Pillowcase Shoulder Bag

I've been buying pillowcases at Goodwill lately with no ideas. But I found one! I used a long pillowcase to make this bag for groceries or pool supplies (fun to think about in crappy weather). I'll be making bunches more here soon.Check out this tutorial. http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/simple_pillow_case_bag I used some scrap fabric to add a pocket. Here are some pictures.





Still Crafting....
Kate

Sock Monkeys!

We were heading up to see Aj's family saturday so I decided to make sock monkeys for everyone friday night. They are so easy to make.They took about 20 minutes each. Here's a link to some instructions http://lennytaylor.freeyellow.com/Monkey.htm
These are my 7



And Aj made one too!

Still Crafting....
Kate

Meg's Birthday Part 2

After I made Meg's pillows I realized I had no box or bag in which to present them. Well, after checking my large stash of fabric... problem solved. Check out this draw string bad. I used a stencil to make the bird. Like?

Still Crafting......
Kate

Meg's Birthday

Melissa and I found this fabric at the store and knew it was Perfect for Meg. We then spent about three days trying to figure out what to do with it. So we decided pillows. What better shape pillow than to make her name? I ended up making a bag to put them in. I don't have a picture of that yet, but I'll make a new one and post a tutorial.

still crafting...
K

Stop and Smell the Flowers!

These were too easy. I will, however, warn that a hot glue gun produces HOT glue. I know, I know, it's a difficult concept, but the sooner you understand it, the better, believe me!

I made one for myself and one for M. I think I'm going to mess around with different shapes instead of flowers. Any ideas?

p.s.

These flowers are laying on a sweet t-shirt scarf I made a few months back.

Placemat Purse

I found this cute placemat at the dollar store. (about a year ago!) Well, I finally got around to doing something with it. This is one of the easiest projects I've done. I just folded the bottom third up, pined and sewed it in place. I then folded the top third down, added a button and cut and finished (not shown) the button hole. I'm not sure if I should ad a strap to the next one. What do you think?

Upcycling a Thrift Store Find

I could not resist when I saw this fabric hanging on the 99 cent rack at Goodwill... then I picked it up and it was not cute. A very boxy, 80's style, shoulder pad bearing , no shape jacket was staring me in the eye as if to say..."take me home Kate, take me home and fix me please." So I did.

First things first. I undid the seam on the inside of the jacket to get to the shoulder pads.

They were easy to take out, only three stitches.

After sewing that wound, I took in the sides. I only took the jacket in about two inches on each side, but only from the sleeve to about half way down.

Then to bring in the back I simply folded in two pleats and added the top button from the front of the jacket and the extra that came with it.

I folded out the front of the jacket to make a collar and used two more of the jackets buttons as an accent.

I know this is picture-heavy, but I wanted to show off the process to show how easy it was to do. I hope this inspires you to hit up your local thrift store- just because something is not pretty yet, doesn't mean it has no potential!

Still Crafting......

Kate

I got a book of stencils, What else can I say?

These are my practice pieces. I'm planning on painting some old plates from the Goodwill and other things. Look forward to those posts! Also working on altering a jacket now and will post the dress pictures soon.

Still Crafting

Kate

Easy and Classy... Not me, the Lamb

My Uncle called me the other day asking if I wanted some lamb he had at the house. Of course I said yes, even though I had no idea what to do with it. But my Dad has taught me the cooking power of Orange Juice so, this is what I did

I cut the lamb into individual pieces and poked some holes in the meat with a fork

Put the lamb in tupperware and put enough orange juice in to cover the lamb

Added two stems of fresh Rosemary (thank you G), fresh black pepper, a pinch of salt (why not?) and some garlic

I marinated it for an hour in the fridge, then the magic started!

To cook the lamb you need to put the stove on med heat, maybe a little lower and use some kind of oil, I like to use sunflower.

When the oil is hot and slightly smoking on the sides, place the lamb in the pan and cook on each side for three and a half minutes. Please use caution when flipping the lamb, oil likes to pop and it's looking for your arm!

To make a sauce, I took the marinade and placed it in a new pan on high heat and kept stirring until the marinade was thick enough to pour on top of the lamb. This process will boil out the water, so you want it to bubble. It is also important to keep stirring so that the orange sauce doesn't burn.

YumYum!

Try it out, it was very easy and so good

Beyond the Sock Monkey

My Stepmom is the Sock Monkey Queen and made quite a few last Christmas. So, I took her idea and ran with it. Here are two of my sock animals from a few weeks ago. (I'm playing post catch up now) One Zebra and one flying pig.