Angel

I may not be the kind who holds onto things for their sentimental value, but I am cheap. I'm not going to shell out for something I already have, especially if all my current one needs is a little facelift. So when I pulled my 6 year old angel tree-topper out of the Christmas box this weekend, and her wings fell off, I figured I'd spruce her up a little, and fit her into my Christmas tree color scheme before I glued her wings back on.

I learned a few things in this process; first of all, sewing a Victorian style gown in size DOLL is a lot harder than I anticipated. Also, real (or at least soft/moveable) hair is far easier to work with than painted hair. (I would have preferred a higher neckline, but her hair prevented that.) And last but not least, when you leave feathers laying about, your cat will feign sweetness in order to sit in your lap and try to eat the feathers.

Anyway, let me show you a few before and afters of her (minus her wings, I'm trying to add some different colored feathers to them but am not too sure of how to proceed with that...) Also, I'm not too sure why she had a wand. As far as I know, angels don't typically have wands. So she's not getting it back.

I painted her face, darkened her hair, and brought her forward a few centuries, fashion-wise.

And for comparison purposes, a side-by-side.

I think she looks great. :) I love being able to take something I paid less than $10 for and make it uniquely mine.

(You like how I got completely distracted and haven't even touched the new/old table and chairs?)

Joining:

and:

and also:

Finally done!

...with the nightstands, at least. House is still a work-in-progress. I work best under pressure, and honestly, the pressure hasn't hit quite yet. I'll probably work like crazy for about 5 or 6 hours tomorrow and get it all done. And then be insanely tired and pass out early...which is sort of good, though, because then I can get up early on Friday and make the cupcakes before anyone else gets up. And by anyone else I mean Josh. :P

Alright, well, let me talk about the nightstands, since I've been working on them for two whole months now! (Seriously! I had to go back to July to find the 'before' pictures.)

Here are the before pictures. (sorry, I was like absolutely horrible about documenting this process, so all the pictures are in different places and positions, there's no exact side-by-side comparisons or anything.)

See how they had two little knobs? And that big dent separating them?

Well, I didn't like that. I wanted one flat drawer, and one knob. So I filled it in with wood filler (it took a whole tube of filler, and I three or four layers. I'd fill it in, smush as much as I could in, let it dry, fill in cracks, and then build another layer...) and then sanded it down. I also filled in the old knob holes. (Wood filler sands down really nicely, just make sure it's totally dry or it'll clump up on your sander.)

And then, as you probably know, they sat out in the storage room for two months, exactly. Rain, a fire, and general procrastination led me to not paint them until yesterday, when the threat of people seeing my bedroom suddenly became VERY REAL.

And so, yesterday morning, with the weather as perfect as could be, I finally just went out there and did it. I primed them, then painted them, and then brought them in and made my bedroom pretty.

Again, sorry, but I didn't take pictures of most of this part. Josh got a couple of me painting, and then I took some after I had already brought them in and set them up.

Hooray! I'm so glad that I finally finished, not only because it was bugging me having a half-finished project out there, but also because they came out looking so great, and our bedroom finally looks like a real bedroom, and not just a room with a bed in it.

Ok, well, my brother-in-law will be here in a couple of hours so I need to go at least make sure that the craft room (it's also the guest room) is 100% done and set up the air mattress for him.

Linking to:

I seem to have lost a whole week...

Does it seem to anyone else like September suddenly got a lot shorter? I could swear it was just yesterday that I was calmly planning far enough ahead that everything would be ready in time for Joshs birthday party, and I would have plenty of time to get the house in order like I wanted without rushing or stressing, and suddenly here we are and the party is one week away (ONE.WEEK.) and somehow my house is messier than it was when I started! Ugh. I need better planning skills. And a few extra hours in my days.

Today, though, I wanted to relax and not think about everything I wasn't doing, and go to the fair. So we did. Only I hadn't anticipated getting on rides that I hate (which is, essentially, all rides, ever) and now I feel like my brain got shook out of place and my legs are sore because I was pressing my feet into the floorboard really hard to try and maintain some semblance of stability. Other than that, though, it was a great time! I got lots of cool pictures (they're all on my Tumblr, as usual), had sausage-on-a-stick, won a goldfish, looked at prize chickens and bunnies, and ate home made donuts. We brought home a bag full of free swag and Orion promptly destroyed the frisbee.

Oh, in the midst of my half-hearted attempts to clean yesterday I did manage to make this office sign out of two keyboards, some burlap, and an old picture frame:

Other than that, though, most of my effort is focused on getting things presentable (I have very high standards) and trying to get the bag of stuff to give away to Re-store. I've actually managed to get it into the back of the car, so we're halfway there! I'm thinking about going out there tomorrow, while Josh is working, but I don't know. I'll probably use the clothes as an excuse to go, and come home with more than I left with!

Oh, I haven't mentioned, I found the perfect overalls to put on the Micheal Myers I'm going to build! It's going to be great! My brother actually gave me an old pair of his combat boots to use, too, so once the party is over next week I'm going to start working on Halloween stuff! AHHH I'M SO EXCITED!

HERE IN MY CAR...

We've had the TV on the 'Flashback New Wave' channel all week...AND IT IS SPECTACULAR.

I can't believe it's already Friday again. After I realized that I rushed off to the post office to mail the necklaces that I gave away on Facebook last week, lest people think I promise things but then fail to deliver. Now it's in the hands of the post office. If they don't deliver, at least it's not on me.

I made a lot of things this week, and also (tried) to clean and rearrange my craft room. It's like 80% done but I already started in the kitchen so this weekend is going to be interesting trying to finish them both. In reality, though I'll probably do nothing for the rest of today, then start on the bedroom tomorrow morning, and then have three half finished rooms for the rest of the week. Eh. As long as it gets done before the third week of September.

Oh, the things I made, right...I think I posted pictures of a few things, mostly the leather bracelets...I also made this:

And while it may just look like another boring Chan-Luu style bracelet, there's actually a much more in depth story behind it...see back in 2004, when I used to get Lucky magazine (the first time around) I saw a bracelet like that in there. I don't remember the brand, but it was pretty much exactly like the Chan-Luu ones that have recently soared in popularity. Anyway, I knew that I could make one very easily, so I did. But the beads I used weren't all that great and before long the color rubbed off of them and they were clear with just flecks of color left on the insides of a few of them, and that looked crappy so I scrapped it. I started to make another but it's a rather time-consuming process, and it was around that time that I finally made some friends in Arkansas and started going out and so it sat, half-done, in a box of craft stuff for the next 6 years. (Not even kidding.) Then, two summers ago, I found it, and started thinking that I needed to either finish it or make another one...and as you can see, it took me two years to do that. And now everyone will think I did it because of the Chan-Luu craze, but I DIDN'T. I WAS EONS AHEAD OF THIS FAD. Just...not consistently.

Not that it matters, really...

Moving on...

I also started working on party favors for my second annual pumpkin carving party. (We missed last year because we were in the process of moving at the time I normally would have thrown it.) A few years ago (like 4) when I worked at Joann's for all of 3 months (if that) I bought a bunch of packages of Halloween themed Christmas ornaments. (Surprising that they didn't sell out, huh?) I wanted to make jewelry out of them but after gluing earring backs onto a couple of them I lost interest and they too got banished to the Craft Box of Shame. But, like I said, recently I've been in a crafty mood and I pulled them out and started making them into necklace charms. Here's my process (sort of):

This is what they look like originally, with the string:

I pulled that out using tweezers (I just grabbed it tight, then twisted it around and around until it popped out - pulling it would usually resulting in it breaking off at the edge, and leaving part of the string in there.) Once I had an empty hole I would dip one of those tiny rounded top screw things in (E6000) glue (they're actually made for picture frames) and then screw it down into the hole.

And then, after those were dry, I could attach a jump ring and string it onto a necklace chain!

Now I have a box full of cute things to give away!

Tonight we're heading downtown to watch Joshs cousins band play at our local bar/live music venue, and as I mentioned, I'll probably be cleaning a bunch over the weekend, but once I get my craft room 100% organized I'll try to post some pictures! It is much more comfortable to work in now, and I have it set up to be inspiring and easy to get at all my stuff.

Clearance and crafting and leather OH MY!

Oh man. What an awesome weekend. Friday I had to take Orion to the vet because he had his last heartworm pill last month and he needed more by today. (Yay procrastination!) Actually I kind of waited this long on purpose because he's a growing boy and he needed to get weighed so we'd know what size to get him...and of course he needs two separate sizes. Two pills each month, two boxes every six months...because my 9 month old puppy has passed the 100 pound mark! Anyway, I took him by myself while Josh was working, then we went to Pet-co where he got two new toys and a treat for being a good boy. He (I) picked out a giant rubber gummy bear and a triangular frisbee looking thing. He loves them both.

Once Josh finished up his work we (tried) to take his brother and friend to the card shop but found it no longer exists...so we headed to Michael's where I got some clasps that I needed (since I've been making jewelry non-stop for the past week!) and then, while looking for the leather scraps, I got sucked into the clearance bin. (I think they put it across from the leather just because they saw me coming.) I ended up with all this:

Pretty sure this was the best deal. Not sure what I'm going to use it for, yet, but I couldn't pass it up!

After we came home the guys spent most of the evening outside playing ping-pong on the new table and I managed to pass out early.

Saturday, after Aaron and his friend left, Josh and I went to the floral convention! It was really fun, and I got a lot of awesome pictures but I'm not going to post any until I'm done editing them (which is not something I usually do) and have them uploaded to an album where the florists who invited us can see them first.

Yesterday I spent most of the day lounging around the house, playing ping-pong, and making jewelry for Josh and me...I used the black leather that I got in the scrap bag and made four different bracelets...here are two of them:

And then today I made these for Josh and his friend Riquo:

And now, my desk is a giant mess, with glue and bottle caps and pieces of leather everywhere, but it feels like fall and I couldn't be happier. :)

P.S. Joining:

Shoe re-do!

Remember those Converse shoes I showed you the other day? I probably should have taken a better 'before' picture than that one, but oh well, it'll have to do. I mean, they are Converse, who hasn't owned at least one pair in their lifetime? (Fair warning here - if you haven't, go buy a pair, lest people think you un-American.) Just kidding. Sort of. ;)

Anyway, as I mentioned before, I've had this pair for 7 years. SEVEN YEARS, y'all. That's a long time for a pair of shoes, and they've held up well, as Cons are apt to do, and so I thought it was high time they got a make-over! ...okay, actually the truth is I just got tired of the green. I don't wear much green, and the past two years I've only worn them on Halloween, when I also wore a $2 glow-in-the-dark skull shirt that I got at Wal-mart three years ago on the day after Halloween clearance sale. (Don't you judge me.) And since they're fairly comfortable, I wanted to make them more versatile. And I did.

Here's the breakdown: (Sorry, I didn't take pictures while I did it.)
First of all, I washed the shoes, and took out the laces.
I mixed up the remainder of the glow-in-the-dark fabric paints that I had bought for the galaxy shirts, (they're very light and dry almost clear on black) along with three kinds of glitter. (two acrylics, a folk art clear base with iridescent glitter, a Martha Stewart clear base with blue glitter, and some a ton of regular dry glitter.)
Then I painted that sludge ALL over the shoes. Just slather it on, tongue too, and once you're done with both, put another layer on for good measure. (My second layer was kind of thin because I put too much dry glitter and then ran out of glow-in-the-dark-paint.)
I let that dry overnight, and then took black fabric paint and painted over the green leather chevron thingie and star, and the green line around the bottom of the shoes. Then I let that dry overnight.

Here's the final product:

Ahhh I love them! I wore them tonight, and they're so much more fun now. I can't wait to wear them somewhere dark so I can see how well the glow-in-the-dark feature works! Also, if you're wondering, the paint didn't make them too stiff or anything, they're just as comfortable as they were before, and I didn't really notice any glitter loss.

Being productive

Woke up feeling much happier today, and ready to tackle a few things! First off, here are the galaxy shirts I made. Mine is the tank, Joshs is the tee, and they're just waiting to hit their 72 hour mark so I can wash them and we can wear them!

These I made for us today...we bought a 4 pack of Hanes shirts for me to make Josh the galaxy shirt, and this is how I used up two more of them...

cut them in half...

sewed them back together...

and we have matching shirts! Well, sorta. The one on the right is mine, and I'm going to make some adjustments to it, I think (cut off the collar, and stitch up the sides a little because it's very long on me).

This is what I'm working on next...updating these converse that I've had for...oh, 7 years now. I think it's time for them to glow...and sparkle. :)

As promised...

 

pictures of my skeleton hand jewelry piece. I don't know what to call, it really, as it I've never seen anything quite like it. The idea just came to me, so I made it, and it's unique enough that I think I could sell them if I wanted...

Anyway. This is what the prototype looks like. I may or may not improve on it in the future. That really depends on whether I develop any other brilliant ideas in the near future that take my time away from this...if not, then I'll definitely mess with it a little. Either way, I hope you like it!