Project failed: behind-the-sink rack

Right now I am in the throes of some serious deep-cleaning and organizing, with a little bit of hat making on the side.  I'm hoping to get a few good hat designs perfected so that maybe I could try selling those on Etsy, so I'm going to wait a bit before I post about that project.

(*sidenote* My two hooligans are very uncooperative models, so is there anyone out there who wants a FREE specially-made hat for their kids?  If you do, send an email with your child's head circumference, whether its for a boy or girl, and your address to thrillingly_thrifty@yahoo.com.  All I ask is that you give an honest review and try to send me a few pics of your kid in the hat...just so I can see how it looks on them, I won't post any of the pics!  I'm trying to use up a bunch of leftover fabrics to clear out my craft area, so I can't promise any certain colors/designs but hey, free is free right?)

Anyways, back to today's post...I've had a number of wonderful people compliment my creativity for all the recent projects I've done (we got SO many comments at church when we all showed up in our matchey-matchey Easter outfits). 

See, the thing is, only about 50% of my projects are what I would call a "success", and I only post about a small number of those.  I have a TON of "failures" clogging up my craft area - usually I hang onto EVERYTHING in case I can tweak it later or use it for somthing else.

Today I thought I'd show you one of those "failures".

I got this rack thing at Goodwill for something like $.25.  It sat in my craft area for a few months and I stumbled across it in my deep cleaning this week.  I had the thought that I could use it in our cramped kitchen to help hang things to dry...washclothes, bibs, you can see that little mushroom scrubber hanging there.  I hotglued some clothespins to the rack and then thought I could buy those suction cup things and hang it right over my sink.

Problem: suction cups only work on COMPLETELY flat surfaces.  Despite what it looked like to me, the tiles behind our sink are not completely flat.  The suction cups won't stick.  I've wracked my brain to find another way to hang it without anything so extensive as drilling, but I've got nothing.  It kind of works just sitting there like you see above, but it would be much better if it was hanging.

At least I hadn't bothered to go to the effort of decorating the clothespins yet.  (I was going to mod podge some fabric to the tops.)

So, there ya go.  I'm trying not to get too frustrated about it.  (By the way, if anyone has an idea of how to get this thing to hang LET ME KNOW!!!)

Okay, enough procrastinating now...back to the cleaning!

Easter Tablecloth gets a second chance!

Once upon a time, a year or so ago, a lonely little vinyl tablecloth was snatched up during an after-Easter clearance sale.  It did it's best to do its duty and all that, but tablecloths are just not suited for families with little hands that can't leave it on the table, or refrain from attacking it with a fork at every meal.

 

After a good month of dedicated service the little tablecloth, worn just slightly, was folded up and shoved in a closet, awaiting a time when one day it could actually be useful.  

 

Little tablecloth, today is your day! 

One of my biggest frustations as a mother of two toddlers (holy cow, when did that happen?!) is keeping clothes clean.  I'm no Kate Gosselin, freaking out over the littlest speck of something on a shirt, but I really hate seeing my kids get food/dirt/worse-things-that-I-won't-talk-about all over their clothes.  Perhaps if I had the amazing laundry finesse that my mother-in-law does (she can get a stain out of ANYTHING!  Just don't let her near anything with her bottle of bleach) I could be more relaxed.

Or, I could get crafty and create a waterproof cover-up.

Like this one.

"Thumbs up for popsicles right before dinner, Elmo sunglasses that are almost too small, and an awesome mom who doesn't care about either!"  (Obviously, since she's just barely two, she didn't say all that, but I'm sure she was thinking it!)

(the only back view I could get)

I threw this together while my daughter was sleeping, so I just grabbed a t-shirt of hers to get an idea for the sizing.  I wish I'd made it bigger through the chest so I could have velcro-ed the back, but then again she has a tendency to suddenly "pull a Hulk" when she gets mad, so maybe a tie is the best.  I'm going to add another one at the top too.

I used a leather needle on my sewing machine because I wasn't sure how a normal needle would handle it, and my machine has gotten a lot of abuse lately so I'm trying to baby it.  Kind of.  Also, do you notice how in the back view half the ruffle has horizontal stripes and half has verticle?  That's because the ruffle was a last-minute addition...completely unnecessary but oh-so-girly.  I scrounged to get enough pieces for it that had the finished edge of the tablecloth, so I wouldn't feel the need to hem it (because it doesn't really need a hem, its not going to unravel, but hems look nicer).

I originally thought of making this hit my little munchkin at mid-thigh or so, but I'm glad I went with a longer length.  Because messes rarely confine themselves to the upper half of her body.

Success!  Look at all that popsicle stickyness, that grape stain-yness, all on the easily-cleaned surface of our little cover-up!  (Okay, not all, her hands and face were pretty messy, but hey!  Her clothes are clean!  And that's what the garden hose is for anyways, right?)  All you have to do is take a damp cloth and wipe it off.  Or if you get lazy (like me) and let it sit a bit before cleaning...alright, let it dry completely before you remember it needs cleaned, you may have to use a little elbow grease, and perhaps some running water and then let it hang dry.  Hmmm, I think this little monster is begging for me to make him one too!

Now, lest you think it took a whole tablecloth to make one little cover-up, let me show you what I first started doing with that little striped beauty.

This is our $15 garage sale high chair.  It was in fair condition when we bought it, and it was freestanding so we wouldn't have two little kids grabbing at everything at our table.  The previous owners even cleaned it before they sold it!  After just a few uses, though, the cover started showing some real wear and tear.  The worst part was the top split from the bottom, leading to this:

Mmmm, leftovers!!!!

We've used it for almost 6 months like this now, and it finally hit me that I could made a new cover!  I (briefly) considered making a cloth one that I could just throw in the wash machine, but lets be real.  I know I would wash it once a month maybe.  And my kids are too messy of eaters to wait that long between washings.

Enter lonely little tablecloth...easy to wipe off, inexpensive so if I messed up the dimensions I wouldn't be in the hole a ton of money (I briefly considered buying laminate fabric, or the vinyl stuff you put on fabric to make it laminated, but it would have cost about as much/maybe more than we paid for the high chair to start with).  Again, I used the leather needle and it sewed really well, I was mildly concerned that puncturing little tiny holes in it with a needle might lead to ripping but its holding up well.

My favorite part of the new cover is the fact that its two pieces on purpose.  I figured if I made it one piece it would probably just tear again.  So there are little elastic loops on the bottom of the top piece and the top of the bottom piece and they go nicely through a slot and over a hook that happen to be right there.  It makes me wonder if maybe thats how the cover was supposed to be to start with.  Hmmm.

I love looking in my crowded little kitchen/dining room now and seeing this lovely bit of thriftyness.  So far, I can only see one problem with this delightful project:

The current occupant of the high chair is, in fact, a boy.  All that pink in the stripes makes this a rather girly high chair cover.  Currently this little man doesn't give a hoot.  And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that when Baby #3 makes its appearance in August we'll have a reason to keep the pink cover!

So, there you have it.  Two projects, less than $3 (if you include the cost of the elastic and ribbon I already had on hand; the tablecloth was closer to $2 when I bought it) and two satisfied little customers.

My work here is done. 

For now.

Crafting with Cake

I haven't posted in FOREVER on this blog, but I assure you I have been crafting. Mostly sewing, that's kind of my "therapy" these days...something goes wrong, take a break at my sewing machine. Of course, John has gotten tall enough and discovered that he can come and grab knobs on my machine - his favorite is the 'backstitch switch', which makes a fun clinking noise for him.

But, I've also done some cake decorating lately. First I decorate one for my brother-in-law Joe, I put pictures up on my other blog if you want to look at it. It was whipped out in less than 2 hours, so it really isn't anything I'm particularly proud of.

And then last Saturday I made a birthday cake for Maddy & John's combined birthday party Saturday night. Preparations for this cake started earlier in the week, and it never would have been this good if my mom hadn't offered to take the kids for me Saturday morning so I could decorate without their "help".

It's based on Maddy's current favorite book..."If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" which is really a cute book, even when you've read it 500 times!

1. "Happy Birthday" made out of sugar and corn syrup boiled together to a ridiculously hot temperature and then cooled enough so that I could handle it. This was very tricky, but I wanted to challenge myself. I ended up pulling out my hairdryer to blow on the stuff while I was forming it to try to keep it hot enough longer, because as it cools it gets hard and brittle. And re-melting changes the color a bit (making it murky yellow rather than see-through yellow; I ran out of stuff though so the last letter Y was murky and the rest were clear.) I also cheated and used a hot glue gun for some of them. Maddy enjoyed eating them (not the hot glued ones!)

2. The Mouse - a very critical part of this cake. I change my mind every time I look at it whether I like it or not. Overall, its not bad for an untrained cake decorator for myself. I'll go into more details about it later.\

3. The Cookies - made of yellow cake, decorated with icing and chocolate chips. I had completely different plans for the Cookie part of the cake, but this worked out nice so I could give Maddy and John their own little cakes.

4. The milk cup (because the story goes "If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk.) I used the same recipe for sugar/corn syrup as I did for the letter, but I didn't color it and I didn't let it cool very much before I poured it over the outside of a foil covered cup. This was very tricky, and far from a perfect end product. And actually, the first cup I made broke so I had to make a second one. Then I filled it with white icing and stuck a straw in it and called it good. Oh, and the foil didn't all want to come off but I was able to hide it with icing. I guess I've got a ways to go until I can be on Food Network's Cake Challenge, huh? ;)

I had a lot of people (my mom, mother-in-law, sisters, etc.) ask how I did the mouse. Why, using some tricks I picked up from watching cable TV of course!!!

First, I made a wire frame (I used some craft wire stuff that had a coating thing on the outside cause thats all I had, but someday I may invest in some real wire.) Then I filled in the frame with rice krispy treats, forming it to look like a mouse as much as I could. Then it was covered with fondant. I used homemade fondant again, which is kind of weird. I think I'd like to try store-bought fondant to see if I can get a better result.

I also used a toothpick to put marks in the face (eyes, mouth, whiskers, some fur markings) then lightly painted the top with some black gel icing I had. It gave a wee bit more depth.

So, there you have it. Go to my other blog soon if you want to see how my children enjoyed these cakes!

Oh, and I hope to get some posts up soon of all the sewing I've been doing too!

Felt Heart Hairclips

Have I ever mentioned how much I am in L-O-V-E with felt?! Seriously, I love how the edges wont fray...saves SO much work!!!!

Have I also mentioned how much I absolutely H-A-T-E hand sewing?! It takes so long, and its hard to get the stitch placement and size just right.

That being said, a little hand stitching can really jazz a simple project up. I've been planning on making felt hairclips for Maddy since before Christmas. I just now got around to my first attempt, and I only bothered because I completely bombed another project that was almost done...I needed something to be able to end on a good note.

So, with Valentines Day approaching, here's my first two:

Nothing grand, I might take it all apart and try something a little different, but right now Maddy loves them. And she HATES having things in her hair!

Homemade Christmas - Recap!

Maddy, in her Christmas dress. She was not wanting to be photographed, so this is the best I got.
It's made from a Women's Sweater, found at Value Village. And I made a hat that she refused to wear, go figure.

Nativity Dress-Up kit. I got all my fabric from Mom's Fabric Closet for a very good price! (Free! Thanks Mom!) We used it on Christmas Eve then I wrapped it up and gave it to Kyle's sister's family as part of the gift exchange. I wish I'd had the energy to make a kit for us too!

Flannel shoes for John, using the Stardust Shoes pattern and instructions. Fairly easy to make, although this wasn't my first pair. I made John a pair of Spiderman shoes with this pattern and he's pretty much worn out now. (Note: I just used fleece for the soles, not the expensive double-bonded fleece or whatever like they used. And it looks and wears just fine at a fraction of the cost.)

Felt Mr Potato Head. I saw this idea on Make It and Love It and I did indeed LOVE IT! So did a lot of the crafting blogs out there, from what I gather...I've seen a lot of other versions out there that are MUCH better than mine. But then again, I did have two screaming kids and one cranky husband around while I was trying to desperately finish this on Christmas Eve-Eve. I'm loving it even more because Maddy is suddenly loving playing with it...she's really into body parts right now.

A lame-o ear-warmer thing for my brother-in-law. I couldnt think of anything else to make him! I used a pattern, some old one my mom had, and I had plans to make a matching fleece sweater thing for their dog Bolt, but it just didnt happen.

A Black Apple Doll. I LOVE these dolls, so cute! I wish I could say it was easy, but I didnt think it was. This was my 3rd doll and it still has some issues that just arent very visible. I did like being able to use up scraps from one of the aprons I made this past year - this was my FAVORITE reversible apron fabric, which is sad because it was my first adult sized apron so it was not nearly as nicely made as my later ones. And when I bought the fabric it was on clearance for $2/yard at Craft Warehouse, I think it must have been discontinued because I havent been able to find it again (but then again, I dont usually go to Craft Warehouse for fabric).

Anyways, if you want to try your hand at this doll, here's the link.

Not sure what you call these things. A Bag of Junky Little Things and Like a Pound of Rice. My MIL had made one for Maddy the Christmas before she was born, and she hardly even touched it until John started showing a lot of interest in it, so I decided I needed to make a second one so they could each have one.

Another sweater hat for Maddy - still unfinished. Needs embellishments, like black ribbon, and some elastic but I dont know when I'll get around to it.

Slippers for Maddy, made out of a Value Village sweater. I made it completely from scratch, no pattern involved, which is why they dont stay on very well. I need to put some more/tighter elastic in them, but I think I may have to hand sew for that so I keep putting it off.

A beanie for my sister Hannah, with a matching one for Julie (her American Girl doll). These are made out of a Mohair sweater I got at Value Village for cheap - it was actually a cute sweater. I wore it to our Relief Society Christmas Dinner, obviously before I cut it up. I also have a beanie I made for myself out of it, but I'll post pics of that seperate since it wasnt a Christmas present.

Kyle's AMAZING Spiderman Robe - the picture does not do it justice!!!! The pattern had RIDICULOUSLY stupid instructions, but I mostly figured it out and the best part I did it all while Kyle was off studying so he really had NO CLUE he was getting it. He wears it almost every night, which just tickles me pink!

John's Christmas Eve shirt (repeat)

Mei Tai Baby Carrier - for my SIL who is due in early March (repeat)

Maddy's Christmas Eve shirt (repeat)

Advent Calendar- one for us and one for Kyle's sister's family (repeat)

Capes - one for Maddy and one for my niece and nephew (repeat)

I wish I could say more about how these turned out but its a sensitive subject still.

I got kinda burned out after all these crafts in so little time, so I've done a whole lot of nothing these last 3 weeks. There's a couple crafts I've started, gifts and stuff that I really need to get done, but I havent the motivation really. Being pregnant will do that to ya.

I did get something done today, but there's some really cute pics of Maddy in it so I'm gonna post it on my other blog. I figure anyone that reads this blog reads the other one too, so I'd rather show it off there.

Felt Reindeer shirt

A couple posts back I showed you this Christmas shirt I made for my daughter Madeline. I didnt want John to feel left out, so today I whipped up a Christmas shirt for him too!

Around Thanksgiving I saw some really cute shirts with turkeys appliqued on, the feathers being made from a child's traced hand. I wanted to make one for Maddy REAL BAD but I just didnt have the time or the right supplies.

Now that its Christmas, the memory popped into my head of making reindeer out of our traced hand and foot prints cut out of construction paper back in Kindergarten or so.

The worst part of making this shirt was getting the hand and foot tracings. John did not want to hold still! I ended up tracing a tennis shoe in his size instead of his foot, so its maybe a bit bulkier than his foot would have been. I love how now whenever I pull this shirt out for future kids I can look and see how big Johns hands and feet were at 8 months.

Another thing I like about this project is the fact that I already had the shirt on hand - it was a Walmart buy, intended for his Peter Pan costume that never really got made. He did wear it on Halloween to keep warm, but other than that it hasnt gotten a whole lot of use. Its almost too small now, but thats okay since Christmas Eve is in a WEEK!

I plan to have both kids wear their Christmas shirts on Christmas Eve, and hopefully I'll get a nicer Christmas outfit made for each of them for Christmas Day. I'm thinking this could be a fun holiday tradition, a new Christmas shirt every year. By the time the last kid makes it through (s)he may have enough Christmas shirts to wear one every day until the 25th!

Homemade Christmas Part III - Mei Tai Baby Carrier

I used this site as a general guide how to make this Mei Tai Baby carrier. My cousin Tiffany made me one and I used it ALL THE TIME with John when he was a newborn. Grocery shopping, story time, around the house when he didnt want to be put down. The Mei Tai is so much more lightweight than a Snugli or whatever they call them (we have an EvenFlo brand that has thick padding and lots of snaps and belts that get twisted). Of course the Mei Tai may not be the best for long-term or long-distance carrying - I had John in it once when we walked to Yokes and back which is about a mile and it ended up being very uncomfortable at the end. On the website I gave at the beginning it talks about the benefits of wider straps, and different sizes for the body part...these straps are about 3 inches wide and the body carrier is 16 in by 18 in approx.

I might try to get better pictures up later, because it really is much cuter than in this shot. The fabric is green with white stripes, which is vintage I guess...Mom says its from her "California Days". She lived in San Diego area from 7 to 14 years old, so that would date this fabric between 1968 and 1975. I never would have guessed its that old because its something you could easily find at the fabric store now. Luckily there's a good 2 1/2 or more yards left, because I'm itching to make a cute matching dress and shorts outfits for Maddy and John!