Spiraling

I was inspired by my favorite website to make this ring. It was super simple. I just bought some jewelry wire and crystal beads. I measured my finger and found an object that was the same size. I wrapped the wire around the object twice. Then it was just a matter of twisting the two wire ends around each other and adding the beads the end of the spiral. It needs to be resized somehow if I want to wear it on my thumb. Or I can make a new one. It cost about $4 for the supplies. I have made two rings and have plenty of stuff left. Thanks to Bridget and Mary who gave me gift cards for my birthday so I could buy the materials.

The Flower Power Never Stops

I love flowery hair accessories and found this tutorial on Cut Out + Keep (if you are crafty and haven't joined, join already!). It is an orchid. You could probably cut it down smaller if you wanted to make it for a little girl. I found the clip at Hobby Lobby. You can buy a bag for $3.99. This, of course, means more hair clips. Stay tuned.

Hold Me

I was burning CDs and didn't have any cases. So I grabbed some cardstock from a previous project to make CD envelopes. I didn't have a glue stick and I thought tape wouldn't look right. So I folded the cardstock over and sewed the sides. It was so fast, easy, and there was no mess and no dealing with trying to line up tape. I love my sewing machine.

I Could Do That For Cheaper...

I like good deals. I shop the 75% off rack at Target so when I see a full priced shirt I like, I hem and haw. If I just wait...but then they might not have my size...but then how much do I like it. So this time I looked at a shirt and thought, I could make that for cheaper. I set off to find a super baggy shirt. I couldn't find a striped one so I had to paint the stripes myself later. I think this project would have been perfect if I could have found a striped shirt as cheap but I still like the finished project. The actual top was longer and had rosettes instead of ruffles but that picture is kind of close. It ended up costing $4.99 for the shirt and $1.60 for the paint. I definitely made it for cheaper! I think it is better, too, because the one at Target looked awful clingy. It was a complete Melissa creation and there is no "How To" because I made it using the trial by fire method. Ahhhh...what can't you do with a run of the mill T-shirt?

Lovely and Lacy

I love armwarmers. But finding dressier ones, not so easy. Plus, they are rather easy to make. I had pieces leftover from that stretchy lace dress. So I made these. They are insanely easy. The How To is here (it hasn't published yet so give it time). Probably won't break them out until Spring/Summer but I like to be ready.

I'm Melting!

I found this on CO+K. It costs nothing to buy a bag of pony beads so I decided to try it. I won't lie. It smells funny while you make it but not too bad. What they don't tell you is that you will need to smash it down with a small spatula and also it took me longer than 10 minutes. The picture doesn't quite capture the colors but they turned out pretty cool. I am going to make these to cover my arms hahaha. Or make them until I run out of beads. These are super easy so if you aren't generally the crafty type, this is easy and cheap.

Happy Hearts

OK, I know I am getting a little crazy with the Valentine's Day crap but I just can't resist it. And I am madly in love with these foam, glitter hearts. Who knew that $2 worth of shiny stickers could make me happy? Oh wait, I did. Anywho, this is simple and anyone can do it (should you actually want to). You just need glittery, foam hearts (which can be found at most craft stores), needle nose pliers, jump rings, something sharp and pointy, and some ribbon. Mine are technically stickers but cutting around the plastic seems to work. Get the sharp, pointy object (I used a super small screwdriver) and poke a hole through the top of the heart. Get a jump ring, thread it through the hole, and close the ring. Cut ribbon as long as you want each heart to hang. Thread ribbon through the jump ring (you have three necklaces). All you have to do is tie each one on at the length you want. The beauty of the ribbon is you can change your mind, take it out, and start over. And then get some sleep. For real, I have not been to bed.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ever since I bought that eyeshadow palette I love playing around with eye makeup. A makeup artist I am not but when have I ever cared about style and playing by the rules? I love Holidays because they give me the chance to be extra corny and make all sorts of things. This is very easy. I started by painting my lid and inner corner with white cream shadow (I find it makes a good base). Then I painted over the lid with light pink. I painted the crease a darker a pink. Then I took lip liner (I didn't have red eyeliner) and drew heart. I only did it on one eye because I thought two would be too much. So if you are feeling particularly festive on Valentine's Day, try this out. Or don't because most of you are probably not enough like me to do such a thing!

Everything Is Rosey

I had found a T-Shirt on the 75% rack at Target but it was just screaming for some sort of decoration. It is very thin and doesn't really lend itself to structural changes so I painted it. I was reluctant. My memory of painting shirts were with puffy paint. Not really what I wanted. I found some softer paint that went on like real paint and dries flat. I made my own stencil with a folder. I painted over the stencil but then it look too stencil-y so I blended purple into the edges. I did some more shading in between petals. I also did paint splatters by watering down the colors. I am very happy. I turned out exactly how I imagined. And it doesn't look like some puff paint T-shirt I made when I was 8 :-P

I Wear My Heart on My...Head?

One of the posts from Cut Out + Keep was a glitter heart glued to a headband. Simple but wonderful because it combines head accessories with glitter and hearts. I couldn't find a good headband so I took an idea from my new Transform a T book. It just involves braiding three T-shirt scraps, wrapping around the head twice, holding it tight and then fastening together. Pretty simple. It is probably supposed to be a Valentine's Day thing but you will probably see it more than that because I think hearts can be a year round thing and I am a little like Liz Lemon. Astrid was not a fond of it. At least not fond of it on her.

Scrappy

I have a lot of T-shirt scraps. I had a lot of fabric from the grey shirt used for the legwarmers. So I decided to give this a try. It is odd but I rather like it. It is definitely not a Winter thing but come Spring I will test it out. I dyed with leftover hair dye (it didn't take much). The internet doesn't recommend it. My feeling is, if it will stain my clothing by accident, why can't it stain my clothing on purpose? I think the argument is that it won't stand up to a wash (really?) but this is more of a hand wash thing. I put a little of each color in a bowl with water and dunked the whole scarf in and pulled it out. Some of the scarf had darker spots of red or purple but mostly it was sort of a color wash (which I wanted). I dipped some of it in purple dye without water to get some dark spots. I let it dry and then I rinsed it with cold water until the water came out pretty much dye free. This scarf is so long that if I fold it in half it is still a good deal longer than I. I would estimate that it is at least 6' long so I had to wrap it a bunch of times, which I think looks cool.

To Go

I needed a new makeup bag so, of course, I made one. I used T-shirt scraps and leftover ribbon from other projects. Nothing better than green and free! It was loosely based off this. But it was in metric and my tools are only in British so I ended up venturing on my own. I was then inspired by a T-shirt silverware caddy from my new book. So, I now have a T-shirt makeup caddy. I went the lazy route and left the edges raw. We could say it was for character but it was mostly for impatience. It does have character so it all works out. There are no real directions here. Sew two large T-shirt rectangles together. Fold one end over about the depth you want and mark the fold. Sew in a rectangle for your mascara and longer narrow items. Then fold back over and sew big pocket down the sides. Add ribbon or something for decor. Then glue or sew down some ribbon on back (mine was actually T-shirt scrap) leaving ends long enough on either side to tie around the front to close the bag. That's it. It's easy. Just eyeball it.

Saving Face

Do you have shirts with killer graphics but are too old, too tight, have pit stains, etc? Well, there is a simple solution. Get another shirt that is plain, fits well, is in decent shape, etc. Take the old shirt and cut out the graphics in the shape you think would look best when applied to a new shirt. Place the graphics on the new shirt and use fusible tape to hold the graphics on the shirt. It will keep the graphics flat and make sewing easier and you won't have to use pins. If you are using a sewing machine, I recommend the zigzag stitch because it was easier to follow the contours if your shape is irregular and it takes care of the raw edge. For those of you without sewing machines you can use hand sewing. Check out this website for a guide to stitches. I recommend the whip stitch but the decorative ones could be cool, too, if you are up for it. If you do this, post pics somewhere!

More Flower Power

I bought lots of flowers at A.C.Moore because they were only $1.99 a bunch and I like flowers. I of course always have tons ribbon. So I made this project. I am really loving over the top headbands these days.

Flip Flop Season Already?

I wear flip flops pretty early but not this early. But there's no reason I can't start preparing. I love ribbon and flowers and had just bought some. I had some flip flops from last Summer. There was no escaping for the flip flops - it was makeover time. All it involved was some hot glue gunning. My flowers are huge. You can barely see my toes! But I love bright and crazy things, so it works. The easy directions are located here. (The project is awaiting publication so it may take time to come up.)

A Taste of South Africa

As always, I was inspired by a recipe on Cut Out + Keep. It is a South African dish called Melkkos, translated means milk food. It is a very simple dish but addictive once you try it. At least I think it is. You want to eat it hot but if you don't eat it all right after you made it just refrigerate and heat up in the microwave. It is usually eaten for dinner but can be eaten as breakfast, lunch, or a simple dessert. I am going to post the recipe here because it needed to be Americanized:

Ingredients:
Half gallon of milk (whatever type you prefer. I used skim)
1 1/4 cup of bread flour
1 teaspoon of salt
cinnamon and sugar for topping

In a large pot slowly heat milk to boiling point. Don't leave attended and make sure it doesn't burn. Once it has heated up pour flour and salt in all at once. Beat with whisk or mixer until small lumps form. Cook over low heat for 25 minutes stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn. Serve it up in cereal bowls and put cinnamon and sugar on top to your liking. It is sort of a lumpy pudding. It sounds weird but it tastes great especially with the cinnamon and sugar on top.

Master Of Disguises

Cut Out + Keep was the best discovery for a crazy DIY person. I think this project is possibly the best so far. For about $15 in supplies I made this magical dress. If you have a sewing machine and you can sew straight (or, in my case, straight-ish) lines, you can do this. Just make sure to get lots and lots ribbon. If you follow the link, you will see how to use different styles but it is also easy to create your own. You can't change the look of this dress in front of people unless you want to give them a good look at your boobs (although maybe this would be a good plan at a Christmas party. Boobs sell). I am thinking about changing it in the stall when I go to the bathroom just to confuse people. So grab a sewing machine and get to it. My material was only $3.99/yard. I bought 2.5 yards because I am a Rubenesque woman. Two yards would probably do for you smaller peeps. I bought a spool of ribbon that was 7 yards long and used most of it. It was just your standard grossgrain ribbon for ~$4. I used 7/8" width. I think that is the perfect width. The directions have you use the basting stitch at the top but I found that unnecessary. Just measure 6 inches from the top, mark it with a sewing pin and stop sewing when you reach the pin. That's easy enough and no thread to pull out. If you make one, post pictures somewhere so I can see it!

Weather in The '80s

I needed a project and I had a baggy long sleeve shirt that needed to be turned into a project. The top ended up being way too large and low cut to turn into a new form of clothing. The sleeves were too big for arm warmers. Later on I saw a pair of legwarmers that I loved and I decided to see if the sleeves would fit over my legs. The did. Perfectly. I also had a long sleeved lace dress that had already been hacked apart but the sleeves had remained intact. And I still had some of that black ribbon (it is finally gone!). I know - they're legwarmers. But I love them. These are thinner so they tuck into my boots nicely, which was one of the things I wanted them for. For a random, "what can I make with what I have in the house" project, I am pretty happy with this one.

The Glass Is Half Full...Of Headbands

I am sick of hiding my headbands in the linen closet. I want them to be out where I can see them but I don't have much counter space or medicine cabinet space. Also, we have this glass that has been sitting in the kitchen since we moved in. These problems are related. I took that glass, filled it halfway with glass pebbles, glued some ribbon around the top, and, voila!, a headband holder that fits on the the bathroom counter.

Wintery Mix

I bought a 48 color eyeshadow palette and now I love to play with new looks. I did this in honor of Winter. The tutorial is here.

Violet's Kitty

I finally finished a project for Nicole's daughter, Violet. I found the softest baby yarn and had to come up with some way to use it. I found this tutorial. I didn't do the best embroidery job but I am sure Violet does not care. She apparently likes it and won't let anyone else see it.

Mess of Tulle Headband

I love my purple hair but it needs to be updated constantly. So when I am too lazy to update it or I don't have enough dye or I don't have things like gloves, I like to wear crazy headbands to distract. I was also feeling lazy when I made this and this was easy but turned out really fun. All you have to do (and what comes next is not impossible) is get a headband, wrap ribbon around it (if it is not already the color you like) and just tie a bunch of tulle around it knotting it twice. I put them close together and overlapped the last two. No glue needed for the last step. It's simple and you can always add to make it fluffier or take away to make it less crazy :-P My headband was wide, I think a more narrow one will give you a more vertical one, so to speak. If pieces are too long just trim them.