Cheese and whiskers!

Today I'm going to tell you about my hair. My hair is very fine, very voluminous, and very very prone to knots and split ends. I've since learnt that the best way to deal with my hair is to never ever brush it and to condition and finger-comb it regularly but when I was a child my hair could best be described as horrid, knotty, and bushy. I hated brushing it, because all the knots made it hurt so much, which of course only made the knots worse! Once, when I was about seven, my mother found a dreadlock at the base of my skull because I had been only brushing the top layer of my hair! I was regularly informed that my hair looked like a rat's nest, and today it *really* does! ~___^

 Rats galore! ^___^ I made these rat hair accessories using only four things: hair combs, plastic rats, glue, and pliers. I brought the rats the day after Halloween, the day when all the spooky plastic animals are 80% off (score! ~___^) I also brought some spiders, so expect some more slightly creepy jewellery and hair accessories in the near future!

Anyway, back to the rats. These hair pieces were very easy to make; I used the pliers to clip down the hair combs into smaller pieces, and then glued the plastic rats on top. I made the hair combs smaller so that they would fit completely under the rats, but this does reduce the functionality of the hair combs. They'll still stay in, but they aren't much use for actually styling your hair. It's up to you if you want to keep them full sized or not, but I will add that cutting the hair combs smaller is a great way to use up old hair combs that have lost a tooth or two ^___^

 I think these will be great for Halloween next year, but honestly I'll probably wear them out and about during the year as well; they're actually kind of cute! ^___^

What do you think? Rat hair clips: yay or nay? ^___^

- Lisa xx

Pom-pom tree, shrinky-dink broochs, and a felt cactus brooch

Hello! How are you? I've been a bit rubish the last couple of days because I read a magazine article which advised that one should have a blog which is, above all things, original. Which, of course, sent me off into a ridiculous tail-spin of existentialism because I am a very silly human being. Sometimes I think that being into craft is kind of dreadful because one simultaneously wants to make all of the wonderful things other people are making but also wants to contribute in a way that isn't just "I made the same as this person!". But, then again, if I go more than two days without making something, the existential thing happens again and it really is just a vicious cycle! So I'm sharing with you some of the things I've done lately, even though I feel that they are highly unoriginal, and hopefully next week I'll think of something slightly less so to post.

Scott and I have decided to forgo the traditional fake plastic Christmas tree this year, which is probably just as well because we brought it from K-Mart for $5 and I'm really wondering how it's managed to *not* fall apart on us these last seven years. So, now we have a pom-pom tree (which is going to stay up all year round, methinks) which cost us a whopping $0.00, since it is made from wool I inherited from my Nana and a branch from our backyard, and it looks a million times better than the plastic tree.

Plus now I have a reason to justify buying the geometric vase that holds the pom-pom tree. Other than, "it was on sale and calling my name" ~__^

 

Also featured in these photos is the six dollar suitcase that I found at an opshop notorious for overpricing suitcases. Normally they try to sell them for $50 a pop, so I was extremely pleased with my find ^__^

Next up, I made a sweet little felt cactus inspired by this one from Bugs and Fishes, which I will be wearing as a brooch. One can never have enough novelty brooches! ^__^

I *may* have gotten a little carried away with all the tiny stitching, but I do like the end result.

 

 I also made some brooches from shrinky-dink (still one of my favourite crafting supplies), using some embroidery (and other) patterns as inspiration.

I think this little pumpkin head girl is my favourite ^__^

And I'm still going on granny squares for Scott's blanket. I believe I originally told him he'd have it for our second wedding anniversary, but I've revised that to our fifth which leaves me a year and two months to crochet 383 squares.

Hmmm, on second third thoughts, maybe he'll get it by our tenth anniversary. Maybe. ~__^

 

Now, I'm off to try and create something original. Which means, of course, that I must first invent the universe. I'll let you know how it goes ~__^

- Lisa x

Ingrid the Pom-Pom Jackalope

Hello! I am slowly becoming totally obsessed with pom-poms. I've seen a lot of really cool things made with them, and when I saw this adorable bunny by Martha Stewart I knew I had to give it a go! But, then I thought, yeah, bunnies are cute, but jacklopes are cute *and* mythical! ^__^

So this is Ingrid! ^__^

And here's how I made her ^__^ I have a pom-pom maker that does three sizes, so I made one of each and then cut them down so they were nice and dense. It makes a lot of tiny wool fluff that gets everywhere, but the pom-poms look great so it's totally worth it.

 

I cut out the eyes and nose from black felt, and the ears and antlers from white felt. I added a little bit of glue to the front bottom section of the ears and antlers before I attached them to the head so that I could pinch them in half and give them a bit more shape. Then I added a bit of glue to the bottom of the ears/ antlers, parted the wool on the head, and stuck them in. If you part the wool before you stick them in then the fluffiness of the pom-pom covers up the base of the ears/ antlers. The whiskers are made from tiger tail, which is a jewellery making wire. I dabbed a little bit of glue on the ends and then just poked them in place.

 Then all that was left to do was glue the head, body, and tail together! ^__^ I used Amazing Goop for all my gluing needs, but hot glue would also work well ^__^

I used some of the baby wool I inherited from my Nana Tess to make Ingrid, and it turns out that baby wool is *perfect* for pom-poms because it's so fine so it makes a denser, more fluffy pom-pom. Also, it's really soft and the type I used has a really subtle variation in it so it changes between white, pastel purple, and pastel pink which makes your pom-poms look fancy without any additional effort on your part. Yay! ^__^

Anyway, I hope you like Ingrid, and are ready to see more pom-pom crafts in the future because I think this is going to be my new favourite base craft ... ^__^

- Lisa xx

Doily spider web hoop, pom-pom spider, and a Hipster Wonder Woman cosplay

Hello! I know Halloween is over now (noooooooooooooooooo ; __ ;) but I still have some spooky things to show you! ^__^

I made this super simple cobweb decoration by framing an old doily in an embroidery hoop and glueing on a couple of plastic spiders ^__^

 

It was seriously so easy to do, and I'm really sad that it didn't have a long display period since I ended up decorating so late this year! >__<

 

But, at least I've got a head start on crafting for next year, right? ^__^

 

Here's the one tiny little corner that looked properly Halloween-ey (what's with all the end of year assignments, teachers? I don't have enough time for decorating! ~__^). Most of this is store brought, but I did make the glittery skulls and the washi tape skeletons (which you saw in the last post!).

I did also make the spider in the jar. It was very easy and I think balances on the line between spooky and cute very well ^__^

I used this tutorial to make the spider, although mine is a bit smaller so that it would fit into the jar and I gave it little eyes as well ^__^ After the spider was finished, I threaded a needle and pushed it through his belly, which created the hanging string.

I glued the string to the underside of the jar lid and then, when it was dry, covered the jar top with a scrap of fabric and some baker's twine. Easy peasy! ^__^

Lastly, here's my Halloween costume! ^__^ I decided on hipster Wonder Woman this year because I wanted to wear my glasses (so many people have told me that they look hipster!) and a skirt (because pants and I still aren't friends!).

 

This gorgeous illustration by Elizabeth Beals was the inspiration for most of my costume (you should check out all of her hipster superheroines, they're amazing!)

I made the headband using some gold ribbon and a piece of red leather which I cut into a star shape. My earrings are vintage that I got at an op-shop (and then soaked in antiseptic overnight ~__^), and my necklace is made from polymer clay and painted with acrylics. Unlike Elizabeth's Diana, I wasn't comfortable going out in just a bra so I wore a red corset style top underneath my transparent black top. I found the transparent top at an opshop and was so excited because it's vitually identical to the one in the picture! ^__^ My belt and skirt were also both from the opshop, as were my shoes and bag which I didn't take photos of (they are red high heeled Mary Janes and a red leather envelope bag with a gold chain strap respectively!). I already had the stack of silver bracelets, and the stars on my skirt are made from white felt and are just tacked on. 

Phew! And that's it! ^__^

Did you have a great Halloween? Tell me about it! ^__^

- Lisa xx

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