It's a gloomy day in LA! Still, I couldn't wait to post. I finished!!
I am really pleased with the storage bed. However, if I were to do it again, I would definitely sand, prime and paint BEFORE assembly! Those cubbies are deep!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Storage Bed Done!
It's a gloomy day in LA! Still, I couldn't wait to post. I finished!!
I am really pleased with the storage bed. However, if I were to do it again, I would definitely sand, prime and paint BEFORE assembly! Those cubbies are deep!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
It's Not An Otter- Easter Bunnys for My Girlies
Did I mention that I love being an aunt? Well I do. I have yet to meet either of my east coast nieces, but I think about them all the time and get updates as often as possible. My little Sweet Pea is out of the NICU, home and thriving! Ava Baby is also doing great. I follow her adventures on Facebook.
Naturally, I wanted to send the babies something for Easter. I have been eyeing rabbit patterns for weeks. Then one Saturday night I was feeling anxious and in need of some sewing therapy. I chose what I thought would be the easiest pattern. This Chenille Easter Bunny, but it was getting late so I decided to wing it and estimate the pattern. I used some minky that I had on hand for one and a piece of pink minky-like fur for the other. Neither was very planned out.
At the last minute, I decided to add some taggies to the pink one. But, since I wasn't really thinking, we have what looks like a one armed rabbit. When Cliff saw them he said that he liked the pink one best. Then he said, "It kind of looks like an otter." That Cliff.
Sweet Pea and Ava Baby- somebunny in California loves you very much!
Naturally, I wanted to send the babies something for Easter. I have been eyeing rabbit patterns for weeks. Then one Saturday night I was feeling anxious and in need of some sewing therapy. I chose what I thought would be the easiest pattern. This Chenille Easter Bunny, but it was getting late so I decided to wing it and estimate the pattern. I used some minky that I had on hand for one and a piece of pink minky-like fur for the other. Neither was very planned out.
At the last minute, I decided to add some taggies to the pink one. But, since I wasn't really thinking, we have what looks like a one armed rabbit. When Cliff saw them he said that he liked the pink one best. Then he said, "It kind of looks like an otter." That Cliff.
Sweet Pea and Ava Baby- somebunny in California loves you very much!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Shara's Egg Swap
I participated in Shara's Easter Egg Swap again this year.
I have always loved those sugar eggs with the window. I had wanted to make these last year, but I ran out of time. This year I was determined to make eggs with a window. Yet again, time got the best of me so I had to scale back my quilling plans. I created paper machae eggs using plastic eggs as molds. Then the question was, what to put inside?
Lacking in ideas, I fell back on my moss nest/birds egg filler of past projects. Once I had a bird theme, it was easy to make it up as I went along.
The little tub of Model Magic I picked up several years ago at the $ store is still going strong. It has this weird gold glitter in it which is probably why it was at the $ store. Anyway, I thought about painting each egg and bird, but decided against it out of sheer "tone on tone is good" laziness.
While it wasn't at all what I had envisioned at the beginning of the swap, I was quite pleased with the outcome.
I have always loved those sugar eggs with the window. I had wanted to make these last year, but I ran out of time. This year I was determined to make eggs with a window. Yet again, time got the best of me so I had to scale back my quilling plans. I created paper machae eggs using plastic eggs as molds. Then the question was, what to put inside?
Lacking in ideas, I fell back on my moss nest/birds egg filler of past projects. Once I had a bird theme, it was easy to make it up as I went along.
The little tub of Model Magic I picked up several years ago at the $ store is still going strong. It has this weird gold glitter in it which is probably why it was at the $ store. Anyway, I thought about painting each egg and bird, but decided against it out of sheer "tone on tone is good" laziness.
While it wasn't at all what I had envisioned at the beginning of the swap, I was quite pleased with the outcome.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Dying Fabric
Hello again!
Not too long ago I needed a pink t-shirt for work. It was going to be customized with one of those ink-jet printer iron on transfers. I knew I would only wear it a few times. I decided that I really only wanted to spend $4 on this shirt. Walmart had several possibilities, but most were too nice to ruin with an iron-on. Others were in the $8 price range, which is still cheap, I know. Still, I had it in my head that I could spend $4. Have you ever gotten stubborn cheap? Well, I was. So I decided to buy a white man's t-shirt for $4 and dye it. Since I was buying for my colleagues too I ended up dying three of them.
Here is the t-shirt. The back shows all twelve teachers at our school who got pink-slipped this year.
I can't comment on darker colors, but I was impressed with how easy it was to get even consistent color with this Rit "Petal Pink". Out of respect for the other tenants who use our laundry room, I did the boil on the stove top method. It was super easy. I wet the shirts in my tub and soaked them in hot water for a while.Next, I boiled them with the dye for about five minutes each. Then I rinsed them out in the tub and put them in the dryer to set the color.
As long as I had this big pot o'dye on the stove, I decided to try an idea from my Martha Encyclopedia of Crafts. I dyed some printed fabric. In this case I used some bits of vintage sheets.
I like this one the best.
All in all, dying with Rit on the stove top was affordable, easy and fun. I already have plans to dye a shirt that I recently stained. I'll update after using the darker colors.
Not too long ago I needed a pink t-shirt for work. It was going to be customized with one of those ink-jet printer iron on transfers. I knew I would only wear it a few times. I decided that I really only wanted to spend $4 on this shirt. Walmart had several possibilities, but most were too nice to ruin with an iron-on. Others were in the $8 price range, which is still cheap, I know. Still, I had it in my head that I could spend $4. Have you ever gotten stubborn cheap? Well, I was. So I decided to buy a white man's t-shirt for $4 and dye it. Since I was buying for my colleagues too I ended up dying three of them.
Here is the t-shirt. The back shows all twelve teachers at our school who got pink-slipped this year.
I can't comment on darker colors, but I was impressed with how easy it was to get even consistent color with this Rit "Petal Pink". Out of respect for the other tenants who use our laundry room, I did the boil on the stove top method. It was super easy. I wet the shirts in my tub and soaked them in hot water for a while.Next, I boiled them with the dye for about five minutes each. Then I rinsed them out in the tub and put them in the dryer to set the color.
As long as I had this big pot o'dye on the stove, I decided to try an idea from my Martha Encyclopedia of Crafts. I dyed some printed fabric. In this case I used some bits of vintage sheets.
I like this one the best.
All in all, dying with Rit on the stove top was affordable, easy and fun. I already have plans to dye a shirt that I recently stained. I'll update after using the darker colors.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Copy Cat Spring Wreath
Inspired by this moss wreath at Frou Frou Gal I created my own. I first saw her wreath on Saturday and set this evening aside to make it. That's a remarkably fast turnaround for me!
To make this wreath I started with a cheap plastic picture frame, a bag of moss and a moss sheet from the Dollar Tree. I also used some Model Magic clay for the eggs. I picked that up a few years ago from the 99 Cent Only store and have used it here and there for a long time. The mini grapevine wreath is from my stash. I
Here it is with the moss sheet glued on. Ignore the big eggs, they are for another project.
From here I glued on bunches of moss to add volume. I also added some sticks and the nest. I made the eggs out of that air dry clay. I painted them and glued them right on. I added some newspaper scraps to give it the collected look of a real bird's nest. I hope to add some feathers if I remember to get some. This is the kind of project I'll be tweeking here and there for a while.
My cost for this wreath was $4.
Moss Sheet $1
Bagged moss $1
Frame $1
Ribbon $1
Clay, paint, sticks, hotglue are all from my stash.
I am linking up to the spring challenge at the CSI Project!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Craigs Easy
Living in Los Angeles has it's drawbacks. We have tons of traffic, pollution, high rent, 9.75% sales tax.
However, we have some perks too. And for a born junker such as myself, the LA Craigslist is pure gold! Not every area has millions of people who move a lot and are always needing to get rid of stuff -cheap.
This Saturday I decided to use Craigs Easy to troll the free section of Craiglist. Here are some gems I found.
First up, I wish I had room for this wonderfully chippy free hutch!
Craigslist is always good for some bizarre things. Even though I wouldn't allow this in my house if my life depended on it, I am glad we live in a world were people do make tin can waterbeds. This guy welded over 4,000 soda cans to make this waterbed. Go ingenuity! Let's hope he's ditching this because he met a nice lady who said, "Um, no way, no how!"
Love this rocker. Again, I don't have space for it now. I did think about taking it and fixing it up for resale. Right now I have a lot on my plate with school and do not need the distraction of extra projects.
Did I just say that I didn't need extra projects? I did respond to this ad for free wood. I hope I get it too. Ana White's site gives me the serious "buildies" as she would say.
I also responded to an ad for a vintage office chair. I could make room for this and donate Cliff's current run of the mill office chair. Fresh paint and a new cusion and that chair would be amazing!
Using CraigsEasy it really is easy to zip through hundreds of ads in just a few seconds. It shows you just the pictures. I saw tons of great stuff for the right person. There were gliders and Little Tikes toys, unopened boxes of diapers, plants, desks and all sorts of building supplies.
Do you Craigs Easy? Have you scored any great free stuff lately?
However, we have some perks too. And for a born junker such as myself, the LA Craigslist is pure gold! Not every area has millions of people who move a lot and are always needing to get rid of stuff -cheap.
This Saturday I decided to use Craigs Easy to troll the free section of Craiglist. Here are some gems I found.
First up, I wish I had room for this wonderfully chippy free hutch!
Using CraigsEasy it really is easy to zip through hundreds of ads in just a few seconds. It shows you just the pictures. I saw tons of great stuff for the right person. There were gliders and Little Tikes toys, unopened boxes of diapers, plants, desks and all sorts of building supplies.
Do you Craigs Easy? Have you scored any great free stuff lately?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Shower Gifts for Sweet Pea
I'm an Auntie! Cliff's sister had her baby last Thursday and my brother's baby arrived (healthy, but teeny tiny) eight weeks early on Friday! I am nearly 40 and I became an aunt for the very first time twice in one week. So exciting!
Through it all, I wondered how I would feel based on our own long term struggles to have a child. Now that they are here, I can honestly say that I am filled with joy. Nobody could be more surprised than me. I love looking at the baby pictures. I am so proud of both of my sister's in-law who had to have emergency c-sections. I look forward to the day when I can chat with both of them about their birth stories. And, of course, one day meet my nieces. Each day I wake up and take my emotional temperature. I wonder "Is this the day that I become insanely jealous or sad?" So far the answer is no. Whew! So nice when what I want to feel, the right thing to feel, actually matches my feelings!
Anyway, Sweet Pea actually beat us to the punch arriving two weeks before her mama's baby shower. My gifts to her aren't nearly as cute as the ridiculously cute cherry themed shower gift that I made for Ava Jolin.
Still, I think they suit my sister-inlaw well. She just recently told me that she is germ phobic. The first gift was a carseat tent made from this tutorial. Now not only will her preemie eyes be shaded, no creepy grocery shoppers can touch her.
The bib above is a nod to the knick name I gave her. I love her real name now that I know it. It is especially beautiful in cursive! So many loopy above the mid-line below the line letters! I am sure it will be revealed in future monogrammed projects.
I also added a pair of Robbeez and a board book. As an added tie on, I looped this Binkie bag right onto the gift bag. It would all be so much more fun to photo graph on an actual carseat and believe me, I thought about sneaking off to Toys R Us just to snap an action shot. LOL! However, as usual, I was sewing into the night right before my postal deadline!
Through it all, I wondered how I would feel based on our own long term struggles to have a child. Now that they are here, I can honestly say that I am filled with joy. Nobody could be more surprised than me. I love looking at the baby pictures. I am so proud of both of my sister's in-law who had to have emergency c-sections. I look forward to the day when I can chat with both of them about their birth stories. And, of course, one day meet my nieces. Each day I wake up and take my emotional temperature. I wonder "Is this the day that I become insanely jealous or sad?" So far the answer is no. Whew! So nice when what I want to feel, the right thing to feel, actually matches my feelings!
Anyway, Sweet Pea actually beat us to the punch arriving two weeks before her mama's baby shower. My gifts to her aren't nearly as cute as the ridiculously cute cherry themed shower gift that I made for Ava Jolin.
Still, I think they suit my sister-inlaw well. She just recently told me that she is germ phobic. The first gift was a carseat tent made from this tutorial. Now not only will her preemie eyes be shaded, no creepy grocery shoppers can touch her.
The bib above is a nod to the knick name I gave her. I love her real name now that I know it. It is especially beautiful in cursive! So many loopy above the mid-line below the line letters! I am sure it will be revealed in future monogrammed projects.
I also added a pair of Robbeez and a board book. As an added tie on, I looped this Binkie bag right onto the gift bag. It would all be so much more fun to photo graph on an actual carseat and believe me, I thought about sneaking off to Toys R Us just to snap an action shot. LOL! However, as usual, I was sewing into the night right before my postal deadline!
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