{How Pinteresting} #6

AHHH how I love spring!!

We've used the fire pit twice already.

Had some brats and smores.

Seeded the lawn.

And I've spent almost every afternoon outside on the patio for the last 4 days.

Pure heaven!

With that being said, you can imagine how hard it was to go inside and do a project for this post HA

I was having a convo with my mom the other day and she started telling me how she's following a couple blogs now....more than just mine ;)

She mentioned she saw this little round pouch for holding earbuds that she was thinking about making for her MP3 player.

Now, I don't remember if she said she found this tutorial through me or saw it somewhere or what, but I knew I had this same thing pinned.

That's how my PINspiration was born this week

Source: dog under my desk

This is seriously SUPER easy to make. Erin gives a fantastic tutorial.

She gives a pattern too...

I didn't use it though. I was a bit too lazy to turn on the printer and print it.

So I just used a monster cup (a stupid man cup with sports nonsense on it) to draw some circles.

And here's how mine turned out...

 

Did you notice mine looks more like a squashed egg than a circle???

Uh yeah, I can't sew a circle.

I don't understand it either. Everything is perfectly lined up and cut and..just perfect. Then I sew it together using a perfect seam allowance and it still looks jacked up!

Do any of you remember these key chains I tried to re-create last summer??

HUGE NOTE TO SELF:  DON'T TRY TO SEW CIRCLES ANYMORE!!!

hehe

ps. I just noticed I didn't add a split ring to mine before I took the pictures. Fail.

Stretchy T-Shirt Headband

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, I have short hair. I love my short hair. What I don't love about it is trying to wash my face in the sink with short hair. I have this very tiny ponytail (Mr. Perfect calls it my "paintbrush" because it's so small it looks and feels like one haha). And I have to put like 5 or 6 little clips or bobby pins or whatever I have laying around in my hair to keep all my bangs and short hairs back. It really is a pain.

To remedy this stressful situation I made myself a cute little headband to keep my hair back. Cuz, you know, I need to look cute when I'm washing my face every morning ;) And I made a quick tutorial so you can make one too!!

Here's what you need

*any scrap of knit fabric
*scissors
*sewing machine, or just a needle and thread

Let's get started!!

First you want to measure around your head where the headband will go. My head was about 20 inches. Since the knit is stretchy I took about 3 inches off and cut my piece about 17 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. I used some leftover t-shirt material I had used to make a skirt similar to this one.

 Fold your fabric in half, right sides together and sew along the edge. Just use a straight stitch.

And that's your basic headband right there! But it's not so cute, so read on to see how to make the bow...

For the bow, I cut a piece that was about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide...no need to be perfect here. And the piece that wraps around the middle is about 2 inches long and half an inch wide (I actually used a piece of the cuff from my t-shirt sleeve)

Fold your small strip in half, right sides together and sew along the edge. Turn right side out. Then just bunch up the bigger piece of fabric and slide that little ring to the middle! Ca-UTE!

To attach it to the headband, I tacked it down where the pink dots are. I just sewed one stitch forward and backward, twice. Make sense??

And that's the end! Now wash your short hair with confidence you won't get your bangs wet!

 And because I'm brave, here's a pic of looking ridiculous...

My goodness...look at those bags and wrinkles under my eyes!!! YIKES!!! I did get up at 4:30 AM, so maybe that has something to do with it....or maybe it's because I'm only 57 days away from being 30.

Should I be doing something about those bags?? What age should I start buying...I don't even want to say the words...."anti-aging" products?!?! Ugh.

On a brighter note, my nails are painted :) YAY

Back to the headband...it doesn't have to be just for your face washing time....Make one for your kids, babies, whatever. Put something other than a bow on it! If you make one I'd love to see pics, email me!

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #7

Hello Hello!!

I'm back! Sorry for the short break last week.

I was busy working on a project for my mother-in-law. 

She is LDS and there is a new temple opening here in Kansas City in a couple weeks. She had an idea for a screen printed handkerchief to sell for the dedication. Anyway, I was busy setting up the website/blog to sell them from. They are really beautiful. So if you are interested, check it out!

All About Temples

Ok, I'm done doing my shameless plug...let's get on with the show!

The tip today is a GREAT one for quilters, or anyone that uses a rotary cutter a lot. I use mine quite frequently. I use it to cut everything from fabric to paper. It really is a must-have tool. Get one if you don't have one! Seriously, like run to the store.

What happens when that blade gets dull?

Do you scream or cuss or get so frustrated that you throw it across the room? Yeah, that might just be me, but whatevs.

I saw this fan-TAB-ulous tip over at Sugar Bee Crafts.

Mandy says she saw it somewhere else, but I'm still giving her credit since her site is where I saw it!

When that rotary cutter gets dull, run it over foil to sharpen it!

Genius!

Sugar Bee Crafts

Give it a try!

It might just save you some $$$$$ on rotary blades!!

PS   I have something new and exciting happening around here. I will share it later this week. I bet you can guess...it involves a new way for us to be bff's...

A Short Break...

I taking this week off. Sad, I know.

I have a project for my mother-in-law that I have to devote some time to this week.
I also didn't get squat done this past weekend. I just didn't have enough hours...you know the feeling right?

But don't you worry...I have next to no plans this next weekend and I will have tons of time to spend on my blog.

And I guess you never know, maybe I'll post something later this week :)

Don't leave me, my friends, I will return!!

AND I have to share something fantastic with you!!! Do you read Remodelaholic?? Well Cassity and Justin featured my bathroom remodel!! How exciting is that?!?! Woot! Go check it out!

Love all your support! Hope you all have a great week!

{How Pinteresting} #5

I've been so antsy all week to share this with you!!

I'm loving it and I know you will too!

Let's get right to it cuz I just can't wait!!

Here's the pinspiration photo from the space between. 

There are really great instructions on how to make your own on her blog.

source via Pinterest

And here's mine!

I put it in our front entryway

I'm SO in love with it!! That's my baby girl...immortalized on canvas for all eternity :)

ps... I know she looks like a 3-legged dog. When I cut out the pattern I used, the only part of her other leg you could see was just the tip of her foot. And let me tell you, it made my "she" dog look like she had "he" parts sticking out, so I cut that foot off. I mean, it's a profile anyway, so you don't have to see both legs!

pps.... I know her toe nails are long. She got them trimmed a couple days ago.

Polymer Clay Rose Necklace

Does that title make you excited?!

It makes me excited!

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now but haven't had the motivation time.

If the title didn't give it away, this is made from polymer clay.

Here's what you need:
*polymer clay
*exacto knife or razor blade
*2 jump rings
*wire or old necklace chain
*your oven!

Polymer clay is kinda stiff so you have to knead it in your hands a bit to warm it up before you use it. Once you've done that, pinch off a small piece {you can use a bigger piece for a bigger flower, or smaller, you get the idea right}

Roll that piece up once.

 Then you will pinch off another little piece to use as a petal. It's a good idea to make these first couple petals kinda small. Smush it on the side of the rolled piece.

 Add a couple more...

Keep going, adding pieces around until you are satisfied with it

Be careful with the next couple steps, you don't want to smush your creation!

At this point you should have a pretty large stem on that flower. Lay the flower on it's side and carefully cut the back off flat with your exacto knife or razor blade

Ok so my plan originally was to glue my flower to one of those round disc pendant things you can buy at the craft store, but my flower was smaller than the ones I had so I improvised...

I took a small flat piece of clay and smushed a jump ring on it...

Then I smushed the clay on the back {carefully!!} 

Bake it according to the directions on your clay package. When you put it on a necklace or wire, attach one more jump ring to that small one so it lays flat on your chest....Then wear it proud!

good thing this picture wasn't an inch higher...you'd see up my nose!

Quick...how many times did I say "smush"??? haha

It matches my hair pretty nicely huh?

Polymer clay is a wonderful medium...I've just discovered it. Maybe you'll see some more of this in my future {wink}

{Sewing Tip Tuesday} #6

Hi all! Hope your week has started off great!

We have gorgeous weather in Kansas City, 70's and 80's

With flowers blooming and trees budding

I'm SO excited!! This is my favorite time of year!

Ready for another sewing tip?

I betcha you are...

I didn't have any stroke of genius this week so I'm highlighting a tip I pinned. It's pretty sweet if you ask me!

source via Pinterest

This one comes from Craft Stylish. It says to put a rubber band around the arm of your sewing machine to use as a guide for larger seam allowances. Pretty darn smart!!

I love tips like this! Seriously gonna have to store this one away in the memory bank!

Make sure to come back tomorrow....I have a sweet tutorial for some DIY, CHEAP, jewelry! <---3 of my favorite words

....on a random side note...every time I say something like "tomorrow I will show you blah blah blah", I always have this urge to write "Stay tuned for tomorrow" at the beginning, like it's some kind of tv show or radio program or something. Haha, I don't know why I want to say "stay tuned", but I always talk myself out of it because I don't want to sound retarded. Oh geez, I need to stop writing...now!

Blah

I'm feeling totally uninspired today. I have the whole day with nothing planned, the perfect type of day to work on some projects that have been swirling in my head. Then I walk into our craft/sewing/office room and I look around and I've got nothin. Just thoughts of "oh I could do this, BUT I would have to run to the store for this" or "I could do this, BUT I'd need Mr Perfects help and he's sleeping".

I know if I flake off and do nothing then I will end up spending the whole day on other blogs and Pinterest and get nothing done....this in turn will give me overwhelming thoughts of laziness.

What's a girl to do??? Do you have days like this?? {please tell me you do}

{How Pinteresting} #4

Hello friends!!

It's that time...

Let's mark this day in history...my post this week is going to be a baking post...gasp! Just so you know, this will probably be the only time I will ever write about something I have cooked or baked. Not because this is a  DIY/sewing blog, but because I DON'T COOK!! Like, ever. Mr. Perfect cooks dinner every single night. He cooks, I clean. I don't like to cook. I don't know how to cook. I'm a complete disaster in the kitchen...every...single...time....with this one being no exception. Quite frankly, I debated on whether or not I would even post about this. I'm pretty sure I'm going to embarrass myself.

My little sis turned 28 last week (although she thinks she's 22). She has made these elaborate, incredible, to-die-for cupcakes for every birthday in the family this past year. So who would make them for her?? Only the worst baker in the entire family! Duh! You know how everyone has a "thing"? Some people love frogs, or roosters, or polka dots, or the color pink....well my sister has a thing for pink flamingos. Which brings me to the inspiration this week...

Source via Pinterest

Cute right?  WAY better than mine....as you will see...

Now for the embarrassing part

Mine.

Pink Flamingos in a pool, what could be cuter than that?!? Looks mildly ok from up here, but let's take a closer look shall we...

So I got all fancy about this and bought special cupcake liners from Hobby Lobby. Have you ever tried these before? It says you can just but the cups on a baking sheet and cook them with muffin tins. Yeah right. All lies.

 Do you see the shape of these?!?!? Those don't look anything like the ones in the picture! They're weird and look like cupcake blobs. I had to hold this pan back and use only the ones that were mostly round. But wait, am I ignoring the other obvious problem here? The liners have peeled away from the cupcakes over night! What is up with that?!?!?!? Seriously!

All their skin is falling off! GRRR!!

 And I'm pretty sure you've noticed their floppy wings too. Here's a crappy cell phone picture of what they looked like the night before....

All their heads stand up straight, all their wings are nice and stiff, everything looks super cute and I'm pleased.

All the tutorials I looked at online used sugar to make the wings. I thought that would be too time consuming and difficult for my peanut butter and jelly experience. I saw this sugar sheet at Hobby Lobby and thought I'd give it a whirl.

Note to self: just follow the tutorials, don't improvise on something you know nothing about!

It says you can just cut out what shapes you want. So I did. Then in the morning they had flopped over and died.

In the end we decided that after I went to bed, the flamingos stole some of my vodka and had a little party. So in the morning they had droopy skin, floppy wings, and couldn't hold their heads up straight. You can never trust those sneaky birds! You can also never trust me to make anything in the kitchen


How embarrassing.