Temporary Jewelry Hanger Solution

Remember awhile ago when my jewelry looked like this??

(You can tell the pic is old because the watermark says Sugar Bee Craft Edition....)


Well, then for April Fools I made a "shabby chic" holder:

Well, that stinkin' thing fell off the wall a few days after I stuck it up (hot glue must not have been the best solution...)

So I finally got around a temporary solution - I used nicer boards and I actually put picture hanger things on the back so they'd stay on the wall.  The nails aren't straight and the boards are plain.  Eventually I'll make one and cover it with fabric that matches my room and put on nice knobs/hooks.  But first I have to makeover my room so I know what to make to match, and that might be a ways off.......so for now, this works:

What are your jewelry solutions??

Paper Stars - Red White and Blue

When I saw the Paper Stars Tutorial over at Funky Vintage Lovely, I knew I had to make them.

Follow that link for the tutorial.  Note that your paper needs to be double-sided - I didn't realize that when I started.  I made mine with 6 sections instead of 8.  Also, instead of staples and glue dots, I used hot glue to hold it all together.  

This took longer than I thought - a whole movie's worth of cutting and gluing, but it was a lame movie so I was glad I was being a little productive while I wasted my time watching it.

I have a covered porch so I strung them across the front door.  They hit tall people in the head, but I don't have an issue, so it's fine by me :)

Hooray for actually doing something on my Projects to Make list - wahoo!  (you know, sometimes things get put on that list, never actually to be accomplished....)

OneMonthToWinIt

OneMonthToWinIt is still going strong - - head over there for all the contest fun!!

Season 5 Prizes
1st place

$25 gift certificate to Melissa G Hollis

$25 gift certificate to Whachuneed Supply Co



2nd place
Recycled Chenille Rabbit from Very Creative Creations  (a $35 value)

3rd place

$25 gift certificate to Pretty Much Dana

Showing Off

Well, I'm still on vacation but I've been browsing through the linkups and there is lots of fun stuff!  I wanted to show off a few that caught my eye, but first:

--did you know I'm only 100 followers away from 3,000 - surreal!  Wouldn't it be fun to get back from vacation (1 day to go) to see 3,000 - probably not likely, but maybe if you told all your friends..... :)

--viewing my blog at various hotels and family members' computers, I'm realizing it looks different on every computer - some don't even see my cute polka dots - poor you!  And I'm noticing with my galaxy tab thing that it loads kind of slow - sorry about that, I'll put that on the to-do list.

--I got my mini-notepad computer thing so I could blog in the car - - but what was I thinking, I get carsick even glancing at words - - so I'm not cranking out posts like I thought I might - oh well!  Occassionally I'm updating via facebook, if you want to join that fun...

On to the links- -

Peanut to Princess sewed up a cute patriotic swing top - - a swing top is now on my to-do list!

Just Made That Way made a patchwork belt I had to show off since sometime boy projects are hard to come by - of course we want the tutorial!

Eisy Morgan carved a watermelon - really jazzes it up, don't you think?!

Ask Anna made a photo booth - - I think that would be so fun to do!!

I Saw That Going Differently In My Mind made some lego thumbtacks - perfect!!


redBuddy Notes made the shirred pocket skirt - that is on my to-do list!  Hers turned out great:

I am loving this spiral french braid from Nancy's Couture - - love, love!

Can you believe this is her first quilt, over at Sew Much 2 Luv - encouraging for all of us!

Long ago I could macrame floss into hair (remember that?!?) but I think I've forgotten the how-to.  AliLilly gives a great macrame tutorial:

 Johnny In A Dress redid a super cute desk - love the chalkboard paint!

And the most viewed link- - - the Fireworks Swing Top I mentioned first-off - - it really is cute, isn't it!

Thanks for linking everyone!!  If you were featured feel free to grab the button:

(oh, and if you were featured on FB, you're included - grab away!!)



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WIWW - skirt week!

Everyone seems to talk about how wearing skirts casually is much better than wearing shorts.  So I dedicated a week to trying it out.  My thoughts:

• it was a wedgie-free week (several of my shorts have a riding up issue....)
• cool and breezy
• I don't think I ever stuck out, I only thought I did - I think wearing skirts is pretty normal, so I just need to get over my own preconceived notions that skirts are for church only.
• verdict - I think I could be converted to wearing a skirt or two a week - I did enjoy them!

So, want to critique the outfits I put together?? - of course you do - - here we go:

Monday - Skirt from DownEast that I just bought on clearance.  Trevor, who hardly ever comments on my outfits, said, "that skirt is just (head shaking no) weird - it looks like it's sagging - - but what do I know, better just ask your blog readers" - so, what do you think?  I kind of like it, but that could be because it was SOO comfy!

Tuesday:   I whipped this Green Stripe Skirt up (tutorial coming - so easy!!) out of some clearance knit I found at Hancock Fabrics.  I kind of wanted to wear it with the pink shirt in the previous picture, but didn't think I could wear the same shirt two days in a row.  I', branching out because the old me would have worn a white shirt to match the white stripe.

Wednesday: I got this pink stripe skirt at a garage sale awhile ato for $0.50 - I thought it was a deal so I bought it, even though Kate said it was ugly.  I think it looks alright on, right?

 Thursday: day off of skirt week - I went to Cub Scout Day Camp all day!

Friday: Denium skirt, also from a garage sale ($1) - this was the day I had my garage sale, so in the early morning it was pretty chilly, hence the leggings and sweater.  Are denium skirts dated?!?

 Saturday: Skirt made a couple of years ago (blogged HERE, when I only had a few followers...) - I think it's a little dressier of a skirt, so I saved it for Saturday because I had a baby shower to go to.  I also flipped my hair out - fun??

 So, what do you think??  Are you a skirt-wearer??  I think I could be......

Take-A-Look Tuesday

Can't wait to see what comes this week - and who will be the most viewed link - maybe you?

- - just a run down- -

• Link to a Specific Post, not your whole blog - no more than a couple of posts please
• Try to visit a few other people on the list - it's fun to support and encourage fellow craftiness - and everyone LOVES comments

If you're new to link-ups and have questions let me know and I'll do my best to help

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Dyed Shoes

Everyone in craft blog land is dyeing their shoes - - of course, I'm jumping on that bandwagon.  I had some dye going for my elastic belt, so I through these shoes in (no easy feat - I had to smash them down in there).  I enjoy how they turned out:

I bought the shoes at Walmart, and I think they have a "Toms-esque" feel to them.  Right?  Humor me.....

I thought about adding some sort of embellishment, but I can't decide what, so for now they're just plain.  Which works for me!

Elastic Belt Tutorial

I recently bought this black dress - I figure everyone needs a plain black dress.  But then I wanted to add some POP to it.  I knew it'd be a belt - they're all the rage.  Well, then I found these shoes at a thrift store:

So I knew it needed to be a pink belt.  First I decided on using some of this super cute fabric I got from Poppy Seed Fabric - I grabbed a bunch that had any form of pink as a main color:

Then I dyed some wide elastic - elastic is so cheap - perfect!  You buy it by-the-yard, just like fabric. (I didn't want to waste a whole pot of dye so I threw some shoes in too - I'll post that later today....)

The dye pot was looking more purplish than pinkish, so I pulled the stuff out early, after about 20 minutes - but the purple rinsed out and left the pink, so that was good.  I probably could have left it in for another 20 or 30 minutes, but oh well, I didn't want it to be too neon, so better safe than sorry.

 Side note, when adjusting items in the pot, you WILL dye your hands.  This is before I stuck my hand in another couple of times.....

Alright, moving on to the Elastic Belt Tutorial.  Make various fabric flowers (my tutorial, with video, for fabric flowers) and then place them where you want them on the belt.  After laying them all out, hot glue them on one by one - - for the ones that stick off the belt a bit, be sure to one put glue where it will touch the belt.  For dimension, I stuck some pink tulle on as well.

Here's the close-up of my flower arrangement:

Then, finish the ends of the belt.  Since I had my hot glue gun out, I glued the ribbon on - - first, put a row of glue on the elastic and stick one side of ribbon down:

Then fold like a present and glue the other side down, so the edges are all wrapped on the inside.

The glue is holding great, but hand-sewing the hook and eyes on through hot glue was tough, so if I did this again I would use the sewing machine and sew the ribbon on.  But either way works.  So as I just mentioned, to finish, you just hand sew on a few hook and eyes.  (Side Note - I thought about buying a big ole bra at a thrift store and cutting off it's back hook piece and using that, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy it!)  Here's the back view of my belt:

 
Just the thing I needed!!! Voila:

(um, ignore the bucket - that's our castle playhouse-in-the-works)

Photo Glimpses - crafting with kids

I know these "photo glimpses" are for non-crafty pictures, and this is crafty-ish - - oh well....

Ways to find time to be crafty while the kids are around - - give them something tedious to do at your feet...
"hey, see this giant bucket full of cars - wouldn't it be fun to line them all up??  why don't you try it!"