Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Art Wallet

I love these...and of course, being me, refuse to actually BUY them. I can do it! I just fixed an iPhone 4 for pete's sake! (see previous blog post) And while I'm making one, I might was well make 8-12, right?! (normal people dont think like this, do they?) These would (will) make great party favors for a certain sweet baby boy's birthday.
Ta Da! (I cannot say/write "ta da" without thinking of Modern Family, if you dont know what I mean, shame on you).
Let me know if you want my pattern. Most people charge for this (can you believe that!, pfffh), if you can make pockets, you can make this. After all I did 8 of them in a matter of 2 days, and my sewing skills are less than stellar.

oh yeah, and it cost me $20 in fabric, $10 for 12 stacks of paper, and $1.00 for 5 boxes of crayons. And I can make 12 of these bad boys... that's roughly $2.50/each (yes, I pulled up my calculator, dont judge.)

Iphone meets pavement- ouch!

Back when I worked at Dr. Erena's, we had a known phenomenon which we referred to as "George". It was always around 2-3pm, and everyone was getting that afternoon drowsy feeling, stuff just seemed to break or go crazy. 6 years later, this is what I refer to as deployment elves. Flat tires, major appliance breakdown, crazy kids (aka- having your 3 year old lock you out of the house), etc. all happen within this "witching hour" or in military spouse life "witching months". I was surprised at how "easy" (RELATIVE) this deployment has been. My kids have been well behaved, nothing has broken, I'm getting alot accomplished...

NEVER utter these words audibly.

As I'm in a hurry to wisk my kids off to free childcare on base (with a mile long list of "to-dos"), I load the kids and drive off. Hmmm, something's not right. Check the kids in- appear to have everything for them.
Head to Lowes- where's my list?
Let's see, I had my list and phone in my hand...
then put it on top of the car...
ugh...
MAYBE I left it inside in my hurry to leave the house- yeah, right.
So I drive home, panicked, options: a) phone is in the house, b)phone was left with kiddos, c)phone was stolen, d)phone is laying in the driveway/street/garage. I was really hoping for A or B, worst case scenario would be C, although probably covered by car insurance, I have no other means of communication (ie- home phone, spouse's phone)...it was option D.
Exhibit A(did I mention it was in the STREET FOR AN HOUR and may have gotten run over, so I am not hating on Apple like most people do when their phone shatters. Mine was totally functional, just horribly shattered)


Apparently no one fixes Iphone 4 (curse myself for having to have the NEW iPhone), except for Craigslist Killers or online companies that charge $100+. You Tube is genius, after youtubing how to fix your own iPhone, I bit the bullet. Two days later...Exibit B...
good as new...at least so far (those bubbles are just the protective cover). Take that, Craigslist Killer!

Here's some more of my geeky photos of my phone repairs complete with diagrams and I even had to make (file) my own screwdriver.


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Bleach Stenciling

First attempt- Fail-
First time I did it (with a scrap peice of fabric), I didnt adhere the design to the shirt, it wasnt nearly clean enough for my taste...




Have any of you discovered Pinterest. OMG- It's my new obsession, when I'm stuck watching the same cartoon for the millionth time, I just pull up the app and enjoy. The only problem with it is that it's made me want to try everything. Recipes, kids crafts, DIY...you name it, it's going to be attempted. Nice distraction :-)

So here's one of the tutorials I found on Pinterest. The reason I love it is because it's like applique (which I adore, but can be too baby-ish or girly) but rugged. Here's the process...

Supplies:
Material (tshirts in my case)
Design
Freezer Paper
Pencil
Scissors/Craft knife
Iron
Bleach
Water
Spray Bottle



I printed a design

Traced onto freezer paper (I found this at Walmart)
Ironed it on (shiny side down)
Sprayed diluted bleach in a safe area

Set to desired bleaching
Rinse with applique on
Remove applique and wash and dry


Love it! I did 2 more for Graham...love the bicycle one :-)

Front
Back
KC-10 Front
Back