Going Natural...Very Slowly

As I grow older {snort.}, I start to go back to my hippie roots.  I'm not sure where they came from.  My parents are perfectly normal people.  They both have normal-people jobs.  Well, if working for a cigarette company and the clerk of courts is normal, anyway.  My mom did stay home when I was a wee little tyke, before I started school.  She did make quite a lot of my clothes, and my grandparents have always gardened, but overall, normal country folks. 

I, however, have always been a tree hugging, animal saving, dirt worshiping hippie.  I was allowed to run around in the woods barefoot too much, I suppose.  One of my elementary friends and I were going to live in a treehouse when we grew up and make all our own clothes and such.  Sat around at recess hand-sewing a "quilt" together.  Anyway.  I digress. 

I have slowly been weeding out our commercial cleaners--home and self.  So far, I have homemade bathroom cleaner, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, and now disinfecting spray.  I am most pleased.  I basically have just started replacing the store-bought stuff as we run out.  We went through a heavy couponing phase, so it will probably be sometime in the next millennium before the hubs runs out of soap, but that's alright.  I'm not going to purge and throw out everything.  I feel like that kind of defeats some purpose since it would all end up in the landfill.  My closet is now filling with things like washing soda, castille soap, borax and a serious I-kid-you-not 15 lb. bag of baking soda.  You should all go take out stock in Borax.  Or Arm & Hammer.  I seriously can use up some baking soda and borax. 

I have found many of my recipes on Crunch Betty's blog--total plug here, but no, I'm not getting compensated in any way.  Like enough people read this for her to want to compensate me anyway.  But, hey, Leslie--if you stumble upon this, I'm open to free stuff any time.  :)  This chick is amazing.  An inspiration.  And hilarious.  I used her formula for spray, and I really struggled with the whole two-week incubation period.  I didn't want to wait for my vinegar to infuse!  But I did, and now my counters are sparkling.  And best of all, I know there isn't any nasty stuff for my fur babies to lick up.  Aurora was the world's worst to lick up any 409 that landed on the floor. 

If you're looking for some inspiration, check out my Pinterest board on Cleaning and Such Nonsense.

The Long-Awaited Owl Tutorial

I know that you all thought this day would never come.  That I had teased you and run away from the blogging world.  Well.  Maybe I came close.  And school started back, which means my free time is close to zero right now.  I have 27 fifth grade students who command my attention right now, which is a bit more pressing than sewing cute lil' owls.  Maybe not as relaxing, but definitely more in-my-face.

So--On to the the tute!  (I really am bothered by the addition of that "e".  Anyone else? No? Just me then.)

Step the first:  Gather the following materials:

• An old, crapped out tape measure
• A pair of scissors you aren't terribly partial to
• Scrap batting (you'll need a 7"x11" rectangle)
• Pouch fabric (fat quarters are great!)
• Scrappy fabric bits for the owl
• Some stabilizer if you have thin fabric or you are OCD about your applique
• Duct Tape--and don't waste your pretty stuff on this project!

Step the second:  Lots of cutting!

• Using your scissors, cut two 6" long pieces of tape measure and round the ends.

 

• Next cut the following from your INTERIOR fabric:
• one 7"x14" rectangle
• two 4" squares
• one 2"x7" rectangle

• From your EXTERIOR fabric cut:
• one 7"x11" rectangle

• Cut a 7"x11" rectangle of batting

• The owl pieces:
• One owl body (I free-handed mine) about 2.5" tall
• Two tiny owl wings, using your owl as a template
• One owl tummy
• One owl beak, or you can embroider this piece.  I cut mine later, so no pic now.  Just a tiny triangle is fine.

Step the third:  Some quiltin'
My machine has a free-motion quilting foot and allows me to lower the feed dogs (weird name, no?) so the fabric can glide about whilst I quilt any pattern I so desire.  I thought I'd show you what this looked like on my machine so you'd have some idea of what to look for on yours-if you don't already know, of course!

You will need to layer your pop pouch as follows: the interior fabric face-down on your table, followed by centered-up batting, topped by the exterior fabric face-up.  Pin all three layers together before quilting.

Fourth:  Some ironing and prep work

You are going to make two Prairie Points for pull tabs and a strappy little handle for the pouch.  I use my iron quite a bit for these two.  The Prairie Points only require ironing before attaching, but the strap requires a bit more work.

Prairie Points:

• Iron your square in half, right sides out.
• With the fold at the bottom, pull one corner up to the top middle.  Iron down.
• Repeat with other side.

 Strappy Little Handle:

• Iron your 2"x7" strip in half longways, right sides out.
• Open it back up.  
• Iron both outside edges in to the middle, right sides out.
• Fold closed along the center line.  Iron one more time for good measure.
• Sew up the open side to create your strap.
• Be fancy and sew up the other side so it looks polished.  Or be lazy and don't.  It's your bag, after all.

Tape Measure:
Remember him?  You need to cover the cut ends of the tape measure with duct tape so they don't poke through your fabric and make you sad.  Feel free to do this however you please, but this is how I make it happen:

Fifth: Sew pockets for the tape measure and add your prairie points.  Oh, and a tag if you want one.

Back to your quilted pouch body that has been languishing beside your sewing machine!  Fold down each end that sticks out past your exterior fabric about 1-1/2".  Then, fold in a hem.  I give myself about a 1/4".  Your final pocket should be about 1-1/4".  If you have extra wide tape measures, you may need to adjust this.  Place your prairie points in the center of each pocket.  The tip of the point should be 3-1/2" from either edge.

Sixth: Switch thread color and sew your owl!

I sewed all the little bits and pieces to my owl before I sewed him down.  I used pink thread for wings and belly.  I switched to black thread for the beak.  I hand-sewed the eyes on right before I put the owl onto the bag.  You just have to play with where you want your feathered friend to live.  I wanted one of the knots in the wood grain of my fabric to show, so I made sure I put my owl beside the knot, not on top.  (yes, all puns are intended)  Also make sure your applique won't be on the fold when you sew your bag up--you want all of the bird on one side of the pouch.  *Don't forget to switch back to pink to sew the owl down!* If you do forget, your seam ripper will be your friend. :)

Seventh: Tape Measure
Put that tape measure in those pockets you made for it!
Be sure that your tape measure's back is to the front of your pouch.  This creates the closure.
Center up the tape measure in the pocket.  You should have about 1/2" on either side.  This makes your seam allowance and room for the edge of the pouch.

Step Next-to-Last:  Sew up your pouch!

Pin your strappy lil' handle right against your pocket, on the opposite side as your owl.  The raw edges should all match up, both bag and strap.

Fold your bag in half, right sides in.  You might want to pin this time so you don't wind up with the front of your bag sticking out over the back.

Sew a straight stitch up each side.  Careful!  Don't hit that tape measure with the needle.  It WILL break.  I promise.  Also, you might want to press the tape measure as flat as possible when it gets under the presser foot.  You will definitely want to back stitch at the beginning and end of this seam.

After you straight stitch, go back with a zig-zag stitch up both sides.  I double up at the top where the tape measure is to reinforce it.  If you are more awesome than I am and have a surger, you could use it here.

 Carefully flip your pouch right-side out.  I recommend removing the pin in your strap first. 

Step the LAST!

Use some Fray Check on all those visible stitches where your tape measure is.  Just to be safe.

Rock your awesome pouch!

 I am going to link this up to some way-cool linky parties.  I will add buttons as it is linked.

Menu Board

So I know I promised a tutorial on the pop pouch with the owl.  I will get to it, really really!  I have a slight ADD problem, and I always seem to be working on a least 3 things at once.  Like today--I have really been coveting the menu boards I have seen on so many blogs, pinterest, and etsy.  So, I made myself one.  It isn't as super fancy as some of the pricy ones, and I am sure any self-respecting crafter would be horrified at my lack of brads, distressed inking, or burlap.

I did go buy a new picture frame for this project, but Kohl's had them Buy One, Get One for $1, and I had 15% off, so I didn't feel too bad.  Also, it is an eco-friendly frame.  So it's justified, right? :)

I used muslin for my background, and I just wrapped it around the piece of paper from the center of my frame.  I cut it 1" larger in all directions, folded, ironed (turn the steam off, trust me), and dabbed a little craft glue to hold it down.

The lovely ribbon is from Michael's.  I probably bought it after Christmas for $1 a piece several years ago.  Again, eyeballed it--laid it where I wanted it, cut a couple extra inches on either end, and ran a bead of glue down the center and stuck it on, wrapping around to the back.  I did lay the MENU letters down first to decide where to put the horizontal ribbon.

I am sure scrap booker people know some vastly better method for sticking paper down, but I just used my craft glue again for the letters and the days.  I made this loveliness on my computer using Power Point.  I saved it as a PDF just for you guys!  Feel free to make your own menu, and for goodness sakes doll it up more than I did.

I didn't even wait for the glue to dry before I stuck the whole works back in the frame, closed it up, and wrote out next week's menu!  I'll update this post when it makes it to the wall and get rid of this crap-tastic picture of it laying on my cutting table.

I had to share this picture of my darlin' Priss "helping" with another project.  It's what she does.

The Best Sound in the World

Is the tink tink of cans sealing.  Happiness in a jar.

Also, for those doubters out there saying you can't can on a flat-top range.  I have news for you: you can can!  (And also do the can-can if you so desire!)

Craftaholics Gift Part 2

I am not sure how I feel about trying to make things for people I don't know super well.  Sometimes it feels like such a shot in the dark that I feel like I'll never get it right.  Sometimes I use the opportunity to create something I would not normally make.  This is one of those times.  I decided to create a piece of art for my partner to hang in her daughter's nursery.  I have never seen this nursery.  I have never seen this little girl.  Going on the basis of a sage green room in which lavender and rose look nice,  I went for it.

This is what I got:

Hopefully I'll get a picture of it on a wall to replace this.  Ugh.  I know that one of the first things I am going to HAVE to do as a blogger is get better at taking pictures.  And maybe use an actual camera instead of my phone.  Sshhhh...don't tell. :)

I have seen several projects around the www using doilies as stencils.  "Ha," I thought.  "I can do that, no problem," I thought.  I should know better by now.  Whatever.  Anyway, this is what I started with:

Materials:
1.  Large 11 x 14 canvas (from Michaels, on sale in a two pack!)
2.  Paper doilies (Massive package of 24 from Walmart.  Overkill, yes?)
3.  Basting Spray
4.  Scissors

I started by placing some doilies on the white canvas, lightly spraying the back of the doilies with spray starch to stick them down while I was painting.

Then, I painted the entire canvas a nice rosy pink.  I don't even want to talk about the fact that the brush and paint are from when I took art lessons in ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!  I was just impressed that I could find my paint brushes after two moves and several years of non-use. 

I didn't bother to paint in the middle of the doilies, since the canvas was covered up under them.  Save myself some time and paint!  Now for a difficult part: wait for the paint to dry.  At least most of the way.  I am terrible at this part.

I put some more doilies on next, WITHOUT taking off the first doilies.  Same process.  No need for another picture yet, okay?

Then, I painted the whole works lavender.   I left one doily pink around the edges.  I thought it might look cool.  Some of the doilies are overlapped.  And again, the waiting game...

Eventually I couldn't stand it any longer and started peeling my doilies off.  That was MUCH harder than I thought it would be.  If anyone has suggestions for a better temporary glue, please let me know. 

This process took a while, and involved picking lots of tiny pieces of paper off the canvas.  Not much fun.

Eventually, it looked like it does above.  I think I like this look!  So did Miss Priss, my crafty sabotager helper.

Last, I painted on the initials, following the basic design of a font I like.  Very broadly defined following.

And, bam!  There we are.  Something cutesy to hang on the wall.  I don't know quite what to do with the edges of the canvas.  It would probably look sweet if the whole works was framed in a nice white frame.

I just hope my partner likes it!

Handmade Gift Exchange: Gift Part 1

I am proudly participating in Craftaholics Anonymous' handmade gift exchange.  This is my second round of participation!  I will admit that I sat out a couple and just watched, but then I decided to take the plunge.  It is so much fun to share your craftiness with someone else who has like-minded views.  Not everyone appreciates the work that goes into a handcrafted gift, and I have been disappointed before by someone's lack of enthusiasm about something I labored over for hours.  That is not the case here!  I am excited to share the first part of my gift--an owl pop pouch with a cute wood grain background and leaf accents.

Pop pouches are great for two main reasons:
1.  No zippers!  Can I get a whoot-whoot?!
2.  They upcycle something that would otherwise be trashed.  

The closure in a pop pouch is part of a tape measure that has seen better days.  Mine is from my dear ol' dad, and the locking mechanism was not working properly any more.  Now, I cut pieces off to use in my pouches!

There will be more details and a tutorial for this to come very soon.  I love these little bags!  They are great for carrying your phone, putting your jewelery in to travel, or even corralling spare change.  I haven't had any problems with things falling out, even though there is no zipper.  

The Beginning

Welcome to my little corner of the interwebs!  My name is Stacy, and I am...well, honestly, fairly nervous about putting myself out there like this.  I'm not sure that I'm really ready, but here goes a leap of faith.

I am a fifth grade school teacher, but since it is summer, I am currently having a love affair with my sewing machine and trying VERY hard not to think about August 13th, what with 29 students, no assistant, and an entirely new curriculum.  So far, I'm in pretty decent denial, and I'm try to get as many crafty projects in as humanly possible.  So--that is where this little blog comes in.  I can share my ideas and thoughts, and maybe some shameless self-plugs as I start trying to sell my items.  That's okay, right?!  

There will probably be some random school-related posts as well, especially as the school year starts.  Maybe some useful ideas for parents or fellow teachers will pop up.  And I can tell you now, they probably won't be cutsie-wonderful.  I have big kids.  Big kids don't do cutsie.  They are way too old and cool.  If you are the parent of a ten-year-old boy, I'm sure you know that.

Well, here it goes.  Pressing that orange Publish button.  At least I can say I've started.  Now to go back and figure out how to make this all pretty and nice...