My Fav’ Tools for Crafting, Garden, Home, Kitchen & Tech…

My Fav’ Crafting Tools -

Sewing Machine – What Young Wifey can be without one? Homemade and refashioned clothes, hemming, curtains/drapes, bedding, my machine has supplied me with many things for my home and family.

Crocheting Hook - I love Susan Bates hooks the best, the pointed edge and curved hook make it easier to glide through all sorts of yarn. I use size J on most of my projects.

Bernina Deco Embroidery Machine – I don’t yet have my own, however I often use a friend’s machine to add personal/decorative touches to linens, towels, pillows, children’s clothes, book bags, wedding presents and more. I loved making “Future Mrs. …” sashes for my girlfriends’ bachelorette parties/hen nights. Now they’re “Mother to Be” sashes.

Hot Glue Gun - Need I say more?

Tiny Round Nose Pliers- Great for jewelry making and intricate crafts.

Scissors - From wrapping presents to sewing, crafting to cooking, I keep one pair of this versatile tool in every room.

Jewelry Making Fun

My Fav’ Garden Tools –

My Hubster – Perfect for digging large holes, hauling large loads and cutting large limbs. I’m a pretty lucky Young Wifey.

Gardening Gloves – Every gardener needs a good pair of gloves; ones that are soft on the inside, flexible, and that don’t get wet when you’re playing with wet soil.

Garden Shears – Find a good pair that fits well in your hand, the pair I use doesn’t work as well for Hubster (but I don’t tell him it’s the shears, I let him think I’m the green thumb).

Garden Trowels – I have two hand trowels that I use for different jobs. I have one with a wide round blade that is short in length, that I use for mixing and scooping. I have a long pointed blade that is skinnier, that I use for digging and precise needs.

Compost Tumbler – A friend of mine has one of these, with which I like to play. Making your own compost faster and without the hassle… sign me up! If it wasn’t for the hefty price-tag, I’d have one already. I found DIY instructions on how to build one and may be making one next summer (or batting my eyelashes at Hubster to get him to build it for me…).

Rain Barrels – How I wish I had one or two of these!

Long Neck Watering Can – Great for reaching hanging baskets! Use it for planters (indoor and outdoor) or watering thirsty plants in your garden.

Sunblock – I love to use facial moisturizer with SPF 20 year round. If I’m outside I use spray on sunblock on my body. This one quick thing you can do, helps to keep your beautiful skin looking younger longer (not to mention no red or peeling skin).

Butterfly on Salvia Blooms

My Fav’ Home Tools -

Two Words: Dyson Vacuum Now 64 words: Hubster didn’t seem to think we needed a new vacuüm when I was about to purchase our Dyson. We came home and I vacuumed our living room area carpet with our old bagless vacuüm. Then I used my Dyson on the same carpet and picked up so much stuff that had been left all these years. Hubster agreed it was a good purchase.

Shark Steam Mop – My steam mop works great on my hardwood floors (I don’t like to use it on my ceramic tiles, they’re just a pain to keep clean because they’re in a high traffic area). I love that I can use it to clean without chemicals!

Panasonic Cordless Iron - I finally got one! I love not getting tangled in the cord and I don’t have to wait for it to cool (just snap it in the base and put on the cover).

Microfiber Glass Cleaner with Squeegee – I love this tool for a no chemical and streak free clean windows and mirrors. When the microfiber top is dirty, just wash!

Swiffer Duster with Extendable Handle – With the adjustable head and the extendable handle, I love how I can now easily use one duster to clean the blades of my ceiling fan, baseboards and everything else in between.

Screw Gun – C’mon! You know how DIY shows make it look so fun and easy to use, and it is! Great for all projects, big or small.

Staple Gun – Because I’m not grown-up enough to use the nail gun without supervision. Seriously though, this has come in handy for many projects.

My Fav’ Kitchen Tools

This room is the base of several of my favorite activities; cooking, baking, eating & entertaining. Thus the reason why it’s my longest list of favorites!

Crinkle Cutter – This little tool has a big impact and is great for entertaining. It makes sliced cheeses, carrots, cucumber, hard-boiled eggs, etc. look fancier and more festive. It also gives the mouth a different texture; even though I’m feeding Hubster zucchini again, it gives the subliminal illusion that it’s a different food. It’s also great for homemade potato (and other veggie) chips.

Vacuum Sealer – This tool has saved me so much money (and time) allowing me to purchase and prepare food in bulk quantities. As long as the bags didn’t have raw meat, they can be washed out and reused. I used to borrow Hubster’s Gram’s food saver before I had my own.

Ice Cube Trays – Even though I have an ice dispenser built into my freezer, I love this contraption. I use it to freeze small portions of spaghetti sauce, leftover wines for cooking and so much more (wait until you see what I use it for in the future!). For parties I freeze violets in the middle of cubes for fancy lemon-aide and even pre-freeze ice-tea cubes, punch cubes and such, to avoid watered down drinks.

Reversible Grill Pan/Griddle – I think I love mine so much only because I like grill lines on my food! Really, it’s great for panc akes, steaks, chicken, grilled cheese and grilled pound cake.

Ice Cream Maker – Mine makes ice cream, water ice, and gelato! Great tool to make homemade ice cream cake for birthdays and celebrations.

Food Processor – Quickly chops, slices, grates, and mixes just about whatever you need for a recipe! I have plans to use my food processor much more in the future.

Bread Machine – Who doesn’t love that fresh smell and taste of homemade bread? I even set it to make pizza dough, cakes, etc..

Crock Pot - Makes making dinner incredibly easy! During the winter I don’t put mine away!

Cupcake Carriers & Cupcake Stand – Great for birthday parties, theme parties, open houses, and showers (not the rubba-dub-dub kind…). How can you use one of these without the other?

Icing Press – I use this not just to frost, but also to fill cream puffs, finish off cucumber rounds and more…

Mini Muffin Tins – I love to use these to make mini muffins, brownie bites, hors d’oeuvres, snacks and desserts. Great for portion control.

Smart Spin Storage Containers - Lids that fit three different size containers, and they all stack on the same spinning rack?! Great way to keep the cabinets organized and never have to search for a lid! I use them to set up pre-portioned snacks!

Trifle Bowls – A bowl on a pretty pedestal is not just meant for trifle, I use mine for salads, snacks and so much more.

Glass Carafes – Originally used for serving wine at parties, I now use mine for all beverages and sometimes even as a vase.

Ice Cream Maker is Churning

Fav’ Tech Tools -

Nikon COOL PIX S8100- My first digital camera was a Kodak Easy Share, then as it got out dated I switched to my first Nikon camera. It broke and then I was back to an updated Easy Share, which stopped working shortly after our two-year warranty ended. Now I’m back to a Nikon, I forgot why we went back to the Kodak in the first place. My Nikon is easy to use (and I’m stilling learning and playing with all the awesome features). Great quality for the price.

Mac Book – My all time favorite computer!

iPod - When gardening, I like to listen to the nature around me. However, if Hubster is mowing, weed whacking or playing with other power tools, I like to slip on my ear buds.

Oral B Vitality Toothbrush - I love how this gets my teeth fresh from the dentist clean!

Zapi Toothbrush Sanitizer – Your mouth is a dirty place… so is your bathroom… but your toothbrush is even worse! Use this personal UV light sanitizer to kill 99.9% of the germs.