Runaway October » Crafting

Oh my, it’s been a long time.

Katie — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:10:29 +0000

So it’s been roughly 6 months since I’ve posted here. That’s probably the longest break I’ve taken. I’ve just been busy, I guess.

Here’s a couple ~~excuses~~ reasons why:

Went back to school at the last minute. (Not recommended. Summer semester with science and math is not recommended either.)
Declan started Kindergarten.
Halloween party planning.
… Uhm, Pinterest?

Wow, that’s not nearly the list of impressive reasons I kept picturing in my mind. The good news is that I’m sure most of my followers know me somewhat in person and have been in touch on FaceBook.If you don’t know me personally… well, come say ‘Hi’. The worst thing that will happen is I end up with some crazy stalker and they leave dead animals on my porch. I already have a cat that does that, so you’ll have to try harder than that crazy, future, potential stalker.

Declan did surprisingly well with his first day. He seems genuinely excited to go.

Just a few days after starting school, he lost his first tooth!

I’ve been working on a whole lot of Halloween stuff. Here’s a quick Save The Date I made for the party so far.

I only edited this to fit different wording. When I find the original source again, I will give credit where credit is due.

And if I was any kind of GOOD blogger I’d promise pictures of my Halloween stuff and whatnot. But we all know I’m not a very GOOD blogger so maybe, just maybe, I might post again soon.

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Who’s going to Creative Estates?

Katie — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:15:54 +0000

In case you’re living under a rock, like I was until recently, this is the run down of Creative Estates.

Doesn’t that sound like a million pounds of fun? (Who really says things like ‘a million pounds of fun’?)

Anyway, the conference is in Chandler, Arizona on April 8th, 9th and 10th. Tickets are only $149, which is dang cheap for a 3 day conference of this type.

Check out the Agenda here. I’d have a hard time choosing which sessions to go to if I was able to go.

You can register here, but be sure to check out the whole Creative Estates website, especially the guest speakers.

If you’re like me and need to win tickets in order to go, be sure to check out Shey B’s Get Your Butt to Arizona giveaway post here. She’s generously giving away 2 or more all-inclusive passes to the lucky winners. YAY!

Do you already have your tickets? No?! Better hurry! And let us know if you’ll be attending!

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Some Handmade Christmas Presents

Katie — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 21:44:29 +0000

I took all these pictures inside at night, so pardon the crappy quality. It was either take them NOW or know that I’d never get to it later.

Not a handmade present, but Curt the Dirt was my crafting buddy through the 3 mad days I did most of these in. I really need to stop procrastinating.

Oh god, looking over these pictures.… I really should be shot for posting some of these. :S

Complete with tramp stamp:

Seat belt covers:

Tutorial here: Seatbelt sleeves by AfricanKelli

Car trash bag:

It uses boning to keep itself open. Cool huh? Tutorial here: Trash Bag by Make it and Love it

A few belts to help keep the pants up on my super skinny boys. Tutorial here: Boy Belts by Elsie Marley

Canister sleeves for my mother in law to match her red kitchen. Time consuming but super cute, eh?

Tutorial here: Quilted Canister Sleeves by HandmadeMommy

Some freezer paper stencil shirts. Apparently I forgot to take a picture of some, but here’s a few of them.

(I was trying for a grungy look. I swear. )

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Did you make anything for Christmas presents? Let us know!

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Recipe: Handmade Soap!

Katie — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:10:48 +0000

Sometimes when you aim to hand make all of your gifts, the final goal can get away from you. Sure, that super cute scarf would be fun to make, but in Arizona who’s going to use it?

So the boys (with lots of help from Mama) are making soap to give as gifts this year. Who can’t use soap, right?

Don’t worry, the stove was not on yet.

My fancy double boiler.

Adding flax meal for exfoliants and kelp powder which is a great detoxicant. (Is that a word?)

Soap on a Rope, poured and setting up.

In the molds, with a fingerprint… for authenticity.

We did two different batches so far–one for the gals, one for the guys.

The Guy Recipe

1 lb suspension Shea Butter soap base
2 tablespoons Kelp Powder
2 tablespoons Flax Seed Meal
15–20 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil

The Gal Recipe

1 lb Honey melt & pour soap
4 Tb Beeswax
4 Tb Honey
15 — 20 Sweet Orange Essential Oil
1 tsp shimmery Mica for sparkle

(P.S. — If the boys give you a gift of soap, pretend to be surprised! They are very proud of their efforts! )

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Before and After: Craft Room

Katie — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:19:06 +0000

Or the S.M.O.R as I like to call it — The Sewing Machines Operations Room.

Remember this sorry little 11’x11’ room?

Which was later cleaned and somewhat organized to look like this:

Well, it’s kind of finished now. It’s now a very workable space and I can actually complete projects somewhere other than the kitchen table. YAY!

I took at least 100 pictures today, and about 20 a few weeks ago. This room is very very hard to photograph.

I even tried to take a video with my fancy new Flip Video Camcorder from my Prilosec sponsorship, but it eats batteries like no other.

Of course I couldn’t find any batteries to replace them with.

Such is the life of a mom.

The project table is completely handmade by me and my dad. We used plans from Knock Off Wood. Here’s the top and the cubby sides.

I’ll go into it in a little more detail later.

I’ll have to slowly buy or make some pretty baskets on containers to go in here.

Love these stools from Overstock.com

Handmade string balls made by one of the boys.

There was two.

One of them bit the dust, or rather, the dogs water bowl.

The string ball, not the boys.

Well, okay, they usually assault the water bowl at least once a day, but they don’t melt.

Unless you count the dirt that melts off.

I should make some more. String Balls, not boys. Maybe a little girl but that’s a different subject.

Now maybe I can get these bad boys quilted and bound and in use.

And what craft room photo shoot is complete without a picture of a cat.

I used Martha Stewart Hydrangea flat paint for the walls. I also painted the ceiling and all the trim, but can’t find the names of them. They’re the same ones that were recommended on the paint chip palette. No worries about everything matching together. What a smart girl, eh?

I can’t seem to find a decent sample color online, so you’ll just have to squint and imagine you can tell the true color of everything.

I do hope to make some roman blinds or curtains for the windows. And the baskets I mentioned earlier. I definitely need some artwork and other pretties to hang up and keep me happy while I work. I would really really love a stereo or MP3 player of some sort in there too. I work so much better with music.

So, that’s the S.M.O.R.

What do you think?

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Crafty Catchup

Katie — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:22:13 +0000

I have a really bad habit of doing nothing during the summer. You might have noticed that the heat is a central part of my last couple posts.

It’s really a central part of our lives from Mayish to Augustish. Even in the house it’s just too easy to veg out and keep cool.

BUT! I have done some stuff lately. I swear. I have proof!

I made this clock for my brother a while back, for his birthday.

It’s pretty hard to photograph this, but oh well. I got lucky enough that a local BMX shop gave me the chainring, after I offered to buy one. Funny enough they had a similar clock displayed in their front window.

The tutorial is here. Mine is not nearly as cool, but hey I was working with what I had.

I also made a cover for my sewing machine. I figured that plastic one it came with wasn’t good enough for the new craft room. (More on that soon.) Also, the melted hole in it from the iron didn’t help any.

I just used the dimensions from the old cover, plus seam allowances, and threw together a rectangle with ties on it. I backed it with flannel, because it seemed like the thing to do. Isn’t that fabric gorgeous? I got it on a whim at a local mill end store. Kicking myself for not buying more.

Sewing Machine Cover tutorials:

Sparkle Power! — This is pretty much exactly what I did.
Sew Inspired
Chez Larsson

Last, but not least, a new ironing board cover. I love making these things. It makes me actually want to iron. Yuck.

This is also more fabric I picked up on a whim. This time from IKEA. Their upholstery fabric is the perfect length from regular ironing boards.

I always leave the old covers on, for padding. Sometimes I’ll throw a layer of fleece in between too if I have big enough scraps.

Here are a couple ironing board cover tutorials:

That’s it for now. I hope to have more soon. I ordered some goodies.

What are you working on lately, or do you have any interesting tutorials to share?

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Here’s the big news!

Katie — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:01:13 +0000

I WON! I am SO not kidding. I WON!

I’m usually not one to answer my cellphone from Unknown Callers, but for some reason I answered this call. Then I talked very calmly, to a lovely woman named Stacey (because I’m sure she didn’t want to hear me squeal), hung up the phone and THEN squealed like an idiot.

Check out the official announcement here. This is my goofy application. I feel so dumb writing these things. Thankfully the judges must have a similar sense of humor.

They asked just a few things from me; To keep my passion and continue doing exactly what I do and to crosspost on a blog that they will host for me. In return, they will sponsor a few of my crafts. And I’m hoping for a serger. Maybe my Etsy shop is closer than we all think?

I haven’t got much information from them, but do you know who’ll I’ll tell first when they give me more info? Besides immediate family and the neighbors and the guy at the convenience store and everyone on Facebook and all my second cousins twice removed? You Guys! Yay!

And, in conclusion, thank you — to all of you who voted, all of you who encourage me when I hold up a project, wrinkle my nose and ask “Does this look stupid?”, and to whoever gave me my creativity since both of my parents claim it wasn’t them and it was my Great Aunt Katherine, whom I never met and thank you to Prilosec!

I’m rambling.

Now, really in conclusion, Yay! Thank you!

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Tutorial: St. Patrick’s Day Wreath

Katie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:59:39 +0000

Today we’re going to make this:

Well, you don’t have to but I’m going to pretend that you’re dying for me to teach you how to make this simple wreath. Ready?

Gather your materials:

A wreath form– I used a 12″ pressboard form, mainly because I had no final idea of what I was making and because they’re so much cheaper than styrofoam.

2 — 3 yds of wire-edged ribbon.

3 — 4 St Patrick’s day decorative thingys. I think they call them floral picks?

A Glue Gun and glue sticks — low temp is probably best if you have one.

Scissors

Whatever doodads you want to add. Here I used mini “beer bottles” and some fake gold coins. Because what better sums up St Pats like beer and bling?

Okay, first step. Unroll your ribbon and fold it in a zigzag pattern, kinda like so. Adjust it to make sure it will cover your whole wreath form.

It should like sorta like this from the front.

Now start to glue it to your wreath form. Tuck the end under for the first fold. You’ll have to adjust here and there to follow the contours. I found it easiest to glue the bottom fold to the wreath and leave the top fold loose. If you look closely, you can see my glue marks here.

Continue around until you’re within one fold from the end.

Now guage how much ribbon you will need to tuck under the first fold and cut it there. Glue the end of the ribbon UNDER the beginning fold and glue in place. Yours should look something like this.

Now flip that sucker over. This is where you pull your floral pick thingies apart. Mine consisted of wired pieces and well, non wired pieces. I cut the wired pieces out of 3 picks and glued it in intervals around the back of the wreath. I chose to do a spiraly type pattern.

Then go back around and add the non-wired pieces.

Not enough bling, Katie. Go around and add more if necessary.

That’s better. Now flip it back over and add your doodads.

Once all my doodads were on, I used the green stem from my floral pick thing and bent it into a hoop and glued it within an inch of its life to the back of the wreath. Just in case. I want my wreath to withstand hurricanes. Ta Da!

Now take down your Valentines Wreath that’s still up and put up your blingity-bling-bling St. Pats wreath.

Now everyone will know what you plan on doing next week. Wearing green underwear, of course.

Speaking of the Valentines Wreath you hadn’t taken down, here’s mine. I used Tatertots and Jello’s tutorial.

So… What are you planning for St. Patricks Day this year? Any good recipes?

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Day late but completely fantastic!

Katie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:42:40 +0000

40 days ago my madre had a birthday. This is what was waiting for her when she got home from work.

I used the Vintage Pillowcase Lunchbox Tutorial from Oh, Fransson.

While it’s neither vintage nor a pillowcase, I think it’s adorable. So did Mom. Good thing too, because I was finishing up the last step as she walked in the door!

The tutorial provides good instructions for using Iron-On Vinyl. While you can’t see it in the picture, the whole bag is essentially water/spill resistant. I had a heck of a time finding Iron-On vinyl. The girls at the JoAnn’s cutting counter had no idea what I was talking about. Thankfully someone knew the store though. Turns it they keep it in the Home Dec department by the nailhead trim and curtain rods and such. $10 for a prepackaged roll that should be enough for 2 lunchbags.

Also included in the tutorial is this cute little placemat. Which is perfect. We all know how ‘Ick’ lunchrooms can be.

Next time, though, I don’t think I’ll cover the handles in vinyl. Or try to source a thicker vinyl. It already is getting a little ragged from light use. Meaning it’s carried back and forth to the car daily and that’s about it.

If you’re thinking about making one be sure to check out the Flickr Group. There are some cute versions there too.

I’d love to hear what you’ve made lately.

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Confession.

Katie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:42:54 +0000

I have a confession. I can be quite a slob.

The evidence: Exhibit A — My craft room, The SMOR (sewing machine operations room), about 24 hours ago.

When we bought this house, we knew one of the rooms would be used for hobbies. Unfortunately, we had been using the dining room table previously so we had no furniture to set up in there. About the time we moved, I was given a very nice cutting table and sewing machine desk. They came from a family friend who had passed away. Sadly, she was a heavy smoker and smoked in her hobby room. The tables just ooze nicotine.

My father in law convinced me that I shouldn’t try to paint them, as they’re covered in melamine. While I’m fairly certain I would be able to repaint them, new furniture would be easiest. Of course I decided this after trying to clean one of the tables with bleach (Bleck!) and ruining a perfectly good skirt.

So I struck a deal with my husband. If I clean the craft room, could we build new furniture for the room? He agreed, poor sap.

So this is where it stands currently. Not “clean” per se, but everything has been gone through and sorted and I found all kinds of stuff I had forgotten about! Score. My M.O. was to grab what I needed, take it down stairs to craft, bag/box up whatever was left and toss it in the SMOR when I was done. Bad bad. I had at least 15 empty boxes when I was done, and double that amount of bags to recycle

(I still need to vacuum, obviously.)

This is the table I want we’ll be making, free plans courtesy of Knock Off Wood. It’ll go well with the IKEA Expedit bookcase that’s in there currently.

I know that if I had a vehicle right now, me and the boys would be terrorizing Home Depot and Lowe’s. I’ll keep you posted on our progress. I’m super excited to make my own craft furniture, and for so much less than Pottery Barn too!

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