My Favorite Furniture Finally Gets Some Love

Some day when I finally settle down and stop being nomadic, I will invest in furniture to keep for the long haul. For now, I only have a couple pieces I will never part with. Everything else comes and goes as I move and no longer have use/room for them. 

I bought this Hi-Fi Cabinet right when I first moved out of my parents house. It was $35 and everything worked perfectly, even the record player. In the past 5 years it has moved a lot, earned some wheels to replace the legs, lost a door and been through a flooded basement fiasco. It's not looking so pretty anymore but it still works perfectly and sounds great! 

And, as with all my projects, it has been on my to-do list for quite some time. Well, I am currently in the middle of moving (hey, it's been two years!) to a new house. I couldn't stand to see it through another relocation without a face lift. So I guess moving was my motivation to finally sand it down and refinish it. the wood underneath was beautiful which made me indecisive about what color to use.

Finally, I settled on an espresso finish. The only problem was that the weaving on the front did not like the stain at all, which made me think I made the wrong stain choice and I should have stuck with the blonde finish, Ahhh! 

But then I took a deep breath and gave it a little turquoise attitude. Problem solved. The gold metal trim got a coat of silver and I'm happy. Now for that missing door over the receiver... the last one split so I'll have to go to Home Depot and get a new one cut. I wish I had more power tools!

I'm sure once I move I will have a whole slew of new projects to keep me busy, yay!

Remnants = Love

Lately my trips to the fabric store have been of the just browsing sort. But, the one thing I buy EVERY time I go is remnant fabric. I usually find at least half a yard or more of great fabrics that are marked down... and then marked down again! Right up my alley. 

I fell. in. love. when I saw this sunshine yellow cotton. As soon as I picked it up I knew what the finished product would look like. 

My sunshine skirt was designed and patterned entirely with the use of my homemade dress form (or as I call her, my stunt double) and it was SOOO much fun!

It was my first time making a garment without the use of a seam ripper, each piece was sewn just as it should be. I don't think I swore even once during this project, weird.

This skirt may actually be the only project that turned out exactly as I imagined. Can I be quick to fall in love with my stunt double or is it or is it a fluke? I guess the next clothing project will be the answer. As for now, I'm smitten.

An Effort Toward Organization

OK. This is embarrassing. How many of you have that room in your house that just ends up being storage? Storage for stuff you forgot you have or just don't have a proper place for. And for some reason it is never stored neatly, it just gets thrown in the pile of other stuff that doesn't have a home and it all mingles in a giant heap that you ignore for as long as you can stand. That would be my "craft/sewing room". It is no wonder I never get any projects done when it is such a disaster!

How do you get a smoke stain off w/o painting?

A dirty little secret about me, I LOVE being organized, yet (here is the dirty part) I rarely take the effort to keep the chaos at bay. So every so often I have to take a whole day (or more) to reorganize, and clean up after my laziness. Ugh. I do love the satisfaction after the mess is tackled which makes me wonder, if I kept it clean would I always feel that satisfaction? 

So I guess this post is to let the world know that I am now going to do my best to keep the peace with my clutter. Now hold me to it ;) The addition of a craft/work table really got me motivated!

Here is part of my progress (and my craft table!):

I've had this shelf forever (target) and added those blind support things to hold dowels for ribbon, I need more ribbon. 

Here is the crafty part of the day. This dry/erase/magnet board was just lying around with no purpose. So I decided to revamp it. 

I took the frame off, stitched some fabric together and put the frame back over it. Now I have a cute magnet board to post my inspirations and notes on!

A work in progress but at least there is progress. 

One Project Down, ____ to Go

I've had these cute but very plain notecards for a ridiculously long time. I was the kid that collected stickers and never used them because I was waiting for a special occasion. Now I guess I've moved on to stationary. Well now that I actually have a reason to use them, I decided they just didn't have enough of, well, anything. 

Scrapbook paper to the rescue. I matched the already colored borders to paper.

The final touch was printing quotes and then gluing. Super easy.

(I myself am made entirely of flaws)

(inside: stitched together with good intentions - Augusten Burroughs)

(Maybe one of these days I'll be able to give myself a gold star for being ordinary. And maybe one of these days I'll give myself a gold star for being extraordinary.)

(Inside: And maybe one day I won't need a star at all. - Sue Bender)

(Be Here Now)

(Inside: because, when you take a look around this life is pretty amazing)

(Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. - Carl Jung; blank inside)

(Dream as if you could live forever... Live as if you only have today; blank inside)

They are pretty simple but each is perfect for the person it will go to.

Does anyone else get the easy projects out of the way in avoidance of the ones that you're still trying to figure out? I have so many ideas tumbling inside my head, I just don't really know how to execute them. Here we go with that damn trial and error again. 

Oh! I also got a fantastic deal on a craft/work table at Ikea. I am so excited, I am in the middle of setting up my official craft room so I stop taking over the kitchen counter. Yay!

Stunt Double

Any time I go shopping for clothes you can find me examining the construction of the garment. Not because I care if it is well made, but I am inspecting the feasibility of creating my own. I usually return home empty handed but full of inspiration. I just can't see paying some of the prices asked when I can make one similar for SOOO much cheaper. Unless it is on sale... like under $10. What can I say, I'm thrifty. I don't think I own an article of clothing that I paid more than $20 for. Ok, maybe a couple pairs of jeans. But even my 7's were only $35.

Which brings me to this project. I have been wanting a dress form for as long as I can remember and found these instructions a couple years back. Of course I would make my own, have you seen how much a real one is?!?! Haha, I am too funny. Ask any of my friends how many times I say "I could totally make that" when shopping with me. 

Anyway, I FINALLY made one. And, with the help of my trusty side-kick, Anna, it was a success! My very own stunt-double dress form.

You definitely need to ignore any body/self image issues you may be holding with this project, it is a little odd to be looking at the shape of your body other than in a mirror! I opted to use paper tape which you can find in the shipping/packing section of an office supply store. You just tape over an old, fitted t-shirt and then cut it off once it dries. I also recommend watching a good movie or show to keep your mind off the fact that you can not move. We watched Muppets From Space, it was highly entertaining!

On a side note. For any of you pet lovers/owners out there, don't you just love that when you bend down to take a picture, pick something up or just try to utilize floor space they automatically think it is to give them attention... I do. It makes me laugh and I just had to share. This is Jasper:

Once I carefully took the form off, I taped the cut closed and paper taped over it. I then reinforced the neck, arms and bottom. Now all I need to do is stuff the form and create a stand for it. It was WAY easier than I thought and totally pain free :) I don't know why I put it off so long. Now I can make all those clothes that I study! For further inspiration, Kathleen over at Grosgrain just made this adorable little cardigan copy of an anthropologie find:

And wouldn't you know, she's giving this amazing creation away. But then again, she gives tons of amazing stuff away! Thanks for being an inspiration, Kathleen!

 Grosgrain: Anthropoli-fication Boyer Cream Cardi GIVEAWAY!!!!

Working Out the Kinks

Ok. I have been a slacker when it comes to my blog. Damn. I have been training for this triathlon and I am loving every minute of it. It feels so great to kick my own butt! But I am also missing the crafts. I think I may have just needed a break after the holidays. Also, I was getting extremely frustrated with my camera and its lack of desire to take a decent picture. Now I have a shiny new Canon that I got a fantastic deal on. Next up, a digital SLR... someday.

Anyway, I have had this little project in mind for quite some time and finally got around to finishing a semi-successful version of it. Don't you just love trial and error? 

I had a thought one day, "wouldn't it be nice to go out and not have to haul a purse with ALL of your belongings in it?" After making these cute flowers I had another thought, "it would be kind of fun to wear these as a corsage". Then the birth of the wrist wallet happened. I'm not sure if this has been done yet but I haven't seen it so let me know if you have. I still want to perfect it and keep playing around with the actual wallet part. right now all I can squeeze in there is an ID, credit card, some cash and a wee tin of lip balm. But then there is the dilemma of your cell phone... can't win them all. 

I may play around with bigger or multiple flowers.

The flower snaps on and off so you can change to another one to suit your mood :)

(yes, I STILL have a Utah ID)

In the Mood to Paint

Haven't really had much inspiration lately... I'm working on a couple different projects I just don't have anything fully finished, yet. So thought I'd post a little painting that I did. It was mostly for meditative purposes but I still like how it turned out. I had some gouache paint in primary colors and black and white. I just mixed colors until I got the color I wanted. Now I just need a better camera... mine takes horrible pictures, especially when indoors :( someday.

Closer up. This camera just makes it look so bad, sorry.