I wanna work outside

The weather is taunting me. I can see the reflection of the sunlight on my computer monitor and it is making me want to go outside. Maybe I can convice everyone else in the office to rotate the cubicles so that they face the window. It would be more productive, right? ;)

The weather is perfectly fall. I've even set out my Halloween decorations and hung a fall wreath on the door. (It's wreath number 2, because someone stole my first wreath... Seriously, who steals a cheap wreath from CVS?) I made a wreath this time, so it was free. I've also set out the Halloween candy. At this rate, I won't have any candy left for Halloween. (Maybe I need to quit buying my favorite candy so I will stop eating it. )

I would like to go bike riding with Chris, but the rear brake fell off of his bike. (I was blaming the wreath thief for breaking the brakes, but a friend had borrowed the bike and forgot to tell us that the brakes fell off.

I still make stuff... I promise

I've been in a creative drought recently (as you probably noticed). Also, I've been busy organizing my coupon collection and trying to set up a method to use them. BUT.... here is my latest creation:

A diaper cake!

My cousin and his wife are expecting and they are having a baby shower this weekend. I've never given a baby gift before, so I was at a complete loss for ideas on what to give them. I wanted to give them something practical, so I was torn between outlet covers and doorknob covers or a diaper cake (because every baby needs diapers).

The cousins on my dad's side of the family were discussing how expensive diapers were and how they were always needing them. I knew that I wanted to give diapers, I just didn't know how to present them in an appropriate manner. Most how-to videos online tell you to roll up the diapers like a cylindar and tie them with a rubber band. That just seems impractical. Either the mom will have to spend hours untieing them or they'll wait and when they need a diaper, they'll have to fight with the rubberband before fighting to put the diaper on the baby.

I thought about buying a diaper cake, but they're so expensive! (and overpriced, too). After an hour of off-and-on searching, I finally found a how-to that doesn't involve rolling up the diapers. Instead, you arrange the diapers in a spiral fashion in a cake pan, secure the big wad of diapers with a rubber band, and flip the pan over. To make a two-tiered one, just use a smaller pan for the second layer and secure them with a paper towel tube through the middle.

It was really easy to make. Also, it's a very cute way to display diapers. (did I mention that I got the diapers at an uber cheap price because of a sale at Walgreens and a $3 off coupon)

... I had to throw coupons in there somewhere ;)

so many Big Lebowski references could be entered into this post...

I would insert tons of Big Lebowski quotes in this post, but I will not for two reasons.... the only references I have for the movie are what I've heard my husband quote over and over (and over) again (I've never seen it) and secondly, it's somewhat of a family-blog so I'll try to limit the swearing.

I'm always on the look out for a new rug. I don't know why, I guess it's just my crafting nature. I recently made a rug from old sheets and shirts to go under my dining room table ("It really tied the room together").

My roomate had a rug in college that was really soft and colorful. It was a nice rug and I always knew that there had to be some way to make it. I recently stumbled my way over to this blog that gave a tutorial on how to make a rug. I opened up the link, and there they were...instant instructions to make the rug. I'm thinking about making it.

No turning back....

I've been talking for a while now about selling my stuff online. (that's the main reason I started blogging). So, I finally jumped off of the deep end and opened up my little spot in cyberspace. I now have an etsy account (craftycollections.etsy.com) that takes paypal and money orders. Right now, I only have one item for sale, but will make more items as I can.

I'm also looking into buying a booth at the MSU Holiday Bazaar. It's a local craft show that happens around Christmas each year, on campus. Now I have to start making more items to sell so that I can stock-up. It's a 2-3 day event and would require me to have inventory on-hand since it takes me so long to make my items.

Another thing that I need to start doing is promoting my items. I want to send out a mass-email to family and friends, but then I don't want to be spamming. I've been telling myself that I will also post a status on facebook recognizing my shop but then I don't want to be someone who pushes their product on everyone.

I guess I just have low self-esteem when it comes to selling my products. I always go to shows and think "I could make that" but then never do. I want to sell my stuff, I just don't want to be pushy. To take a term from marketing, I want to be involved in relationship marketing, not just what most people have come to think of marketing-selling. I want to build relationships with my customers and create products that they will want to buy. I don't want to push my products onto people, just so I could turn a profit.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for the day. Have a good weekend!

A picture of my latest creation

Here is a sample of my latest project.

I finished this one last night.

Over a month?

Where have I been for over a month? Oh yeah, I know... homework. Anyway, 2 of the 3 classes are over now so that gives me a little more time to do crafts. The first project on the list... learning to cut tin.

The first thing to realize is that (besides seeing that an 8 foot sheet will not fit in my car) tin is sharp. I have battle scars all over my hands from trying to cut it. My brother in law is also showing battle scars since the tin cut him while it was in the trash bag.

I have looked online but could not find door wreaths out of tin. I think I may have found a niche market! Now, I just need to create a design that looks good and start selling.

I have made a cross, but it is in the design phase. I put it on my door last night, and when I had awoken, a decorative piece had fallen off. I guess I need to rethink using hot glue.

the hiatus didn't last long...

Only a week and a half after completing the new dresser, I have had a long-enough break from projects. (please don't bring up the crocheting project that I still haven't completed... and going on year 3 ;) ) I have decided to tackle something that is huge! It needs to be done (or at least that's what I'm telling myself). I have decided to reupholster my couch.




















With fabric like this, who wouldn't want to reupholster a couch from hair-grabbing fabric to a sleek and smooth leather surface?


Plus, with two fluffy creatures running around the house, it would be nice to have a place to sit that doesn't leave you with a ton of fur.
It would be a big project, especially with summer school about to start. I'm taking three classes this summer, so we'll see what happens.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

This is a quilt I made for my husband when we were dating. He joked around one night, saying that I should make him a "Megaman" quilt.

He may have been joking, but I took it as a challenge. I used an overhead projector to blow up the image, then traced it out onto waxed paper, then cut out the different colors of fabric and sewed them together. I then sewed the details of Megaman (fingers, boots, etc.) into the quilt.

I used twin-sized sheets for the back and front.

I really surprised him with this quilt for his birthday one year. He still wants me to make him a "Protoman" blanket.

We still have the Megaman blanket (so he must still like it after 5 years ;) )

I'm itching, literally, to finish my dresser

My arm is driving me crazy.... it's itching and stinging (which I assume is a good thing, especially since I had a plug of skin removed from my arm). Plus, I am figuratively itching to finish my dresser. It's sitting in the middle of my living room floor, right in front of the TV. Since it's 36" high, it's also blocking the TV.

There is sawdust on my carpet and on my sofa, lumber in the walkway and on the side-table, and a skilsaw by the front door... and what does Chris do? Invite someone over! My house looks like HGTV threw up in it and he has friends over.

I love friends, but I hate that my house is such a mess. At least I did pick up the plastic bags from the drawer slides last night. I also had electrical tape stuck to the carpet, but removed it.

I think now, I'm more ready to have my house back to normal than to have a new dresser.

I forgot to mention that Chris's office is also a mess since I took apart the video game shelf to construct my dresser. I had used 1x12's and 1x10's on the shelf and had planned to use the old dresser to store videogames, so I decided instead of having to store something else, I would use it in something else. Because of this, I have videogames everywhere! (tons of videogames for 5 different systems, all over the room)

I thought about sawing the lumber around 9 p.m. last night, but figured I would irritate the neighbors. (I should have, because around 11 p.m., my upstairs neighbor decided to play his guitar outside, on his porch, next to my bedroom window).

On the bright side, I picked up a new hobby... painting on glass. I found some paint at Hobby Lobby that looks like stained glass after you paint. I've been wanting to take up making stained glass creations, but it's such an expensive hobby to get into. This was a lot cheaper. All you need is stained glass paint (not sure if that's the real name, but it's what I'm calling it), glass/plexiglass, and an idea.

I'm stocking up...

This weekend, I started making purses for my new etsy store. So far, I have one bag-a tie messenger bag. I don't want to be one of "those" people who only have one thing in their store, so I am going to try to make a little more inventory before I go on-line with my store. I'm focusing mainly on purses, but who knows what I'll put in my store.

Blankets

Have you ever been inspired to do something, and it seems like a good idea at the time to start the project, but you just can't bring yourself to finish it? I am going through a phase like that right now with an afghan. I started it when I was in college but put it away. It's still incomplete, over five years later. Here is a small picture of the pattern I found on the internet. My afghan is a different color scheme... it's mainly purples, greens, tans, and creams.

Maybe this afghan never had a good start to begin with. It started to be another type of afghan, but was taken apart after I didn't like it. It was supposed to be a wedding gift for someone. They have now been married for over seven years!

I found this square online. It looks so neat. Also, I found a dog costume that would be awesome to make. Did I mention that awesome seems to be my word for the day?

This baby blanket looks like a good way to use scraps. I have some bright colors that would look great in this pattern.

The problem is that I have lost the drive to crochet. I start to do it and then I get tired with crocheting.

I have, however, finished one project. Remember the china cabinet I talked about for like a month? Here it is before:

And .....

(pause for dramatic effect:)

After!

I have also been talking about a chair. After pricing upholstery fabric, and since I was looking at needing at least two yards of fabric, I decided to buy a drop cloth used for painting. I got all of the material I needed for the price of one yard of upholstery fabric on sale!

Before: After: