Altered Thrift March 23, 2009

My favorite thrift store folks, Charlie and Pat, gave me two ceramic wall hangings when they were closing up their shop for the winter months.  I mostly took them because my granny taught me it was polite to take what is offered to you.  I have since found this to be a cultural/regional thing.  Southerners generally think you rude if you don’t take what is offered and Northerners think you rude if you do.  Just my take on it, feel free to share if you have a different opinion (I’ll let you decide if I mean that in a Southern or Northern way!).

Before:

Anyhoo, the hangings were ugly not to my liking so I painted them.  My original plan was to paint them one color but I couldn’t decide between the green or the blue and my craft group said go for it with both colors.  I hope to do one more coat of a high gloss finish but for now I hung them up.  I might have to take them down later as my husband diplomatically said last night, “I like what you have done with those, I’m just not sure if I like them enough to hang them in the living room.”

After:

I think I might need to move my hippo and green man if they stay but more than likely they are headed to the craft room.  No worries.  It really was about the process for me on this one.  It was fun to paint and see them transform from fugly to less fugly (says me).

I had to stop myself from painting more things blue.

Play Dough Goodness February 23, 2009

February is the month I volunteered to make play dough for my son’s classroom. We had great success with the first batch, a pink sparklie blob made tons more fun used in conjunction with a brain jello mold (stolen borrowed from a friend).  No photos of the play dough brain but I snapped plenty of round 2.

Pretty Standard Play dough Recipe (as given to me by my son’s teachers)

4 cups flour

1 cup salt

4 cups water

4 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup cream of tartar  (this stuff is a little pricey but I always do what teachers tell me!)

Mix in saucepan and stir until dough is formed and not sticky.

glitter,kool aide, food coloring, curry (will get to this soon) optional

*I believe this is my first recipe I’m sharing on my blog. Dinner at my house for all my friends!

–

I won’t admit what time it was last night/this morning when I found myself at the stove mixing up this batch like a mad scientist.  Let me recommend that you not double the recipe.  I decided to so I could make an extra big batch for school and have some left over for my youngest to enjoy.  Man, “stirring” the globby mess for about 30 minutes or so was not enjoyable.  Next time I will mix up the dry ingredients and cook it in 2 separate batches.  Something else I will do differently is leave out the curry powder.   I have used curry and coffee to dye playsilks before with really cool results.  Not so with play dough.  First off, I dumped all my sweet curry from Penzey’s into the play dough, never to be seen but sweet goodness are we SMELLING it!  I’m guessing the teachers are going to politely ask me to make another round tonight.  I ended up using food coloring and made an orange and a yellow.  I rolled them into balls with the yellow on the outside and the red “hidden”inside.  Hope they are enjoyed.  We have had a blast smelling playing with our lot this morning.

I’m typing a plug for the play dough accoutrements to be found in your house (or in thrift stores).  We go on a hunt as part of our playdough prep and this time we came up with an egg slicer, tea bag press, magnifying glass, pencil, straws, tooth picks, sandwich shaping thingie, measuring cups, bottle caps and a building block to use as a roller.

Feel free to share any of your play dough tips and tricks!  Always looking to mix it up. or like they sing on Yo Gabba Gabba, “Go crazy, go crazy!”.  That show is a larger part of my life than a) I would like and b) would like to admit.

We Interrupt the Regularly Scheduled Program… February 17, 2009

Sorry to bust in on “Yellow Week”  but I wanted to share (share, brag, whatever) about a fun meet up I had today with Mimi and Melissa.  Mimi and I met up once before (twice if you count her being kind enough to give me some boxes, which I will put to good use if sales ever pick up again in my shop.) but this was the first time meeting with Melissa.  It wasn’t the first time we planned to meet up but the first time it actually happened!

It was lovely.  Lovely and surreal.  It is strange to meet up with people who you a) already know bits about, some really deep and personal, from reading their blog and b) have so much in common with from the word jump.  As we climbed to the top of the stairs in Mimi’s amazing house on the way to her studio, Melissa squealed, “Just look at this linoleum!”.  I’m used to being the only friend who thinks the vintage wallpaper in the house my friend is planning to knock down and build up something else in it’s place is amazing.  It was easy conversation because we were speaking the same language without any of the awkward getting to know you chit chat, “What’s your favorite color?”.  At times I felt like they were speaking an advanced version of the language as they are both talented working artists but I enjoyed hanging in there and drinking it all in.

It is inspiring to be around people who combine dreaming with doing.

After lunch we took a walk to see an old rusted iron fence Mimi wanted Melissa to see and on the way we popped in to our local fabric store.  It was fun to watch Melissa get some recognition for being one of the Free Spirit (not Fresh Spirit as some may call it) designers and to see her do her thing.  I had to stop myself from yelling, “I’m with her!”  And her!” Next time I go in I will ask if they are carrying Melissa’s line yet.  I will NOT be buying the salmon fabric they are currently pushing.

We continued on our walk to the fence and once there we all three whipped out our cameras and began to DOCUMENT.  Each of us will post our photos and it will be interesting to see our different takes on the same subject.  Here are my non-yellow shots of the aforementioned rusty fence.

I really like this one Mimi took of Melissa and I doing our thing.

So thanks for an enjoyable afternoon.  Being with you both has expanded my dreams and for that I am grateful.  That sounds a little dork-ass-punk (or DAP as my husband says) but it’s a true story.

Quick Valentine Idea February 14, 2009

I am coming late with the Valentine ideas but here is a fun card to make.

I made these a few years back, in my Get Crafty days, and just found the photo in the depths of my Flickr sets.

I printed vintage Bollywood posters then use repurposed cardboard and I sewed them sandwiched with vinyl. Finally, I punched some grommets in the corners to hang the cute little cheap Valentines.

And here are the presents we gave to my son’s teachers today.  He glittered up some wooden IKEA frames and picked out a vintage Valentine for each teacher from the shop.  I forgot to take a photo of them before I wrapped them.

I was laughing at how many non-laundry uses I seem to find lately for clothespins.  I love these little mini ones that I used to fasten the photo card to the package.

I am trying my hand at making some Valentine chocolates tomorrow.  Will report back.

I am a posting MACHINE this week.

Your Brain, Please February 11, 2009

You are all the craftiest folks I know and I could use your help!    If you are a friend, a reader, a commenter, a lurker, a stumbler, or just an other;  I need to pick your brains.

Here is the deal, every class at my son’s school decorates 1 chair which is then put up for auction to raise money for the school.  I was asked to be responsible for the K chair.  I was thrilled and flattered!  I picked this wonderful (but in retrospect more work!) vintage desk and chair.

My first ideas were:

-sort of decoupage but of what?  The children?

-A stencil of words to describe the school.

-Chalk board paint and…?

– a paint by numbers kind of thing.  I am thinking about using a photo of the AMAZING teachers (which would open up bidding to other grades and not be so specific to the parents in this current K)  A friend suggested I use the Obamicon but it didn’t quite come out right.

-My very first idea was to have the kids rip strips of fabric and weave it in the slats of the chair but while I like the symbolism I think it would look a mess.

My sense is that in the past the children have had varying levels of participation.  I was hoping the woodshop teacher would let me bring in the pieces so the kids could help sand as a choice during woodshop.  And hopefully they could be involved a little bit more than that as well.

Any ideas?  Links?  Suggestions?  Half formed visions?  Exact drawn out plans?  I welcome any and all suggestions.  PLEASE HELP.

Oi vey, I am starting to panic.

No Spend February :: FAIL February 4, 2009

I thought this sounded like a good idea and I am was am on board.  I have already allowed that second hand does not count, let’s not go CRAZY.  But today I blew it with one very cool purchase!  I embarrassed myself, and probably all of you as well, while paying for it at the counter.  I said, and I cringe, “All my blogger friends are going to be so jealous!”.  I said it OUT LOUD.  To another human.  I completely dorked out and maybe secretly I wanted the very hip cashier lady to say, “Oh, you blog?”  thus thinking me immensely more interesting and cool than she previously had summed me up to be.  Moving on.

You really are going to be jealous though.  Is this not the COOLEST fabric ever?  I paid more than I usually do for fabric  but come on!  The aforementioned cool cashier lady said it was made in South Africa.  I bought it here.

Here it is all packaged up.  It’s a little over 2 yards, is my guess.

I like this bit and hope to use it to make a stencil.  I’ve been wanting to do some etched pint glasses.  It’s on the list.

Cool selvedge which I thought was called salvage until this amazing  crafter.

Now some would have ironed prior to taking these shots.

I bet I could beat 90 % of them at arm wrestling.  100% at air hockey.  That last one is a FACT.

I do not know how I am going to cut into this.  But cut I must as my 6 year old (who was with me for his dental appointment) has requested a pillow for rest time at school with Obama’s face in the center.

I have a project for me in mind as well.  Will share when it comes to fruition.

Hope you are having a hopeful day!  (and that you are a twinge jealous)

365 Days of Toys February 3, 2009

I recently found this group on Flickr (oh how I love thee Flickr), 365  Toy Project.  I am on day three but put together a collage on Picnik (I love thee too) to give you the idea and to illustrate this here post (for some reason I want you to say that in the cowboy accent I used in my head, thanks).

Every day you take a new photograph to add to the pool.  You can set up a scenario, add a story, snap it as it lays on the floor, use your kids toys or your own (rated G).  If you are up for a fun project I would encourage you to join.  Please tell me your Flickr account and we’ll be contacts and follow each others projects (and maybe participate in some light mocking of others)!  I’m thinking this is right up your alley Anne.  The toy part, not the mocking of course!

And I will tell you one more thing, taking photos of the toys is a heck of a lot more fun than picking these little b@stards up!

Sick of Sick… January 29, 2009

and Tired of Tired!

Both boys sick again, damn winter.

…and…

Before I had my own blog and realized how easy it is to manipulate “reality” through photography, I used to visit sites and feel inferior about how cool and clean everyone’s house was.  So in the interest of keeping it real, here is a shot taken the same day and in the same room I did my tutorial.   It was a glorious day spent making and creating crafts (and a mess) instead of picking crap up, which I find is NO FUN whatsoever.

See the fun shirt special ordered by my 2 (kinda soon to be 3) year old?  Now see that pile located just under our hands?  Big dog food storage bag bought at IKEA full of clean clothes waiting to be folded and then never put away, which accounts for the mess just above the bag.  Hard to tell because it all looks like one pile but it’s all about 3 piles deep.   The furthest pile, living safely at the top of the stairs,  is a box of our Chanukah stuff with bags from our trip to NC in DECEMBER on top of them.  The remaining colorful bits are the kids’ winter jackets and snow pants. This place does not have a hall closet and the over flow from the “gear” basket is maddening.

But it is a cute little shirt!  From the depths of mess much creativity can emerge.  Right?  Now I am going to try and at least put the Chanukah stuff away.  I HATE cleaning so much.  I wish it was different but it has always been this way.  I LOVE rearranging and reorganizing but it’s the monotonous upkeep that blows.  Surely I am not alone in this.  Does everyone just suck it up and deal?

And here is a link to a wonderful photo on Flickr by CowboyMontgomery, whose photography I deeply admire.  I am going to order a print of this for my 40th birthday.  I will not, however, be making a cupcake shirt with 40 candles for the occasion.

Tutorial For Craft You Already Know How To Do! January 27, 2009

This was one of the easiest Freezer Paper Stencils I’ve ever done.  My oldest thought the photo of my youngest sticking out his tongue was “cute” and wanted me to print it out.  Broken printer so I FPS’ed it on a shirt instead.  I scored a cute Garnet Hill shirt from the thrift store yesterday that I spied with FPS’ing in mind.  I  then used the tracing trick to get the image for the shirt, cut it out, ironed it and slapped some fabric paint on it.

I just stepped away from the computer to try and make my first TUTORIAL!  Of course I did not think to document as I went last night so I just recreated the steps to make this easy and fun fps silhouette shirt.

Step 1 :: Pick image you want to make and gather your materials:  freezer paper (different from wax paper in that it is waxy only on one side), pencil, sharp little scissors, paint, shirt.  You can get freezer paper at some grocery stores and at most craft stores.  Giant hiney shaped gourd basket, optional.

Step 2 ::  Trace image using freezer paper (remember to use painters tape so it doesn’t gunk up the screen).

Step 3 :: Cut out the image.  You can either make a clean cut in from the corner or fold and cut.  You need to do this step cleanly because it’s going to form the outline for your stencil, you paint the negative space.

Step 4 :: Iron your stencil wax side down onto your shirt (underwear, pants, whatever!).  Be sure of placement because these stencils are 1 shot only.

Step 5 ::   Paint the inside of your stencil.  I usually paint starting from the paper going towards the middle to decrease chance of the paint bleeding.  Any fabric paint works but word in my craft group is that these potted paints are the best:

Step 6 ::  I am an impatient person so I usually peel my stencil off straight away.  I’ve never had a problem, just make sure to be careful not to let the wet paint on the paper rub against either the clothes you are actually wearing or the project you’ve just put a lot of time and effort into!  Not that I have done either mind you, just a word to the wise.

Step 7 ::  Let it dry.  The directions say 24 hours but re-read step 6.  Last night I waited exactly an hour, then ironed it and let it sit over night.  I’m throwing it in the wash today (inside out) and I’ll let you know if the silhouette slides off!

Here is the book I bought but haven’t exactly read (this post on Whatknot really rang true for me).

But as I flipped through I was particularly taken by this looker:

And intimidated by the advanced nature of these ‘uns:

And that, my friends, is my first tutorial.

Today I do not feel like a craft blog imposter!

Silhouette Quick & Easy January 24, 2009

I love silhouettes and am practicing to become a master.  I bought a how-to book & tiny scissors but am still waiting to excel!  I have a problem with this sort of thing.  I took a couple of banjo lessons years ago and I am embarrassed to admit that I was a little (ok, a lot) shocked that I was not a virtuoso straight away.  I would hate to think that was the reason I didn’t stick with it but…  And while I have not yet mastered the art of cutting I am having fun bumbling along.  Progress?

Here is a quick trick that my friend Lauren uses for freezer paper stenciling that I applied to silhouette making today. I pulled up the image I wanted to use of the boys and traced it directly off the computer screen.  Maybe you all already do this but I thought it was a darn good idea.  I used painters tape and that worked well, no gummy crap on the screen.  I first used regular printer paper but it was hard to get the finer details, optimally I would have tracing paper in the craft room but since I don’t, I cut up the wax envelop that stamp sheets come in.  I heart wax paper.  After cutting out the image I used the wax silhouette as a template for tracing onto the black paper.  I couldn’t find the special silhouette paper at the craft store but I didn’t try that hard since I was thinking they were planning on charging me big $$$ for it.  I bought some black origami sheets and they are working well.  Any expert scherenschnitters out there want to enlighten me why I need the special paper?

You might see a little blue peeking out because I backed it with painters tape to give it some stability. I tucked this into the corner of my framed Shepard Fairey print of Andre the Giant that hangs right next to the computer (so I look at it A LOT).  I am going to give it another shot with their full heads so they look a little less like kissing robots!

The boys wanted in on it so they illustrate the plain paper cut outs from my first tries tracing.

These are now hanging in the “gallery” located in our front stairway.  My oldest  commented, “I don’t know why we didn’t use black paper.”  Anyone else have a 6 year old?  In addition to being able to do NO WRONG, in their own eyes, it seems they also specialize in the free and frequent critiquing of their mothers.

And on an unrelated note, Be My Vintage Valentine was featured on The Storque today over at Etsy!  Thanks to Eartha Kitsch for giving me the heads up!

Edit to add:  Please notice the lovely candlestick that I bought at Charlie and Pats (come back to me C&P!).  I guess I desperately wanted you to notice it as I moved it to be in both shots.  Nope, no shot setting up here.  I just shoot it as it falls.  Really.  Mostly.  Hardly!  BUSTED.