Heartsy Sale

In an effort to move old items and generate new revenue, I am having a sale through heartsy.com. It is a site kind of like groupon but for etsy shops. Tomorrow, Tuesday July 27th you'll be able to purchase a coupon for the following deal: $9 for $21 of merchandise and shipping for my etsy shop. So please stop by, the coupons are limited and they are good into December. Within the next month or so I am going to have some super cute fall stuff up too. So if you have been lurking around wanting a pillow, now is the time.
You will be able to find my sale through the heartsy main page but I think you will have to register first. Check out my shop here.

Refashion: Blue Naomi Shirt

This shirt I found at a thrift store awhile ago and I initially took it in a little and wore it a few times but something still wasn't right about it. So it sat in my closet unworn, taking up space. And then it sat in my "to-do" list pile.
Sometimes it just takes putting on whatever piece of clothing you are contemplating and taking a long hard look in the mirror. What was wrong with this? Well the sleeves are too long, its still too loose and the hem is too long. Ah my trifecta! Isn't the pattern cute? I just love the circles and dots and the blue is really pretty. I am sure this was some old lady shirt but I don't care. So know it fits and it is back in the closet. Oh and excuse my freakish hair. I made the mistake of going outside in this wet Georgia heat to drop off the rent check. Yikes.

Scrap Challenge: Felt Coasters

The Scrap Challenge continues with some wool felt coasters. I have never felt the need to use a coaster as much as I have here in Georgia. Ice cold drinks + heat = water rings. And now since we have a couple of pieces of furniture I care about, its coaster time.
Perusing around the internet, I couldn't find anything I really loved so I came up with these on my own. I ended up deciding on felt and I had envisioned a kind of retro striped pattern. The grey felt is leftover from Henry's halloween costume last year and the colors were in my scrap box.
Each square is two pieces of grey felt cut to 3 1/2 inches square. The stripes are in 1/2 inch widths and then I trimmed them as I needed them to fit into the design. All the strips were heat n bonded into place and then I tried to decide if it would be worth my time to sew them on too. I sewed a couple but also didn't sew a couple. Did I quit sewing because I was lazy? You betcha. But I think they still look great. We'll see how long they hold up. Easy as pie. And they are seriously saving my table.
My favorite one is the bottom right, red and orange. It wasn't my favorite when I put them together but it is the one I keep being drawn too when I'm looking for a coaster. The different colors also help me keep track of which drink is mine around the house.

Refashion: Two White-ish Items

I cannot believe I am going to show you this before picture because it is not flattering and I usually try to only put by best foot forward. Ugh. No one should wear all light colors. Especially me. I look so covered up. So here is the outfit we're going to refashion today. Both of these items were already in my closet. So they were free. The pants were simple. I cut then off and made them into shorts. See how to do it here.
Ta da! They are much better. So the shorts are a little tight and need to be worn with a more flowy top, if you know what I mean. So the after picture is with another refashion and I think they look great.

Now for the shirt. My first thought was "Let's dye it." I looked in my closet and decided I needed something yellow. So I dyed the shirt yellow and it was a huge mistake. I mean not like epic but it did not work. It turned out very McDonald's worker in the 90's. Boo. So I got a little stuck. This often happens so I turned to the internet and I searched pinterest for button up redo inspiration. I cut off the collar and created a scoop neck. Cut the sleeves off and turned them into a pleated ruffle and then dyed everything green.
This shirt was a lot more work than I had anticipated. Sometimes the refashion is so simple that I can sit down and everything works out like planned. But sometimes things don't go as planned and I hit a major creative road block. I think I worked on this for like three days and just couldn't get it to work.
Luckily it all came out in the end. And if it hadn't, who cares. It was a shirt I never wore anyway.

Reasons Why Today Was Better Than I Thought It Was Going To Be

I'm not saying today was a bad day but it just felt very blah. So in an effort to raise my spirits I am making this list.

1. Steve and I went to QuikTrip for the first time since living in Georgia. One thing for sure is that the west coast really knows how to do convenience stores. The east coast, not so much. I guess west coasters just love their plastic fountain cups and refilling them. When I found out they have QuikTrips here, I freaked out. Okay overstatement. But I was happy. QT has the best ice, crushed, pellet, rabbit poop-however you name it, it is the BEST. They also have these spill proof super lids. Genius. Whenever Steve and I would go to QT in Arizona I would put a couple of extra lids in my purse to bring back to Utah. Is it sad that a 32 oz fountain Diet Coke can and will dramatically lift my mood?

2. Henry now knocks on doors. Even if he sees a door in a book, he will knock on it.

3. We had leftover meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner. I love not having to cook but having home cooked meals.

4. I figured out that I had been threading my serger incorrectly for about a year. For some reason I was missing this one hook on my bottom red looper and the tensions would never work for me. Duh. I felt both idiotic and happy to learn my mistake. Now it works perfectly and I will be a lot less stressed out while sewing. And I will swear less which is always a good thing.

5. We saw Harry Potter on Friday-technically not something that happened today but still noteworthy. It was awesome. My goodness they did a good job. I was nervous because I hated the sixth movie and the seventh was kind of slow. All I can say is good job.

6. I had to buy a new phone. Henry's sippy cup of milk leaked out in my purse and ruined it plus made a huge mess at Jason's Deli. This sucked but the good news is now StraightTalk's cheapest model has a camera. A year ago they didn't come with cameras, so that is a good thing.

7. I made 15 pillows covers because of my excitement over #4, including three new fall designs.

8. We watched So You Think You Can Dance and I loved Jesse Tyler Ferguson as a guest judge. He is hysterical and adorable.

9. And now I am going to go pluck my eyebrows. Its time to face my laziness head on.

And that is it for now. Check back tomorrow for a double refashion!

Project Runway Season 9: Christensen Style

I have been waiting for these videos to get online for weeks so I could blog about how happy and proud I am of my friend from high school. Josh Christensen is going to be on Project Runway. That means nothing to most of you but it means the world to me and I am thrilled for him. Hooray!

I am so proud of him. Seriously I teared up when he got the news he'd be on the show. I hope he does well and they don't edit him to be different than he is. So excited.And this is the only picture I could find of us. I don't remember what this was for but those are my trek bloomers and skirt and that is my 70's dress on Josh and afro wig on Josh's brother.

Find the videos here

Good News with Cameras

So this week I was able to find someone in the area who could and would fix my camera for a small fee. When you're thinking of replacement as your only option, $127 is a great price to pay. And I am getting it back this week! Hooray for odd men who fix cameras out of their homes! I was worried I'd have to ship it somewhere and it would be tied up for weeks.

But for now I have some videos since I just uploaded them to the computer. The first is Henry looking at himself in the mirror and babbling, at the end he gives a characteristic scream. And that mirror was only there for a day or two and the hazard has been removed.

The second is Henry screaming into a cardboard fabric tube. This is something I am proud to say I taught him. Wisdom is being instilled folks.

Have a good one. I am off to scrapbook and watch Grey's Anatomy on netflix.

Refashion: White Dotted Ruffled Shirt

While preparing to take this "before" shot, I seriously was trying to not have Steve see me. I just knew he was going to make fun of this shirt. I tried to sneak into my usual photo spot and set up while he was playing in Henry's room. No such luck. He gave me a dubious look with a mocking smirk. "Nice shirt." So I caved and asked him to take the before shot. He continued to poke fun with "it looks a little Emma Smith." Little did he know what lay ahead.Okay so the sleeves with the ruffled cuffs are a little school marm meets pioneer but I loved the print and the ruffled front and THIS SHIRT WAS FREE. Now, I am not saying you should wear something just because it is free. If they were handing out sweatsuits for free I wouldn't wear one out of the house. But this had potential and for zero dollars. For those in Athens, the ReStore often has a free pile outside, FYI.

You might think it doesn't fit because of the front button area. Well it does they just didn't put a button there but that is an easy fix. So I chopped the sleeves off, ruffled cuff and all. Took a button from the sleeve and added it to the front.
Look at that sweet print. They just don't make them like that anymore.
And that is pretty much it. I have to say this is one of my favorite refashions in awhile. Paired with one of my best thrift store finds pleated skirt, Guess red heels and we're ready to go. Seriously though, I think the easiest refashion is to just cut the sleeves off. What were they thinking? I just kept coming back to a Tim Gunn-ism "That's a whole lot of look." Word.

Harry Potter Party!

The final Harry Potter movie is coming out this week. Its the conclusion of years of suspense, excitement and staying up late to buy the books and see the films. No, we're not going to the midnight showing but we are going to see it Friday morning. So in honor of this event we decided to throw a little party. I have to admit I got a little carried away but my creativity went wild to amazing result. I had so much fun doing this that for a brief second I thought a career change was in order.

First the invitations. The invitation really sets the whole feel of the evening. Obviously we were going all out nerdy. I found a Hogwarts Crest online and this Harry inspired font. I printed them on the closest paper in color to parchment I could find in my stash and colored the crests in with colored pencil.
The wording is as follows:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where we will be having a movie screening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, activities and refreshments.

Festivities begin July 9th 2011 at the stroke of 6:30pm

Take the Hogwarts Express to (your address). We await your owl post response by no later than July 7th. If you have trouble acquiring an owl, you may respond by Muggle telephone at XXX or Muggle email at XXX

Sincerely, Steve and Beckie Clark, HeadMaster and Deputy Headmistress

Wizard or Muggle (non-wizard) attire are appropriate.
Under aged wizards are invited to attend

And you know every letter in the wizarding world comes complete with wax seal. So I melted red crayon on the outside. Do a practice first! and also glue the letter shut too. Since this was purely ornamental I thought crayon was sufficient but you can actually buy the melting wax and stamps online. I'm cheap so this worked for me and was free.

So once the guest list was firm, they would need to be sorted into houses. I made sure to invite those who love Harry Potter so that my nerdiness would be enjoyed. So I made a Sorting Hat out of brown kraft paper and then some house pins. Everyone would pull a pin out of an old jewelry bag to be sorted into their school house: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin.

The pins were made from a cereal box and scraps of paper left over from the house banners. Each lists the merits of the original founders.
A Slytherin demonstrates Ambition, Cunning, Leadership, Resourcefulness and Pure Wizard Blood.
A Hufflepuff demonstrates Hard Work, Tolerance, Loyalty and Fair Play.
A Ravenclaw demonstrates Intelligence, Creativity, Learning and Wit.
A Gryffindor demonstrates Courage, Loyalty, Nerve and Chivalry.

Pictures of the actual sorting will come later as we used someone elses camera.
Each house had a banner hanging in the "Great Hall" and competed for the House Cup by answering quiz questions throughout the night. Slytherin won.

Since Hogwarts is a school there would need to be both magical textbooks and potion making supplies. I covered a stack of books with kraft paper and wrote in the book list from Harry's acceptance letter to Hogwarts in book one. We had The Standard Book of Spells (grade 1), Magical Drafts and Potions, A History of Magic and Magical Theory all mixed in with Harry Potter books.
For our potions I filled all my glass jars and vases with common found kitchen items and nature turned wizard stuff.

Felix Felicis: Maple Syrup with a little water
Bezoars: rocks
Mandrake Root: stick or you could use fresh ginger root but they were out when I looked
Polyjuice Potion:the juices drained from canned black beans and diced tomatoes I used to make salsa. Gross, I know.
Dragon Liver: Dryer lint in red food colored water
Dream Fluid: Purple food colored water with tea leaves, or leaves from a bush outside
Gillyweed: Weeds in green water
Veritaserum: Water with a couple drops of Worcestershire sauce
Gringotts Gold: jewelry
Overall, I think the effect turned out really nice and it was all free. I free handed labels which I made a little too big so they hid the contents of the jars. The food spread turned out to be a lot of fun, researching the names of things and trying to imagine what a Cauldron Cake tasted like. In the end, I just figured out what I wanted to make and then named them after wizard treats.
Weasley's Skivving Snackboxes (caramel) Each one was wrapped with a label: Fainting Fancies, Fever Fudge, Nosebleed Nougat and Puking Pastilles.
We had HoneyDuke's Chocolate Covered Golden Snitches (peanut butter balls/buckeyes)
Cauldron Cakes: chocolate cake with ganache made in mini bundt pans
Pixie Puffs: Strawberry Jello popcorn balls

We also had Bat's Eye Salsa (not pictured): black bean, corn and tomato salsa with chips. To drink we had Butterbeer which was disgusting but I reread the recipe and it turns out I made it wrong. We also had Professor Trelawney's Fortune Elixir. This was an idea I am sad to say I didn't come up with but loved. You put a drop of food coloring in the bottom of a cup, let dry (it takes about 36 hours) and then place ice on top, hiding the coloring. Once the elixir (lemonade) is poured in, the liquid turned the color. We had each guest choose their cup and then read the corresponding fortune.

Professor Trelawny’s Fortune Elixir

Just pour the elixir into a glass of your choice and see what the future holds for you.

Red: After graduating from Hogwarts you become an Auror, marry your school sweetheart and have three children whom you give the names James, Albus and Lilly.

Green: On vacation to Godric’s Hollow, you encounter a Hippogriff. You forget how to approach him and he bites off your hand.

Blue: You meet an attractive person who invites you to dinner. After a drink or two of butterbeer, you find yourself madly in love with them. The next day you wake up married to an obese dwarf who drugged you with a love potion.

Black: Avada Kedavra! Be on the lookout for an ominous death.

Sadly, no one got black! I was kind of bummed although I am glad that all my friends will live a bit longer. After loading up our plates, we watched the movie and then talked late into the night. It was a great reminder how much fun throwing parties is. Not only because now my house is clean and I have yummy leftovers to eat and I love getting so creative but because an evening with friends can be the best entertainment. We will be having more parties in the future, just maybe not so elaborate.

I found inspiration, ideas and such here and here.

Scrap Challenge: Number Bean Bags

So to continue the Scrap Challenge I thought making bean bags for Henry was another good option. I remember playing with bean bags my mom made for us, I remember the smell of the dried beans through the fabric very clearly. I did numbers since it could be a great counting/ learning thing for the future. Now he just picks it up, examines it and then throws it on the ground with a scream while making sure you are watching. Maybe one day, he'll scream the number as he throws it.

So to start, gather your supplies. I made 10 (1-10) and they are 5" square. So I cut 20 squares of fabric 5 1/2" for the seam allowance. The fronts are patterned cottons from my scrap bins, the backs are 3 pant legs from refashion cutoffs-denim and blueish white chino. I also used wool felt for the numbers and dots and lined each bag with a layer of white sheeting to make them more durable. For the filling I used split peas, 1/2 lb per bean bag.
I then spent way too long choosing my font for the letters after some meager attempts at free handing them. I ended up using Casual, a free font from dafont.com. I love this website especially for digital scrapbooking. I printed out the numbers in size 225.
Cut out your numbers and dots from the felt and use heat n bond to adhere them to your fabric. Then sew around each piece with your machine. This bit is time consuming but will ensure your bags last. Don't use no sew bond because it doesn't last forever and if you try and sew it the glue with gum up your needle, break your threads and lead to a slightly dramatic episode where you will almost give up in frustration as you vow to your husband you will never craft again. (No, this did not happen to me this time but I would be lying if I said it had never happened to me in the past.)
I then serged my bags together leaving a small hole to turn them right side out. You don't have to serge them, sewing on the regular machine will be fine. Turn them right side out and then fill with peas. A large funnel works great. I measured mine by weight because I was not good at eyeballing half a bag of peas. Sew the edge closed with your machine and repeat for all 10. I filled and sewed each bag individually because I didn't want peas spilling everywhere while I sewed.
Henry does like them but would not pose with them. I think he is getting wise to all my crafty toy picture taking. So this is the only usable shot I got. Him twirling with his blanket while the bean bags lay on the ground untouched.

Random Thoughts: July

So I am up at 4:00 am. Well not me, Henry. I get up since Steve has 8:00 class. Its an unspoken little deal we have for the summer. So why not a blog of my thoughts these days.

-My camera is broken. Well it is being temperamental. I keep getting an Err 99 and have called customer support and everything. Alas, it works sporadically at best. It might be time to replace it. So be grateful that I pre-made about 10 refashions and have a cute bean bag tutorial coming up tomorrow because we are going to be pretty meager on the pics around here.

-Speaking of refashions, I cheat a little. Since I know this is going to be a weekly thing, I make all of my blogs at once. Literally I sit down and do about 5 in one evening, schedule them to post and then sit back and relax. You didn't really think I got up and blogged at 6:00 am, did you?

-We had a quiet 4th of July. The sad thing is there weren't any fireworks in Athens so for the first time in years I didn't see any fireworks. The good thing was we went to a BBQ with friends and Henry found a new love: a pink bubble lawnmower.

-Henry now has half of his two front teeth. Not one whole tooth but two half teeth.

-I am loving this season of So You Think You Can Dance.

-I have a big secret about Project Runway Season 9. I can't tell you what it is but just saying that was enough. No, I am not on Season 9 but someone else is! I can't wait for July 28th!

-My etsy shop has been rocking lately. Relisting consistently really works.

-I bought myself these sandals. Not really spending any money on clothes I justified a new pair of shoes.

And Henry is back to sleep so I will leave it there. Stay Tuned tomorrow for Scrap Challenge:bean bags and then Monday for an awesome little something I have been working on all week.

Refashion: Black and White Check

Another shirt from the thrift store trip that started it all.

Things this shirt had going for it:
1. Love the pattern and color
2. $2
3. Pintucked chest and blouse-y style

Things not going for it:
1. Huge, long

I actually liked the sleeve length but not for the summer. So I applied my standard trifecta. Shorted the hem, take it in about 5 inches on each side and shorten the sleeve. There we go. Done and done.

Scrap Challenge: Banner

Its the last day of the scrap challenge, sad. Just kidding. I will still keep it up until my stash is heavily depleted. Maybe even a weekly feature like refashion Tuesday. So I know that banners, bunting and the like have been done. Its nothing new but I still wanted one in Henry's room to brighten the space. I love him being surrounded by lots of bright colors and patterns. Plus I like being surrounded by those things and its my call. I'm the mom.
Anyway, here are a couple of tips when making a banner.
-gather your materials and cut lots of different sizes and shapes. This time I did both triangles and rectangles. I have also seen half circles that looked way cute.
-cut out everything and then iron it
-arrange your pieces in your desired pattern before you begin sewing. Why? because then you don't end up with all the same fabrics at the end of your banner.-I have made banners by serging along the top and creating a chain, I have also done it that way with a sewing machine. But my favorite is to use bias tape. You can either make your own or buy prepackaged from the notions section of any craft store. I think it makes it look way more crisp. For mine I used 2 packages of 3 yd bias tape and then one section of leftover homemade bias tape, all stuff I had on hand.-Think about your space. I made 3 smaller banners so they could all hang face front. If you have long banners you might have parts facing the back. Hopefully that makes sense. -One thing too, now that you have your banner made, how fast would it be to cut out a few letters from the cricut and pin on for birthdays and parties. That way you don't have to make special birthday banners you only use once a year.

Henry likes the banners and insisted on being in one of the shots. Oh and this shot is to show how I rearranged Henry's room. I moved the crib to the middle of the room under the ceiling fan and then we put his tunnel in the corner. So he has a whole little play area which is nice for containing toys and looking very cheerful and fun.

So hopefully this week has inspired you to do something with your crafty supplies. If you do something, let me know. I would love to see it. Happy Weekend! Happy Crafting!