Encouraging Myself to Do the Laundry the First Day...

I have the curse of having a laundry room that is slightly out of the way (it used to be part of the garage), and I don't always hear the beepers when they go off signalling the laundry's done. Oh, yeah, and also I hate doing laundry. So there's that. In any case, it's impossible for me to do one load of laundry in a day, let alone the 3 or 4 or 5 that need to be done. So I made myself something pretty to try to encourage me to do the laundry when it's supposed to get done, as opposed to pulling clean clothes out of the dryer as we need them. :)

I bought myself a little wooden sign from Hobby Lobby and this very cute blue-washed wood-looking paper to decoupage onto the sign. The only problem was when I put the barn wood paper on top of the brand new wooden sign, the visuals didn't quite line up. So then I had to attempt to age the wooden sign. In one night. It's actually not that hard. :) Google has some pretty amazing information hidden away. It's like magic or something. I bought some steel wool and soaked it in about a half cup of white vinegar overnight. Then I brushed it on the wooden sign the next day, and, after 3 coats, voila! Instant aging. :) Maagiccccc...

It took a couple days to air out, but I was really happy with the result. After the decoupage with the barn wood paper, it actually looks like it was a barn wood sign. I added a cute 'launderette' sign, some ribbon and some stamps (I used Staz-On ink as it will literally stamp a permanent image onto anything), and I was mostly good to go. But I wanted something that I could see from the other side of the house that would tell me if I still had clothes in the dryer and I had to get my butt off the couch and go fold them. Enter the miner's coins.

I'm pretty sure we've all seen October Sky (as old as it is for a movie these days), and I've always loved the idea of those miner's coins that indicate which miners went underground for the day. I had some metal tag rings lying around so I found some icons for washer and dryer to hang in the middle of the rings. That way, I'll know if there are clothes in the washer or dryer (or both), and I can see these rings from across the house. You'd be amazed at how quickly I forget things. I need to remind myself of these things occasionally. :) So I just hang the washer coin on the sign when I put clothes in the washer and so on and so forth. I also made a little quickie pocket for the backside of the sign so I can store the coins there and they won't get lost when they're not in use.

I know it's not the prettiest thing you've ever seen, but it's the back of the sign, for Pete's sake. I also did some stamp testing there. No one's going to see it. :) So now I have this cute little sign that will tell me when to do the laundry. At least I'm pretty sure my husband's hoping his days of pulling clean clothes out of the dryer are over. :) Happy New Year!

Easiest Craft Ever - Olympic Edition

Yes, I realize the Olympics have been over for a little while now, but I haven't been able to shake Viktoria Komova's cute little button earrings. She is definitely a great gymnast, but those earrings! I love them. :) Hence, I decided to make some for myself. As mentioned, this is seriously the easiest craft ever.

You will need 3 things:

1) Buttons
2) Earring posts (I got mine at Joann's for $1.49)
3) Jewelry adhesive (I used Aileen's Jewelry & Metal Glue)

Then all you do is adhere the buttons to the earring post tops. If you're using Aileen's Jewelry & Metal Glue, don't lay the earrings button-top-down to dry. I did that the first time I made them, and the glue fumes deposited some kind of white powder on the button faces. It did NOT look pretty, but I was able to get it off by running the button faces under very hot water and brushing them with a bristle brush. Any leftover residue I removed with a toothpick. Just make sure the glue is dry before you do this. The second time I made button earrings, I laid them on their sides so the button faces were pointing out, and I didn't end up with white powder on them. The glue is quick-drying enough that you can lay the drying earrings on their sides without messing up the adhesive contact.

I did get a little obsessive, and, before I knew it, I had 8 pairs of button earings.

This is seriously the easiest craft ever and will put your ears in style with the lovely Viktoria Komova! Have fun and Happy Crafting!

Wrapping with Yarn

Now that our little girl is here, I can FINALLY reveal some of the artwork I'd been working on for her. If any of you had been following my pinterest account, I had become a bit obsessed with wrapped yarn letters. There's so much you can do with them as far as certain looks and styles, and they're a very unique addition to your decor.

After much trial and error (unfortunately, it's inevitable), I finally came up with something I liked. I started out by pulling a couple bobbins out of the skein of yarn I bought for the occasion. It was easier to wrap the letter with a more reasonably sized yarn ball. When I was searching for help with this project, I was surprised by the lack of instruction I found. They pretty much said keep practicing until you get something you like. Here are some of the techniques I found worked very well with this project. You will have to practice a lot to get the effect you like, though. Sorry for that.

I got my wooden letter at Joann's for maybe a couple dollars, and I've got yarn all over the house so that wasn't hard. Some other things you'll want are a hot glue gun and some assorted clamps to hold wrapped sections in place. First, I cut several small pieces of yarn to wrap around the end caps of the letter.

You'll be wrapping the yarn around the stalks of the letter so this will help cover those hard-to-wrap ends. Use the glue gun to tack these pieces of yarn in place. After way too much practicing, I finally figured I would try to wrap the letter in the way that it is written. I made a diagram I used to keep this in mind.

This is how I draw my Rs, and I found it worked very well as a guideline for wrapping the yarn around my letter. Of course, I also had to choose one of the hardest letters in the alphabet, but that just figures. From here, I just wrapped each letter stalk as indicated in my diagram, being sure to wrap about twice as much yarn very carefully (the yarn will tend to stack up on itself if you wrap it too much) where stalks met. Then you can use your glue gun to tack in place any yarn strands that are moving on you. I did all my tacking on the back of the letter because if will seep through the yarn and make it very hard and unpleasant-looking.

I also used some of my clamps to hold in place yarn sections as I was working on other pieces of the letter. You'll also see in this picture that you will be wrapping over the end caps you wrapped at the very beginning. I was actually able to wrap pretty far over the end caps by using my glue gun to tack yarn sections.

So, after much frustration, I was finally left with a project of which I was extremely proud. I wasn't able to reveal it before Miss Rosie came because we were keeping her name a secret, and this is for her bedroom door. Joey has a J on his, too, but I used paper to decoupage his. Also very fun and easy. :)

Of course, I also had to knit her a little rose that I attached to her letter. So now Miss Rosetta has her very own wrapped yarn letter for her door, and I am still trying to think of other projects where I can make wrapped yarn letters. It's really fun and pretty addictive. Good luck and happy crafting!

The Perfect Pillow

In the recent very long search to find the perfect back support pillow for Baby 2.0's new green glider, of course, we found nothing we liked. I'm sure you've noticed this happens a lot. I did, however, find the perfect fabric at Hancock Fabrics. So I went for it! This is probably one of the easiest projects you will ever take on if you ever need a nice decorative (or fully functional) pillow for a certain space.

It goes along with our color scheme perfectly (grey, blue, lime green and pink), and we were able to get just the right size pillow form. So I did get the pillow form, I got a yard of this gorgeous fabric (in case I wanted to make other things with it), some 7/8" wide black satin ribbon and a couple buttons for the envelope closure at the back of the pillow. Easy peasy.

I cut the fabric to fit the form so the finished size was exactly the size of the pillow, in this case 12" x 16". The hardest part was definitely working that satin ribbon around the edges. I wanted something to break up the front and the back of the pillow, but I have never done piping or anything like that. I took the cheater's way out, and I folded the satin ribbon in half and sewed it right to the pillow cover. It was a bit tricky, but I LOVE the way it turned out.

Adding the buttonholes, and consequently the buttons, was the finishing touch on this lovely addition to the nursery. I chose some giant buttons so they were more of the design of the pillow as opposed to just being functional. They look good, too. :)

And voila! You have a beautiful personalized back support (or decorative, if that's your thing) pillow that you have created yourself. Not to mention it took all of a couple hours to finish this project. I love quick projects! Happy Crafting!

Etsy Rocks My World: Serpenthes

I got my etsy order yesterday! It's only 1 of 2, but I was really looking forward to this one. You may think it strange that I ordered notecards since I make them, but I do have a couple reasons for that. One, it's no fun making a card and then immediately using it. Second, I love it when I share a hobby with someone. Plus, there are just some people out there with wicked awesome designs. And that brings me to Serpenthes! She has the most amazing illustrations that I just had to buy some cards. I bought 2 sets, and they have the coolest octopus images on them. I still can't believe someone can draw like.

Even the note she sent me has a great illustration of the day of the dead! Even her business cards are a work of art. I was just blown away by what I got. Ooh, she also sent me a free gift! I got the postcard in the middle of the steampunk girl on her bicycle, which was GREAT because I was looking at buying that one, too, but it was only available in print form. I will remind you that one of the great things about etsy is custom orders! Probably about 50% of my orders have been customized for what I want. The octopus with the heart was a regular listing, but I asked for a custom order of the girl walking her pet octopus (that's me, by the way ;)). Serpenthes had a collection called Animal Variety Show that included people and their quirky pets, like this one. While I did like the other ones, I could NOT get enough of that little girl walking her octopus. I had to have it. Lots of it. A whole set dedicated just to them!

Needless to say, I will DEFINITELY be getting more cards from Serpenthes, and some of you will, no doubt, be seeing them firsthand! I've already sent one out. These are definitely some notecards you canNOT get anywhere else! And that's what I love about etsy. Etsy makes you the cool kid in school. :) No one will ever be wearing the same dress to the prom because we got ours from etsy.

If you are interested in some of Serpenthes' artwork, as I know you are after that GLOWING review, check out her etsy shop at Serpenthes' Etsy Shop. She's got some wonderful artwork and notecards, and she has some great invitations. I wish I had known about those octopus wedding invitations and save the dates when I got married. They rock. :)

Also, check out the Animal Variety Show collection! I'm seriously thinking about getting that one now that I have Wanda and Sid. That's what I named them. :)