Making Her Clothes Last! (Part One) Children! They grow so fast! Unfortunately, the money tree can't always keep up, can it? I'm trying to alter some of Paige's clothing to be wearable longer. I love the instant gratification of projects like this. I thought I would share a few of the ones I've done recently, to help inspire other moms who might be in the same boat. The first is this adorable little sweater. So I added fabric from the sleeve of this cardigan around the middle, and made a matching bow, then I stitched on some buttons to accent! This was a polo that was too small around Paige's cute little toddler pot-belly. (Notice my black tea lemonade making a surprise appearance in these photos. Sometimes extending the wearability is as easy and picking up one of those onesie extenders. Another easy fix! Or sometimes it's as easy as snipping the attaching threads on cuffs, to make the sleeves longer. This little tank fits around Paige's middle, but the short straps were making the armhole cut into her underarms.
Tiny Pumpkin Pie My family’s Thanksgiving meal always features a magnificently high homemade pie-to-person ratio. I love the warm wafting scent of spices, pumpkin, and expertly rolled-out crusts emanating from a hot oven, and that anticipation of dessert after any already delicious dinner spent with friends and family feasting. Is your belly rumbling already too? For this week’s How-Tuesday post, Jessica Partain from Inedible Jewelry, a shop dedicated to mouth-wateringly realistic faux food jewelry, and author of The Polymer Clay Cookbook, has shared with us a tutorial on making miniature polymer clay pumpkin pie charms that actually smell like pumpkin pie. Jessica will also be joining us on Monday, November 14 at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn (RSVP), and on the Online Labs, to lead a Craft Night on the same topic. Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be complete without pumpkin pie! Purchase The Polymer Clay Cookbook right here on Etsy. Materials: For the filling: 5/8″ (15.9 mm) ball orange clay Directions: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Hair Flower 29 May 2010 These elegant fabric flowers are very simple to make . . . and only take a few basic supplies. The finished product is delightfully lovely, and at times can look like a real flower! Every flower will turn out differently and that is part of the beauty! If you haven’t used those tea lights in a while, now’s the time! Supplies: · Synthetic Silky Fabric · Scissors · Candle (preferably a tea light) Additional supplies: · Needle and Thread, Glue Dots or Glue Gun · Buttons and/or Beads Directions: 1. Make the largest one’s diameter about half an inch larger than you want the diameter of the flower, as the petals will end up shrinking a bit. 2. You can also cut around the pattern and skip the drawing part, it just might not be as uniform . . . but with these, uniform isn’t necessary. 3. Cut just inside the drawn lines to make a circle out of the fabric. 4. Be very careful (please have adult supervision, this is rather dangerous), as it is very easy to get burnt. 5.
Ingeniously re-used products Design is not always about expensive branded items. At times, it is about human ingenuity which surprises us occasionally by finding use in what appears useless. We hope this post inspires you to seek new ways to ‘Reduce, Re-use and Recyle…’ Mieulin believes you can make a box out of used plastic bottles. Fazendo Arte does not like to throw away old floppies. She likes to use them as binds for notepads. Infact, old computer accessories can be creatively used in different ways: (Key necklace by Susan) by Audrey & Max by Mario Langer and if you have been following this blog regularly you would remember the Mac Aquarium from our post about awesome aquariums. CDs can be used as lampshades… by Essellarr Ana Pomars shows us used plastic cups and cloth pegs would work fine too… and so does old tubelights… or old bulbs… Jelene‘s pal thinks you can even make lampshades out of used cans… …and lampshades aren’t the only things you can make out of used cans. a symbolic pot? Photo by Bob008
Make an Ottomon Out of an Old Suitcase This is really easy to make and, if you have the right scavenging abilities (and luck), then you can find many of the ingredients at little to no cost. Recycling is always good! You can likely get the fabric, suitcase, plywood, and possibly the plumbing stuff all used/found in an alleyway or thrift store. Tools: Staple gun - I got the cheapest one they had at the hardware store, but a bigger one might be helpful depending on the weight of your fabric. Jigsaw - This you'll use to shape the plywood base to fit snugly into the suitcase. Screwdriver - This can be electric or manual. Utility knife - to cut the foam Materials: Suitcase - clearly, this is the most important part. Upholstery Fabric - I used a heavyweight, vintage upholstery fabric, but you could really use anything. Foam - The main structure of your seat will come from the foam you use. Plywood - just enough to fit in your suitcase (should be slightly smaller than the case). Muslin - This is optional.
Upcycled sweater boots (w/mini tutorial!) What do you get when you mix a cheap pair of flats, an old sweater, and lots of hot glue? Sweater boots!! Yay! I started with this: chopped off the sleeves, turned it inside out, and formed it to my foot. Hot glued it to a shoe, like so... flipped it right side out, and cut the bottom off the sweater to make a cuff.. Embroidered it.. Sewed it into a cuff that would flip out over the boot.. And now you have...Sweater boots!! Of course, they're not really meant for cold weather wear, but they'd be perfect in the fall or tromping around the house I'm really quite proud of these. Project: Gory Brain Cap By Jeromina Juan If you’ve been brainstorming Halloween DIY costume ideas, no need to bang your head on a brick wall. It’s time to put on your thinking cap. Literally! Materials Fitted cap, without adjusterCraft knife or seam ripper Newspaper Acrylic paint, red and blackPaintbrush Bowl, approximately same size as capTall jar Plastic bag 2 tubes of latex or acrylic caulking (not silicone)*, ivory or bone colorCaulking gun Water Gloves *NOTE: Silicone caulking is not paintable. Directions Step 1: Remove the cap’s brim by carefully ripping the seams with a craft knife or seam ripper. Step 2: Place the cap on newspaper. Step 3: On newspaper, create a work stand for your cap by placing a bowl upside down over a tall jar. Step 4: With a craft knife, cut the tip of the caulking tube to have an opening approximately 1/2″ in diameter. Step 5: Caulk convolutions on one half of the cap to create one hemisphere of the brain. Step 7: Let the caulking cure for 24 hours. Related
pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.} Mud Room Makeover: Part 1 - Hi Friends! A little over a year ago after downsizing into a smaller house, I was faced with the challenge of using space more creatively. I’d been spoiled for eight years in our oversized dream home with all the closet space and extra storage a custom designed home provides. When my two oldest children reached the age of finding their own way in the world, the huge house no longer seemed worth the maintenance or expense; sadly we said goodbye to the home that was once a dream, and moved on to a smaller house to start a new adventure. The mudroom in our new house might be the smallest mudroom I’ve ever seen. Having said that, I *am* grateful to have a first floor laundry room, even if it is tight quarters. Here’s the before picture; It’s your basic builder grade laundry room. With two little girls who love shoes as much as their mother does, there was always a clutter of shoes, snow pants, and bags on the floor. After priming and painting. Thanks for stopping by!
Cardboard Chaise Lounge Recently my roommate and I moved into an apartment. We both lacked any furniture so we had somewhat of a shopping spree at the local IKEA. So with all that new furniture came lots of boxes. However, a box from IKEA does not equal the fun large box of my youth. They are flat and kinda boring. But as we was obviously in need of some furniture I thought it would be good to reuse all that material to get a free piece of furniture. In this Instructable we'll show you how to make a very solid piece of cardboard furniture. 100 Extraordinary Examples of Paper Art Paper art can be traced back to Japan, where it originated over a thousand years ago. From complex paper cutting to book carving, this is an ever expanding area of design that is hardly talked about. These intricate paper designs grace museums and exauhibitions throughout the world and is becoming yet another exciting medium of expression for many designers. Some of the artists featured here use simple materials, such as A4 printing papeel, while others resort to unexpected materials, such as actual books, as their prime materials. In this article, we’ll take a look at 13 remarkable artists and showcase their truly amazing pieces of paper art. Peter Callesen Visit website Jen Stark Visit website Simon Schubert Visit website Brian Dettmer: Book Sculptures Visit website Sher Christopher Visit website Elsa Mora Visit website Yulia Brodskaya Visit Website Su Blackwell Visit website Richard Sweeney Visit website Jolis Paons Visit website Bovey Lee Visit website Bert Simons Visit website Ingrid Siliakus Visit website