Washi taped wooden skeletons

Hello! The stores have started having Halloween decorations in stock, which I think is totally exciting, but some of them are a bit creepy. And not the good kind of creepy! ~__^

I found this wooden skeleton which one is apparently meant to give to children to paint. Would you give that to a child? I mean, look at it ...

 

*shudder*

However, I like things made of wood, and I like skeletons, so I brought three. ^__^ If you have a skeleton, or any kind of wooden shape really, you can use this tutorial to make it a more stylish kind of creepy ~__^

 

 Firstly, give it a coating of white paint. This is just to cover up the outlines, so don't worry if it's not too neat. I used spray-paint, but you could use acrylic if you have that.

Then, grab an assortment of washi tape. The only limits to your colour combinations is how much washi tape you own! ~__^ Your aim here is to create a kind of collage look; rip off small pieces of washi tape and place them haphazardly. Overlap them, lay them in different directions, just make sure you cover all the wood. I also removed the original wire joining the skeleton together to make it easier to apply the washi tape.

Once all your pieces are washi-ed, use a scapel to carefully cut off the excess. This part is very similar to the Monogram Washi Tape Brooches I made a while ago ^__^ Then give everything a coat of mod-podge, replace the wire, and add some baker's twine so that you can hang it up! ^__^

Huzzah! I made three different colour combinations; a modern green and purple, an original Halloween look of orange and black, and a classic red and black ^__^

 

I think I used about 7 different washi tapes for the purple and green one, 14 different washi tapes for the orange and black, and 8 for the red and black. Golly gosh! I don't have an addiction, I swear! ~__^

Obviously you don't need to have as much washi tapes as I do, even using three or four tapes would probably be just fine! 

Nonetheless, they're a great addition to my Halloween decorating! ^__^ (Does anyone get the impression I like skulls? ~__^)

- Lisa xx

Geometric silk skirt from a vintage dress

Ok, so, you know how sometimes you find something in an op-shop and it's just awe-inspiring in its magnificance? Well, that's how I felt when I found this dress.

That pattern! Omg, swoon! However, the over-sized floppy sleeves, the dropped elasticated waist, and the weirdly high and straight neckline made for a dress that was, ummm, decidedly ugly.

 But, hey, it was only $8, so I brought this 100% silk vintage "beauty" home. And promptly shocked all the vintage-lovers in the world when I took a pair of shiny, sharp scissors to her. Honestly, I still feel a little guilty about that. But with a thick bit of elastic and my trusty sewing machine, I've now got an enthusiastically geometric skirt perfect for a night out!

 That helps assuage the guilt somewhat ~__^ All I did to make this was measure from the original hem to the length I wanted my new skirt to be which, in my case, was about 57cm. I overlocked the top to prevent fraying, cut my elastic to size, and sewed it into a circle. I pinned the skirt to the elastic and then just sewed the two pieces together, stretching the elastic as I went. I broke a needle doing that (*wince*) but other than that, it worked out just fine! ^__^ Since I used the original hem, I just left that alone. Yay for shortcuts! ^__^

By the way, posts like this really remind me why I'm not a fashion blogger. I made poor Rebecca take about 30 photos of me in varyingly silly poses to make this post. And in basically every second photo I was either blinking, moving too much, making a stupid face, or doing ol' crazy eyes. Sometimes all at once! ~__^ Tres awkward.

 

 But anyway, what do you think? I hope you like it! ^__^ I'll be back next week with some more Halloween inspired crafts. Yay! I just love this time of year, don't you? ^__^

- Lisa xx

Eat, drink, and be scary! Free poster printable

Hello! Today I was going to show you a skirt I made, but the sun was like, totally rude, and set before I had time to take photos. Inconsiderate, sun, very inconsiderate! ~__^ So I guess that'll be for next week, and now I'll show you the cute free poster I made for you! Huzzah!

Halloween is one of my favourite holidays, and I'm excited to start decorating, so I made this poster in three spooky colourways ^__^

I'm thinking some cute coordinating washi tape will make these prints adorable and easy wall art for this month. Yay! If you'd like a copy for yourself, just click on the pictures above to download the .pdfs ^__^

Are you totally excited about Halloween as well? ^__^

- Lisa x

Foxy KAL - Complete!

I finished my fox hat - huzzah! Today is the last day of Tanya and my Foxy KAL (yes, I am great with deadlines, thanks for asking! ~__^) and it's been a lot of fun!

I knitted up Tanya's foxy hat pattern twice actually; the first time it was baby sized and was a gift for my new niece, but the photos I took of it were pretty poor and I wanted one for myself, so I grabbed my needles and started another! ^__^

I have a tendency to tension tightly, so I used 6mm needles instead of the 5.5mm ones recommended by Tanya. I've since learnt that I apparently knit in the back loop, which explains why my stitches have more of a basket weave look as well as why everything turns out a tiny bit too small! The more you know, hey? For my next project I will have to try knitting through the front loop, and see what difference it makes ^__^

 

Since my stitches weren't as even as they should have been, the surface knitting for the facial features didn't work as well, which I discovered when I tried to do the nose. I persevered, but I ended up having to go over my stitches a few times to cover up the white yarn underneath and it doesn't look as neat. So I just embroidered the eyes on with two strands of wool, using back stitch (which you all know is my fave! ~__^)

I used stash wool for this project, so I'm not sure of the brands, but the white yarn is 100% wool, and the grey yarn is 100% acrylic. The grey was also slightly thinner than the white yarn which meant that the top of the hat is thinner than the base. This isn't really a problem though, because heads are also kinda shaped that way ~__^

 

I used two strands of each yarn, because they weren't as thick as the yarn Tanya recommended in her pattern, and I didn't want to go and buy more since I'm still trying to stash bust and also because I have *so much yarn*! Really I just justify buying any ever again ever. I do though. But it's not just! ~__^

 

I also added a crochet scallop border because my cast on was pretty dreadful looking, and also because I like to wear my hats on the crown of my hat, which means the brims often have to be a bit lower then others may prefer.

 

I used the same grey yarn that I used for the top of the hat, but I only used one strand and a 4mm hook. I did the scallops by doing five trebles into one of the cast on spaces; then I joined the next three cast on spaces with one stitch, like you would if you were reducing with the double crochet stitch. I'm not sure what that is actually called, probably something like 'double three together'. Let's say it's that, for now. If you know the correct terminology, let me know in the comments! Anyway, I just scalloped and 'double three together'-ed all around the brim and then tied off. I think it really adds a nice touch! ^__^ 

 We had a really great turnout for this KAL - we ended up with 82 group members, which I thought was incredible! ^__^ If you want to check out all the awesome FOs this group made, head over to Ravelry and take a sticky beak ^__^

 

Both the knit and crochet patterns will be available to everyone on Ravelry in the next couple of days, and soon Tanya and I will begin the process of choosing the grand prize winner and also the recipients of some cute little Foxy KAL button badges (which you can spot in the photos above) - it's going to be tough because all of the hats are so good! ^__^

Millions and millions of thanks to Tanya, who was an amazing co-coordinator and who wrote a fantastic pattern! If you don't have it now, you should definitely get it when Tanya releases it on her Ravelry account! ^__^

And also shout outs to everyone who participated! You rock! ^__^

- Lisa xx

Make (craft) love, not war: toy soldier jar toppers

Hello! Did you play with toy soldiers when you were little? I didn't, yet for some reason, I had two big packets of them in my craft room. I collect a lot of weird things because I think I'll do something with them, and in this case I actually did!

I *always* need more craft storage, and I kinda hate throwing away jars (even though I do recycle them ... it's just the latent hoarder in me, I think! ~__^) so I decided to make some jar toppers to pretty up my craft room a little ^__^

 

These were really easy to make too! Here's what you'll need:

- toy soldiers

- clean jars

- thin craft wire

- glue

- spray paint

- thin plastic or cardboard (I diverted some cartons from my recycling bin for this purpose) 

- wire snippers 

- craft scissors

 

Firstly you'll need to cut out some small hearts from the cardboard or plastic. I used four, because I wanted one soldier to have two hearts, just to add in some variety.

 

Then cut a short length of wire and give it a little bit of a twist. Check out the photos below for some close-ups of the wire (it's probably easier than me trying to describe it! ~__^)

Use your glue to attach the heart to one end of the wire, then attach the wire to the end of the soldier's gun.

 

   

Since you've already got your glue out, stick down the soldier onto the jar lid ^__^

 

Then all you need to do is wait for it to dry, and then give everything a coat of spray paint. I *was* going to use cherry red, but I ran out! Oh no! Since I'm still trying to stick to my commitment of not buying new craft supplies, I used white instead. I'm actually glad though, because I think it gives the jar toppers a kind of ceramic look ^__^

Then you can fill them up!

I used my jars to hold some skeins of embroidery thread, my fabric pens and measuring tape, and my sewing machine threads. You could also use this for bathroom or kitchen storage, or even as cute way to corral all that wayward stationery on your desk! (Oh, wait ... is that just me? ~__^)

 

Whatever you think you'd use these for, I hope you like this project! Now, to think of a way to use up the other 1756 soldiers still languishing in my craft room ... ~__^

- Lisa xx 

Sweet tooth plushie with free pattern

Hello ... do you have a sweet tooth? No? Would you like one? ^__^

This project has been on my list for quite a while, but last night I finally decided that I couldn't wait any longer and quickly whipped up this little fella with 100% stash items. Huzzah! ^__^

This wide eyed smile is calculated for maximum cuteness level, so I know you'll all want one of your own ~__^

 So I made a pattern for you! Yay! ^__^ Click on the image above to download the .pdf from my Google Drive (and, as always, let me know if you have any problems! ^__^)

To make your own sweet tooth plushie, you'll need;

- white fabric (I used some new jersey that for some unknown reason I had in my craft stash, you could also use cotton, fleece, felt, an old t-shirt ... anything really!). The pattern is sized to print on an A4 page, if you make it that size, you'll need about half a meter of fabric. 

- black and red fabric scraps. You only need a very small amount of fabric to make the face. I used felt because it doesn't fray ^__^ 

- toy stuffing

- white, black, and red threads

- sewing machine. This is probably optional, but I find sewing plushies much easier with a machine, because the seams are much less likely to come undone.

Then all you have to do is cut out two tooth shapes from your white fabric, sew them together (leaving a gap in the seam), turn it inside out, stuff, and then add the face! You could also add the face on first, if you're not forgetful like me ~__^

Yay! I hope you like this little sweetie ^__^ And if you make one for yourself, I'd love to see!

- Lisa xx

Mathmatical! Free Princess Bubblegum embroidery pattern

Hello! Do you go through phases where you listen to the same songs over and over and OVER again? I do, and I'm sure it's highly annoying for Scott ~__^ After I've become obsessed with a song, then I always tend to want to craft something inspired by it (further evidence of this can be seen here and here ^__^)

Anyway, lately I've been listening to SO MUCH Marina and The Diamonds. It's funny because I wasn't obsessed with her music when I first heard it on the radio, but a week or so ago I was on a YouTube exploration and listened to "Bubblegum Bitch" and then the obsession started.

So, rather than finish any of my WIPs or actually take proper photos of any of my finished projects, I decided to make up this embroidery pattern, featuring the highly magnificent Princess Bubblegum ^__^ 

Click on the picture above to go and get the .pdf. Yay! ^__^

Now .. should I go and finish WIPs or start a new project inspired by Marina's "Radioactive" song? ~__^

- Lisa xx