IGGPPC: March 2015 Craft Challenge - Birthday Cake!

I had so much fun with the Craft Challenge for February that I decided to try March's Challenge as well! The rules are that you had to make a cake! A birthday cake, that is. The International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club celebrated it's second birthday/anniversary this month, so the challenge was to celebrate with cake.

Just one tiny catch: the cake has to be NON edible, (in other words: not made of food!)

I've been trying my hand at crochet and amigurumi-making, lately, so I thought it'd be fun to try making an amigurumi cake! I scoured Pinterest for the best tutorials and found this one: here, (from lanukas.com). It was super easy to follow and it only took a couple of days.

I'm still a complete noob at this, so it ended up kind of wonky, but I'm still proud of myself, Even if my strawberries look a bit more like raspberries. OH, and I did originally crochet the candle (like in the tutorial), but it just looked too big and out of place, so I substituted a real candle.

**Happy Birthday, IGGPPC!**

IGGPPC: February 2015 Craft Challenge - Heart Plushie!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

I decided to take part in the International Geek Girl Pen Pals' Craft Challenge for February. The challenge is to create a heart plushie (to fit in with the month's theme of hearts!), using any materials you want, and the only requirements are that it has to be stuffed, and has to have a face!

Keeping in line with my post yesterday where I talked about some of the reasons why I love the show Supernatural, I put together this fun little Supernatural-inspired photo story to showcase my creation - enjoy! 




Those of you who are fans of the show, (and therefore familiar with) the episode "Bad Day at Black Rock" (Season 3, Episode 3) will remember that this episode started out with the Winchester brothers finding out that their late father had a storage unit where he kept special things. They found out a small box was stolen, and it contained a lucky (but oh so cursed!) rabbit's foot.

What we didn't see in this episode, was that there was a second box that was stolen...

the stolen box!

One day, Bobby Singer called Dean to inform him that he was able to track down said stolen box. Apparently some random chick in Texas was keeping it in her bedroom.

Dean got himself decked out in his FBI agent suit and paid a visit to the girl's house. The girl let him in without hesitating, (he was an FBI agent, after all, wasn't he?) and he surreptitiously made his way towards her book shelf, where the box was sitting amongst a bunch of freaky looking dolls...

He grabbed ahold of it, paused for a second admiring his father's Devil's Mark on the lid, and decided to open it.

What he found was... unexpected...

What was it that was being stored in this black box, and was meant to keep demons away??

It was a heart!

But not just any heart.. This particular heart with a malevolent looking face used to belong to a demon!

Dean dropped the lid and grabbed his phone. He called Bobby, hoping he could tell him what he should do. Bobby quickly grabbed his thickest demonology book and read out loud: "A demon's heart is a dangerous and cursed object. The only way to prevent it from spreading evil is to..." his voice trailed off.

"Bobby? What is it? What do I have to do?"

Well, Dean-y boy.  It turns out the only way to lift the curse off a Demon heart is to cuddle it. But only on February 14th.. which is today!!

Never one to question Bobby Singer, Dean scooped up that demon heart and cuddled it for hours.

And it never harmed a living soul.

The End.

 

What do you think??

;)

Tutorial Time! DIY Wall Decals using Paint Chips/Samples!!!

Introducing... the easiest (and quite possibly the cheapest) tutorial ever!

I've been seeing a lot of talk about vinyl wall 'decals' lately, that come in all sorts of shapes, or that you can cut out yourself, using colorful tape. But I think I found an easier and much less expensive way to get the look of a 'statement wall' (or door, in my case). No permanent painting or damage of any kind required! And if you end up not liking it a week later, you can easily take it all down, or move it around. (I tried some vinyl wall stickers once that claimed to be 100% removable/repositionable/reusable- once I was sick of them, I peeled them off, along with a thin coat of drywall on the sticker, making it unusable any more. Thankfully, my walls are white, so there was no true visible damage, but still...)

This idea came to me one Sunday when I was in a foul mood. I had amassed a huge collection of paint chips in a variety of pretty pastel colors, with the intention of using them in a crafty way as room decor, but I wasn't sure how yet, until this day! Like I said, I was in a bad mood, but looking at pretty pastel colors helps to take me to a 'happy' place again, so I grabbed my paint cards and started cutting away.

The beauty of this project is that not only are paint chips/cards FREE, but you can cut any shape you want out of them. I went with triangles for now, but you can use squares, circles, diamonds, bows, stars, hearts... whatever your heart desires!

After cutting everything out, just stick some blue painter's tape to the back, and stick it to the wall/door!

That's it.

The whole thing took about 30 minutes.
 And two weeks later, they're all still sticking!

Tutorial Time! Turn an old tee into a jacket patch!!!

Hey! Here's an easy DIY project to take you into the weekend. I posted this earlier this week on Cut Out + Keep, but I'm reposting it here, with some extra photos and details.. Read on, and please let me know what you think!

Likey my new patch? It used to be a tshirt!

I have a lot of old band (and other) tees lying around that either don't fit anymore, or that I don't like to wear anymore, etc. I thought of turning some of them into pillows, but then I also had the idea of making the graphic/artwork into an awesome punk rock back patch for a jacket.  So here's my finished creation and I love it!

Here's how I did it:

YOU WILL NEED:

• Old Tshirt
•  Scissors 
• Ruler 
• Fabric marking tool 
• Sewing Pins
•  Needle and Thread 
• Safety Pins 
• 0.5 yd Piece of sturdy Fabric 
• 0.5 yd Stitch Witchery 
• 1 packets Double fold bias Tape
•  Jacket (to attach patch onto)

STEP ONE:

Gather your materials**! Decide which of your old tees you will lovingly cut apart. **For the extra piece of sturdy fabric, I recommend canvas or duck cloth, or even a piece of denim or twill. (And the reason I include this is because it will make for a much nicer patch with some structure to it. You can certainly cut out the the tshirt artwork and attach it to something and call it a day, but if you want a better looking patch that will LAST, keep reading!) **"What the heck is 'stitch witchery'?!" It's a type of fusible material that is usually stocked along with the fusible interfacing at the fabric store. (Ask the salespeople for it!). If you've ever worked with interfacing before, then this is just like it, only that the fusible part is on BOTH sides, so that you can stick two pieces of fabric together.. sort of like gluing! It's kind of fun, actually!

STEP TWO:

Lay your tshirt out onto the back of your jacket to get an idea of how you will cut it. (Use the ruler to measure out the dimensions of both the jacket and the artwork). Ideally, you want a graphic that will fit nicely on the back side of your jacket, but you can certainly use a smaller graphic to make a smaller patch to wear on the front, or the sleeve. Keep in mind that you can adjust these steps to your liking, and the possibilities are endless ;)

STEP THREE:
Mark out the measurements onto the tee. Use the ruler to get straight lines.

STEP FOUR: 

Cut along the markings and see how it would look on your jacket, (or wherever you plan on attaching this). Make any necessary adjustments until you're happy.

STEP FIVE: 
Take the tshirt square and lay it onto both your sturdy fabric piece, and the stitch witchery. Cut out squares from both those items that are identical in size/shape to your tshirt cutout.



STEP SIX:
I didn't take a photo of this, but adhere your tshirt cutout onto your sturdy fabric by 'sandwiching' the stitch witchery in between. Use pins, and follow the ironing directions on the packaging of the witchery. (Basically you lay the shiny side down on the back of your tshirt square, iron really well, peel off the paper backing, and iron it onto the fabric square!) When done, you should now have a sturdier tshirt square!

STEP SEVEN:
If you don't mind frayed edges, you can leave your square the way it is and just attach it to your jacket and you're done! (Frayed edges are so punk rock!) BUT, personally, I like neat edges, so that's what the bias tape is for. Basic sewing skills are required for attaching it to your edges... Use whatever color and width you want, and whatever type of stitch you like if you're doing this by hand. (I used red thread and a time consuming cross-stitch.. I was bored). You can also sew it by machine if you want to be done quick.. just be sure to pin!

When you're done, it should look something like this! From here on out, you can either choose to sew it onto your jacket for a 'forever patch', or you can simply attach it with a few safety pins for a more temporary thing.. And this way you're free to remove it and attach it to something else, as you please!

Hope this was a fun post. Would you like to see more tutorials in the future?  Don't be shy! Let me know ;)

Until next time,

G.