Charm and Character

Today is my brother’s birthday, he is younger than me although I look much younger than him.  For the past few years, whenever I gave him a present it was always a CD/DVD holder.  I would decorate them in different ways and last Christmas I made one from scratch.  Will just how many CD holders does one guy really need.  So I decided on something different.

I hadn’t touch the shrink plastic in so long or made my zipper charms in a while for that matter and thought they would be perfect.  I found some images around the internet from some of my brother’s favorite anime and manga series.  I found the image from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya here, Lucky Star here, School Rumble here, and K-On here.  I did have a bit of trouble trying to trace them on to the plastic.  Thankfully pictures on shrink plastic always look great after being shrunk, it hides all the flaws.  They came out pretty good, I might make a few more with other characters.
Here’s the updated list:

• Rosettes
• Doll aprons
• Zipper charms
• Refrigerator
• Heart purse
• Doll
• Kitchen sink
• Cupboards
• Clothes
• Vase
• Dishes
• Curtains

Three down, nine to go.  The next one will be up in a couple of days, no worries there, I have loads of time since my externship ended.  Of course I still have to job search.  :(

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Fun-sized Aprons

I discovered this quick little tutorial on making some adorable little aprons for Barbie dolls at Brassy Apple.  Since I love aprons for myself I just had to whip up a couple of doll-sized ones.

I decided to gave my Barbie dolls a break from modeling my creations.  This is a doll produced by Takara, I forget which one, I got her from Bookman’s a while back.  For the first apron, I used scraps of this polka dot print I love so much.  It’s great to be able to find uses for even the smallest scraps of my favorite fabrics.  In the tutorial, it suggests using some tulle for a ruffle, but I decided to use more of the fabric instead. 

For the second apron, I use this fall print which coincidently also came from Bookman’s just like the doll.  I love how the reddish color brings out the doll’s eyes.  The only problem with this one is that the elastic at the waist seems to be too loose, aprons are suppose to be snug around the middle.  Other than that, I think they both came out well.  I might whip up a few more just for fun.  And I started thinking that with a few adjustments to the pattern, I could make some cute halter tops the same way.  Maybe a future project?
Here’s the updated list:

• Rosettes
• Doll aprons
• Zipper charms
• Refrigerator
• Heart purse
• Doll
• Kitchen sink
• Cupboards
• Clothes
• Vase
• Dishes
• Curtains

Two down, ten to go.  The next one will be up tomorrow to celebrate a special occasion.  Come celebrate with me.

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Zip a Dee Doo Dah

Remember sometime ago I mentioned something about a tutorial I found for rosettes made from old zippers (see Something about Zippers), well I decided to try it out a bit.  Remember the tutorial is here at Ucreate.
This is the first one I made, it is modeled here by my niece.  I found out that these rosettes aren’t quite as easy to make as they look.  They can take a bit of time to get it just right too, but they are worth it.  Just look how cool it came out.  I decided to make it into a pin despite the fact that I might have way too many pins in my collection already.  What can I say, I love pins.

I found it was easier to make this second one since I had gotten the hang of it.  This one is also modeled by my niece.  I made it into a cute little hairclip to tame her tangled, messy hair.  Maybe it will give her an incentive to sit still for detangling.
Here’s the updated list:

• Rosettes
• Doll aprons
• Zipper charms
• Refrigerator
• Heart purse
• Doll
• Kitchen sink
• Cupboards
• Clothes
• Vase
• Dishes
• Curtains

One down, eleven to go.  The next one should be up by tomorrow evening, don’t miss it.

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Bargains by the Pound

I mentioned yesterday about discovering a new thrift store in my area that I thought was really cool.  It’s call the Good Store on Main St and Robson in downtown Mesa, and what’s cool is they price their clothing by the pound.  It’s $2.50/lb and it drops to about $1.75 after ten pounds.  As promised, here are all the goodies I managed to snag.

I got this for my niece, I am assuming it is intended for sleepwear judging by the bear appliqué.  I thought it was adorable, and luckily she thought so too. 

This one I actually wore today because I think it is so pretty.  It ties in the back with a decent sized bow.  The only problem I had with it was that I think it might be a little to low in front for comfort reasons, but there are ways around that.

Here’s the solution, this pretty lacy top would look great alone or layered underneath that blue one.  I especially love the sleeves, they flare out like lacy bells or something in a pretty romantic way.

 

This one is so cute.  Again, more lacy sleeves only this one could actually be worn in this warm weather.  I’m a little unsure about whether or not it really suits me though.  It seems a little more like my sister’s style than mine, assuming I have a specific style, I’m not really sure about that either.

 

This one is cute, but odd.  It looks like a cute little dress, but it is actually a shirt, one that’s big enough to fit me.  I think it does look really good on me, except for that ruffle and those pockets.  I gave it my niece to wear as a dress, works better that way.

This is another one for my niece, a lovely blue polo shirt.  It would be great for school, that is if they actually will allow her to wear this color.  That’s the funny thing about school uniforms and dress codes, I mean what’s wrong with this color anyway?  Well, she can still wear it for Summer Vacation.

 

I got this one for my nephew so that he wouldn’t feel left out, it is so hard to find cute clothes for little boys.  He also really needed more warm weather clothing, his drawers are full of long sleeved shirts or sweaters and almost no t-shirts.  Poor boy.

 

I wore this today too, sorry about the picture, black colors hate my camera.  Anyway, this skirt has a drawstring waist that isn’t bulky like some and has two pretty ruffles that swing when I walk.  I just adore it, and it’s so versatile too.

 

I know it really isn’t the season for these pajama pants, but I just had to add them to the pile.  The little penguins and ice cubes were too much to resist and I know it will be cozy when winter returns.

And the final piece.  This skirt goes to the knee without looking super frumpy which is great.  Plus, the embroidery on it is gorgeous along with this unusual color.  I was a little unsure if I would actually be able to find something to wear it with, but I do already have at least one black t-shirt that I know will work with it.  Also, that white lacy shirt I bought actually looks lovely with it, so problem solved again.

Now the grand total for all these lovely items is……$7.60, that’s including the tax.  That averages out to 76 cents per item, that’s why I love thrift stores.  Aren’t bargains wonderful?

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Getting Down with Your Stars and Stripes Part 2

I am typing this in the middle of that Arizona Celebration of Freedom festival I mentioned before (see Get Down with Your Stars and Stripes). 

It’s been great, except for all the crowds.  Some guy stepped on my foot and he didn’t say anything, and I know he noticed.  And I had a coughing fit because some guy was smoking in the middle of the carnival game area, surrounded by children too. 

Other than that, it has been fun.  Plenty of great music, with a surprise performance by Belle of Beauty and the Beast.  A children’s party place had girls dressed like Disney princesses perform the songs from the movies.  Too bad my niece wasn’t there, she would have loved it. 

They had a bunch of these huge inflatable statues of monuments and the Congress building and such.  One of them you could walk inside and get a bit of a history lesson.  Benjamin Franklin was standing outside of it.  I wanted to get a picture, but there were too many people blocking him.  Super popular guy. 

They were tons of classic and not too classic cars, some of them were for sale.  Others seemed to be there to advertise other things though. 

There was this one car that shot flames and stuff, sadly I wasn’t able to get a picture of it in the act.  Again, too many crowds, but the owner was super pleased.

There were of course plenty of craft booths and vendors, including a guy who was doing spray paint demonstrations the whole night.  The fumes from the paint got to me though.  And the most unusual thing I saw were these hats.  They appear to be made from boxes for beer cans.  Ummm.

There was also a rock climbing thing which was great and horrible at the same time.  Great because I love these things, and horrible because I had decided to wear a skirt instead of something more sensible like jeans.  Bye-bye rock wall, at least I looked really cute.

One of the best discoveries I made was this really cute new thrift store.  It’s called the Good Store and it’s here in Downtown Mesa on Main St between Country Club and Robson.  They have a ton of cute clothes and they price it by the pound.  I got a bunch of cute tops, I’ll post some pictures tomorrow.

And a great way to finish the night is fireworks.  They started going off while I was still browsing in the thrift store, they shook some of the walls a little.  They were wonderful, and what was really fun was watching all the people standing outside their stores and homes or in there cars in traffic as they stopped to watch.  It really makes you feel united with your neighbors knowing you are all doing the same thing at the same time.  Overall a good festival and a great holiday so far, enjoy it tomorrow.

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Number Nine and Doing Fine

I have compiled my newest list, carefully considering my current schedule and whether it can realistically accommodate these projects.  I have included items for my cardboard dollhouse because I feel like working on it, and I am dying to finally use my new glue gun.  As promised, I will be working on the kitchen this time.  So here it is:

Craft Project List #9

• Rosettes
• Doll aprons
• Zipper charms
• Refrigerator
• Heart purse
• Doll
• Kitchen sink
• Cupboards
• Clothes
• Vase
• Dishes
• Curtains

Should take a little over three weeks to finish it all up, assuming it doesn’t get delayed like the last list.

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