I have been trying to re-decorate a (very small) spare bedroom into my craft room. I have been having a lot of fun with it, but I needed some color up on the walls.

I made these out of some spare fabric I had, a couple of dollar store frames and some fabric paint. I found a couple of silhouettes of a basset hound and a manx cat (my beloved furry friends), traced it onto wax paper, cut the images out with an exacto knife, double-side taped it to the fabric and used a foam brush to apply the paint. Very easy. I think it took me less than an hour from the moment I printed the image from my printer to actually hanging the frames.

I had a very old, beat up and BORING white cabinet that has been in our garage for over a year now. I believe I originally bought it at Target for like $30 years ago. (Sorry, I should have taken 'before' photos.)  I needed some storage for my new craft room (yay!) and I came across this guy.

I added some chalkboard paint to the sides- which has come in very handy for taking measurements and quick notes. I do need a chalk holder though. I was thinking of taking one of the little tile holders from an old Scrabble game, painting it and gluing it to the top of the cabinet.

I used my favorite contact paper that I had sitting on my shelf to redo the doors. It has stuck surprisingly well.

All in all- it took me an afternoon to repaint the entire thing white (it was kind of a grungy off-white to begin with), paint the chalkboard paint on and slap on the contact paper. 4 hours max.



(Sorry, I couldn't figure out why it keeps posting the picture sideways)

Ok, I've had a tiny bit of experience with a really old, crappy sewing machine. I really enjoyed playing with it, but it was really cheap and couldn't go through more than 2 layers of fabric. But this Christmas, my husband bought me a new Singer Talent sewing machine. I am in love with it. I've been wanting one for years and this one seems perfect for me.

My mother-in-law got me a gift card for JoAnn's and I had a little bit of fabric from old projects, so that's all I have been doing this week is playing with fabric and trying to figure out patterns.

I have made a lot of rookie mistakes, but I think I have learned a lot from the few projects I've done this week.


This is my apron, my very first thing I made with my new sewing machine. I was particularly proud of the bias tape I made, the somewhat rounded edges under the arms and my tapered tie strings. This was really a practice piece, I was playing with all of my new feet. I've never done a ruffle before- much easier than I thought, I used a gathering foot (I believe?) and just went slow. I've never made bias tape before and I didn't even have the tool for it, it was a pain ironing it 5 times. (I went out and bought the little metal tool that folds it for you, I haven't used it yet. ) Also, first time for pleating. It's a bit rough and the measurements are a bit off, but honestly, when it's on me, you really can't tell. It adds the shape I was going for. I think I'm going to add a pocket to it for my crafting.


My tea wallet! I drink a lot of tea and always have loose baggies in my purse. I found this post: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=317583.0 and managed to whip my own out in a couple of hours. I was incredibly proud. I improvised with a snap enclosure because I bought a new tool with my gift card and I was dying to try it out. I think it turned out pretty well, it's functional, so that's good. (Can you tell how much I love that yellow and blue fabric combo?)


Another practice piece. I took a small paper lunch bag and used it as a pattern. I wanted to have a small bag to keep all of my thread bits and garbage as I was sewing. I love the fabric on it- the inside is sparkly (not that you can tell with my horrible phone camera quality). Again, not perfect, but it gets the job done.


Annnnnd here's the fabric I'm going to use for my first quilt. (DUN DUN DUNNNNNN) I've made a very small quilted pillow before but nothing this involved or large. I've been reading through the quilt forums like mad and looking at walkthrough's/tips all week. I'm super excited but afraid at the same time.  I'm sure I'll be posting questions later in the week.

Well- that's all so far, but more to come soon!

Some of the things I've learned this week:
*Iron. A lot. When in doubt, iron it again. It makes everything so much easier- it is easier to sew fabric that's been folded and ironed. That and my measurements are a lot more accurate.
*Take fabric scraps with you to the fabric store to match projects. Eye balling it and guessing when you get there doesn't work too well...
*Invest in a good rotary cutter and decent scissors, it makes a world of difference.