Christmas on Pinterest

I do believe Christmas is the most popular holiday on Pinterest.  So many pins, not to mention pin boards, for this wonderful time of the year.  So without further ado, here’s…

My 2012 Christmas Pin Board

Some of my favorite pins:

• Ornament Cupcakes
• Poinsettia Wreath
• Felt Ornaments
• Snowflake Ballerinas

Update: You can check the latest version of my Christmas Pinterest Board Here.

Read More »

Finally Finished on the Fleece

As the title says, I finally finished my November project list.  In December.  A week late. 
Well, a few things kind of popped up.  Very important life altering things, but I can’t talk about it. 

Anyway, the idea of making little fleece bows popped in my head while doing some cutting.  What better thing to do with small scraps of fleece?  All you really need are three rectangle pieces and something to stick the finished bow to like a clip or something.  I wanted to stick these bows to hair elastics, but for some reason I couldn’t find any.  I’m sure I had a ton somewhere.  I just used strips of elastic, they are actually more secure this way.

The next one is an idea I have been toying with for like a year.  Little cat-shaped purses.  I made them in two colors/patterns and two of each.  In the picture it shows the front and back view of each.  On the front of each one is a little bitty heart made from a scrap of the back pattern.  Think of it as the kitty’s nose.  I would have put eyes too, but I thought it might look to cluttered.  How is it, are they fine the way they are or do they look weird without eyes?

Next is sunglasses cases.  I found a piece of fleece with this interesting red pattern and thought it would be perfect for a case of some kind.  Just a simple pouch shape, slanted at the opening with a fabric cord loop attached, not too hard to make.  I decided to make a second matching one with white fleece.  It would have been black, but I seem to be lacking in that color.  Oh well, it still looks good.

And the last project is these cuffs.  They are pretty easy to make.  I just cut the fleece in the strips and braided them.  Then I sewed the ends together, of course that was the hard part.  Sewing the ends without making them look messy or ugly.  I think I did a good job on that part, but just in case I added little bows to hide any goofs.
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair accessories
• Tiny teddies
• Tiny birds
• Bags
• Tiny sweaters
• Tiny hats
• Yoyo’s
• Cases
• Key chains
• Cuffs

Ten down and out.  It’s funny.  Usually in December I start working on my big old Christmas list of gifts and decorations and stuff.  This year, thanks to all the stuff I made for this list and the Christmas stuff I made last summer, I have no need to make anything for December.  My crafting is done for the year.  Nothing left but to enjoy the month and maybe get a leg up for next year. 

Read More »

Fleecy Ornaments

Okay, I finish more fleece items.  Fleece ornaments to be exact.  What better thing to make with scraps this time of year then tiny cute doodads that can be hung from a tree?  That is probably one of the oddest sentences I have ever typed.

Anyway, first are these little sweater and hats.  There’s something just so perfect about little bitty sweaters to hang on the tree.  And even better, little “knit” hats to go with them.  The sweaters were made just by cutting two sweater-shaped pieces and using a blanket stitch to sew them together.  The hats are made more like regular hats.  Gathered at the top with a blanket stitched brim.  If they don’t work for the tree they would be great for dolls.

Next is these little birds.  Birds are another thing that look cute on a tree, and other places too.  The front two are actually pins, I thought they would make a cute gift or something.  They are made in a similar matter to the sweaters except for being stuffed.  The ornaments have appliqued wings which were an afterthought.  Glad I thought of it, they look much more interesting this way.

This last batch of ornaments is a little more interesting.  Each one is made from two fleece yoyos and two buttons.  I now believe fleece to be the best fabric for making yoyos.  It’s easy to cut the circles, you don’t have to hem them, and no matter how bad you are they come out perfectly cute.
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair accessories
• Tiny teddies
• Tiny birds
• Bags
• Tiny sweaters
• Tiny hats
• Yoyo’s
• Cases
• Key chains
• Cuffs

Six down, four more to go.  Just two more days too.

Read More »

A Little Fun for Black Friday

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and I wish everyone a good Black Friday. 

Speaking of Black Friday, it’s amazing what you find when you Google those words. Like this video clip from Saturday Night Live.  Enjoy!

Read More »

A Little Late on the Fleece

Oh dear, the month is almost over and I only just now finished any of the projects on my list.  Let’s just say I’ve had a lot on my plate this month.  School, commitments, not to mention a certain personal problem.  Anyway, I manage to get these two done.

The first thing that comes to my mind when dealing with fleece is bears, like teddy bears.  That’s where these come in.  The top ones I did first, they have little hearts stitched on the front and magnets glued on the back.  I decided that all my fleece projects this month are going to be done completely by hand.  Absolutely no sewing machine.  No I am not crazy, there is a practical reason.  Hand sewing is more portable, perfect for when the only time you can squeeze some sewing in is the few minutes before class.  Plus, blanket stitches look so adorable on fleece.  Anyway, the bottom teddy is a pin.  I was going to make him a magnet too, but my disc magnets seem to have disappeared on me.  He is just a head on purpose because it was easy, plus it looks so cute.

Speaking of cute heads, I made a bunch more.  There are bunnies and cats in addition to the bears.  I added ribbon and split-rings to them to make key chains.  I will either give them away or stick them in my shoppe.  Hard to decide which or how many.
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair accessories
• Tiny teddies
• Tiny birds
• Bags
• Tiny sweaters
• Tiny hats
• Yoyo’s
• Cases
• Key chains
• Cuffs

Two down,  eight more to go.  And only a little over a week to do them.

Read More »

Found!

I may have mentioned this on twitter, but I finally found my camera.  No more trying to take blurry photos with my webcam.  Yay!  Since I’ve found it I’ve been taking pictures all over town.  Here is a small sampling of what I’ve taken.

First, remember some time ago I took a picture of a tree that had been hit by lightning (see A Little Sharing and a Reminder)?  At the time I wondered if it would live.  Here’s what it looks like now.  See those new green fronds?  It is alive and well.  Yay!

I saw this on the south-east corner of Main and Extension in Mesa.  It’s one of the those electric thingies at intersections, but art work was added to “improve the neighborhood”.  At least that’s what I think it is there for.  In case you can’t tell, the piece is called “Rivercrane” by Zarco Guerrero.  Lovely isn’t it?

This was outside a new BBQ place at the corner of Main and Center.  Does anyone remember the movie Ghost Busters?  Not really, but I remember this guy.  What I don’t know is why the restaurant has him standing outside their door.  Hmm, at least it’s cute.

Read More »

Thanksgiving on Pinterest

I mentioned last month how I like to do holiday boards on pinterest.  Thanksgiving is no different, so I now present for your enjoyment:

My Thanksgiving 2012 Board

A few of my favorites ones are:

• Clay Pot Pilgrims
• Autumn Felt Coasters
• Pilgrim Hat Cookies
• Pilgrim Pal—It reminds me of those elf on a shelf things.

And like my other holiday boards, I will continue to add more to this one until the end of the year.

Read More »

Up to Thirty-Two

Ah, a new list.  One with a twist.  The theme for this one is fleece.  I helped out at church for a few things and ended up leaving with a humongous bag of fleece squares.  They insisted that I take them.  Who am I to refuse free craft materials?  So anyway, here’s the new list.
Project List #32:

• Hair accessories
• Tiny teddies
• Tiny birds
• Bags
• Tiny sweaters
• Tiny hats
• Yoyo’s
• Cases
• Key chains
• Cuffs

Time to get started.

Read More »

Halloween Bling

Halloween is here at last.  Time for tricks and treats.  For treats this year, I made these bracelets to give out in addition to the usual candy.  They are stretchy bracelets made from wide black lace.  I had some foam scraps leftover from last year’s bracelets (see Trick or Treat?), so I made little jack o’ lanterns and glued them on.  Hopefully the kids well like them as much as last year.  If not, we still have tons of candy.
Here’s the updated list:

• Pins
• Altered top
• Rose headband
• Doll
• Bracelets
• White dress
• Gift

Seven down and out.  Just in time too.

Read More »

Birthdays and Angels

First off, today is my birthday! :)  I’m one year closer to 30. :(  I still get mistaken for a junior high school student. :0



Anyway, I finally finished my new dress.  It was one of those sometime pieces.  “Sometime I’d like to make a white dress.”  I finally did it.

I used some white fabric I got at Goodwill for $1 and three different kinds of lace.  The skirt is tiered, something I have never done and may not try again for a while.  The straps are shirred to make them cute and user-friendly, at least that was the intention.  The elastic helps make them adjustable without being obvious, but I think I made the elastic too loose.  The dress keeps slowly sliding downward when I wear it, I just have to adjust it every 20-30 minutes, could be worse.

You might be wondering why there are a pair of wings in the picture.  That’s the best part.  When paired with the wings, this dress makes a perfect angel costume.  Now I have an adorable costume as well as a pretty dress I can wear the rest of the year.



Next up, a simple gift.  I already mentioned it was my birthday today.  And I may have mentioned a few times before that I have a twin sister.  And it never fails, every year when our birthday comes around I can not seem to figure out what to give her. 

This year is a repeater.  I recall giving her a stretchy headband I made a two years ago (see Done Already?), she obviously loved it since she wears it almost on a daily basis.  So why not make her another one to give her more options? 

For this head band I made a braid with wide ribbon that was long enough to cover the head band.  I glued it on and then glued a single strip of ribbon to the underside.  To finish, I wrapped the tips with more ribbon to hide the raw edges and make them look pretty.  Now I have a classic and pretty head band to give.

Here’s the updated list:

• Pins
• Altered top
• Rose headband
• Doll
• Bracelets
• White dress
• Gift

Six down, just one more to go.  And I only have two more days to finish.

Read More »

Attention My Little Pony Fans

Just to let you know, I am letting my mom auction off a bunch of my My Little Ponies on eBay.  Feel free to take a peak if you’re interested and/or curious about them.

• Lot of 12 My Little Ponies
• Lot of 9 My Little Ponies—these ones are nicer by the way.  The other lot would be better to give to kids or something.

Read More »

Purple Fairy Fun

Today I have another doll makeover for you.

This was from a bunch of old dolls my niece decided to give up.  It was a Sleeping Beauty doll, and I can actually see why she didn’t want this one.  The hair was horribly matted and the face was very dirty.  Plus she had lost her clothes somehow and there appeared to be bite marks.  So here’s the before…

…And after.  After a quick bath and a not so quick hair detangle, she looked remarkably improve.  The hair was horrible, I had to use twice as much conditioner than normal.  Afterward, I whipped up the dress with scraps of purple tulle and fabric, it’s sewn on to her because I was feeling lazy.  I then restyled the hair by tending to her curls, trimming her bangs, and adding buns.  I‘m not sure why I decided to add buns, just a hunch.  Finished up with a set of soda bottle wings, and she is a perfect little purple fairy.  Some of you may remember the first appearance of the soda bottle wings (see Trimmings and a Angel).  They just work so well for dolls that I had to make them again. 
Here’s the updated list:

• Pins
• Altered top
• Rose headband
• Doll
• Bracelets
• White dress
• Gift

Four down, three more to go.  And a little over a week to finish.

Read More »

LinkUp #9: Late but Improved

Time for another Free for All Friday.

Sorry it’s a little late this week, but there’s something new this time.  I did a little update with the linky so now links can be submitted with thumbnails.

The rules:

• No more then 5 links.
• You must link to individual posts on your blog instead of the just your blog.
• Same with shops (zibbet, etsy, etc.), link to a specific item in your shop.
• Twitter and Facebook links are welcome.
• Links must be family friendly.
• Don’t forget to grab one of my buttons (they’re on the left).
• Following me is not required, but it is helpful (for me).
• Beyond that anything goes.

Now get to it and have fun.

Read More »

Of Black Tees and Roses

This past week I’ve had two major tests, two major assignments due, plus a quiz, but I still found the time to make three of my projects.  Word of warning, I am still stuck using my webcam instead of a decent camera.:(

I acquired this rather large t-shirt for free along with a large pile of other castaways.  As many of you know, I just adore taking these old tees and making them cute and wearable.  So here’s the before…

…and after.  Ugh, that webcam, you can barely tell how much cuter it is now.  First I chopped off the sleeves and cut the shirt down the size before sewing new seams.  I cut down the sleeves a little before adding lace and some elastic.  Most of the time with these t-shirts I just sew the elastic straight on the fabric, but for this one I used the hem as a casing and threaded the elastic through.  It takes a little more time, but it makes the shirt more comfortable to wear.  I re-attached the sleeves, redid the neckline with some lace, then finished up by attaching two tiny black bows along the neckline.  Now it’s a comfy and pretty t-shirt that actually fits me.  Yay!

Next, I saw these black roses at SAS over a year ago.  At the time I didn’t buy them, but they were on my mind.  A few months later I thought of an idea for a headband using them, but when I went to the store they were all out of them.  Fast forward to now.  I spotted them on my last trip to SAS and immediately grabbed a couple.  After a bit of maneuvering with the wire and some black ribbon (and a couple glue gun burns), I fashioned this lovely headband as modeled by my niece.  The photo doesn’t do it justice, it is beautiful.  So much so that I am thinking of buying more roses to stock my shoppe with some lovely hair accessories.  Good idea?

I found this tutorial for glass head sewing pins and thought it was a fantastic idea since I have tons of plain straight pins lying around and I tend to avoid using them because it’s so easy for them to fall out or get lost.  A few minutes of fiddling with glue and beads, and now I have a handful of custom pearl head pins.  I used faux pearls because I still have tons of them to use up, plus they look so pretty.
Here’s the updated list:

• Pins
• Altered top
• Rose headband
• Doll
• Bracelets
• White dress
• Gift

Three down, four more to go.  And only a little over two weeks to finish.

Read More »

Story Time: Of Boys and Stuff Toys

This is a story about a little boy who loves stuff animals.  Really loves them.  He has a special shelf in his room built by his grandpa where his entire collection lives.  All except his favorite, a stuff bunny his grandma made for him when he was two years old.  This bunny has long floppy ears and a soft huggable body, perfect to cuddle with when the boy goes to bed.  When he sleeps, the boy dreams wonderful dreams of going on adventures with his bunny.  He had one where he was the captain on a ship and his bunny was his first mate.  They sailed all around the world together.  In another dream, the boy was a brave knight and his bunny was his faithful squire.  The little boy liked to take his bunny along with him during the daytime too.  Grocery shopping with his parents, the swings at the park, the doctor’s office, his bunny went everywhere with him.  Everywhere except one place, to school.  It wasn’t that he wasn’t allowed to bring his bunny to school, other kids brought toys to school all the time.  It was because the boy next door once told him that boys aren’t supposed to play with stuffed animals, they’re for girls and babies.  The boy next door is 4 months older so he knows better, at least that’s what the little boy thought.  So the little boy was afraid that the kids would laugh at him and call him a baby if he brought the bunny to school.  And so, everyday before he left for school he would sadly wave bye-bye to his bunny, wishing he could take him with him. 

There was another boy who recently moved in across the street.  He was much older than the boy next store, and went to a bigger school too.  One day, the little boy’s mother asked the older boy to walk him to school since she had something important to do that morning.  This made the little boy very happy, the older boy was so cool.  The little boy did still feel sad though when he waved to his bunny, still wishing he could take him with him.  “Well, why don’t you?” said the older boy.  The little boy was surprised to hear that.  He told the older boy everything he had been told about stuffed animals.  Then the older boy surprised him again.  “I have a stuffed bear,” he said.  He pulled it out of his backpack and showed it to the little boy.  It was light brown with a blue ribbon around its neck and was small enough to fit in the older boy’s hand, such a cute little bear.  He told the little boy that he took it to school everyday because it was good luck, especially during practice (he is on the basketball team).  “Do you think that makes me a baby?” asked the older boy.  The little boy shook his head, and immediately ran to grab his bunny.  So when they got to the little boy’s classroom, he and his bunny waved bye-bye to the older boy and his bear.  That day only one kid laugh at the little boy, but he didn’t mind.  He was too busy playing with his bunny and the other kids to even notice.

Read More »

Halloween On Pinterest

I think I may have mentioned that I am on Pinterest once or twice.  Well, probably only once.  One of the things I do there is set up boards for upcoming holidays (i.e. this Halloween).  I just thought “why the heck don’t I post these here?”  Why indeed?  So here we have:

My Halloween 2012 Pin Board

A few of my favorites include:

• Felt Halloween Decorations
• Magnetic Spiders
• House O' Lantern
• No-sew Iridescent Fairy Wings

And so you know, I will continue to add more pins as I find them through Halloween, in fact through until the New Year. 


Update: You can check out the latest version of my Halloween Pinterest board here.

Read More »

Up to Thirty-One

Back from the month-long hiatus, it’s my project lists.  The latest is a little short, but only because I am actually trying to be realistic and think about other priorities, like school and stuff.  That and also I want to put a little extra effort in a couple of the projects.
Project List #31:

• Pins
• Altered top
• Rose headband
• Doll
• Bracelets
• White dress
• Gift

Technically only two projects are specifically for Halloween.  We already have more than enough pumpkins, faux spider web, etc. to cover our little neck of the woods for multiples years.

Read More »

Kitty Blankie and Another One

Been a little busy lately with class and stuff, but I have made at least a couple of things.

First off, some of you may be aware that last Sunday was my cat’s birthday.  Yay!  Midnight is now eight years old.  Is it really a problem?  Well, I have seen bags of cat food in stores formulated for “senior” cats that say “for ages 8 and up”.  They think my cat is a senior.  But she still acts like she’s two!  Anyway, for her birthday I made her a cat sized fleece blanket.  It’s one of those knotted ones.  Pretty easy and she actually likes it.

Next up is this dress, you can tell it’s a dress right?  It’s photos like this that make me really miss my camera.  Yep, still haven’t found it and still using the web cam instead.  Anyway, I’ve had the fabric in my stash since last spring.  For some reason I never got around to making a dress with it until now.  I had trouble deciding what to do with it exactly, in terms of patterns and such.  I finally sat down and started drawing a design.  I put a little extra effort in this one.  I used three different kinds of lace and plenty of ribbon.  In fact a lot of the lace and ribbon was sewn by hand.  Mostly while watching anime videos.  The problems I had with it was making the bodice fit, that’s always the problem. 

Read More »

Finally Complete

So despite looking everywhere around my house, I still have not found my lost camera.  However, after weeks of being unable to post the last two projects on my list due to this problem I realized something.  My netbook has a built in web camera.  It has been there this entire time and I just forgot.  So they may look a little fuzzy, but here are the last two projects, finally.

First, the scarf.  I have tons of different kinds of lace thanks to a certain friend of mine and my lace hoarding habit.  I especially have ton of this particular lace.  One day while thinking about what I could do to use a bunch of it up I just happen to glance at my Knifty Knitter.  I hadn’t used it in a while I thought a lace scarf would be really pretty.  And I was right.  It wasn’t exactly the easiest knit project for me, I had to start over twice.  But considering I am still such a beginner and I haven’t touched the loom for such a long time, that is to be expected.

Next, the doll house.  I took the old doll house kit I bought (see Good Day for a (Yard) Sale) and turned it into this cute blue cottage.  Not bad for my first one.  There were a few problem of course.  When the instructions say to read them all before starting, they really mean all.  I didn’t and missed a very important step, one that effects the alignment of all the parts.  Meaning if you look really closely at my house, there are just a few pieces that are a little skewed looking.  Another problem I had was the door.  It would not fit.  I’m not sure if it was due to anything on my part or possibly to the age of the wood.  This was an old kit, the company isn’t around anymore.  Anyway, with a little help from some sandpaper (more like a lot of help), I got it to work.
Here’s the updated list:

• Pens
• Binder
• Lunch bag
• Backpack
• Button
• Scarf
• Doll house 

Seven down and out.  I won’t be posting the next list until October.  I technically only have a couple of things I need to make for this month.  It would seem kind of strange to make list for them.

Read More »

Gone! And a Trip

Okay first off, I did finish my next project and I did say I would post it today.  There is just one tiny little problem.  My camera.  It. Is. Gone.  I looked everywhere I could possibly think of, but it is still missing.  What the heck.  No camera, no cute picture of my finished project.:(
To make up for it, here are some photos from a when I took my niece to the zoo.  Luckily I got them off the camera before it mysteriously disappeared.

One of the elephants enjoying the misting thingies.  It was about 106 degrees that day which explains why this elephant was ignoring the kids throwing carrots on the other side of the habitat.

This jaguar looked really hot and bored.  Poor thing.

I forgot what this bird is called, but it’s really pretty.

I had never seen more pelicans.  They showed up in the oddest places.  This one was floating in the pond next to another one that was full of all these small friendly looking turtles.  I discovered why they looked so friendly when I reached my hand to one and it tried to eat my finger.

Speaking of shelled reptiles, we were there just in time to watch these tortoises eat lunch.

I spotted this bunny nearby.  Yep, that’s tortoise food it’s munching on.

This is the closest we got to this stork.

I can’t remember what these are called, but they sure are cute.

These turkeys were near the petting zoo.  The male one didn’t seem too happy to see us, but the female one really showed her displeasure.  She pecked a little girl nearby. 

This goat was waiting patiently to go back inside.  His home was being cleaned.

Here’s his friend.  Great smile for a goat.

I caught this bald eagle in the act.  Just kidding, he was just stretching out his wings.

Awww, how cute.

It’s a black swan, I didn’t even know they existed.

The sign said these were “warty pigs”.  The wart hogs were are the farther side of the park.  We would have visited them, but it was too far to go in the heat.

Here’s a pair of emus.  What is the plural form of “emu”?

Of course we had to check out the prairie dogs.  This was just before we got stopped by the lady at the lost and found.  My niece had left her bag on a bench and when we went back for it, it was gone.  We filed a report and about 20 minutes later someone had turned it in, so the lady there came to find us.  My guess is that whoever found it on the bench tried to immediately take it to the lost and found place and couldn’t find it.  We probably got there first.

Anyway, near the prairies dogs was this pair of mountain lions.  They were really hard to spot.  They were is a large crack in the rocks, just escaping the heat and catching some ZZZZs.

Just got to love the flamingoes.  My niece didn’t believe me when I told her because they looked white.  If I remember correctly, flamingoes are pink because of a reaction to a sort of algae that they eat.  I guess that stuff doesn’t grow well in Arizona or something.

Read More »