Time To Get Crafty!!

Apparently I took the summer off!!  :)  Managed to do a few crafty things here & there, but just didn't have time to post them!!  (Keeping up 4 blogs can be time consuming!!  ;)  Well, I'm back & no time like the present to get crafty!!  I've worked on a few projects lately, so I'm gonna show off what I've done!!  :)

 Curtains for Madelyn:

I made these a while ago, but just realized that I haven't posted them!!  :)  These pink curtains have served us well!! We have re-fashioned them about 3-4 times now!!  (You can see them in their previous styles over HERE!)  However, this will probably be the last re-do!! ;) I made 3 simple panels, with about a 2" curtain rod slot at the top.  I made a simple ruffled skirt (gathered the top & sewed it to the bottom of the panel) for each panel.  For the pink panels, I sewed a simple strip of zebra fabric across the center.  I made 2 fabric flowers for each panel, alternating prints. 

For the flowers:  I'm so mad that I didn't take pictures while I was making them!!  :(  However - they were super easy!!  I took a strip of fabric (width & length depends on how big you want them), gathered the top, then just spiraled the fabric to form the "flower"!!  Once I got it how I wanted it, I hot glued it in place.  On top of the flower, I made & attached a smaller flower (shown HERE) & then topped it off with a little bling!! ;)

Iron-Ons:
I just love Iron-Ons!!  They are a super easy, and relatively cheap way to re-do a shirt!!  :)  Here are a few that I've done:

 

Cute little onsies & cute big girl shirts!!  :)  These iron-ons came with some jewels that you could add on & they looked great when I was finished!!  However. . . after a wash or two - most of the jewels that were attached to the iron-on, came off!!  :(  The ones that were directly ironed on to the shirt managed to stay.  Wish I had known in advance!!!  :(

Bleach Pen:
Bleach pens are one of the greatest inventions!!  Not only can you get rid of stains easily, but you can create great shirts!!  ;)

I started with this plain shirt.  Kind of a coral color, but didn't match any of Madelyn's shorts (other than denim) & had never been worn. So, I had an idea & went with it!! ;)  Took my bleach pen & a ruler and made stripes down the front of the shirt. I let the bleach sit for about 20 minutes & then washed & dried the shirt.

 






 



While it was washing, I found a white tank top & cut three strips (even though there are only 2 showing!)  ;)  I turned those strips into flowers (like THESE).  I took a needle & thread & sewed each flower together, so that all the layers would stay intact!



 To add a little extra to the flowers, I took some tiny beads & sewed them on by hand!  It was super simple!!  I just added 5 beads to the needle, made a tiny stitch in the flower, then added 5 more beads & kept up that pattern, going in a spiral!










When the shirt was dry, I sewed the flowers on & ta-da!!!  A new shirt!!  :)

Madelyn loved it & said she got lots of compliments at school!!!  :)

TWO Months = TOO Long!!!!

Yes, it has been 2 months since I last updated - been a little busy around here!!!  Haven't had a ton of time to be crafty, but I've tried to sneak in a few projects lately!!!  :)  Here's a quick project I managed to finish recently:

* Chair Make-over:
Madelyn has a (kinda cheesy) black chair in her room, so I thought I'd jazz it up a bit!  I saw this fuzzy pink zebra fleece at Hobby Lobby & had to have it!!  It was a remnant, so I think I only paid about $2 for it!  Here's what I did:
- Unscrewed the seat & back from the chair frame.

 










- Peeled off plastic piece from the back of each cushion.
- Laid each piece face-down on the wrong side of the fleece.
- Hot glued (could have used a staple gun, but for some reason, couldn't find mine!!) fabric around the back of each piece (back of chair & seat), pulling tightly as I glued, and trimming excess.

 
















- Snapped plastic pieces back on (a little tricky).
- Screwed pieces back onto frame.   - - Viola - a new cute chair for Madelyn!!!  :)












I've started a few other projects, so hopefully I can finish them soon & get them on the blog!!

Finished Wall Art - FINALLY!!

Ok, so I FINALLY got around to finishing my wall art!! I needed a big piece of wood to make the top piece, and finally realized I could use something I already had!! I had a piece of wood that had 3 peg-hooks - - - didn't need the hooks, so I just sawed them off!! :) Added a coat of paint & then repeated the same lettering process as I did in step 1 & hung them all up!!! I made some cute Contact Paper flowers with the Cricut to fill in the emptiness around the words. No, the words on the top board didn't get centered perfectly, but all-in-all, I'm quite happy with it!! :) (Not exactly the "shabby" PB look, but still cute!!) ;)

I think the Contact flowers added a lot!!!

Shower CURTAINS

I found 2 pink fabric shower curtains, on clearance of course, and turned them into bedroom curtains!! In my daughter's first room, we used them separately as panels. They had silver grommets on them & I just tied them to the curtain rod, using ribbon! Then I added a few accessories, (pom-pom garland & XL diamond rings), and ta-da. . . . .curtains!! :)

Not the best picture, but you can get the idea!! ;)

When we moved, (and since I'm always changing things), I sewed the panels together - just a simple stitch down the center - and cut off & hemmed the bottom half, making a valance! I added a little more ribbon, but kept the other accessories!
2 different styles, only paid about $3 for each curtain, spent a little on ribbon & used some I had!! Super cheap & easy!!

Pirate Art

Since my boys have a "Pirate" bedroom, I wanted a treasure map for their room. Well, after looking everywhere & online, the only ones I could find were way too pricey for me! So, I decided to make my own!! :)

First, you need brown Kraft paper, (found in the mailing section @ Target/Wal-Mart - only a few dollars a roll!!) Tear off a large piece & then tear the edges. Take the whole piece & crumple it up - that's the fun part!! :) Smooth it out & add your design! I just drew a map, free-hand, with pencil, then painted it using craft paint.
After the map was dried, I used a brown ink pad to distress the edges & then lightly went over the entire map.

It's not as fancy as the ones I saw online, but I thought it turned out cute!! ;)

Lovin The Cricut!!

I know that the Cricut has been out for a long time, and there are even bigger & fancier Cricuts than the one I have (well, I should say, that my mom has, since I'm using hers!!) - however... I just love it!! I just wanted to show you my spin on the whole vinyl lettering craze!! I've never priced it, so I have no clue how much it can run, but I guarantee that my way is cheaper!! ;) It's all about Contact paper!! You can do just about anything with it & it's pretty cheap! I have a big roll of black Contact paper that was given to me, and I'm thinking that it was purchased at Teaching Tools or Lakeshore (or some other teacher supply store)! I also purchased a roll of white from Target & spent around $4. Here are a few things I've done with the Cricut & Contact paper:

Made my own "vinyl lettering" in the kids' rooms! I made a sword stencil, freehand, and then cut 2 out of Contact paper!! The crowns were from a Cricut cartridge! I have little jewels on the crowns, but they're too small, so I'm going to replace them with ones you can actually see!! :) (And there will be more stuff added to the top of her plant shelf!) ;)