Star Bright !

I want to wish you all a happy Independence Day!

This fun little bit of crafting is striking and economical. This is a paper star made to mimic the look of a metal star. I think a star would be nice for a birthday party or Christmas, as well as celebrating most anything.

I started with a scrap piece of light weight cardboard, (cereal boxes work great), and a star pattern. I got my pattern from Google. I traced the pattern onto the cardboard. I wanted my star a little larger than a standard size piece of paper that the printer allowed. I needed to add 3/4 of an inch to each side of the star to make it the size I wanted.

The next step is to score the cardboard from the tip of each point to the opposite side of the star.

When you are done scoring each point all the way across, you can then fold hills and valleys to make the dimensions of the star.

                                     
 Then paint your star any color that you find pleasing. Acrylic paint is the best option. I spray painted the entire star white to start with, then added color to each of the points.  After I got done painting I wanted to add some stars. I used a small star punch and scrap paper and some glue stick to add them to the blue field of my star.

I used regular paper glue, but Modge Podge would also work well.

I used and antique medium that I have on hand from some other project to add an aged appearance. I just used a rag to wipe on and wipe off the medium. I have been known to use shoe polish in a crafting "emergency".

Here is the finished project!!  I am very pleased with the results and will have this proudly displayed in my home.

Birthday Baseball Cupcakes

Today is Paul's birthday! I made a quick batch of regular cupcakes after work but decided to do a special frosting job to coordinate with our Monday activity, our softball recreation league! Heidi helped me frost the cupcakes by using a Ziploc baggy as a piping bag. She's so CRAFTY and our teammates loved them!

 Paul with his cupcakes!

Me frosting one of the cupcakes.

Perfect July 4th Nails

Happy First day of July!! Right around the corner is July 4th and I have found the perfect nail color to help you celebrate in style! 

This UV Light Soak- Off nail polish must be cured with a UV light. It is basically the same thing as "Shellac" that you see in salons but the cheap E-Bay version I found.

I think this is the perfect nail color for the 4th because it is a beautiful shade of red most of the time, but has flashy blue sparkles when the sun light shines on it just right. Fireworks for your nails?!

Interested? Here it is on E-Bay. Be sure to order number 093. The sparkles look purple in their photo, but they really are blue.  Also, my sister, mother, and I got the UV Light and Kit at amazon.com. We use it often and our nail polish stays on for 2-3 weeks. It really is worth the splurge!

Hot Pink Polka Dot Dress Refashion

Today I FINALLY had the time to refashion one of my free store finds! I starter with the dress since I wanted to wear it to church. I love the color of the material and it was in great shape, plus there was a lot of material to work with.

Dress BEFORE!

I decided to turn the dress into a cute yoga skirt I saw on Pinterest because it was too busy for my tastes as one solid piece and a knit. The instructions, from Sew Mama Sew, were VERY helpful and easy to follow, however, she forgot the mention that you should use a stretch stitch and ball point needle when sewing on knits. (In a lapse of judgement I also forgot this and have had to resew a few seams already!)

The major difference with my yoga skirt was that it was a refashion. I wanted to make the best use of the fabric so I cut my skirt and yoga waist band from the very bottom, fullest part of the skirt. I was strategic so that I could use the existing hem and side seams. TIME SAVER!

Measuring the skirt length.

Cutting the skirt.

Cutting the waist band.

Ta-Da!

Contrast

Contrast: It does a photo good.

Free Store Finds

A few weekends ago my friends Heidi, April, and I had a garage sale and it was a HUGE success. However, like any garage sale we had a few things left over at the end. We decided to take our extra things to our local "Open Door Free Store." The Free Store is a ministry of a local church where people can literally donate anything and take anything else they want - completely FREE! Needless to say, when Heidi and I dropped off our extra garage sale things we found a few things we couldn't live without. I found a pink jersey knit dress and a vintage clutch. Stay tuned to see how crafty I can be with my finds!

Sale-ing

Small Plant Stand

Sailing takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free
Ok you are supposed to be hearing that in Christopher Cross voice to the song from the seventies.

My version:
Sale-ing takes me away where I've always heard it could be
the dream that I have wanted it to be
And soon it will be free.

Well these weren't quite free, almose though.

That sweet little plant stand was TWO DOLLARS!!! at a local garage sale that I happened upon. I couldn't find anything wrong with it, and it clearly needed me, so a new relationship was started.  Now I have to wait to see what it will become.....



    

Unique Collection

Now this group was quite a special gathering. I usually make only lye soap, so I never think about the melt and pour glycerine soap. When I found this nearly full box of soap and this soap mold together I thought that I was clearly supposed to have them. The bay leaves are already on my mind for a future project and post that I am currently working on. That stamp set was really calling to me because I have recently been to a stamp camp that had some super nice cards that I would like to re-create. So many things that I want to "get crafty" with.  Sale-ing..