Lace Twin Hearts Hair Clip, A Tutorial

After putting it off too long, I finally finished a project from my list.  And it’s a tutorial too.  Yay!  And a video.  Double Yay!

I call it the Lace Twin Hearts Hair Clip.  Perfect for Valentine’s Day, or anytime you feel like wearing a pretty heart on your head.

All you need are:

• Felt
• Pretty Lace
• A Needle and Matching Thread
• Scissors
• A Clip
• Pins
• Glue gun or fabric/craft glue
• A scrap of paper

Now for the video.

Enjoy. :)

Here’s the updated list:

• Covers
• Bag
• Jacket and Skirt
• Hearts
• Little Dresses

One down, four more to go.  I’m hoping to have the next one up by Friday.  Look forward to it.

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Valentine’s Day on Pinterest 2016 Edition

Valentine’s Day is almost here!  In almost two weeks!

As always, I have created a Pinterest Board for this lovely holiday as with most other holidays for this year.  Also as always, I had pretty much forgotten about it until now.

So here it is:

My 2016 Valentine’s Day Pinterest Board

Some highlights:

• Star Wars Valentine Cards!  Free Printable
• Hershey's Kisses Mice
• Vintage Valentine Silhouette, Free Clip Art

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Up to Thirty Four

Long story short, I made another craft project list over a week ago and forgot to even post it let alone actually start working on it.  So here it is:

Project List #34

• Covers
• Bag
• Jacket and Skirt
• Hearts
• Little Dresses

Short but sweet.  Now time to get cracking.

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2016 Resolutions Update: Round 1

It’s now more than two weeks into the new year.  I thought it was about time to report how I’m doing on my resolutions (see 2016 New Year's Resolutions).

Make more tutorials - Haven’t made any so far but I am in the process of making three, they are still in the planning stage though.  Look forward to them.

Reduce craft stash – Sadly, the only thing I have done so far for this one is to stay out of all craft stores.

Exercise – I have managed to squeeze in a quick 15 minute run after work 3 times my first week and two times my second week.

Stretch –  I’m doing terribly for this one.  I managed to do some stretching after running, but not the 10 minutes worth for my goal.

Save money – I had a set back on this one, a couple of them actually.  It’s called Christmas clearances and one very particular holiday sale.  That holiday sale was the real killer.  I won’t say what I bought since it will be quite a while before I receive it.  In the meantime I’ve been using it as motivation to help with my spending.  Whenever I see something cute in a store I choose not to buy it becasue I already bought something big and I shouldn’t really need anything else.  Nothing like guilt to keep you on track.

Clean out my closet – I have made progress on this goal quite easily.  I develop a method of organising.  I call it the basket trick.

To do it, just grab a laundry basket and head to your messy closet or cabinet.  Grab a bunch of stuff from it and dump it in the basket.  You will now sort through only the stuff in the basket and completely ignore everything else in the closet or cabinet. 

The point is to break up the big task of cleaning out the closet into smaller easier tasks.

Here’s my first basket.  Full of clothes from my closet ready to be dealt with.

Here you see I’ve sorted it in three piles.  The top left pile is stuff that I simply don’t want.  The top left pile is stuff that need to be altered or fixed that I still like enough to attempt, for now.  The bottom is the pile of stuff that I am actually keeping.

Here are the same piles properly contained.  The few items to keep are back in the basket.  The to-fix items are in an orange tote bag specifically for that purpose.  And the unwanted items are in a plastic grocery bag ready to be given away or donated.

Here’s the second basket, attempted a few days later.  This one wasn’t as full as the first because I didn’t have as much time to conquer it, but that’s okay.

Now sorted.  The pile on the left is the unwanted stuff, the middle is the to-fix stuff and the last pile is the stuff that I can put back in my closet.

Now contained.  The fix-it bag is starting to look awfully full.  I don’t actually intend to start working on the fixing or anything until after I’ve finished sorting the entire closet.  I want to re-sort it all to see if I still actually want to bother fixing and altering everything in there.

The third basket I attempted last week. 

Sadly the results weren’t as good for this one.  I’m keeping half the basket.  The two piles outside the basket are the fix-it pile and a very tiny pile consisting of two unwanted items.

All baged up.  I now have two full bags of mending.  And that’s the third bag of unwanted clothes and it’s barely half full.

Overall, it’s a good start to cleaning out my closet.  I need to go through approximately six more baskets to have it completely sorted.  Then I want to use the basket trick for my craft stash.  Wish me luck.

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Another Late Post: Black Friday Thrifting

I meant to post this well over two months ago, but things tend to happen, like Christmas.  Oh well.

Epic Thrift had another bag sale on Black Friday that I just had to check out.  This makes for the third bag sale I’ve gone to of theirs (see It's in the Bag! and Bagging it on Black Friday).

Behold!  The contents of my bag.  Looks pretty good right?

Here are few of my favorite items.

On the top left is a tarnished silver tray of some sort, I’m sure it will look great cleaned up. 

The top right is a small glass box, possibly for jewelry or candy.  The other three items are another little box and a couple of tiny vases.  The blue one looks like a smaller version of one I got years ago at a yard sale.

It’s hard to go to a thrift store and not find decent dishware.  I found two different sets of plates, plain white and a set with simple blue flowers. 

I also found a bowl.  I like bowls like this.  Good size, simple and cute design, easy to wash, and microwave safe. 

And a I got this cute mug, perfect for my tea.  I prefer drinking from a mug instead of a tea cup since they hold more and are less fragile but still pretty.  At least the mugs I use are pretty.

Now for clothes.  I thought these two blouses would be perfect to go with all my the dresses and skirts I make.  The one on the right has embroidered eyelets all over it and the one on the left is covered with pretty lace and other details.

I know it’s wintery and cold out, but you have to ignore the season sometimes to get a good deal on clothes.   Especially when it comes to these two tanks tops. 

The black one will be great and super comfy for next summer but the blue is actually good now.  It has pretty lace and ruffles and it looks great worn over long sleeve tops.

Long sleeved such as these knits.  The white sweater on the left I actually have already worn with that blue top.  They are perfect together. 

The pink cardigan I am not sure about though.  It is cute and I love cable knit sweaters, but it’s made with rabbit hair.  Not sure how I feel about that.

So many cute tops and sweaters, just need a couple of cute skirts to go with them.  Both of them are black and ruffly, though the one on the left is super ruffly.

Here are some more casual looking clothes.  Just a few t-shirts, several pairs of shorts because I needed more, and a few tanks tops including some pink ones.  It’s a good idea to stock up on things like this at bag sales since they take very little space in the bag and you always seem to need more.

Now the last few pieces.  On the left is a cute night gown covered with bunnies and other little animals, also a pair of pink Mickey Mouse pajama pants.  Yay! Cute comfy sleepwear.

On the right is a Hello Kitty make up bag and a Sanrio pocket planner.  I actually didn’t know it was a planner when I found it.  I just thought it was cute and could slip easily in the side of my bag. 

On the top right is a lunch bag.  That’s right, it’s a lunch bag though it would make a cute purse.  It has polka dots and has a cupcake shaped pocket on the side.  The main reason I got it was to shove other stuff in it.  I thought that if I rolled up t-shirts and stuff really tightly and crammed them in it, then the lunch bag could help keep them squashed down and take up less space in my bag.  Makes sense right?

Some to tally it up:

• 4 pairs of shorts
• 3 t-shirts
• 2 blouses
• 3 tank tops
• 2 dressy tank tops
• 2 sweaters
• 1 pair pajama pants
• 1 night gown
• 1 mug
• 1 bowl
• 2 jewelry boxes
• 2 small vases
• 1 platter
• 2 cute bags
• 6 plates
• 7 knives
• 1 cute day planner
• 1 small blanket
• 1 sheet
• 1 framed art print

44 items total, valued at over $120 at thrift store prices, and again it only cost me $20.  Pretty good haul.

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2016 New Year’s Resolutions

I have never been one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I do regularly make goals for myself anyway and I am in the habit of making lists.  So I thought this year why not try it for once, it’s just like what I usually do but more festive.  Plus posting stuff here makes me more likely to do it.

So here I have my list of resolutions with specific goals for each.  I have read that it is easier to accomplish these things when you have an exact measurable goal for each one.  So instead of saying you will exercise more often or eat better, you say you will exercise 3 times a week or eat 3 servings of veggies each day.  That way it’s clear what you are trying to accomplish and when specifically you have reached your goal.

New Year’s Resolutions for 2016

• Make more tutorials – I realize that despite having blogging for more than six years, I have only made a relatively small amount of tutorials.  This must change because tutorials are fun and useful things.  My goal is to make at least 12 by the end of the year.  That averages to only one a month so it’s more than manageable.
• Reduce craft stash – I have attempted before to reduce the amount of craft supplies cluttering my space before only to have it increase greatly.  No more, I intend to fully organize my junk supplies.  The goal is to reduce my stash by half.  It’s strictly use it or lose it.  That will probably result in one heck of a to-do list.
• Exercise – it is important to be physically active, but not always easy.  I intend to squeeze at least some exercise in to my week.  The goal is to run or do a workout video at least 15 minutes twice a week.  This may increase further into the year as I slowly move out of winter hibernation mode.
• Stretch – There was once upon a time when I stretched daily and enjoyed the full benefits of it.  Never waking up with neck pain, rarely feeling stiff no matter what I did the day before, being considerably more flexible than everyone I know.  I somehow lost that habit a couple of years ago and wish to regrow it or whatever.  My goal is to stretch for 10 minutes at least twice a week.  Just like with the exercise, this one may increase as I get into it.  
• Save money – I do believe it is important to save for your future, whether the distant or not so distant future.  There are several small and large things I wish to save up for, too numerous to list here.   The important part though is saving.  Through careful budgeting (and not adding to my craft stash) my goal is reach a balance of $3500 in my savings account.  It’s already at $1215.42, so I’m off to a good start.
• Clean out my closet – This one will be a tough one.  There are so many things in my closet that I either made or got a great deal on that are so, so cute.  I have cleaned out a few things last year, but I’m afraid I still have trouble closing the closet door.  For this one though it is difficult to put a specific set goal, other than being about to close the door properly. 

To keep things on track I will post monthly and occasionally bi-monthly updates on the status of each of my goals.  Look forward to it.

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