Emergency Purse Kits

The young women of our church made these cute little emergency purse kits last night.  We used empty Altoid tins, decorated with scrapbook paper.  The paper was cut to fit within the embossed area of the lid.  We made the pattern by placing our scrapbook paper face down over the embossed area.  Then, while holding it firmly in place, we used the side of a pencil lead to make a rubbing of the embossed area.  Then it was just a matter of cutting it out and gluing it on.  We also covered the sides and back with paper.  We sealed the tins with mod podge.  The blue one is embellished with alphabet brads.  I used my Crop-A-Dile II to punch holes right through the tin...it worked awesome!  The red one has a bookplate held on by small silver brads.

UPDATE:  

If you would like to view a video tutorial on how to make these little kits covered with duct tape instead of paper and mod podge, visit my youtube channel and take a gander.  Here's the link:

http://youtu.be/TGh-zbTOosk

Become a subscriber so you don't miss out on any future videos!

We filled them with various necessities.  The little paper envelopes were cut using the Cricut.  We folded and glued them together to hold a tiny sewing kit and pain relievers.

We filled ours with a wet wipe, cough drops, hair tie, pencil, emery board, band aids, sewing kit, pain reliever, hair pins, and spare change.  You could totally customize it for your needs.  These would make a great gift.  I have seen similar kits for brides on their big day.

Vintage Board Game Shadow Boxes

When we finally finished our game room, I really had dreams of decorating in a 50's diner sort of theme, but since I am not the only voice in this family, I was out voted.  Which is okay, because I love our game room now.  I thought it would be fun to decorate the walls with various board games.  I had already thrifted some vintage games along the way.  I had also collected some favorites from my childhood that brought back good memories.  What I couldn't find, though, was shadowboxes that were the right size to display them.  I did go to a local framing shop to get prices.  They were in the middle of framing a scrabble board at the time.  I asked what the price would be, and they quoted me over $200!!  Well, I had six games that I wanted to frame, but I didn't have $1200.  So, I was off to the local home improvement store.  

Child's Chair Redo

I picked this chair up one day at a garage sale for $1.  Although, it looked nothing like this at the time (sorry, no before shots.)  It was covered in primary colors.  One arm was red, one was blue, the seat was yellow, and the back was green...or something like that!  Plus, it was well worn and VERY dirty.  But, it was sturdy, had a cute shape, and a fantastic price!  I already had on hand some awesome upholstery fabric that I had picked up at JoAnn's.  I figured it would make a fun addition to my family room and provide a place for cute little grandkids to sit when they came to visit.

I trimmed it with piping around the arms.  I also added some feet, which were leftover pieces cut from the legs of a side table, or chair...I knew those pieces would come in handy one day!

Button details were added to the side to hold the fabric secure.

The back was trimmed out with gimp braid to cover the staples.

Is every creative person messy, or is it just me?

Since this blog spotlights recycled treasures, I thought it would be okay to "recycle" a post from my family blog.  About a year and half ago, I got tired of my creative space looking like this...

"Sewing Area"

"Computer Area"

"Scrapbooking Area"

  

YIKES!  How embarrassing!  Okay, here it comes, my list of justification...

Top 5 Reasons For The Mess!

1.  It's a relatively small space that serves at least three different functions, and I have lots of projects.

2.  In order to be creative, you have to be messy.  It's a requirement isn't it?

3.  The kids "create" here...all the time (eight kids, with four still at home!)  And, using "kids" and "create" in the same sentence...

doesn't that just scream mess?!

4.  I was teaching an early morning class at the time (6:30am x 10 years, that's a lot of object lessons and visual aids to prepare!)

5.  What are you talking about?  I know where everything is!   NOT!

      

Okay, enough of the excuses, because that's all they are.  I guess to give myself a little credit, I did try to organize awhile back.  After getting by for years with fold out tables and such.  I did go to the local recycle center and buy some hollow-core doors and fastened them together for a U-shaped countertop.  I also bought an old bathroom vanity that I retrofitted with a couple of rollout shelves to service my cutting boards and light box.  I also salvaged some wooden cubbies from my brother to house my fabric.  But, let's face it, you can hardly see those improvements in the pics above!


So hang in there, I promise it gets better after the jump!

Toddler Dress From Blouse

Yesterday, I had the idea to make a little shirt dress for my granddaughter from a women's blouse that I picked up the other day for 75¢.  It's made from a cotton/lycra blend so it should be comfy and stretchy.  I trimmed it with vintage bias tape trim that I bought for 49¢ at Goodwill.  And, when I say vintage, I mean vintage...it originally sold for 8¢!  It was a little tricky on some parts, but all in all I really like the way it turned out.  

So, here's the blouse....

This was the package of bias tape...

And here's the final project...

You can view the tutorial here.

Little Girl's Button Up Skirt

While looking for cute dress ideas for my granddaughters, I came across some cute, elastic waist, button- up skirts.  Cute idea, but with a price tag of $56 each, I thought, "no way!"  (Not that I don't think my granddaughters are worth it, but let's be real!)  I figured a secondhand shirt would be perfect to use for making these.  I actually got lucky and found a button-up dress for 99¢ that was long enough to make two skirts...one size 8 and one size 2!

To view a tutorial on how it was done, click here.


UPDATE:
Before I sent these skirts off to my granddaughters, I decided to make two more.  The first one had simple pockets without flaps, making it super easy.  It took less than 45 minutes from start to finish...and that's including gathering supplies and taking a phone call in the middle of the project!  I was also able to take advantage of the pre-extisting shirt hem and side slits!  The second one was made using a striped shirt as the main skirt, and using a second, smaller striped shirt for the band and pockets.

I think I'm a CADD-ster!

Is there such a thing as CADD...Crafty Attention Deficient Disorder?  If so, I think I am a victim of it!  I am great at coming up with creative ideas, but really lack the attention to see them come to fruition!  I come up with an idea, love the "hunt" of finding the supplies at secondhand stores, and then never seem to complete them!  I think my symptoms started all the way back in grade school.  I was an avid  seamstress and loved to sew my own clothes, beginning in fifth grade.  Once I got past the first hurdle of cutting out the pattern (which I still put off to this day), I would feverish work at sewing the piece of clothing, but......once it got to the finish work (and I do emphasize WORK) I lost all interest!  I can't tell you how many waistbands were fastened with a safety pin instead of a button and buttonhole!  In fact, I had so many of them I should have started my own fashion craze!  Of course, the internet, with all of the awesome crafty blogs, really exacerbates my CADD.  So many great ideas and too little attention to see them through.  Seriously, I probably have enough supplies to start my own craft store and be quite successful with it!  I guess the biggest problem with this affliction is daily confronting these unfinished projects.  I like to make lists and enjoy the satisfaction of checking off each completed item.  In fact, sometimes at the end of the day I'll write down everything I accomplished that day, just so that I can check them off!  Crazy, huh?  I'm afraid to make a list of craft projects that I need to do (okay, would like to do) because after about the third or fourth item, the list-making would turn to work and I would probably get distracted and never finish it.  Then it would be one more thing nagging at my conscience to finish!  Am I the only one suffering with this affliction, or are there other CADD-sters out there?

Black and White

Over the past several months, maybe the past year, I have been enamored with black and white dishes. Every time I go to a thrift store I look for something to add to my collection.  I collect dinner plates, dessert plates, bowls, serving dishes, etc.  I think I have enough for about 14 place settings now.  I love the eclectic look of mixing and matching the different combinations. A couple of weeks ago, I found some double knit fabric for only $2, and some plain black fabric for another $2.  It was enough to make placemats to go with all my place settings...not bad for only $4!  I used some of my dishes to decorate a table at our church's garden party the other night.  I just happened to have a black and white checkered teapot (purchased secondhand, of course!) that I was able to use for a centerpiece.  Just in case you were wondering why silverware is missing from the place settings, they only served finger foods and, therefore, wasn't needed.

The Dollhouse

Well, until I get some new projects done, I thought I would post some older ones. Some of you may have seen these, some not. Anyway, this is the dollhouse that I made for my grandkids. It was made from an old bookshelf that I got for free. I had to remove the center shelf and reposition it to make the "floors" evenly spaced. I also extended the sides up, added the roof framing, and cut holes on the side of the bookshelf for the windows. I used some scrap wood to create the walls between the rooms.

This is the bookshelf before I repositioned the "floors."

Sorry, I don't have any other "before" shots. This is the finished house.

A side view showing the windows. I used picture frames from the dollar store and replaced the glass with some scrap plexiglass that I had. The roof shingles are cut from craft fun foam and stapled into place. Each row overlaps the other and hides the staples. The tiles in the kitchen and bathroom are also cut from fun foam and glued into place.

A view of the kitchen (and cute cookstove) from outside the window.

Our family picture hangs in the master bedroom. The carpet was purchased from the dollar store and cut to size. The area rugs in the bedroom and dining room are woven pot holders. The wallpaper is cut from scrapbook paper.

The kitchen counters were sprayed with a textured granite spray paint. The "stainless steel" sink is a small plastic container spray painted silver.

The drum set is actually a Christmas ornament, but it was the perfect size. And, since we have drummers in the family, it was a necessity!

The fireplace was made by gluing small river rocks to a wooden base. I then used tile grout as mortar. The mantle is a chunk of wood that I roughed up and stained to look rustic. The hearth is also a piece of wood that I painted to mimic a stone slab. I then clear coated the whole thing. The chimney on the outside of the house was made the same way. This picture was taken at Christmastime, thus the tree in the corner!

It was a fun project...a little time consuming, but fun. The kids have fun playing with it. I have decided that my grandson, Isaac, is going to be a furniture mover when he grows up. He could clear that house of its furniture in a matter of seconds!

Funky Phone

I picked up this vintage, gold color rotary dial phone at a thrift store for only $2.00! And, it actually works! So, I brought it home, painted it and used my cricut to cut vinyl letters for the dial. Although it takes a lot longer to dial a phone number, I really like it. UPDATE: Some of you have wondered what I used to paint the phone. Well, originally I used Krylon Fusion spray paint. It is specially made to bond with plastic. I don't know if it was too cold when I painted, or if the paint was having a chemical reaction to the "rubbery" cord, but the paint on the cord never cured. After three days it was still very tacky. So, I wiped (actually scrubbed) off the paint using fingernail polish remover. Then I bought some spray primer for plastic in the hopes it would work. I masked off the rest of the phone and then sprayed the cord with a LIGHT coat of primer. Once it dried I sprayed a few LIGHT coats of the green over it. It is much better than before! The person at the paint store wasn't sure how well it will hold up with it being a stretchy cord and all, but we'll see. The phone is going to be used in the family room so the kids can actually have a phone right next to them as they watch TV. Because, heaven forbid if you have to get up off the couch and answer the phone on the wall!!