using your hands, being creative
It’s been an long time since my last post but if things go as planned I will be posting a lot more, especially about creating a handmade wardrobe (yay!). Since I’m going to be doing plenty more sewing I needed to find something to use as pattern weights as the scissors/jar/ceramic chicken just wasn’t cutting it. (Totally unintentional pun. ha ha.)
After a failed visit to the hardware store I decided to research bean bag type weights online.
Does anyone else find the boys/men in their family are the hardest to buy presents for? I think I’m a pretty awesome present picker-outer but when it came to deciding what to get for my little bro last Christmas I was stumped. I didn’t want to give him a gift card again or money. Was there anything I could make that he would actually use? My sister and I put our heads together and came up with a useful and warm idea!
I hate to throw anything away. I’d probably be a hoarder but watching all those hoarder shows on TLC has scared me into keeping my house at a light clutter. Which is probably for the best. I’d hate to have Stella go ‘missing’ one day, only to find her years later squashed flat under a pile of boxes. The point is, if something can be saved from the trash heap AND save us from spending money on a new one I’m all in.
This past summer my family’s beloved pet of 14 years passed away. She had been sick for awhile and it was time to let her go. Lulu, a Shar pei mix, was a loyal and loving dog. I can remember going with my Mom to help pick her out from her litter. I held her on my lap on the way home and was so excited to have such a cute and cuddly addition to the family.
In no time she grew up and loved to leap in the air, fetch sticks, give kisses and dance. I always felt safe when Lulu was around. She had a loud bark and could look very fierce if she wanted to. I think her favourite thing was just to be around her family. We never had to worry about her wandering off, she always came when called, and you could always find her taking a snooze wherever our family was gathered.
My sister and I never tired of trying to get her to wear hats and outfits, which she hated but tolerated up to a point. Earlier posts that featured Lulu are a video we made of her, Homage to keyboard cat, and the one summer we buried her in the sand, What I’m obsessed with today… 2 dogs and a cat.
Before Lulu passed away I got my Mom to get some modeling clay and make an impression of Lulu’s paw. I work for Peartree Impressions, a company that specializes in transforming delicate hand, foot, and pet impressions into stunning, one-of-a-kind keepsakes. They have a fantastic natural-clay kit to make the impressions in, but since I couldn’t get one to Lulu in time they were able to take a duplicate from the modeling clay. I had impressions made for me as well as my brother and sister. I choose to do mine in Aqua and have Lulu’s name written in script.
I wanted to figure out a way to display the impression with photos of Lulu and this was my solution. I got the frames and embroidery floss from Michaels and the twine from Target. My parents live beside a huge lake and Lulu loved the water so I incorporated the driftwood I collected there last summer. Hot glue helped to make sure everything stayed in place. I used a picture of her as a wrinkly puppy and another from her later years and I’m very pleased with the outcome!
Peartree Impressions is running a great spring giveaway until April 10, 2014. You can enter for a chance to win two of their impressions kits. Share with a friend or keep them both for yourself. They also make great gifts! Click to ENTER THE GIVEAWAY. Check out more examples of what Peartree offers on their website, Facebook and twitter pages.
Now every time I sit at my desk I’m reminded of all the good memories and fun times I had with Lulu. I feel like I have a little piece of her with me and that makes me smile.
My sister Halie is taking Fine Arts in University. Apparently her brushes did not have a case suitable for carrying to home, class and back again. She asked me to make her one, so here it is! I just made up my own pattern and using bias tape for the edges made it pretty quick and easy. The denim came from an old pair of paint stained jeans I was going to throw away and I used a piece of clear plastic on the inside to help protect the brushes.
Using the longest brush I had as a guide for height I thought there would be plenty of room, but my sister just had to have a super looong one! She says she likes so I’m satisfied. She took these pics in her studio and the last one is her hand so you can get a sense of the size.
Now that my sis has her paintbrushes all organised maybe I should make a case for mine!
Well last I checked it’s still winter. Yes, really! I’m not kidding you! I’m shocked too. It feels like its got to be at least March, but no, February just started. This DIY is pretty simple and you can do some of it, like sewing on the sequins, while sitting in front of a toasty fire with some hot cocoa!
My sister Halie, who is also modeling the sweatshirts, and I were out shopping one day and admiring all the tops with animals on them. We’re both a fan of pretty much anything with a animal on it. This gave me the inspiration for a DIY we could do together, so off we went to H&M to buy some cheap sweatshirts. These oversized ones cost $19.95.
SUPPLIES:
Plain sweatshirt, felt, sequins, nylon thread, thread the same color as felt, scissors and needle, sewing machine (optional)
First you need to pick an animal. Halie chose a fish and I picked a bear. Look up the silhouette of your animal of choice online and either use it as a reference to draw a pattern or increase the size and print it out. Just make sure it’s big enough but not bigger then your piece of felt.
After cutting out your felt in the animal shape use the nylon thread to sew sequins all around the edge of the felt. Stitch about a 1 cm from the edge so you have enough room to sew the felt to the sweatshirt.
Once your done sewing the sequins on, pin your animal to the sweatshirt. I put the sweatshirt on a dress form to make sure I had it positioned properly. If you don’t have a dress form you might want to (carefully!) try on the sweatshirt to ensure it’s not crooked and adjust if needed.
The last step is to take the thread that matches the felt and use the sewing machine to stitch between the sequins and edge of the felt. You could also do this by hand. I’ve washed and dried my shirt in the machine and it came out perfectly fine! If your not into animals a large letter, varsity style, would also look snazzy on a sweatshirt! The sky’s the limit!
RAWR!!!!!!
With two new roommates moving in this month I needed to get some more storage for the kitchen so off to Ikea I went with boyfriend in tow. Going Sunday morning we were able to take advantage of their $1 breakfast. It’s such a good deal and for $1 more you can add a piece of yummy cinnamon french toast!
I was all set on getting the Billy bookcase in black/brown until I realized the white one cost $30 less! All of a sudden white was looking like the better choice. I love all the room set-ups in Ikea. In one bedroom there was a bookcase with a pink patterned back. Walking over to it I realised they had just put fabric against the back panel, which you could also purchase there. Thank you Ikea for the cheap bookcase and a great idea to personalize it!
While my very handy boyfriend was assembling the bookcase I looked through my fabric stash to see what would look good and what I had enough yardage of. The fabric I choose is a groovy vintage cotton made in Japan. First I measured the panel and added 2” on each side. This is probably a 2 person job. While one person is sliding the fabric and panel through the grooves the other is pulling the fabric tight on the sides to it doesn’t bunch up or sag. It was actually quite easy and the extra fabric on the sides was handy to grasp on to. After I checked to make sure the fabric was snug we nailed the panel to the bookcase as per the instructions. What a huge difference! I think I’m going to have to do this to all future bookcases!
Adding a personal touch can go a long way in making even cheap Ikea bookcases fit your home and style.
victoria day to day 