It should have been quick

So I bought some large-hole beads and leather cording to make a quick bracelet.


Well, in theory it should have been a quick bracelet.


Instead I managed to mess up the cording where it attaches to the clasps for the bracelet. By the time I got everything worked back together, it felt like half the kitchen counter (where I was working) and half of myself were covered in E6000 adhesive.

But hey, it worked!

Here's the final product:

I haven't worn it yet.......waiting to be fully recovered from the trauma of the adhesive.......lol.......but I like how it looks. :0) That's gotta' count for something!

Reverse Applique Top

I got an order for a top with a reverse applique flower on it, and got it out last week. I hope she likes it!

 I love the colors she chose.

I've got the picture lightened up quite a bit, but it's a navy blue top with a bright green flower. The colors really pop together.

Upcycled Bird Feeder

With all the eggs we used around here for Easter, I had plenty of empty egg cartons on hand. I wanted to do something with them instead of just throwing them away.

Here's what I came up with.....

I started with an empty egg carton and cut the lid off.

Then I cut it into a smaller size....

I poked holes in the mid-point on each side and ran some nylon cord through. I decided to use the mid-point because I ran the cord underneath all the way across. I hoped that would give it more stability.

Then I tied the cords together at the top, filled it with wild bird food, and hung it from a tree out front.

Pretty simple stuff. That makes it a great craft to do with young children.

 

I love it when I can use stuff I already have to make something new. And this time, the birds love it too.

Fun for Easter

I had an order for chocolate Easter Bunny brooches, which are hand stitched of brown felt. I think these are so fun and make a cute little Easter gift.

I hope they've made their new owners happy!!

Still here

I'm still here. It's amazing how sometimes life just gets so busy that it leaves so little time for other things. I've been squeezing in crafting when I can, but it's 'tax season' and that doesn't leave much time for anything but work.

For sometime now, I've been drooling over the dolls at Raggedy Old Annie's. She makes the cutest things. Well, she finally posted a picture of one I couldn't resist.

How cute is she?!

Go check out her stuff. She makes all kinds of themed Annies and they're all adorable.

One man's trash......

Once again time has gotten away from me and I haven't posted in ages. Life around here has been somewhat crazy recently and emotionally exhausting. I think things are on their way back to normal.....well, what's normal for us during tax season, anyway.

It's been a few weeks, but I made a new tote bag.

 

As you can see, I made it from an empty dog food bag. It's one of those nylon type bags so that makes it nice and sturdy and water resistant. I used a 40+ pound dog food bag so it's a large tote which is great. I'm hoping to use it to hold towels during a trip to the beach this summer. :0)

 

We have 5 dogs (3 of them are very large dogs) so we go through a bag like this about every 10 days. That's a lot of bags and I'm glad I found a way to use them again (and again.) But, since I can only use so many tote bags, I made a listing on etsy. But, now I have other ideas swirling in my head on other things to make. I just have to find the time to get them done.

Shirt Upcycle

I saw a really cute shirt on Craft Gossip or so I thought. I went back to look for it so that I could include a link in this post but couldn't find it.

Anyway, here's what I did.

I had a Henley style shirt that I had never used, and I found a sequenced tank top that my daughter had outgrown.

 

I put on the Henley shirt and marked the spot on the back of the arms where my elbows hit. Then, I cut two hearts out of the red sequence fabric. I used a heart shape cookie cutter and some chalk to draw my heart on the shirt so that both of them would be the same.

 

Then I just hand stitched the hearts centered over the marks I had made. (I did match the sleeves together to make sure the hearts would be even on the shirt.)

 

And I wound up with this!

I love it!!

I'm sure I could have used my sewing machine to put the hearts on, but I really didn't want to fight with the sleeves while doing it so I just stitched them on by hand.

Hooray!! I just love being able to use the things that I already have on hand to make something that's fabulous and new!