A Dress A Day Blog & My Own Jet Rag Projects

I recently learned about this blog New Dress A Day where by Marissa is making a dress a day from thrifted dresses and other clothes she finds. She is also only budgeting about a $1 a day to do this. She gets most of her raw material dresses from among other places Jet Rag on LaBrea. Jet Rag is this vintage clothing store that piles up mountains of old clothes and sells them all for a dollar on Sundays. You can read about it in this wonderful "e-how" article entitled "How to shop at Jet Rag's Dollar Vintage Sale."

I wish I had more confidence in my sewing skills to sew clothes. Of course at this point, I wish my sewing mojo would come back at all. This summer my personal life has abducted my creative energy. Sigh.

Nonetheless, Marissa's blog has me reminiscing of Jet Rag Days gone by. Here are just a few of my Jet Rag transformations.

This ratty cashmere sweater became this...

sweet baby sweater.

These ugly old man pants became...

my favorite monkeys.

All formerly housecoats.

This ratty tablecloth...

Ahh! Much better.

Shopping at Jet Rag was not only an affordable way to build my sewing stash, it got the creative juices flowing.

My silence around these parts this summer has been a big surprise to me. I really thought I would attack crafting with great gusto in my time off. Instead I woke up without a single crafty urge. Other things have filled my time including the possibility of a move to a new apartment. Nothing is definite, but I am itching for some new digs. So, I have been thinking about downsizing some of my craft materials and may well have some giveaways in the coming days.

Hope you have a great week!

Look! I am a finalist!

You can go here to see the other finalists and cast your vote. (Hint, hint...)

Iron Crafter Challenge: Mini Cloche with Knobs

Iron Crafter's secret ingredient is knobs! Here is my project to toss in the ring! The mini cloche!
 
This is my second mini cloche. It is made from a glass votive holder whose stand is long since gone, a knob and a saucer. I used Gorilla Glue to secure the knob to the top (or bottom, actually) of the glass dome.


This knob came from an old dresser drawer. I used some painters tape to hold everything in place while the glue dried.

A word about the glue. Gorilla Glue is amazing, and will certainly support the occasional lifting of the cloche top. However, when I washed my first cloche the knob did come off. Water got under the seal.  The knob is small and the glass is smooth so this isn't the ideal bonding situation. Just be careful

The scale of these cloches is somewhat limiting. They are indeed "mini." It's hard to decide what to put in them. These are my grandmother's pearls and my father's wings. I think they look quite elegant displayed like this.


Below is my first mini cloche made from a knob, a coaster and a juice glass.

I can't remember where I saw the first homemade cloche, but it went to the top of my "to do" list. I scoured thrift stores for a cheese plate I could use. Nothing. I looked at every bowl and vase for the right proportions. I wanted a rounded shape with a little bottom-to-be-top. Finally, about a year later, at the 99 Cents Only store,  I spotted an adorable rounded juice glass with a tiny bottom. A mini cloche it would be.

Here is the juice glass as intended to give you an idea of shape.

To give you an idea of the scale, the base is an old coaster. The knob is a wooden knob spray painted to match the coaster.

This cloche contains a grape vine wreath napkin ring made into a nest with some moss, clay eggs, and paper scraps.

The tag uses this terrific image from the Graphics Fairy. I couldn't believe how nice this image printed out even at a fraction of the original size.

I think a collection of mini cloches displayed together would be very sweet. The knobs make them so different. I'd love to find a pretty glass knob to use one day.

Be sure to check out the other Iron Crafters.  Happy Friday!

The CSI Project is doing Roadkill Rescue this week and this is still my favorite garbage transformation. So I am throwing my hat into the contest. It's been about six months since I made the headboard and I still love it.

Naturally, it comes with a story that starts with a twinkle in my eye and a heap on the curb.


For a while I have wanted a headboard. I cruised craigslist in my search for a headboard, but I was also open to making my own. A few things percolated in my head during this time.


I liked the look of this PB bed. This wall of colored tiles on Ohdeedoh captivated my imagination. They look like mini cupboard doors to me. I also liked this shutter headboard on Shanty 2 Chic. With a king sized bed (a marriage must, in my opinion) getting enough shutters with my budget was a challenge.


I said a little prayer for the patience to live with wants and be very clear about my true needs.

One morning on my way to work I saw a large dresser thing on the curb. Of course I had to investigate. It was too big to become a play kitchen. Too big to fit in my car.  I passed it by. 

Pass by junk? Surely you don't believe that!

The next day before school I went back. I parked, got out my cordless drill/screwdriver and unscrewed all the doors and took the drawers. Picture me stealthily working at the crack of dawn just hoping none of my colleagues or students would see me! Here is the car chock full of these drawers. When I look at this now I can hardly believe I stopped. It really was a dilapidated thing. And, it was 6:30 AM- in the ghetto! I am crazy! My love for junk knows no bounds!

This is how I roll! Once in our parking garage I loaded up a cart and headed to my balcony workshop. Silly me! There is no room in the balcony workshop for this much junk. I had to work in the living room. One of these days I am going to video Cliff's face when I roll in with a cart full o'junk. He really is a patient man.

Turns out the drawers were plastic. Wood printed plastic and some particle board covered in wood print contact paper. No wonder this ended up on the curb. This thing really put the foe in faux bois!


But junk doesn't scare me. It just slows me down.

I took the drawer fronts off and tossed the rest. Finally all that was left was a parade of plastic frame like things with a heavy wood grain imprint. I toyed around with the idea of some sort of frame wall. But, with only three rooms, I am running out of walls. Then it hit me, a headboard! I piled everything up in the corner of my workshop and saved this project for after Christmas. 
 
After a few months on the balcony, these babies were fifthly. Not to mention I found them on the curb to begin with. Citra Solv to the rescue. No hose. No yard. Rub a dub dub, good scrub in the tub. The frames cleaned up nicely and so did my tub. Nice and orange scented!

Since I wanted the look of cupboard doors- ala my inspiration wall, I needed to fill in the middle hole. I went to staples to buy foam board thinking that would be super light weight but stiffer than cardboard. Foam board is crazy expensive for what it is! More expensive than hardboard at Home Depot!
So I went with hardboard. They cut it for me at HD. It took about a dozen cuts, so they did charge me $3 for all the cuts. 

Everything got a coat of black spray primer and black spray paint. Then I used Gorilla tape to tape the inserts into the frames. 



Hanging them on the wall was the next dilemma to be solved. I ended up just getting some black 3" drywall screws and screwing them right into the wall. Not the best look, but they are mostly hidden by pillows. This isn't my forever headboard. But for now, it makes me very happy.



Looking at these pictures I see that I have to do something with the picture on the left. I had a large lamp on that side table and that's why it was hung so high. Too high now. Also, I finally hung the plastic plates above my bed. I took away the green ones. Too busy.

Would you have guessed this was made of plastic and held together with tape? That fact alone makes me happy! Kinda Martha meets Macgyver!
 

Check out the other Roadkill Rescuses this week at the CSI project!

I am generally not a perfectionist. For the most part I make stuff for the fun of the process more than a perfect product. When I saw the "Craftastrophie" link up at Somewhat Simple I had to laugh because I have a cringe worthy project that I take out from time to time and then quickly shove back in the box. Maybe you have some advice...

This is an "I Spy" quilt top that I have been working on for a while.

 It was actually  one of my very first Citra-Solv projects. I started making it the day I received my first bottle of Citra-Solv in the mail.

I made these little patches that have carefully crafted I Spy rhyme and riddles to go with the patches on the quilt.

Here is the disaster part that is really quite embarrassing.


Look at the left edge! It doesn't line up at all. Each row has exactly the same number of patches. Told you I wasn't a perfectionist.  How could I ignore this problem for row after row? I tried adding some patches on the edges but this method was just pure crazy. So it sits folded in a box awaiting a quilting miracle.

Hope you are having a great day!

Welcome!

Today I am participating in the Strut Your Stuff Roll Call at Somewhat Simple.

Today I am going to feature some of my favorite projects from the past few years. A sample of what Out of the Crayon Box is about.

1. My biggest posts are probably the Play Kitchen Build Along. Nearly every week someone emails me to share their kitchen creation. Pretty exciting! I even have a flickr group for everyone to share their creations.



This play kitchen was probably the most "me."  I have made six play kitchens so far. All were made out of cast off end tables. I have sold three to raise money for the homeless program at my church. Oh, and all of these were made on the tiny fifth floor balcony of my LA apartment.

 
2. The Juice Glass Mini Cloche was one of my all time favorite projects.




3. I was super proud of my finished I Spy Quilt.



4. I don't cook much, but I do love to decorate cookies and cupcakes!




4. I also love to make stuff out of absolute junk. I turned some really crappy drawers into this headboard for my bedroom.



Thanks for stopping by!

Hello

Hello!

Summer is finally in full swing. Where have I been?

1. First I organized a book/bake sale for my awesome church.  We used bookfinder.com to publicize our sale with great success. This is a nationwide service that advertises used book sales by region and non profits can advertise for free! With relatively little effort on the part of a handful of volunteers we raised $1,065!  Not too shabby, right? Plus it was fun to hang out around books and visit with neighbors and friends. Not a bad way earn a buck.

2. Cliff and I celebrated our 7th anniversary!

We had a very simple celebration with our latest obsession Jersey Mikes Subs.  One day not too long ago, Cliff came home all excited about this new sub shop over by Target. Well, I love subs! I have loved them since I was a little girl. Every summer on the way home from vacation I would share a huge sub with my father at Tom Walls in Avon, New York. However, since Cliff detests Subway, I always thought he didn't like subs. We never ate them together and he didn't even know I liked them. We looked at each other with google eyes at discovering something new to share. Even after seven years you can still discover new things! And, we have had Jersey Mikes every week since!

We don't really exchange gifts, but as a small token I made this eye chart using the lyrics from "I Will" by the Beatles. This song was performed at our wedding by one of my students.  The website, Custom Eye Chart Maker is easy, but limited in the characters you can use. The last line of text is standard and so I had to upload my picture into Picnik and edit it. The font is not quite right yet, so this is still a work in progress. I hope to frame it soon though.

3. Not so much going on in the crafty life right now. I have wrestled with "stuff" lately. As in, what do I need? Oh sure there are a gazillion tempting ideas out there, but do I need more stuff? The big pay cut didn't help inspire me either. So together that has kind of put a damper on my crafting... for a bit.

4. To contradict all that, I am signing up for the latest Sweet Goodness Swap. That should get the juices flowing again!

5. In the meantime, my mama is coming to visit and I imagine we will spend our days, in part, just like this.

Hope you are enjoying your summer and that the living is easy.