craft #5: jazz up that bag

Happy Friday, friends!

Today wraps up a week-long craft-a-palooza here on the blog.

(If you're tuning in for the first time today, you can see the 4 other crafts from this week HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. And again, while this is a crafting week series, each post can stand alone, just like those Indiana Jones movies. You don't have to watch them all in order, but who doesn't want to see Harrison Ford four times in a row?

Am I right?)

Since the crafting this week has been all about using things you already have

or

spending the least amount of moolah possible, it seems only appropriate that the last craft of the week didn't cost me a penny.

While doing the great closet clean-up of 2011 a couple weeks ago, I came across some canvas bags-

exhibit A:

One of them is sporting the TCT logo and one of them was plain-jane. I got both for free- one as a gift and one from our church library so that we could use it to transport our library books back and forth.

I figured one or both of them could do with a little embellishment, so I went in search of some ideas...

along the way, I came across bags with:

crocheted flowers from HERE,

monograms and pretty doilies from HERE,

painted leaves from HERE,

and ruffles from HERE.

While each of the above examples is fabulous in its own way,

I decided to go a different route with my plain-jane bag and paint a pattern on it.

What's my favorite pattern at the moment?

Well friends, it still happens to be chevron.

Remember when I made my chevron with techron mantel?

 I pulled out my blue painters tape, and my measuring tape and I got to work.

Using the same tutorial I shared in THIS post, I measured every 2 inches along the top, and every 2 inches along the sides and made a tiny dot where each of those met using my jumbo pencil-

again, for a more in-depth tutorial on how to create a chevron pattern, check THIS post out.

Once I had connected all of the dots with a zig and a zag, it looked something like this:

(and did anyone else just sing, "connect the dots, la la la laaaa..." in their head or was it just me? Good ole' PeeWee)

As you can clearly see, the zigs and zags aren't very neat.

This is when you'll need to grab something very sharp, but do it carefully.

An exact-o is the perfect thing...

See the messy zag?

Take your knife, slice off the messy part, and...

a perfect zag!

Do that to all the zig-zags, and you'll have something like this:

Now it's paint time!

If you don't have any acrylic paints on hand, they are super-cheap at hob lob and Michael's. I just happen to have quite a few, so I looked through the colors to find one that suited my fancy...

Island green it is!

A beautiful turquoisy-green.

Yep, just made turquoisy a word.

It's official.

I also keep some of those cheap little 25 cent sponge painter thingys on hand for just such occasions, so I went to town with it painting in my pretty chevron stripes.

Once an entire side was finished, and my girls were up from their naps, I let it dry for a good 6 hours while we had some fun in the pool. Once the kiddos were in bed for the night, I quickly finished the other side, and this is why the other side went 'quickly'-

I kept the taped chevron stripes in tact when I pulled them off so I could reuse them.

Genius, no?

Genius, yes!!!

Well, ok- so I kept two of the stripes in tact because it didn't dawn on me that I could actually reuse them until I'd already wadded one of them up.

ahhh...live and learn.

Still, it was better than having to measure and mark off all of the zags and zigs.

Once the rest of the tape was in place, I quickly painted in the stripes and left it to dry overnight. The next morning, I had a cute little chevron bag all ready for some goodies!

Doesn't that look cute a-hangin' in our mudroom too?

And yes, that little cut-out area in our kitchen constitutes a mudroom.

I checked.

That's a princess Belle wand in the bag in case anyone was wondering.

So-

if YOU had a plain canvas bag, how would you embellish it?

Fabric or felt rosettes?

Maybe some ric-rac sewn along the top and bottom?

Maybe add a monogram to it?

Or maybe sling paint at it Pollock style?

oooohhhh...the possibilities...

And, because I likes me a good recap, let's take a quick look back at the projects from this week and just how insanely cheap they were to make-

Day #1- Urban Outfitters wallflower knock-offs

1 sheet of posterboard- $1

scotch sticky putty- $2.59

cardboard for the pattern- already had on hand

total= $3.59

Day #2- formula cannisters turned craft storage

formula cans, craft paper, ribbon- had on hand

chalkboard labels- $2.99

white paint marker- $2.99

total= $5.98

Day #3- framed houndstooth monogram

chipboard letter 'M'- had on hand

white posterboard- $1

houndstooth fabric- had on hand

11 x 14 frame- $5 at wal-mart

glue/glue sticks- hand on hand

total= $6

Day #4- fun with iron-ons

tee-shirt for O-man- $3.88

tank for me- $3.88

black makeup bag- had on hand

iron-on letters- free, thanks to my sis

total= $7.78

Day #5- embellished a plain canvas bag

canvas bag- had on hand

paints/paint tape- had on hand

total= 0

p.s.- I hope you've had as much fun as I did with craft week! I actually have a few other, more time-consuming crafts lined up that I'll be sharing sometime in the near future. Also...can't wait to begin sharing the progress we're making in the kitchen. For those of you reading for the first time, we're about to completely gut our 1960 kitchen and I'm oh.so.pumped. Stay tuned...

p.p.s.- the Jackson Pollock site I linked to above actually lets you paint Pollock-style using the curser on your computer! So cool!



craft #4: fun with iron-ons

If you're joining me for the first time for craft week, here's a quick recap-

On Monday I knocked-off some Urban Outfitters wallflowers,

On Tuesday I turned some formula cans into storage containers,

and on Wednesday I made a houndstooth monogram

(while this is a blog series, each craft can stand on its own, just like the plots in the Toy Story movies. Same characters...different story lines)

get it?

Moving on to craft #4 for the week-

the

iron-on

I know what you're thinking...

"Does that really qualify as crafting?"

Well friends, anything that requires me to plug up the ole' iron is an automatic qualification as a craft, since the only time I use that thing is to press fabric as I'm sewing, or more recently, to adhere iron-on letters.
I heart my steamer.

The inspiration for today's projects actually came to me as I was cleaning out drawers.

Dresser drawers, that is...

This was one of my favorite tanks in college-

It's made by a brand called Parallel, and at one time I also had a top by the same brand that read,

"Those shoes don't go with that bag".

Funny, huh?

Also found this t-shirt from Old Navy-

nope, didn't even iron it before taking its pic.

I bought this about 7 years ago for my mom (sneaky) and then prompty stole it when I had my first child. Love the saying, love the font, but the fit of the tee isn't right anymore.

Too short.

So...I thought I'd try and make another one.

New piece of clothing,

same snarky comments.

I picked up a plain turquoise tee last week at Target while grocery shopping and felt great about only paying 8 bucks for it,

until

I went to Wal-mart and found some cute tanks for 3.88.

I'm a Target gal myself. Nothing against Wal-mart, in fact I still find cause to go there on occassion, but both Wal-marts in town are a good 15 minutes away while Target is a quick 3 minute trip from my driveway.

I digress...

(and the Target tee is a-goin back)

Here's what I found at Wal-mart-

Two cute tanks for me, and one green tee for a cute lil' 6-year old boy.

All ringing in at a cool 3.88 a piece.

The rub-ons I used were actually courtesy of my sis.

Remember that tank we made for her Halloween costume?

She let me keep the leftovers...

This particular set is by S.E.I. and cost 2.99 at the hob lob, may it rest in peace.

My first project was for the sweet lil' 6-year old boy who lives in a constant state of Star Wars.

The letters are easy as pie to attach-

peel them off the card,

arrange them on your shirt, bag, underwear, whatever...

and iron.

That's it.

In fact, it was SO easy, I quickly grabbed something else to which I could, um, adhere to.

Exhibit B-

plain, black, sad little make-up bag

30 seconds later and it's sporting a brand new monogram.

see how this could be addicting?

Then the hubs made his entrance...

I showed him the Jedi shirt and the make-up bag, and told him about the

 "My kid is a genius" shirt.

(This is his my-wife-is-the-coolest-most-creative-person-ever look,

by the way)

"But you don't have a kid", he said.

"You have kids."

"Plural."

Hmmm...I thought.

he was right

"Why don't you write,

My kids are geniuses," he said.

Hmmm...that could work, I thought.

And then,

he came up with this-

He took it from snarky to

 ironic...

Who doesn't love a good grammatical error, done in jest?

love it

oh how that makes me chuckle every time I look at it,

and not just because of the crazy look on my face.

Don't you want one?

Yep, I thought so.

So tell me-

any of you make anything silly/pretty/decorative with iron-ons?

I'd love to know.

Seriously- I've got tons of letters left and I'm itching for something else to do with them...

craft #3: I loves my monogram

I was originally going to title this post,

"I'd like to add his initial to my monogram..."

ten-thousand bonus points to the person who can tell what song that's from.

Back to business-

today's craft is all about the mighty

monogram.

If you've been to my house,

or even seen pictures,

you know that I have M's all over the place.

In the foyer-

St. Patty's Day foyer decor

On top of the piano-

fabric M from Anthropologie- thanks Christa!

In the hutch in the dining room-

On the mantel-

(and that one even grew recently....)

large craft M from JoAnn

And on my front door-

Gold M and grapevine wreath, both from hob lob

So is it any wonder then, that I would want to include a craft that had to do with my Monogram?

no, it's no wonder.

Here's what I started with for this project-

a couple of 'M's from the hob lob (already had these),

and an 11 x 14 frame (picked this up from wal-mart for 5 bucks)

The M in the bottom of the pic actually fit better inside the frame, so that's the one I went with. The hardest part of this project for me was deciding how to 'dress' the M.

For example-

just yesterday I saw this post on My Blessed Life-

cute as a button, right?

I'm also loving that she spray-painted her frame.

pretty pretty...

Now, the button idea isn't new, in fact it's quite popular, and for good reason.  How cute would that be in a playroom?

Speaking of playrooms, here's another example I found several months ago

 from Dollar Store Crafts-

Not only is this a cute decor item, but what an awesome teacher gift as well! I was very close to gluing on the crayolas, but alas...

I knew the only room I could put my new 'M' in would be the playroom,

so-

I went with fabric.

because I just happen to have egads of it.

can I get a Roll Tide?

houndstooth is a pretty big deal in these parts, since the University is just down the street. Just wanted to clarify for those of you who are new here!

I found the large houndstooth fabric at fabric.com and I'm lovin it.

just like micky-D's...

I placed the 'M' on the fabric and marked where I'd need to cut slits so that I could fold the fabric over the letter and hot glue it-

I could have also traced the letter and attached that with hot glue, but the fabric would have only covered the top and I wanted the sides to be covered as well. It's really just whatever suits ya fancy, ya know?

Then I cut around the 'M', being sure to leave enough material to wrap and glue...

I started at the top, securing it with glue first so the fabric stayed put-

and no, I'm not working with a 'W' now, that's just what happens when you turn an 'M' upside-down.

Sarcastic much?

Next, I pulled the bottom of the fabric up and secured that with glue-

Then I moved to the middle section, pulling and gluing, pulling and gluing...

Until that whole 'M' was a Bama fan.

Next, I started on the frame-

since I already knew I wasn't going to be using the glass in the frame

(the 'M' is at least a quarter of an inch thick)

I set it aside for another project and took that lovely came-in-the-frame-picture of the smiling girl-

placed it on a piece of white poster board, and cut out a perfect 11 X 14 piece. I placed the poster board in the frame, replaced the frame's back piece, and hot glued my newly covered 'M' in the center of the poster board-

Whatcha think?

I love it!

Even on my kitchen desk, it looks fab!

And also....

did you see me?

I'm thinking of making a Hitchcock-ian appearance in all of my posts like that-

back to the craft...

And here she is in the foyer.

At 1:35 am.

Because that's when my kiddos are sleeping.

sometimes.

Not quite sure where it will live just yet, but I love that it can work in a playroom, as well as our family room or the dining room, or even a bedroom.

I loves ya, houndstooth M.

Welcome to the family...

So-

What would YOU cover your monogram in?

Do tell...

pssssssttt.....for info on how I made the mossy 'M' in my header, go HERE

 

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs,

We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado,