Crafternoon #2

I had a lovely crafternoon at my good friend Judy's home.
I recently purchased these witches hat's at Roberts and thought they would be super fun to decoupage.



I have a fetish for ephemera and have been collecting worn out books, ledgers and sheet music for quite awhile. Some of the paper we used on the hat's is over 100 years old.
(One day I'll post pages from this wonderful children's monthly that I use for paper projects).
Judy and I simply ripped the paper, painted glued on the back, placed it on the hat and painted glue over it.
I use plain glue. Mod Podge is very expensive and glue is easier to use.



Gluing and placing. (I use regular artist paint brushes to apply the glue).

For best results let the glue dry over night.

(We placed the hat's in wine glasses to work on the bottoms).

After the glue is completely dry embellish it fancy and fun.

We used tinsel from the Bethany Lowe collection. She has incredible, fun products. www.bethanylowe.com
I used a small rippy piece of fabric as a headband around the hat.
Judy is planning to customize her with a glittery 'B'.

The decoupage project's total time (Remember we dried the hat's over night) was three and a half hours over two days.
*There are a few fine details not yet finished.

(Should I put a glitter moon on the top of my hat? Should I glue an old brooch to the headband)?

Sometimes the best way to finish a project is to sleep on it and work on it anew with fresh ideas and fresh energy.

(How apropos is Judy's shirt with the black and white stripes)?

Three almost completed hat's

(All photos were taken inside Judy's home. If you are a decorating junkie and bored, uninspired with the current magazines, check my blog tomorrow for photo's of Judy's home and garden. I guantee it will not disappoint).

Oh yeah, Freya wears another homemade dress to school.

Happy Wednesday crafternooners.

Finds in my closet

I love to buy clear plastic totes. They are a perfect organizing tool.
Clear plastic totes and zippy bags bring me a great amount of joy. (Yes, I'm easy to please).



Here are some of the treasures I found buried in my closet.
There are so many little handmade gems waiting for me to come up with a good idea of what to make with them.
Maybe a purse, a pillow? Maybe I'll stick them in a frame and put in on my wall.



A thrifted needle point. I never pass up a needle point. It seems a little sad that someone didn't want this beautiful piece of handmade art.
It will get a new life in my home.



A Sampler I made.



Another Sampler I made.

I'm good at finishing projects. What I don't finish, but intend to, gets put in a zippy or a tote with all necessary components to complete it. (Don't forget to label it).

What I won't finish (usually I've messed up really bad or it is too difficult) I throw away.

(I salvage buttons, ribbons, zippers and such for other projects).

I love to hand sew.

I love to have a little project to take every where I go. Especially my grandma's.

It's easy to grab my wonderful wicker basket with a kitty softie inside and work on it here and there where ever I am.

Pearls from necklaces that have broke.

Bits of ribbon.

I have a very hard time passing up velvet ribbon even though it can be very expensive.

Ric-rac in tiny zippy's

Chris always ask me why I make such a mess if I'm cleaning up.

I tell him you have to deconstruct to construct.
Whew. The closet is completely, perfectly organized.

Happy organizing my sweet crafternooners.

Closet Completed

I finished it. I found such fun projects in different phases of completion.
There are so many photo's and tips I want to share with you. Tomorrow.
I am unexpectedly very tired tonight. So please excuse the short post.
I'll get all the photo's and such up by noon tomorrow.

I can see the floor!


The suit cases are empty so I have a bunch of storage space left.

I'm off to be early tonight. 9:30. Wow.

Freya's handmade school clothes

Organizing my sewing/crafting is high on my to do list. I have a very small home which requires very cramped and creative storage solutions. This is my closet. The whole closet. My challenge is to find a way to have space to hang the clothes I wear and space for the crafts/sewing I use often that I don't what to store downstairs. (Wait until you see my downstairs sewing space. DISASTER 1,000,000 + 2,000. Coming soon to this blog). Tomorrow I am attempting to conquer this in two and a half hours. I post it today because it was on my to do list today. I got a bit hung up on new books.

(The closet that is smaller than Harry Potters).



New books from left to right. For Oliver, The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo, for Freya the first two books of the Constance series by Pierre Le Gall (translated from French by Shannon Rowan and Robert Agis). And for me Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Interiors. (Chris bought Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh last week).
My home and style philosophy have been influenced by Rachel Ashwell and Shabby Chic for the last 12 years (and my sweet friend Judy whom introduced me to Shabby Chic. Judy's blog can be found at http://www.myhappychic.blogspot.com/ ). I love the European sensibility of re purposing and refurbishing rather than buying things shiny and new.
Most of the furniture you see in my home is vintage/antique. Not because I wanted to be fancy but because it was inexpensive and I love not having to worry if it gets knicked or bashed because it already is. For more Shabby Chic sensibility pop into Rachel's web site at http://www.shabbychic.com/




Another new school dress. Bubble dress pattern by http://www.oliverands.com/. I can't remember the fabric I used. I'll pay more attention next time.

Embellished with three different vintage buttons.

Check in tomorrow to see how/if I managed my closet space task.

Sundays are fun days

Sunday.
A finished bunting.
Tony Caputo's for lunch.
Beatles Rock Band with family and friends.
It was a good day.

Bunting with super fat red ric-rac.

Freya drumming.

Oliver singing.

Fabric fetish

Hi sweet crafternooners, I received a present in the mail a few days ago that I would like to share with you. All fabrics are from a wonderful shop called Super Buzzy. Check them out if you have a fabric fetish. http://www.superbuzzy.com/

Thrifting and Chivalry

I had two unexpected surprises today.
First, Chris and I stopped into the Deseret Industries today and I found three beautiful vintage necklaces.


I can never resist pearls. The clasp on this necklace is tarnished and missing stones, just how I like them. Alas the clasp doesn't hold making it unwearable but it will be great to break apart and use for embellishments.


Oh, my heart stops. A faux diamond and onyx fancy wearable. Freya wore this to do after school errands today.


I actually might wear this out and about. (If you know me I'm not a jewelry wearer girl just a collector). The pendant is a soft purple and the chain is very delicately thin. Also it is real silver which is quite a find .

"Just for fun" I purchased this 1955 children's reader. I'm addicted to every kind of ephemera.
( Holy cow, the cow is weaing glasses. hahahahaha. I laughed myself silly in the store).

The second unexpected surprise is while I was unloading groceries from my trunk a young man walking by stop and ask me if I needed any help. I stood dumbstruck for a few seconds and then thanked him and handed him my 2.5 gallon of water jug and the Otter Pops. I thought chivalry was dead. I would have really liked to call his parents and tell them what a fine young man they have raised.

It was a good day. I hope you all had a good day too.