Easy Geometric Water Bottle Makeover

I recently got a free plastic water bottle as one of those thanks-for-working-with-our-company kind of gifts.  It was clear and boring.  I changed that.

This is a really easy project.  Take your water bottle and cover it with stickers to make your design.  I used small rectangles that I found in the office supply section of Fred Myer and formed a geometric, tribal design.  If you are planning on blogging about it, be sure to take a poorly-lit, blurry photo.

Next, I covered the whole thing with pink spraypaint.  I used a kind that was marked for use on plastic.  I'm actually not sure if it matters.  Anyone?

Once dry, peel off the stickers.  Now consume copious amounts of water.  Hooray!

T Shirt into Bag Tutorial

Hey All-

I recently participated in a fun little challenge from Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.  They had a bunch of t-shirts that were misprinted with a scary looking chimpanzee face.  Rather than waste them, they decided to share them with willing crafters to turn them into something awesome.  Let me show you what I did!

I made a tote bag!  I made my own chimpanzee stamp and used it to decorate the fabric.  Let me show you the step by step.

First, cut the t-shirt straight across underneath the armpits.  This will become the bulk of your bag.

Since there was some printing on the fabric, I decided to keep the inside of the bag as the finished outer bag.  So I turned it inside out before stamping.  In addition, I turned it upside down so the finished hem of the shirt became the top of the bag. (If you are curious how I made the stamp, you can see more on my previous skirt stamping tutorial).

After stamping all my chimpanzee faces, I decided to jazz it up with some troll hair.  Why troll hair?  One of the sanctuary chimpanzees loves troll dolls and her first had bright pink hair.  So I made a bright pink troll chimpanzee :)  I did this free-hand with a small paint brush.

Once the paint is dry, turn your bag inside out and sew along the cut edge.  This will be the bottom seam.  Then turn it back out and you have the bag!

Once your bag is done, time to work on the straps.  This is hard to explain, but try to stick with me.  I cut the leftover shirt part below the arms to lay it out flat.  Then I cut it into six different strips. (I actually cut these strips even further and then realized it was way too long- That's why my bag has two straps and my diagram at the bottom only has one).

Stitch the end of three strips together and braid them.  Once you reach the other end, stitch them again to keep the braid together.

Then stitch the straps into the two top corners of your bag.  I did this on the inside to hide the rough edges.  I then tied another scrap of t-shirt around the straps because it was hanging weird and that helped keep the bag tightly against the straps.  You can use your own discretion on this one.

I tried to make a diagram to show what I did.  It kind of looks like a five year old drew it so I'm not sure whether it will help or not, but give it a try anyway :)

That's it!  I'm really happy with this project.  I sent it back to the sanctuary and it was hard to see it go.  But, I thought the bag might make a great enrichment object for the chimpanzees if it was placed in their enclosure with some food it in.  (Chimpanzees are very intelligent and giving them puzzles to solve, such as food up high, makes their lives in small spaces more interesting).

ICC#35- Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

This week's Iron Craft Challenge was to create something using a book.  I struggled with this all week and then had a burst of inspiration on Monday night.  I always carry a book with me in my purse.  I had also seen many purses made from book covers.  So I thought, why not make a purse from a book, but leave the book?  And that's what I did.  It's a Book Clutch!

I spent about 30 minutes at the thrift store trying to find the right book for this.  I finally found a copy of Anne of Green Gables that included three of the books from the series.  I felt alright cutting out the last book because 1.) I have the entire series already and 2.) It was out of order- they included Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne's House of Dreams.  Come on now.

I started by cutting out a section of the back part of the book.  Think of it like making a book safe, but with only a third of the book.

Next, I covered this section with fabric.  I just mod podged it in there.  I used green fabric because green is my favorite color and it is Anne of GREEN Gables, but in the future I would choose a lighter shade; the green stood out too much.

During this whole time, it felt like a big, ugly mess.  You just have to push through it.  Keep trimming and gluing and you can do it.

Next, I drilled a hole in the front and back cover and attached ribbon and a button.  This created the closing mechanism.

I put in a little wallet, but you can do whatever you like.  I think in the future it would be neat to sew little matching pockets and make the whole thing look prettier.  It's a bit messy as is the case with first tries :)

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

Silverware Windchime

With sunny days finally happening here in Seattle, I decided to work on a project for our little porch.  I have been wanting a windchime and had seen some inspiring pieces made of silverware.  I picked up a few pieces at Goodwill and made my own!

All it took was four forks and a strainer.  I attached the forks to the strainer with wire and hung it up.  All in all, the project took about 10 minutes and was really cheap!

Work In Progress

Remember awhile ago when I made this business card holder?  Well I enjoyed it so much that I decided to make a clutch.  I covered it with fabric and now I'm painting some cardinals in it.  I think I may list it in my shop when I'm done.  What do you think?

Vendor Apron from Pillowcase Tutorial

This project started because I am cheap and lazy.  I have seen other craft vendors wearing these cute little half aprons at shows and have been wanting one.  But I didn't want to pay a lot for it nor spend hours creating one.  After some thrift store wanderings, I came up with this pillowcase apron.  See below for the tutorial.

Start by cutting the bottom 10" or so off the bottom (closed end). 

Next, fold up the cut end twice so that the folded end lines up with the hemmed edge of the open side.  If this is confusing, you can look at the diagram I included at the end.  The reason I folded over twice rather than just folding up once was because it allowed me to skip hemming that edge as well as give the apron a little extra thickness.

Folded Over Once- Need to fold over again.

Now, sew along the two edges as well as two times in the middle; this will give you three pockets.  Just measure your pillowcase to know where the seams should go; I had to measure in about 7" from each side.

For the ties, I used thick ribbon but this is also open to your own interpretation.  I ran the ribbon lightly through a match to seal the ends and prevent fraying.   Then I folded down the edge and sewed it to the front of the apron.

That's it!  I liked this project because it was SUPER short and easy.  It also is open to lots of tweaks and personalization.  Fabric appliques, extra pockets, contrasting edging, etc.  If anyone makes one, I would love to see it, so please share the link in the comments.

Summary Diagram

Card Case Makeover

A while ago, I saw this clutch makeover and have been itching to try it myself.  But I had to bide my time until I found the right clutch.  I've scoured thrift stores for weeks.  Finally, I found this little gem. 

It's not really a purse (I think it may have actually been a manicure kit) but I thought it would be perfect for holding business cards.  I had made a case previously, but still wasn't quite happy with it.  It tended to get a bit bent up in my purse so I thought this sturdy little case would do the trick.

I used mod podge to adhere fabric to the inside and out.  Once this was done, I painted a little birdy on the outside with acrylic paint.  A few sharpie details and another coat of mod podge and I was done!

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  Hopefully this case can handle the chaos that is my purse.

ICC#28-Recycled Bottle Cap Flower Tutorial

This week's Iron Craft Challenge was to create something using materials that would normally be thrown away.  I have been collecting bottle caps for years with the thought that someday they would become a project.  This was the day.  I created a flower out of bottle caps and turned it into a decorative garden stake.  Here is the finished product.

Now, here's a step-by-step tutorial.  First I collected my materials.  I used bottle caps (I used 20 in mine), a tin can lid, a chopstick, and glue (I started with super glue but switched to epoxy b/c some weren't holding).

From there, I started bending my bottle caps into the shape of flower petals.  The basic idea was inspired by a previous Iron Craft project where I had created a felt flower.  I used my pliers and just started bending until I got the shape I wanted. 

For me, the easiest way to do it was to grab the rim of the bottle cap and pull it down to flatten it.  Then I would bend in the two sides.  Finally, I would bend down the top.  My first few petals looked like blobs of metal so it takes a little trial-and-error.

As I went, I laid my petals out on the tin can lid to determine how many I would need.  I did two layers of petals, but you can switch it up and do more if you like.

Next I glued on the petals.  I did the entire outside row first and then switched to the second layer.  Like I mentioned above, I tried using super glue but found that some of my petals weren't holding so I switched to epoxy.

Finally, I added one more bottle cap in the center.  Now you have a finished flower!

From there, I attached a chopstick by gluing it onto the can lid in between two of the petals.  This allowed me to turn it into a garden stake.  But there are lots of other possibilities.  You could paint it, add leaves (maybe cut from soda cans?), turn it into a pin, etc. 

Want to see more Iron Craft pieces?  Check out the flickr group here.  Want to join in the fun?  Check out the blog here.

Craft Swap!

I recently participated in a Handmade Gift Exchange from Craftaholics Anonymous.  I was paired up with someone and we sent each other handmade gifts.  Let me show you the results!

I knew that my partner enjoyed sewing and her favorite color was red.  I had seen a project online for a sewing matroyoshka (nesting doll) and I thought this would be fun to try.  I found a set of nesting dolls from a thrift store that all were decorated with animals.  I wanted to be more traditional with mine, so I repainted it and then used some fabric and stuffing to create a pincushion inside.  I hope my partner liked it!

This is what I received.  I was touched by how personalized it is.  She included some stick on letters for my shop name, as well as a sweet little bird fabric applique.

Ottoman Makeover

I recently found a storage ottoman at a thrift store.  It was fairly beat-up, but for $5, I thought it could be a good addition to my home.

My first step was to remove the hardware and the old fabric.  Once this was off, I was able to clean everything up a bit.

I then cut a piece of fabric (I used a thrift store sheet) to fit the top of the ottoman and stapled it on. 

I replaced the hardware and now have a finished storage ottoman.  yay!