl siding. If you'd like to avoid commercial cleaning chemicals, Diane has an eco-friendly vinyl cleaning solution. The luxury of this material is that you won't find yourself having to clean it very often, but when you do, it will be restored to its original clean, vibrant condition.

When it comes to how-to advice on cleaning vinyl siding, I'm amazed at how often the word "bleach" comes up. Like here and here, for example. But think about it -- is bleach really necessary? After all, it's harmful to the environment, including your very own local waterways, flora and fauna. And not just wild fauna -- I met someone whose little dachshund was killed when a careless neighbor accidentally sprayed the pup with a bleach solution while cleaning his siding.

Here are eco-friendly tips to help you keep your vinyl siding looking like new.