Found this shop on Etsy yesterday. I’ve become a little addicted to checking the front page and I usually refrain from peeking at the ‘recently listed’ items at the bottom but I happened to scroll down and glimpses these cute items.
How awesome are these banners?!
It’s one of those, ‘good thing I don’t have daughters’ moments.
Click images to be transported to the shop and more wall art cuteness.
My last laptop was plastered in fun goofy stickers. Then I got my new shiny Macbook and it’s just been all simple and silver, until now. I tracked down some vintage Contact paper to adorn my lappy. After checking around in a few thrift stores, and frankly just not wanting to wait, I went ahead and ordered some on Etsy. I’ve been checking back frequently and the selection does vary from day to day just in case you want to grab some. Also, be sure to check under the ‘supplies’ and ‘vintage’ categories, you get different results. While I was waiting for my goods to arrive One Pearl Button coincidentally posted a link on covering idevices yourself with helpful links to templates. But I wanted to do my Macbook and the templates don’t take into account the apple cut out. So I got adventurous.
First I used my printer/scanner/copier and made a copy of the front of my laptop so I’d have a copy of the apple logo. Next I carefully cut out the apple with my little exacto knife pen thingie. I placed it over my laptop just to make sure I trimmed it well.
I measured the top of the laptop and guesstimated at the size of the surface area before the slight curve. I have a 13 inch and I figured it was about 12 x 8 1/2.
I cut the apple out of the Con-tact paper, aproximated the center and cut the piece 12 x 8 1/2. Then I used my scrapbooking corner rounder to clip the corners.
Sticking it onto the laptop proved a bit finicky. I didn’t want to start at one side and work my way across so I carefully took the backing off and exposed the sticky side of the Contact paper in the middle where the apple is. This allowed me to line up the apple all nice and straight and then just work my way out towards the edges.
Once it was all nice and flat I opened the cover and examined my handiwork with the apple lit up. There was a spot where I needed to trim and I just used the exacto really gently to shave off a teeny bit. I’m sure happy with the results, I love the grey and yellow combo.
Plus I’ve got some other patterns in my stash and so when I get bored of this I can just peel it off and switch it.
Posted in other crafts, repurposing, tutorial-ish, vintage
Tagged contact paper, cover, DIY, floral, flowers, laptop sticker, sticker, vintage
My giant envelope of Scrap Swap goodies came earlier this week. We sort of accidentally conducted a little experiment too since Jessica and I mailed our packages on the same day. Mine got to her waaay before hers arrived here. So apparently Canada to US is faster than US to Canada. I’ll have to test again with the next scrap swap!
So here’s all the fantastic goodies Jessica sent. Complete with a moose, you know because I’m Canadian.
Fabric, fabric, fabric! Turns out destashing is almost as addictive as the stashing.
Little doilies, which are awesome because I’ve wanted to either learn to make them in funky colours, or collect some and dye them. She also sent these fantastic vintage buttons that belonged to her grandmother, such a nice thing to give.
And a ton of corks that I can get inventive with. Her hubby is a bartender so she said they’re buried in corks.
Ashley Ann hauled in this fun load of stuff. Jessica made an adorable stuffed animal with the bits and pieces I sent her.
I am going to organize another one of these, it was super fun and getting a giant package in the mail is awesome.
Perhaps in March, sort of a spring cleaning type thing!
Friday night I made this after Wesley went to bed and I had the urge to create a LEGO town for him. So while we watched some mindless shows I constructed on the coffee table. I only took a crummy nighttime iPhone picture and it was night, so I waited for Mr. Sun.
Saturday morning we moved it up to his room on the train table so he could expand it. I had to charge the camera battery before I could snap some up close shots. When I went up to snap some pics later in the day it appears Natezilla had destroyed the town when we weren’t looking. I was sad. There was some rebuilding but my heart wasn’t really into it after seeing all the destruction. Here are some shots of the parts I was pretty proud of.
Saturday Nate found Baby Jobby and played with her all day (except when she was napping and he destroyed a whole town). I bought Baby Jobby while pregnant with Nate because Wesley was asking for a doll. Nate found her neglected and naked in some corner. So I spent some time sewing up some diapers and a dress. Then we went out to buy another baby, there had been a feud, but came home instead with a bed for Baby after Wesley assured me they could share 1 baby and take turns.
I love how there’s a bunch of cars in the crib with Baby Jobby.
Oh and somewhere in all that we made heart shaped crayons for Wesley to give to his classmates. Thanks to Frugal Family Fun Blog for the tips on making them.
Well I have some cup cozy orders to finish thanks to my playful procrastination over the weekend!
Posted in gifts, kid fun, other crafts, scraps, sewing
Tagged crayons, diapers, doll clothes, doll quilt, hearts, rag quilt, valentines
Somehow I’m getting stuffed up again. It’s so not cool. We all just got over some hideous cold. I don’t want a new one. I saw this printable linked and had a great idea for it. It’s from yoursecretadmiral and she’s a superstar for sharing such a fun little printable.
I wanted to make something to help me plan lunches during the week. I teach in the afternoons, which at my school start at 12:25, but I have a 10 minute yard duty everyday from 12:15-12:25. So I have to start lunch for me and the boys at about 11, especially with all the winter gear. If we go out in the world to do something in the mornings I’m usually rushing to get a lunch ready and I’m lucky if I get to eat before we have to run out the door and across the street to the sitter. I *hate* feeding them quick convenience food and really make an effort to prepare from scratch.
I printed out the file, cut the days apart and laminated them. I have the cute little “My lists” house set aside for a notebook or something, I didn’t laminate it. Then I cut pieces from a roll of magnetic tape and attached a little bit to the back of each day. Then you have little magnets that are also write off/wipe off boards!
You could put them on your fridge or anywhere else magnetable. These are on one of the handiest things in our kitchen, that isn’t used for cooking. I’m a tad embarassed to show the inside but it’s such a wonderful little thing I’m going to share. Magnetic front, builiten board back and storage compartment, all in one handy good looking thing!
Posted in DIY, neat spaces, other crafts, papercrafts, tutorial-ish
Tagged calendar, days of the week, Etsy, laminating, meal planning, organizing, yoursecretadmiral
If you’ve been sewing for any amount of time you’ve already noticed how quickly scraps can accumulate. If you’re anything like me, afraid to throw any little bit out in case you can use it later, you have a bunch lying around of various shapes and sizes. Soooooooo I thought why not share the scrap love and do a little scrap swapping!?
Recently I went through my scraps and sort of organzed them into little piles. I’ve been saving 4×4 inch japanese fabric scraps, well and to be honest I’ve ordered some from Etsy here and there, in hopes I can make a fun quilt some day. I also spent some time cutting my scraps into 2×2 squares for some projects I have in mind. I plan on featuring some fun tutorials to help you make use of your scraps, as well as link to some of the ideas already out there and maybe, just maybe, a source of two in case you have a little scrap collecting problem like someone I know.
If you would like to participate just sign up here, I’ll keep taking names until Wednesday January 26th. Then I’ll spend some time matching us all up while you prepare your bundle. Make sure your correct email is in the comment, or enter it with your name when you say you want in. Also, it might be fun to know where you live so we can mix things up a bit. Probably won’t be too exciting if someone is matched with an almost neighbour, just in case you shop at the same fabric store! Be ready to commit to shipping your scrap bundle by the end of the month, we’ll go with the 31st just to make it easy. This will be open to everyone everywhere so please let me know if you object to international shipping and I’ll match you with someone in your country.
Ok, so the guidlines:
– scraps must measure at least 2 inches by 2 inches, there is no maximum size but it is supposed to help you destash your scrap bin so sending fat quarters probably won’t help with that.
– scraps must be unwashed, clean, and in usable condition
– scraps can be new fabric or vintage reclaimed pieces
– fabrics should be of relatively the same weight, cottons/linens/light canvas so allow for quilting and use in the same project
– send 10-ish ounces to your partner mailed by January 31st
I should have thought of this sooner, I’ve already started a 2011 “don’t forget to blog” list, but most people should still have their trees up and I thought we could have a show and tell. All of the ornaments on our tree are special in some way. They’ve been bought while travelling in other countries, or given to us as a momento of some occasion, or are handmade by me or the kids.
For years I would buy those plaster ornaments at craft stores and spend time painting them. I’ve built up quite a collection. This one’s my favourite. Makes me chuckle every year. I picked up about 5 when I found it and attached them to gifts and such. It’s so silly.
Picked this one up while in Germany pregnant with Nate. He was due December 26th so I didn’t really know when his first Christmas was going to be and most ornaments seemed to have a date on them.
Last year I picked up 2 little soldiers for the boys on Boxing day. We were foolish enough to venture into London that day. It was insanely busy.
Here’s my cute little Happy Sew Lucky ornament. It turned out really well and I think I just might have to get a few more for the tree next year.
Sooooo if you’ve got some time and a special ornament with a story to share post a comment or, better yet, send me an email and I’ll post the story and a picture.
Posted in other crafts, sewing
Tagged christmas, collection, england, germany, hand painted, handmade, happy sew lucky, holland, ornaments, spain
Bartering is one of the super cool things about spending your day sitting at a craft show. It’s usually pretty easy to work out some sort of deal with someone and walk away having given and recieved something handmade. Recently I’ve been contacted by some fellow Etsy sellers asking if I would be ineterested in doing a swap. Enter Alison of alisonostertag.etsy.com. She lives in Philledelphia, blog here, and asked if I would be interetsed in some ofher photography in exchange for a cup cozy. Apparently she challenged herself to gift shopping through swapping. How cool is that!?
Rather than count pennies and figure out what item in her shop was equal to my cozy I just told her I was in and gave her permission to surprise me with whatever she wanted to send. That said, I am now the proud owner of a lovely print turned card and this great shot of a statue. Lovely pictures follow to disguise my lack of knowledge about the subject matter!
Wow, ignore my tattered old university sweater sleeve!! Yipes, how’d I miss that while cropping!?
Also, her photos are impeccable I didn’t do so well taking my own photos of her photos.
I love her shots of bikes and the doors of Fairmount! She also has a ceramics shop on Etsy.
Posted in fun finds, gifts, other crafts
Tagged barter, ceramics, Etsy, photography, swap
Lately I’ve been building a little fabric stash. Really that’s a nice way of saying I’ve become addicted to picking up fun nifty prints, whether I have a use for them or not. That can be a dangerous thing. When I started my blog and began reading other crafty creative blogs for some crazy reason I went all the way back to the beginning of LA’s blog, Freckled Nest and read it all. Like all all. It was kind of a fast forward glimpse of her growing. I loved these crafty bags she embroidered and/or personalized in her Etsy shop.
But of course because I was late getting to the party she was long done selling them. I really wanted one though. So I sent her an email and asked where she got them from. Then I spent ages trying to track one down. Shipping from the States was ridiculous at the one place I did find them. LA said she got them from Princess Auto but I guess it was so long ago they no longer carry them. A little while later LA randomly emailed me that she had found one in her giant pile of long forgotten craft supplies and offered to sell it to me. It arrived wrapped in wallpaper and I was super excited.
So here’s mine. I’m too afraid to do anything to it! It’s this beautiful blank slate and I’m worried about goofing it up. So there it is, plain and wonderful, like one of my awesome cuts of fabric that I’m scared to cut into. Anyone else have supplies that you’re too afraid to actually use?
I’ve been admiring the stuff at Citrus Pop for a while. This necklace is particularily lovely.
I think the colourful doilies in her photos are so fun too. Need to work on my crocheting skills!
