Upcycled Flip Flops



Former floral flips flops turned turquoise-embellished flip flops

Due to a last summer doggie snafu (i.e.-I allowed my pup to be in the same room as my adorable and formerly floral flip flops; fifteen minutes later, the attached flowers were no more), I was given the opportunity to upcycle a pair of flip flops into a "new" pair for this summer.



Original flip flops

 

The culprit-She's lucky she's cute!

Using a craft epoxy, I glued turquoise beads I had in my collection on the fronts of the flip flops (where the cute flowers used to reside) in a simple pattern. After they had completely dried (overnight), they were as good as new!



Upcycled flip flops

Hand Painted Oil Bottle

Although I'm not a big user of oil dressings or the use of oil for a whole lot in general, I love the look of oil bottles...and I loved this one in particular even more when I found it for a dollar at my local craft store! To decorate it, I simply chose four colors of acrylic paint that I thought would complement each other, in this case black, white, light blue, and red. Beginning with the lightest color (white), I used the tip of a Q-tip, dabbed it into the paint and created small dots around the entire bottle. I then repeated the same process with the light blue, followed by the red, and finally the black, until the bottle appeared completely covered in dots. After the paint dried, I sprayed a clear sealant all over the bottle to keep it protected from chipping. Although it sounds like a lot of monotony, it really is a very quick project and creates a really neat effect!

How To: Simple Baby Booties



Sweet little slippers for our upcoming arrival


Since I have FINALLY had some energy and free time this weekend (this whole developing a life inside of you thing is NO JOKE!), I decided I would do some crafting. Some crafting turned into a marathon day of gluing, painting, jewelry-making, photographing, brainstorming, organizing, sewing, you name it! All in all, my idea of a fabulous day!

My first project was finishing up the baby slippers I had started weeks and weeks ago. I have wanted so badly to make baby slippers similar to the ones my cousin, Kristin made for my nephew around Christmas time. After I found the pattern and instructions online (which I will happily share with all of you!), I got started with pinning and sewing and making a few of my own adaptations. Here is a great webpage that will take you through the process step-by-step and also includes a pattern for the slippers themselves.

Since I am not the most gifted hand-stitcher, I decided to match the thread I used to sew the slippers to the color of the fabric as best I could and create smaller stitches than those shown  in the instructions (in other words, the less people able to see my stitching, the better off we all are!). In addition, since I am having a girl and she will be the recipient of these slippers, I decided to sew ribbon along the upper edges of each pair of slippers to create a cute bow that could be tied in the front.



Black and gold slippers for baby girl to rock out during Steelers football season




Sweet little pink booties with white ribbon




Probably my favorite pair-gray felt slippers with purple ribbon.







Valentine's Day Gift Jars

Valentine jars for each of my classroom assistants



A view of one of the jars



Here are the Valentine gifts I made for my fabulous teaching staff! I simply used glass, airtight containers I bought at a dollar store and filled them with cute, Valentine-y stuff (Valentine socks, lipstick pens, candy necklaces, chocolates, etc.). I then hot glued artificial roses and leaves (also purchased at a local dollar store) to the tops of the glass containers and added glittery letter stickers (bought at...you guessed it! Dollar stores rock!) to spell out each of their names on the front of the containers.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

A view from the top of a jar

Another glance

Handmade Bibs and Burp Cloths

Owl print burp cloth and bib set

Bird cage and bird burp cloth and bib set

Pastel animal print burp cloth and bib set

Back view of burp cloth (fleece) and bib (terry cloth)

For the past five months, it has taken everything out of me to simply get out of bed, much less get any housework or hobby-related stuff done. With that being said, my crafting time has really taken a hit over the course of this pregnancy. Never fear...the nesting phase is FINALLY upon us (or at least that's what I'm calling my productivity level this weekend)!!! I found really simple and adorable patterns for burp cloths and bibs online, along with adorable cotton prints on sale at Joann Fabrics and went to TOWN! Here are the instructions and patterns used for each of the items. Stay tuned, as I have recently discovered some Steelers fabric and black fleece I had on hand, so you can guess what the next burp cloth and bib set will look like!

Velcro Baby Bib (this pattern allowed for the possibility of a pocket, but I decided not to include it in my creations)

Easy Burp Cloth