Shadow Boxes

I finally decided to finish those shadow boxes I've been meaning to make for months; one for graduating High School, and one for graduating college.

Here's what I started with, got them for 40 or 50% off at one of Hobby Lobby's fabulous sales.



Tossed out some newspaper to protect my table and cutting mat for sewing, put 'er down and taped around the edges with painter's tape to keep paint from sticking to the glass..



I didn't want them to be just plain, flat black, so I mixed some gold shiny sparkly acrylic paint with the black acrylic paint, and painted like crazy..



Once these were dry, I touched up in spots and then turned the box over, taped the inside of the glass, and painted around the inside of the shadow box.

I had some scrap pieces of fake leather that were in a box of fabric I had.. so I cut a couple squares of them and duct taped them to the back of the frame.. I couldn't think of a more elegant way to do it, though I'm sure it has to exist somehow. Don't put batting underneath if you go this route though, because your material will be so think it will be impossible to get the back attached. Yes, it looks horrible. Do you have suggestions for it to not look horrible?



And here are the finished shadow boxes, though I'm afraid I'll have to go back and paint in those little brown spots I missed.





I attached most of the items with either sticky tape or straight pins.. the holders for my diplomas are not attached, they just rest in the bottom.

Doggie Bones

These are super easy to make and one of my beagles LOVES them. I've heard other doggies like them too..



First, buy some fleece of any color that you wish.. I wouldn't recommend prints for obvious reasons.. you wouldn't see them once they are cut up into strips.

I wasn't very particular about the length or size of these.. just used what I had. However, I did cut it into 1.5" wide strips. I made the larger bones with a 4-plait of 8 strips. I forgot to photograph the better looking ones that I mailed off to people, but there are better ways to 4-plait them so that with two colors it looks as though the fabrics are alternating. You can also do a typical braid with 3 strands, but I think the 4-plait looks nicer and holds better.

Here's a pic of cutting them into strips. I folded the fleece over and lined it up on the edge of this, and used a rotary cutter.



There are many different ways to hold the pieces while you braid.. here's what I did.



After clipping the top ends with a chip clip, I stuffed them behind an adjustable shelf I have and plaited from there.. but you have to be careful not to pull too hard in the beginning or it will all come undone. If you want to, you can tie the first knot before you begin plaiting.

The hardest part by far is tying the knot.. just be patient.

Quilts

Here are some quilts that my mom and I have made over the last year or so:

This one was for a baby boy, and his mother LOVED Winnie the Pooh:



This one was for a little girl, her mother was originally doing red, black, and white with cherries but then changed it.. hope she liked this anyway!



Made this one around last Christmas for my boyfriend who loves Star Wars:

Barn organization and Nameplates

I have been organizing the barn lately.. still quite a mess, but I got some handy hardware up in what will soon be the crosstie/wash stall area.



And here are the nameplates I made for the stalls:

Here's the completed sewing, etc area!

Here are a couple of overall photos, still kind of disorganized but SO much better than it was! The flooring we put in was carpet tile, found on discount in Chattanooga at Focus Floors.







As you can see, I need to find a way to hide all those computer cords..

Here are some close ups of the two yard stick shelves I made. If you're interested, I found the tutorial here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=77989.0





Yes, those are California Raisins! I love them! :p Here's a close up of how I put the little shelves up.



Here's a little shelf someone gave me that was originally hunter green that I tried to paint pink, but it didn't look right so I sprayed another coat of white over the top of the pink. I'm happy with it.



Found this adjustable track shelving at Walmart for about $10 or so and put it up..



Here are some pics of my pegboard..





As for the table tops- I got peel and stick vinyl tile and put over them so it would add some type of cohesiveness and lighten things up since I painted the walls so dark.. I love it :) I found the idea in this thread over on Craftster: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=224116.0

Sewing/Crafting/Computing/Studying area.

So, this is my first official blog post. People have been telling me for a while that I need to start one up for all the crafty type stuff I do, but I never got around to it. I'll kick this off with a major transformation- the bonus room. Here are some before pictures, taken right after I moved home. The walls and ceiling were a stark white, and the floor was painted blue plywood. We had lots of area rugs over them floors, though.


The Beagles are terrified of the mass disaster. How dare I bring more stuff home and disrupt their play areas?


Yes, it was THAT HORRIBLE.


You can tell I moved home around Christmas.


Believe it or not, it was worse before the pictures were taken!


Want to cry yet?


Here's a picture of the walls after we primed primed primed..

Next post will include the after of the sewing area on one end. :)