Craft Spree Makes for a Reluctant Blogger...

The title kinda says it all. Over the past two days I've made a new headband (really gorgeous, with red roses and lace) and a glitzy new necklace. And yet I keep coming up with excuses not to photograph them. I took a few, but they're pretty bad...so I'll try again tomorrow, and hopefully get something presentable.

Anyway, I do at least have something to share with you! Here's a drawing (I don't think I've really posted any of them) that I did for one of my uncles:





Ahhh....looking at these makes me want to get back to drawing...I haven't done any in such a long time.

Outfit by me~!

I'm back~! Actually, I've been back, since Saturday night, but then I had a busy day on Sunday - church and antiquing consumed my day. But now, I am officially back and ready to stop my ridiculous rambling. XP

When I went out last week with my friends, I wore an outfit almost completely handmade. I had done some surgery on an old sweater of my aunt's, which I turned into a lacy, cardigan with antique buttons (so pretty!). Then I made a skirt from a yard of vintage fabric that I bought for 50 cents. It turned out very sweet, and I love it, but when I walk, the fabric creeps up on my legs like it's a bubble skirt (though I think my leggings might have been part of the problem).



The detailing on the sweater reminds me a bit of this one:




(sorry for the lousy picture quality on this one...I did what I could to brighten it up, haha)

Have a lovely day~!

Soldering Experiment

So it's my birthday, and I'm spending the better part of it studying. There should seriously be a law against that. But I did get in a little bit of exercise - I do love my yoga. And then I have my ice cream cake to look forward to later tonight (I feel fatter already). So it'll be great.

Anyway, I kept forgetting to post this, but a couple weeks ago I went to visit my aunt, and we decided to experiment with soldering (pronounced sawtering, if you're like me and say it as you see it). We had a hot, smelly tool that looked like a broken curling iron, and we had to cut our own glass (and in my case, my fingers! hehe, accident prone). It was so much fun, though, and I love how my little charm turned out. I still have to find a good necklace chain for it...

Here's how it turned out:


I love the little bulldog. <3

& I won't be able to stick to my goals this weekend...my family is taking a mini vacation in honor of my b-day. But I'll make up for it when I come back!

Enjoy your day!

Two-Minute Tutorial

Literally, this is one of the quickest, simplest things I've ever made. And yet it turns out looking so stylish and fun. I haven't had much crafting time this week (yesterday I left the house at 11 AM, and didn't get back till 1 AM!...tiring day), but even the busiest person can find the time to sit down and make this:



Cute, right? I made this one from a dark brown button (though I thought it was black for the longest time), and a vintage...I think it was a button. But who knows. So long as it looks nice.

Now, you'll need a pile of buttons, possible things to layer on top of them (like my tiny salvaged compass), a ring base (I broke some costume jewelry to make mine, but any craft store should have them), and a hot glue gun.


First, select the two things you want to put together. Two buttons, one bigger and one smaller, look very sweet layered, and if you have maybe a little charm or toy that you think would look good, definitely give it a shot. Then, take your hot glue gun and glue them together. You can center it, or even on the edge could be cute.


(I was excited to get to show off my manicure, hehe)

Then glue it on the ring base. Don't skimp on the glue!



And there you have it. This is so simple, you really don't even need the instructions to figure out how to make your own....but you have them anyway. Just in case.

Mirrored Duck

I'm trying to stick to my four simple goals, so even though my day is pretty much packed (girl's day out!), I'll leave you with a pretty photo. =)



I took this picture while taking a break from my walk in 90˚ heat. I love how clear the water looks (it really isn't...haha).

Enjoy your day!

Lacy Lolita and Ballerina Headbands

I was thinking that it would be fun to make gifts for my two cousins, whose birthdays are coming up (along with mine!:D), and headbands are simple and pretty to make. I got a roll of tulle from Goodwill, and then I had leftovers from a shirt I made. So I got to work, and came up with two lovely headbands.



The tulle flowers weren't too hard to make. All I did was knot them at the end and twist them around the knot until the flower was the size I wanted. Since the material is so flimsy, though, it was a bit difficult to work with. I just had to use a lot of glue, haha.



Then for the other one, I glued lace onto the top of the headband and made the flowers out of fabric remnants. I had a strand of plastic pearls that I had been saving, and I glued that on, too. It's really pretty, but as soon as I finished, I was convinced it was so fancy the only time she could wear it was at her wedding...then my sister came in and said, "Wow! You have to make me one of those!" And that made me feel better.
I do really love how it turned out:



Profile shot!

Raindrops on Roses...

I've been playing with my camera again! The plants had just been watered and there were crystalline drops on everything. It was lovely, and I had fun running around with my camera. =) I get very into it when I'm trying to get a good shot - down in the dirt, on my hands and knees - and I won't even realize it until after I've taken the picture, and by then of course I'm all dirty and mud covered. But it's good fun, and I think I got some pretty good pictures.
Here's a sampling (it's a long one!):














I hope you enjoyed them!

~Vicki

Refashioned Lamp

When I was little, there were these lamps that I thought were the coolest things. They were made of rice paper, and there was this thing inside that, when heated, would spin around and cast pretty, colorful designs on the walls. And as it spun, the designs would seem to move across the walls. It was ethereal and beautiful.
I'm sure I begged my mother for one until she didn't want to hear it anymore, and finally, my aunt bought one for my sister and myself. It had colorful lovebugs on it, and we loved it.
It's amazing it lasted this long, but it finally went into storage in my closet, where I stepped on it. It was devastating! The whole frame was broken, and two of the rice paper panels were torn. It was ready for the trash.
But I didn't want to give it up.
So I took a paintbrush and some acrylic teal (my absolute favorite color) paint, and applied it to the wooden edges. Then I brought out my mother's bin of sharpies and drew pretty fairy wings and flowers on it. But two of the sides were missing! I took two sheets of green paper and carefully tailored them so that they would fit the frame, glued on strips of white lace, and taped it to the frame (not an easy process).
It took me the better part of a week to make, but it was worth it. When it's on, it gives off this warm, ethereal glow, lighting up all the pretty wings and flowers.

Here is the final result:


Closeup:


Pretty, isn't it? And the romantic style matches my room to perfection.

~Vicki
PS. & what do you think of the new layout? It's a little girly for me, but it's pretty, and it'll do for now.

My own 4 simple goals...

I've seen this in a few places now, and at first I was like, ehhh...maybe, but now I'm thinking it's a really great idea. Might help me to keep on track.



1) A post a day. Very simple, right? =)
2) A tutorial a week. Definitely something I should be doing.
3) Become more comfortable with sewing patterns. It sounds weird, but I'm very intimidated by the seeming complexity of a pattern. Making my own is a different story, but the last pattern I used completely blew up on me.
4) Spiff up my blog. It needs it! I want to make some pretty buttons and a nice header.

Ready, set...go!

~Vicki

Random Shots

I forced myself outside today for lunch, then spent the next hour playing around with my camera. I figured the vitamin D would do me good, and just for me the sun decided to poke its fickle head out from behind the clouds, which was lovely.
Here's a sampling of my favorite shots - Enjoy~!


























There you are! I hope you enjoyed seeing them as much as I did taking them.

~Vicki

Oof...

Normally, I would have crafted up a storm during the weekend, and had a whole slew of things to show off, but...I got sick on Thursday night, and that continued on through Saturday. Now, I feel fine, but I've completely lost my voice. Hopefully, though, I'll have something up tomorrow - I refashioned a lamp! - and I'm going to try and get something done today.

~Vicki

Headband Tutorial (at last!!)

I've finally worked up the initiative to post this. (thank goodness) Anyway, it's really simple, and only took me...maybe a half hour at most. But then I was playing around with techniques and colors...so if you follow these directions, it may even take you less time.

I'm going to show you how to make the "Lollipop" headband, with colors that twist together like a lollipop. And you're going to learn how to make two different kinds of roses.
So let's get started, then!

You will need:

Two different colored t-shirts, with colors that complement each other. I LOVE how teal and pink look together, so that's what I used.

A hot glue gun

A headband

Ribbon (to wrap the headband...only if you don't like the color.)

1) Cut up your t-shirts. What I did was to cut off the hem, then cut off another strip, about one inch wide. You should have what looks like a long necklace. Cut it down the side so that it becomes a long strip. Do this /twice/ with both colors of t-shirt.

2)Take two strips (one of each color) from your pile and knot them together, as close to the end as possible.


3) Twist the strips together until the first few inches are twisted. It doesn't have to be tight, so don't worry about that.

4)Now you can start rolling them. Roll the fabric around the little knot you made one time, then pick up your glue gun and put a dot of glue down, pressing your roll of fabrics to it. Do this every few centimeters until you get to the end. Make sure to keep twisting as you roll!


5) As you get to the end, tuck the last bit of fabric towards the bottom to conceal it. Then glue it down, being careful to glue both layers of fabric. And then...you should have a beautiful flower. =) Oh - and if the flower starts getting too big for you, you can always just trim the fabrics.


This second one I found to be a bit harder, especially with two fabrics. You have to work hard to glue down both layers. But keep that in mind, and you'll do fine.

1) Knot your fabric together, just like for the first flower.

2) Now you're going to have to fold both of them in half. It's kinda hard to get them to stay, so try pinching them together with your fingers.

3) Start rolling. Just like the first one, glue often. It should look like this as you roll:


4) Again, at the end, be extra careful to glue both layers down. This one you can't really tuck under, but that's ok - you can disguise the end by pushing it against the side of the other flower when you put them on the headband.



And now for the headband. Mine was purple, so I decided to wrap it with black ribbon.
For that, all you have to do is wrap it neatly, putting a strip of glue along the bottom. If you want to make the ends look professional, cut a small piece of ribbon and wrap it lengthwise around the bottom, hiding the original color:



Then glue down the sides. And make sure to do that first, before you start wrapping.

Now, all you have to do is glue on the flowers in the spot you want them. You could make more, or just stay with two, like I did. It's up to you. At the end, I added a little pink ruffly thing and wrapped it around the top one. Also - make sure you don't skimp on the glue. It's what's going to hold the whole thing together. ;D

And here's the end result:



There you are! I hope yours turns out great, and that my instructions aren't as confusing as I think they are. =)

~Vicki