Plants are the New Black and how to make cute OUI Jar Plant Things

Has it really been 3 months? 

Apparently. 

I haven't been on here much. I have been writing a wee bit. 

I write for a nature /eco blog ( kind of like ghost writing) once in a while, but I certainly haven't been writing anything fabulous.

So, in-between relentlessly showing up to work to fight COVID, 

which, 

by the way,

I am so over, 

I sometimes piddle around with rescued plants and come up with ridiculous DIY things.

My thrifty self started eating OUI yogurt. I love the little glass jars and I also love the price when it goes on clearance at King Soopers for 79 cents. I haven't died of food poisoning yet, so I keep eating it.

Then I made these little hanging jars with Pothos in them.

there you have it 

Little hanging jars....

If I remember, I'll repost when they grow.

It will be like paint drying.

I have a list of other boring things I hope to accomplish.

Like...

figure out what this is growing in this pot.

Is it something I planted last summer or is it a magic gift from the plant goddess?

I'm sure it is probably a weed.

I'll keep everyone posted on that too.

Then I got this cool Crassula Ovata,

or as I call 

big assed leaf jade plant.

See how crafty? I put little twinkle lights in it.

cute huh?

I ran 2 miles, which I was really happy about because my foot actually didn't hurt...

My entire body did hurt though, because I am out of shape.

I taught Olive how to drive a stick shift, which nearly killed us both.  She tried to kill me with angry attitude and refusal to try anything new and I about killed me by trying to stay positive.

Took 3 weeks, but I think she has it.

Went on a hike

Button Rock Dam

It was lovely.

I cut off all my hair.

Is that a sign of something

I won't say 2022 is going to be my year, but I'm gonna give it my half ass attempt.

I think what I really need to do is make a vision board and get some therapy.

I giving myself 5 more days of January to get my shit together,

then I'm putting on my damn party dress and moving along.

write ya later

xo, m

365 days : no gloves

2/6/19

no gloves,

safety socks from work.

Don't ever sell me short

picture ya later,

xo 

m

DIY Garden Glass Globe Mushrooms

It is still not full blown Spring here in Colorado, but in between blizzrds we get some nice 78 degree weather.  Still too cold to start gardening, but we do start tidying up the beds.

It keeps all of us gardner types happy for a while.

While taking a break from pulling dandelions I decided to make a few things.

I like the way mushrooms look and I really wanted some yard art for my , well for my yard.

I was flipping through Pinterest and saw some glass mushrooms.

Easy enough.

I see light fixture leftovers at every thrift store so we went on an excursion to find them.

$4.25 later I had the makings for 2 LED garden mushrooms

~~~SQUEEEEE~~~~

you , too, can have these.

Junk you need:

(for 2 mushrooms)

4 vase like sconces or whatever you think will work and look cute for mushroom stem

2 Large light fixture bowls

(see picture)

2 LED light candles *or you can use real candles just be careful

lock tite glue or gorilla glue

 Here are the old lamp parts

I put a piece of tape here to hold the little LED "flickering candle"

But if you are using candles, do it like a pumpkin, or you could use those LED little string lights.

See ,stack it up .

I actually did not glue anything but if I was going to glue I would only glue the "stem" and leave the cap removable

There they are.

They are going to look great when all the little flowers are popping up around them

Enjoy,

m

Easy Patio Chair Cushion Recover. DIY

So, as I cleaned up the deck, the one day the weather was nice, I noticed the chair cushions were nasty...nasty ....nasty...

The female that I am headed to the Home Depot to get new ones.

They were anywhere from $18.00- 32.00 each!!!!

Holy Heck.

So just like I did when I covered the swing chair cover, I decided to cover these old things, again.  This is the 3rd time I have recovered.

I wanted to do an easy tutorial because , even though I sew and read and follow a ton of tutorials, sometimes even the most "simple" ones are not so simple.

I guarantee if you can cut a shape (no pattern needed), sew a line with a sewing machine...you can do this one

junk you need:

2 yard+ fabric.  

I needed 2 yards of large bolt upholstery fabric

 and this was actually weather resistant.

I purchased it from Hancock Fabrics, on sale, in the crap section, for 9$ a yard.

Thread

Sewing machine

Scissors 

pins? 

OOOH yucky 

 Step 1: lay out your fabric (doubled) and figure out how those cushions will fit so that the shape can be cut.  

 Step 2: Cut out leaving about 3/4" or so all the way around.  no need to be perfect.  just cut out the shape, like kindergarten.  Remember, the fabric is doubled so when you cut you are cutting out 2 at one time.

Step 3: Probably cut out all at once, but I cut out one pillow at a time, because I like instant satisfaction and I want to see what it will look like.  

Once cut, put RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER.  You can pin at this point almost all the way around , but leave one side open so that you can get that ugly cushion inside it.  

Step 4: I start my sewing, with right sides together, about 3 inches up and head south, turn and go all the way around then stop about 3 inches into the las side.  that way it leaves the opening for the cushion cramming.

Remember! right sides together... and I sew about a 3/4 seam, but we aren't picky.  Just sew! we don't want difficult.

Step 5: put the ugly cushion in the new cover.  

Oh my, that is a lot of pattern going on there.  Sorry, its the ironing board cover clashing with the cushion cover.   

 Step 6: OK...the hardest part.  Now that the cushion is safe inside take the opening and iron the area where you are going to sew it closed into about a 3/4 fold.  it will match with what is all ready sewn. 

This just makes it easier to sew it closed in a few.  If you are super crafty feel free to put a zipper in, but if you know how to put a zipper win, you won't be reading this simple tutorial. 

Open....

 Step 7: This is where I pin the opening closed.  see?

Closed

 Step 8: Now take it back to your sewing machind and sew it on the outside at about a 1/4 inch topstitch.  I just line the outside of my presser foot with the fabric and sew that hole closed.

Don't worry if its a little wonky, your rear end is going to be sitting on this. If one of your friends looks that closely, they need to be scolded.

Step 9:  Pat self on back and go buy a 20$ bottle of wine because you will still be ahead on cash flow after the wine!

good job!

I'll take final pictures when the snow melts from my patio chairs.

Write you later,

m

feel free to share.

craft room and yarn hole! Lets do this thing

Shit shit and more shit.   

So today I start to fix and throw away and try to make something out of this place we call home.

It gets to a point where you have lived some where so long you don't really care any more, then one day you look around and say 

Jeesus, this place is a mess and we have such great space and I bet if someone else lived here they would make it nice

so I am going to make my space nice.

Of course as soon as I started the man came down and said you can't just paint...you cant just put stuff in here.

well why the hell not!?

Just go back out to your garage.

the front loader broke...I had to spend 600$ on a new washing machine on Mother's Day which really really pissed me off.  so that wont be here until 5/25.  that gives me time to paint.

I'll keep ya posted and in the mean time if you have any ideas via pinterest etc...send them my way

The Big Pleated Bag...handmande cuteness

howdy do...I decided to finish a task, you know, to make myself feel better about life and my ability to complete a few things.

It came out cute.  

Inside lining with pockets.

I'm my own worst critic...

so to me, it's not perfect, but if I saw someone else carrying it I would think, 

"wow, that is a cute bag....I bet I could make that".

You too can make it....

Warehouse Fabrics Big Pleated Bag.

Dont say I never do anything for you.

Yeah for me, I finfished something.

Knitting Aidez slowly

Yesterday we took atrip with the LYS to Mitchell, NE to do a tour of the Brown Sheep Wool Factory.  Very interesting to see how wool yarn is spun at large quantities.
We took a tour bus, which is a story in itself.  I swear to God the driver lady was drunk.  She got lost twice…yes, not once, but twice! She played Elvis on the player and drove like a bat outta hell and there was no suspension on that bus.  At one point my friend sitting next to me, looked at me and with a slight smile said, "We are going to die, aren't we?  This is going to be it, our families are going to see us on FOX news…Bus full of knitters flipped in the ditch in Wyoming "  
We laughed for a minute then both fell quiet and continued to frantically knit while trying to ignore when the drive drove onto the 'braille' sides of the road.

My project for the bus had been Aidez.  My god, I have been working on the thing for a year and still have one sleeve left to do.  It's a great cardigan pattern, one of the popular ones on Ravelry.  When I started I had thought I would try to do it in the round, but then decided to just follow the pattern, because…I never follow the pattern.  It is 3 panels and raglan sleeves.  The pattern itself has been done in many modifications and all are awesome.  It is easy although it looks daunting and although I just said that I will be happy to be done with it and move onto another.

I used KnitPicks wool of the andes bulky in a cool orange/rust color.
Here is the first parts getting blocked.  Like I said I still have one sleeve to complete, but I just wanted to see it…and see it stretched.

I did do the sleeves partially in the round then went back to flat to save time with stitching it all together.  Some of the pro knitters scoffed at that, but I like to think outside the box

I will keep you posted on the completion of this beast!

Write ya later 

m

Circular Needle Holder …clothespins

Yesterday I started cleaning the craft/laundry room.   

I had all my circular needles (which I dont use very often because I have since acquired some knitpicks interchangeables) in a needle wrap...pretty unsuccessfully.   They were a mess.  

So….I came up with an easy fix

Off to Home Depot.

1 piece of steel/metal   1.58   1 inch wide and 1 foot long

clothespins                   1.29

magnets                       4.00

glue gun

You may have some of this stuff just hanging out.  I had magnets but I wanted stronger ones than my bottle cap magnets.

The metal strip I got has holes in it so that I can nail it to the wall….or because its magnetic, I can put it to metal.  Imagine that.

Painting the clothes pins would be quite fancy also.

 You can easily romove the needles.

 I'm sure you crafty people can make them look more hip

But I like the industrial look.

Enjoy!

Test Knitting Pattern for Johnny Vasquez

I just completed a test knit for Johhny Vasquez from A New Stitch A Day

and Ravelry.

It's called the Sidewinder+Slouchie Beanie

Should be published soon.

It was a fun pattern and easy enough for beginners, especially now that we have Youtube.

 Olive seems to look good in it.  We added some Decor, which were actually barrettes.

 Cute Huh?

I Lurves It.

I really should be writing more, but I cant seem to get my head straight enough to write.  I'll tell you what, I have enough to write a short story, just about the Family Reunion.

heehee

xo,

Off to Tricks and Treat

m

Halloween…The Feather Mohawk

I'm the kind of, " are they having beer or wine at that school function?" kind of mom.  I believe more people would show up and the school could make a huge profit.  You, know …charge 6$ for a tiny beer…I know I would pay when I had to sit through some of those recitals….
Back to the point.  I'm not always really involved with the kids stuff.  I volunteer.  I make the cupcakes, I do the low end….but Halloween…I like Halloween.  I like making the costumes.

I made this Dead Mau5 for Ilin
Powerpuff for Olive
I've even been known to knit a Princess Lea Wig 

This year I said I'm tired.  Ilin is too old and I always seem to have to work.  But as the days got closer I felt empty inside.  SO!!!!  i decided to try a lil sumpthin' , sumpthin'.  When we were in San Fran we stopped at this Steam Punk ( Distractions) store, and I saw these amazing Feather Mowhawks.  Upwards of $500.  I was mesmerized.  
I had tried earlier that day to get Olive to agree to be a Lucha Libre, because we were seeing those masks all over the Mission …for CHEAP.  she said NO way.  spoil sport.

All right…

I couldn't just do nothing.  we talked about a mime…or a princess…then I said, lets try a Feather Mowhawk

I did some googling

and headed out to find feathers.  

I couldn't find any great feathers, because once again I waited too long and didn't have time to order.  Hobby Lobby, junk stores, and any craft store had to work…oh yeah …plus 2 Feather dusters from Target.

I used this Link at Instructables to get started…He does a great easy job and his instructions are easy enough to follow.  He has a cool site too   HAR.MS
I added some of my own

Sew the hat part…

used Unicorn Buckrum  (love saying that)

added the support like the guy did

then Started messing with the feathers

FUN

What a mess

I know it doesn't look like much…

But, I think it will

I have to get back to work.  I have one more day to finish this becasue I have to RN for the next 2 days and her school festival is Saturday.

It's a bit too early to start drinking, although if I had some Bailey's or something I would add it to my coffee.

Bobby is not feeling well, which I believe is a way to get out of Halloween.

grrr

I'll keep you posted. 

xo

m

Finished projects woop woop

Today I finally completed 2 projects which have been sitting around.

First one was a light hat for Ilin's bald head.  It's my own pattern so nothing to link it to…just happy it's done.

 The kid loves purple and grey…so it is perfect.

Second project is the Alice and Wonderland Wristlets from VO Knits.  Check out those awesome buttons….so cute.  I can't wait to wear them this winter with my long sleeve black t shirts.

So nice to finish a few things…feels so good.  

Now I have one more fingerless mitt to finish and I'll have another project done!

happy knitting

xo

m

DIY Interchangeable Knitting Needle Case

Labor day brought a day of nothing for me.  Isn't that how it should be?  Friday I received my new Knit Picks Zephyr interchangeable needles.  My knitting partner in crime had ordered herself the Addy's and they came in this adorable wallet.  it was perfect purse size, tidy, and classy.  When I got my needles they came in this god awful tacky plastic Walmart looking thing.  I was sad.  I didn't want to spend any more cash out of my budget so I decided to sew one up.  I used Miss Vonkysmeed's blog and a combo of others and set to work.
I had all the fabric in my cabinet but if you don't I would head to the fabric shob and use some scrap upholstery or cotton.  I used two different coordinating fabrics.  I'm wild like that.
Plug your iron in and get your ruler and pins and stitch remover (just in case)….and a lemonade or cocktail. ( I prefer the latter)
This is what you need:

Two 11 3/4" x 17" pieces of fabric for outside of case and for lining 

11 3/4" x 10 1/2" piece of fabric for cable pocket

11 3/4" x 9 1/2" piece of fabric for needles pocket

11 3/4" x 8" piece of fabric for pocket on bottom flap

2" x 4" piece of fabric for button loop

6" x 8" piece of fabric for zippered pocket lining

11 3/4" 17" piece of interfacing*

11 3/4" x 17" piece of batting*

7", or longer , zipper

button

I chose not to use interfacing or batting, the batting made it too bulky, so I used a piece of thicker cotton canvas (denim or old jeans) I had around to give it some form.

1. Cut out all your pieces.  Extremely easy if you have a cutting wheel.   Don't worrry about being perfect.  Just cut and be happy.
2. Fold the pocket pieces together lengthwise.  WITH RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER.  Press and stitch a nice 3/4" hem ( or whatever size you like to hem…3/4" is standard so I will say that is what it is when I say hem.)   You should have 2 rectangular tubes. 11 3/4" x 5 1/4" & 11 3/4" x 4 3/4"  Now turn right sides out, trim seams, and press again.  Set to the side.

3.  Layer the large pieces together . Fabric lining then batting.  )Save the last piece of large fabric for the very end. Have your 2 layers nice and neat in front of you.

Now you want to take the smaller rectangle tube.  11 3/4"x4 3/4" and put it on your layers and pin it about 5 3/4" down from the top.  Mark the center with a little dot for reference.  

Stitch the bottom of the pocket across close to the edge.

This is going to be your needle pocket.  

After it is stitched down this is where you get to decide what you want to do.  

I chose to make incremently larger needle holders from left to right on my case.  Instead of measuring, dividing, doing long divison...I put my tiniest needles in,  marked top and bottom and sewed a line.***NOTE: sew from bottom hem where the pocket is stitched on so that you don't get bumpy.

You can look at Mrs. Vonkysmeed's if you want to do math.  I had too many cocktails by this point.

click pic to see bigger detail

So, take your time and sew your nice neat lines.  I think mine ended up having 12 needle compartments for "pairs of needles".
4.  Get the larger pocket and pin it neatly 1 1/2" DOWN and on top of pocket #1.  (oooh it's starting to look like something!)  This is your cable pocket.

Pin in place and stitch neatly, close to the bottom edge.  After it is stitched on the bottom I made one center stitch, which actually matched up with my needle pockets, so that I would have 2 cable pockets.
That's good for me.  Like I said, if you want to do math divide by 3 or something and remember !!!!STITCH FROM BOTTOM SEAM TO OPENING (TOP) so you don't get bumps.  If you do it wrong you will know, then just pull it out with the ripper. and do it over right.

Now have a drink, because I don't want you to be afraid of the stupid zipper.  You have Youtube and a few links.  it's easier than it looks.
5.  inner pocket tutorial  @ craftpassion and U-handbag tutorial  and please look at Vonkysmeed's…I used a combo of all three.  I like the way Vonkysmeed folds the pocket in half .
 YOU READY?  here we go
Go look at the tutorials, unless you know how to do it all ready.  We are going to draw the zipper box 2" from the top of the fabric and make it 6-6 1/2" long.  (Zipperbox is the drawing you are going to cut out.) ***I did not use interfacing, so when you look at the tutorials, just ignore the extra piece of fabric

click for larger view

When you draw the box only make the rectangle about 1 cm high.  I made mine too tall, which threw my zipper sewing off.  The closer the rectangle is to the zipper teeth the easier.

 U-handbag shows a great step by step on turning the pocket to the inside

once it is looking similar to this, press like no ones business!

put your zipper underneath as in tutorial, sew it in close to the edge…use a zipper foot…you must have one somewhere…and if you have NEVER ever sewn a zipper, refer to Youtube.  ( I swear by those videos)

Fold the bottom of the fabric up over the installed zipper and sew it all the way around (just on that  fabric) to make the pocket.   OOOOHHHH  very nice

except for my little pucker.

Look at this point you should be patting yourself on the back and doing the happy dance!

6.  Now easy stuff: the loop for the closure.  Get your 2"x4" fold in half length wise. Press. Unfold then press the raw edges in making a nice 4" thin, hemmed, piece of fabric.  Press again then sew close to the edge on the open seam to close it.  Got it?  now, pin it to the top, center, above where your new zipper is…on the edge.

8.  you should have another "pocket rectangle" there on your sewing table.  Fold it in half, WRONG sides together.  pin it with the raw edges lined up with the bottom of the project (opposite end of the zipper….) It's the last pocket , so it goes below the other pockets.  The folded side should be aiming north and the "raw edges" south.  layer the last big piece over the entire thing, right sides together, and pin together.  Capturing all the layers and loop enclosure.

7. Sew all the way around the edge BUT leave about 3 inches open on one side or bottom so that you can turn it right side out.  Turn right side out, press….stitch the last little section closed, either by hand or I just sew it together with the sewing machine, making sure I fold the seams inside and press.

When that is done press, admire your work…take a sip of cocktail, then I sewed all the way around the outside, close to the edge with a nice topstitch…. then add a button.  I had a button that I covered with matching fabric…but use whatever you like.

TA-DA!!!!!!

I'm so proud of you…..I hope it worked for you.

Thank you to all the other blogs which I found direction with…

Show me a pic…

send me a nice email….

But if it didn't work out….I'm gonna blame it on the fact you had too much cocktail.

xo,

m