a little squeeze of yellow

Do you remember those yellow curtains I made with a Target tablecloth? I finally put them up in Elana's room after deciding that instead of a monotone french blue pallet, I'd add a few splashes of sunshine yellow. (I also put the yellow lamp in there, too.)

It's so hard to take a photo of a window (especially with my cell phone....)! Hopefully you can see the pattern on the fabric anyway.

french blues and sunshine yellows,
Sarah

Thrifty Thursday - Little Birdie

I am afraid of birds. Not as in, I can't go outside for fear of birds, but they make me uncomfortable, and if there's a tree full of birds on my side of the sidewalk, I'll cross the street. How bizarre is that?

So why do I still find them so adorable?

I found this little sparrow at Goodwill for $4. Isn't she cute?

She has a spot on a shelf in Elana's room now. I originally had her on the side table, but Elana couldn't help playing with her! Now, she's safer, a couple shelves up. And, all cleaned up with a fresh coat of paint:

Tweet tweet!

Haunted House Pumpkin, Candy Corn pumpkin, spider pumpkin

Elana and I got creative with (some of) our pumpkins tonight! (check out her work, here)

I made a few based on some ideas I saw on the interwebosphere. Most impressive is the haunted house pumpkin! This idea and the template I started with (I changed it a bit) came from Parents.com.

Cut out template.

Draw the design on the pumpkin before you start carving. I used a plain old kitchen knife because I'm not convinced that a carving kit is worth the $5 investment....

So, the hardest part here was either the full moon in the back or the small windows on the "second floor".

Lights out!

Less impressive: spray painted candy corn pumpkin, spray-painted  plus a small black spider and his web (sorry about the lighting)



Yay! I didn't think I'd have time for this in this last week before the holiday. How great.

Craft Space

I live with my parents.

It seemed like a really good idea when I did it.... and it still is, for lots of reasons, but my crafting doesn't thrive as well here because there simply isn't enough unoccupied space for it. In my old apartment, I crafted in the basement, and it wasn't pretty by any stretch, but it was BIG. And I was free to save materials and pause in the middle of projects and all that fun stuff that we crafters do. S P R E A D. O U T.

Tonight, I was going to act on a couple things to round out a gift I should've mailed over a week ago (sorry Emily!), but instead I was overwhelmed by the mess that was my craft area. (Honestly, I can't really call it that, because it's just a three-drawer dresser shoved awkwardly into the dining room. Whatever you want to call it - I was frustrated by it!)

So, I didn't take before photos, because that'd be pointless (it's still cluttered and ugly, just more organized now), but I'll show you what I consider a big improvement. Because you care. Riiiiiight? :)

ta-da!

my fabric is mostly clothing I have picked up at thrift stores and taken apart. The bag above holds scraps. Because I don't have a ton of space, I don't save a bunch of scraps - there just wouldn't be room.

top drawer

And, last but not least, my corner of shame! This is where I have just sorta tossed everything that was too big to fit in the dresser. To be fair, this corner was piled to at least the chair rail before I got started today!

Isn't that a great pillow?? Especially for a buck?? I would really like to paint it bright yellow, but I'm nervous about painting satin.... if you have thoughts, comment!

So, there it is - at least the stuff I'm keeping in the house at the moment! The rest is being stored in tubs and stack-able drawers and cardboard boxes in the garage. (Oh man - one space at a time!)


Enough of reality, yes? Let me show you what I'd love in a craft room! Yes, I'll need a whole room for it, as I'm sure lots of you would, too, if you had it your way :)

I love the paint color, the stacks of fabric, and the high tabletops!

(source)

This is Martha Stewart's paper crafting station (yes, station - her attic is a crafting utopia - click the link for more of the tour), I love the jar storage:

(source)

I got this one from pinterest with no external link. I chose it for that cabinet. Hmmm I see a recurring theme - I really want to be able to somewhat see my supplies/fabric options while they are stored. The cabinet makes me pine for the hutch that got away (long story)! And, check out the tiered storage she has on the tabletop - think of all the awesome stuff you could put in there!

(source)

And seriously, a TV in the craftroom would be a must for me! I have this embarrassing habit of watching my season DVDs of Roseanne while I craft... When I'm done with season 9, I put in season 1. Ugh. I know, I'm despicable. The link shows the whole craft room, it's incredible. I think I'm being drawn to this pretty blue paint color today for some reason??

(source)

OH brother, I better knock it off! Sheesh. Maybe tomorrow, instead of coveting other people's craft rooms, I'll actually MAKE SOMETHING. Who knows!

Well - I'm going to go dream of craft spaces now.....

Denim Bibs

I pinned this tutorial from Thimbly Things; it's a bib, and yes, bibs have been done, but to me this is worth a mention because: A.) I've never made them before B.) It used materials I had on hand.

SO, I won't tell you EXACTLY how I made them, because you should click the link above for the whole tutorial :) But, in a nutshell... trace existing bib onto denim and print

Embellish the denim if you wish (check out the stitches in the link above!) then sew nearly all the way around with right sides together. I put left a 2 inch opening on the bottom of the bib so it would be easier to flip the bib right side out.

Flip right side out, press, then topstitch around the edge to close up the opening you left in the first seam and make the bib look finished. I did a really good job doing this, with a straight seam and everything... Ha.

Actually, the first one I made needed extra binding because I sewed too close to the edge, so I used bias tape. Hopefully,  you won't have this problem :)

The last thing to do is to add a closure. I used snaps, but you could use velcro if you wanted.

Wrap them up with an adorable gift tag and give them to a little babe you know! Or, put them on your 2 year old who drools like a St. Bernard.... whatevs.

Easy E - yarn letter

Yarn is so hot right now. H. A. W. T.  So are initials - ha! So, why not combine the two??

I wrapped yarn meticulously around a paper mache letter from Hob Lob ($1.25, yarn I had on hand), securing it using my glue gun. When I say meticulously, I mean it took me three episodes of Millionaire Matchmaker to do it.

I know, trash television, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine. No judging. And, don't watch it, please - it's aweful.

I hung the letter in Elana's room with a tie from the dress I used to make the bow board.

Elana is napping right now, so rather than disturb her I'll just promise to update this post later with a picture of the project hanging on her wall. A bare, boring wall, that needs paint. Actually, I have more in mind than just paint. But that's a story for another post!

Updated Photo:

Don't you just love cheap, cute projects??

Today's post was brought to you by the letter E.

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Kids Craft: Birdfeeder

We almost threw away a paper towel tube yesterday. Madness. There are SOOOO many things you can make with those things (or, toilet paper tubes).

Liiiiike....

 Or, the idea I replicated from The Moffatt Girls:

A TP tube Birdfeeder!

The process is pretty simple, and Annie explains it so well on her blog that I won't waste your time repeating the process. Prepare for some blurry photos! my lens was dirty. For the record, since we don't keep birdseed at our house, we used crushed Ritz crackers and dried cranberries.

We put our feeders outside where we could see them from the window, one on a post/marker surrounded by bushes, and one on a branch. This morning, the feeders were COMPLETELY gone... I have a feeling the birds didn't get a chance to enjoy them, and that a rabbit or raccon somehow knocked them to the ground. But, whatever - we fed SOMEONE, and this craft was ten minutes of joy for Elana.

 Wishing you crackers and cranberries,

Sarah

Bow Board

Last night I got a little crazy with the stapler and made this bow board for Elana's hair things.

I saw a framed bow board that I really liked at Prudent Baby, and decided to make my own variation with things I had on hand.

First, this wooden wall art from Hob Lob circa 2009. It's a good size, about 12x18", and it got pretty old and tired on a wall at my old apartment. It is retiring in style as of today :)

I dug through my stack of "to-repurpose" clothing and decided to use this dress I picked up at Salvation Army when they used to have a deal where you could pick up 5 clothing items for $5.

I also used some yarn, synthetic batting, and a stapler. Not a staple gun - mine was loaded with staples that were the wrong size -

(what the french?)

- so I used an office stapler and a little bit of gusto. It worked out fine!

First I cut up the dress along the seams -whaddya know, it had a liner! I used both layers.

Next step: iron! This dress had been sitting in the bottom of a box for a while, so it had collected plenty of wrinkles.

Then I cut out the batting. I doubled up the layers and left about half an inch on all sides of the wall hanging. For this project, I used cheap, $5 high batting from WalMart.

I stacked the layers face down: print, lining, batting, wood art, and stapled all around the edges. I left the fabric long until I was confident it was secure and straight, then I trimmed it. Instead of ribbon (I didn't have any that matched that was long enough), I used yarn, wrapping it all the way around the piece.

This'll make it easy to hang!

Voila! Hair clip storage in half an hour. I saved the scrap fabric to use in a project later this week.

Stay tuned :)



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Beads on presents

Neat idea alert! And this one's not borrowed, it's mine - that almost never happens.

I was wrapping a gift for a baby shower not too long ago and was too stinkin lazy to go dig out the ribbons and bows. I was sitting right next to my crafting disaster workspace, so I grabbed some beads and the white thread that was in my machine.

Next stop, gift embellishment!

all the Joy of Giving,
Sarah


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Button down shirt into toddler dress

Aaaah the good ol upcycled men's button down. An oldie but a goodie. For me, it was also a newie. (Gag.)

There's a million ways to do this, apparently. First, I tried the tutorial on MADE, and failed miserably - I think one of my shortfalls was drawing the pattern. I decided to try this tuturial on Craftster, because it was a super basic construction.... the bodice and skirt were cut out of the fabric together, so the only thing I had to attach were the sleeves.

Anywho. I did a pretty awful job of taking photos during the process.... but am always happy to share what I DID get:

Lovely wrinkled shirt from Salvation Army: $1.50. I really like the color combo.

I cut the dress apart carefully at the seams, then cut the shape out:

Elana measures 21" around her chest, so I added a few inches for ease, then cut straight down for the bodice at 6.5". From there, I just angled the skirt as far out as I liked.

The sleeves are constructed with elastic and the shoulder pieces of the original shirt - the very top of the arm. I used my sewing class skillz to create an EFb along the curved edge and to make a casing for the elastic. (press 1/8 to 1/4", then press a second time).

I added some trim to the front between the straps. I made a tube from a scrap of the shirt and gathered it. It was so thick and narrow a strip of ruffles that it didn't go on the way I wanted it to - but by the time I had it attached to the garment, I decided that I just didn't care!

I sewed the straps and finished the edges. the dress buttons in the back.

If you wondered, the skirt (not including the bodice) was 18" when I originally cut it, and I trimmed off about 7", and my hem was 1". So, however long that is..... I just eyeballed it while Elana was trying it on for strap placement.

Photo shoot! (to come - I do my crafting at night, so that means my readers have to be patient!!)

Edit! Photos added! Hot Pocket Photo Shoot!



Check out the mullet-hair. Party in the back



No words necessary.



Come a little closer -



She may or may not be wearing lip gloss and eyeshadow... bad parenting, cute kid.




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