Candle Cover with Felt Flower Pin Test

One of my best friends just moved into her first house and I wanted to get her a house-warming gift. I found a candle I liked at Wal-mart, but who wants to look at an ugly label? So I decided to make it a cover. I had a felt flower tutorial that I had been wanting to try and decided this was the perfect opportunity.

I got a piece of gold ribbon and measured the circumference of the candle so that it over-lapped a little. 

I had some sticky backed felt. I cut a piece that would cover the label, so that I could use it to both secure my ribbon and have something to attach my flower to.

Now I had a base for my flower.

I took a look at the tutorial and I wanted to make mine a bit smaller so I cut the dimensions in half. I made a pattern to help me cut my petals.

I also only cut half of the amount of petals and only enough to make two rows. Here is everything I needed to make my flower. The tutorial is pretty self-explanatory so I will spare you the details. Be careful when gluing though. I burned myself pretty good making this. Just take your time.

Even though I made the flower half size, it still turned out huge! I really liked it thought and I hope my friend does too. The best part is that you can easily move it from one candle to another.

Enhanced Box Cake Pin Test

If you have been on Pinterest any length of time, you have most likely seen a Pin like this:

It's pretty simple to do and you can see the website with full instructions here. Basically, add 1 to 2 more eggs, replace the water with milk and replace the oil with melted butter and double it. Otherwise, follow the box. For my yellow box cake from Aldi, that called for 4 eggs, a stick of butter and a cup and a quarter of whole milk. That's a lot of stuff to add to an otherwise cheap dessert! At first I wasn't impressed. I tried the cake the night I baked it and it didn't seem much better than a normal cake. The real staying power of this recipe, though, was discovered the next day. Somehow, overnight, the cake actually got better! The next day, it really did have that bakery taste. It was stored in an airtight container overnight and perhaps that made the difference.

The frosting was chocolate buttercream. It was the first recipe I found when I googled for it. It was very easy and turned out really tasty! I had originally planned to cut it in half but then I realized that I wasn't going to have enough. I ended up using the same amount of everything but the butter. I only used one stick instead of two but it turned out fine. So, in the end, I think I would do this again! If you going to have cake it might as well be good!

Style - Yellow Pencil Skirt

I just picked up a yellow pencil skirt at a thrift store for $2. I didn't get to try it on so it was a bit of a gamble, but it fit! I really wasn't sure how to wear it though so I searched Pinterest for some ideas and came across this:

I really liked the primary colors and I had a vintage blue striped shirt in my closet. Here is my version:

I thought the red made it fun. A little bright, but I'm all about that!

Baby "coture" Headband

I was sifting through my "Crafts" Pinterest board looking for something I could make with the supplies I had on hand and came across this photo:

as well as this one:

To my chagrin, neither photo linked to a tutorial, but instead to sale pages, Snugas on Etsy for the top picture and a site called VeryJane for the bottom. The braided head bands I knew would be easy to re-create, but I had so hoped for something good from the top picture. Those almost hat-sized head bands are just too precious! I looked around the site and believe it or not, those little beauties actually go for $30 plus! Never, would I pay that much for any single item of clothing for my daughter, much less a hair accessory! I knew that I could make something just as cute though and here is my first attempt:

This is made from the same Gerber sleepers that I used in the previous post:

(Celtic Knot Head Band)

I cut three strips about an inch wide and about 18 inches long.

Then, as in the previous post, I stretched them to curl the edges and get more length.

Then I braided the pieces together. It was a tight braid but not overly tight. I still wanted it to have a little give so that it wouldn't be too tight on my daughter's head. It might help to use a straight pin to hold the strands together on one side as you braid.

At this point I hand sewed the ends together instead of knotting them as I intend to cover the closure the same way as in the previous post. If you have a sewing machine, a quick pass under that will do the trick and keep it in place.  

Then, cut a small square of coordinating fabric and wrap it around where you sewed and stitch it in place to hide your ends. I used the cuff of the sleeper. This was my finished product:

But I wasn't done there! Now it was time for some embellishments to bring in more of the feel of the first photo. I had another fabric flower tutorial pinned that I wanted to try and it was so simple. Twist a long stirp of fabric tightly, fold it in half so that it twists back on itself and then roll it into a flower. You can either hot glue it or hand sew it in place so it keeps it's shape. I made a couple in different sizes and attached them to the head band. Then I took a cue from the picture above to finish it off. A couple of the pictures had this sort of abstract looking ruffle/flower that I tried to copy. I took a rectangle of fabric and did a stitch down the middle and then pulled it tight so it looked like an accordion. I stuck a couple of these on to resemble leaves. I may play around with them more in the future. Here's my little cutie pie modeling my creation:

Celtic Knot Jersey Headband Pin Test

Here is another Pin Test, but sadly I do not have the original link for this one, just the Pin itself:

It was very easy to follow, much better than any written directions I could do for something like this. I had some old Gerber sleepers that I will not be re-using for a future child (not a good fit). I held on to them for the fabric because they were pretty colors and very soft. 

I took out the zippers and saved them for later use. Then I cut two fat strips from the shoulder to the heel. The Pin shows you using a loop of a t-shirt, so, not being sure if that was necessary I cut a slit down the middle of each strip. It did make the process a little easier, but your pieces do not have to be attached for this to work right. You don't even need 4 strips. Any even number could work. Being perfectly neat is also not necessary because of what you will be doing next.

 When working with jersey (t-shirt fabric) for a project like this, it is important to stretch it. Take both ends and just pull it as hard as you can. This will make the fabric curl and you won't see the un-hemed edges. You will also have a lot more to work with. See the difference:

 Now, just follow the picture directions above! This was so simple and came out looking very cute! I like it because I don't need to add an extra embellishment, it's already there! I might add just a few stitches to the inside to help it keep it's shape. My 1 year old pulled it off of her head and played with it and it took quite a bit of maneuvering to get it back how I wanted it again. A few stitches will keep her from having her way with it again. Also, if I make this again, I think that I will start with one side that is longer than to other so that the knot ends us a little off center and then the part with the closure will be centered at the back of her head.

Walmart Bag Holder Pin Test

Want to go from this:

 to this?

This Pin-test will show you how! I had a ton of bags taking up valuable real estate in the cabinet under the sink and had been looking for a solution. I pinned this and finally had an afternoon to give it a try. I started by organizing my bags by type. I wasn't sure if you could roll different sizes together, but after completing the process I don't think it would make a difference as long as the sizes were similar.

Once you have gathered your bags start prepping them by flattening them and folding them in half, getting as much air out as possible.

Then, lay them end to end so that they over lap slightly. Turn up the handle of your first bag so that you will have something to pull on when you want to "dispense" a bag.

Then start rolling! Don't worry about being super tight (that will make the bags hard to pull apart) but do try to get as much air out as you can. I found that I had to pull a few out and start over because they kept mysteriously getting air in them. Keep adding bags as you go until you are out of bags or have the size roll you need to fit your container.

I reduced a mountain of bags into just two little rolls! Now if I can just try to remember to take my re-useable bags with me when I go shopping. They are only sitting perfectly positioned in a basket right by the front door.

I didn't want to leave my wipes container plain so I got some fabric that I liked and pulled out the glue gun. I cut a piece that was the circumference of the container but a little longer so that I could fold it over the bottom.

Then I just hot glued it on. I wasn't worried about perfection here as this was going to get tossed in the car. I have TONS of scrap fabric lying around, so I just figured, why not? Here is the bottom:

I took an extra strip of the material and covered up the seam and the opening on the bottom. You could also use a piece of ribbon, I just didn't want to go in Dida's room to get it and risk waking her up from her nap!

$1 Vera Bradley Refurbishment

 I picked up this Vera Bradley back pack for $1 a few weeks ago when I was out yard sale shopping with a friend. It was in pretty rough shape though.

Check out these straps!

It seemed like it was very well loved (there was a young teen girl at the sale that I am guessing took it to school every day) but for a dollar I thought I could at least try to fix it. I started by Googling "How to wash a Vera Bradley Bag" and actually found quite a few results. All the articles said that they were machine washable so I knew that would make the process a lot easier. I couldn't tell if the bag was faded or just really dirty so I got out my favorite Dollar Tree stain spray. It works AMAZINGLY well for just a buck! I heavily sprayed down the entire bag.

I tossed it in the dryer for about half an hour and then let it air dry the rest of the way. Next, I got out the scissors and trimmed off all the strings that were hanging off. Then I dug into my ribbon box to find something to cover the straps with. They were just too frayed to leave as-is. I ended up choosing this amazing vintage lace that I had grabbed out of my grandmother's craft stash.

I started by adjusting the length of the straps to where I liked them best because once I was finished, they would not be able to move. I wrapped the lace around the top of the of the strap and pinned it down and then started hand sewing it in place.

Once the top was secured I wrapped the ribbon around the strap so that it over-lapped in the back and pinned it and sewed it down as well.

The ribbon had a more open section down the middle which was almost exactly the same width as the straps so that the color and pattern of the bag were still visible. It was a nice effect. I repeated the process on the other strap and then it was time to move on the the front. There were a few obvious thread bare patches near the zipper and I wanted to cover those up so I pulled out some buttons.

I needed three in a row so I played around with the configuration until I found one that I like and then sewed them down.

I may end up taking off the daisy one and replacing it with another plain white one.

At this point the look of the bag was improved immensely, but it just needed one more thing: a hand made flower! I safety-pinned it on so that I could change it up later if I want to. You can learn how to make it with my tutorial here.

I was really pleased with the outcome. I really like Vera bags and this was a great way to add another one to my wardrobe!