I'm moving!

I am relocating! After some advise from a friend and fellow blogger, I have decided to move my blog to a custom internet home - http://craftingtherapy.net/

It's more user friendly- including the option to search for specific craft project categories and there will be more content on the way!

Come take a look if you would like to continue keeping up with my crafting therapy!

Easy Decor: Starfish Canvas

I was recently made aware of the fact that I do not have very much decor in my home. I already knew this of course, but had not bothered to do much more than the few sturdy pieces I own. We have moved a lot in the last few years and I have lost decor due to me not liking it well enough to move it, so I gave it away, or damage. Well, I decided I had better do something about it, since it's not really acceptable for a mid-twenties couple with kids to rock the 'bachelor pad' style.

This is my starting project- a super easy wall hanging for my bathroom. Here is how you can make one for yourself in less than 2 hours!

You will need:

• 12"x 12" canvas from the craft store (or any other size you wish) I got mine on sale (50% off) for $4.49
• A cured starfish (or other 3 dimensional object of choice) I got the big starfish at the craft store for $2.99 (wish I would have snagged the starfish from the beach that one time...)
• A few colors of acrylic paint. I already had those, but you can get the store brand for about $0.89 each at a craft store (less if you use coupons!) I used 3 colors (periwinkle, lavender and silver). You can use as many or as little colors as you want!
• Half a kitchen sponge
• Container for paint. I use a disposable food storage sandwich box.
• Paintbrush. You only need it to stir your paint. 
• Craft adhesive. I get the super strong stuff because it lasts forever. This time I used Fab-Tac, which cost me $8.99 for a bottle, but I probably used about $0.10 worth of it.

1. Create a work space. I did mine on top of my washing machine with an old towel covering it. Wherever you chose to work, protect the surface from paint with an old towel or t-shirt.

2. Make sure you have all materials and have them at hand.

3. Pour your first paint color into paint container and add a small amount of water to thin it out for sponge painting

4. Begin using your sponge to apply paint to the surface of the canvas. You control how much or how little paint you apply, so you may want to be light handed on the first pass to get a feel for it, or test it on cardboard first. Example below:

5. Cover entire canvas with first color, but don't forget to do the side edges too!

6. After completing your first color, do the second color the same way. I chose to do the lavender first, and then I thinned the periwinkle a little more and did it second to give it a little bit more of a watercolor effect. You can try different techniques on cardboard if you are not sure what you want the effect of yours to be. I finished mine with a few light sponges of silver to give it a little sparkle, but you can chose whatever color scheme you want, that is the greatest part of a DIY project!

This is my finished sponge paint.

 7. After your canvas has been completed and dried, use your craft glue to apply your 3 dimensional object (in my case, a starfish). Apply the glue to the back of the object being careful to not spread too much where it might become visible. Place 3 dimensional object on canvas and leave flat to dry. The bottle of adhesive will tell you how long you should let it dry.

8. Enjoy your artwork! This project should have cost you  $9.50 or less to create, it is customized to your colors and taste and takes less than 2 hours to make! 

Close up of textures

Finished product!

Cutting corners isn't worth it...

I started a large quilt several years ago when I had my old sewing machine and never finished it. Life happened, and I didn't have the time, space or energy to work on it. Well, I decided to pull it out of the craft storage and work on finishing it. Unfortunately, I noticed some problems with the work I had already done.


When I started the quilt, I hadn't yet realized the importance of pressing seams before sewing them, using thread that wouldn't show through the fabric, and worst of all, the lower quality machine I had been sewing on wouldn't sew at an even tension. When I pulled the quilt bits out today to take a look, I decided there was only one thing to do... I had to rip the seams and start over. Sure, I could just keep on going, but then I'd be unhappy with the end product, which I plan on using on my bed, so I will see all those little imperfections every single day. The photo above is just some of what I'd sewn already that must be ripped out and re-done.

The moral of the story is to do a little research before starting a project, and not to cut corners on things that don't seem very important. You can either end up being best friends with your seam ripper, or start out being better friends with your sewing machine and iron.

Black & White Quilt

Here is another project I have done in the last year. This black, white and pink quilt for a crib or toddler bed was an easy and fun one to make. I have plans to make another like this in purple, turquoise and lime green. Just thought I'd share. I'll share measurements for cuts too if anyone would like to make one of their own :)

Baking: the messy craft.

Sometimes in my whirlwind of crafting, I feel inclined to do a little baking. These are the moments my husband both loves and dreads the most. While I can turn out some tasty treats, I am not fond of the cleaning up portion. By the end of a good baking spree, the kitchen looks like Siberia in a snowstorm from all the flour and I have dirtied pretty much every utensil I own.


The last little baking spree I went on was for a bake sale to support an FRG event. Here is how it went...

My mom got me this mini doughnut maker for Christmas. What better way to give it a test spin than to make several dozen mini doughnuts for the bake sale, right? Four dozen mini doughnuts later, I had two dozen that were acceptable enough for human consumption. I admit, there probably would have been more 'winning' doughnuts, but my almost three year old son, Chef BoyRowdy, was 'helping' quite a bit...


After letting the edible doughnuts cool, I iced them with pink and white icing- they looked beautiful! I gave myself a little pat on the back and moved onto the next project, a pineapple upside down cake.


Pineapple upside down cake is my favorite cake. The problem with mine, is that I love it so much that I don't care if it's pretty, as long as I can eat it. So, I whipped up a 10" round and put it in the oven. I still had enough batter left for a 4"x4" cake, so I proceeded to make one for me. While I was pouring batter in the pan, I got distracted with my youngest son and when I came back, I just finished pouring batter in and threw it in the oven. Then Chef BoyRowdy, who had been standing on a chair watching intently the whole time, started throwing a fit. He started yelling "CAR! CAR!" He had been playing with a small car toy while he was watching, and now it is nowhere to be found...I shrugged my shoulders. If there is a small car in the cake I was going to eat, so be it. I'm not going to go digging through a half baked cake because of an allegation. Time for a glass of wine. (Luckily, later I found the car was not in the cake!)

The baked goods looked great when I went to bed. Unfortunately, the icing melted off of the doughnuts in the middle of the night. It is abnormally warm where we live, and I should have put them in the refrigerator. My son still enjoyed them, so not a total loss. 

 

 

Mini doughnuts before the icing melted off

Pineapple upside down cake!

This was one of the least eventful baking sprees I had launched. Previous to this was the Christmas Truffle Extravaganza of 2009, when I made well over 200 truffles in two days (with some help from my husband) to give as Christmas gifts, and the Blackberry Pie Bake in 2006 when I made close to 20 pies to give to people I knew. My problem is, I always go too big and burn myself out. I've learned through the years to take it a little easier, but I'm still learning.

Best free sewing patterns I have found

Here are some of the best free dress patterns I have found online:

1950's Style Dress
Burda's Coffee Date Dress
Formal Veiled Dress
Asian Inspired Dress
Sweatheart Halter Dress
Cap Sleeve Jersey Dress
Pin-Up Inspired Dragon Dress
Formal Off-the-shoulder Dress
Easy Flutter Sun Dress
Mila Dress

I'll post more as I find them- but this is a pretty good bunch of patterns that will cost you nothing at all! Not too bad considering most patterns at the craft store cost between $2.99 and $14.99. Using free patterns will make your project more economical, which we could all use right now :)

Some projects that happened before this blog...

Bunny Ear Crochet Hat made for a photographer (also one of my best friends)

Hippie Rainbow Quilt- I still have not finished this one, but it was one of my favorites so far!

Crochet Infant Hat- also given to my photographer best friend :)

Another Crochet Infant Hat in purple

Crochet Infant Beanie for my photographer friend :)

My son modeling another crochet infant hat- I'd like to do more of these in team colors for sporting events!

Inventory of the craft store...

My husband tells me my stockpile of craft supplies could be used to open a profitable store. I think you can never have too many supplies. You never know when you might need neon green zebra print ribbon, or hot pink Hawaiian print satin, or ten measure tapes! I gave him my word a few months ago that I would use up some of my stockpile before purchasing new supplies, but I kinda slipped up...


The first offense was at Joann Fabrics. I was out without the kids (that never happens!) and stopped in to take a look see. I proceeded to purchase 2.5 yards of white cotton with embroidery, 2.5 yards of blue Hawaiian print cotton, 10 yards of unbleached muslin, and 6 yards of bleached muslin. OH, and two economy sized spools of Gutterman thread for the sewing machine. I have plans for the white cotton and the Hawaiian print- they will be summer dresses. I'll use the white muslin for lining (it gets really hot here in the summer, and it'll be lightweight). The unbleached muslin will be curtains for my kitchen, and draping material for making my own patterns. See? All valid purchases! Husband chuckled and I'm pretty sure he rolled his eyes. I am quick to tell him he will be thankful of my craft supply stockpile when the zombpocalypse happens and I need to make clothes. He just chuckles and shakes his head.


The second offense happened yesterday. I was at Walmart, and the kids were sleeping in the stroller (also never happens!). SO, I stopped in the craft section, just to look around... Somehow, I ended up bringing home 6 yards of blue shirting material, 6 yards of sheer peacock blue material, and 1/2 a yard of multi-colored blue stripe cotton with silver stripes. I have thoughts for the first two items, but no idea what I'm going to do with the last one. My husband just smirked and walked off when I told him the 1/2 yard of blue fabric looked lonely. I had better start making some pretty fantastic stuff soon to justify my purchases!

As it stands, my current inventory is something like this....
 
Approximately 20 yards of assorted flannel
Approximately 25 yards of assorted cotton
Roughly 10 yards of fleece
Approximately 20 yards of other misc. fabrics  
Some sewing patterns
30 different colors of embroidery floss
About 50 different colors of sewing thread
12 spools of ribbon
1 large cross stitch (30% finished)
3 cross stitch kits I have not started
3 file boxes full of yarn
1 file box full of crochet squares and unfinished blankets
1 file box full of scrapbooking paper, stickers, and ribbon
Assorted beads, sequins, trim, patches, buttons and other notions
Box of acrylic paints, brushes and 2 unpainted Christmas houses. 
1 finished quilt front (no back yet)
1 complete quilt (still need to tie off half of it)
1 king size quilt that is cut out and needs sewn together
All my various drawing supplies, which take up an entire cupboard. 

I better not tell a shrink about this....

DIY Dress Form!

I have always wanted a dress form, but I am not A.) Paying close to $200 for a dummy (I married one for free...j/k lol) or B.) Going to find one in my size (Size: Worlds tallest toothpick.). So, I found some really cool tutorials on Youtube for making a dress form out of duct tape. Yes, I know duct tape is pretty redneck, but that's how I roll. Here is how it went:

1. Made a muslin slip to wear for the tape to stick to.
2. Had my husband wrap me in duct tape (he liked it haha). I told him it will never happen again unless he decides to off me, and he had better not because I'll haunt him forever hahaha.
3. Had a panic attack. I'm claustrophobic. Being wrapped in duct tape is not for me. However, it was worth the saved money.
4. Had husband cut me out of duct tape before passing out. Proceeded to down several glasses of ice water while I sat on the floor calming down. Duct tape not only induced panic attacks in the claustrophobic, it is also very warm. If there was another ice age, I would rob the hardware store of duct tape for garment construction.
5. Taped form back together while my fantastic husband ran to Lowes for some supplies.
6. Husband came back with supplies and constructed a stand for my form. We hung it on the stand and filled it with paper. Then he drilled holes in it and filled in crucial areas with expanding foam. Expanding foam is great, as long as you don't get it on you. It is stickier than hell and only comes off with a lot of acetone.
7. Wait for foam to dry.....wait some more....still not dry....THIS SHIT TAKES FOREVER TO DRY!!!
8. Now that the foam is dry (took long enough, geez...) scraped the extra foam off.

...and now....I have a dress form...but it's still not finished. I found a couple of spots where there isn't enough foam, so, we will have to foam fill some more. After the darn thing is full of foam, I have plans to smooth out the few minor bumps and cover her in fabric so I don't have to stare at duct tape every day (she lives in my living room due to the absence of a craft room (darn kids, taking up all the space!)).

Obsessed.

My fantastic husband recently got me a new sewing machine. Mine was broken during our last move and I have been missing having one around greatly. I chose the Brother SE400 Embroidery/Sewing machine. I have only used it to sew regular stitches so far, but when I get used to all of the computerized settings, I'm eager to try out the embroidery functions. Since I got the new machine, all I think about is sewing. I think about sewing when I wake up at night, while I eat meals, while I shower...it's a little crazy. My husband was hinting at some alone time when the kids went to bed the other night, but I wasn't catching on until he spelled it out....because I was planning out curtains for my kitchen and a new dress idea. Maybe I need some help...but then again...I'd rather sew and have a glass of wine.

Let the therapy begin!

This is my therapy. I have always turned to crafting when I feel like everything else in life is out of my control. When everything else is crazy, if I can create something beautiful, I feel much better. So, I have decided to create this blog to document my progress and share crafting ideas with friends who may also need a little "therapy".