Silhouette SD Giveaway on Sugar Pop Ribbons

I am extremely excited about this and would totally love one of these machines, if you do not know what it is or want more info visit Sugar Pop Ribbon's Blog to read her review.  So far it is the most versatile machine I have found, it cuts fabric, paper, heat transfer material, and vinyl.  I really hope it can cut through aluminum cans as well b/c I could create such wonderful decorations for my bedspring wreaths.  So cross your fingers for me everyone and lets hope I win it!

Happy Friday! Recycled Jar w/ Chalkboard Label and Upcoming Events!

TGIF!  This is the first weekend in a long time I haven't had something to do!  Unfortunately the BF has to work all weekend so I will be on my own.  I think I might try to re-organize my spare bedroom/shop b/c honestly there is no way anyone could possibly sleep in this room right now :).  I have already warned my little sister if she is coming to stay she needs to give me a weeks notice.   I totally destroy it every time I have a show to do, so I think its time for some organizing and hopefully a little creating as well.

What I have to share today is actually what I used to display my fabric/soda can/sheet music roses last weekend at the FFA Craft Sale.  I have been saving jars from food for awhile now and finally came up with a use for them that is rather easy, but cute.  Using the same idea as my upcycled mail holder I taped off a square section on to each jar, painted it with a layer of white paint and then several layers of chalkboard paint.  I then let it sit overnight and voila cute reusable jars.  

Upcoming Shows

I just recently joined the Holiday Shopping Kick-off Fair which is a travelling fair that visits a different town each month and includes some of your favorite vendors, such as Avon, Scentsy, Pampered Chef, Gold Canyon Candles and so many other great local vendors.   The next fair is Saturday, March 12th from 3 pm - 8 pm at the Massena American Legion.  Become a fan on Facebook to know when we will be in your town!

I also signed up for another craft sale to benefit the Canton Day Care Center.  This should be a rather large one b/c they have 4000 square feet for vendors to set up.   This show is Saturday, March 19th from 9 am - 3 pm at the Canton Day Care Center at 205 State Street Road in Canton.  There will also be several raffles to win items so check it out!

Recycled Newspaper Origami Seed Starter Pot

As you may have noticed by yesterday's post I have a lot of planting to do!  Year's in the past I have just used the jiffy seed starting trays and while they do work well, I just don't like to buy them and I wish they were a little larger to let the roots get larger.  This year I started looking for a DIY version and stumbled upon etsy seller lovebybean's version and remembered a tutorial on Netflix Origami for a box.  If you have never been to Netflix Origami its a neat site to make things out of a Netflix wrapper, and it is actually where I first started to learn origami.  I took yesterday's newspaper out of the recycle bin at work and brought it home to make some seed starter pots of my own.

So you will need:

1. Newspaper
2. Hot Chocolate with Peppermint Marshmallows :) (Optional)

So working at my normal station of the coffee table trunk in the living room, I started by taking one page of the newspaper.

Fold the short site to the top to create a triange and then cut off the excess, leaving a square of newspaper. 

Follow the instructions on Netflix Origami for just the box, not the lid too (unless you want lids).  

The end result:  

Too bad I still have way too many to fold!  Once the seedlings are ready to be planted outside, just put the whole newspaper box in the ground and it will break down and leave nutrients in the soil for your flowers!  

Enjoy!

Junk Picking - My Latest Finds & Chalkboard Mail Holder

Remember how I find the board for my Springs n' Things Sign, well I also found some other interesting objects.  My grandmother used to run an antique shop out of that section of the barn and I think these were some of the leftover items that have since gotten a little rusty and dirt!

Rusty Coffee Pot, Wall Holder, 3 Insulators (1 clear, 1 blue, 1 turquoise), Atlas Mason Jar, and a Rusty Grater, 2 old locks

I already love any kind of mason jar, they can be used for so many great things.  Check back for projects using the others!

 I decided to work with the wall holder first b/c I currently hate the box holding our mail and needed something smaller so I would be forced to clean it out sooner and it wouldn't get out of control.  To add a little pizazz I decided to create a chalkboard label using chalkboard paint of course.  I cleaned up the wall holder a bit and lightly sanded it to get a little of the rust off.  I then, using blue painter's tape, taped off the rectangle I wanted for the label.  I put a heavy quote of white paint on for my base layer and then 2 layers of chalkboard paint. 

I let that sit for an hour or so and then I removed the tape.  

It had to for at least 24 hours to cure before you can write on it, but here is the finished product: 

Not only can this be used in your house for mail but by having a changeable label it can be used at parties and weddings!

"Button, button who's got the button?" - Tweedle Dee, Alice in Wonderland - Cute Button Garland

For some reason, like springs, I really like the look of buttons.  I have some berry garland all around the top of my kitchen cabinets.  I was getting pretty sick of it, and wanted to by new but the stuff is just so expensive.  I thought about painting it and may paint some of it still, but it would take forever!  So instead I had a bunch of buttons I'd gotten from people over time and ordered some yellow buttons off of Etsy.  I then strung the buttons on silver floral wire to make the garland.  I just did different sizes and shades and even some white ones too.  I think it adds a touch of color and cuteness to the berry garland!

Upcycled Zipper Rosette - Brrrr it's going to be a cold weekend!

I haven't wanted to try these for so long!  I kept seeing flowers people made out of zippers and wanted to try my rosettes using a zipper.  The BF finally broke a zipper in his coat, so I ripped the old one out and took it to his grandma's to get replaced.  Check out the result!

The only difference from my original rosette tutorial is, i had to use a lot more hot glue to keep it together but I still thinks it neat, I'm going to make 2 more smaller ones out of the other half of the zipper and put them on a headband!

"J" is for Janessa

I needed some more decorations for my office at work so I decided to make a fun letter "J".

I think I managed to find everything I loved in Martha Stewart Living magazines :).  I was even able to find some of my china pattern in there as well.

So to create this letter, I made the actual letter shape out of cereal boxes and glued it together then added some masking tape for some extra strength.

To start decorating it, I used some vintage sheet music I had gotten as packaging for springs I purchased off of Etsy.  It was too pretty to throw out so I knew I would use it for a project.  For the rest of the images, I just sat down with a stack of Martha Stewart Living magazines and clipped out everything I thought was "me".  I used a glue stick to attach them b/c I didn't have any mod podge :(, but I plan on sealing it with mod podge.  

I think this would be a creative gift for a friend or even for in a kid's room.  Enjoy!

Upcycled Lace Tablecloth Hearts &heart;

I am still working with my huge lace tablecloth, but I have been creating so many cute things I just wanted to share more.  Last week I created some great rustic lace hearts.  

To make this, the first step is to create a small wire frame to stretch the lace around.  I used some old fence wire, but you could use coat hanger or whatever you have handy.   Cut a square of lace or whatever you want to stiffen around the wire shape, just a big enough to wrap around the wire shape.   Have a square of parchment paper ready to put it on.  

 Put the square in the glue/water mixture, used in the Lace Basket tutorial (glue with a little water)

Ring out the square place it on the parchment paper, then place the wire shape on top of it and stretch the lace around it. 

Wait for it to try then peel it apart a little to get the frame out, it should still hold its shape, if you want you can trim the back up a little bit too.  I ran a piece of twine through a hole in it to create the above decoration.    I also made another curly corned basket. 

After making a couple hearts and 2 baskets, I still have all this tablecloth left, so I think I'm going to make a rustic lace heart garland :).

"Creative minds are rarely tidy" - Fabric Rosette Tutorial

I love the above quote, it describes my crafting chaos perfectly.

Fabric rosette's can be seen in many of my projects, I love them for decorating.  They can be used for so many things, hair clips, magnets, attached to pillows, headbands etc.  So here is how you make them:

I normally cut my fabric all into strips before hand but if you want to cut it as you go that is fine.  The strips need to be about 1 inch wide, and the length is dependent on how big you want your flower to be.  If you are cutting up a fat quarter of fabric you will get medium size flowers, but you can always add on another strip if you want to continue.   One fat quarter of fabric makes quite a few flowers as well :).

So you will need:

1.  1 inch strips of fabric
2.  hot glue gun

Optional
3.  Wire to make a stem, floral tape, wire cutters
4.  Hot Chocolate with Peppermint Marshmallows :)

1.  Start by folding your strip in half and placing a small amount of glue at the end to hold it. 

(You can iron the strip in half if you would like too)

2.  Now with the strip folded in half begin to roll the fabric up, but while you are rolling it twist and flip the fabric over to create the petals, you can do this randomly throughout the flower 

- until you get really good at rolling them you may want to glue it together every now and again b/c if you drop it you will have to start over :) 

3.  Once you are about 1 - 1 1/2 inches from the end of the strip, you can either glue the strip folded in half to the rosette and glue on another strip or open up the remaining "tail" to prepare it to glue to the back of the flower

4.  If you want your rosette to have a stem, cut a piece of wire twice as long as you want your stem, place some glue on the back of the rosette place the middle of the wire across the back of the flower and then fold the 1 inch overhang over the back of the flower to finish it.

5.  Once the glue has dried, fold the two halves of the wire up and twist.  If you wish for a neater finish wrap the wire in floral tape.  

Watch JoAnn fabrics for their $1 fat quarter sale! These make beautiful rustic bouquets!  As seen in my bedspring bud vases!

Upcycled Lace Tablecloth Basket - Failure and Success!

I got this old lace tablecloth from the North Country Neighbors Flea Market for $5.00 b/c it has a small stain on it.  It was not worth throwing out this huge tablecloth for a small little stain.  So I wanted to try making a basket out of it.  

I found somewhere on the internet that a good replacement for fabric starch/stiffener was 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to 1 cup of water.  That is a big FAIL it did not stiffen the fabric at all.  So I went to the old standby of mostly glue (I used Aleene's Tacky Glue, but I'm going to try Elmer's next time its cheaper) with a little bit of water and mixed it until it was well combined.   I dunked my round piece of the tablecloth into the glue mixture and stirred it around a little and then layed it over and upside down bowl to give it shape.  Make sure you place wax paper or parchment paper underneath b/c it will drip a little bit.  As it dries you may want to adjust it so that it ends up in the proper shape. It took overnight and the next day to dry but I think it turned out lovely.

It is now on the coffee table in our living room and I have but the hearts I crochet in it.  I will be trying other projects with whats left of the tablecloth!

♥ “The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart.” ♥

Happy Weekend! I will have a few great projects to show next week, which may or may not include hearts :). For today, I created a felt heart garland. It was very easy, all the supplies that are needed are a few sheets of felt, embroidery thread, a needle and a heart template. I made a template out of some scrap card stock and then just traced out the hearts. I then cut them out and lined them up and did one cross-stitch on each side to link them together. I think it is adorable!

A great Valentine's Day decoration!

Bubba's (AKA Mr. Bubbles AKA Bubba Gump) Christmas Tuxedo

While shopping at Wal-mart last week, I saw the cutest little christmas tuxedo for dogs, it was $10 and made from the cheapest fabric, so of course I thought, why don't I make one myself for Bubba!  That was last nights project.  

To make the bow, take a 10 in x 10 in piece of fabric (I used lovely green and red plaid), fold it over in thirds, and then sew the edge.  Adjust the tube so that seam you have just sewn is in the middle and then fold it in half and sew the end.  Adjust the smaller tube so that the seam is in the middle again, now you will have a small rectangle with no raw edges or seams showing on the front side.  Take a small strip of the same fabric about an inch wide, fold over the raw edges and sew to create the strip to hold the the bow down.  Wrap the finished strip around the rectangle of fabric to compress the middle to create the bow, make adjustments as needed.  Sew the strip of fabric in the back to hold the bow together, this needs to be as tight as possible so they bow won't shift.  Trim off an extra part of the strip.  Now for the "collar" portion, I used Bubba's current collar for the size and created a  finished 1/2 inch strip of fabric about 1 inch longer than his collar.  To attach the strip to the bow, I fed it throw the strip that was used to compress the bow.  To create the labels, I took two pieces of white fabric (size depends on how big your collar needs to be) and created them the same way I created the initial rectangle for the bow.  Then with a hot iron I folded over and pressed the rectangles for the lapels, then sewed it to the plaid collar strip and it was done.  I didn't have an velcro at home last night, so I had to tape it on Bubba last night.  Forgive me for the pictures, the hardest part about working with Bubba is getting him to hold still, the pictures aren't the greatest but you get the idea.  

I will try to take pictures again once I make Annie a Christmas outfit as well and of course hers will include ruffles! 

♥ Upcycled Vintage Jewelry ♥

Remember the rhinestone jewelry I got at the flea market awhile back?  I finally created something out of it.  I have a wedding to attend this weekend and needed a little bling.  Big chunky rhinestone jewelry seems to be making a comeback, so what better than to find some old vintage jewelry and re-use it. 

So I created the rosette headband, using an old headband I had hanging around as well as some satin and some black netting.  I used the vintage earrings, just took the backs off them and hot glued them to the headband.  I didn't have the heart to tear them apart and they look very nice whole.  So total cost of the headband was $3.

I also created an elastic ruffled bracelet out of the brooch, again out of scraps, I am not sure how crazy I am about this but we'll see if I actually wear it.  The cost of the bracelet was $3.  

Lastly since it is only going to be in the 30s this weekend.  I made this ruffled scarf out of velvet and satin.  It is so soft and very luxurious looking and will definitely help keep me warm!  Have a good weekend everyone, I know I will!

Peppermint & Patchouli

This past weekend, I decided to try to make my own candles.  I had purchased the supplies awhile ago and had not gotten around to give it a try.  I chose to use soy wax b/c it is easier to melt using the microwave and cleans up with soap and water.  Being rather clumsy, sometimes I tend to shy away from things that can burn me horribly, but this actually went very well with only one small burn on my hand, but that was my own stupidity.  I ordered my supplies from Creative Illuminations , they were cheaper on the cost of the soy flakes but shipping costs were rather high so I may look into an option closer to home.  If anyone knows where you can get soy candle making supplies in Northern NY, please let me know.

So this is what you will need:

1 lb of soy wax flakes (I got the 135 b/c it was recommended for containers)
1 oz fragrance (I love Peppermint)
Clean and Dry Jar (I used an old Ball Jar b/c I love the look of them)
Cotton Wicks
Optional - Dye Block (I used Fire Engine Red)
At least a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup
Glue

I started by gluing the tab the wick is to the center inside of the jar.  Super Glue should probably be used, but on several occassions super glue and I have had disagreements and somehow I end up gluing my fingers together, so I stuck with Elmers :).  Let the glue dry fully, if you are impatient like me get the blow dryer out.

Place half the soy wax flakes in your Pyrex measuring cup and microwave for five minutes.  Use caution b/c the measuring cup will be extremely hot (how i burned myself)  The flakes should be completely melted add the rest of your 1lb bag of flakes, stir together and microwave for another 5 minutes.

Add your entire 1 oz bottle of fragrance (1lb of wax needs 1 oz of fragrance) and stir together.

If you want to color your candle, place the dye block (i only used half) in a coffee mug and microwave until it is melted (about 1 min) and add to the fragrance/wax mixture.

Now it is time to pour.  Use the spout on the measuring cup to slowly pour the wax into the jar.  I poured until it is 1/2 inch from the top.  Then I realized that I still had wax left so I quickly prepared a votive container and poured the rest into it as well.

To center the wick, I found it was easiest to attach a clothespin to the top of the wick (which I dropped the clothespin in the wax and had to fish out before I finally got this to work)  And then just lay the clothespin over the top of the jar in the center and leave it until the wax has settled.

:) notice the clothespin is a little red

The finished product:

       

I also made a second batch that went 10x smoother, but I used Patchouli fragrance instead and left the candles white. The process was very easy and quick and the candles burn nicely and throw the fragrance very well.  All in all for just the supplies which made 2 ball jar candles and 2 smaller votive size candles, it cost about $15 (without the shipping).  So if I can find this closer to home, I will definitely be making all my own candles.  It is a great way to recycle old jars as well.  Also if you want to make tarts for your melter, the wax can be reused and re-fragranced over and over.  The next time I'm going to try to swirl the color!

Makes a great Christmas gift!  Give it a try!

So I lied I ended up making something....

I am probably one of the only people who travel with a giant crochet hook and balls of hand-dyed sheet yarn.  I haven't worked anymore on the rugs I am making out of the sheet yarn, but I did find a nice yarn store called The Needle Lady.  I found some very nice chunky weight charcoal gray wool and I crocheted an infinity cowl out of it last night and still have a lot left for another project.

The Great Yarn

The Great Infinity Cowl

Just some pics of Historic Downtown Charlottesville: 

This is actually a Hockey Arena

The Omni Charlottesville:

The fountain in the lobby