woah...

So, I haven't even logged onto my blog in like 2 weeks.  I started school last week, and before that I was busy making sure I was all set for school.  I am currently taking Human Anatomy and Physiology I.....


and it is TOUGH!!  I mean I definately just bombed my first lab quiz, all because I was too darn busy doing the 2 chapters of lab homework to study. :PP

I'm PRAYING that I get through this class. This class is only 5 weeks long because it is a summer course, and the normal length of the class is 15 weeks.  So, there's definately a reason its so tough.

Wish me luck!
Lauren

oopsie daisy...

Soo.... A few days ago I posted about my 10 Insecurities... And well, its gone now.  I went to edit post to fix a misspelled word, and my computer lost the internet connection.  My computer froze, blah blah blah, I started clicking everywhere to make it UNfreeze (because I have no patience for these types of things).  And now its gone.  :P

I will try to Re-Do the previous post though because I had a lot of fun with it. ;)

Thrifting Goodness

erhm, hey!

So thrifting is about my number one favorite thing in the world to do, and I thought I'd share some of the lovely things I've gotten in the past few weeks!!

So I've decided I want a mirror wall.  I've got a couple more mirrors at the moment, but I didn't take pictures yet.  This one was found at Front Porch of the South.  Funny story...  I saw this mirror about a month and a half ago, but it was 25 dollars.  I'm a cheapskate, so I decided that was way too much to pay.  Apparently, so did a lot of other people.  I came back a few weeks later, and the mirror caught my eye again.  I checked the price once again, and they had cut it down to $18.  I figured that it wouldn't be there forever, and if it caught my eye both times I saw it in the store, I'd regret NOT getting it.  So, I did. :)

 This little guy was at Michaels, so its not necessarily thrifting, but I did get it on sale.  It was only $3.

I found this birdcage ($13) at a thrift shop called The Attic, as well as the window photo frame ($4).  I plan on putting some pretty scrapbook paper in the frame.  You can't really see it but theres another bird.  I got that one for $2 at Michaels.  And a gold candle holder with rhinestones at biglots for $4.

I've been seeing these painted vases everywhere and I love them.  So, I made my own.  Spray painted and glued on lace or twine.

 I've also been seeing these stacked book decorations.  I decided to give it a try.  Ripped the covers off, hotglued burlap, lace, and pearls.

This is a wire basket I came across at Angel's Antiques.  $23.



Byee!

My First Quilt

So yesterday was my boyfriend and I's 3 year anniversary.  For the longest time, when I dragged him to JoAnn he would pick up random fabrics, and say, "Hey! Make me a blanket out of this!"  And I would just look at him and say "No thats stupid"  haha Little did he know, I was planning on making him one for our anniversary. :P

So, I know its very simple, but it was my first quilt and I know nothing about quilting.  teehee.

I wish stores made more masculine fabrics sometimes, but I think it turned out pretty okay.



White Trays

So I bought two wood trays at Front Porch of the South.  I don't have before pictures, but here they are after. :)

So once again, horrible phone pictures. 

I bought the trays, painted them Flat Ultra White.  I bought the burlap ribbon at Resurrect in Opelika, AL.  Sewed on some pearls and beads I took off of a shirt that shrunk in the wash.  Then hot glued the ribbon onto the trays. 

I love them. :)  They are on my bookshelf and holding my perfumes/lotions, which used to just sit there on the shelf.  They are now organized, even though they are still very cluttered. ( I have wayyyy to many perfumes and lotions) :)

Byee
Lauren

Linking to:


 

A couple things...

I've been working on. :)

This is a window I got off of Craigslist before they were all over thrift stores. haha I probably would have saved myself a lot of trouble by just checking a few of stores around town.   It was in pretty bad shape when I got it.  I scraped all of the old paint off, sanded, painted, and stained.  I got the so-so fabric on sale at JoAnn, and the very small detailed wood trim (that you can barely see with this phone picture) at Michaels for about $3.

I got this lovely lady at Front Porch of the South.  Its a really big neato thrift/flea market in Georgia. She was only about $13.  I spray painted her white as you can see.  She was this horrible black/brown/green color, and it was so dark that you really couldn't see the detail.  But now she's beautiful. :D

So, I made these canvases following a tutorial I have lost track of about 4 months ago. (sorry!)  But they are made from book pages and a school glue mixture.  I bought this iron gate at Front Porch of the south also, and tied up the canvases with twine.  I love it. :) It makes me smile every time I look at it.

This is a tomatoe sauce can. I modpodged scrapbook paper on, and got the image from The Graphics Fairy.

And I got this lamp at a cute shop called Sweet Briar.   It was brown :P  I spray painted it white, then blue so that when I sanded it the white and the brown showed through. :)  The lamp didn't come with a lampshade, so I bought one for like 5 dollars at BigLots.  I covered with a lovely linen fabric from JoAnn, and made the pretty flowers from the same fabric.

Byeee.
Lauren

Linking to:

tutorial

Bird's Nest Necklace Tutorial!

I need to make these for my sister. haha

Panda Bear Cupcakes

tutorials

Tote tutorial at Craft Buds
Lamp Redo at Crafting in the Rain

tutorials i want to try!!

love for sewing

tote tutorial

all about me swingpack purse

tutorials i want to try!!

sew happy geek

neato skeeto!

Girl in Air posted a really cool bookshelf tutorial!

tutorials i want to try!!

Sunburst Pillow Tutorial!!


quilts & atcs has a really cool tutorial on a quilt I'd like to try.

Look at this :)

Eye Spy DIY put up a tutorial on how to make your own piping. :D

Heyy

Raggedy Station is having a giveaway for some beautiful black and white fq's and lace button!

I wish I lived closer because if I did I'd definately check out her shop!
She's got some gorgeous pictures on her blog, you should definately check out!

A Glimpse Inside
Diy Homestaging Tips

tote

I really want to try this!

Skip to My Lou

a couple projects

Hey!

So because I go to work full time and then I go to school in the afternoon, I don't have much time to sew or craft... Let alone blog about it. :)  So here are a couple projects I've worked on the past few weeks. 

Updoing Coasters!!

I bought these teal coasters at an antique store for $7.  There are 6 of them and they came in a matching box.  I wanted to give them a little something...



Before.

I cut out some circles of scrapbook paper, mod podged them, and .... [take picture and insert here].

haha sorry. I haven't had time to take a picture of the finished product.  But I will, and I will put it up.

Remember I was looking for a new sewing desk???

This is the desk while it was still at the antique store. ((much better picture than from the prior post)) I decided not to change it... It has alot of character the way it is now.

And these are some coasters Aaron and I made for his room.  He picked out the scrapbook paper, we bought a few floor tiles at Lowe's (about .37 cents), mod podged them, and hot glued some felt to the bottom.  I think they turned out pretty darn good. :D

I really needed a school bag to carry my books in... So of course I decided to attempt to make one.  I found this ABSOLUTELY AMAZING fabric on clearance for $4 a yard at Joann.  I bought THREE yards of it because of my infatuation with it.  You can't really see with this horrible phone picture, but I hand sewed on some lace and rhinestones, and there are some pearls in the flower. 

I basically just measured my books and measured how long I wanted the straps to be.   I love it. :)

This is a HORRIBLE coke can coozy I made.  Someone at work drank my diet coke (without even asking if anyone else had a diet coke in the fridge :P ).  So I decided to mark mine with a very distinct one of a kind coozy. :P  I just worked with what I had, which explains the terribly matched fabric, ruffles, and ribbon. :P

I started Yoga class last night!! It was so cool! This lady had us standing on one arm and one leg up on a wall with our other arm and leg in the air... and this is my FIRST class. :D

Believe me, I'm paying for it now.  I am SORE!

Lauren.

Look at how cool this is. :)

ran across "newspaper art".
Krafty Kat

bath towel rug

i really want to try this!

Sisters of the Wild West put up a tutorial on how to cut up old bath towels and braid them into a bathroom rug.

I want to try this, but make it longer and more of an oval shape.

Lauren.

altoid tins

I ran across a blog about upcycled empty altoid tins at Pressed Down, Shaken Together.  They are SO cute.  I'm definately going to make one. :D

She gives a really quick and easy to follow tutorial too. :)


and I want to find something to do with this lovely picture I found at the Graphic's Fairy.

Byee.
Lauren.

new sewing desk and chair

Hey! 
I went to Angel's antiques a couple of weeks ago and got a new sewing desk.  I'd been thrift shopping all day, and finally found a desk I'd be completely happy with.  I paid about $100 for the desk.  I think it sounds like a lot (because I'm cheap) but all of the other desks I'd seen were falling apart and was about &80.  I will need to throw a few coats of gloss/protectant on the desk, but its been really nice.  I also needed a chair, so a couple weeks later I went back to Angel's antiques and found a pretty nice desk chair for $24.
Both the desk and chair are below. (;

That HIDEOUS green and brass lamp will soon be red or back to the store.  This is the style lamp I've been wanting, but this one is just ugly.  And also, you can see the curtains that I plan on revamping.  I want to add satin ruffles on the edges and a prettier trim for the valance.

You can't see it that well, but I also made a table runner for my desk.  :)

PS all of my pictures a phone pictures because I've dislocated my camera.  bear with me. :)

Lauren.



an artist at heart

I just got back from the dentist.  I had to have a root canal done. :P  I asked for the laughing gas because I'd heard it makes the experience more bearable.  After the initial giggles from the gas, I couldn't focus on anything, but the post the spotlight was on.  I kept saying in my head, "That's my only FOCAL POINT!"  I felt like I was in a painting and the post was what the artist wanted you to look at.  That's definately the high school art courses I took in high school talking. :P haha  It was the most strange experience I have ever encountered.  I also kept looking at their fluorescent lighting.  You know, the ones with the plastic covers?  Well there was a square pattern in the plastic covering, and I imagined them to be mountains.  They kept moving around, and when the dentist's head got in the way of the mountains, I felt my eyebrows push together.  I was so mad at him for taking away the mountains.  Haha.  Anyways, that was just a very strange feeling, but I don't imagine I could have made it without the laughing gas. :)

Lauren.

Copy Cat

I went to Joann's today.  I had a goal in mind: find some fabric for a sewing machine cover I found a tutorial on... And I did.  I fell in LOVE with Craft Couture's sewing machine cover. And I basically ended up copying hers right down to the bone.  Black and White with Pink accents. I found the b/w floral pattern for 5.49 per yd and it was on sale for 3.47!! :D  I also found some yellowed lace I'm dying to make some flowers out of. Pictures of my new sewing machine cover below.

I apologize for all of my horrible phone pictures.  Front view... I made my own ribbon out of the accent fabric.  They definately don't look as cute as Craft Couture's ribbons, but they'll do.

I think I put the ribbons down too far, but it's all good. I'm anything, but a perfectionist.

And here is my first EVER flower.

I just made some ruffles, spiraled them, and sewed them down.  I added several squares of a very thin mesh material (do you see it??) and threw on a cameo button I got from Hobby Lobby a while back.

I haven't found a hair pin I like well enough yet, so it's just sitting in my drawer for the time being.

Byee...

Lauren.

Cute Little Felt Dolls

Howdy. :)
I found a book for kids on sewing with felt.  I looked through it and the stuff was pretty darn cute. I bought it. :D 
One of the tutorials was how to make a doll made of felt.  Pictures below.

Materials are the obvious. Felt for the skin, clothes, and hair.  Buttons for the eyes.  Needle&thread. Scissors.  Pin needles. Polyster filling.

I just cut out my pattern on computer paper.  You need a rectangle for the arms and legs, the clothes, and a circle for the head.  Cut out 2 circles (head), 8 rectangles (arms/legs), and 2 pcs for the clothes.

After you've cut out all of your pieces, sew on the eyes, nose, and mouth.  Face the circles for the doll's head Right side together and sew around the whole head, leaving the neck open.

Next, you just gotta be creative with the hair. I used the pattern for the dolls head and cut out a circle for the back of the dolls hair.  Then cut out bangs. Sew to the dolls head.

Sew the arms and legs together leaving one short side open and stuff them with the polyfill.  pin the arms and legs where you want them on the doll.  Sew along the entire body leaving the neck open.

Stuff the dolls body and head with the polyfill.  Place the dolls head inside the neck opening. Sew. :)

I did this project for my college speech class. We had to do a demonstrative speech, so I went ahead and made two dolls. 1 boy and 1 girl.  The girl is me, and the boy is my boyfriend. haha.

Have Fun!

Lauren.

Modified Kitchen Towels

Hey!

I found a really neat idea from More Misadventures on modifying boring old kitchen towels.  I found the towels at walmart for $1.50 a piece, and ran by Hobby Lobby and bought a BUNCH of fabric.  I haven't had time to do much sewing lately, so my scrap collection is minimal.  It's actually doing pretty well lately though!  I found a booth at an antique flea mall that sells scrap fabrics, zippers, and ribbons for pretty cheap.  Let's just say I bought a lot. :)

Anyways, my mom loves pears, so I took a couple ideas from More Misadventures.  Pictures below.

I sewed on some pleats, then sewed a strip of fabric to hide the ugly. (;

Pears.  Don't look at my sad attempt at sewing a straight line, please.

pears again. I particularly do not like this one.  nothing worked out like I planned it to.  That middle strip of fabric??? it was supposed to be the length of the other strip, but for some reason it isn't. 

My personal favorite.  I love the black/white theme on the green.

And this is a little sad random bookmark I made from the scraps. :P

Byee.

Lauren

So...

My boyfriend and I have been aching for a new project lately after we made a night stand for his room.  I decided since I am a student, and I don't have a desk in my room that we could make a desk!  I had no idea what I wanted, so I typed in sewing desk in google images.  ((I need a sewing desk too. I've always sewn at my kitchen table, but its not comfortable))  I came across a really pretty sewing desk on a blogger website.  I looked around the website and thought, "Wow, there are people out there just like me".  Cheesy I know, but I can't believe there are so many people out there who have the same interests as me.  :P 

Anyways, this blog is basically for me to put my little projects up to look at and admire.  I don't expect anyone to really look at it because to be quite honest, even though I've been sewing for about 7 years, I am NO good at it.  :)

I will however put some pictures up of the night stand that my boyfriend and I made. :D

This is my boyfriend working on the night stand.  He needed something really narrow to fit between his bed and his couch. 

Side view.  We found some rustic looking metal decorative pieces (supposed to go on mail boxes) and we put them on both sides of the opening.  Found them at hobby lobby, original 7.99, but they were 50% off!

The inside.  We put two shelves, and the door has a magnet to help it stay closed all the time. LOTS of strorage space.

And a frontal view.  We are really proud of it, seeing as it is the first piece of furniture either of us has ever made. 

Don't think I'm taking most of the credit, my boyfriend did the majority of the work.  The saws, hammers, nails, all that good stuff?  Well, I'm just too clumsy for all that.  I helped with the mathematics, design, and staining. :)

byeee.

Lauren