pajamas into ruffled tote

These cozy pants were given to me (thanks Cindy!) and I liked them as pants.  They were soft, they were snazzy with the black and white print.  They were nice pants….except they were high waisted.  Now, I’m not one to really “dress to impress” when I’m headed to bed, but I just COULD NOT DEAL with them up so high on my tummy.  
I altered the crotch area so they fit low on my hips.  Better.
Except now they were a bit too tight around my hips.  I snipped the elastic and tried to wear them but it was basically just terrible.
I tried, but some alterations are just not meant to be.   I decided to do what I do best and started slicing the pants into strips with my rotary cutter.  
Ruffles….gorgeous soft ruffles….I can’t go wrong with ruffles glued onto something, right?

Another freebie canvas bag from some conference.   I’m sorry Apress spent so much money on this method of advertising because this bag is clearly not going to give them any business leads unless some crazy Goggle search lands people onto this page where they will be so confused with all the ruffle references.  
(This may be the last conference bag I have left, so I hope Brian gets sent somewhere soon!)

I layered a gazillion rows of ruffles, gluing them down with hot glue as I went until I ran out of ugly canvas to cover.

I sent this bag to my sister hoping that she can use it for library books or something.   (and think of me and ruffles each time, knowing that I love her and them, well…her more than them of course.)
The. End.

DIY valentine’s decor

Happy Valentine’s Day!   May this cold wintery day be filled with people and places that you love.  
I love making new decorations for holidays, and this is what I came up with for V Day this year.  Scraps of wood, scraps of paper, L-O-V-E cut out with my Silhouette machine and then a little bit of inking and painting to get that imperfect look that I love.  There’s no room for perfection around here!   I used wood glue to attach the letters onto another scrap piece of wood so they stay together as one piece. 
I know my day will be filled with kisses, hugs, chocolate treats and Cheesy Eddy’s carrot cake for dessert tonight! 
In this house, carrot cake counts as a vegetable!
 

Conference bag plus shirt

I made myself a new tote bag out of some stuff headed to the garbage:  An old conference bag from 5 years ago and a shirt that Brian discarded due to red ink stains and snags.

This is a pretty decent bag, as far as conference bags go.   It’s sturdy canvas with a zipper.  It’s Just. So. Ugly.

I bought this golf shirt for Brian, possibly even at full price  (GASP!) because I loved the color.  I was trying to be supportive of his hobby, I guess.  It’s one of those breathable shirts that the golf people sell.  Unfortunately, it did not withstand the laundering conditions at my house and landed in the throw away pile.


I cut the shirt into one inch strips and then ruffled them until I had yards and yards of ruffles.  Those crazy conference people had printed stuff on the back AND the front of the bag, so I used every possible part of the shirt to get enough ruffles.
This is all that was left of the shirt! Wow, right?

I used my hot glue gun to attach the rows of ruffles on the bag.  And I glued on some rolled flowers made from some old lady scarves.   I love how it turned out, transforming two ugly things into something pretty and useful.


If you like ruffles, check out these other projects!

Summer Tote with Ruffles
Ruffled hoodie refashion
Pillowcase and Ruffles Dress
Ruffled Curtains
Waterfall Ruffles Pillow
Ruffled Sweatshirt
Orange Shirt, Pink Ruffles
Ruffled Grey Tee Shirt
Ruffled Pants
DIY Ruffled Layering Shirt
Ruffled Crepe Paper Decorations

Free Hoodie gets an update

One of my friends let me look through her pile of junk that was headed to a donation pile.  This grey sweatshirt was something that I grabbed.  It had a grease spot or something on one of the pockets…no big deal.   It has been well worn by someone I love, plus it has a thick Sherpa lining and is super warm.

Next up:  an XL camisole that was about $.50 at a community thrift store.  I know it’s weird that I grabbed it, but I like the fabric.  I don’t think I could ever wear a used negligée….

I found this pair of baby velour pants that the girls outgrew.   I already used part of one leg for some other project, but there was plenty for me to use on the other side for the sweatshirt.

Ta-Da!

Silky ruffles

Strips of soft velour

Camisole straps as detail on the hood

Here it is in action!

Ruffles and pillowcases

I found this gorgeous ruffled girls shirt at a thrift store.   
It was shaped funny, so I took in the sides a little bit and then added part of a pillowcase to the bottom to make it into a dress for next summer.  I kinda wish it was in my size.


I kinda wish it was in my size!

My first auction

I found this pretty little rocker at an outdoor auction way out in the country.   It didn’t look this good;  it was covered in cobwebs and dirt and a couple of nasty fabric seat covers.

But, it was ONE DOLLAR.  I couldn’t believe it either! 

The handsome cowboy auctioneer asked if any one wanted a chair for $1 each and I timidly raised my little paper, #59.   My first auction purchase.   My newest addiction/ hobby.

 

This was the seat cover I saw when I bought it.   It’s needlepoint and may be salvageable after a thourough washing into a pillow or something.

 

I was surprised to find this nasty fabric underneath the needlepoint cover.  Bleech.

The seat cushion had seen better days too, so I got rid of that too.

I happened to have a seat cushion left over from some other something-something.  Good grief, it’s a wonder I hold onto so many things that actually become useful later on.

 

Little Miss Peanut can’t understand why I would want a picture without her in it.

 

The fabric is something I bought at another estate sale for 20 cents.

Garden art

The tires we hung on the shed are in full bloom.  After a few tries, I found that wavy petunias are my favorite flower for that space.   They have to be watered often because there are only a couple inches of soil.  I’m not sure they can survive the summer months, but so far they are awesome.

 

 

My favorite thing to look at on Pinterest is garden art.  You can check out the things I’ve pinned through this link.  So many fun ideas!!!!

I made this blue “flower” from stuff I had around the house.

* $3 vase from a garage sale a few years back

* Blue bowl from a set of dishes my mom was getting rid of 2 years ago

* Glass candle stick holder that we got as a wedding present.  I’m scared of candles and fire, so this was a much better use.

* A garden stake that was hanging around my mom’s garage.

This is a “bird bath” I suppose, made from:

* Yellow dish I found in my grandpa’s basement after he passed.

* $1 white dish plate from a thrift store

* Green bowl from that set of dishes my mom gave me

* Arizona iced tea bottle

* A metal rebar that I never used for another project.

 

Re-use

Re-cycle

Feeds my creative addiction

 

 

Dinner Napkin dresses

 

My girls were invited to a “tea party” birthday party and I wanted them to have something new to wear.  I rummaged through my stash and found 6 dinner napkins.   I got them on Black Friday at a thrift store near my mom’s house.  $1 for 6 dark purple satin-y napkins.

I’m not really into that sort of thing at the dinner table, but I knew it would be a good addition to “THE STASH” in my basement.  All the edges were finished off, so there was no hemming needed at all!

I found some white t-shirts and added the napkins in two different ways.

I let the girls pick out flowers for the top, and they went to town digging through my flower stash.  I glued the flowers down with fabric glue and have been surprised at how well they wash in the laundry.   I intended them to be a one time use outfit, but the girls love them and have been worn over and over.

I like this style of dress the best; two napkins were joined together, then folded in half, gathered and sewn on the top of the shirt.  Almost like a “balloon” skirt.  

Kaylee’s napkins were left at full length, gathered and sewn underneath the shirt.

One of the party games was to design a fancy hat.   My girls LOVED that! 

And I loved making something unique for them to wear using stuff I already had in the house.

Gorgeous Cozy Trager

I made this pillow flower out of some pink felt that I found in my stash.  I probably bought it for some long ago abandoned project….quite possibly felt food, which was too lofty a project for this simple girl.  I used white fabric to make an “envelope” style pillowcase so it’s easy to wash.  It is a minky super soft fabric, left over from the baby blanket I made for Gracie. 
Kaylee declared it’s name to be:
Gorgeous Cozy Trager
And I decided that her enthusiasm entitled her to keep it.

Picture canvas DIY

For Christmas this year, I gave Brian some canvas family prints.   (I wanted a good deadline to push myself and he is *really* hard to buy presents for too)

I picked two of my favorite family pictures from last summer and ordered them from Wal-Mart in the biggest size possible, 16x24.  They were about $12 each with free shipping to my house.

I bought two blank canvases from one of the craft stores when they were on sale.

A lot of mod podge glue, a little craft paint around the edges, and TA DA!

 

They turned out great and people think I bought them from one of those picture canvas places. 

I came across a killer sale on canvases the other day and now I have 6 large canvases waiting for me.   Oh yeah.

mittens from sweaters

Of course this mitten idea came from good old Martha Steward.   And of course I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!   I have several sweaters that have been hanging around, waiting to be transformed into something. 

First up was a soft gray sweater that I had shrunk in the laundry  I was pretty sad when that happened, but it was something I found at a thrift store, so not too too sad.  The first mitten turned out.....uh... bad, but the second turned out great.   Whew....love a quick learning curve.  I used the hem of the sweater as the bottom of the mitten.

Next up was a blue wool sweater that was always just a tad too tight and too warm for me to wear (also from some thrift store many, many years ago).   I cut it up into 4 mittens.  A set for me and a set for Kaylee.  A little lace, cuz I'm fancy like that.

I'm not a huge mitten fan, but you know how the steering wheel is so cold in the morning?  These have been the perfect thing to wear this week. 

I made a belt

What an amazing "Indian summer" we've had this fall.    It's been really great weather, but I gotta say that I'm happy to be able to pull out my leggings, tall boots and cardigans.   Ultimate comfy clothes.    The purple dress below was something I wore A LOT when I was pregnant, and I always felt good in it.  I love the color, but needed to change it up to get past my "maternity wear" mindset.

I found some gorgeous knit fabric at Joann's and bought the remainder of the bolt.  A few Christmas treats have been made with it, and I used some leftover material to make this belt.

I fiddled around with it and decided to close it in the back with some velcro. 

Or I can wear it around my neck.   A versatile little piece!

ruffled crepe paper

 "I hate ruffles.  I JUST HATE RUFFLES!"  I overheard Kaylee tell Grammy.

Whaaaaaaaaaa??????   Is this really my child?   She's living in a ruffled world whether she knows it or not.

I made some ruffled decorations for a few parties we had recently.  
I used $.99 crepe paper (which I'm not a fan of) and sewed them together.
I'm a big fan of ruffled crepe paper.  HUGE improvement!


What a happy little mess of paper ruffles!
One of my friends at the party said, "You seriously sewed crepe paper together?  I can't believe you had time for that!"  I don't think she was trying to be mean....   but her comment made me stop and wonder if I should have spent those 25 minutes in a more worthy manner....more productive....something that was life changing 

But that's who I am.....
and it made me happy....
and made my kitchen festive on a day of celebration. 


I got this idea from Dana Made It, who has mad sewing skills.   I only copy her easy projects, and drool over the other projects that she does, especially the children's clothing.