Fabric Baskets

My mom is doing a craft show in early December and needed something simple to display some of her doll clothes, so she asked me to whip these up for her. So, I'll be making a bunch of these super easy fabric baskets for her show. She makes AG doll clothes, so they should look really cute displayed in these baskets. They are so easy and fun to make, I'm still thinking about whipping some up to "wrap" gifts in for Christmas. It takes me less than an hour to make one, so they are super fast and really easy, and cute to use instead of a basket for gifts!

Vintage Photo Necklaces

Here are my two most recent necklaces. I am pretty please at how they turned out. I used the easy cast resin, and found some vintage 50's photos and used them. The first is of a glamorous woman in a strapless black gown (in the photo she was standing in front of a Jackson Pollack), and the other is a little girl (who was waiting in line for a polio vaccine...not that you can tell on the necklace). They turned out very cute, and the one with the little girl, has a charm underneath that says dream, which I thought was appropriate. I have one more vintage pendant, I'm just not sure how I will mount it to a necklace. I have some other things I want to try, but can't find my bead books that I had yesterday. I want to keep making them, to perfect the craft, which is getting better each time I cast a pendant...just don't want to make more than I can use/give away! No more clutter in the house!

So these are what I have been working on over the last couple of days. I still have my other "christmas pendants" that I need to put on a necklace, I just have to get some blue beads or cording. But I'll be sure to post those when they are completed!

Resin Cast Pendants

These are kind of hard to see, but they turned out okay. I tried to add a photograph to the bead, and add a fabric background instead of painted background. The photos slipped around quite a bit, so I've learned that you need to do this type of cast in at least 3 layers. So, today, I am going to try some more. I want to do a 50's themed, B&W photo necklace. So I am heading to library to find some b&w retro photos, that will fit into my casts. I have already poured the first layer or resin, that will be the clear liner that sits on the top of the pendant. After that dries, I will coat the photo in resin, then lay it in exactly how I want it. This should keep the photo from slipping around in the cast. Once that is semi dry or at least tacky, I will add another layer on top, then put a resin coated fabric backing on it. I think I will use the same fabric I used on these pendants, becuase I think it will look good with b&w photos. Then I will sand the edges, drill out the holes for mounting it to a beaded necklace (with black beads), then coat with a high gloss sealer, just to give it some shine. Although, I will probably have to take pictures before I put the gloss on it, because I can't seem to get good pictures of anything with a high gloss. I like these, they are just very ameture looking. I'd like to perfect my craft a bit.

So hopefully, in another 24 -48 hours, the 50's retro necklace will be done and I can post some pictures of it!

Fun with Trash to Treasure!

Here is my newest trash to treasure item. It was a ratty old step ladder, that I knew I wanted to do something with, just wasn't sure what! It now matches my living room, and I plan on using it as either a display shelf for nick-nacks, or as an end table next to the sofa or chair. The paint matches the walls and the fabric will match the new living room set that I am getting. I think it will go very well with my shabby chic look! And it only cost me about 45 cents! I bought the fabric at Walmart, for next to nothing since I only need a little bit, and the paint was leftover from painting the living room, and the batting I had from another project! I just wanted to share, what you can do with a little imagination. I kept this item from being thrown into the landfill, and I got a great endtable in the process for about an hours worth of time, and less than a dollar! : )

My lastest crafty projects...

I had a lot of fun making these plastic resin pendants this weekend. The only down fall on these is that they were time consuming. It took a full 24 hours for each layer of resin to dry, plus the ones that were handpainted in between layers, needed extra time for the paint to dry. But I had alot of fun making them and they turned out kind of fun!

In the photo you can see the finished ones with blue backgrounds. I did some with yellow backgrounds as well, but the resin I tinted yellow is taking longer to dry, so I was not able to get them out of the mold yet. Some of them I will put onto ribbon and give away as necklaces, the two that are "Christmas lights" will be made into a fun pair of earings. I had alot of fun with these, but now that I know how they turn out, and I've learned a few tricks, I plan to make some more "snazzier" ones!

When I was making them, I put items that I was inserting into them, into the colored background, and I've learned that I should have put them into the clear front part to give it more of a 3-D effect. I did this on the top right one and it worked out much better than some of the others. I also want to try to do some that are all clear, but have a fabric back, with a clear layer of resin over the fabric. I think those will turn out really neat and I might start those today, if I can find some neat things to insert into them.

I am also in the middle of trash to treasuring a step ladder to use as an end table in my living room. I have painted it to match my living room and plan on putting some "cushions" on the steps just to jazz it up a little. I should have it done in a few days, and I was sure to take before pictures for comparision!

I also accidentally stumbled upon another project. While I was decopaging fabric onto the jewlery box I was making, I decided after the top was dry, that I didn't like it. So I pryed the fabric off of it, to start over, and the stiffened fabric actually made an eye catching, sun catcher! So that is another project I am going to work on today. I am going to pick up some red and green fabric, and make some stiffened fabric wreaths to put into my windows. I'm really excited about them, becuase I have 4 big windows in the front of my house and I have never been able to find x-mas decor for the windows, and I think I have finally found my solution. So as I finish these projects, I will certainly be posting pictures of how cute they turned out...or how horrible they turn out. We'll have to wait and see!

Well, I am off to the fabric store to pick up some essentials, then start some new projects! Hubby is back to work after taking a week of, and my son is back in school. So I can finally get back to a normal schedule and start crafting peacefully again! : )

Turning something old into something new...

I love giving new life to things. Trash to treasure is definately one of my favorite pastimes. However, I'm one of those people that has to wait until the item speaks to me. Sometimes, I find an item that I know has great potental, just not sure what it is. So I wait...and sometimes I wait and wait and wait...until it tells me what it wants to become. Sounds silly, I'm sure.

But trash to treasure inspiration struck this morning. Since midsummer, I've had this small weird stool hanging around the house. I picked it up at a garage sale, and I didn't pay much for it, becuase I could see lots of potential in it. I just didn't know what it was.

Well, I finally decided to turn it into a jewelery box for my niece for Christmas. I have some really funky fabric, so I have been decopaging the fabric onto the top in a mosaic kind of a thing. It is turning out really cute! I have only part of the top done, and you can't see the full picture yet, but it is coming! I can see it transforming before my eyes! I think it will ultimately be really, really cute! The before & semi-after photos above show the top. The center I've left open, becuase it will have a raised black fabric covered personalization on it for my neice. Now, I am just waiting for it to dry so I can get it on. Then I'll be off to getting the sides done and the inside lined. Then, being that my niece is only 4, I'm going to fill it with plastic "play" jewlery for her! I think it is going to turn out to be a great gift for her!

And, it has gotten me inspired to look around the house at what else I picked up this summer that still needs to be transformed into something new. I have an old 3 step ladder that needs some work. I am getting a new couch and love seat soon, and will be rearranging the living room. I am thinking about painting it in colors matching the living room, then putting "cushions" on each step, with just some thin batting, so we can still use it to put things on....hmmmm....I think I may have just found another project! Ha! I'm gonna have to go check out fabric for the cushions at the store!

My Favorite Holiday Traditions...

I have to say, even with the commercialism of the holiday season, it is still my favorite time of year. I love giving gifts, even if it is a bit contradictory of what I think about buying things you don't need, overpurchasing & overspending. But I think that is the challange. I spend time trying to find the perfect, useful gift for each member of our family and then trying to find it massively on sale. I never buy anything for the holidays that isn't on sale, so I always get a thrill about how much I am saving myself, when buying for others.

And I love decorating! The day after Thanksgiving is one of favorite days, because it is the day that I pull out all of my Christmas things and think about all the years gone by. When I got each ornament and where we bought it. It is one of our favorite traditions. I don't go out and buy Christmas decorations. Most of what I have, was given to me as Christmas presents or hand-me-downs. But each year, we go out and we buy one ornament that represents something significant that happened that year. The year we adopted our dog, we bought a dog ornament. The year we bought our house, a house ornament. And of course, a baby's first Christmas ornament for both of the kids. We are always sure to put the year on the back of each ornament, so as we pull them out we can look back at all the years gone by, since Hubby and I started dating! It is so much fun. We haven't purchased our ornament this year, but we have so many memories to chose from. Our son started first grade, we adopted our cat, we lost our third child when I was 18 weeks pregnant, and much more. So, I will have to spend some time narrowing it down and deciding what memory to signify this year.

Another one of my favorite traditions is my tree skirt. I made it when the kids were little. I cut out a red felt tree skirt, then each year, I have traced the boys handprints onto green felt, stitched their name and year on them, then stitched them to the skirt. It is one of my favorite things to bring out each year, and it is starting to fill out with handprints. I know it is something that I will treasure, when my kids are grown and living on their own.

Another favorite tradition, is our Christmas morning breakfast with our neighbors and best friends. When we moved into our house, almost 5 years ago, we didn't know any of our neighbors. They were close to us in age, and we had alot in common. But within a few months, we became fast friends and now they are our dearest friends, and I consider them family. Both of our families run around at the holiday season. We see our family, but we don't get to see our friends much. So, during our first holiday in our house, we invited them over for a small Christmas breakfast. It was wonderful. They get to see the boys open all of their gifts from Santa, which has been wonderful for them, because they hadn't started their family yet. So for them, it was a chance to tap into the childhood of Christmas again. I am so happy to say, that this year, they are expecting their first child in May, so I am sure next Christmas we will have another pitter patter of little feet at our Christmas breakfast table. But it gives us a chance to spend time at Christmas with those who choose to love (friends) and not just those we have to love (family).

I love Christmas and I am so happy that it is here! I am always able to manage the Christmas season with low-stress, and I think i is because I do the things that I enjoy and I skip the things that stress me out!

So, I say, bring on the Holiday Season....I'M READY!!!!!!