Found it on Pinterest and Actually Did It: Bottle Cap Flower

This time of year is torture for me.  It's cold and I don't like the cold very much at all.  So I go a little stir crazy and start torturing myself even more by starting to plan my garden in January with the full knowledge that I have to wait till April at the earliest.  However, there are a few things I can do for my garden right now that keeps the insanity at bay (who needs therapy when you have a zillion crafts on Pinterest to choose from?).  Anyway, I found this neat Bottle Cap Flower craft on there and thought it would be a great use of the bags of bottle caps I possess.  Yes, bags.  I'm not entirely sure why my husband and I keep all of them, but we do.  I've had ideas in the back of head such as making him an inlaid side table with them for his future man cave or making a neat collage for his cave as well.  This craft however, is for me!

I won't write up my own tutorial since the one I found is well written and easy to follow, so I'll direct you to check out the tutorial here.  I used one of those safety can openers ( it appears the tutorial used one too) that I already had since it keeps the can top flat unlike a regular can opener.  You could also use a top to a jar or pretty much anything sturdy, small and disk shaped.  For my flowers I ended up using 19 caps each since the can tops were the same size, 18 petals and 1 center.  I used jewelry glue since I have tubes of it from gluing bails to make Scrabble tile necklaces.  It held up perfectly and is stronger than super glue.  For the stick on the back I used a trimmed dowel rod that I stained to prevent it from rotting and glued it with Gorilla Glue since the back of the can lid wasn't flush.  They certainly make unique garden art and are easy enough to make several and different sizes as well!

Feel free to pin this using the Pin It button below!

DIY Project: Felt Poppy Bobby Pins

You all know I'm a DIY gal and if I see something I love (or can't find what I want) and know I can probably do it at home, then dang-it, I'm gonna do it!  Recently I was on the hunt for some cute hair pins because I'm basically obsessed with them.   For the same reason I sell jewelry on Etsy, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I decided to make my own hair pins.  This little project turned out so cute I thought I'd share it with you all!  Although I do have what my husband considers to be an unhealthy love for Pinterest (is there really such a thing?), I didn't find this one there, I thought of it myself.

I forgot to include the seed beads and marker in the photo...

What you need:

1. felt in whatever colors you want
2. scissors
3. pen or marker
4. hot glue gun
5. bobby pins (I'm sure you have some around, they come in packs of a billion)
6. little black seed beads (I used size 11/0)
7. black thread
8. thin needle that will fit through your beads
9. a nickel and a dime or two buttons of similar sizes for tracing

I had everything I needed already at home since I'm always making felt crafts but all of these items should be fairly cheap at any craft store if you don't have them at hand.  If you don't have bobby pins laying around, I do not believe you ;)

First, take your coins or buttons and trace equal numbers of each on your felt pieces.  Make a million of them, it's fun once you get going!  I had fun mixing and matching the colors along with some solids as well.

I made lots in cute color combos!

Now cut out all one million little circles you made, if your hands get cramped don't blame me.  You shouldn't have taken me seriously when I said make a million.  Make sure when you cut them that you cut inside your marked lines, you don't want that showing on your hair pin when you're done.  It also doesn't have to be perfect, real poppies aren't perfectly round anyway and more interesting that way.

Once you've sworn you'll never cut a million tiny pieces of felt again, match one big and small circle for each set and center each one.  Thread your needle and knot the end of the thread.  If you cannot find a needle thin enough to go through your beads you can always hot glue them to your flower, but take extra care not to over do it or it will look like a nasty glue mess.

Bead one, and yes my nails are way more awesome than yours, be jealous

Bead two

and then there were three

Stick your needle in slightly off center in the middle of your flower through both felt circles.  Stick a bead on your needle and sew it in place, putting your needle back through very close to where you came out.  Do the same for the second and third beads to form a little triangle pattern.  I did two passes through each bead for extra security.  If you're gluing the beads instead of using thread make sure to glue the two felt circles together as well.

Center your bobby pin on the back

put in a few stitches to keep it in place

Now place the rounded end of a bobby pin in the center of the back of the flower.  Make sure your pin is facing the right way so you're not attaching it on backwards.  I'm sure that would be pretty uncomfortable in your hair.  You don't necessarily have to do this, but I sewed my pin in place before gluing it.

flip up your pin and put a little bead of hot glue where it was laying

carefully lay the pin back down, making sure it adheres well too

After sewing it in place, flip the pin up and put a bead of hot glue where it had been laying and gently roll the pin onto the glue bead and hold till it dries.

tada, look they multiplied!

There ya go, one down and only 999,999 more to go!  They're rather addicting to make if you ask me and the best part is they make super cute gifts!

Feel free to pin this using the pin it button below!

Found it on Pinterest and Actually Did it: Felt Leaf Garland

I found this cute and super simple garland idea on Pinterest and decided to give it a try to add to my fall decor around the house.

Here's what you need:

1. Felt in whatever colors you desire
2. Pretty yarn
3. Sewing needle with a large eye
4. Scissors
5. Permanent marker
6. Cardstock, to make a leaf pattern

With your cardstock, draw a simple leaf shape and cut it out, you'll probably want to make it about 2 inches long, but that's up to you what size you want.  If you want to just free hand cut your leaves from the felt that fine too, I'm anal and wanted them all the same general shape and size.

Cut your yarn to the length you desire and add an inch for knotting the ends.  Since you're doing a simple stitch, it doesn't take away from the overall length.

Start drawing leaf shapes on your felt pieces and make as many as you feel you need, I got a little over ambitious with mine.  Cut them out when you're done and try to cut inside the permanent marker lines so they don't show on your finished garland.

Tie a knot on one end of your yarn and thread the yarn into your needle.  If it's too thick you can try to put a dab of plain white glue on the end and squish it flat with your fingers and let it dry and try again.

I put three stitches in each, sorry my thumb is covering the first stitch

Pull each leaf down to the next one before finishing the first stitch

Pull the needle through the felt leaf and to make it easier for yourself pull the leaf down to the end of your yarn (you can leave a few inches if you plan to tie the garland or pull it all the way to the end) and then put a few stitches in the leaf.  Repeat with the next till you're done and then knot the end of the yarn.  Have fun alternating colors like I did or choose a color pattern if you wish!

Feel free to pin this blog post using the pin it button!

Found it on Pinterest and Actually Did It: Kid's Canopy Tent

I found a tutorial on Pinterest on making this super adorable and super easy canopy tent that uses only three items and takes 10 minutes to make.  I'm not kidding (we all know how fond I am of making up bs numbers for my own amusement), it's that freaking easy.

Are you ready for the items you need?  You may have to write them down, there's a ton you know.

1. Gauzy style curtains (the tute called for 6 panels, I used 4).
2. Embroidery hoop  (the tute used a 23", I could only find a 12" and it worked fine).
3. Ribbon, one or two spools depending on the length of your curtains and how tall your ceilings are and scissors would be good too unless you want to use your teeth, which is fine too.
4. Cat, optional (the tute says nothing about using a cat but I did anyway).

Cat is optional

Start by getting all your stuff together, I already had curtains in a soft green (mine are 84") from my old apartment (why I kept them I don't know but now I'm glad I did!) and about a billion spools of ribbon but I settled on lilac to match my daughter's room.  I just needed to buy the hoop and I couldn't for the life of me find one bigger than 12" other than online (not worth paying shipping for a $6 item) so I hoped it would do.  It ended up working perfectly fine.

If you've used optional cat, keep said cat from stealing screw

Take your hoop apart and make sure not to loose the screw.  I bought a cheapo wooden hoop and was originally worried how flimsy it would be but it supported everything fine.  If your kids are rough, you may want to get a sturdier one since you can't use the inner ring with the curtains.

Really Jasper?  Look at him!

Stick a baggie over the end to keep it from catching your curtains while you slide each panel on.  Make sure all the seams are on the inside as well to keep it looking tidy and you can cut off the tags as well if you like.  If you do make one with a bigger hoop like the original tutorial suggests, you may want to use six panels instead of the four I did.  Four panels would be stretching it for anything bigger than a 14" hoop I'd say.

Careful not to snag the curtains while putting them on

With all panels on, close the hoop and even the panels which is not shown in this pointless photo

Once all the panels are on, remove the bag, close the hoop with the screw and evenly distribute the panels around the hoop.  Like I mentioned earlier, I couldn't for the life of me cram the inner ring back in with the curtains all bunched up so I just ditched it.  It was sturdy enough to support everything so it worked out ok in the end.  I can always replace the ring with a better one in the future if I need to.

You can make ribbon tying interesting by adding a second optional cat as I have

Cut three or four pieces of ribbon (three if you use six panels, four if you use four panels) preferably without the aid of your optional cat.  First you may want to figure out how high up you want it to hang (don't forget that you want the curtains to drape on the floor too) and measure how much space is between where you're holding the curtain to the ceiling.  Add several inches (six-eight should be enough) to that length to compensate for knots and the angle it hangs from hoop to top knot.  Now cut your ribbon to the length you need and tie one between each panel if you used four panels or every two if you used six panels to keep it looking even. 

Helper cat says you're doing it right.

Pull your ribbons together at the top and make sure it's straight.

Observe my wicked awesome knot tying skills

Tie a knot in the top.

Use a good hook and a stud finder, last you need is it coming down on your kid's head

Hang it up and make a door by parting the panels in front

Your canopy is done!  I told it was easy!  Now you'll want to hang it.  I suggest using a heavy duty hanging hook and break out the stud finder to find a proper place to hang it up on your ceiling.

It looks so cute doesn't it?  I kinda want one for me!

It's been cat approved, say hello to Jasper and Zoe who helped me

Add a few pillows, blanket, toys, (a fluffy cat or two is optional) and all done!  The best part is that if you want to save space you can always take it down and wrap the curtains around the hoop and stash it in a closet or under the bed. 

Feel free to pin this blog post or you can repin the original tutorial from my own Pinboard!

Crafty Moments: The Start of My Visual Art Journal

Inspiration, I've got it

Creative block.  It sucks.  I get it almost every year around this time.  The holidays are over, the weather sucks, it's cold, and all I want to do is sit on my butt and watch Bones (Booth is hot, isn't he?) all day with Netflix instant streaming on the big screen.  However this year isn't so bad.  I totally admit I've been procrastinating something fierce about listing new jewelry.  Lets face it clicking renew on listings coming due is soooo much easier than taking a million photos, thinking of a great description to make you all drool, and racking my brain for tags to make sure you can all find it when searching Etsy!  Doing that won't have me swimming in dollars (as if I was ever lol!) though so create I must!

The agate beach on Hunter's Point in Copper Harbor MI

Hiking in Copper Harbor

Since I am one of those overly fussy (and stubborn) artists who blatantly refuses to lift a finger unless I'm in the mood for it, it sometimes takes a little motivation if you will.  Over the past years, my Canon and I have amassed quite the stunning collection of photography from my many trips here and there throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula and it's about freaking time I do something with it!  Staring at hundreds of photos on the computer hunting for one to pique my interest has grown rather dull so I decided to make my own visual art journal comprised of my favorite shots.

Page one, there's the apple tree that graces much of my work!

I made a little pocket for the matching palettes so I can take them out

I came up with the idea when I stumbled across this awesome blog about Smash Books.  What is that you may ask?  Basically it's a scrapbook style journal instead of a written one.  It's not a journal and it's not a scrapbook either, it's a little of both.  That sounded like a perfect idea!  I cannot for the life of me keep a consistent written journal and scrapbooking is sooooooo time consuming!  So now I have a reason to use all those super cute little rubber stamps I've been hoarding and I can use scrapbooking papers for something other than handmade cards!  I can have a spot for all my doodles of past wire designs, thoughts for new projects, and someplace to put oodles of pretty pictures!  Yay!

Isn't that just cool?

This journal I've started is meant to help give me ideas for new jewelry, paintings etc when my brain feels tapped out.  To make it more visually appealing I will be basing each page on color coordinated swatches I've downloaded and stuffed in little corner pockets from my favorite color palette site Design Seeds.  I love how they come up with each carefully designed color palette based on a real photo.  Their site is wonderful when I want help picking out just the right color combo for new beaded treasures!  You can search by color themes or color value so if I want to find colors inspired by nature or a particular season it's a cinch to find something I love!  I also know where to go when I get bored with the color scheme in my house :) My first two pages that I've shown in here are based on woodland tones, my favorite!  I adore mossy greens, olive, and woody browns.  Go figure, lol!

I love my mini alphabet stamps, so cute!

Now I have actually been working on new jewelry and got a few new earrings up in my Etsy Shop for you to take a peek at!  They are Bronzed Champagne Vintage Luster Earrings, Amethyst Crystal Vintage Luster Earrings, Angel Wings Earrings, and Lock and Key Earrings.  I've got more that I should have listed soon once I get photos taken as well.

Vintage Luster Earrings in Amethyst Crystal

I can't forget about all these awesome Treasuries!  Take a peek!