Day 3, Necklace

Ah, Day 3 of the month long challenge.

Today I was suffering from allergies so all I wanted to do was lay in a dark room. Of course, I didn't. I kept going outside because I thought maybe the pollen is just bad in the morning. Uh. No...it's bad all day. Everytime I went outside, I came back with my nose running. My nose is still running. My eyes were hurting. My head was hurting. But enough complaining. I did accomplish making something today.

I really like the look of layered necklaces, so I made one. Though I have no concept of jewelry design, it came out okay. Actually, I'll even go so far as to say it looks nice. I might even wear it. Or give it to a friend if they like it. The possibilities!

I would really like to make more jewelry. I think I'll do some searching for inspiration and you might see another piece at some point on this blog. Maybe within the month!

Day 2, Totebag

Day 2 of my month long challenge!

I realize I am going to have to go back to school at some point. Actually, this fall to be precise. So I made a cute bookbag/totebag out of pants, an old sheet, and some canvas I had laying around.
One would think making a totebag is relatively simple, but no. I can't allow that. I really wanted to make a cool design, but I really have no concept of how to sew the idea I had. So I ended up simplifying it. I still like how it came out, but I think I'll tweak it later on. I'm going to make a thicker/stronger strap also. I just got lazy and started running out of the other fabrics. Also, I think I'll add a little flap with a button closure. I'll post pictures later on if I add onto it, but here it is now!

Lemon Sorbet

Oh my goodness. So goooood.

We had a bucket of huge lemons from my aunt and uncle's lemon tree. They were starting to get soft and I didn't want to let them go to waste. So I came up with the brilliant (in my mind) idea to make lemon sorbet!
If you are a huge fan of lemon, like me, you will love this. It is so refreshing and absolutely delicious. And it's so simple!

(This isn't today's post for the month long challenge. That will come later. This is just an extra treat for a summer's day). 

What you'll need:

2 cups lemon juice
2 cups of water
2 cups of sugar (white or raw cane, no brown!)
Icecream maker

If your icecream maker has a freeze bowl, make sure it's fully frozen. You also might need ice and salt depending on your icecream maker.

Prepare simple syrup by combining 2 cups of water with 2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and let cook about 15 minutes until the sugar dissolves and it reaches a very thin syrupy consistency. Allow it to cool and then put it in a container that you can stick in the fridge. It needs to be cold to make sorbet so allow it to chill for a few hours. I made mine the day before and let it stay in the fridge over night.

Next, combine 2 cups of lemon juice and 1&1/4 cups of the simple syrup in your icecream maker's bowl and follow directions to prepare icecream. After it reaches desired consistency, pop it in the freezer. Eat whenever you want!

If you don't have an icecream maker, not to worry.You can place the lemon and simple syrup mixture into any freezer-safe bowl and put it into the freezer and stirring with a fork every 30 minutes to keep the mixture from separating. It will be a slightly different consistency, but taste just as good.

Day 1, shorts!

Ah, it's summer! And to celebrate, I made a pair of shorts.

So, this is Day 1 of my month long challenge to create things. And what a way to kick it off?
These actually took two days to make (a total of about 6 hours sewing. Eesh). I made up the pattern myself and had to tweak it a lot to get them to actually fit and look the way I want them. But, I am quite proud of how they came out!

One of these days I'm going to have to learn how to make a pattern that I can just cut and sew. Or maybe get some pre-made patterns that actually fit me. Ah well. The effort was worth it! I've wanted a pair of shorts like this for soooo long.

A month of something or other

So, I am going to step away from instructional posts for a while because I really don't have people reading this blog it seems. But they will come back if I get requests and some more traffic. For now, I want to do a month long challenge (starting July 4 and ending August 3) to make crafts, sew, or do some art once a day.

I don't have a specific theme for this. It will just be whatever pops into my head that I think would be fun to make.

And I'm back

It's been a while.
Longer than a while.

But I want to start doing a craft blog again, and where better to continue?! So, hopefully I will keep it up this time. Life just gets sooo busy sometimes.

I attempted a 365 challenge last year, but didn't complete it. However, you can see what I did do here: http://yearofthepetal.blogspot.com/

That blog will not be updated anymore, but please check it out!

HalloWreath

It's almost Halloween again. And of course crafters everywhere are getting into the spirit. What better way to welcome your Trick-Or-Treaters (or partiers) to your home than with a dark beautiful wreath in honor of the season.



What You'll need:

About a foot of 20 guage jewelry wire (your choice of material. It should be easily bendable).
Lots of sticks
Wood glue or strong craft glue
Acrylic paint
A hot glue gun or some other type of clear drying glue


Suggested Materials:
Fabric leaves
Glitter (or glitter glue)
Acorns
Spanish Moss
Feathers
Etc....you can really choose whatever you want to put on your wreath

First step is to paint the items you are working with. You may want a more natural fall theme or a spookier Halloween theme. You'll probably want to decide this before or as you are buying the materials so you don't leave anything out.

After the sticks have dried (if you did paint them) you'll want to get your wood glue ready. Assemble a base for your wreath out of the thicker sticks in the shape you want them and glue them together. You will need to get your jewelry wire at this point to tie together the joints (where the sticks are connecting/glued) because wood glue does not dry fast and you don't want them drying in a different shape. At this point you'll need to wait about a day for the wood glue to dry fully.
Then you can begin working on details. Use your hot glue gun to apply any other sticks or pieces that you want for added fullness of the wreath. It is good to "weave" them around the base. That is, don't just set them on top and call it a day. Pretend it is a puzzle. The more points at these parts of the wreath are glued to, the more it will stick together.

After you have the structure of your wreath completed, you can add decorations around to add your personal flair.

Tip: Raid the dollar store or craft stores for cheap Halloween decorations such as spider rings, rubber bats, plastic skeletons, fake birds, etc. You will find some treasures to add to your wreath and around the rest of the house!.