Packed away and out in a couple of months!

I've totally been a slacker these past couple of months.  Not just on the blog but in my home.  I usually am on top of things when it comes to the Holiday decor and I have always had the tradition of putting away all the Christmas stuff on New Years day....nope not this year.  See, I have been in a funk!  My crafty bug has not been very creative, well I shouldn't say "not" creative...I have just been to busy.  I actually went almost 2 weeks without stepping a foot into the craft room.  EEK!! LOL!!  I'm making a change though.  No resolutions here - just changes.  This past weekend I started up on some new projects and Monday night/morning I packed up alllllll the Christmas that was in my home.  Tuesday after work I took all of it upstairs to put away. Yay for me!

Here is my Christmas tree, I had already started removing stuff from the bottom.

 

I sure do have a lot of stuff that goes into the tree.



Well Christmas is officially put away....."see you in a couple of months".  Last Christmas post I promise.

I hope everyone has had a great week so far.

Pin It

I felt like I was sewing foreeeeeeeever!

Not really, it actually didn't take that long, it was the prep that took a while.
I must say you will be bombarded with a ton of pics.....sorry for that.  I'm a visual person, I like to see pictures and I feel that you will understand it better if you can see what I'm seeing.  I'm a weirdo like that, when people talk I have to see their mouth moving, if not all I hear is mumbles. LOL!!

Okay, now on to the project.  I have been wanting a mat for the entrance to my craft room.  Why you may ask....oh just because.  Well I went on a adventure looking for the right materials to make it.  I definitely didn't want to spend lots of money and I knew I wanted something handmade. By me, duh!! I went to Goodwill, sadly I couldn't find anything that I was totally in love with.  Now I realize I could have gone to Wally World to buy a cheapie for 5 bucks, but what would be the fun in that.  Then I went to $ tree and bought 200 feet of poly rope.  That cost me about 4 bucks. 

When I went to another Goodwill, I found this twin sheet for 3 bucks, it would have to do.  All the way home I thought about how I could snazz it up a bit.

I decided I would make some of the colors pop.  Boy, was I in over my head.   With 3 fine tip markers I went about my merry little way and outlined the green, pink and dark pink prints.  For this twin size sheet it took me 6 hours to finish!

Can you see the change?  It went from Dull to Cheery!

After the (6) hours, my fingers were cramping, my neck was aching from looking down and I had a headache from the permanent marker smell....but I was happy to be done with that.  Now I was ready to cut and tear.  What??  ←  that's what theHubs said....after all that you're going to cut it up.  Yup!  I took the pinking sheers and snipped about every 1 inch along the edge.  Then I just ripped it into what you see below.

Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the part where I tied the end of the rope and the end of the strip together.  Then I wrapped the rope a couple of times to cover it.  To start off the mat I folded the start of the wrapped rope down about 2 inches  (like this ║) then I sewed it together.  Then I just continued wrapping, turning, and sewing.

I used a zig-zag stitch for the whole mat.  I kept the center of the rope and the center of the foot aligned so I could get the zig-zag on both sides.  (╥)

Okay, I'm a lefty and I do most things backwards!! Lol!!  Well, this was totally my fault for not thinking this through.  I'm so impatient sometimes and I pay for it with mess ups like this.  When I was done with my first 50 feet of wrapped rope....I had a curving bowl mat......NOOOOOOOOOO!  Yeah, instead of running it through and turning left I was turning right.  So hence the almost bowl.  I had to start again and I did it correctly.  I took the seam ripper to the bowl and used this piece at the end.  So, it worked out.

See, I'm doing it the right way here!! 

Please ignore the Hobbit feet below!!  Geez, they look like stand in feet for the Lord Of the Rings movies, lol!!  There are shadows around, I don't have cankles okay! My feet are little and cute...so theHubs says, lol!! I love to stand on it barefoot because it's always cool. 

I really love the way it turned out!  Even though it did take the (6) hours to add the color I'm glad I did....it pops right?

I'm really tempted to make a bigger one...who knows maybe I will!  So in total it cost be less than $8.00 and my time. 

I'm glad you stopped by to check out the latest project.  Everyone have a great week.


Linking up at the fabulous parties in my party tab and also at these great places -
Craft-O-Maniac
Watch Out, Martha!

Pin It

Embroidery Art - Day of the Dead Pillow

 Where has the year gone?  Can you believe by the end of this week we're already half way through July.  I'm already counting down till we get to October.....I can start decorating for the Holiday's. Woo-Hoo!!!

This project that I'm going to share with you was for one of our great friends Birthday.  Her lovely parents were the lucky ones to receive the Patriotic Pillow.  I want to thank all of the lovely blogger's who featured it.  I tried to grab all of the feature buttons, if I'm missed one I'm sorry - please let me know if you don't see yours.

The theme of this pillow is a little early in the year to celebrate....that is if you do! It is usually celebrated November 1st.  I don't celebrate the day, but I do love the art work of everything.  Some of the art work is simply stunning. If you like that sort of thing. I went on-line to get some inspiration for this project.  If you look up Day of the Dead art, you'll see skulls with flowers, hearts, webs, crosses and swirls, in many different colors.  Well my friend LOOOOOVES this kind of stuff and I knew she would be extremely happy when she saw what I made for her.

Here is some information on Day of the Dead History

(Picture quality is not the best, but I'll try to explain as best as I can.)

1.) I folded a sheet of paper and drew a couple of half skull shapes.

2.) Then I cut them out and decided on the one I liked the best.

3.) I traced (2) skulls on a sheet of blank paper and made copies of that.

4.) Then with the inspiration from the net, I drew out the skulls.  You know it's not very easy to draw teeth.  I had such a hard time, I kept drawing and erasing. 

1.) I ended up drawing (8) different skulls, I chose the 4 I liked the best.

2.) I pinned the skulls onto foam board with tissue paper over it to trace.

3.) I then traced the skulls with black permanent marker.

4.)  I cut out the tissue traced skulls and set them aside.

5.)  Now I was ready to start.  I pinned it onto the fabric, then put it onto the hoop. 

       Embroidering on the tissue paper was easy, I was able to tear away and pick out the pieces.  I didn't really have a plan, I just picked different colors.  As I finished each skull I took it off the hoop to pin the next skull where I wanted it to be.  I really loved the way it all came out.

Drawing out the skulls, embroidery and sewing took me about 27 hours combined....it probably would have been less if I wasn't watching re-runs of Ugly Betty or The Office, lol.

For the back I chose a black with white polka dots.  I have to say my favorite skull has to be the last  one with the blue flower.

  I'm happy to say that she was really excited to receive this gift.  I'm glad!!

Thanks for stopping by to view this weeks project.

Everyone have a fabulous week.

Linking up Here and

It's so very Cheri

My Repurposed Life

2805

Pin It

Fishing line trellis

Hey every one...remember when I posted about allllll the fishing line that I received on one of my freecycle trips?  No, didn't think so!!  Well here is a pic to refresh your memory.  This is only one bag of it.

Since I am crafty and cheap ($ wise), I have been looking on-line for different ways to use up this stuff.  One of the ways to use it up was to make a trellis.  So I got to it.

I pulled out my little box of all the misc. screws and bolts that have been left over or recycled from stuff that has been put together in our home and 1 handy dandy screw driver.

I marked the fence where I wanted to put the screws...I didn't measure, I'm a big believer in eye-balling stuff, lol!!  

I found the strongest fishing line in my pile and got to wrapping and knotting.  If you look very closely I have (5) lines a that go from left to right and (2) lines that make a (X) in the center.

I bought flowering Jasmine to grow there.  I wish there was more to show you, but that's it, that's all that has grown.  It doesn't even have flowers  (*.*).  I really hope it works out the way I want it to.   It has been really hot and I've been trying to water, so we'll see.

Until next time!! Thanks for stopping by.

Linking up at these fabulous parties this week!

The Dedicated House

Savvy Southern Style

My Repurposed Life

 

Pin It

Patriotic Pillow

This past Saturday we drove out to the country to visit some wonderful friends.  They have their property in Sommerville, TX and a short gulf cart drive to the lakes edge.  I love it!!  Well, we never go or leave there empty handed. Not that we expect or they expect anything, it's just a nice gesture since we only get to see them about once a year.  I wanted to make something that I knew they would enjoy and appreciate.  So I decided on a Patriotic Pillow.  Of course it can be put out all year round, not just the 4th of July. 

The Patriotic Pillow

(I apologize for the not so great pics. I was in a hurry)

I decided on the more muted colors of Red, White and Blue. 

1.) Washed and pressed the 3 fat quarters.

2.) Made my cuts, I didn't measure - I usually eyeball everything.

3.) I printed out a star, traced it onto cardboard and cut it out.

4.) I traced stars on the light fabric.

5.) Cut out my stars and they're ready to be sewn on.

6.) I sewed using a zig-zag stitch.  I sewed on the stripes to the light fabric, I sewed the stars to the blue fabric, then sewed the blue fabric onto the light fabric.   Then I used embroidery floss to sew the buttons onto the stars.

For the back I used burlap lined with the light fabric, I didn't want the stuffing to poke out thru the burlap.

Here is the finished pillow.  I have to say they really loved it.  I loved making it for them. 

I made another pillow for my friend's birthday but I will show hers later.  If you follow me on Instagram (@fifiybr) then you got to see a sneak peek of it and I also introduced her pet potbelly pig Bacon.  Her parents are the ones who received the Patriotic Pillow.

Thanks for stopping by, everyone have a fabulous day!! 

Until the next project.....

Linking at these spots and others on my Link Party page

CraftyTexasGirls

Savvy Southern Style

My RePurposed Life

2805

Pin It

Spray Paint project!

I ♥ spray paint!!!  Why, because this stuff can pretty much change anything into something pretty to look at.  Frames, furniture, glass, even shoes!!!!  I'm still trying to convince theHubs why I have so many spray paint cans or why I keep buying more....lol!!

I spent one of these past Saturdays spray painting outdoor plant pots.  They were due for a upgrade.  When we first moved into our new home we had no plants what so ever, the front door looked sad and lonely.  My mother-in-law gave me this potted plant, it is a type of Ivy.  The pot was painted white, probably with house paint not sure and after 7 years the paint has chipped away.  I sanded down as much as I could as you can see from the picture below.

It's no secret, I love easy projects.  This was super easy too!  I didn't remove the plant, because I was lazy and I said I loved easy projects.  So I just covered the plant with a plastic bag, tucked in all the long Ivy arms and pushed wooden skewers in around the bag so I wouldn't get spray paint all up in there. 

Ta-da!!  Fresh and white! 

I picked up this salmon colored pot at a garage sale for $1.00, yay!!  I washed and dried this baby and it was ready to be painted.  I loved the shiny color it had, it just didn't go with the outdoor color of the house.  So I just chose another shiny color to make a statement in the entry way.   

LOVE IT! Who doesn't love a nice turquoise?

Now, they are ready to show off!

I just put them here to take the picture.  They have since been moved, the blue one is on the walkway now.  

Everyone have a fabulous day, stay cool if it's hot out or stay dry if you're getting the rain! 



Pin It

In full bloom - Framed Flower Art

Who doesn't like LOVE flowers???  Well you're the weird one if you don't!  My favorite flower to receive is Tulips...in any color, but my all time favorite are Yellow Tulips!  Getting flowers, any kind for that matter for no reason is always a pleasant surprise.  My second all time favorite flower is the white Peony.  Really, these are soooooo beautiful.  I love them when they are fully bloomed or just barely opening.  

Okay, enough of my flower rambling!  I decided to make a piece of art to resemble a fully bloomed peony.  Can you guess what I used to make the flower?  I was also able to use a piece of fabric from my scrap busting bin and I also reused a garage sale find frame.

Sorry for all of the pictures....I couldn't decide which ones to show, so I just kept most of them.

Have you guessed yet?  It's really simple.

To make the flower petals was fun and easy...but the burning of my finger tips, not so much .

The flower looks like porcelain here doesn't it.

I really enjoyed making the center of the flower....after it was cooled I then spray painted it. 

You figured out what was used yet.  C'mon they're repinned all over Pinterest.

I wiped down the frame....my bestie found it for me at a garage sale for - dun...dun...dunnnnn 25¢

I cut out a piece of cardboard to fit the frame, then wrapped it in the piece fabric.  For the backing I just glued a piece of newspaper so you couldn't see all the glue and tape.  Sorry I forgot to take a picture of it.

Then I hot glued the flower onto the fabric.  After the glue dried I stood the frame up and put glue into the crevices.  I don't want it to fall off after it's put up.

It looks really great if I say so myself.  Well of course I'm gonna think that, lol!!

The three different textures used were wood, fabric and plastic!! 

Fine....

I used spoons for the petals and forks for the center! See, now you're thinking...really or whaaat!

Cool huh!!

Now it's ready for hanging.  I just have to decide how I should hang it.  The hook is at the top, the way the pic above is.  But I could easily add hooks to hang in the other way. 

Leave comments letting me know which way to hang it.

↨ upright

↔ sideways

   I'll tally up the comments next week and hang it up.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous week!


Linking up here and many other parties!  Take a look at my Parties page.


Today's Creative Blog

Pin It

Crafting the midnight away! Embroidering

Where has the year gone?  It's May and there are a little less than 2 months before the 4th of July!! CRAZY!!  We were just popping fireworks for New Years.  I really hope we don't have a ban for the 4th of July, we were on a fire ban and water restrictions last year. 

I've been busy these past couple of weeks with different projects...the sewing is easy to get done and show it off.  It's the bigger stuff that takes a bit of time - like furniture.  Slowly but surely its happening. It doesn't help that we're already getting the humidity....it's taking forever for my spray paint projects to dry.  After last years super smart idea of spray painting in the craft room and the big fail, I have to stick to the garage from now on...lol!! 

So, while the other projects get finished and pictures are taken and edited, I will show you what else I do at the midnight hour besides getting my beauty sleep.

I make things like this in bed with my lamp on because I don't want to wake theHubs.   

I made this one for my craft room!!  It's my blog name.  I hand drew the whole thing and used colored thread, it was not easy because the thread is too thin and kept knotting.  But I finished it!

This one is also for the craft room.  I used embroidery floss here.  Sometimes a gal needs some motivating words.  These are from a song...don't songs sometimes speak to you. Or don't you think wow... story of my life.  I traced the star from my lap top and wrote out the quote by hand.

The above blue one is for my side table in my bedroom....It's my wedding date.  Yes, I know the date to my anniversary, it's just a reminder of our LOVE.  Don't worry I'm not gonna talk about our gross, mushy love!! Who wants to here that!! lol!!  I used a iron on for the heart,  I couldn't draw that perfect.

Not to be rude or mean, but for a loooooooooooong time I thought of embroidering as a old folk craft...Sorry!  It was always old English letters, or the country cat that I saw and I was not interested at all.  If it was cooler or more modern maybe I'd try it.  I know now that there are about a million things that can be embroidered.  There are tons of iron ons that are cool enough for me, or I can draw whatever I want.

Well, I hope you like them.  If you've never tried to embroider give it a try...it's super easy and it's fun to pick all the colors.

Everyone have a fabulous day!!

Pin It