Experimenting with Nail Art

My youngest DD and I have been having some fun with nail polish and such things for awhile.  When we were down in Florida at a "flea market" we were introduced to "nail art."  Perhaps its because we are from a small town in New Hampshire, but we'd never seen things, though some of the high school girls I work with said they'd seen it on TV!  We purchased a great little set that allows us to "stamp" designs on our nails, over nail polish - oh my, how cool?!?! 

While adding to our polish stash one day, I ran across fimo rods for use in nail art!  So.... I got a package of oh...60 or so!!!

*** I tucked a pair in the package for the drawing on Sunday night, so that someone else can have some fun!

Here's how it works:

Fimo "rod" of stars

First, you need to slice pieces off the rod.  What seemed thin enough as I cut with the scalpel (yup.. a real one!  YIKES!) ended up NOT being thin enough, but it was our first try, so, live and learn.  I tried using an XActo, wasn't sharp enough!  You really need almost paper thin.  Be VERY aware this is done with a VERY sharp instrument, so if you are working with a child YOU do the cutting!!  BE SAFE!!!

Next, you apply a dot of clear polish to your nail  (JUST A SMALL ONE TO ADHERE THE FIMO), stick the fimo on the dot, let it dry and cover with a thin coat of clear over the whole nail.

The YouTube videos I watched to learn this showed some wonderful painting being done WITH it - for fun - stems on flowers and such.  It was a bit beyond my level at this point - I am happy to do my nails and have the polish NOT on my fingers!!!

It was fun!  Looking for info?  Google "Nail Art" and all sorts of sites come up!  Head on over to eBay and type in "Nail Art Fimo Rods" and viola!  Just remember: paper thin!!  I hope to do better next time!

Have a great day,
Carrie

PS. Don't forget to take a peek and see what I am up to!  Pinterest, baby!  Leave a comment here and YOU might win this!

Comments open until ...

Just a reminder: Comments about the potential DIY projects off my Pinterest Boards are open till Sunday night, April 1st. 

Take a look at what I gathered/hunted down/brought into the creative fold and make some guesses as to what I might be concocting!  One lucky follower will find a fun filled package on it's way to them on Monday morning!  It might be YOU!

There are all sorts of goodies in the flat rate ready to go out!  Muahahaha!  Take a look!

For example, I just got Kelly one of these and saw the marvelous paint job at this website and thought, hey I can do that too!  It would be perfect for my grandsons! (Which means 2, not one...)

 

Zip on over to Apartment Therapy and see what else you find!

Hope everyone has a wonderful, creative day!

Carrie

Planting with my grandson

A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of fun with the boys, some dirt and a couple packages of seeds!  The youngest wasn't too into it, but the "almost 3-year-old" had oodles of fun in the dirt with me.

We planted some tomatoes!

Here is the result (to date) of our efforts:

You might notice that some of the squares have a bit too many plants?  Yup... saw that coming... Lol!

We'll keep you updated with the plant's progress!

Until next time, have a creative day!
Carrie

Box of Goodies for 1 Lucky Follower!!

Good morning, friends!

I started pulling goodies for the drawing on Friday from all the folks who're making guesses about how I might use my "haul" from the weekend!!  Head over there, take a peek at my stash and then stop by my Pinterest page and see what my plans might be.  Come back over, make a comment/guess and these goodies might be on their way to your house!

SO FAR (there will be more!!!) there is a pillowcase kit, an apron kit, a pin cushion, a CD of quotes and such for scrapbooking and cardmaking, a package of 2 1/2" squares, a ceramic tile, cookie cutters, cancelled stamps (flowers), a little scrapbooking set of treats for a baby page, a pair of rods for decorating your nails, a folded paper design for cards/scrapbooking and some Hoffman fabric samples!!!  There will be MORE fabric to help "protect the goodies" ... muahahaha!

As I said this is all you need to do:

1. Peek at yesterday's posting.
2. Cruise over to my Pinterest page and see what I might be up to.
3. Come back and comment either to this posting or yesterdays and you are IN!!

Happy creating!
Carrie

My Weekend "Haul" = a Pinterest Challenge for YOU!

Good morning, everyone!

I wasn't able to zip in over the last couple of days as I was, uhmm... "collecting materials for creative research" (AKA: SHOPPING!)

Here is some of what I "discovered" (AKA: found, scrounged and/or bought!!):

So here is the Pinterest Challenge for you!

1. Look over what you see in the photo.
2. Look through my Pinterest boards and see which of the above are potential projects from there!
3. Post your guesses below (one post for EACH guess).
4. Sunday, April 1st I will use a random draw from all the guesses to pick a winner who will receive a flat rate FILLED with creative goodies!!  Some of what you see above will be included PLUS fabrics from my extensive stash, some scrapbooking goodies and more....oh joy!!

YOU can get your own "Pinterest Projects I've Made" board going!

So, take a look at the shot above and then head over to my Pinterest boards to see what you think!
Click on this image and come on over! 

Happy pinning and creating!  I know I am going to have a GREAT day getting started!
Carrie

Bows for this and that!

Good morning!

I was having some fun out surfing Pinterest last night and found a wonderful tutorial for making absolutely SUPER EASY-PEASY bows!  Not only that, but I fell in love with her website!  Definitely stop by and see what she has happening (oh... and following her on Pinterest, OF COURSE!)

My initial thought, when I saw the bows was "Oh goodie!  I can make them for the boys!" (grandsons, 18 months and coming up on 3) but then I saw how cute they were and I thought "OH MY! Perfect to pop on headbands for the girls in my world!"

So, here's the result:

Aren't they sweet?!?!?

You can pop over to Stacie's website and check out her tutorial as well.  (A totally fun website!!)

Here's how it went for me:
Start with a piece of fabric for the "body" of the bow.  Stacie recommends 9".  I did some at 9", some at 10" and one at 12".
Then you need the little piece that holds it all together.  I went with 2" wide for most and the width of the fabric.

After cutting and pressing flat (a bit OCD where that is concerned....) you need to fold the sides in on themselves. I pressed with the iron again here.

Then, you take the larger piece and fold the ends towards each other, making a "bow sandwich," so to speak.

Now, it's going to start looking like a bow.  With a needle and thread, make a running stitch along the mid-line and pull to gather it and squinch the bow.

The last step is to take the smaller piece and wrap it around the bow.  Here's your last chance to be sure you keep things snug so it has the right shape. Fold the first edge down and then fold the second edge over and sew it to the bottom one, securing the tie.

Viola!

When I realized they might be a bit fun on a headband I took it, ran the headband through and then tacked it on.

 

Here's the result:

How fun!  You'll be seeing some more projects here using bows, I am thinking!!
Have a crafty Sunday,
Carrie

Ice Cream Sundae Kit

This one took a couple of days to work out, but here it is, a gift for someone special in our world: an ice cream sundae kit!

I combined several Pinterest ideas that I had come across: 
1.  Creating and using chalkboard paint;
2.  and a gift idea of ice cream sundaes.

I started by re-purposing a holiday bucket.  I don't know if I needed to sand it, but I did!

Then, I mixed up some paint and non-sanded grout (see link to chalkboard paint above) in a plastic container, outside as it makes a bit of dust.

Time to paint!

I think I might have made it a bit thick, but here's the result:

I let it dry while I headed off to work for the day.  Upon my return to the homestead, I got some pink chalk (I was thinking light, fun colors here) and wrote on the bucket "Just Add Ice Cream".  It will wipe off, so the bucket will be re-useable by the sweetie I am giving it to!

While I was out and about today,  I made a trip to the grocery store and picked up two different types of cones, a jar of hot fudge sauce and some candy - what are sundaes without goodies?  I added some tissue and tinsel and tucked it all in the bucket.  I am working on a card this afternoon to tuck some $$ in for the ice cream and viola!  The gift is done!

YUMMY!!  I will let you know how it's received tomorrow!

Happy crafting and see yah later!
Carrie

Wordless Wednesday - a photo of my world

I've spent the last couple of afternoons at softball - hubby & one DD coach, the other plays, me?  I take pictures!

That being said, I haven't been able to hit the studio.  So, I borrowed the idea from Soulemama, a wonderful blogger out of Portland, ME.  Each Wednesday, rather than blogging words, she shares a photo and invites her followers to do the same.

So, here is mine, based on softball:

What is going on in your world?  You can either post a comment below OR use the fun "Linky Tool" to post a picture!  Your choice - we just want to see!

Quilty hugs,
Carrie

Re-Useable Sandwich Bags - AKA: "What is that thing?"

Good morning, All!

I am forcing myself to post not only the things that come out well, but the "others" - AKA: "What is that thing?" It's about process, right? We are all non-judgmental here, right?

Okay, PHEW!!!

Here's how it started: I saw all sorts of folks making re-useable sandwich and snack bags. I've done the snack ones before so it was time to step out there and try a bit of a challenge. Thus, my attempts at sandwich "bags."

**Let me start by saying that you should probably visit this website.  Chica does a GREAT job of explaining how to do this properly!!

You will need a number of those wimpy plastic bags you get at the store, some lovely fabric, your iron (and a nice day), sew-on velcro and patience!

Here's what I did:
1.  As she recommended, I played around with different amounts of the plastic bags.  You need to cut away the writing and extra handles to have a good piece of plastic to work with.

2.  I was planning on working in my regular studio space, which lacks good ventilation and as I was ironing plastic, I took Chica's recommendation and headed outside.  That was a great idea EXCEPT that there was a slight breeze... light weight plastic... you get the vision, right?  It worked out well in the end.
     You need to experiment with how many plastic bags you need to layer and iron together to get a result you are pleased with.  It all depends on the quality of your bags, heat of iron, etc.  I found 2 bags (4 layers) not enough and 3 bags (6 layers) pretty good.
      You fold the bags and put a piece of cardstock (or heavy weight paper in my case) over the plastic and iron away!

This was too few.

3.  Once you have figured out how many to do and get them ironed out, you'll need to trim them to the size you want.

 

4.  Next, it's time for fabric.  I liked using fabric about 1"- 3/4" larger (on each edge).

5.  Fold the edges over and then over again, pin and sew down.

6.  You'll notice that this first one is a rectangle - a sandwich "purse" if you will.  Did you take geometry in high school?  I did - didn't do very well as far as shapes, I guess because a rectangle IS NOT necessarily a square and when it isn't one, it's a bit hard to make one out of it.  So.... the sandwich pocket was born!
     When I went to add the velcro, I realized that one can not put fasteners on each corner of a rectangle... well, you can, but it won't close!  So, I sewed it up, left a flap and put velcro on the flap and top edge to create my sandwich pocket.

7.  Here is what they are SUPPOSED to look like, when one thinks things through:

I will have to try them out with my next sandwich!

Have you made these?  Are you tempted by my results?  If so, feel free to post a picture using the Linky Tool below!  I've just added a subscription, so you'll see LOTS of opportunities to add YOUR work and ideas!

Happy crafting,
Carrie

Fabric Covered Wastebasket #2 (or "Hubby wanted a different print")

Good morning!

Spring has definitely sprung here - we may be jumping right to summer with the temps predicted for this coming week!

If you read my last posting about the fabric covered waste basket, you'll remember I mentioned hubby asked for a different print, so, grabbed some Thimbleberries and created another!

This time I started with one of those giant popcorn tins we all get for the holidays. Here's the project:

You'll need a large container, fabric, spray adhesive and a method for cutting

1. Begin by measuring your container both height and diameter.  Mine was 14" tall and 31" around.  I added 4" to the height and 2" to the diameter for a piece of fabric 18" x 33" after cutting.

2.  Next, I sprayed a 2" strip from top to bottom and laid the fabric on it.

3.  After wrapping the fabric around the container, I came to the end, spray a bit of adhesive along the seam and the pressed the other edge down.

4.  I worked on the bottom next and cut around the edge, making "tabs" to just before I touched the bottom of the can, sprayed the bottom and pressed the fabric down.

5.  To cover the bottom you could use a piece of felt or a coordinating piece of fabric (which needs turning under) to finish it off.  I cut the leftover piece I had of the flannel in a circle, sprayed the bottom (just the circle that was showing, to hold the fabric on) and began sewing it together.

6.  The last step was to adhere the top edge - using the adhesive again, I sprayed and pressed the fabric into the glue.  I tucked in a plastic disposable bag and viola!

My latest creation and everyone is happy! :o)

Enjoy your day,

Carrie

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