December 31, 2011
Christmas signs
December 26, 2011
Christmas cards
Every year I contemplate having photo card made, and every year I decide to make my own to save money. (I always forget to factor in my time, but I do love making them myself.) This year I was really frugal and used cardboard I rescued from the trash at work. I did spray the cards with a light coat of gold spray paint to jazz them up a bit. I had prints made at Walgreens (5 cents each) then cropped them to fit the card. I saw the photo idea on Pinterest--the inspiration photo is here. I stamped each photo with Staz On ink and a "joy" stamp (purchased several years ago for $1 at Michaels). The corrugated cardstock was from my stash. I added a printed tag with our names before I mailed them out. I love the clean and simple look, and I think my recipients enjoyed the cards, too.
November 13, 2011
zig zag doll quilt
I was pretty impressed with how well the top turned out. I'm not much of a precision quilter, but most of my points matched up almost perfectly. My little quilt measures about 13 inches by 15 inches. I used gray fabric (leftover from last year's poodle skirt Halloween costume), a yellow and white floral from my stash, and Warm and Natural batting. I made half square triangles and arranged them in a zig zag pattern. (Sorry disappearing nine patch, but I think half square triangles may be my new favorite pattern--there are just so many options for arranging them.) I machine quilted along the zig zags and hand-stitched the binding which took forever but I love how it looks.
This may end up on the wall of my sewing room as a cute little wall hanging.
November 11, 2011
give thanks sign
October 30, 2011
a finished quilt
October 19, 2011
painted Halloween treat bags
I also stamped some fabric to make larger treat/gift bags. For these, I cut pieces of fabric 6 inches wide by 20 inches long. I like to stamp the design before sewing the bag together in case I totally mess up the stamping. I think I'll stitch them together leaving raw edges exposed so they'll fray and look a little more rustic. I like the way these turned out so much I'll be making some Christmas gift bags soon.
October 16, 2011
Why bother. . .
(Not pictured is the baby quilt I'm currently binding, a huge stack of mail, and a wooden Christmas sign I'm in the process of painting.) When we refinished the basement, my husband let me have the really big room for a craft room. But I still prefer to craft at the kitchen table--I'm sure much to his dismay. I know it's been a while since I've blogged about any projects, but hopefully this week I can share the cute little Halloween treat bags we're making today. Hope you had a good (and crafty) weekend!
September 5, 2011
another disappearing nine patch
The charm pack had 42 squares and I cut 3 more squares of Kona snow. With 45 squares I was able to make 5 nine patch squares. When cut and sewn back together, that makes a perfect little baby blanket quilt top. This will actually become the center panel of a quilt for my mother in law for Christmas. (I can't believe I'm actually starting a Christmas gift in September!) On Etsy, I found a bargain--2 yards of two different coordinating fabrics for $10.50 including shipping! That was half of what I would have spent at my local quilt shop. I really try to support local businesses, but I'm on a budget and couldn't pass up that deal.
I think I need to use some of my fabric stash to make some DNP baby blankets for charity.
August 24, 2011
our happily ever after {another sign}
After some sanding, paint, and a custom vinyl saying purchased on Etsy from JanDeeCrafts, I have this great sign which will become the centerpiece for my photo wall.
August 10, 2011
boy's Batman shirt
Materials:
black t-shirt (though gray would look good, too)
scrap of black knit fabric (I used an old t-shirt)
heat-n-bond lite
freezer paper
yellow fabric paint (or acrylic paint and textile medium)
paint brush
Batman logo template (I found one here)
black thread
sewing machine (or you can hand sew)
Place your Batman logo on the paper side of the heat-n-bond lite and trace the oval shape. Cut out around the oval.
Cut out the bat shape from the freezer paper, center it on the right side of your knit fabric (shiny side down) and iron in place.Let the paint dry. This is the hardest part for me as I immediately want to rip the freezer paper off and see my amazing creation. Bad idea. This is a good time to do some laundry or wash dishes. Or if you're like me, you go to Target. When the paint is dry peel off your freezer paper. (I waited 24 hours.)
Remove the backing paper from the patch and center it on your shirt. Iron the Batman patch to the front of your t-shirt. (The textile medium I used said to wait 7 days before heat setting the paint. I waited 24 hours. I cannot wait a week to finish a project.) I covered the patch with a cloth so the paint didn't destroy my iron and pressed for 20 seconds.
Using a sewing machine and black thread (or you can stitch by hand), stitch around the edge of the patch.
I spent $4 for the t-shirt. Everything else I had on hand.
August 5, 2011
kids' tent
This past Wednesday while I was trying to clean the house, I heard frustrated cries coming from my son's room. He was trying to make a tent on his bed using baby blankets and wasn't having much success. His bed. . .
Yes, my son is 4 & 1/2 years old and the Fisher-Price Rainforest Musical Mobile (complete with dead batteries) is still attached to his bed.
Using a queen size sheet from my thrifted stash and a few clothes pins, we created this for my now-happy camper. . .
He played in it quietly for a good 30 to 45 minutes, and it only needed a few minor repairs during that time. If you don't have a bed like this, you could use a simple card table to create your own fort/tent.
August 3, 2011
"family" sign (from old drawer front)
I ended up doing a couple coats of satin black spray paint then a couple coats of Rust-Oleum navajo white. (All Lowe's had was gloss but a few coats of Rust-Oleum matte clear spray on the finished project took care of the gloss.) I sanded the edges to reveal some of the black paint and give it a distressed look. The word "family" was part of a rub-on I found at Hobby Lobby in the clearance sections for $2.14. Eventually this will be hung in a little nook next to my kitchen with family photos around it. (If I ever get the nook painted.) Now to figure out what to do with the remaining 13 doors. . .
July 20, 2011
cabinet doors
$2 for a beautiful square door with a decorative raised panel. I have big plans for this one and it's already had a couple coats of spray paint. Hopefully I'll have a project to share soon. The other doors are still in my trunk since I'm not sure where I'm going to put them all!
June 23, 2011
boy's 4th of July outfit
June 13, 2011
painted wood signs (for Father's Day)
2. Using a foam brush, I applied Ceramcoat acrylic paint around the edges of each board. (barn red and brown velvet on the left; blue velvet and poppy orange/brown velvet on the right)
5. I used my Cricut to cut a freezer paper stencil. (More info about how to make a stencil on this post.) I should break down and buy some vinyl for these projects, but I am so cheap and freezer paper works pretty well if you're going for a distressed look. I would not use your best iron to iron the freezer paper to the wood (my iron now has paint on it--I hope it comes off!). I also recommend using a blank sheet of paper between your iron and the freezer paper/wood. If you do not have a Cricut, you can use stencils or trace letters (great post here). I also found this post that uses a computer and printer to generate the letters.
I wanted to make two signs for my husband--one saying "free ice" and another saying "cold beer." Here's the "cold beer" sign ready to be painted.
6. Once the freezer paper is ironed to the wood, use a foam brush to paint the letters. I tap the paint onto the board instead of brushing it on. This helps prevent some seeping under the stencil, but it's still going to happen. It's not a big deal since you sand over the letters, but if it seeps a little too much you can fix it by painting over the really bad areas with your main color. Really bad areas:
Kind of fixed:
7. I didn't do a good job of taking pictures of the next steps. I sanded over the letters with a palm sander, used some Tim Holtz distress ink around the edges, sprayed the signs with an acrylic sealer and hammered an upholstry nail into each corner. My nails were too long for the boards I used, so I had to clip the end of the nail with wire cutters.
7. I stamped the back of each sign.