Beauty

Few things are as lovely as a neatly folded, color-coded stack of pretty fabrics in bright colors. If only I had somewhere to display it :)

 

I used a photo box from Michaels, and folded the fabric around the divider cards found inside. (And then I cut out a bunch more from old cereal boxes).

Beautiful. And hopefully maintainable :)

Yellow Roses

My mantle, I mean entertainment center, has been evolving a bit.  I finally got rid of the Christmas tree and brought back the fabric leaves, and I've been looking for something new to go in that blue bowl in the right corner.  The jute pears were a little to big to look good, and I'd like to use the Easter eggs I made last year elsewhere. 

 The bowl originally came home with a bouquet of flowers in it, and I wanted to make something similar, without buying a lot of (or any) supplies.  After scratching the fabric flower idea, I found this tutorial for paper flowers.  I made a couple dozen flowers out of different shades of yellow paper.  I followed the directions exactly, except I added a dab of hot glue to help the flowers keep the size and shape I wanted. They were easy to make, and and I made them all one evening sitting at the desk watching TV on the internet. Yay for me time!

In the spirit of not buying things, I decided to use this ball made from crochet thread and glue that I had left over from a previous project.  It happened to fit perfectly inside my bowl.  If you don't already have one laying around, it would be much easier to go and buy a styrofoam ball or other round object.

I began attaching the flowers with hot glue, starting at the top.

I used scraps left from making the flowers and tucked them in the spaces between flowers, so that the crochet thread wouldn't peak through the gaps.

The scraps also ensured that light wouldn't shine through from one side of the ball to the other.

There were a few gaps around the bottom of the bouquet when I finished.

I cut out some leaves and folded them in half to tuck under the flowers and hide any remaining gaps...

...like so.

I have to say it turned out better than I had hoped.

And the yellow flowers are so light and springy.  Too bad it's currently snowing outside....

I'm sharing this project at:

Be Different Act Normal

The Shabby Nest

Craft Goodies

Craft Envy

It's a Crafty Life

Nifty Trifty Things

Women's Shirtdress to Little Girl Shirt AND Dress

I bought this shirt/dress on my way out of Walmart a few months ago. It was on clearance for $3. It was cheap, and I was done shopping, so I didn't bother to try it on. When I got home, I discovered that it was too small. This week I finally found the time and courage to refashion it for The Little Girl.

I cut about a foot off the bottom, took in the sides and the top, shortened the straps, and added a ruffle to make this cute little dress.

It's great for picking flowers,

playing in the yard,

and posing for pictures!

I used the fabric left over from the bottom of the dress to make this little top.

I had planned on posting step by step instructions, but I made a few mistakes, and had to do some very fussy cutting, and strategic pleating and gathering in order to get it to work out. It isn't what I picturing in my mind, and I know it shouldn't have been as difficult as I made it, but nevertheless, I like the way it turned out.


How cute are those little sleeves?

I also made her skirt from an old pair of my pants, and I love the way it turned out. I WILL put together a tutorial for it sometime in the future....

I'm entering this project into a crafting contest over at Sew Dang Cute. Go check it out!