Polymer Clay Goodness

I've really gotten into working with polymer clay recently. There is so much you can do with it. I've been working on small items to get the hang of it and I made several jewelry pieces.

These flower earrings were really simple to make and are really cute! You can buy them here!

 The same with these!

These Playstation button earrings were made using canes! You can buy them here! They are available in gloss or matte.

I love making these rose earrings! They are so cute and fun and go with just about anything! Buy them here! They are made to order in the color of your choice.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Paracord Items

I have been super busy lately trying to get Christmas gifts put together and made so it has been hard to post what I've been doing. I have been making quite a few paracord bracelets for people though. I made a watch band for my cousin over Thanksgiving and one for Dave.

My cousin's watch:

To close the watch band I used a lanyard knot. I found a great video tutorial on how to make it here. It took a couple of scrap pieces for me to get the handle of where its supposed to be placed though.

Dave's:

Dave's closes with a parachute clasp. Both are made with a square knot but I've seen them done with a fishtail braid too. Mine took about 6-7 feet of cord of each bracelet. You never know when it might come in handy!

Until next time, happy crafting!

Bean Bag Chairs!

Sorry for the late update for the past 2 weeks I was one the set of the new season of Dallas. I'm just an extra but I made a ton of connections and met some really awesome people, who knows it might lead to  bigger and better roles!! On set I've been knitting and I have an awesome project I've almost finished (Post coming soon)! Other than that I finished a pretty cool set of bean bag/foof chairs for Dave and his family!

I found an update on them here. She had the basic pattern shape on there so if you are good with making your own patterns and figuring out sizes you could probably just do that. I on the other hand am fairly new to pattern making of the top of my head and what I've done so far is super basic so I went to the original author's site and bought the pattern. The pattern was only $8.00 and came with a ton of helpful insights. I wish I had bought the pattern before I bought all my fabric and notions, Dave thought he might be able to figure out the pattern on his own since it was symmetrical. Thankfully I bought 4 yards of fabric of all my pieces but my zipper was a bit small (and we ended up ripping a seam when we tried to stuff it) but we made it work.

Like the author said you could go as cheap of expensive as you want with these. We bought more expensive fabric but we used an old pair of foof chairs for the stuffing (We even have a bit left over I might make another for my game room!). Our are filled with foam pieces instead of the stuffing the author used.

These are the most popular chairs to sit in, haha. We made the large size chairs and that sits an adult comfortably, just not as enveloped as the kids in the tutorial pictures haha. Overall they were a huge success! I will warn you, they are a bit time heavy it took me about a day to make one (I made an insert and the cover).

Until next time, happy crafting!

R2D2 Trashcan!

Dave and I were browsing Pinterest the other day and we came across an ETSY listing for a R2D2 trashcan. It looked simple enough so we decided to try and make our own. At first we thought about painting on the designs but then there was the mess of sealing the paint so it didn't chip, and that the original can looked like the shapes were stickers or something. We finally decided on self adhesive vinyl, just seemed easier! We found the trashcan at the Container Store for $5 and the vinyl was at Hobby Lobby (10 feet for $7.99 but it was half off when I went!)

Here is what it looked like after the first night...

The final product!

I have a crap ton of vinyl left over so if any one wants one then let me know!

Also this weekend a friend confessed that they are a fan of my blog and it really really made my day! I felt so good about stuff haha. I really created this blog just for myself but it was really cool to hear someone else reads my blog besides myself and Dave.

A Dress Revisited

So you may remember the dress I made here for my sister, well I talked about making one for myself. I finally found material I liked and got started. I made the shorter version for myself, but unlike the tutorial I found I didn't fold the material in half. I measured out where I wanted the skirt to hit and cut it out there. After I put the dress together and wore it for a day I feel I want to raise where it skirt hits on the shirt and create a better hem.

I also haven't made a sash yet so I paired it with a thick black belt. I also realized with this project that I really haven't made anything for myself until now. I just really like making things for other people. Well until next time, happy crafting!

Tu-tu-tu-tutorial! Glow in the dark style!!!

Ok guys here it is, my next tutorial! Its a glow in the dark tutu! Again I'm new to the tutorials so if anything is confusing please let me know I will do my best to clarify! Let's start with supplies!

If you love this idea but don't want to make one of your own you can buy them in my Etsy shop!

-Spools of tulle (I chose 4 different fluorescent colors, but you can use whatever you like! For an adult size you will need at least 2 spools, I made 2 and ran out at the very last pattern so I had to buy more)
-Glow in the dark puff paint (make sure its fabric paint)
-Elastic
-Glow in the dark spray paint
-Glow in the dark foam stickers
Not pictured:
-Scissors
-Ruler
-Cardboard
-Marker, pen, pencil, just something to write with

First you'll need to cut the tulle. Measure out a piece of cardboard to what you want the tutu length to be. The tulle will end up being double that length when all is said and done. With a marker, draw an arrow pointing to one of the short ends of the cardboard. The take the start of the tulle and line it up with the end that the arrow is pointing to and start wrapping it around the cardboard.

Once you have reached the end of the tulle cut off any remaining (if you have a few extra inches or even half of a wrap left over that's ok you can just cut it off, it only works if you have one full wrap). On the end that has the arrow (which also should be where you started and ended the tulle) cut through all the tulle. You now have all your tutu strips! Repeat this same step for all your spools. (When I first started making tutus I would go to the fabric store and buy yardages of tulle and had to cut strips by hand the long way, it probably would've taken me an hour for these 4 colors for how much I cut. With the spools and cardboard it took maybe 10 minutes at the longest!)

Next you need to cut and sew the elastic. When you tie on the tulle the elastic will stretch out a little so when measuring the elastic you'll want to stretch it a bit around the waist so when the tutu is done it wont be too large for the person wearing it. Cut the elastic and sew the ends together

Now the fun part (it's also the longest, so put on your favorite TV show marathon or movie and sit back)! Line up the strips in whatever color order you want to help you keep them organized (unless you are using one color haha). I used 5 strips of each color to create a large color block. You tie them on with a lark's head knot.

You fold your tulle in half and put underneath the elastic with the folded end towards you.

You then put the open ends over the elastic and through the folded end.

Finally you pull the tulle tight and align it next to the other strips (or if its your first one, you place it wherever you want to start). And now you have attached your tulle with a Lark's Head Knot.

Once all the tulle is attached your tutu will look like this:

Now to make it glow in the dark! You'll want to find a box or pegs or something that you can put the tutu around so you can take it outside and spray it with the glow in the dark spray paint and not have to worry about holding the tutu or getting paint all over you. I had a jimmy johns catering box lying around my house and it was the perfect size so I used that! I also found that using an extra piece of cardboard to poke in and around the tulle was great to be sure to get an even coating of the paint.

If it is a windy day (like it was when I was spraying) just rotate the box with wind so that the paint is always flying towards the tutu. Even though that seems like common sense, I really felt like a genius when I thought of it. Depending on the look you are going for you might go back and spray a few more coats after you see how it glows.

After the spray paint dries you can bring it in and decorate it with the glow in the dark foam stickers and puff paint. Sadly I was in a rush to finish the tutu's (my sister and her friend were running in a glow in the dark 5K later that evening) so I didn't get any pictures of those steps. With the puff paint I decorated the knots (which also serves as added security of the hold so they don't come loose). I placed the foam stickers at the end of the strands for a little extra pizazz.

My camera really hates the no flash setting so I had to turn the light on behind me to actually get it to take a picture. The spray paint picks up the color of the tulle and really highlights it and makes it glow, sadly the black didn't really show up on the picture but it was really cool in person (this was after 4 coats of spray paint).

Here is what my sister and her friend looked like for the run. You can kind of see the stickers and puff paint around the waist band! They had a ton of fun and won the costume contest!

Until next time, happy crafting!!!

Long Overdue Update

I'm seeing a pattern with my updates. I get really upbeat about projects at the beginning of the month and then by the end of the month I have a whole bunch of half finished projects and only 2 blog posts hahaha.

Recently though, I have been sick and have been catching up on life but here is an update on what I have been up to recently! One thing I finished a while ago but forgot to post was a blanket for my friend Dave. He was always complaining that he couldn't ever fit under any blankets because he was too tall (6 foot 4) so I took that as a challenge to make him on what he could use while having both his head and his feet covered! Here is the end result:

Yes that is my colorful bedroom... I like color...

Also recently Dave and I joined one of his classmates at grad school and her boyfriend for a glass blowing class. It was a ton of fun! Who would've thought stepping out of the studio into the 90-something heat of the afternoon would've felt cool to us?? But yet it did! It was a ton of fun! Dave made a vase while the rest of us made bowls. His friend, Molly's, design was soooooo cool! It came out looking like a cherry tree just about to blossom, so pretty! Here is my bowl:

Well once I finish my current projects I will keep you guys updated! Also I have a tutorial in the works that is super fun! Until then happy crafting!

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! For the holiday my mom needed a new wreath for our door so I found this wonderful tutorial and made it for her! Here is my version:

As for differences in the tutorial to mine I used foam instead of label paper and I ran out of blue so my last red section was much wider than the rest. I packed my squares much tighter than I think it was called for but it still turned out very nice I think. I pinned the ribbon on the back but I think I'm going to hot glue it for a more permanent hold.

Happy crafting!

Ballerina's Dream

So my sister's birthday was a little while ago. Being the kid at heart she is, and a tinkerbell loving girl, I decided to make her a tutu. She has always wanted one that she could run races in and bike in during rides and such so I made it my goal to make her the most amazing tutu ever! Here is the result:

That is her friend Pia on the left. She was so excited when I dropped it off at the camp she was a councilor at. Her friend's liked the end product so much that they wanted one too! Two of the girls have birthdays around the same time as her so they asked for them too!

Gold, green, blue

Orange, red, pink

I think they really liked them! I have a ton of tulle left and a ton of elastic left so if anyone wants a tutu for themselves leave a comment!