Studio Tour

 Heres a little peek at where I spend my Monday's. 

This is my Mother-in-Law's craft studio and it is AH-mazing! 

 I could spend all day every day in here (and there is wi-fi!!) crafting and hanging out. 

It's spacious with tons of counterspace and tables so you can really spread out.

Every tool and supply you could want can be found (somewhere) in this room.

There is tons of stoarage space and a drool-worthy collection of beads of every kind.

Precious metal, stone, glass, vintage, crystal.

You name it, we got it! 

I know it looks messy, but we each have our own work space.

Lisa' (on top) is a bit neater than I am.

I tend to spread out with piles of pretty things in front of me.

You never know when or how inspration will strike.

Crystals and pearls are my favorite beads to work with. 

And I keep staring at those sea-green glass rings. 

They are vintage and beautiful and I have no idea what to make with them.

Here is Lisa's computer station. 

She keeps excellent records of all the product we use. 

She uses a program called Bead Manager Pro. 

Its great and I highly reccommend it for anyone who is selling their beadwork. 

And lets not forget the view.  Gorgeous, right? 

Who wouldn't want to craft here all day? 

So if it's Monday, here is where you'll find me!

Quite a Pair - Of Chairs!

Have you ever wondered WHO actually picks up the crap people leave on the side of the road with a "FREE" sign?

Yeah, well, I am one of those people. 

And in our neighborhood, people do it all the time. And sometimes its pretty nice stuff.

On the very day I saw this tutorial on Elsie's blog, I found a chair on the side of the road.

It was equally as sad as the one pictured, but I didn't draw a smiley face on mine.

I patched the hole with duct tape and dissassembled the chair, which was pretty easy since the directions are printed on the underside of the seat.  Unfortuately, the top of the chair wouldn't come off, the screws were rusty and bent, so I just covered it with a plastic bag.

Then I painted it with Krylon in a nice aqua blue. My plan was to make it opposite of this chair, so both Goose and I can have a seat in my craft room.

I found this rusty red cotton fabric at JoAnn's. It's the same kind of fabric I used for the first chair, only a different color. The reds aren't quite the same shade, but I like the way they look together. I used my glue gun to attach the fabric to the chair. I carefully folded the fabric and glued it in place.

The pillows are from Dollar Tree.  With some left over fabric, I sewed a few rosette flowers and attached them with my glue gun.  I don't know where they will end up, but I thought they looked cute in the pictures.

Thanks for looking!

An Un-Blogged Craft Project

My craftiness is well known in the family and my skills are frequently recruited.  For the last wedding it was the beaded wine glasses for Tara's wedding and this time it was flower girl baskets for Cherish's wedding.  I got to make two of them and her wedding colors were some of my favorite colors to work with.  Pink and Black. Yummm. 

My mother in law and I went to Joann's to pick out the supplies, found cheap baskets, and spent too much on fabric.  I have a very shabby chic/unpredictable/vintage kitchy type style.  The general idea I had was to sew rosettes out of the various fabrics and attach them to the front of the baskets.  And for the inside, I glued in a fabric lining with the polka dot fabric.

I used the braided ribbon to cover the seam of the lining and the heart is to cover the part where the ends of the trim meet. Hot glue guns are amazing.  Invest in a good one, its totally worth it!

Once the flowers were glued in place, I used various sparkly embellishments for the centers of the flowers.  Then I added ribbon to the handle.  I only decorated the front, since that was the only thing people would see. 

And both of the girls did wonderfully.  They were too cute. And of course, were bestfriends before the weekend was over.

Both Goose and Naia got to keep their baskets.  I didn't add anything wedding specific to them, so they can be used again.  I'm thinking next Easter, perhaps?

PS - Sorry the pictures of the basket aren't better.  Camera situation is complicated right now. Taking pics on the cell phone is just easier.

HowDoesShe - Seed Paper Flowers

Okay, so these aren't the "seed" flowers, but they are made the same way.

I used coffee filters. They are flexible, pliable when wet, and still durable.

For the seed flowers I made, I made the flowers first, then painted them with the flour paste, like the tutorial instructs. Then, I sprinkled the seeds on.  

They were so pretty I made this set of "un-seeded" flowers for my office.

And the vase... from Dollar Tree.

It's actually a decorative reed diffuser, sold without the oil.

The sunflowers were a little gift to myself, from Trader Joe's.

Yeah, I buy myself flowers for my office.

Aren't they SO pretty?

I Bet I Can Make These

Shoes from Lulu's

I might just have to give it a try this weekend.

I already have black zippers and filp-flops galore.

They are cute, but I don't need to spend $17 (+ship) for another pair of flip-flops.

Zipper shoes weren't too hard to make the first time, either.

Oh,

&

I think projects like this just may be the reason I am always so tired during the day.

;)

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter!!

The Easter Bunny has been to our house 

and

SHE embellished this cute little basket from the Dollar Tree.

I expect to find a chocolate covered Goose when I get out of bed in the morning.

Good Night 

and 

Love from mine to yours!

Sums it up..

I've had a crappy week.

Hope yours has been better!

I have lots of blogging and Etsy updating to work on this weekend.  

I could really use some sunshine and maybe a smoothie. 

I've been trying to think more positively about things. 

Last week was good. This week, not so much.

Baby steps!

On a happier note, I went to a friends baby shower last weekend.

Miss Amanda!

And I made baby some headbands and clippies.

This new mama is one of my favorite people.

I've had a girl-crush on her since high school.

Her style is amazing!

Her attitude is inspiring!

She is one of the most naturally beautiful people I have ever met!

I can't wait to meet her baby when she's done baking!

Made it Cute

Nothing too terribly special.

Took my cheap/old/loved slippers from WM and gave them a mini face lift with some scrap black sweatshirt fabric, left over from a re-fashion.

Craft Break!

I've been cleaning all day.

Well, Hubs let me sleep in ('till 11! Whoo!) and I have been cleaning non-stop since getting up. Mainly hauling my craft stuff back up to my craft room (I tend to migrate downstairs cuz I get lonely up there all by myself!) and packing up Christmas decorations. I know, I know, Hubs and I are HUGE procrastinators but the tree is out on the curb and the decorations are packed up. Except for the ornaments. Gonna wait 'till Goose is in bed to pack those away. Its a job easier done without a toddler "helping."

So while folding laundry I found this shirt that apparently Goose took the scissors too. She cut a hole right in the middle front of the shirt.

And then I decided to take a craft break, since the shirt caused a light bulb to go off in my head. I knew just how to fix it! No sewing required and done in under 15 minutes. All you need is some Heat-n-Bond, fabric scraps and an iron (and scissors and a pencil or crayon, thats what I used!)

#1 - Cut out fabric and Heat-n-Bond paper and attach as per the directions on the Heat-n-Bond.

#2 Let fabric cool then sketch your design onto the back of your paper. Cut out.

#3 Again, following the directions on the Heat-n-Bond, attach your fabric to your shirt.

Ta-Da!!

Cute, easy and you'd never know there is a huge hole under there. And Goose was pleased. She thinks I am the "Best Mommy in the WHOOOOLE World" when I make her stuff.

The strawberry fabric is vintage sugar sack fabric and the green corduroy is scrap from a vintage skirt I altered. Both fabrics are from Fun Junk!

ETA - the model/culprit!

Plays with Yarn

I think that would be my Indian name for the moment.

It really takes me back to the days of my youth. I would spend all my allowance money on craft supplies (not much has changed there) and mainly on yarn. I love all the different colors and types and sizes. The extra chunky fuzzy stuff, the thinner "Red Heart" brand. Soft, wool, acryilic... I don't care! I love yarn! (Especially Lion's Brand, but don't tell my other yarns that!).

I made a whole wall of yarn wrapped wreaths for Christmas.

(Close up pictures later! Promise!)

I got these stockings at Old Navy after Thanksgiving for super cheap. $2 each bay-bay!!! So my Christmas colors this year are pretty non traditional. Hubs has the green/white/red stocking, Gooses' is the one with stripes/flowers and mine is the purple feather-ish one. And we each have a coordinating wreath on the wall too!

*the vintage birdie ornaments are from Fun Junk!

Funky wreath for the front door.
Bought the wreath for $3 and glued/wired pretty "stuff" to it.

No tree pics yet. :( We bought one this past weekend but still need to get lights before we can put it off. Maybe tomorrow. Its hard to believe that Christmas is only 10 (yes TEN!) days away and I have no Christmas tree. Also, I haven't even started my present shopping. Crap-ola!

Meh... I still have 10 days... spoken like a true procrastinator, I know.

*photo editing - Rollip*

Meanwhile, I am back to the sweatshop to make more finger knitted garlands. I learned how from this tutorial from Making Chicken Salad.

Deck the Halls

And I've just begun!!!

We haven't got a tree yet. I think this year we are going to go with something a little smaller and sensible. Our tree last year was love-er-ly, but HUGE! But I have whipped up a few little crafts here and there between (my poor) housekeeping and gift making. I made a couple wreaths and a pom-pom garland for over the furnace.

I'm going with non-traditional colors this year. Inspired actually, by stockings I got for the Fam at Old Navy ($2 each, yee-ah!).

I bought my unwrapped wreaths at Michael's... they are expensive! Normally, you can find all sizes (even the large ones!) at the Dollar Tree, but they were all sold out. Boo! So I didn't make as many wreaths as I wanted. I plan on doing one for the front door soon.

I'm trying this year to be more festive. We always do I tree, but I am always too lazy to decorate more than that, but not this year! This year I am determined to have a funky and FUN Christmas!

Three Little Birds (also Goose's favorite song)

Fawn-d of You!

Just a little somethin' pretty!

'Tis the Season my loves!

PS - My birthday officially started SEVEN (it's 12:07) minutes ago! Good riddance 25 and Heeeeey-low 26! Made a cute little 26 before 27 list I'll share w/ you later!