Sweet Little Succulents

When Sean and I were in Yosemite, our Uncle Bill took us, as well as my brother and his Kate, to the historic and beautiful Ahwahnee Hotel for breakfast. As centerpieces on the tables they had these cute little tea cups with succulents growing in them. I would have taken one home, but that's stealing, and stealing is bad, kids. Seriously, though, how cute is this?

(My inspiration)

I went to the thrift store and found a non matching sugar bowl, tea cup and saucer, and creamer. Not that I don't just love old roses...and the time I went to the World's Fair in Spokane...but these babies were crying for spray paint.

(My victims)

I bought little succulents at Home Depot and planted them in my newly spray painted little holders.

I'm very pleased with the way they turned out!

(My mom always had the same Jade plant in our house while

 I was growing up, so I love that I have one now, too.)

Happy Crafting!

Rachel 

Felt Envelope Wallet

I love how the inspiration for new projects comes to me. It's sporadic and makes me feel like I'm a giant snowball running away down a hill...I love the rush! I started out folding laundry last night, saw one of my tie dye shirts I never wear and thought, "Hey! I should make a bag!" I then googled t-shirt bags and couldn't find anything I wanted but I did see some tie dye wallets and thought I should make one of those. I started out making a felt base and found some different fabric I liked better...then I was halfway done with one wallet when I noticed it looked kind of like an envelope..."Hey! I should put a stamp on it and sew little lines to make it look like one!" And then a few hours later I ended up making a larger one to go with it. It was an excellent night! I hyper-focused and worked on the both of them for about 6 hours straight, ending at 3:30 in the morning. Love, love, love that. :) I was proud of myself because for the first time ever I sewed consecutive straight lines with my sewing machine, and did a bunch of hand stitching, which I usually abhor because I am NOT a detail person.

 This is the little credit card sized wallet. 

 The little wallet with the larger clutch.

Envelopes!

I made one for my friend Hanna, too. 

Here's how the cards fit inside. 

The initial sewing for the little ones didn't take me long at all, but the hand stitching (which I had to re-do quite a few times because I'm still learning, took a while. I'm having a blast and I hope to make more soon! 

DIY Coffee Cup Ornament Tutorial

Recently I was at a Peet's Coffee store and saw some absolutely adorable little ceramic coffee cup ornaments, similar to the ones that Starbucks sells every year. I work for a Peet's Coffee and I think that their coffee is delicious, so with this and my crafty Christmas side in mind (why pay for something you can make yourself!) I knew I had to figure out how to make a similar ornament.

This was my finished product!

And here's how I did it:

1. Start with an aluminum foil base, to help support the body.

2. Roll out enough clay to wrap around it and 

wrap around the foil body, smoothing as you go.

3. For the top, make a circle slightly bigger than the top of the body.

4. And another circle slightly smaller than that.

5. Smooth them together and make a little indent in the top (where you would drink from)

6. Mold onto the body, smoothing as you go.

7. Stick a little wire loop (I used a piece of a paperclip) in the unbaked clay.

8. Bake, cool and then paint away!

My modeling clay said to bake at 275* for 15 minutes per 1/4 inch. 

These cups took about 10 minutes to be finished. 

You can obviously paint however you wish, be it Starbucks' red cups, Peet's cups, 

or some obscure little coffee shop that we've probably never heard of. ;)

-Rachel 

Skirt to Apron!

I have a skirt that I bought a few years ago, but it never fit quite right. I loved the bright fabric though, so I've been hanging onto it hoping that I could make something of it...someday. Well, that day finally came! I was making muffins yesterday and noticing the flour all over my shirt, I realized that I finally needed to have an apron...so I made one! It was pretty simple, not too much cutting or sewing to be done.

This is the skirt I started with.

It had an underside, that I cut off to use for the bib of the apron.

Like so! I folded it until it made the right size for the bib. 

I cut the skirt exactly in half, stopping at the elastic waistband.

I cut the other half of the skirt off right under the waistband and then cut the waist band in half.

I then held the bib section up and measured from the top of my tank top to just where the apron waistline reached (higher than a normal skirt). 

Then I pinned it in place and sewed it straight across. 

I used the drawstring from the skirt to make the halter, which turned into regular straps because the bib stuck out too much and didn't actually cover my shirt. :P

I also put a button on one end of the cut waistband and a loop on the other. 

Then I made a little flower and sewed it to the top. :)

I think it turned out pretty cute. :)

-Rachel 

Driftwood and Sea Glass Jewelry Hanger

I posted my version of a "Pinterest Inspired Jewelry Board"when I first started this blog, which looked like this: (shudder...)

It was so ugly that it drove me crazy, so I painted it again and turned it into this:

Slightly better and more organized, but I grow bored of things quickly, so I decided to think of something new to make. I have two full bags of driftwood that have been sitting on my porch since Christmas and were feeling neglected, so I put them to work.

It was super easy. I just stuck thumbtacks into the driftwood and hot glued pieces of sea glass on the ends of the tacks. I hung the wood pieces by fishing line with white flat tacks in the wall. 

I love that my jewelry can be art when I'm not wearing it...especially since I rarely wear my necklaces for who knows what reason. 

Also, it's nearly impossible to take decent pictures inside my cave of a bathroom. My apologies. :)

Silk Dyed Easter Eggs

Silk Dyed Easter Eggs!

This one is my friend, Alayna's, hers turned out with perfect detail!

Enjoy!

Rachel 

Dyeing Cloth With Coffee and Tea

So I have a sweater. It looks like this.

I don't like to wear very white sweaters or coats because I hated to draw attention to my shy little self and it's just kind of stuck, even though I love wearing bright colors now. 

 Anywho, I found this sweater at Goodwill for 5 buck-a-roos. I've been looking for a sweater like this for a while and I was just glad that I had found a sweater that wasn't made of puce colored velvet.

I figured that I could put on my big girl pants and deal with the white. Except that I loathed it when I tried it on at home. 

Drat.

So I decided that since I already loathe it, I couldn't possibly mess it so bad that I would..loathe it more?

So here's what I did.

I boiled a giant sauce pan of water.

I put in

 14 tea bags, 

2 packets of instant coffee,

and about 1/4 of Vinegar.

(you can mess with the proportions to figure out color, but the vinegar is important to help the stain set)

It looked yummy.

See?

I removed it from the heat and left it there for about an hour, stirring every now and then. 

Here's what I learned:

Don't leave the tea bags in. I got a few yucky, too dark spots where the tea bags came in direct contact with the fabric. No bueno. 

The longer you let it sit, the darker it gets.

If you don't want your fabric shrinking, do not put it in hot water. Let the tea/coffee mixture cool and then insert your fabric to be died.

Freshly wash your cloth and don't use fabric softener or a dryer sheet. Those leave residue and the stain won't work as well. 

Play around with the color! I used more tea (I don't have much coffee) so it turned out more peachy-orangey colored. I feel that coffee would turn it a more earthy brown/tan.

This is not a permanent dye. It is a stain. This will wash out (and may seep onto other clothes in the washer, so just take heed and don't wash it in hot water).

This is what it looked like when I was done!

And for dramatic effect...

Woot, woot! 

-Rachel

I'm linking up to:

I also linked up here:
Frugally Days, Sustainable Ways
but the link picture showed up like this...

Sad. Just click on the link. 

Simple Valentine's Decorations

I mostly love Valentine's Day because it comes in the middle of February and I will take ANY excuse to decorate in happy colors in the dead of winter. Heck, I'd almost dress my cat up like Abe Lincoln for a shred of entertainment. Plus, who doesn't love a holiday in which red and pink are actually acceptable colors to put together? I find the combination garish, kind of like the purple and orange at halloween, but I'll let it slide for the month of February. :)

In addition to window clings (I am such a nerd for window clings!), I made a simple Valentine's Day Tree  this year.

I couldn't find anything pink or red to cut hearts out of, so I painted water colors on paper, cut hearts out, glued them together, and hung them with fishing line. I also picked some red beads out of my collection and strung those with fishing line, too.

I wrapped it with a bit of tissue paper and ribbon and called it good!

I love when I can make something out of things I already have, instead of having to go out and find the things I want. 

I thought that the leftover cut outs were cute, so I put them in a frame. 

Simple, festive and not overdone. I'll leave the overdoing for St. Paddy's day! ;)

Rachel