Week 15 Project

I watch a lot of YouTube videos. A Lot. Most of what I know is from the internet or TV.
I bragged on Facebook awhile back that I could hem a pair of jeans, without actually knowing that I could, you know, 'cause I saw it on YouTube.

Sooo, my first attempt was on my cousin/roommate Lia's jeans.

I folded them to what will hopefully be the correct length. We measured, but then I remembered that I needed to pre-wash them. When I got the energy to actually do the hemming in the middle of the night and I didn't want to wake her.... Fingers crossed.

I watched one video that showed that hammering the inseam will help it flatten out so that its easier for the machine to whiz over. I figured that it couldn't hurt. Sure, anyone driving past my porch at 2:00am seeing me hammer jeans, while wearing my pjs might wonder, but my question to them is where are you going at 2:00am on a Sunday night? Never mind, I don't wanna know.






 The seam before and after.

 I stitched right along the inside of the old hem. I'm pretty sure this is called a Euro hem. See, you can't even see my stitch. At the end of the process, the old hem will still be at the bottom of the pant and the new stitch will essentially be hidden. I like that the original, usually gold colored, thread is still at the bottom of the jeans.

Hem Lia's Jeans. Done.

Week 14 Project

    Mario was not very happy the last time I saw him. I had made this shirt for his sister Maria and failed to think of him. He told me "I don't like you very much right now" I would have been heart broken except every kid I hang out with at a certain age doesn't "like me very much" and then they the get over it and go back to thinking I'm awesome. However, I did feel a little guilty for leaving him out. M&M are like two peas in a pod... leaving one of them out does deeply affect the other.
 

This was his "model face"

  

       Mario loves to emulate his dad, Jon, in anyway he can. His dad fishes and so Mario loves to fish. Jon's a handsome enough guy, but as far as I know he isn't a model. Mario isn't a model, but he is a ham. It was hard to get a good pic of him in the shirt I whipped up (literally took like 30mins!) But I'll share the ones we caught of him modeling in my room this Easter before they hit the road home.

Such a heart breaker

Is he throwing gang signs or rock concert symbols?

A few close ups of the shirt.

Fishin' Shirt Done!.

Week 13 Project

Note: My wonderful friend Mindy, (here is her crafty blog), made this awesome banner for my blog. Thank You Mindy!

     Not much of a story for this project. I took a dyed onsie from this post and took a hint from Kim's pics of Lilly's Ruffle Bum update. Apparently, I didn't know the effect diapers have on a baby's bum or Lilly has a great bum... probably both. I added two additional rows of ruffles (everybody now hears that little hamster in the insurance commercials say "row, row, row" right?!) to really cover the bum. I added another of my flowers, this one made from ribbon.

Teal RUFFLE Bum, Done!

Week 12 Project

     Here's the thing, I'm not a Pinterester. I know I would get addicted. Its already hard enough for me not to spend everyday on Etsy. I have too many projects started and too many projects in my head that need to be started. However, all the projects my friends are doing got me thinking...

     I've loved glass bottles since high school. We smashed some for a mixed media project and I loved it. (the smashing and the glass and the art that came of it all) In college I got a melted glass bottle cheese tray from my friends Andrea, its one of my favs. Oh, and I have a wine cork collection, one I'm not sure I'll ever do anything with except display. I am a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright. He incorporated wonderful glass pieces to complement his architectural pieces. Ok, you get the point.

Anywho, my home has a fireplace. Not a working one, but a fireplace all the same. I love them for their charm and  their ability to be a decorating accessory. I tried to have one in every house I've lived in. However, my hearth was lacking.

So, I collected some glass bottles, not all from adult beverages. Painted them different shaded of white, silver and butter cream. Added candle,s all I cut from all long tappers and turned the ends into short chunky candles.Painted the back with some glossy black paint I had left over from part of the kitchen and Voila! A hearth I can be proud of having in my home.

 Fireplace overhaul, Done!

Meg

     I removed a ton, A TON, of ivy from the front garden last summer. It took me months. One of the things I was glad to have accomplished was to save the forsythia.

     The saddest looking of the two plants was the one I transplanted close to the other "stronger" plant. I wasn't sure they would make it through the winter. Winter, what winter? We had no winter in Ohio this year. I turned the heat off at the end of February.

I took a picture of it and once I saw the photo, I realized I needed to cut them back a bit. I attempted a make one of those underwater floral arrangements I've been seeing at weddings. I liked it, but couldn't get a good pic.

     My attempt to bring nature in the house reminded me of Meg and her farm. I love it out there. She has horses and fields and an old historic farm house. She and her husband have built a lovely house that they have made into a home, the truly reflects the nature around them.(Wow, this isn't a crafty post at all)
 ...and then I remembered a post she made a while back
        Meg had taken this great photo of her different boots in the sunlight and talked about what they mean to her and the purpose they served.

 

      Well, here are my boots. Not a beautiful photo, but here they are, captured for posterity.

I'd like to say I put thought into them like Meg, but I hadn't till I read her post. I had to gather them from all around the house and took them out to my front steps. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm crazy.

I've got brown heeled boots, cowboy boots, paisley boots what was I thinking??!!?, rain boots and snow boots, hot little booties, black heeled boots, hiking boots, and black riding boots for fashion really, brown scrunchy boot with lots of buttons and my Uggs. 

      Between looking at this photo and the super spring weather we've been having, some of these boots did not make it back in the closet they came from. A few got "spring cleaned" right into the Goodwill bag.

I'm counting my floral arrangement in this supper random post as a craft, but I won't count it as a weekly post.

Week 11 Project

Return to a barter system. Lose the cash.
Everyone needs a skill. When the computers take over, I think they'll eventually mess things up and we'll end up back in charge. So, when that happens, how are you going to obtain the things you'll need? So many of us don't earn our living "making" anything tangible. Just to be prepared, start thinking about what your skill will be. I'm not here to judge. Just think. Will you make cheese? Will you be an iron smith and make horseshoes? Will you be a carpenter? Will you grow turnips? Will you raise llamas? Me? Me, I'm gonna craft stuff. Anything you want, I'll try it and make it.

I did not want to do my taxes. I've never wanted to do my taxes. My mom mentioned she was doing her taxes soon. She also mentioned she wants new curtains for the spare room. Light bulb!
I traded her curtains for tax services.

Have you ever bought fabric by the bolt? I hadn't, but we needed two bolts for this project.




I also made pillow cases for a mini lumbar pillow and a body pillow. Mom doesn't want a headboard on the bed, but thought the bed still needed something. I added some pleats to one side of the body pillow. I wanted to try it before and I generally like the asymmetrical look. 

My mom often told me that she did this or that B.C., which in our house stands for Before Children. She took cake decorating classes. I think I remember hearing about some belly dancing classes. She did a lot of quilting. The quilt on the bed was completed by her in 1980. It was all done by hand. BY HAND. She didn't use a machine. At the beginning of her teaching career she spent three summers stitching this baby. I don't have the attention span. What were we talking about?

Oh, yeah, It's an amazing quilt!

Curtains for Tax Trade. Done.

Week 10 Project

~This is Maria~

Maria is my cousin Mary's daughter. She calls me Aunt Laura. I call her my niece.

Its a lot easier than calling her my 1st cousin once removed. None of my siblings have any kids, but I've been an aunt for a while now.

At this point in her life, Maria's biggest passion is BTR. What you don't know what BTR is? Then you probably know BSB or NKOTB or Menudo, or the Beatles, or the Jackson 5, maybe even the Osmonds. If you know none of the musical groups I just mentioned, you're probably a guy since these are all boy bands. The Boy Band of the day is BTR... Big Time Rush.

A few posts ago I took a basic t-shirt and embellished it with a flower and a skirt. Mary said she wanted one made for Ri (Maria) but with a BTR theme. I loved getting this commission!

So, I took some of this,
    and added it to the bottom of a BTR t-shirt,

 Ri's mom, Grandma and I had a mini photo shoot of her the the front yard after the St. Patrick's Day Parade downtown. Over all it was a pretty good day!

 Big Time Rush Shirt Dress, Done.