Bowling Shoes Makeover!!

I had plans to go bowling this weekend, so of course I had to have matching shoes to go with my fancy gold bowling bag! For those who missed it, you can see all the details here about my bowling bag redo. It's all about color coordination. I might not be able to bowl, but at least I'll look good throwing those gutter balls!

 I've had these bowling shoes for years. I found them at the thrift store for $3.99.  I do like the old school charm of the red and blue bowling shoes. I've actually worn them out with a 50's themed outfit. And with jeans, just for fun. But I think its time to change things up a bit. Plus the red and blue didn't match my $1.99 bowling ball, also a local thrift store find. (Isn't it silly how we can remember exactly how much we paid for something ?)
So out came my trusty gold spray paint!

the original color of the bowling shoes

All these pictures were taken after I wore them. I must have scraped the left shoe against something to rub the paint off on that one spot. You can see a hint of the red peeking through. 

I bought purple glitter shoe laces on the way to the bowling alley. They aren't as long as the original laces. I had to skip a couple eyelets while I was lacing these up, so I could tie a decent knot at the top. I must have bought the shortest length of laces ever! I just saw glitter and said SOLD! I'll have to hunt around later when I'm not in a hurry. I'm sure I'll find the exact color of pink to match the glitter stripe on the bag. 

 Here's another shot of my bowling shoes.

Notice how the pink glitter is coming off the bowling bag. I applied the glitter with Mod Podge. It's really
thick. I did at least 2 layers. The bag is bent in a weird way on the edge, which doesn't help. If I try to bend it straight, it cracks the glitter. Also, I didn't think to rough up or sand the stripe area first, to help the glitter glue adhere better. Next time. Or when I patch up the missing part I'll take some sandpaper to the spot.

 I wanted the size detail of the shoe to stand out. I didn't want to spray over this. Since it was already midnight, and way past my bedtime, when I started this project,  I grabbed the first thing I could think of; Vaseline hand lotion. (I had just put it on my elbows, okay?) and I wasn't about to fight putting tape in a circle. I applied the Vaseline with a Q tip, to just the inside of the circle. I also rubbed the Vaseline all around the shoe edge, where it's white. I wanted it to stay white. I must not have slathered it on enough, since the edge didn't stay white. It's pretty much gold now. Oh well.
I did a quick spray over everything, then went to sleep
The next morning, I took a couple minutes to check them out, see if I missed any spots (nope. good to go!) and then wiped the circle areas free of the paint. The gold spray paint covered the Vaseline inside the circle. I was a bit worried, but it wiped off without any problems! I only had to scrub a little bit. There's still a pin head dot of gold here and there, but that'll come off in no time at all.
I tried to rub off the gold paint around the bottom shoe edge, but the lotion must have soaked in. I'll try again later and concentrate on making that white, and actually scrub instead of a half-hearted wipe down.

They look pretty cool close up, huh? :) I'm really happy with them. I was kinda afraid gold would be too much. What if they looked like clown shoes, or something from a bad 80's music video?? Yuck!

If I ever get tired of the gold, I can just spray paint them a different color, or two. :)

And bowling, you ask? I wasn't really paying attention to the bowling. I was too busy flirting with all the good looking men! (Jeff, Roger, Scott, and possibly Bob) But when I did bowl, I personally made 2 strikes, a bunch of gutter balls, a lot of random partials, but the best was my niece Aimee who bowled for me and knocked down almost all the pins by throwing the ball granny style, backwards! Then she got another strike bowling with the wrong hand! That girl got skills! lol! 

Happy bowling everyone! And if you can't bowl, at least you'll look great trying! 

Hugs!

Caroline

What I made this weekend while it rained

Hi folks!
This past weekend it rained here in the desert. It was beautiful! More than five minutes worth of rain too! I love the rain! I don't know about you, but rainy weather always makes me want to stay at home, make cookies and snuggle on the couch with a blanket and read. Doesn't that just sound dreamy?!

Well, since I wasn't about to go anywhere..(and in case you were wondering.. Yes, I was strong, I did NOT make cookies) I decided to tackle a project I've been putting off for a while. I started cleaning/reorganizing my crafty area. Yay! Go me! (don't you just love when you finally get around to doing something, and it's not as hard or takes as long as you thought it would be? I love that feeling!)

I'm not quite done with it yet, but it's looking great! I spray painted some stuff lying around to help organize too.
Stay tuned for that update!

In the meantime... While sorting all my precious precious piles of craft supplies, I found 4 packages of pre-cut quilt squares. What did I immediately do? Why, set up the sewing machine, of course!

I "needed" a break from all my hard work, so I finished the day by making a quilt top from all those little squares! I conveniently found matching pink and while polka dot fabric, plain white fabric and the aqua patterned fabric, and I only had to look in 2 boxes stashed in the closet! (one day that'll all be sorted out/given away. Minimizing my stuff. I'm working on it slowly.)

So, here's the finished diversionary project. Hope you like it!  My new quilt top. I have more to go to finish it up, but the hard part's done

It'll look even better once I iron it. I'm going to use a extra sheet that was destined to the thrift shops as the backing. I love that I can use stuff around the house!

 I put a stripe of pink around the white. It helps finish it off. It looked funny just with the white edge. It needed something else. I debated a stripe of aqua blue, but that would be too much, I think.

I haven't even trimmed the random threads..

Total cost:
4 quilt square packages found in my personal stash= free
White fabric = free
pink polka dot fabric = free
aqua print fabric = free
white sheet for quilt backing = free

The only thing I need to purchase is the batting. Nice! And hopefully with a 40% off coupon, too.

What fun things have you made instead of doing something else? :)
I read a study finding these diversionary things are good, They help you concentrate harder, later on the original thought. I can't find the exact article, but I found another one here that's equally as good, or better!
Happy crafting!
Hugs!
Caroline

DIY necklace holder

 Hi Friends!
I've been wanting to show you my awesome necklace organizer/holder!  It's totally easy to make, and cheap too!

Why did I make my own? Well, I have tons of necklaces squirreled away in different spots. If I don't see them, I won't wear them. You know that old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind."? Yep. Totally true in this situation. I needed to find a way to hang them all together where I can see them. This way, I'll actually wear them, and now I know what I don't have, so the next time I'm out shopping I can pick up something to go with that new darling outfit.

Like we really need a reason to make a necklace holder, right? ;)  But in case you do, let's just say this will save you time and money in the long run so you won't wind up with 3 necklaces to match the outfit you wear once a year and nothing to match the outfits you wear all the time (office wear, those Date Night little numbers you look smoking hot in, etc.)  Plus you'll always look fabulously accessorized!

Like you, I've seen lots of cute and different ways to hang up and display necklaces. I've tried out quite of few of these ideas too. I just wasn't excited about necklaces in picture frames. I have more than 4 necklaces, and not enough wall space to display all those frames (or the effort to hunt down nice big picture frames for cheap). I've tried using hangers, and even put necklaces on those over the door storage hooks. The knobs on a shelf are cute, but once again, I'd have to use more than one set.

I must have mentioned it a few times, cause my sister Natalie came up with the fabulous idea to using a regular ol' trellis from the hardware store. At first, I was like, "Nah.. It's not going to be cute at all."  I just couldn't picture it. I was thinking a trellis is some rough, splintery wood that'll take way too much work to sand down. But one day, she walked in with this cute white plastic trellis, and said here, go for it!

This trellis came in the standard 12 feet. I cut a couple inches off the top with a my trusty folding hack saw. I probably should have measured, but I just eyeballed it, and cut some off, then propped it against the wall, It wasn't quite right so I cut a little bit more off. The second time around it fit, so I was done. The plastic was really easy to cut. I could have used a really sharp stake knife and sawed through it too. I have mine from floor to ceiling. I used a couple small nails here and there to attach it to the wall.

The best thing about it? it fits behind the closet door! Totally low profile and right next to all my clothes.  I can stand there and pick something out. 

Natalie randomly attached lots of Command mini clear hooks to the trellis for me.  I used to have more hooks attached, but a couple popped off during a move. I haven't gotten around to putting more on. 

Yes, I do have tons more necklaces that aren't hung up. Then there's the antique jewelry box with my stash of pearls and all the other pretty things

close up of command hooks 

 So, That's my necklace holder! I hope you like it! I don't know about you, but I'm excited about getting more Command hooks this week and hanging up the rest of my collection. Yay! Then I can weed out the 3 orange necklaces and get something to match all the black I wear on a daily basis. :)

Hugs!

Caroline