Monday, March 28, 2011

New Shelves

This is the first year that I haven't gone on spring break and guess what? There is SNOW on the ground! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!? This has definitely been a year for the books! Anyways, this year I decided to save money for my Europe trip and instead of traveling I'm spending some time at my parents house. Most of my break is packed with catching up on doctors appointments and working, BUT I do have something exciting to show you...I now have new shelves in my room upstairs!! 

{PLEASE EXCUSE THE POOR QUALITY PHOTOS I HAD TO USE MY iPHONE}

I started with this...

...and ended with this!
 These are cool shoe bins to hide my MANY shoes! 
 Here is the pretty detail on the shelves! 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! 

Friday, March 25, 2011

Feature: Boring to WOW t-shirt tutorial

It's a {Feature Friday} here at CaitsCreates
This week I am featuring the talented Emma from Ruby Murray's Musings.


Every time I visit Ruby Murray I am inspired and amazed by all of Emma's clothing transformations. Please stop by Emma's blog and check out all the other awesome things she has done with hand-me-downs.

Now, here is Emma...

I'm so excited to be featured by the lovely Caitlin, I always check out her great transformations and today I'll be sharing a refashion of my own.

If you've ever checked out my blog you'll know I love to change things up, my Hand-Me-Down Horror series has been all about buying yucky or just plain boring clothes and making them into something I'd be proud to wear. Hack off those sleeves, raise that hemline and bob's your uncle a cute custom piece, for pittence.

So without further ado get your sewing needles and thread out and sharpen up those scissors!


Before, a plain long sleeve Tee from Old Navy, that cost me a wopping $2.60



1. Hack off those sleeves, keeping the cut line as neat as possible, then turn the sleeves inside out.

2. Next cut off the cuff again nice and straight, then cut off the stitching (serged seam) keep this as straight and neat as possible and keep everything.

This is what you'll end up with, don't throw anything out, nothing goes to waste on this project.
 

Next you'll be making the bows, out of the sleeves (I know, genius right!)

3. Start at the bottom cuff end of the sleeve and slowly pinch your way up, it's a very informal pleat, just basically grabbing finger fulls of the sleeve all the way up until you get to the top and have the entire sleeve pinched between index finger and thumb.



Whole sleeve pinched together

4. Next take the cut off sleeve cuff and wrap it around the middle of the bunched up sleeve, I fanned the sleeve out a little so you can see what it's starting to look like.

5. Keep wrapping the cuff edge around until it's tight and the sleeve is unlikely to fall out.

6. You've just made yourself a cute bow out of a sleeve, now to repeat the process until you have two.


There's a distinct (to me anyway) top and bottom to the bows, the top of the bow will be the rounded edge of the sleeve cap (the top part) just keep this in mind when you come to sew them on.

7. Next we're finishing off the neckline, and for this we're using the two long pieces you have left over from the sleeves, I only kept one so I just sewed the serged piece to the front and it looked fine but if you want to have matching front and back to the tee just continue sewing around the neck.

8. I just used a simple in and out 'running stitch' for the neckline, making sure to line up the serged piece with the neckline edge to make sure it's even.


The finished neck edge, it looks great doesn't it and to think it's just a piece of t-shirt scrap!

9. Next take the bow and making sure the top shorter edge is facing the neck edge line the middle of the bow up with the shoulder seam and simply stitch through the centre of the bow all the way through the t-shirt, I went all the way around the centre piece to make sure it was secure.



That's it, if you want to be extra fancy you could add a few stitches to the bow edges to keep it from flapping around but I've found I didn't need to do this and the bows stayed put. I also left the sleeve edge unturned, you could always turn it under and stitch, personally I liked the raw edge.

So there you are, it shouldn't take longer than an hour even for newbies to sew so even us naptime crafters can make a cute new addition to our wardrobes.http://rubymurraysmusings.blogspot.com/


I hope you enjoyed this awesome t-shirt tutorial {I can't wait to try it!}. A big thank you to Emma at Ruby Murray's Musing for sharing!

Have a wonderful weekend :)


Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Picture Frames & Crafting Corner

Remember when I got all that FREE stuff? Well here are a pair of pictures frames that have been screaming for a makeover!

Well, they got it! 
I painted the frames with some paint on hand and then cut the bird prints out of a piece of scrapbook paper. Pretty cute, huh? The paper didn't quite fit the frames so I also used a piece of black scrapbook paper to line the back of the frame.

I decided to hang the pictures on the wall and use the two left over chairs I had from the New Wall Art project. This angle isn't the best, but I think it looks pretty cute. 

Now pair that with the sewing table and the clock redo and I have a pretty cute sewing corner! 
{Still need to spray paint the chair when it gets nicer}

TOTAL COSTS FOR PICTURE FRAMES
Picture Frames.............................FREE
Prints (scrapbook paper)...............$0.19
Black scrapbook paper.................$0.25
TOTAL.......................................$0.44

TOTAL COSTS FOR SEWING CORNER
Frames............................$0.44
Chairs (decal)..................$1.50
Clock..............................$0.62
Lamp..............................$6.00
Table..............................$20.00
Chair..............................$2.00

TOTAL.........................$30.56

Monday, March 21, 2011

Plates to Tiered Tray

Welcome to another {Quick Fix} Monday

Spring Themed Tiered Tray 
(say that 5 times fast!)
How I began....

First, I found this candle holder a few months ago at GoodWill for $0.50

Then painted it with some light blue paint I had on hand

 Then I found this big plate at Target for $1.99 

Smaller plate for for $1.79

Next, I attached all items by turning the candle holder upside down and securing it to the plates with some Gorilla Glue. Let it dry for 24 hours 

And there you have it! A new tiered tray for under $5.00

Estimated Costs:

Candle Holder...........$0.50
Small Plate................ $1.79
Large Plate................$1.99
Blue Paint.................$0.10
Gorilla Glue..............$0.25
Total Costs...............$4.63

Friday, March 18, 2011

Giveaway WINNER

The Winner of the Beautiful Photo Blocks by Funkymom Cards is....


--------
Random Generator says....

Congratulations "Anything But Lokey"! 

Please email me with your shipping address so Leasa can mail you your fun photo block! If I do not hear from you by Monday a new winner will be drawn. 

Thank to everyone who participated. Have a wonderful weekend :) 


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

*First* Craft Show

It's official...
I'm signed up for my {first} craft show!


My friend Kat and I will be hosting our own booth at the 2011 Earth Day Craft Show on 
Sunday, April 17th at Peace Park
I know most of my readers are from out of state, but for those of you who will be near...stop by and check us out!!

I am so excited!! I have already started to make a few things but really need to get on the ball since April will be here before I know it! With that being said, I am going to have to limit my blogging to just 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), I know...I know...I'm sad too! It's just hard to find time between two jobs and classes. 

I thank you all for understanding and hope that you will continue to follow me and my crafting :) 


Monday, March 14, 2011

Blog Swap & a {GIVEAWAY}

Manic Monday? Not here at Caits Creates! Today we're celebrating a "Making Monday" with a Blog Swap (I'm posting on Leasa's blog) and a Giveaway! Today I have my blogging friend Leasa from Funkymom Cards here to tell us just how she makes her B-E-A-UTIFUL photo blocks! Not only is she going to share her secrets, but she will also be giving one of these darling photo blocks away! 

Without further ado....

LEASA @ Funkymom Cards

I am so excited to be here today on Caits Creates. I was thrilled when she asked me to do a guest post over here. Caitlin has such cute ideas and I love reading her blog.

I guess you may want to know a little bit about me... Here is a pic of me and all my boys
Let's see I am a stay at home mom of 3 boys(they all play baseball so my life is quite hectic right now), my husband and I are the children's ministers at our church, we lead a small group in our home, I am very sarcastic(its my second language), I laugh when I get nervous and cry when I get mad, and  I love crafts that's why I started Funkymom Cards. Ok enough and onto the tutorial...
Photobucket

Today I want to share with you a tutorial on a photo block that I have made. This photo block is really quite easy to make and the longest step is waiting for the glue to dry. So before I get to the tutorial I'll show you a picture of the finished project. Oh and by the way you could win this today.

The first step is to get some pretty coordinating papers. These are the three that I used. I'm so sorry but I do not have the names of the papers but hey are current. 


* Next, start with a 4x4 wood block paint it the color you want(I chose brown) it matches the papers. After the paint dries coat the front of the block with mod podge. I love mod podge so many options and things you can do with it.
* Take your paper that you cut to fit the front of the block and lay it on top of the mod podge be sure to smooth out the paper so you don't get air bubbles.
* After the glue dries use a piece of sandpaper to distress the edges. (I love distressing)
* Once you have done that apply a thin coat of mod podge to the entire block and let dry completely.

While your mod podge is drying  begin to cut, distress, and layer your flower.
* I cut the flowers using my Cricut in three different sizes(3 inches, 2 1/2 inches, and 2 inches). If you don't have an electronic cutter you could easily draw a flower pattern and cut it out yourself.
* Next distress the edges of the flowers
* Crinkle the flowers and then unfold them to give the flower some more texture
* Apply glue and layer the flowers on top of each other
* Last, add embellishment to the center of the flower(I chose a green jewel)

* Paint your clothespin to match the block.
* Cut a piece of matching paper to adhere to the front and back of the clothespin. I used my Xyron sticker maker to adhere the paper to the clothespin. You could use glue or doublestick tape.

* Cut a piece of grosgrain ribbon to size then apply to block
* Apply flower to front of block with 3d foam dot

Lastly, apply clothespin to block. I used E-6000 glue to adhere the clothespin. It dries clear and has a very strong hold.(it does stick though) Be sure to lay block flat and put another block or something underneath it so clothespin will dry level and not slide around.

That's it the finished block. The smile sign I just made so you could see how it holds the photo.

You could win this block and the smile sign that's in it by doing the following:
  1. Hope on over to my blog and become a follower of Funkymom Cards. Come back here and post a comment on this post saying you are a new follower, or leave a comment letting me know you already are one (1 entry). 
  2. Become a follower of Caits Creates and post a comment on this post saying you are a new follower, or let me know you already are one (1 entry). 
  3. Share this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or your Blog--post a separate comment for each (1 entry). 
The giveaway will be open for comment Monday(today)-Thursday at 11:59 pm and a winner will be chosen on Friday March 18th by random.org.

Be sure to check out Caitlins post on my blog Funkymom Cards today and leave comments there on her post as well. She has a darling flower pin tutorial and giveaway.

Thanks again Caitlin for the opportunity to share on your blog today.