Earring Frame

Making a pretty place to display my earrings was one of those things that had been on my never ending crafty to-do list FOREVER but I never got around to it.  Then I decided to make one for my sister for Christmas and finally got around to it. When I saw two of these lovely fox hunt pictures at Salvation Army for $1.99 each, (minus 50% for yellow tags that day) I snatched them.  

Another stop at Home Depot for silver spray paint and 36 in. x 84 in. Charcoal Fiberglass Screen and I was ready to go!  

I know it's probably hard to believe, but those dapper horsemen came out of the frames pretty easily.  A little sanding and 2 coats of silver spray paint covered the woodsman-ness and make them much more sleek.  

I had quite a lot of fun with the staple gun and the screen.  I was happy to have two frames to complete so I could perfect my skill with the second one.  My sister received the neater of the two, of course.

I already had picture hangers on hand so I attached those and was ready to hang up some earrings!

I love having my earrings out so I can see what I have and actually wear them!

Money breakdown:

- 2 Salvation Army Frames: $1.99

- Rusolium Silver Spray Paint: $4.24

- 36" x 86" Screening: $6.48/roll  (TONS left over)

- Picture hangers: already had

- Staple gun: already had

Final Price for 2 Earring holders: way cheaper and more meaningful than buying one.

Now to figure out what to do with the 70 + inches of screening I have left....

T-shirt skirt

I finally did it.  

I made a piece of clothing for myself that I 

#1 LOVE and 

#2 feel comfortable wearing outside of my house.

Here's the story:

My husband had these two grey shirts.

They were sooo soft but ended up in my sewing room because one had tiny holes and one had odd stains.  So I cut strips around the holes and stains and whipped up an elastic waist skirt!

I wouldn't even attempt a tutorial on this because the whole project was an experiment with my serger.  I'm still not sure if I had the correct settings for the differential feed, but I managed to get the seams smooth.  

No puckering! 

Whew!

And I've even worn it....in public!!

More than once!

That in itself means it was a successful project!

Go be thrifty!

Pleated Belt

I'm still here! 

I went back to school (work) this week so I'm back to having not as much time to do what I really want to do.  

HOWEVER, I've found some time to make an awesome pleated belt!

I was really intrigued by See Kate Sew's Pleat Week series.

I've never sewn pleats before but really want to try it out on something.

I think these are knife pleats?? With a box pleat in the back??

I have a lot of ribbon so used two pretty black ribbons and sewed them down really close to the edges.

(Oh, what a horrible picture....but the best I could manage at night, with a flash and a school-fogged brain)

I really love it! And I'm pretty impressed with how well it turned out. 

Now I just have to figure out what to wear with it and find some confidence that I can actually pull off wearing something like this.

If nothing else, I actually used my dress form!!

Easter Dresses

For Izzie's first Easter I couldn't wait to make her a little Easter Dress!

I've made an old t-shirt into a dress for her before (see it here) but never a dress from a pattern.

This is my version of Prudent Baby's Pretty Party Dress.

Those ladies sure do know how to make a.dor.a.ble patterns!

It was so easy to follow and the size is perfect for Izz who is almost a year old.

I'm also glad to say I only had to use 

my seam ripper for two very small sections.

This is progress for me....

I'm sooo excited for her to wear it!  

I LOVE this fabric I found at Hobby Lobby! 

(the dotted one was from the remnant bin - how great is that!?)

Not bad for my first attempt at baby clothes from a pattern, wouldn't you say?

Pretty impressed with my pearlized snaps, if I do say so myself.  

I had no idea it was so easy to add snaps!

Sorry for the mediocre pictures - couldn't find 

the battery charger for the camera so had to use my phone instead.

Ta Da! 

Now for myself, I have this white dress that I bought for my high school graduation, 

(which I'm now realizing was 10 years ago already! AHH!) 

that I like and have worn a few times but was starting to look dingy.

I like the detail of the fabric.  

Sort of an eyelet I guess you'd call it.  

But it needed some updating.

 So after half a bottle of Rit Liquid in Fuchsia . . . 

I have a New Dress!

A bit deeper/brighter fuchia than I was hoping for 

(I'm not really a pink sort of girl) 

but I kind of love it!

(This was my first attempt at dying anything too - kinda fun!)

White cardigan lessens the punch a little 

(and the dress is a little too low cut for church and family dinner.)

Plus I made this pin from a bouquet of silk flowers I had laying around.  

The center color is what inspired me to get fuchsia dye.

All ready for Easter!

Happy Easter!

He is Risen!