Ribbon Coasters!

Ribbon Coasters!

See, I have a TONNN of ribbon. Again....my mom gave me a ton of it.

So I was looking for some projects to use some up. 

(If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!)

So I found this reallllllly cool project for a Ribbon belt on Little Blue Boo, and I thought I could try that technique for a coaster!

Sheeyyyeaaaahh!

(Isn't that belt awesome?!)

See?....

 

I only made two for now. I also kind of "quilted" it....to help hold the ribbon in place.

They are about 4 X 4 inches.

They are very colorful! I like 'em!

Glass Etched Plates

Tried a little glass etching today.

Not too bad...not too bad. 

Would of been perfect if my plates didnt have scratches on them, but those were more of those supplies I had lying around from my mom.

(Actually, they kinda sorta rode in the back of my car for a while also before lying around....oops!)

 

I used my Cricut and cut out my words & images on contact paper to use as a stencils.

I stuck the "stencil" on the plate where I wanted it, and applied the etching cream. 

(I am not using these plates for eating, so I put them on the front...but if I were, I would have to cut them out backwards and apply to the back of the plates.)

I let it sit for 5 minutes and then rinsed. 

Pretty easy, I would say!

(I gave the friends one to my mom, she likes penguins! Thats suppose to be a penguin....kind of hard to see, I know! haha)

CREATE!

CREATE

Such a great word.

Right to the point.

I now have this word on the wall in my craft room.

 

 See, right above my window in that weird space that is empty

but not big enough for certain things and its really high.

 

I actually STARTED this project a million years ago. 

I cut the letters out first....out of chipboard/cardboard like material. Its thin. Like a cereal box. I had a stack of them, and not even sure where I got them. Probably my mom, since she is always giving me random craft supplies, that I take forever to even touch.

So anyway...I cut the cardboard letters out...and then they sat there forever before I decided to finish them. Seriously, at least a year they waited to be finished!

So I finally dug out some scrapbook paper and traced the letters BACKWARDS on the back of the paper....cut them out and glued them.

Then stuck them to the walls with that gummy tacky poster stuff.

Thats it.

Really!

Another Soap Dispenser

Made another.

Soap dispensser thingy.

With a monagram,

with vinyl using my Cricut.

Did I mention, it is SO FREAKIN EASY!

and QUICK!!!

 

This one is for the kitchen.

I likeys. =)

Here is my bathroom one, if you missed it.

CSN Review Teaser

Okay, so I was contacted by CSN Stores, to do a review on a product of theirs. This is the first time I have checked out CSN Stores and I am excited! I keep seeing them pop up all over blog world, so they must be a GREAT place to shop!

Currently I am check out the Wall and Art Decor! Look what I have found!!

 

(All Photos are from CSN Website)

They have a TON of really cool wall stickers! They are SO neat! They seem to carry everything!

Go check it out!

Be on the look out for a review from me on one of their products!

Coffee Table Makeover!

This was my coffee table.

I was getting SO tired of it. It’s a hand-me-down. Its huge, square, and collected EVERYTHING!

Its got paint spots on it…and its chipping here and there….

See………..EVERYTHING!

This is everything that was on the bottom. Scary, I know!

I was on the hunt for a new-to-me coffee table, but couldn’t find what I was looking for. So I decided to break down and give this one a makeover. Now I LOVE it!

This is it now!
(I need to get some better photos of it in action! with some natural light too)

After a paint job! And little curtain thingys.

I did this today, so I haven’t yet gotten around to going through everything that was under it and putting it back, so it is currently empty.

(which my cats like, they think its something new to play in)

 A quick explanation of what I did and some tips for painting a coffee table:

I started out by sanding the top and legs a little bit just to get some of the shine off. Then I started applying some regular ole black craft paint. I used only 2 and a half little bottles! Crazy!

I started using a big bristle brush, but switched over to a foam brush. I like foam brushes much better for these things, except I only had 1 inch sized ones, but it worked.

I painted two coats of black. I did not paint the bottom inside…I did around the bottom outside…you can kind of see through the glass how it is still brown underneath. I left it like that because I wasn’t sure how I would prefer it….and I think for now, I like it left brown. One reason is…when I look “inside” for something, it isnt as dark. 

Anyway…..I left my ceiling fan on while painting, so it dried quickly. I then applied a coat of Matte Mod Podge that I thinned a little with water, all over. I wanted to do some sort of top coat, and that’s all I had at the moment. I still would like to give it another real top coat sometime…but for now it works. With the way I did my brush strokes, criss-crosses, the paint looks like it has a suede like texture. Kinda neat!

Then I decided I wanted some sort of curtain thingy around 3 sides, to camouflage the crap that might accumulate under it. I used some Olivey-Taupe Canvas-like material. I hemmed up the sides. Then I attached them with some black furniture tacks. 

Everything I used, was stuff I already had.

Ahhhh, it looks SOOO much better. It took me about 3 hours from start to finish. I like how, our laptops (which are black) blend right in when we have them on top….(which is where they are constantly) (and no, they are not in the photos “blending in”, haha!)

It so much more aesthetically pleasing to my eyes!

The only thing I am not sure if I want to do yet or not…..is…..should I distress the edges?? Or not?

Its not like its solid wood, I believe it has wood veneer on it…or whatever you call it, because it was chipping in spots. Hmmm…..

(Oh ya, has anyone used  Windows Live Writer in Windows 7 to write & post your blogs? I can't seem to quite get the hang of it yet)

Linking to these Parties:

 Handmade Tuesdays @ Ladybug Blessings

Pillow & Coffee Sign

I know I know, I need to post more often! The thing is, I work on things, and then take photos of them, it just takes me forEVER to get around to writing a post for it. I know, I'm a slacker.

But as least I am posting!

So here is what I got new....

 

Here is a pillow I made for a friend/client of mine. She cleaned out her craft room and had given me a bunch of fabric, plus she let me borrow quite a few of her Cricut Cartridges (which is really awesome of her!). So I wanted to make her a little something.

I made her this little FAMILY pillow.

I love the colors I used. It turned out pretty cute I think. Another friend of mine had done a lot of the embroidery pillows as Christmas gifts this past year, and so I wanted to try it.

Another project I worked on was a Coffee Sign. I kept seeing these simple cheap Coffee Signs at different stores....and I kept wanting to buy one, but then I would tell myself....

"Nah...you have stuff to make something like that and it'll be free!" 

See...I sorta, kinda like to shop...and I like just about any excuse to buy something fun. But...if its something that I could make, I am trying to make an effort, to just try and make it and not waste my money. SOooo.....thats what I did!

My mom had given me a bunch of craft supplies, and in it were a few of these wooden plaques. 

So I painted the top a beigey kind of color. Painted the border reddish, and used a black sharpie (!) for the actual edge. Then I went on my Cricut and looked for a coffee mug. I cut that with brown vinyl, and cut the word Coffee in black vinyl. I am still having a hard time gauging actual size of things...I kinda of wanted the Coffee word a little bigger, but it works. Then it needed something else...so I painted some swirls, which made it MUCH better! Then I hot glued a wire loop on the back to hang it. 

This was a pretty quick project. =) 

(My kind of project!)

 

Cake anyone?? Fabric Cake!

I have a glass cake pedestal on my kitchen table. All during the holidays, I kept baked goods in it. It reminds me of my grandmothers house. But…lately, I haven’t really been baking, so its been sitting there empty. I wanted to make something to put in it as a filler until I actually bake something.

Originally I thought cupcakes….but I thought, I wanted something that was easier to “remove”…one thing is easier then many smaller things. So I came up with a cake!

Here is how to make one it:
(sorry if the photos look a little blurry, I resized them to upload faster,
I will be more careful with that next time)

 

I used the cover of my cake pedestal to trace my “cake frosting” fabric into a circle & cut it out.

I used my tape measure thingy to measure the circle and I cut a strip of matching fabric for the sides. I didn’t measure how wide I made it, I just decided on something I liked.

Then I cut a triangle piece out because I wanted it to look like a piece had been cut. You don’t have to do this, of course.

 

Then I started pinning the side fabric to the top/bottom fabric. Make sure right sides are all facing….just like your making a pillow. It’s a little trickier to pin around a curve….but its doable.

 

After it was all sewn, I cut the edges with my Pinking Shears…to sort of help it be less bulky when turned right side out. Its just like notching it. I read somewhere about using pinking shears instead, and I have been doing that since. I LOVE my Pinking Shears! It took me forever to find a pair to buy locally….since we don’t have a lot of craft supply sources.

 

I then cut some “cake” fabric about the same width as my side frosting fabric. I eyeballed it to the same length as the cut into the cake. Make sense? I then sewed each one on. See I left the part in the middle unsewn. Turn it right side out and that’s where you stuff it! Originally I was going to hand sew that part…but after it was stuffed, it seemed closed already, so I just ran a line of hot glue to secure it closed. This is just decoration, so I am not worried about it.

 

Then I hot glued my cake decorations! I tried the cover of my cake pedestal over my cake before decorating it, and it was a close fit. The cover kind of  angles in as it goes up. So I didn’t want to put a lot on the sides since it was already snug. I put some white ribbon for the frosting  inside the cake. Then I used some pink ric-rac around the top edge as a wavy frosting. Then I went to town gluing on a lot of pearl beads and a few flower buttons.

 

I had the triangle  pieces left over that I cut from the cake circles…so I decided to also make a piece of cake. So I cut a side piece and two cake pieces.

 

I sewed them together. First starting with sewing one cake side to the bottom (making sure all rights sides together like a pillow). Then the next cake side…then I added the frosting top.

I sewed the frosting side to the back end…on all 3 of the four sides. I sewed the triangle tip closed. Or you can leave the triangle tip open to stuff, your choice. I was thinking along the lines of….if when I close it, it turns out a little messier….where do I want that part to be.

Then I turned it right side out and stuffed it. I glued the opening shut. Then I decorated to match my cake.

Now its all DONE! Time to set it up.

 

It looks yummy!! Just like real cake! MMmmmm!

Linking to these Parties:

 

 http://ladybug-blessings.com/

Wooden Alphbet Blocks!

Last weekend I had a First Birthday part to attend. 

I had wanted to make him a gift, especially since Christmas has come and gone and his mom (my friend) said he had plenty of toys and didn't really need anything. Now...knowing that my friend is the natural, recycling, organic type, I thought making a gift that would last...out of say, wood...as opposed to something plastic. 

So I decided on some Wooden Alphabet Blocks!

If I had kids, I would totally want something like this!

So I spent some time off and on within a week to work on these. I might of got them done faster if it weren't for all the trial and error I went through.

 

I used a 2X2 piece of work from Lowes. I had my husband cut it into 26 blocks.

(We live in an appt and all we can really use is a hand saw. I cut one and that was the end of that!

He did the rest.)

Before he cut the blocks, I thought I was smart and pretcut all the colored paper squares (scrapbook paper) on my Cricut 2inches. Well...........make sure you double check the measurments because, even though the wood was labeled 2"X2".......it was def. 1 1/2"X1 1/2"........the label lied! 

So all the paper squares were too big! So I had to cut each one smaller......rrrghhh.

Anyway....I also cut my letters and shapes earlier too....but those still fit, barely...but they fit. 

So after everything was cut, I sanded the blocks then I just Mod Podged everything onto them, and sanded the edges again and did another coat of Mod Podge.

Originally I wanted to make a fabric basket....but you know how when you want to work on something on your sewing machine and its late at night and it needs to be done for the next afternoon and you sewing machine just wanted to keep jamming the thread....yaaaa.....thats what kept happening. Lots of unappropriate words were coming out of my mouth. Sooooo.....I ended up just putting it in a basket. I used a little fabric to kind of line it...and of course, since I couldn't sew anything, I used Stich Wictchery stuff and irons the edged and used some grommets to tie it all together.

Phew.

Done.

 

Here they are! All piled up!

Not too shabby. Pretty cute actually.

They also seemed to be a hit at the Birthday Party. Just the right size to grab, throw, crawl with and stack.

 

Linking to these Parties: