Bailey's Treats

When my aunt goes away, I "Bailey-sit" (that is, I dog-sit her dog, Bailey). So this time while she was gone, I redid Bailey's treat canister. It wasn't without permission, of course- I was sort of given creative freedom. :)

I saw this post a little while ago and decided that it would be perfect for Bailey's treat container. With some minor adjustments made for the fact that it was three dimentional and not a flat card! Anyway, here was what I started with. Not a great photo, because it was about 10 pm last night and that doesn't allow for great light!
This is how it ended up!
I made homemade barbed wire with a couple strands of a little more pliable wire
I drew this skull and crossbones because I don't have that cricut cartridge!



Here it is at it's new home!
Here Bailey! What do you think?

Happy dog? I think so. :)

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Hooray for mail! And my cabinet makeover!

I was kind of surprised this morning when the mail lady pulled up to the mail box and then backed in and beeped. I wasn't expecting anything (cause I only get good stuff if I order it, of course!) So you can imagine how excited I was to get this:

And inside were all these amazing goodies!!!
My dear friend Kim moved to Virginia a few months ago (so sad that she's gone...) and she sent me this great package! It had the most adorable card that was embroidered:
Look at these cute little birds!
A book by Francine Rivers- it looks great! I better hurry and read the other 3 that are waiting for me!
A Bible study! This is exactly what I've been looking for- like a workbook. I have to actually do something because just reading doesn't keep my attention when it comes to absorbing material.
And like 4 yards of material! Yes- 4 yards of beautiful pink material! How awesome is that! The note said to make something for myself, but I haven't a clue what I will make. A dress maybe?
Look how pretty it is! I love it!
Isn't she the sweetest thing? What a wonderful friend. I miss having her here, though!
And now, moving along to a recent *not so great* makeover (as mentioned in an earlier post about things not going so swell...) Here is a cabinet I picked up from the side of the road. Okay, so I didn't pick it up- I helped my dad. I was sooooo excited to have something to put my sewing stuff in, and I just knew I could make this pretty again!
So, me being the impatient one that I am, got to work and sanded the entire thing then used a 1 in foam brush and primer and covered the entire thing. Yes- with a 1 in brush. Heaven forbid that I wait and get a little roller from my parents the next day. Isn't that crazy? Well, that's not the craziest part actually.
The next morning when I checked, the primer would just rub/scratch right off. Oh my goodness. I was so disappointed. I spent a lot of time sanding and priming (especially with that little bitty brush!) and I was pretty bummed thinking the entire thing was ruined. The only other thing I could think of was to use Krylon Fusion paint that is made for plastics. I mean, if it sticks to plastic it should stick to this, right?! I hadn't planned on spending money like that, but what's a girl to do?
I sanded the primer off and tested an area with the fusion. Hooray! It worked. I was glad that all wasn't lost. Of course, now I had to sand the entire thing and repaint it. Good grief. Not my idea of fun. As I'm going to town with my sanding block, my mother (genius that she is!!!) mentions "um, your dad has an electric sander..." (like duh, Amanda)
So, enter my new BFF. At least for this project he was! This totally saved my back and arms, I'm sure. Not to mention a lot of time. So I was, once again, excited.
Here we go. Almost back to square one. Re-sanded. When I went to wipe it down with a cloth to remove the dust all the primer washed off. It was gross. Yucky water and I was scrubbing. I spent a few hours on this part alone. blah.
So a couple coats of spray paint later... (4 cans as a matter of fact, and they only had this white color that would go with my room. I really wanted the peachy orange to match the far wall...) I didn't do much on the inside stuff that wouldn't be seen. Actually, I didn't paint inside the upper cabinets at all. I didn't want to have to buy more paint and I needed several coats on the outside.
The drawers were a mess, but I just knew I could fix them too. And I did. Sort of. They aren't perfect, but they were *mostly* free.
Moved it to the basement...
Added the door and drawers (one drawer was missing, so the bottom became a make-shift shelf)
Started loading it with stuff!
My fabrics are hidden in this tall side.

More stuff in the totes. I got those boxes a while back at Walmart for 6.00 total. I originally intended to use them for my son's toys, but it wasn't too great since you can't see in them, and he constantly drug them all out looking for stuff.

I also added a flower to match my wall. I wanted the cabinet to be all peachy-orange but since that wasn't panning out, I figured a flower was better than nothing. I still think it needs something, but I'm not sure what to do.

Anyway, another mediocre project. It just wasn't a great crafting week for me! But, the cabinet cost about 25.00 total and it hides my stuff, so I won't complain...... too much....

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Basement Wall...

Does anyone besides me have those times when none of the crafts you're making are working out? Because the last week has been a pretty big flop for me! I'm in a crafting slump or something! I have great intentions of doing wonderful things, but they just keep turning out mediocre. Here is the latest to add to that list:

My basement wall. It's been pretty boring and I wanted to do something cute and girly that would liven up the boring (blue) space. So I printed a huge picture (it was 30 pages) and taped it all together. It looks a little strange because I deleted everything that wasn't necessary so I didn't use all my ink.

Then I taped it to the wall where I wanted it. I thought I was going to use carbon paper to transfer the image but 1) you can't find that stuff anywhere and 2) the little bit that I had from the place I used to work wouldn't work anyway. **Disclaimer- I didn't steal it from my old employer- it was between sheets that we would occasionally have to fill out and after I would do mine, instead of throwing them away, I'd keep them. I have like 5 whole pieces**

So, I had to just use the papers as a guide and draw it on the wall. I drew it in pencil first and then traced my lines with white paint pen so I'd have a better guide. It's a little hard to see.
Then I started painting

And painting

And then I was done. And not exactly thrilled. But I guess it is growing on me...
It sort of reminds me of a 1994 stenciled wall, and I'm not crazy about that at all. Not that there is anything wrong with 94 or stencils. I'm just not that into them.

I guess it's better than plain blue. Now I'm trying to decide if I should paint a peachy orange flower on the armoire thingy I scrounged off the side of the road.... More on that later (another not so fantastic craft from this week)

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The T-shirt Bag

When my aunt saw my jersey bag and mentioned me making her a bag with an old t-shirt, I figured it'd be a breeze. I knew sewing with knit wasn't a walk in the park, but I was pretty confident that I could do it. For Pete's sake, I will NEVER sew another thing with knit again. Seriously, oh. my. goodness. I was a nervous wreck, and was pretty convinced I had ruined her shirt forevermore! I guess it turned out *decent* (which is pretty debatable actually). I was all geared up to do a tutorial, and I sort of did, but I'm telling you people- run for the hills! Don't attempt this! My tutorial is choppy because 1) my camera died about 5 pictures in and 2) I was so frustrated and ticked off I didn't care about pictures or tutorials anymore- I just wanted to FINISH the dumb thing! Anyway, moving on to what I have... :)


If you're crazy enough to attempt this, just remember I warned you! Gather your supplies- your t-shirt, lining fabric, fusible fleece, belting for the strap and all the cutting materials- cell phone and coffee are optional but highly recommended!
I started but cutting right across the bottom so I could work a little easier with the sides. I cut a few inches off the bottom, but left a few under the design since I knew I'd be sewing it to be "boxy" and it would lose a few inches at the bottom.
Cut the sleeves off by cutting up each side. I went 2 inches from the design.
Cut the top straight across directly under the neckline (or somewhere above the design and under the neckline if your shirt is larger)
I thought I was pretty much a genius by using masking tape to keep the edges from pulling when I sewed, so I added that and then pinned the sides right side together. (BTW, I'm totally not a genius and my idea pretty much STUNK!)
Then cut your lining fabric the same size as your measured piece of cut t-shirt. My shirt was 15.75 in by 17.5 in. My used a long piece for the lining and folded it in half, so I cut it .5 in shorter to allow for the missing seam allowance on the bottom.
Then cut matching fusible fleece to be ironed to the lining fabric
Iron the fusible fleece to the lining material
Cut a piece of lining fabric to be used as a pocket (I made mine shallow but long so it covered the entire length of the bag and made 3 smaller pockets- not necessarily by design but because that was the size the left over lining material was and I'm too cheap to throw it out). Sew around the edges with right sides together, leaving an opening to turn right side out. This is when my camera died, so after you turn it right side out, clip the corners and iron it flat, turning in the opening.
Pin in place on the lining, but keep in mind that you'll lose about 1/2 in at the top for the seam allowance. Be sure and pin the opening down, because you'll want to sew it shut when you sew around the pocket.
Sew the sides and bottom of the pocket. I then sewed up two more lines to make 3 pockets.
You could even do yours straight. I mean, if you really wanted to...


Sew up both sides of the lining, but leave an opening to turn the bag right side out.

Now the most fun part (I'm completely kidding now). Sew the sides and bottom of the t-shirt. Nothing I tried made this easy or even anything close to easy. It was horrible. I finally decided to go look online to find some tricks to sewing knits but lo and behold my internet was down... Stinkin' Time Warner. UGH! So I just kept struggling until (after about 2 hours. Seriously) I finally finished...
Then mark a line across the corners of the bag- both the t-shirt (which I didn't photo because it was just a continuation of the train wreck that is sewing knit) and the lining, and sew across to make the boxy part of the bottom. Cut the excess off and turn the t-shirt right side out and place inside the lining (so right sides are still together). Pin the strap where the seams meet on the sides and place the strap between the right sides of the fabric. Sew around the top, double stitching where the straps are connected then turn right side out and push the lining down into the bag. I had to finally hand sew the opening (which I never do because it's easier to machine sew normally) but the machine and I werent' friends by this point...
Then (after a gruelling morning) you're done. There it is... all that work and it's sort of lopsided. Oh, my. I hope my aunt doesn't cry when she sees that I butchered her shirt. :( Sorry Aunt Bon!

Here is the final bag- the inside:
The whole she-bang...
Maybe the fact that there's a hottie on there will make up for the poor worksmanship!

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