Wedding Garter Revamp

My brother and his fiance are getting married July 9th, 2011

and they are HUGE Red Sox fans

I don't have a lot of money to spend on a gift (big surprise) so I decided to make something personal for them. After all, I think personal/ homemade gifts sometimes mean more than the ones you buy off the couples registry!

I decided to make a Red Sox garter for her to wear at the wedding :) This is a complete surprise and the ONLY reason I am posting this now is because I told her she was banned from reading my blog until after the shower on May 7th...or else she would ruin her surprise! So that means for those of you who know Amanda, please dont say anything! :) 

Now, let me show you just how I performed this transformation! 

I had planned on starting from scratch but then found this garter at Dollar Tree over the weekend while I was looking for items for the bridal shower...you can't beat 50 cents! 

I begun by tearing the seam apart in the back...

 Then I removed the elastic to make the material lay flat 

Here is what you should have 

I then cut 3/4 yard of blue and red ribbon. I threaded my sewing machine with red thread and sewed the red ribbon on top of the blue.

Try to pull the ribbon on both ends as you are pushing it through the machine so you get minimal bunching

Next, I sewed the ribbon on top of the garter. I used coordinating navy thread and went down both sides of the ribbon. It is VERY important to make sure you pull the garter as you go through the machine. If not the ribbon will not lay flat on top of the garter. 

Here is what it looks like after you have sewed on the ribbon

Now it's time to put the elastic back into the garter. This was the most time consuming part for me because I goofed. So I'm warning you now, make sure that when you sew your ribbon on that you leave enough space for your elastic to fit back through. I didn't think of that and wound up having to cut my elastic to make it fit. Also, I used a needle to push it through, but I am sure there is something better to make this step speedier. 

After I got the elastic through I made sure to measure the garter on my leg again. Pull the garter tight and then allow about 1/2 ince for stitching. With the added ribbon I actually had to cut some of the material off because it was too bunchy. I then sewed the elastic at the end in place so that way it was more secure. 

Finally, I sewed the two ends together. I sewed over this part about 5 times, including back stitch, to ensure it was secure. Once I completed the garter I set it aside and worked on the embellishment. 

For the bottle cap embellishment I used these supplies.

 I had trouble finding a decent picture to use so I searched Etsy for images. I came across Sonyarita Designs and decided that their images were the perfect size and for $1.75 for unlimited use I couldn't really resist. 

I used my hole punch to get a perfect cut out of the image I wanted 

Afterwards I placed the plastic cover on top

Then I hot glued it on to the bottle cap

 There you have it!! It is perfect...in my opinion...minus the minor errors :)

Normally I do a total costs, but since this is a gift I have decided not to. Let's just say that something like this is selling for around $35 and I made it for well under that in just a few hours! Since it is almost wedding season, maybe you can make something like this for someone special to you!

Hoping Amanda loves it! 

New Unique Tee for ME

I am lucky enough to work at a College that allows "casual" Fridays. This means jeans and a college t-shirt for me every Friday! However, I get SO tired of wearing the same t-shirts over and over. As some of you know, I am rather cheap frugal and hate spending $10+ on a simple t-shirt. Well, I was cleaning at work a few weeks back and found a lot of old patches with our college seal on them...

 The lightbulb went off and I immediately remembered Old Navy was having a $5 sale on their v-neck t-shirts...I got a gray one. Perfect!  

I got out some heat 'n' bond I had on hand and cut a circle the same size as the patch

I then attached the heat 'n' bond to the patch using the iron....so simple!

After the glue had bonded I removed the backing 

I put the shirt on and used straight pins to place the patch where I wanted it.

Then I turned the shirt inside out and put the ironing board between the inside of the shirt. This was the glue doesn't bond to the back of the shirt as well...

Now I have a unique shirt that no one else will be wearing :) 

TOTAL ESTIMATED COSTS

T-shirt...................$5.00

Heat and bond.......FREE 

Patch.....................FREE 

Total.....................$5.00

Wall Artwork under $15.00

I have been rather slow with my blogging lately and I apologize...this week has been nuts and it's only Wednesday! Thank goodness for this wonderful "hump" day! Between crafting like a crazy lady, my aunt being here from Texas, doing homework and fixing my moped (yes I own a scooter :)) I haven't had much time to be crafty. However, I do have something to show you! 

This has been a long process

It started with the Shabby Chic Mirror revamp

Then I created New Wall Art with supplies found at Goodwill

Then I was stuck for a long time...and needed your help HERE

Finally some more creative juices came from the excitement of my upcoming Ireland Trip and I started Mapping out my Adventures

Then I FINALLY made a matching one that displayed the U.S

I just love it...

Total Costs for ALL Art work: 

Mirror.........................$8.00

Chair Pictures.............$4.50

Maps..........................$2.00

TOTAL....................$14.50

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

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