Project Upcycle - Week 4 Bottoms Up

In case you missed my Project Upcycle entry last week, you can check it out below.  I am in the finals, so make sure you head over to The T-Shirt Diaries and vote for me!!!  Plus I'm competing in the Crafterbowl over at Pinkapotamus, so go vote for me there too!

 *     *     *     *     *

If my windows are open in the summer, I can hear the splashing in the neighborhood pool, we are that close to it.  So when I found this cloth table cloth at the thrift store for only $3, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it:  make a pool bag!  But, the "Bottoms Up" Challenge made me look at it a bit differently.  I realized it has all the colors of my mix-and-match bathing suits in it and it would make a great, quick drying skirt as a pool cover up.

Since it was already a circle, I folded it in quarters.  I measured my waist and divided it by 4.

And using my bendable ruler, I cut the top off, using that 1/4 of my waist measurement as a guide.

Since this was an outdoor table cloth meant to fit around an umbrella, there already was a zipper up the side.  I left the zipper in place and added a band of coordinating fabric to finish off the waist.  And a little fabric rose to cover a small error, because let's face it, when you are upcycling, you've got to go with the flow and mistakes happen!

I think it looks great with my aqua suit and my yellow one (excuse the sideways picture, it keeps loading this way, not sure why...).

How many weeks until the pool opens?1?!?!?

Peace be with you,

Crafterbowl at the Pinkapotamus

I'm so excited to be participating in the Crafterbowl over at the Pinkapotamus this week.  This means I'm tasking you to vote for me in TWO contests this week!

First, go vote for my shower curtain turned Easter dresses over at The T-Shirt Diaries, you can vote once every 24 hours through Friday... it's a very close race!!!!

Next, check out my Crafterbowl entry... our secret ingredient was FRAMES!  I took this as the perfect opportunity to do something I've wanted to do for a while... Make a memory wall for my girls' room.

I started with tons of thrift store frames, all with texture, some were insanely ugly, but had great texture and since each was $1 or less, it was worth it.  

Spray paint, spray paint, spray paint... and then a bit more if need be...

I used several colors of paint I had on hand that accented the girls' room.  Once they were painted and dried, I used left over cork place mats to fill the frames, since the cork was thin, I doubled it up.

Trace the size of the frame before cutting the cork.  

I love the way the textures really showed through as a solid color.  Hanging them up was the most expensive part of the project... I used command strips, but they are totally worth it (no paid endorsement there, I just think they are awesome).

My girls are getting older and have been wanting their room to grow up a bit (but they still aren't ready for me to paint out all my hard work, good thing since I'm not ready either).  This enables them to hang up their art work, pictures of friends or other memories and change them whenever they want!

Now, GO VOTE!!!

Peace be with you,

Linky Follwers Blog Hop

I'm sure most people have heard the news... Google Friend Connect is going away on February 29th for all non blogspot bloggers.  So, I'm jumping on the Linky Followers Craze and participating in this blog hop, I'd love for you to join me.

Here are the RULES:

 

1. you MUST have the LINKY FOLLOWERS tool on your site to participate.

If you see that your link has been deleted you need to add the LINKY FOLLOWER tool to your site and then come back over and re-enter your link
{You can have both the LINKY FOLLOWERS & GFC on your site but you must have the LINKY FOLLOWERS toolto participate in this party hop.}

2. You MUST follow the person who has the party on their site as a thank you.

3. Just add your blog button to the LINKY PARTY below.

4.Then grab the BLOG HOP code

5. Then you follow other bloggers–(as many as you want)

You will find the code right under the Linky Party where it says CLICK HERE TO ENTER–just under that it says: WHAT IS A BLOG HOP? GET THE CODE HERE. Click on GET THE CODE HERE and enter it into a post on your site. You can grab info from my post if it helps you with your post.

–leave each one of the blogs that you follow a comment letting them know you are following them and ask them to follow you back.

If you want to add the BLOG HOP to your own site you will get lots of new followers–(see rule #2)

Thanks to Tattered and Inked and It's So Very Cheri for hosting this little shin-dig.

Peace be with you,

 

Random Question

I'm going to start by saying I love my kiddos and would do anything for them.

But, I'm going a bit crazy right now.  One of my kids has been dealing with Anxiety most of their life.  Things were better and I thought we had the "issues" under control (Dr appts, therapy, working with the school, etc was all in order).

But lately, I fear the phone ringing during the school day... 3 days last week I had to go to the school to pick up my child because the anxiety is now causing other problems (racing heart, head aches, blurred vision, that kind of stuff).  Cardiologist has been visited, blood has been drawn, medication side affect has been ruled out). 

Anyone out there have a child (or self) with anxiety?  Have any suggestions or advice for me?

At least today when the school called, another child had a fever, I was actually relieved. 

Peace be with you,

Project Recycle - Week 3 T-Shirts!

So, if you've been following along, I've been a contestant in Project Recycle over at The T-shirt Diaries.  I am loving it, so much fun!  There are only 2 weeks left and I've made it this far!  Be sure to pop over and vote for your favorite, you can vote once every 24 hours through Friday night.

I promise I've been working on other things, I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write the posts.  I did use my insomnia to list some things I no longer need on ebay this morning.  Maybe if tomorrow is a sleepless night again, I'll write tons of blog posts... of course, I should really use my time to clean and organize... but that's a whole 'nother discussion...

In case you missed it, below is last week's entry, also My entry to  the appliances online  crafty creations competition. You can enter too at Lil’luna!

Knits used to scare me but now I truly love working with them, especially old t-shirts, so I've been looking forward to this week's challenge!  Even before Pinterest, we all searched the internet, magazines, stores and more for inspiration.  One of my favorite bloggers is Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy.  When I came across an enormous striped sleep shirt, I knew what I wanted to make:

Source: Uploaded by user via Mrs.G on Pinterest

Of course, wouldn't the whole outfit be wonderful in t-shirt fabric?  Good thing I hoard t-shirt!  Here's what I started with:

A pile of yellow scraps, a white maternity shirt, a long sleeved pink tee with pretty stitching that didn't lay flat and a huge striped sleep shirt that said "Property of Alcatraz"  um, yeah!  A few snips hear, a few stitches there, a bit of hot glue and a ribbon later and I'm pretty pleased with the results;

 

Now, if I could only make my kitchen look as good as Lindsey's!!!!!

My entry to  the appliances online  crafty creations competition. You can enter too at Lil’luna!

Peace be with you,

Clipix for an Organized Internet

One thing I have been trying to do over the past few years is reduce paper clutter.  I actually don't get any magazines in paper form and always opt for paperless whenever possible.  For ages, I've been cutting and pasting things off the internet into word documents, things I might want to go back and check out later.    Enter Clipix, an online clipboard where I can save all that stuff, and save the time it used to take me to cut and paste it!!!!   I've been playing around a bit on Clipix tonight, waiting for my daughter and all her sleep over friends to fall asleep.  I've still got two more kids' birthday parties coming up, so I'm in a cake and cupcake kinda mood so I've been drooling over some of these yummy finds:

One thing I love about Clipix is the ability to share a clip board or keep it private.  So, if ideas are formulating in my head and I'm not ready for others to see what I'm thinking of, I can keep the clip board private for as long as I like!  The possibilities are unlimited.

Plus, there is an iPhone app, which means endless clipping of things from my iPod when I can't sleep.  This video shows even more:

Check out clipix for yourself, leave me a comment with how you would use Clipix to organize the way you use the internet.

Promoted Post

Project Upcycle: Week 2/Shirt Upcycle

I'm so excited, I won last week!!!  Below is my entry, I'm writing up tutorials on some of the projects for later this week.  In the mean time, don't forget to vote for your favorite project this week, you can vote once every 24 hours through Friday night!

2+3+5=1 otherwise known as a lesson in math!

My math was off on the project I originally planned for this challenge.  I figured while my son was at school, I'd figure out if I was going to salvage it or start over.  As we pulled up to his school, a little voice said, "Mommy, are you going to make something for me today?"  Since he doesn't usually ask for much, I knew I had my answer!

So, $2 for a giant thrifted button down shirt + 3 hours of work + 5 project from that shirt = 1 happy little boy!  But I learned more than just how this added up.

First up, I made a "handsman" (aka handsome) apron with the front half of the shirt and repositioned the pocket.  Since he has a tendency to wipe his hands on the sides of his pants, I made the apron so it wraps around him, covering the sides of his pants.   Lesson learned:  I mentally size everything for my daughters, I need to keep his measurements handy.

Then I thought I'd solve a problem we've been having with boots... he doesn't want to wear socks but his feet stink. Before leaving for school he'd ripped off his boots and socks and changed to Crocs.  Boot liners!  Since this shirt was rather soft, I figured if the boots had a washable liner, that would solve the stinky foot problem.  Again, he was thrilled but still wouldn't wear them.  Lesson learned: make sure the boots actually fit him before making custom liners... good thing I have the next size up boots and enough fabric left for another set.

Hey, look, one of the sleeve cuffs fits perfectly on my coffee cup!  Ok, no real lesson there, but now I can button it to my wrist until I slip it on the coffee cup and not use one of those cardboard ones, green in more ways than one!!!

My little guy earns pennies for doing different jobs.  He also gets a dollar to put in the offering plate at church.  He's asked for a purse like his sister's to carry it in...  A quick seam up each side of the other cuff and he has his own "wallet".

 

This project was a bit of a two-fer.  When buttoned on the lower button, his pennies don't fall out.  When buttoned on the top button, it can slip on a belt to hold a few bucks and a chapstick!  Lesson learned:  Bribes work, he asked what he could pick up to earn pennies to put in his wallet!

Finally, I had the whole back side of the shirt.  Daily we battle over needing "soft pants."  He is super skinny so fit is always a problem.  Time to try my hand at pants.  I had hoped to get a better picture, maybe of the pants hanging up... alas, he is sleeping in them and has informed me he will wear them to school tomorrow.  Lesson learned: the mummy shirt goes with everything even in February!  He thinks they are a perfect match!

The biggest lesson is something I learned a while ago: Upcycling is a great opportunity to not only be environmentally friendly, but a great way to practice and learn.  If I spend a few bucks on an item at the thrift store, I'm not concerned with failure, I can always pick up another one and try again!  Plus, it's a great opportunity to try things new for little money...  I practiced using my new rolled hem and blind hem presser feet and wasn't worried about wasting brand new fabric!  All that for only $2.

Peace be with you,

I Registered to be a Bone Marrow Donor... What did you do? Plus Give-a-way

Yesterday, I did something I've wanted to do for a while, I registered to be a bone marrow donor.  I know, not many people sit around and think about being a donor, but I have for a few months now.  Why?  Well, I'm healthy and if my bone marrow can help save someone's life, I'll gladly give it.  My real reason?

Is he not darling?  My sweet nephew, Tate.  He doesn't need a transplant now, but he may someday and I hope that if and when he does, we'll already know who's a match to him.  Honestly, I have no idea what it would take to be a donor, I just know that I would do it.  Find out more about Tate at LongRace4Tate

So why did I register yesterday?  Opportunity.  Locally, there has been a drive to join the registry because of a local woman who's in need of a donor.  I have heard that because of her over 400 people have registered and while I have not heard if a match was found for her yet, the more people that are registered as donors, the more chances of a match being made for anyone in need.

Normally, there is a fee to register because the kit and processing cost money, and while donations are always accepted and needed, I have a code that covers the cost of the fee (I'm not positive, but I think I heard American Express is covering the cost with this code, if so, yeah AmEx!).

It is completely painless to register, only takes a few mouth swabs (obviously there is more involvement if you are a match to someone).  If you find it in your heart to register, hop over to BeTheMatch.org and sign up, it only takes about 5 minutes.  The code is DM2012 good between now and February 29th, 2012.

Plus, if you register and leave me a comment saying you did, I'll have a drawing and give away $20 in credit to my etsy shop and an Avon bundle!!!!!!! 

In order to win you must do the following (US residents only please):
Register at BeTheMatch.org, leave me a comment saying you did with your email address AND be a follower of Domestic Deadline.

Want more chances to win?
1.  Blog about this and send your readers my way for the chance to win (1 entry, leave comment)
2.  Check out LongRace4Tate and either blog about it or sponsor one of the runners (1 entry, leave comment)
3.  Do all of the above and get another chance to win (leave comment).


Because the promo is long running, I will pick the winner on March 1st, 2012.  Will you BeTheMatch?

Peace be with you,

Project Recycle Week 1

First, click here if you want to win a prize pack valued over $50!!!

Did you guess which project was mine?  I'm so glad to be continuing on.  I had a lot of fun with last week's project, and this weeks!  Be sure to hop on over to vote, you can vote once every 24 hours through Friday!

I must admit, I'm a bit selfish when it comes to clothes.  I want stylish but unique... oh, and earth friendly!  Lately I've been looking online and at magazines for cute outfit inspirations.  I start by looking for outfits that have some aspects similar to pieces I already have in my closet.  From there, I refashion things I have, stuff from my stash or thrift store finds.  Recently, I've been into yellow but it just wasn't in my closet and the few yellow t-shirts in my stash weren't inspiring me.  When I stumbled upon a great pillow case, my first thought was a dress for one of my girls, but I just loved the pattern and decided to be selfish and use it for myself!

Here's what I started with:

Instead of the typical pillow case dress, using the opening as the bottom hem, I used it to create a casing at the neckline.

I cut a large circle out of one of those t-shirts.  The largest circle I had was this basket, but it worked.  Once I had the circle, I cut it into a spiral.  This became one option for the ties, a black polka-dot ribbon was a second choice.  Since the t-shirt fabric is streachy and spiral cut, it makes a great ruffled tie.

To make the shirt more form fitting and less pillow case-ish, I added several rows of shirring (elastic thread) in the back.

My friend modeled it for me and is now on a mission to find cute pillow cases for herself.

We had fun styling my new top a few different ways, including the traditional way, as a dress on her daughter

It's a simple upcycle, but sometimes it's something simple that can make a big impact!

What I Wore Wednesday

The weather can't decide if it's going to be winter or spring around here.  I'd be happy if we could just pick one and stay with it for a few weeks!  I'm good with days that I can wear a sweater and no coat, 6 weeks of that would be perfect!

Time for the outfits.  What I learned from looking at these pictures:  I need some serious hair help!

Last Wednesday (I'm still in my jammies today!):

I love the boot and leg warmer look, plus it is so comfy.  IronFish brought the scarf back from his trip to India a few months ago.  The leg warmers are old sweater sleeves seen here.

Thursday: no picture, I was wearing paint clothes!

Friday, the green belt does go, some of the stripes in the sweater are green, it just doesn't show up in the picture!

*     *     *     *     *

Intermission:  in the middle of writing this, my computer crashed and it was time to take O-man to school... remember, I'm still in my jammies?  I don't have to get out of the car at pre-school, so I went as-is...but didn't think about it when I stopped for coffee... um, my mental conversation on my way back home was me defending myself to the "What Not to Wear" hosts... then I realized I wouldn't mind a FREE $5000 wardrobe and make-over... I might wear my jammies out of the house more often.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program...

*     *     *     *     *

Saturday, no picture, can't even remember what I wore...

Sunday we went to church.  I wasn't sure about the lace shirt under the sweater dress but I got compliments on it, so it must have worked.  Plus, I finally got gray boots!!!

Monday, notice the hair getting progressively worse in my pictures?  I couldn't even make it look decent in a pony-tail!  I'd forgotten about my ruffled shirt and I love it with this t-shirt cardi, super comfy and not half bad for a day at home... cleaning!

Tuesday, play-date and activities with the girls in the afternoon.  I wasn't in a very creative mood when getting dressed so a bright top under this sweater refashion.

I did get dressed today, but I have to finish up my project for next week's challenge on Project Recycle, so you'll have to wait until next week to see what I'm wearing today...  In the mean time, go over and vote for your favorite, you can vote once every 24 hours!!!!!

And feel free to leave me comments with suggestions for what to do with my hair?!?!?!?  The color is 100% natural and I think I'll keep it that way, other than that, I'm game for almost anything!

Peace be with you,