Refinishing Attempt: Take 1

I finally decided to try my hand at finishing furniture. This may not have been the best project for 100 degree weather, but what can I say, I'm a rebel...a very sweaty rebel, but a rebel nonetheless!

Ok, so I found this $5 drawer at Goodwill, and my parents very graciously picked up the tab. I'm not sure why I wanted it so much; there's nothing incredibly special about it. It's just a little two-drawer-table-thingy. But, for some reason, I really, really wanted it:

First, I sanded it. This was the part that had really kept me from ever trying to re-finish a piece of furniture. But, my mom said all I really needed to do with this was to "rough it up" a bit so the paint had something to stick to. Ok, I could do that; next, I applied a spray-paint primer and then slathered on some bright yellow paint:

So far, so good. I wanted it to have a bit more character, though, so I started taping off some "Chevron"-style stripes:

 Then I painted the stripes...

...then very, very carefully peeled off the masking tape...and voila!:

Next came the fun but terrifying part: distressing. I had never done this before, so I went at it like I go after everything else: ALL OUT. I attacked that 2-drawer table with sandpaper and it turned out like this:

I took the two drawers out, spray-painted them white, and tried to distress them the best I could. They seemed to be sort of distress-proof, however. Anyway, here's the final product:

I'm pretty proud of my first piece. Of course, it didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned it--I had wanted more of a "sun-shine-y" yellow than the mustard-y yellow it turned out to be--but it really inspired me to keep going and try again!

If you have experience with furniture refinishing, do you have any tips or tricks? I'd love all the help I can get!

Happy 4th, everyone :)

The Non-Sewer's Adventures with Colorful Stuffed Birds

In my quest for more bird-oriented projects, I stumbled across this cute stuffed-mobile project from Spool Sewing:

Totally adorable, right? Well, I don't have a baby, but I could definitely make something like this for ME! Luckily, Spool even offered a free pattern for the stuffed birds that you can download here.

Ok, now I'm gonna need to detour here a bit.

As we all know, I am a NON-sewer, so the instructions on the pattern were completely useless to me. The bird is in two pieces - the body and the belly. The instructions basically say to pin one piece to the other and sew together. Say...what? Pin what to what? I seriously sat staring at my two pieces of fabric for over an hour trying to figure out how to sew this damn bird. Finally, I decided to stop overthinking it and just take the instructions literally and just sew the two pieces together. Uh, yeah...

...I sewed the bird's belly to his back... Whoops.

So, anger ensued. Why would Spool offer this awesome pattern and then leave us non-sewers stranded?! Then it hit me--if I was confused, maybe someone else out there in the blog-o-sphere was, too? Or maybe, just maybe, someone wrote a step by step tutorial...? Off to Google! And, there, amidst all of the other useless links, was this one from Struggle Sews a Straight Seam. Pictures and step by step instructions for all of us without a scrap of sewing knowledge. Exit anger, enter calm and appreciation for the talented blogger who took the time to write the tutorial!

So, of course I sewed up a bunch of birds. At first I stitched a bunch of little ones:

And then a big mama one...

Bents even got one that didn't turn out!

I'm still working on trying to get them look a little better. I can't seem to get their breaks to turn out pointy enough...they sort of look like little stuffed horses with tails how they are now. And, I'm not really too sure what I'm actually going to DO with them once I have a bunch of them stitched up...grown-up mobile, perhaps??

Sleeping Beauty

In a couple of months, there is going to be a new baby girl entering the world. She is an incredibly special little girl, mainly due to the fact that both of her parents were Blinn theatre folks, and that alone can pretty much tell you how awesome they are in my book :)

So, here's my contribution to the "welcome wagon" for baby Evangeline Rose:

Yep--more birds! Hope you guys like birds, Rachel!

Trying to get a better shot from a different angle...it's hard to see the whole name in one picture!

After three days straight of stitching, re-stitching, starting over, and many pricked fingers, I showed the pillow to Aaron. Of course he gushed over it, like a good boyfriend should--and then said, "Did you double-check to make sure you spelled the name right?" My heart fell. I broke out into a cold sweat. No, no, I did NOT double check. Sweet baby Jesus. Then I looked it up, and thank you dear infant in the manger, it is indeed spelled correctly.

So get out here already, little still-cookin' baby girl! (Just kidding--not until you're ready :) ... but whenever you DO get here, I've got ya covered in the cool-hand-stitched-monogrammed-pillow department :)

And the songbirds keep singing...

I'm still on this "bird" kick. I'm obsessed with birds of all feathers...

Yellow birds:

From Vintage Green Unlimited Etsy Shop

Painted vintage birds:

From Kaboodle

Clay birds:

From the Art of Natalia Skye - Etsy Shop

Felt birds:

From Daisy Daydreams Etsy Shop

Embroidered birds:

From jennnnie's Etsy Shop

I sort of want all of these birds in my house. Maybe it's kind of fitting that I began collecting bird houses before I started in on this bird thing :)

Ciao! Happy Friday!

Rag Ruggin' Riot!

I've been wanting to make a rag rug ever since I found out what a rag rug was a few months ago. But then, I worked two jobs and usually came home wanting to pass out instead of weaving long strips of fabric into a usable rug. Alas, those days are behind me now, and today I am a free woman with plenty of time. Thus, the first attempt at rag ruggin':

The finished product; I used an old sheet (one I loved but which had a giant coffee stain on it!), an old navy blue pillowcase, and some scrap gray fabric.

I remembered to take a picture of the project at the very beginning, but this was about it...

And I had a hard time getting pictures of the rug once it was finished because Bentley thought it was HIS and wanted to bite on it/chew on it/burrow in it

...Kinda like he does when I'm trying to do laundry and he just comes and falls asleep in the middle of it. But, I digress...

I found a great video on how to start off the rag-rug making process on the Etsy blog; click here if you want to see how to make one of your own!

My rug didn't turn out as neat as I would have liked, but the process was pretty fun. If you decide to try your hand, here are a few things I learned the hard way:

1. DO NOT pull the knots too tightly because it ends up making the finished product all lumpy at the end.
2. Cut a bunch of strips of fabric before starting so you don't have to.keep.stopping.to.cut.countless.strips.uggghhhhh
3. Use cotton, if you have it. It seems all of my scraps are jersey and the jersey (because of the stretch) pulls too much--thus, the bumpy look at the end.

But, anyway you go about it, you'll have a nice, handmade piece to show off in your home. Not quite sure what I'm gonna do with mine yet...perhaps a nice food dish mat for the pups? Hmmm...we shall see :)

Colorful Coffee Cup Candles

Don't you just love Goodwill? Aaron and I do! And, we have a really big, clean, fully-stocked Goodwill right down the road from our apartment, so yeah, we're there quite a bit, if only just to browse.

About a week ago, we found this awesome soy-candle-making kit ($1.99!). We decided on two brightly colored coffee cups as the containers ($59 cents a piece!), and this was the final result:

I absolutely love them. They're bright and cheery and are just the right sort of eclectic :)

I've been working from home lately, so my projects have slowed down a bit; however, I did begin the makings of a quilt--or, as my Nana suggested, a pillowcase, just in case the quilt becomes too large of a task for this novice non-sewer!

Happy Thursday! It's currently 82 degrees in San Marcos, and it's going to get up to about 101 today. I already feel like I'm melting!

A Few of my Favorite Things

Right now, with my extreme lack of things to do, I've become quite preoccupied with several items around my house. Meaning, I keep re-arranging and moving these things around. A few of my favorite knick-knacks to relocate are:

This blue mason jar (found at my great uncle's house)...

...filled with paper flowers (another idea shamelessly stolen from Home for Hire!)

This purple bowl (also found at my great uncle's house)...

...with the fruity details around the bottom.

 I've also been working on making Murder Doll look less murder-y:

I thought adding in the details would help a bit. What do you think?

Two more of my favorite things around the house:

Bentley!

and Rasta!

Rosie Little Jewelry Pedestal - Numero Uno

My friend Nicole at Home for Hire makes these great jewelry and dessert pedestals. I've been wanting to try to make one, but, well--I just hadn't gotten around to it. Then my grandmother gave me all of these great old plates, and I was suddenly inspired again. Add in a .59 cent brass candlestick from Goodwill, a bit of leftover paint, and some really strong glue, and you have a dainty little pedestal:

Right now I have three tealights on mine, but these guys can go next to the kitchen sink to hold your jewelry when you cook or wash dishes, next to the front door to catch the contents of your pockets, or on your dresser, nightstand, or vanity to hold various trinkets and baubles.

On another note, the embroidered murder doll is beginning to look a little bit more like a non-murderous villain. Stay tuned for the end results :)

Ripping Out Stitches

Sometimes, projects just don't work out.

Sometimes, you intend on stitching the words "songbird," but then you discover you don't have enough room because you really didn't plan that far ahead:

Then, sometimes you come up with a really great Russian doll design:

...but then, in fruition, your pretty Russian doll sort of starts looking like the Bride of Chucky:

The moral of the story? Well, just like I said: sometimes, projects just don't turn out the way you imagined. So, rip out those stitches and start over; everything's a learning experience--even turning a sweet doll into a murderous-looking psychopath.

The Non-Sewer's Guide to Embroidery & Patchwork

I'm not so great at sewing. I've never been formally taught, so I don't know things like how to read a pattern or even how to correctly thread my sewing machine. I call myself a "non-sewer" because the way I do things is by trial and error rather than by skill or technique.

So, if you're interested in playing with fabric but have been too scared to pick up a needle because you're afraid of "doing it wrong," or you are just freaked out by all of the sewing lingo, here's a short tutorial of how I do things--which is by feel, ripping out a lot of stitches, and basically sewing how I'm comfortable sewing, which is, by all professional standards, probably wrong!

If you're an accomplished seamstress, I recommend turning back now!

The Embroidered Patchwork Dachshund; or, "A Weenie of a Project":

What you need:
A pencil and paper (or a printer, if you doubt your sketching skills)
Scissors
Pins
Embroidery needle
Embroidery floss or crochet thread
Scrap fabric
A bit of patience and some imagination!

Note: Most traditional embroiderers use embroidery hoops, which keeps the fabric taut as you stitch. As long as you keep the fabric pulled tight, you really don't need one, especially for small projects. Just don't pull your thread too tight, or the fabric will bunch up.

Step One: Pick Your Poison

First off, decide what kind of shape you want to embroider. It can be anything, but I try to keep it fairly simple.

Today, I felt like sewing a wiener dog in honor of my miniature dachshund, Bentley. So, I looked online and found some dachshund shapes and tried sketch them onto paper. You can also just print one out, but I am sans printer at the moment, so I went old-school.

 Step Two: Cut Out Your Shape, or, "Your Stencil Awaits You"

Whenever you come up with a shape you like, cut it out. This is your stencil.

 Step Three: Pinning is Such Sweet Sorrow

Next, pin your shape onto some fabric. My dachshund is pinned onto white felt just because I had some laying around, and, well, I like sewing with felt. It seems to be a bit easier to handle, and the needle goes through smoothly.

Step Four: Cut Your Fabric!

Now, cut the shape out of the fabric, using your paper-shape as a stencil.

Looky there. Now you've got a paper wiener and a fabric wiener. Or, you know, whatever your shape happens to be.

 Step Five: Lay Out Your Shape

Lay your shape out onto a contrasting fabric. This will be your background. It's a good idea to iron your fabric to make sure it's smooth, but today I was lazy--therefore, wrinkles.

Step Six: More Pinning? Yes, Please!

Pin your shape onto this fabric.

 Step Seven: Pick Your Thread, Not Your Nose

Get out your embroidery thread. I use crochet thread because it's cheaper and works just about the same, but of course it's up to you.

Step Eight: Thread That Needle

For embroidery, you use an embroidery needle, which is larger and has a bigger eye than regular needles. This is to account for the thicker, bulkier thread.

(Never threaded a needle before? Cut a piece of thread and poke one end through the eye of the needle--pull through until about the halfway mark. Your thread will be doubled over, like it looks in the above picture. Tie the two ends together and you've got yourself a threaded needle.)

 Step Nine: A Stitch in Time Saves...Something Something

Now we're going to stitch the shape to the background fabric. I stitched around the edge of the entire shape for a pretty little border.

So, for a basic stitch: 1. Stick your needle up through the back of the fabric and pull the thread through.

2. Stick the needle back through the front of the fabric. It should be fairly close to your first stitch (as shown above).

Voila! You've just completed your first stitch. Pretty easy, right?

Step Ten: Stitch Your Little Heart Out

Now, keep stitching...

...until you've made it around your entire shape.

Step Eleven: Tying Off Your Thread

To tie off your thread, stick your needle through a bit of the fabric in the back (careful; don't stick the needle all the way through or it will show on the front)...

...And tie a knot.

 Step Twelve: The Money's in the Details

If you're feeling frisky, add some details to your shape. What's a wiener dog without floppy ears??

So, not so hard, right? Of course if you're still shaking in your boots, you can do something much simpler, like a heart or even just a circle to start off with. You can add extra baubles to embellish the shape, as well, like buttons, beads, or sequins.

Once you get a hang of the basics, stitching can actually become relaxing. I can doze in front of the TV stitching a wiener dog and watching Sex in the City reruns for hours. Of course, I also don't have a job at the moment, so that may have happened without the stitching. But, I digress...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and let me know if you try your hand at stitching!