Striped Christmas Tree Throw Pillows

Well, I'm proud to say that I finally made some Christmas pillows for the couch! Yes, I know I did it on Dec 31st. but guess what? I finished a project!! so Go Me! :) Here they are outside on the patio getting some sun. Kinda crazy and silly looking, but I love them.

 I've been thinking about this project for a while, I wanted pillows or something to would go with my white and pink tree, and to match the cute Christmas stockings I found a while back.

This is my inspiration stocking. I wanted to make something just like this:

aren't these just fun and adorable?

So.. of course they don't sell white and pink striped crushed velvet at the local fabric shop. That would have been too easy. Since it was conveniently on sale (yay!) I bought 2 yards of each color.  That would be plenty for two 20 inch square pillows. I can work on making something with any leftover fabric later. 

I cut a piece that was 23 inches in length, of both white and pink.  I then cut the white and pink into strips.  I used my cell phone as a measuring tool, of how wide I wanted each stripe. 

The white and pink fabric is kinda stretchy. I decided to use some scrap white fabric I found in my stash as a base, and sew the stripes on to that, so there wouldn't be any worries about stretching or looking wonky later. 

I'm sewing on the last pink stripe, there's a white muslin square as the base to keep things from getting to wiggly

After completing 2 striped pieces, it was time to do the fun stuff! Making the tree.

I eyeballed drawing the tree onto a green piece of felt. I totally messed it up and went off the side of the felt piece. Now that I've done this, there's no reason to use green felt, if your just going to cover it with other fabric. I for sure had to cover this mess! lol.

I think it would have been cute, and way easier and faster, to use two different colors of felt for the tree. But I only had one color of green. That's not a good reason to drive across town for a 25 cent piece of felt. I was pretty positive I could find something in the house that would work. 

never fear! that corner piece got sewn on and completely covered. You'd never know by looking at it now 

I pulled out my box of ribbons and found a couple different shades of green. Now to decide on which ones to use...

I started out with the dark forest green and then added the polka dotted one. I cut the edge of the ribbon here and there to get the right curve of the tree branch. I used the tree on the stocking as my guide.

Here's what it looked like from the back. I'd cut off the ribbon overhang as I would go along.

Here's my two silly trees! The darker one is just the forest green and polka dot ribbons. I think it's a bit too dark to the other tree has just the green felt in the middle and some lighter green ribbon on the top. I think the lighter colors go a bit better on the white and pink.

For the star, I cut chunks out of gold rick rack. Why I have this, I have no idea. I'm sure I was going to make a crazy euro-trash Italian flavor type of 60's tunic top with this gold rick rack as the trim..... Dang it. Now I gotta go find the material for that. It sounds like something I need to make, and soon!

I pinned 2 pieces of the rick rack down with the points touching, and sewed down the middle.  I then pinned the last 2 pieces on either side, the pointed touching the other points in the middle,and sewed carefully down the middle,without catching the top or bottom pieces in the seam. Then I fluffed it up and it looks like this. A gold 3D star. 

Now onto the tree trunk. I didn't have brown ribbon or dark brown fabric, but I do have this brown satin cording stuff. I cut 3 short strands for each tree. and sewed them down next to each other to make one bigger tree trunk. It's not perfect, but it works.  I used a piece of red ribbon for the base of the tree. My niece pointed out it the shape looks like a stocking. I was just looking at the example and wasn't paying attention. I think a flower pot shape would be good too. 

and here we go... all the sewing has been done on the tree! Yay!!  It's pretty cute!

I was looking at the example on the original Christmas stocking, and the mini decorations are red sequins. I don't have any of those, but I do have a seemingly endless bucket of jewels. I even found the multicolored  jewels! I'm so glad I saved the leftovers from some old forgotten art/craft project.

I just took a handful of the gems and scattered them over the tree. Then i went back to turned them over, and thinned it out a bit. I glued everything in place with a hot glue gun. I might have to hand wash these, but we'll deal with that when it happens. If they do go through the washing machine, I have a ton more jewels if anything falls off, so I'm not too worried.

Here's a quick shot of the other lighter colored tree next to the sample Christmas stocking. I have less gems than the darker tree. I think it's better with less.  Yes, I don't say that very often, but in this case it's true. :)




 
Here's another shot of the finished pillows. After all the sewing, then gluing of the gems, I then sewed backs onto the pillows, and added a zipper. (the backs are stripes as well, in case you wanted to know)


Yesterday was a very productive day. Besides finishing these two pillows, I made a dark brown fur throw blanket for the couch. The picture was too dark and didn't come out right. but lets just say it looks like mink. It's beautiful. It's fur that's been in the closet stash for a very long time. I was told by the family I was not allowed to make a fur vest, and I didn't want to make it into a rug, so a blanket it is! I found a dark grey knit fabric, and laid the grey onto the fut and cut the grey to the exact length of the fur. I then pinned, or actually safety pinned the 2 fabrics together, and then sewed everything together, except for a small opening. I turned it right side out, and then sewed shut the hole. Looks fantastic! It's really warm and cozy on the couch too.  Speaking of..I think it's time for me to have some hot cocoa all snuggled up with my new fur blanket!

Happy New Years everyone! May we all finish the projects we love, and know and love ourselves enough to realize it's okay to donate/give away the ones we don't love or have time for anymore.  (there's someone out there who will love it!!)

Hugs!
Caroline

Halloween Skull Pillows

Yay! It's Halloween time! And that means I can start decorating! Actually, I pulled out all the decorations a couple weekends ago. If I'm going to put it all up, I want to enjoy for at least a month. Right?!  Check out these cute Skull and Halloween couch pillows I made last year. I'm so excited to bring them out again.

4th of July favors

Happy 4th of July!!

I enjoy giving out little holiday pins or cute little somethings/party favors to my friends and coworkers for the holidays. I was at a loss on what to do for the 4th of July, and then I found these cute paper fans at the dollar store! Score! I even found these ribbon bracelets there too, which are attached as decoration. It's 2 gifts in 1! Bonus!

It's cute and handy! We can fan our hot selves in the heat and look patriotic while we're doing it!  (Today's temperature was 111 degrees and it's supposed to get even hotter on the 4th! I think the fireworks might set themselves on fire!)

 

Now to print out little tags that say "Have a FANtastic 4th of July!"

Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday! Stay COOL! :)
Hugs!
Caroline

Homemade Apricot Jam

Homemade apricot jam

Hi guys! I'm happy to be back to show you what I've been up to. Remember the other day when I picked my own apricots at the orchard? Well, today I started making jam! And boy, let me tell ya, I'm gonna be at this for a while! I think I over estimated how much my 2 bags of apricots would make. Oh My! 

I'll just walk you through how I made jam. It seems like a big deal, but it's not. Really. If I can do it, then so can you! 

I got my recipe for apricot jam from the instructions found inside the box of Can-Jel. All boxes of pectin include recipes and instructions. There are even instructions and recipes on the back of the case of canning jars! Pick which one works for you. Now lets get jamming! :)

Step 1: Get your equipment together. 

You'll need the following:

*fruit of choice

*sugar (and tons of it!)
*canning jars and lids.
* potato masher (or hand blender)
*canning tongs. I totally recommend them. (Lets just say it's tricky using regular shaped tongs to pick up a hot heavy jar straight up out of bowling water)
*Pectin. I used the Kroger brand Can-Jel. I've used other brands before, never had a problem. This one works great for me, plus it was on sale. (I've used the liquid pectin before. It worked great with cooked jam. But it doesn't set up enough with the no-cook/freezer jam, it stays a little too liquid-y for my taste)
*Big pot to cook your fruit in
*a big pot that can fit your jars with room to spare on top. (the water needs to cover the top of the jars)
*a cute apron, cause 1) we don't have anything but cute aprons, and 2) we gotta look the part, plus look good for the pictures we take to prove we did it :) and 3) that boiling jam sure is hot when it splatters!

Here's a shot of the package insert that has recipes for both no-cook  and cooked jam and jellies. 

Step 2.  Get your fruit ready.
For apricots, wash and remove the pits. If you want to cut them up more, that's great, but you're going to smashed them up eventually.

Step 3. Get your canning jars and lids and water ready. 

A) I boiled the flat lids in a pot of water, and once they boiled I turned the heat off and left them in the water, until I was ready for them. 

B) The jars can either be put through the dishwasher or boiled. They just need to be clean and still hot when you put in the hot jam,or else there's a chance the glass will break of they are cold. 

C) Fill the other big pot with hot water and start it to boil. Make sure there's at least 2 inches of water over the top of your jars!!!  

Step 4. Cooking the jam. 

Here's where you follow the recipe and instructions on the insert.

In my case for apricots, the recipe called for 5 cups of smashed fruit, and the box of the pectin to be boiled together. Once it boils, add in the 7 cups of sugar. Once it comes to a Full Boil, boil it for 1 minute, all the while stirring. This took no time at all. I think I was re-reading the instructions to make sure I wasn't missing something, and Oh! I was boiling! and Poof! it's done! 

To recap; 

Smash a bunch of apricots. Keep smashing until you get 5 cups worth and put it all in big pot. Add the pectin. Stir (smash the fruit some more if it's too chunky) Keep stirring. Let it get to a full rolling boil. 

Once it''s at a rolling boil, add in your 7 cups of sugar. Stir, and as soon as it gets back up to a rolling boil, time it for 1 minute. (if you worried, it's better to go a little over, to make the jam thicker, than under, which will make it a thinner jam)

Thats it! You officially made jam!!! You go with your bad self!

Then take it off the heat and continue to stir for 5 minutes.(this helps keep the fruit from separating. If you don't care, then sit down, and take a breather for 5 min)

Sometimes it gets foamy. If it does, you can skim that part off. Mine only did for a little bit, then it went away. 

Here's a shot of it boiling. It gets pretty messy in there, but it sure tastes good!

Step 4. Fill your jam jars. You're putting hot jam into hot jars. Leave 1/8 inch at the top. Wipe the rims clean. Fish the flat lids out of the hot water and put a lid on each jar. Then screw a lid ring down on each jar, snugly, but NOT super tight. (If it's too tight the trapped air can't escape)

Step 5. Put filled jars in the hot water.
Use your fancy canning tongs to pick up and place the hot jam jars into your hot water.
Boil for the allotted time. I did 5 minutes of a rolling boil. Your recipe and altitude might necessitate time being added on.
It's best if you can set the jars on top of a layer of extra rings, so that the water can circulate around the jars. The water of course is over the top of the jars by at least 2 inches. If you're only doing a couple jars, and the pot is really big, you can fill the pot with empty jars, so your stuff won't fall over.

Look! I'm canning!

 When you're time is up on the boiling water process, let the jars cool in the water for 5 min. Then take them out. Here's your fancy canning tongs again. Make sure you lift straight up, not at a angle. This is supposed to help with the sealing of the jar.

Don't touch. Let them rest over night. If you did it right, the lid will be sucked down, and won't move. These all eventually made a popping sound. This is good! It means I did it right. If you have one that didn't seal, no worries. You get to eat that one first :)
 

 I can't wait until tomorrow when I get to have toast and jam!
Hugs!
Caroline

DIY Polka dot Flower Pot

Well, hello friends!

Tonight, while I was busy cutting up fruit for jam, I decided to take a break and finish up another project.

Here it is, the polka dot flower pot/plant urn!

I found this urn shaped plastic pot at a local thrift store for just $3. I totally love this shape! I've been looking for something like this for a while, so I'm really excited. My thought was to use this for Halloween. Can't you just see this in black, holding a artfully arranged bouquet of glittery dead branches? Sigh. Love it. 

Halloween is such a ways away... and it's so cute I want to display it now. If I paint it black, I think it'll "disappear" and it's cuteness won't be noticed.  So.. what will go with my current decor? 

GOLD! 

(Like I'd pick something else?  lol )

So...here it is, in the midst of transforming from original white plastic to gold. 

Here's the finished paint job.  Awesome in gold, but needs a little punch of flavor, some excitement. 

So.... I decided to paint on polka dots!. 

Here's my super scientific way of making a 2 inch circle for a template.

Using the perfectly round circle I cut out, I traced around it onto the pot. I just placed it randomly.

I wanted to paint the dots black, but, gasp! I'm out of black! (Oh the horror!!) So I used a dark purple instead. Looks totally fine. I think it's better than black. I just painted inside the lines. totally easy. I did 2 coats of paint for better coverage.
This is the paint and bush I used. I'm not picky at all about my acrylic paint. I am picky about brushes. I like decent brushes. They totally make a difference. (This isn't a top of the line sable or anything, but it's not a junky, plastic bristle thing either.) This might be the art school opinion talking but I've handed people good brushes and they swear they're never going back to the crap ones again.

Anyway.. back to my cute urn. Here it is again.

This is the black cabinet where the  polka dot pot currently lives. 

How do you like my 70's gold mirror? It's from the house I grew up in. 

I think the arrangement here isn't quite right yet. It needs some work. I was thinking of adding lots more pictures, making this the crazy picture wall. I'm open to suggestions! Maybe a black velvet painting?? See, I need help :) 

Have a great day!

What awesome things have you made while taking a break from something else?

Hugs!

Caroline

Be Kind to Animals Week

Hi friends! Last week, May 4-10th, was Be Kind to Animals Week. To celebrate the occasion, I did a couple things extra nice for my pet. I'm excited about it! Let me show you.

For starters...

A new bedazzled collar!

This was a really simple craft. A extra collar, a bucket of jewels, and a tube of adhesive. All of which I just laying around the house. My out of pocket price? FREE. Score!

best glue ever!

I'm really impressed with this glue. This is my new favorite glue. It's called Welder. It's a clear gel, and the best part, NOT SMELLY! I bought it at Home Depot a couple months ago. (Some craft adhesives have a super strong chemical smell that lasts and lasts, but not this one!)

The bling is blinding me!

Here's the cat, wearing her new fancy collar! It's been a couple days since I made it, and it's still on. Nothing has fallen off. All the jewels are still in place! Yay!

Thanks for the tuna. I won't kill you just yet

Then, besides giving the cat a can of tuna, the second thing I did was plant some Cat Grass. If you have a cat, I totally recommend this! My cat has been going crazy! She loves it! You can get it here or at Walmart or your local pet store.

Throw it on some dirt. Keep it watered. 3 days later you'll have sprouts. Totally easy!

It might be just plain oat seeds, but I swear, by the way the cat's been acting, it's a little more "herbal', if you know what I mean. She has the munchies, has been all lovey-dovey, and best of all; doesn't try to bite me just for the fun of it. Lets just say planting this is the best thing I've ever done. It's cheaper than cat Valium!

I don't know about you, but I think this shot of the cat, all up in the flower pot, chowing down like nobody's business, is funny. Usually, there's a no picture taking tolerance policy in place, but somehow, I got right up in her face.. I think she was too busy to notice.

Ok, fun time is over. get back to work!

And that's it for today's pet pictures. :) Hope you did something special for your pet this week.
Hugs!
Caroline

DIY Aphid and Ant Spray

Well Hello there! Welcome friends!
Here's my take on the DIY aphid and ant spray. It works like a champ!
Can I just say, this stuff, even with my half-way attempt at following the recipe, is AMAZING!

boring everyday things CAN kill on contact! 

To save my one lone bell pepper plant, I was researching how to get rid of aphids (and subsequent ants) using alternatives to harsh chemicals. I found quite a few sites that talk about using a tomato leaf spray or a garlic oil spray. I'm sure they'll work fine. I'm just too impatient to wait the 24 hrs for the smashed cloves of garlic or the tomato leaves to steep. Plus it seemed too fussy for me.

Then I happened upon this site, and its ever-so-easy homemade insecticide spray, which is basically soap and oil in water. SOLD!

I just guessed on following their recipe. Here's what I did:

Start with a big empty spray bottle
cooking Oil: glug in enough to approximate 2 tablespoons
Soap: dribble in enough to look like 1 teaspoon, then squirt in some more just to make sure.
shake all this up to blend them together.
fill the bottle up with water.
***go have fun spraying and killing all those icky things! (shake the spray bottle occasionally since the water and oil tends to separate)

The downside is this'll kill friendly things, like ladybugs. Since my patio container garden is ladybug free, I'm okay with using this.

There was a hint of an ant trail from the patio edge to the bell pepper plant yesterday, and then today,when I checked,  it was almost a thick, black ant highway!! Yuck! They gotta go. Guess what? After dowsing the ant trail with the soap/oil spray, they all went away! And they are still gone, 5 hours later. I know that's not long, but with ants, they would've been back by now. I'll check back later on the aphid's demise. Here's hoping it wasn't too late for the bell pepper plant!
Hugs!
(I'm off to go wash my hands)
Caroline

Bowling Bag Makeover!

Hello Friends! I'm excited to show you my bowling bag makeover! Cause, everyone needs a fancy shiny gold bowling bag for that rare event they go bowling once a year, right? If you gotta go, you might as well go in style! 

Just my new styling bag for the bowling alley, sure beats a beat-up backpack

 Here's another shot. The glitter is hot pink in real life, but the purple in the picture looks good too! I'm really pleased with the attached name tag. I think it's cute. This is part of the original. One side said the brand name and the other side has spots for writing your name and phone number (in case of it getting lost, I presume? Or to identify who's is who's in a sea of bags at a bowling alley?)

                                      

This is what it looked like when I found it at my local thrift shop.Kinda cool in it's retro-ness, but not quiet as awesome as it could be. (Fancy filters make it look cooler than it really was. trust me)

Before

I sprayed 2 coats of gold spray paint. I sprayed the handles and everything, even the zipper.

I really liked the original design with the stripes. I thought about paint for a bit, but decided... Glitter it is!!

For the glitter:  
This is how I did it: Watered down glue (more glue than water, this is your DIY Modge Podge. Thank you Pinterest!), mixed in some glitter, painted it on. Looked too thin so sprinkled on tons more glitter while it was wet. After it dried, painted on a 2nd coat of the glitter glue which seals everything up. No random glitter evidence falling from this baby!

Items used:
White glue from personal stash
Hot Pink(Magenta) glitter from Hobby Lobby (personal stash)
Elf foundation brush (personal stash)
Bowling Bag ($4, Deseret Industries)
Total spent = $4.

You're probably wondering why I need a bowling bag in the first place, aren't you? Well, it holds the bronze swirl bowling ball I got years ago for a steal ($1.99!) and the perfect sized bowling shoes ($3!) I found as well. I love myself some thrift store shopping! Of course I can't bowl worth a dang. The last time I went I scored 110, and that was both games combined!  But now, when I do go, I'll have a fancy new bag to hold all my stuff!

 Another shot of the bag. It's pretty cool in person. Not quite finished yet, but almost there. I think it needs just a little bit more to be perfect. Any ideas? Monogram  in the middle? sculls? Something black??
Well, while we both ponder, I'm off to enjoy a nice cold glass of Dr Pepper!
'Night everybody!
Hugs!
Caroline

Here's a silly picture of my niece photo bombing the photo shoot! I think she's way excited to go bowling, don't you? :)