Expect Moore

Valentine's Day Tic-Tac-Toe in a Zippered Pouch

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:51:00 +0000

After making my Valentine's Day Tealights using the table scatter from Target, I still had lots of Xs and Os left over. It only took me a second to realize that these pieces were perfect for playing Tic-Tac-Toe! And, by putting the pieces in a little zippered pouch that doubles as a game board, this game is ultra-portable.

Tic-Tac-Toe is fun to play... and you could probably make a similar game board using washers and tile spacers from the hardware store. You could spray-paint them to match your color scheme, or find some cute "tools" fabric to make a hardware-inspired game board for any time of the year. The different ways you can play with ideas are limitless!

To make the pouch, I started with 2 fabrics - some white-on-white print that I had, and a fun simple red Valentine's Day print. I cut a strip of each - a 2.5" strip of the white, and a small 1" strip of the red. I then cut these strips in half along the fold.

I stitched half of the white strip and half of the red strip together along the long side, and pressed open. I then cut it down into 6 pieces each 2.5" wide. Using my leftover half of the white strip, I cut 3 2.5" squares.

I set them all out to make sure I had everything right, and then stitched the rows together.

Using my leftover half of my red strip, I stitched a red piece to the bottom of the top two rows.

Then I stitched the rows together to make my tic-tac-toe board. I trimmed it down to 7"x7", and then cut 3 squares of my red fabric the same size. These will be my back and lining.

Time to add the zipper. If you've never sewn in a zipper before, they are really nothing to be afraid of! I put the zipper between my front and lining piece, with the fabric right sides together. The "top" of the zipper (where the zipper pull is) is facing the game-board piece of fabric. I then stitched down the zipper.

After pressing open the two pieces of fabric away from the zipper, I did the same thing to the other side, using the lining and backing pieces. I top-stitched close to the zipper to keep everything in place.

To put the bag together, I opened up each side, so that the fabrics were right sides together, with the zipper down the middle, and then pinned all the way around. Before you start stitching, you always want to make sure that your zipper is about halfway open. Once you stitch it, it will be tough to open the zipper if you don't do this ahead of time!

I stitched all the way around, leaving a gap in the stitching of about 3-4" on the red-on-red side (the two lining pieces). I then clipped the corners to reduce bulk... and it was time to turn!

After turning everything right-side-out, and hand-stitching the opening closed, I was ready to play! I actually let Little Moore and the hubby play first. Little Moore had never played tic-tac-toe before... but I must say that he takes after me, because he won the very first time!

Always,

Sweetheart Candy Dangly Earrings

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:20:00 +0000

This is the perfect craft for anyone who DOESN'T have a sweetheart this Valentine's Day. Just grab yourself a 50-cent box of Sweetheart candies, your favorite electric drill, and drill to the heart of the matter. In the process, you're sure to break a heart or two... but you'll have some sweet desserts when the project is complete!

Though the process for making these earrings is pretty straight-forward, the technique is not. Drilling a hole through the center of a hardened-sugar candy is not for the easily frustrated. I broke more candies than I successfully drilled. It took 2 boxes of candies for me to get enough color duplicates to make a set. It was an exercise in patience... but I think worth the time.

I started out with 2 boxes of Sweethearts Candy Hearts, a bottle of Mod Podge Hard Coat, and jewelry making supplies (round-nose pliers, clippers, earring hooks, 2 headpins, 4 eyepins), paintbrush, drill with a 1/16 drill bit, and lots of patience.

The first step was to drill the candies. I put my electric drill on the table, so it would stand on its own. I put a candy between the thumb and forefinger of my left hand, held it firm and steady against the drill bit, and used my right hand to operate the drill. This might have been a little dangerous. Use any and all safety precautions when operating tools.

There were quite a few candies that were sacrificed in the making of these earrings. Some broke immediately, some chipped, and some snapped at the very end. To minimize breakage, start on one side, drill halfway, then stop. Reverse the drill direction, and remove carefully. Turn the candy over, and repeat for the other side. You'll know you've broken through to the hole on the other side, because you will feel less resistance. Again, reverse the drill direction, and back the drill out.

After you've put holes through enough candies, it is time for the slightly-less-frustrating part. Adding the Mod Podge Hard Coat. This will add a seal to the candies, making them more resilient. Even so, I wouldn't put these earrings on with wet hair... just in case.

When applying the Mod Podge to the top of the candies, add a quick, thin coat in one pass. If you go back over the wet Mod Podge, the ink on the candy will smear. Also, if the Mod Podge is too thick, it can cause the ink to smear or run. And runny ink is not cute.

I put on two coats, on the front, back, and sides. After each coat, I blew into the holes to keep them clear of any Mod Podge buildup, and let the candy dry before adding the second coat.

Once the candies had their second coat, and were mostly dry, it was time to add the hardware. I'm not a jewelry-making expert, but here are the parts I used.

I started with the bottom candy, threading the headpin through from the bottom. Using round-nosed pliers, I curved the top down. You want to be really careful here, because too much pressure could cause your candy to crack... which would be really frustrating this far into the project.

I clipped down the length of the headpin, added an eyepin, and then curled the headpin the rest of the way with the round-nosed pliers. I did the same with the next candy, and then the last candy, adding the earring wire at the top.

And here they are all finished and ready to wear!

Always,

Linked up at:

Valentine's Day XOXO Tea Lights

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:44:00 +0000

I love Valentine's Day! Even if you don't have a sweetheart to share it with, it is a day filled with yummy candy, pretty decorations, and beautiful smelling flowers. What's not to love about that?

If you do have someone special to share the day with, it is a day where we go out of our way to let that person know that they are special. Which is pretty awesome.

When I saw this box of "table scatter" in the Dollar section at Target, I just knew I needed to make something out of the cute little Xs and Os. All I needed was some battery-operated tea lights, and some hot glue to get a little romantic ambiance going! They are quick and easy to put together, depending on how tall you'd like to make yours.

I started off with a package of "flameless" tea candles (also from Target), and the "table scatter."

After warming up my hot glue gun, I glued an X directly to the base of the tea light.

I continued adding pieces all the way around, alternating Xs and Os and gluing them directly to the white base. When I got most of the way around, I checked my spacing, and added a teensy bit more space between the letters so there wouldn't be a large gap when I got all the way around.

Then I started the second tier. I glued Os on top of Xs, and vice versa. I just used a dab of hot glue on the bottom of each new letter to secure it to the piece below it. The letters are not glued to the letters on either side, just the one below. I used enough glue to make it secure, but no so much that it globbed all over the place.

It looked cute with two tiers, but I went for a 3rd, and on another candle, added 4 tiers. That was tall enough for me.

When they were all done, I flipped on the switch, and watched them glow! It turns out that they're perfect for that special someone in my life... though my husband isn't a fan of ~~dust catchers~~ decorative objects... my son loves them!

After finishing up these tea lights, I came up with another fun project that uses Xs and Os... but you'll have to come back next week to see that one!

Always,

Linked up here:

Craft Monkey'n Monday

Reindeer Footprint Christmas Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:19:00 +0000

I saw this picture on Pinterest. Which led me to this post on the blog Life in Motion, which gave me the "genius idea" to make reindeer footprint Christmas Cards this year, using Little Moore's footprint!

Every time I get out my giant box of paints, Little Moore begs to come paint with me. Usually, I try to distract him with some stamps, paper, and an inkpad. Which is much less messy. I thought it would be great to include him on this project - some mommy-son bonding time, getting to play with paints, and getting Christmas cards done all at the same time. Win-win-win... right?

I should explain my Christmas Cards. I mail out about 60 or so every year. Yeah. I do the whole card-and-Christmas-letter to all the family and friends. Including some that get mailed overseas. Not only is it a lot of stamps, but it is a lot of work. But I've done it since we got married, and love doing it.

Little Moore and I got started on this project last night. We went to Michaels and bought pipe cleaners, red sticky dots for noses, googly eyes (which are Little Moore's absolute FAVORITE craft supply), and some glue to keep it all together. Plus blank cards and envelopes.

I got everything set up, even attaching this nifty roller-thing to the top of the paint to make it easy (and less messy) to apply the paint to Little Moore's foot. It was awesome! Fast, great paint coverage... I couldn't ask for more (and easy to clean, too... since the roller pops right off the spout). You can buy these for the Martha Stewart Paints by Plaid.

We only got 10 done before Little Moore decided he'd had enough. No bribing would convince him otherwise. At this rate, it will take a week to get all these cards printed...

...longer if you look closer and notice that EIGHT of the ten cards have the foot printed ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE CARD! (or upside down, depending on how you look at it). Sigh.

Two down, 58 to go...

Always,

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Modern Quilt Guild Habitat Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:18:00 +0000

I know I've mentioned before that I love challenges. Seriously. Love 'em. They force me to do something I might not otherwise do. In some cases, that's work with fabrics I might not pick on my own. In some cases, the rules require me to think in a way I otherwise wouldn't. And in all cases, there are deadlines. Deadlines that require me to get a project done. Or, well... done-ish.

The challenge was the Modern Quilt Guild's Free Spirit Habitat Fabric Challenge. Everyone in the guild was given fat eighths of fabric from Jay McCarroll's "Habitat" line. I'll be honest. This is not fabric that I would ever pick to work with. It is too... wild? The colors are too... crazy? I'm not exactly sure how to describe it, but one thing is certain. This fabric is so, so, so not me.

Only a few days after getting our fabrics, I was introduced to English Paper Piecing. It was a technique I'd never tried before... so I thought why not try it on this fabric? I thought it would be fun to use an old, hand-sewn technique on these very modern fabrics. And, since English Paper Piecing is done by hand, I thought I'd have a good chance of getting it all done... since several trips out of town were going to be keeping me away from the sewing machine.

But, time snuck away from me. I seriously thought I had another few weeks. Then on Wednesday I realized that I had to have my project done by Saturday night! AACK! It was a rush to finish. But I didn't want to rush too much, and ruin the quilt!

If you've liked my Facebook page, or follow me on Twitter, then you may have seen some of my messages about my progress over the last day or so. Progress that didn't go as fast as I'd hoped.

It got done enough to present it at the meeting. I still need to quilt in the large blue areas (probably using a small stipple... which I want to practice first), and then bind it. But, it is all in one piece with everything stitched down, and some of the quilting started.

What do you think - was this a good way to use my challenge fabrics?

If you want to see how the other guild members used their challenge fabrics, check out my post over at the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild Blog.

Always,

Fun with Heelys Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:55:00 +0000

Recently, Heelys sent me some of their awesome shoes. I'm sure you've heard of them, or seen people wearing them. They're the fun shoes with the wheels in the heels!

You may not know that you can wear them two ways - with the wheels popped in, or taken out. The shoes come with a special tool that makes popping the wheels out super easy. And when you put the wheels in, you hear an audible "click" so that you know that the wheels are in securely.

When my husband and I were dating in college, there was a big group of friends who would go rollerblading together. The guys would jump down tall stairs while videotaping each other. Though I got pretty good on my rollerblades, I was never the leap-tall-stairs-in-a-single-bound kind of gal. But, it was great exercise, and a fun way to hang out. Strapping on these Heelys brought me back a decade to those fun nights out on the city streets, laughing and hanging out with my friends... even though this time I never let go of my kitchen counter! Because at 21, falling while rollerblading is no big deal... but falling a decade later, on my kitchen floor, in front of my husband and 3-year-old, while 4 months pregnant... probably something I want to avoid! But once spring comes, and this baby with it, I'm going to become a Heelys Proficient!

Even though scooting around in wheeled shoes isn't in my immediate future, I can still wear the coolest shoes on the planet - without the wheels. And because I'm removing the fun of the wheels, I thought I'd add some fun lacing! My Heelys came with a great pair of standard, black laces. But, with a crafter's supply of ribbon, I was able to glam up these shoes... without ever touching my bedazzler (which did cross my mind... for a minute)!

My first thought was this fun polka-dot grosgrain ribbon, which matched the red trim and stitching already on the shoes. Since the shoes I picked out are suitable for both guys and gals, this ribbon gave the shoes a fun, feminine edge.

To replace the laces with ribbon, I first removed the existing laces, and measured out ribbon the length of the laces I had removed. I then put the laces in. When putting in laces, if you want them to look neat & organized, it is important to keep a couple things in mind. First, with flat laces, you want to make sure you don't get any twists in the laces. Second, you want to make sure that you're always threading the laces the same way. With the polka-dot laces, I got the "X" effect in the middle by threading the laces down through the first set of holes, up through the second, down through the third, and back up through the fourth, then tying a bow.

Next, I reached for two colors. My High School Colors were Green & White, with a touch of black. By lacing the colors through alternate holes, these laces scream with Burro pride! Which I still have lots of... after all, I lettered in High School. Um... in Band. Though, more specifically, it was Colorguard. Where my nickname was "grace." Alluding to my lack thereof... ahem... moving on...
To get this effect, I wove the laces through, always going up through the holes. In the first row I have just green, the second I did both white and green, the third is just white, the fourth just green, and the top has both, before tying a bow. It is easier to just have one color in each row, but putting both colors in row two meant that I got two "stripes" of each color, instead of making one color more dominant. If I had chosen to go with red and white, this would make a fun candy-cane effect for the holidays.

I had some fun organza that I just had to try out. Again, giving the shoes a more feminine vibe, the organza makes the Heelys feel flirty as well as fun...
Here, I kept the lacing simple. I went up through each hole, always doing the left side first, then the right, to keep the "weaving" pattern across the tongue of the shoe even. The organza already has so much shine and texture, I didn't want to distract from it with an uneven lacing pattern.

I still can't decide which one of these is my favorite... it will probably depend on what else I'm wearing, so that I can have laces that coordinate!

And with or without the wheels popped in, one thing is certain... I'll have the coolest kicks in town!

Always,

Disclosures: http://CMP.LY/1/0mdHN3 Laces are an important part of a shoe. Always be sure that the materials you are using will adequately support your foot. You are responsible for your own safety.

Christmas Ornaments From Empty Ribbon Spools

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:07:00 +0000

I love decorating for Christmas! Garland, holly, mistletoe... bright, shiny and sparkly... it is all so wonderfully festive! And I love covering my tree with handmade ornaments. Though there is nothing wrong with store-bought, I love the handmade ornaments that have been collected across the years (and the decades).

For several years, I've been saving empty ribbon spools... I was sure that the circle spool would be a great ornament base. The great folks at Plaid sent me a box of fantastic Martha Stewart Paints and stencils, and it was the inspiration I needed to turn the spools into fun and festive ornaments.

I started by gathering my supplies. Along with the Martha Stewart paints and stencils, I collected empty ribbon spools, scrap batting, fabric (I just used some unbleached muslin here, but you can use any fabric), and some ribbon to trim the edge. Other basic supplies are paint brushes, pins, and a needle and thread.

I traced the spools onto a double layer of scrap batting.

I cut out the circles, placed them back on the batting, and traced a larger circle free-hand. The goal is to have the difference between the small circle and large circle be just over half the size of the height of the spool.

I cut out this large circle (a double-layer of batting again), and then put it on a double layer of muslin, and cut the muslin the same size as the large circle.

I then stacked my layers. Spool on top, then the small batting circle, then the large batting circle, then the fabric. If you want a more puffy ornament, you can use more small circles of batting.

I repeated the layers on top of the spool, then pinned everything together along the sides.

I stitched the sides together, leaving the edge raw so that I can trim it after it has all been sewn.

After stitching all the way around, I trimmed off the excess.

It doesn't matter if the trimming is perfect, because it is all getting covered by some ribbon.

I stitched on the ribbon to hold it in place.

And tucked a small piece of ribbon through to hang the ornament.

The knot on the small ribbon gets tucked away under the big piece of ribbon.

Now for the fun part... decorating!! The sky is the limit here. All the Martha Stewart Crafts Paints work well on fabric... and there are lots of finishes including pearl, satin, glitter, and metallic. I'm not always confident in my ability to free-hand paint images, but with the stencils, I don't have to worry - perfect every time!

The small stencils were great to work with, because they are already have adhesive on the back. I just needed to stick the stencil on, and paint.

Because of the adhesive on the back, I didn't need to worry about the paint slipping under the stencil.

For the larger stencils, Martha Stewart Crafts has great stencil adhesive. I just sprayed it on, and in a few minutes it was tacky and ready to use.

I used a stencil much larger than my ornament, and didn't have to worry about it shifting while I painted. The stencil adhesive left no residue behind, and is re-positionable, so I can make several ornaments in a row.

I added some glitter finish on the small ornament for a little extra sparkle. On the large ornament, I tapped the white ribbon with some silver paint.

The Christmas tree is one of the Martha Stewart Crafts stencils, with lots of gold glitter in the background. I was able to free-hand the plaid to try to mimic the plaid on the ribbon.

These were so much fun to put together - thanks Martha Stewart Crafts and Plaid for the inspiration... I can't wait to decorate for Christmas!

Always,

disclosure: http://cmp.ly/3/NhKejJ

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Originate & Renovate - Handmade Holidays

Spider Web Frame

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:01:00 +0000

I'm super-excited to show you this fun Halloween decoration! It is quick and simple to make, and (extra bonus) will store flat with my other Halloween decorations! Sometimes, the toughest part about seasonal decorations is finding ways to store them! Just to be clear - I'm only showing a tutorial for the frame. The spiders are not my own design. I made the spiders using the My Garden Zips pattern from Indygo Junction for a class I'm going to be teaching the Saturday before Halloween. They're fun spider pins made with zipper trim. So, I can take them off the frame and wear them! I wanted something fun to display them on in the shop, in order to promote the class, so I came up with this simple frame. Then, several customers started asking how to make it... so I put together this little tutorial.

If you want to make a frame with some spiders, the zipper spiders are lots of fun to make, but you could also consider these Heirloom Jem Spiders from Design Sponge or any of these wire and bead spider tutorials on Beading Gem.

Making the frame is simple. Start out with a frame. I chose a nice, deep one that will stand up on its own without needing to lean up against anything. Since I'm working with wire, I needed wire cutters and pliers, some beads to look like "dew drops," two gauges of wire (a fine one and a thicker one), and a staple gun.

I started by removing the glass and back from the frame. I have no idea what I'll do with them... hopefully another project will come along? I then used the staple-gun to staple around the backside of the frame. I made sure to use long staples that stuck up from the wood. I put 3 staples on each of the short sides, and 4 on the long sides. You can do more, it is just important that each long side has the same number, and each short side has the same number.

Here you can see all the staples all the way around. Though the staples stick up, they don't stick up beyond the frame, so they won't be seen from the front.

Then, I started stringing the wire. Using the thicker wire, I anchored one end to a staple, then went diagonally across and anchored it down to another staple. I made it as tight as I could, but didn't worry too much about a little bit of slack.

I kept stringing the two short sides. The wires didn't all meet up exactly in the middle. I wasn't worried. This will all get fixed later.

I then strung the long sides the same way, making a big star shape. Again, everything didn't meet exactly in the middle, but it'll get fixed in the next step.

Switching to the small wire, I tied up the middle. Here, a little bit of slack on the big wires comes in handy. This pulls together any of the wires that didn't meet up perfectly in the middle.

I spiraled around, wrapping once around each of the "spoke" wires. Every now and then, I added a couple beads for some sparkle and interest, and to look like "dewdrops."

After spiraling all the way out, I anchored the wire on one of the staples.

Then all that is left is to hang on your spiders, and have a wonderful Halloween!

Always,

linking here:

Book Review: Inside the Creative Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:30:00 +0000

Interweave must have a secret spy-cam at my house... why else would they have such perfect timing in sending me a preview copy of their new book, Inside the Creative Studio?

We've been moving spaces at my house... which is no secret, because I seem to move my craft space nearly as often as I craft in it. I have set it up, just to move it again, 3 complete times! Any more moving, and it will move right into the laundry room... which is fine with me because I'd rather be crafting than doing laundry anyway! I even have a pinboard on Pinterest dedicated to cool crafting spaces.

Inside the Creative Studio is all about designing the perfect space for whatever kind of creating you do. By using inspiring photos from all kinds of designers, artists, sewers, and crafters, and breaking these down into the elements you need to set up your space for maximum creativity. And it doesn't matter if that space is a giant loft taking up an entire floor of your house, or a partitioned-off portion of a spare room (even an unused closet or spare corner can make a decent craft zone). Cate Coulaco Sprato says it best herself in the forward of the book, "What makes a good studio? At minimum, a studio is any place that inspires you and allows you to work on your art or craft in a safe and efficient manner."

I've had the good fortune to craft in all kinds of places. From the giant "Activity Room" in my parents' home to the "kelder" in the South of France where my aunt works in clay (I wish I had pictures to show you, I can't imagine a more romantic place to create!), to the spare room I use now, that is half craft space and half man-cave. Which seems impossible, but actually isn't. Just imagine your current crafty space with a large desk, comfy chair, and big flat-screen TV on one wall. Yup, not impossible, just a far stretch of the imagination.

However, I've been wanting to make some changes to my portion of the craft-cave. Mostly organizational, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever spent serious time with a crafter, or dropped in on a creative person at home when no visitors were expected. I actually had a quote on my wall that said, "A creative mess is better than tidy idleness." And nobody can accuse me of being idle!

Thanks to Inside the Creative Studio, I have lots of ideas for re-designing my space - including better storage for my fabrics, papers, and stamps, better lighting for both daytime and nighttime crafting, ways to organize my books so that I'll actually use them, and ways to make my craft space more user-friendly (so I don't have to keep shoving things out of the way to take pictures for a tutorial... or engage some ultra-creative cropping methods!).

Inside the Creative Studio is a great book to pick up if you're looking at ways to redesign your space, or just make some tweaks to your current layout so that it supports your inner creativity. You can buy Inside the Creative Studio on Amazon or you can try to win yourself a copy! Post a picture of your stash (paper, fabric, stamps, whatever) over at the Flickr Stash Bash and you could be one of 5 lucky winners to snag a free copy! But act fast - they're picking winners on September 17th, the day after the great Stashbusters Sale!

Always,

disclosure: unpaid review. free digital copy. affiliate links.

Getting Some Inspiration at the Harvest Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:38:00 +0000

I've been in somewhat of a crafting slump lately. Partly because I have far too many things to get done, and not enough time to do it all (the age-old problem for all of us, I think), and partly because I've been too tired to find some time for me.

I decided I needed to get some inspiration. So Little Moore and I headed down to the Harvest Festival. I love going to craft shows! It is so fun to see all the handmade goods. Although I'm kind-of an "all-over-the-map" crafter, and have tried a lot of things, there are quite a few that I haven't tried my hand at yet. Like jams and jellies. And soap making. And I only have a few bags under my belt - so far.

It is lots of fun to taste the tasteable wares (and I made sure to bring some home - in the form of fudge for the hubby), and get my fill of eye-candy as well. Of course, there were some other things that made it home with me... like the cutest pair of pumpkin pie earrings, and a vintage post office box key that will be finding itself in a future project.

It was a great way to spend a couple hours - supporting some crafters, getting inspired, and being entertained by a banjo and a woman with a washboard stomach.

Now I'm back at the crafting table with lots of fun stuff to work on, plenty of inspiration, and of course the fudge to keep my energy up!

Five All-Time Most Popular Posts

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:34:00 +0000

There have been a lot of new readers here of late (welcome!). I thought I'd share with you my five all-time most popular posts. Which all happen to be tutorials. Awesome ones. : )

#1 Most Popular - Bust 'em Blocks

#2 Yo-Yo Bangle Bracelet

#3 Laptop Desk with EnviroTex Lite

#4 Pocket Week Quiet Book

#5 Apron With Secret Comfort Ruffles

If you want to see more awesomeness, check out my Tutorials Page!

Always,

National Toilet Paper Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:46:00 +0000

No, I didn't make this up - Today is National Toilet Paper Day. It is also my 5th wedding anniversary (love you, babe!), but one thing really has nothing to do with the other.

So... back to National Toilet Paper Day... I am totally not making this up. Charmin is celebrating on the Charmin Facebook Page in a big way. American Greetings even has a National Toilet Paper Day e-card (if you enjoy a good pun... or a bad one... you should check it out)! If an e-card doesn't legitimize a holiday, I don't know what does!

To celebrate National Toilet Paper Day, I thought I'd share with you some fun toilet-related trivia as well as some toilet paper crafts. There are lots of awesome crafts that start with a humble TP roll! That's right, Crafters are smart folks, and we work with whatever we have at hand - and make the most of it!

Like these toilet paper stamped bookmarks from Think Crafts. At first glance, it looks like a fun recycled paper bookmark, so pretty you could give it as a gift. If I didn't tell you that it was made out of toilet paper, you never would have guessed, would ya!?

But with creative TP uses like this, it shouldn't surprise you that the country that uses the most Toilet Paper is the US!

You'll have to click over to this Bulldozer made from toilet paper tubes to see how LooLeDo made it - simple, and totally genius! It is actually made with a couple toilet paper rolls and a little bit of cereal box... and there are great instructions and a video to help you make your own!

Do you know during which event the toilet is flushed the most?
Halftime at the Super Bowl!

This takes me back to my Art Appreciation 101 class in college, and the whole "What is Art? What defines Art?" question... but it looks to me like real "Art with a capital A" can be created with toilet paper rolls. Anastassia Elias makes these stunning silhouettes inside toilet paper rolls! The blog isn't in English, but if you ask me, Art transcends the spoken word. Scroll through her gallery and prepare to be amazed!

Did you know that the movie "Psycho" was the first movie to show a flushing toilet? It was! And people complained because they thought it was indecent!

Even the Queen of Crafts herself, Martha Stewart, is on board with toilet paper roll crafting, like with these Yule Log Favor Boxes. Leave it to Martha to glam up a toilet paper roll! She shares a printable for the bark, so you don't need to have any special painting skills to make one just as nice as hers.

These are so classy looking, you might expect to see them in the White House! Do you know how many toilets are in the White House? Thirty!

And if you've got a LOT of TP rolls hanging around the house, you can use them to make a TP Roll Advent Calendar like this one Maya Made shares over at Women's Day.

It might not take you as long as you think to collect this many toilet rolls. The average person visits the commode 6-8 times per day - a total of about 2,500 times per year!

I wanted to get in on the fun, too! I made a Toilet Paper Roll band in just 30 minutes, and shared it on my site dedicated to 30-minute crafts, Moore Craft Time. You can grab your TP rolls and a few fillers, and make some music (or at least some noise) in practically no time at all!

Did you know that your toilet is musical? Each time you press the lever, your toilet flushes at E Flat.

If you can't wait for your TP to come off the roll... there is a whole book dedicated to Toilet Paper Origami. This is a book that actually belongs next to the commode!

A special thanks to the folks at Charmin for sharing the potty-related trivia! And if you want to see more toilet paper and toilet paper crafts, you can check out these toilet paper posts via One Pretty Thing!

Always,

Disclosure: I did not get compensated for telling you about national Toilet Paper Day, though the link to the Toilet Paper Oragami book is an affiliate link. But, I really wanted to tell you about this "holiday" because it is an excuse to share with you all these fun TP related posts. After all, I'd have to wait another 366 days to talk about this again.

Yes, 366. 2012 is a Leap Year.
Told ya crafters are smart!

Simple Crackle Birdhouse

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 04:33:00 +0000

I've had a blast playing with the new Martha Stewart Crafts Decorative Paint Line, brought to you exclusively by Plaid Crafts. Thanks to these paints, I was able to rekindle my romance with glitter, get inspired and try gilding, paint a quick onesie with the help of the multiple striping brush... and now try one more thing I've always wanted to... the Crackle Finish!

This amazing paint line not only has 160 colors (in five finishes including metalic and glitter) and some amazing tools and stencils... but it also has some great mediums to make the paint even more versatile! One of these is the Crackle Effect. I've always wanted to try out a crackle effect... and here was my chance!

I did make sure to read all the directions thoroughly, especially because this was my first time using this finish. And, because it was my first time, I decided to start with a smaller project. It is always better to mess up something small than something big... but my fears were unfounded. This little guy turned out great!

I started out with a plain wooden birdhouse:

I painted it with matte yellow from the Martha Stewart Crafts Paint line.

I then added a coat of the Crackle Effect, and let it all dry.

After a couple hours, I painted on matte blue. Maybe it was the record-high temperatures we're having here in Vegas, or maybe it was that I was painting with the ceiling fan on... but before I'd even gotten the whole thing painted, the crackle already started showing!

This was so easy to use... I'm going to have to find an excuse to crackle more things in the future!

You should crackle too... you can find this paint line exclusively at Michaels stores, and it is just starting to appear on shelves now!

Always,

"Full post disclosure here."

Tell Me... Wall Hanging

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:00:00 +0000

I made this wall hanging to hang next to our front door so that every day when we leave the house, we're reminded in a fun way that we only have one chance to seize each day, and it is up to each of us to enjoy our own wild and beautiful lives.
It was easy to make with the new Martha Stewart Crafts Decorative Paint Line by Plaid that has tons of amazing multi-surface paints, as well as an awesome line of stencils. Though I free-handed much of the lettering, I used the lettering stencils to make the T, W, and P, because I wanted them to stand out.
You can find the stencils, all 160 paint colors (in 5 finishes including the glitter paint that allowed me to fall in love with glitter again), and lots of cool tools exclusively at Michael's stores in the US and Canada. They're just starting to appear on shelves now, and are sure to fly off those same shelves because each paint can be used on wood, metal, glass, ceramic, terra-cotta and fabric. It is indoor/outdoor safe, dishwasher-safe on glass and probably the only paint you'll ever have to buy again!

For this project I used some fabric (brown cotton, 3 animal prints, and some decor-weight for the backing), a wall hanging mount, Martha Stewart Crafts Gilding, Martha Stewart Crafts paint in Black Satin, Martha Stewart Crafts Letter Stencil & foam pouncer, and my sewing machine and iron.

I started my project with this old wall-hanging mount that I got from my mom. It was pretty as-is, but I wanted to give it some "oomph."

So I grabbed the Brass Liquid Gilding that comes with the line. Yes, Martha Stewart and Plaid have pretty much thought of everything. But I'm totally not surprised.

The gilding went on easily. It is so liquid that I had no lumps, bumps, or brush marks showing. It was better than spray-paint, because there were no ugly drips. It went into all the cracks and crevices easily. Really, the gilding was the perfect medium for this project.

I marked some guidelines on my brown fabric, and lined up the stencil. It has these awesome little notches on either side to keep everything straight.

After stenciling each letter with the black paint and pouncer, I filled in the gaps with a small paintbrush to make the letters smooth.

I wrote out the entire quote, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one Wild and Precious life?" and used the stencils on the capital letters. Then I trimmed the quote to fit the mount.

I cut out squares of my "wild" fabrics.

Sewed the squares into strips...

Then sewed the strips onto the top and bottom of the quote. I cut some decor-weight fabric for the backing, the same size as the front. I put the right sides together, and stitched all the way around leaving a hole for turning, and a small hole at the two top corners to thread the rod through.

I clipped the corners, and turned the whole thing right side out.

I turned it right-side-out, pressed it, then hung it on the rod and put it up next to the door.

So... "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one Wild and Precious life?"

Always,

Full post disclosure here.

Glitter Frame - I'm in love with GLITTER again!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 15:20:00 +0000

I am SO EXCITED! Thank you Martha Stewart and Plaid for helping me fall in love with glitter again!
Glitter and I have had a very tense relationship over the past few years. I've admired glitter from afar, but try not to get too close. Because glitter is clingy. One interaction with glitter, and days (even weeks) later, I'm still finding remnants of that encounter - on my table, on the floor, in my hair.
I'm not the kind of mommy who spends her Friday nights out at the club, glammed up with glitter, but my co-workers wonder if I've got a secret life when I show up with glitter on my cheeks on Monday mornings after a weekend of glitter crafting. Except for the occasional slip-up, I've banned glitter from my craft room for years.
Until now. Thank you for making the Multi-Surface Glitter Acrylic Craft Paint as part of the Martha Stewart Crafts Decorative Paint Line by Plaid. Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this paint. With glitter that stays where I paint it. That doesn't rub off at the slightest touch. And is as sparkly and shimmery as glitter should be.

Now that my love-affair with glitter has been rekindled, I made these picture frames for my nieces, because every girl loves sparkly and shiny, right? They were super simple. I started with wooden letters and frames from Michael's, Martha Stewart Craft Paints in Pearl and Glitter {YAY!} and some of Martha's awesome paintbrushes.

I painted the frames with the beautiful shimmer of the pearl paint. It only took one coat to get the coverage I wanted.

And painted the letters with the glitter paint. I did about 3 coats of glitter paint to get the amount of sparkle I wanted.

I wanted to add some more fun to the frames, so I used the foam pouncers with some matte yellow paint from this same line and one of the Martha Stewart stencils. Quick, easy, and adds some texture to the frames.

Once everything was dry, I glued on the letters, and I'm all done... except for finding the perfect pictures of each of my nieces to put into the frames. I'm thinking of pictures that include their favorite Tante! {In case it isn't obvious - that would be me.}

If you and glitter have been "on the outs" you should check out the new line of Martha Stewart Craft Paints by Plaid. They're sold exclusively at Michael's in the US and Canada, and are appearing on shelves now. This paint works on all surfaces, not just wood! You can use the 160 paint colors that come in 5 finishes on wood, metal, glass, ceramic, terra-cotta and FABRIC! AND comes in 5 different finishes (not just glitter). With paint this versatile in my arsenal, expect to see many more craft projects where I use it... including a few more TODAY!

Always,

Disclosure:
"Full post disclosure here."

Double Pinwheels from Charm Squares

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:24:00 +0000

It has already been a couple months since I posted the Pinwheel from charm squares block for Patti. Her reaction was truly unforgettable.
I know Patti through work. She stopped by on the day of the post and completely lit up my day. She was SO excited that I'd put the post together, because it helped her with a quilt she was working on for the Kona Solids Challenge (the quilt turned out awesome, by the way). Seriously, I have never seen someone that excited about a blog post. It was awesome. :)
Since then, I've been playing around with different pinwheel ideas from charm squares. Here are two different blocks you can get using the same method - a mini-pinwheel or a double-pinweel.

You'll be making two blocks at a time. Start with 4 charm squares, two must be the same in order for this to look right.

Put the two that don't match right sides together, and stitch down two opposite sides.

Cut down the middle, parallel with the two stitching lines. Press the seam open.

Place one on top of the other, right sides together, so that the colors mis-match like this:

Stitch both sides perpendicular to the last stitching and cutting lines. Cut parallel to the lines you just stitched.

Press the seams open again, you'll end up with 2 four-patches.

Put each four-patch right sides together on one of the matching squares.

Stitch all around four sides.

Trim and cut into quarters on the diagonal.

If you use the triangles from each four-patch, you'll end up with two pinwheels like the ones below, that are half one color, and half the other. Instead, swap 2 squares from one with two of the other and...

You'll get two pinwheels with all their colors in the right place.

You can spin the blocks different ways to make different kinds of pinwheels!

Always,

Bright Star Kids Labels Review

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:12:00 +0000

Between the two blogs, a full-time job, and a kiddo, trying to keep everything straight gets tough... and sometimes things get mixed up or lost (I'm pretty certain that half of Little Moore's underwear has gone missing since we started potty training).

Although I love making handmade items for LM, because of all the effort that goes into them, I don't want them to get lost. With all that goes on at Daycare, it would be very easy for this to happen. That's why I was so excited to try out the Bright Star Labels. When the wonderful people at Bright Star offered me one of their amazing value kits, I chose the Round Labels Value Kit, which came with a bag tag of my choice, large labels, small labels, and (most important for me) iron-on labels. I got to pick the color, design, and wording for the label, which was perfect. There was lots of color and design choices for me to pick from.

Less than a week after making my selection, the labels were already at my door! With the label package were clear covers so that I could use the large labels as shoe labels. Awesome! Little Moore has been refusing to keep his shoes on, and this way I don't have to worry about his shoes getting mixed up with the shoes of some other stubborn child - because I'm sure my child can't be the only one who is constantly determined to have his own way... right?

The large labels and clear covers were super easy to apply to the bottom of his shoes... even though the sole is no longer completely flat, the labels adhered to the roundness perfectly.

The small labels are exactly what I need for his sippy cups. I have a feeling that there are many lost sippy cups cavorting with the other half of LM's underwear, out in "Neener-Neener, Can't Find Us Land" (which is probably located halfway between Candy Land and Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood). I can keep one sheet of the labels in the car, and one sheet in my purse, and just slap a label on any sippy cup before it leaves the car. Since the labels are dishwasher safe, eventually I'll get each cup labeled!

What I was the most excited (and nervous) about was the iron-ons. I have fabric labels to put in my sewing projects, but often forget to tuck them in when sewing. An iron-on is a great after-the-fact way to label fabric.

But, would the ink hold? Would the iron-on stay through washing and drying? Would I have to spend 30 minutes carefully adjusting my iron settings only to scorch the plastic?

After playing with them, I can tell you that the iron-ons are awesome. They come with two little protective pages to put over the label when ironing. I set my iron on the highest setting, and didn't have a problem as long as I stayed close and kept an eye on things. I tested a couple of the iron-on labels on LM's favorite blankets that get a lot of wear. The labels (AND the ink on the labels) held up beautifully through ironing and the wash.

The Bright Star Labels don't just start and end with these awesome little circles. They have other amazing products like chalkboard labels (and chalk pencils to go along with them), wall decals, and name labels that are great for tagging all the components in your kid's lunch. It is really hard hanging out at the Bright Star website without finding other things that I don't think I can survive without! Let me know what great things you find!

Happy Shopping!

Always,

Clutch with a Loop

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:03:00 +0000

I'm teaching kids camp this week at the quilt shop. These kids are amazing! There are 24 kids in the class, and there are 3 of us in there with them. Half had never sat behind a sewing machine before Monday, and by Friday they'll be finishing up their first quilt!

Each day (actually, only half a day) we work on some skill-building, and then make at least one thing that they can take home with them. We started the class on Monday, and they were amazing! They caught on super-quick. Today's project was place mats. Based on how the kids zipped right through their projects, I knew I needed a second project for them to work on. So, I grabbed my tutorial for the Reversible Clutch. It is simple enough for a new sewer to make, and the kids did GREAT!

We weren't adding on the magnet closures, instead we were going to sew on snaps. One of the girls wanted to add a button. I love making buttonholes, and although they aren't hard to do, teaching a class of 24 10-13 year olds how to tackle their buttonhole foot was more than I was up to. The girl asked, "What about those loopy things that people sometimes have on buttons?" GENIUS!

So, we added on a loop and a cute button to her quick clutch, and voila!

Sometimes kids have the BEST ideas!

Always,

BlogHer 2011 Mini Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 07:07:00 +0000

I'm back from BlogHer, and I had a blast... there was a lot going on, and it went by way too fast... but it was fun and I'm glad I went. I even managed to get some crafting in! There is no way that I could tell you about everything that happened... but here's a little sampling:

1) BlogHer Logo carved in soap. 2) A couple of the lunch tables on Saturday. 3) Me being a goof in the P&G booth. 4) Yes, that is the Statue of Liberty made out of Twizzlers. 5) Being a Ham with the guy from the Swiffer commercials. 6) Mr. Potato Head has a new look. 7) Vegan cupcakes. They were so much yummier until Jennifer told me that they were Vegan. 8) Me hanging out on Sesame Street with my peeps - Elmo and Cookie Monster. 9) Yummy looking oranges. 10) Giant toilet that screamed for a goofy photo - anyone sense a theme? 11) 3M's booth covered in Post-its 12) Outside of the Lowe's Booth. 13) Awesome session that I went to - the sessions were so great I took notes instead of pictures. 14) Cool new containers. 15) A giant high heel made entirely of Pepsi cans. 16) Me at the end of the day, crashing on the Tropicana couch.

This is only a tiny fraction of what I experienced, which is only a tiny fraction of what went on at the conference. Thanks to all the awesome ladies at breakfast and lunch. The speakers who so freely shared their expertise. And all the BlogHer gals. It is so nice to meet you someplace beyond this screen.

Always,

Snapfish Book Signing at BlogHer!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:01:00 +0000

I am so, so, so excited! Tomorrow morning I'm hopping on a plane to spend the day at BlogHer! It was a fairly last-minute decision, prompted by the super-cheap "wanna get away" tickets on Southwest.

After making the decision to go, I was cruising around the BlogHer conference pages online, and saw that Snapfish had a promotion for their "Best of Blogs Photobook." I uploaded several of my photos to Snapfish, submitted them, and expected to never hear anything again.

BUT, I was awesomely incorrect! I got an e-mail earlier this week saying that one of my photos was chosen for the book! Yippee! This is the chosen picture. I took it for the article on Google Analytics I wrote for Crafterminds.

It was fun to put together - do you notice my little Bust 'em Block there in the center... or the giant googly eyes from my clothespin bunnies?

As part of all of this I'll get a copy of the book (yay!) and I'll be at the Snapfish book signing from 10:30-11:30 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, August 6 at the Snapfish Creation Station in Booth #332 in the Expo Hall of the San Diego Convention Center! If you're around, I hope you'll stop by and say hi... and pick up a book! I'm looking forward to seeing all the other great pictures... just one of the many, many experiences I'm excited about at BlogHer!

Always,

New Blogs on Moore Love Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:01:00 +0000

I love new blogs! I still remember when I started this blog... which isn't tough because it was only a year and a half ago that the "shrink wrap" came off (so to speak). I had no idea if I would keep it up. I didn't know if anyone would care about what I wrote. I just knew that I wanted to create, and to write, and to share.

The statistic of how many blogs get abandoned in the first year is really sad, so I won't be sharing it here. I will tell you that I was aware of it before I started this blog. I wasn't sure if my blog would "make it," so I waited a couple months before I even told my friends and family that I was blogging. It was my little secret... like being 16 again and dating a new guy... and you don't want the family to meet him and spoil everything. Um, mom... if you're reading this, that totally never happened in real life. You absolutely met ~~ALL~~, ~~most~~, uh... some of the guys I dated.

Always Expect Moore has built up slowly, through trying to post "good" stuff, and working with other amazing bloggers (too many to list here). I want to pay it forward by featuring two new blogs, and ask that you visit them, leave a nice comment, and maybe even follow them if you like what you see.

The first is Crafting to Do. She's a newbie with a lot of awesome stuff to share. You absolutely want to check out her Lunch Box Purse and she shares awesome gluten-free recipes. Her husband has Celiac, so isn't supposed to eat anything with gluten. She shares more about the details of Celiac here. What an awesome wife to make sure her hubby can still share in these yummy treats!

The second is Pearl Gateway. I knew I wanted to share her when I saw that she's doing a card making week this week! I've been wanting to find more time to make cards! I love how she has put herself out there - she shared past cards she's made, and is going to share the new designs she has come up with! Awesome! Kristina has a fun "eye" for doing things a little bit different... there are tons of projects around blogland where people turn paintchips into other things, but this is the first I've seen where someone turns something else into a paintchip!

Oh, and AFTER you've checked out these lovely ladies and left them wonderful comments (and please do!), feel free to visit my new site that just went live today.

Always,

Modern Quilt Guild Kona Solids Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 21:14:00 +0000

Thursday night was the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild meeting. I was able to attend the first part, which was the unveiling of our challenge quilts. Three months ago, we were each given charm packs of Kona Solids to turn into quilts. And those three months flew by! Here are all the fabulous quilts brought in by the guild members:

Andrea's super-modern hounds tooth inspired quilt, with a modern alphabet "G" in the corner. I love how she went from light in the top left all the way down to dark in the top right! I can't imagine how long it takes to sort color by value like that!!

The back of Cola's (of Made by Cola) quilt. She couldn't make it to the meeting, but managed to get her quilt done and brought it in early to share!

Here is the front of Cola's pretty quilt - I love the fun clover-leaf design! The blocks are so simple, and so is her quilting, but the result is anything but plain and ordinary! And her quilting is super-straight! I'm going to have to ask her how she manages to do that...

This is Jan's fun quilt. I love the snake in the grass! She did some fun free-piecing on the snake, which I love (and will get to try out soon).

Maria made these great stacked bricks! Another fun, simple design with a stunning result! The colors really get to "pop" in this quilt!

Patti of infamous charm square pinwheel tutorial fame (there will be another post on this in the future, I promise) made this great wonky-pinwheel quilt.

Tami said her original design was much different... but we love how this turned out! I wish I had a close-up of her fabulous quilting!

The front of Tracy's quilt is great, and then she turned it around...

and we all gasped in amazement at the back! I just LOVE pieced backs like this!!

Vic of the Zany Quilter and I swapped charm packs - I snagged all the cool colors, she got all the warm. Here is her beautiful, warm, sunny quilt!

And here is mine... which is quilted but not squared up or bound. Yup, I'm VERY behind... but I was so glad I got it to this stage! I was up until about 3am the night before getting it quilted. The quilt was inspired by Summer Sorbet by Rachel Griffith over at ps i quilt.

I don't have many quilts I've quilted myself. I know how to piece a quilt, and can do a pretty good job... but doing the quilting (the stitching on top through all the layers to hold them together) is a whole different art form that I'm still working on! I did the quilting all with my walking foot. I'm not quite ready for free-motion yet... but I'll get there.

Here is a group shot of everyone with their quilts!

And here is a picture of the winners!

There were three categories. Best big (Patti's pinwheels took that title) best small (which went to Tracy), and best rule breaker - which I won! The rules were that you had to use the entire charm pack, add 2 solid colors, and bring in a finished quilt. I broke the rules right off by swapping colors with Vic... and then broke them further by bringing in a top that wasn't complete. I'm sure the voting was close... everyone's quilts are AWESOME!

I still can't believe how lucky we are to have a Modern Quilt Guild here in Vegas! The guild is still pretty new, and growing, but the talent in the room on the last Thursday of every month is palpable - and contagious!

I can't wait for "moore!" : )

Always,

Moore Love Mondays - Quilt Alongs

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:00:00 +0000

The internet does all kinds of amazing things. From recipes to the latest fad, we're able to look up just about anything in a matter of seconds. By giving us door-to-door directions, it has made a traditional map nearly useless. And it completely obliterates that map by allowing us to connect with others all around the globe.

Quilt Alongs have become increasingly popular. In these groups, an organizer or organizer sets up a schedule whereby anyone can join in and make the quilt. The rules and specifics vary. Many have groups on Flickr so that members can share their progress. Here are some of my favorites:

Modern Block of the Month - this just started last week, and I'm pretty sure I'll be joining in. A fun way to try making different types and styles of modern blocks. They just announced the fabric requirements, so I need to figure out what colors and fabrics I want to go with.

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along - I've jumped on the bandwagon here, and gotten my first 6 blocks done, and my 7th is part-way. There are 111 blocks, and I'll be repeating many of them to make the quilt big enough for my bed. The Quilt Along started a few weeks ago, and with most of the members doing a block a week to get the quilt done in a year, I have a little bit of catching up to do... but plenty of time. However, it is a big commitment considering the number of blocks I'll be making! Everyone is doing the quilts in their own fabrics, I'm doing mine in all grey/white/cream:

There are lots of other Quilt Alongs going on - both past and present - that you can take part in. Here are a couple more:

Paintbox Quilt Along - Oh, Fransson!
Bloggers' Block-a-palooza Quilt Along - Quilt Dad
Modern Log Cabin Quilting Apron-Along - Fat Quarterly

Enjoy, and I'll see you online!

Always,

Point of View - Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:00:00 +0000

I'm so excited to be a guest poster on Point of View! This month the theme was "Summer" and the POV bloggers came up with some awesome creations!

You can check out the details on their blogs, as well as link up to the party with your own summer creations over at Leanne's blog!

Amy from Ameroonie Designs

Jonie from Just Between Friends

Gwen from Gwenny Penny

Leanne from Organize and Decorate Everything

Michele from Michele Made M

Here in Vegas, summer means spending time at the swimming pool. But we don't have our own pool. My motto is "The next best thing to having a friend with a pool is having your own pool." Yes, go ahead and read that again.

Not having our own pool comes with perks - no need for maintaining it. However, it means that we have to take wet suits home from the pool. And I am not a fan of everything in the pool bag getting soggy from wet suits. So I used some fun fabrics, a zipper, and some iron-on vinyl to make a quick wet swimsuit bag.
It is not completely sealed, like a plastic bag might be, which will prevent the suits from getting super-gross if not thrown into the wash right away. But the laminated fabric will still keep everything else dry.

I started by cutting 4 pieces of fabric 15" x 10"

I ironed on some iron-on vinyl to the two inside pieces. You can find this at any big-box craft store, or online. I just followed the directions, it was super easy to use.

After the inside pieces cooled, I pinned an outside piece and an inside piece, right sides together, with the zipper in the middle. I just lined up the right side all the way down, and kept my pins in the seam allowance so I wouldn't poke holes in too much of the vinyl. My zipper extends out both sides, which is fine.

I stitched it together using the zipper foot on the sewing machine.

I then flipped both pieces of fabric back, exposing the zipper, and top-stitched close to the zipper.

I pinned the other two pieces of fabric onto the zipper, just like last time, this time making sure to line up the sides of the fabric so everything will fit together in the next step. I then stitched it down and top stitched just like before.

I opened up the fabric, so that the two top pieces and the two lining pieces were right sides together, with the zipper in the middle. I pinned around all four sides.

I then stitched around all four sides, leaving an opening at the bottom of the inside fabric.

Using this hole, I flipped the whole thing right side out.

I tucked in the seam allowance on the hole...

Then stitched it down. Because the fabric is laminated, it will stick to a regular sewing machine foot. If you work with a lot of laminated fabrics or vinyl, it is worth getting a Teflon foot, or at the very least getting a walking foot. I didn't want to switch over to my walking foot, so I fed the fabric along side the zipper foot... and it worked just fine.

The stitches I just made will make the bag less water-tight, so I grabbed the protective paper from ironing on the vinyl, put some over the top and bottom, and then re-ironed it to "seal" up the holes a bit.

I then tucked the lining into the bag, zipped it up, and I'm ready to go to the pool!

Go check out the other great summer projects... and don't forget to link up yours!

Always,

Think You've Seen Enough? HGTV Design Star Tonight!

noreply@blogger.com (Carolina) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:00:00 +0000

So, after last week's post, did you watch the premiere of HGTV's Design Star Season 6 with me? I let Little Moore stay up late so we could watch it together.

I think that Vern's "I think I've seen enough" is the Design Star equivalent of Tim Gunn's "Make it Work" or Tyra's ultra-long-winded "You're still in the running to becoming America's Next Top Model"! Seriously... it could be the next college drinking game! Every time Vern says, "I think I've seen enough," it is time to take another shot! Just kidding. Kind of.

The first episode of any running-contest-style-show is always a little sad. Someone has to leave... and they only had one 60 minute show to showcase their talent. And by showcase their talent, I mean present to the world their worst work ever. And then, they're gone. No chance to redeem themselves.

This Premire was especially tough, because it was a team challenge. Personally, I hate being forced into a team with someone I don't know. And from the performance of some of the contestants last week, I can tell I'm not the only one. I usually get stuck with the overbearing person... or I am the overbearing person. Or both - which isn't pretty, but would make for some awesome dramatic moments on TV!

The judges were right in line with my thinking on this episode. I agree that orange rooms, unfinished woodwork, and tea light holders screwed to the wall with exposed wood screws are all bad ways to make a first impression. So is a wallpaper focal point with poorly applied wallpaper.

Yes, there was some cringe-worthy design, but the room that got second place - stunning! I'd love to have a great room like this in my house! Of course, I'd love to have those stunning views, too! It is simple and elegant... even though the designers didn't exactly see eye-to-eye.

I'd probably have the same expression on my face that spunkly little Leslie did after a cell phone call from uber-professional-on-camera-because-she's-a-five-time-Emmy-award-winner-Cathy saying Leslie should trust her. Ahem. Trust takes a little more than 24 hours to earn.

I can't say if the trust was earned or not here... but respect for having serious design chops absolutely was.

The winning room was an awkward space made awesome through the use of cool painting techniques and fun design in the bonus room. I love that Karl and Kellie won, despite spilling half a can of paint all over the floor. This shows that keeping your cool in the face of potential disaster pays off big time.

Poor Kellie was frantically cleaning up paint, and when time was called, she was covered in it. Though she looked like a hot mess, the design that she and Karl came up with was just plain HOT! and earned them the top finish, with Karl taking first place for his awesome paint job.

I did check out the preview of tonight's episode, which will be on HGTV at 9pm/8c, and am confident that it is going to be as suspense-filled as last week's! The designers will be facing the infamous White Box Challenge. They each get the exact same white space, and their challenge is to make it fabulous. Usually, there is a twist - last season's white box challenge had designers creating spaces for each other... and required the designers to do all of their shopping at an Asian Market. I wonder what tonight's twist will be?

With the opportunity to host their own show on the line, I hope that some of the contestants like Not-so-RELAXed-Brett, Horrible Headboard J, and Sans Styling Meg and Tyler step up their game!

I know that I haven't seen enough yet...

Always,

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign by Crafterminds and HGTV Design Star. My opinions are my own.