Photo Restoration (FIRST TIME)

Blogger seems to be working better...still having some problems, but not enough

to keep me from uploading these pictures.

I had a friend contact me to restore a picture of her

mother, the 1948 Rodeo Queen.

Her mom's only copy of the picture was stored in one

of those oval frames.

I worked and worked....good thing it looks old.

We made it into a poster that will be

placed on a leather pillow.

I didn't even know they could put pictures

on leather pillows.

I sure hope she shows me a picture of the pillow

when she gets it.  :)

Camera Strap for My Nikon D90

I found this cute little tutorial on Pinterest.

(CLICK HERE) for the tutorial.

It was really easy, I made it in a little under an hour.

I did it in the usual FLYLADY WAY:  15 minutes sewing, 15 minutes cleaning.

Here are some hints I would use the next time I make one.

1.  Make a pattern first.  I do NOT sew, so I do not have the fancy cutting boards, etc.  Plus, it will make the next strap so much easier.

2.  Use FUSIBLE batting.  I did not.  Mine rolled a little.  I might even sew top stitching the length of the strap to give it that quilted look.

3.  The pocket was too small for my lens.  :(  I guess I would have to measure my lens to make sure I made the strap a little wider for the lens pocket.

4.  Use contrasting fabric for the pocket.  I did NOT do this and think it

would look so much cuter.

5.  Use "attaching a camera strap the Nikon way" video on YouTube so you

don't have little strap flaps.  It really makes me look like I know what I am doing.

Thank you Little Big Girl Studio for the great tutorial!!!!

Total Project Cost = $2.00

Does Your Cell Phone Fall to the Bottom of Your Purse?

First I have to apologize for the poor picture

quality.

A certain youngest daughter borrowed my point and click

camera and left it at her grandparents' home.

Ok, now on to the important business.

I have a Blackberry Torch.

My very first "smart" phone.

I was so scared I would break the face of it, I

bought an Otterbox.

I broke the Otterbox.

I have not replaced the Otterbox.

Otterbox needs to make a better one or lower

the price.

The Blackeberry Torch has a terrible fallacy.

The lock key on it is very very easily unlocked.

Just trying to push it into a pocket will unlock it.

I do NOT like this at all.

I am sure people do NOT like

getting butt dialed by me.

I know I don't want to risk the data charges should

I accidentally hit the touch screen while

unlocked in my pocket.

I had to come up with a way of keeping track of it in my purse

and also tyring to keep it from getting unlocked in my

bottomless canyon purse.

Quite some time ago, I started clipping my keys

to the straps on my purse.

This kept me from digging and pulling everything out

in a panic even when I KNEW they were in my purse.

You know, that split second thought...."UH OH".

I know it is nerdy, but it works for me.

I use a rock climber thing-a-ma-jig.

So, if I can easily find my keys, why can't I find my cell phone?

I decided to give a cell phone pouch a try.

I can just make it like a key chain and hook

it to my keys.

I didn't want to go get specific material for this

project....I didn't even know if it would turn out.

I had found an old pair of capri's at our LOVE CLOSET.

No one wanted them, so I decided to re-purpose them.

I started by  searching YouTube for any tutorials.

I couldn't get the right key words or there aren't any out there

specifically for this product.

I improvised.

I watched a POUCH tutorial.

I had to make a few adjustments, like adding the little

hanger strap, but it was pretty easy.

I had to use interfacing again.....I had to read

the directions on which side to iron AGAIN...thank

goodness I saved them...or I am sure I would have to YouTube

the instructions...LOL.

After about 1 hour and 45 minutes, I had my

pouch finished.  I tried to take a picture of my

cute pouch holding the cell phone, but.....

like I said earlier....I didn't have my camera

and had to use my phone camera.

It is a little wider than I needed, but it works just fine.

I even added some little Velcro dots to

keep it closed.

I am thinking I could make these like the

Dave Ramsey envelopes complete

with a zipper! 

I hope I've inspired you to try something new.

Unique Baby Gift

One of my great friends had her 2nd child last week.

Since this child is another boy, it is sort of hard

to come up with ideas for gifts.

I decided to make a keepsake.

Dave Ramsey Cash Envelopes/Wallets

 We started the official Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University

a few weeks ago.

I have always used the envelope method but got away from actually

using the envelopes...because they tore.

I used the big bulky plastic coupon organizer for years.

I found a great YOUTUBE tutorial on

making a zippered pouch.

She wasn't as detailed as I needed.....I broke 2 needles

learning how to put in the ding dang zippers.

I FINALLY got it!!!

Now I can whip them out in 25 minutes!!!

These used to be ONE pillow case.

Total cost for each was approximately $1.75 to make.

When I get better, I will make a tutorial...but you can go to

youtube and search zippered pouch and get several

tutorials.

In case you wanted to know, we have completed baby step #1.

We are plowing through #2.....

DIY Rootin' Tootin' Cowboy Wallet/Card

It never ceases to amaze me what people will share for FREE on the Internet!

I found the blog, JustSomethingIMade over a year ago.

This woman is AMAZING in the creative department.

My great nephew just so happened to be turning two when I stumbled upon her latest creation.

I knew immediately I had to make this wallet.

She made a cute little card to go inside.....I made a cute little vintage

kid on a vintage pony picture.

She had some doo-dads to add to the left-side.

I decided to make some origami bill art.

A cute little cowboy shirt and chaps....yah! they are CHAPS....

who cares if they look like pants!!

IT IS MY THEME HERE!!

On the back of the little vintage picture...I printed the "card" for Tristan.

Yes!  even the stitching is REAL....the rest is just printed from card stock.

She did all the hard work.

From start to finish, this probably took less than one hour.  (At least 20 minutes

was spent searching for WHITE thread....which I have NONE, so I used yellow)

Make sure you check out her blog!

Homeschool Art @ The Purple Glaze Studio

I know, it looks like a cake.....

but it is a rather large mixing bowl.

A few weeks ago, our church youth group went to

The Purple Glaze Studio to make ceramic crosses to

decorate the wall in the youth room.

 Regan finished her cross and got started on

some dragon goblet.  Of course, she

didn't finish before it was time to leave.....

which meant we would have to make a

return trip to The Purple Glaze Studio.

 Well, if you know me well, you know there

was NO way I was going to just sit and

watch her paint.

I've done this before and was really not that

impressed with how my ceramic piece turned out.

If you don't get EVEN painted layers, they will look

faded in certain areas on the piece.

 The sweet young worker girl showed me EXPLOSION

PAINT.  You just paint 2 coats....it has chunks in it

that will EXPLODE when heated and create

a 60's style effect on the pottery.

 Now THAT excited me enough to want to make an

ASHTRAY.....yah, you heard me right...and ASHTRAY.

No, I do not smoke nor allow anyone to smoke in my house.

I thought it would be way cool to have a 1960s looking ashtray

in my office to

prop my paint brushes on when painting!!!

GREAT IDEA RIGHT????

 Well, that is what I had planned on making when I got there....

until a HUGE bowl kept calling my name......

I think I have a mixing bowl fetish.....

So, I picked up the lonely bowl and picked my paint.

Since my kitchen cabinets are guacamole green,

I choose one that was going to be white with

green specks.

I slapped my two coats of paint on.....

and TAH DAH!!!

 I think it is UH MAZING!!!

This project cost me $25.19....

AND IT ISN'T MADE IN CHINA!!!

 See how I like to keep my bowls at arms reach in the kitchen.

I use mixing bowls all the time.

I just realized that one is actually missing in the picture....

I have a vintage turquoise print one as well.

I know you were worried I wouldn't show Regan's

goblet...well, here yah go!!!  She did an awesome job

on her project and earned an "A".  I'm the

teacher and I can do that!!!

Cute Dessert Flags (FREE Download)

To download these adorable dessert pennants, just CLICK HERE.

I am going to put these in my lemon bars that I am making for

a church dessert auction....SU-WEET!

Thanks to awesome people who put this stuff on the Internet and help

us with the blahs of everyday life!

15 MINUTES (Day 13, 14, 15) Office/Studio FLYLADY MAKEOVER

YAY!! Walls are painted......I am sighing a very BIG relief here!

Since staring at white walls is pretty boring, I thought I would show you the light switch plate I mod podged...

My dear sweet hubby had to trim it because the door trim ran into the plate....when he did...he had the bright idea of using a table saw to trim it....

well, after it shot it completely over the top of the old house...he

found out he cut it too short.

So, for almost 3 years, I've stared at a light switch plate that had a big gap in it.

Instead of getting a new one and worrying about if it would be shot over the top of

the barn, I just fixed it by adding extra paper to the edge to make it

look bigger.

IT WORKED!!

It is just about the only color in the office/studio right now.....

I am hoping to get the cabinets painted this weekend....gah...MORE PAINT???

I sure hope spray paint gadgets are cheap...... :)

In case this is your first time here, I will fill you in...

If you scroll down, you will see that I am doing an office/studio makover in 15 minutes a day. With the exception of painting, I am only working Monday thru Friday....just 15 minutes a day. I am a fan of The Flylady cleaning routine. Her link is on my right sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to stay and roam the rest of the blog if you choose!!!

An Easy Outdoor Game to Make for ALL Ages

This is a bean bag toss game.
I think I saw it on the Family Fun website.
1 cheap tarp. ( I used two...one in the back to knock down the bean bags so we wouldn't have to go swim across the pond to get the ones thrown by future Olympians)
Duct tape. ( used the patriotic theme)
Scissors.
Something to hang the tarps with....bungee cords.
Bean bags, balls, balloons filled with flour, etc.
(I got a package of bean bags at the party supply store)

Mark off the designs with the duct tape....one must do this with someone who doesn't get distracted by a moth that lands on her arm thus making this process of making the game go SOUTH very fast! I shall not mention any names, because she is OLD....like 50.....like just turned it, like....SQUIRREL....yah, just like the dog on the movie, "UP". Terri.
Then, just cut out the INSIDE of the shapes.
Make sure the LARGE shapes have small point values and the SMALL shapes have the LARGE point values.
Make sure you make TWO throwing lines for young children and adults.
Be really careful what types of things you use to throw....
should an "adult" who thinks he can throw REALLY HARD stand
on the KIDDIE line....terrible things happen if someone walks in front
of him....JUST SAYIN'.

I SWEAR, I had NO IDEA he could throw that hard....completely knocked off her upper body.....WOW!!!
Just look at the guilty look on his face!!
Next time Michael....STAND AT THE ADULT LINE TO THROW THE BAGS!!

My FIRST Homemade Dress "Tutorial" - Simplicity 2591

Here is the inspiration for the homemade dress....
This is from J.C. Penny's. I loved the vintage style/look about it.
The problem is the very MODERN PRICE of $60.00! Sheesh....
It was on sale or I would have been taking a picture of it at the store....

I had a light bulb go off....and on...and off...and on...yah, I have those
glitches. I decided to head to the local sewing store to browse some patterns...
I found this pattern which of course was NOT on sale....
I picked out some material...the notions...yah, not even sure what notions are at this point. When it came to the fusible interfacing, I grabbed the nearest clerk and asked for help...she got me what I needed and was even nice
enough to tell me that I only needed ONE spool of thread...she wouldn't let me buy two! I liked this lady!!
I almost quit liking the lady when she said that someone just might try to call me Daisy Duke in the dress....hmmph.
I just smiled and said, "I have a father-in-law who isn't happy unless he is poking fun at me, so I think I can handle the Daisy Duke comment."

Now, I picked this particular pattern not only because it looked a lot like my yellow dress, but also that it says...and I quote, "Step by step sewing success!"

Yah, it neglected to say "Step by step instructions for the gal who has NEVER sewn a thing using a pattern." Well, I take that back. In 9th grade, I did sew a really cool, groovy, hip pair of baby blue walking shorts. I even made a 99/100 on them. That was Home Economics class....my teacher apparently didn't seem to care that they wouldn't go over MY THIGHS! Seriously, they fit TERRI...yah, TERRI who was a size ZERO at the time!
Terri thanked me though and it made it worth it!

Here I am getting all excited and posing with my inspiration dress...see, I am smiling!

This is what I was doing when I pulled that pattern out and saw there were no "step by step" directions for ME!
It took me FOUR, yep, FOUR....trying not to cuss, whining on facebook hours to iron the 5' x 3' tissue pattern.....
I had to IRON it BEFORE I could even attempt to roughly cut it out!

After I cut out my first piece...I had to remember to take a picture.
This is 3 yards of material...yes, I am fat. I know I am fat.
I other things to worry about than being fat....like MAKING THIS DRESS!!
Since I have more material, it is easier to work with....yep, that's my
story and I'm stickin' to it!

So, after taking these two pictures I gagged and ran and got the sweeper out and
quickly swept my disgusting floor.
No seriously....I sewed ALL DAY with a disgusting floor.
I was home alone and the dogs sure didn't seem to be too stressed about the floor.

The "step by step to sewing success was on TWO pieces of paper...for FOUR dresses. Need I say more????

Look! Here is the interfacing that the nice lady helped me get at the sewing store!

Here is my hand me down sewing machine....don't whine, I know it is a FANCY embroidery machine! Yes! I can EMBROIDERY the snot out of clothing....I just can't sew the CLOTHING. I have this machine because my mother has the mother of embroidery machines at her house....but it can NOT sew a dress! Neener, neener!

After reading the "How to make a dart" instructions....I really started sweating.
I whined some more on facebook.
I prayed.
I ate some chips.
I found YOUTUBE.COM!
I attempted my first boobie darts.
SUCCESS!!! I can't say enough about youtube....there are some very blessed people out there that actually make videos of making darts!

Then, I had to stitch something along the neckline....I have no idea why, I just did it.

Wow! It looked like a top!!

Then came the GATHER??? The "step by step" directions said use a LOOSE stitch...yah, THAT REALLY HELPED ME!
I pleaded on Facebook again!
I stressed.
I cried.
I prayed.
I youtubed....

I made a GATHER!! I normally have a 2.5mm stitch....I know this because that is what my very nice sewing machine said so....
I just doubled it to 5mm and that worked out fine.
Just know that if you have a very nice sewing machine, you must resist the urge to use the AUTOMATIC scissors when you need to do a gather....'cause you need that
extra string to PULL! Don't ask me how I know this....

At this point, I want you to scroll back up and look at the pattern picture.
Do you notice any POCKETS???
Me either.
Guess what?
There are pockets on this dress.
These are not your normal kind of pockets.
They are part of the BODICE AND THE SKIRT pockets.

This was the most stressful part of the whole thing.
There are NO YOUTUBE videos either...so don't bother looking.
If I had a video camera, there WOULD be Youtube videos...because I am sure it will take me just as long the next time to remember what I did to get it to come out right.
Anyhow....I managed to get it done correctly!
Pause.
"patting on back"
"doing the happy dance"
"bragging to Facebook friends"
Ok...there, now let's get back to business.

I got the front of the dress done!! At this point, it has been about 10 hours.
Now, please understand that it took FOUR hours to get the thing cut out!
I also took Facebook/Youtube breaks.
Here is a picture of the Youtube video for putting in a ZIPPER!

Most all of the "sewers" I talked to tried to warn me about the dreaded zipper!!!
Believe me when I tell you this. The zipper was a piece of cake BEFORE I tried
to use the zipper foot. Yah, according to the youtube, I needed a zipper foot....
The basting w/ the regular foot was WAY EASIER and I will sew it with a regular foot when I make my next dress.
The zipper foot, just make it "ugly".
Still, the pockets things were the hardest part....not the zipper!

Here is the back...still not sewn to the front yet.

See the way the pockets were part of the top and skirt?

Here it is inside out so you can see the pockets and the lovely facing.....the lace is a petticoat that is NOT attached to the dress.

The finished dress!
15 hours for my first dress.
I love the fit...which I am very glad because I have NO IDEA how to adjust as I go.
My sewing dummy is measured to fit me...so, I guess that was a plus..size...plus size? Get it??

I will certainly make another dress from this pattern!
I am hoping that since I already have the pattern cut out, I can shave off at least 3 hours!! I spied some really cute turquoise gingham w/ little cherries on it....
I almost forgot to tell you that the ENTIRE dress cost was $30.00...and that was buying the FULL PRICED pattern! I can certainly do it cheaper and quicker!!