The biggest project flop......

So I have just finished my biggest project flop of my entire life (adult or childhood!) and since I have no shame I'm posting it here :)

Just for you to laugh at. But be gentle ok?

I bought a new fabric waffle weave shower curtain awhile ago and since we have a claw foot tub I had to hem it to be shorter. This part of the project turned out EXCELLENT.
See:

cutting the amount I needed off
turning up and ironing the hem

Then I sewed it with a zig-zag stitch (white stitches on white fabric do not photograph well so no picture) and hung it up. See? Perfectly hanging and no excess puddling in the tub (one time where you don't want a curtain to puddle)

Now here comes the flop....I had a good amount of that beautiful waffle weave fabric left from where I cut it off....so I took the old vinyl shower curtain and an old hand towel and decided to make a bath mat. We have one that I love but when that's in the wash we have nothing until it's clean.

Supplies: towel, waffle weave fabric, vinyl shower curtain, scissors, sewing machine, pins.

Cut your waffle weave to a little bigger then the width of the towel and lay out all your strips to determine the size of your mat. Cut towel to that size.

Take your towel and lay it on the vinyl shower curtain and cut to size.
(I sewed the 3 waffle weave strips together to make one piece) Lay your pieces in this order: vinyl shower curtain (will be inside the mat) then towel right side up and waffle weave fabric right side DOWN.


Sew around the edges leaving about 4-6 inches open for turning. Turn it right side out by reaching in the opening and putting your hand between the waffle weave and the towel.
Here's where it flops....I wanted to sew a finishing hem around the entire outside of the mat after turning (had to at least sew the opening left from turning closed) to give it a more finished look. Apparently, even after trimming the edges and cutting the corners to reduce bulk before turning there was STILL too much bulk and I broke my first ever machine needle...into THREE pieces!

Now this is where I swore quite loudly because I was 100% sure I didn't have a replacement needle (never ever broken a needle and I use the same needle for every type of sewing *gasp!*) & the little one was napping so going to the store wasn't going to happen. I decided to dig through my mess of a sewing tub and actually found a little packet of 'universal needles' and put one in hoping 'universal' really meant universal....It did. But then I still couldn't sew close to the edge because of the bulk and with 50% sewed I couldn't really leave it. So I finished it by sewing as close as I could without sewing over too much bulk.....and this is what I ended up with:

A waffle-y, rumple-y mess. BUT it functions, is SUPER cushy under your feet and I used my left over fabric, vinyl shower curtain and made a bath mat that will serve us just fine whenever our other one is in the wash.

Big flop in 'professionalism' and 'sewing style' but whatever right?

Hopefully Monday I will be able to show you a project that ISN'T flopping right now but it's not done yet so you'll have to wait. Here's a hint: I de-brassified something that has been bugging me since I moved here! YAY!!

So to make me feel better I think y'all should tell me YOUR biggest project flop (doesn't have to be sewing, it could be cooking, crafty, woodworking...whatever!) and if you kept the flop or started over??

Look forward to hearing your stories,
Kristi

Wedding Gifts

Today I'm sharing some wedding gifts & card I made for some friends this past fall.

First I etched their initial on a large vase using etching cream. Here is a little mini tutorial to show you how anything you can print off your computer can be etched into glass:
Supplies:
Vase, scissors, etching cream, print out of letter (or simple picture), exacto knife, tape, something to burnish the edges of your contact paper (I used a craft stick), any type of contact paper (I used a sheet of clear), and glass cleaner (I used my 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 water mixture).

Clean your surface completely then dry. Place your clear contact paper on the surface keeping it larger than your image. Next you want to lay your printout exactly where you want it and tape it in place over the contact paper. Then here comes the *fun* part- carefully cut your image out using your exacto knife and lift away the part you want to be etched. Remove the rest of the computer paper and burnish (rub) the edges where you just cut the contact paper to make sure they are sealed down tight.


Follow the directions on your specific etching cream bottle (mine told me to lay it on pretty thick and leave it on for about 20 minutes). Whatever you do- do not get this on your skin!! Wear gloves & work outside. I left it on the required amount of time but when I used the hose to rinse it off I wasn't really happy so I re-did it to get more etching. (another note- I wouldn't rinse it off inside in a sink...it might harm your pipes)

Ta-da! How expensive and classy does that look? I LOVE it and will be etching just about everything I can get my hands on when winter is over and I can be outside again!! :)

Ok Next onto the rest of the presents:

I framed the invitation they sent us in a floating glass frame. Which apparently was a HUGE hit because they had forgotten to save one for themselves. Score one for me!



I also used their first initials, stamps & tissue paper to make custom 'embossed' candles.
To do this get a candle, matching tissue paper (I used white candles & white tissue paper), stamps, ink & a heat gun (maybe you could use a hairdryer but I've never tried it- if you do let me know if it works!)
So stamp your image on the tissue paper, cut it out pretty close to the image and lay it on your candle. Next heat up the candle and watch as the wax melts and makes the tissue paper "disappear". You can see it half finished in the candle on the left below and fully done on the candle on the right (I used different colored ink for each candle so don't be scared that your ink color will change)

And then the card I made to go with the gift:



So there you go a complete wedding present done for under $15 that looks like a million bucks!


Have a good rest of the week!
-Kristi

Helicopter Cake

Here are a couple pictures of a cake I made in September for a friend's birthday! He works with my hubby and they are also in the same Army Unit so his wife specifically requested a helicopter cake to reflect that!

This is actually a pretty small cake but I made a sheet cake to put this one on top of (sort of like a 'topper') but since I didn't deliver it I don't have a photo of it all put together.
This is one of my favorite cakes so far because I didn't have any direction- just that it had to be a helicopter. She didn't even care if I just did a 2-D icing picture of a helicopter. I, of course, wanted a 3-D helicopter ;)

Enjoy!

Have a good week!
-Kristi

Copics!!!

I just got a package in the mail that I have been tracking online for DAYS....I am so excited!! I can't wait to play and create but I just had to jump on here first and share....
I am now the very proud owner of my very first set of.......................................

COPICS!!!

I have wanted them forever but couldn't get myself to justify the price. Then I logged on to JoAnn's one day and they not only had sets of Copics but they were on SALE! So I took the jump and bought a small pack with just some basic colors and now I think I'll be adding a new color here and there as the budget allows. :)

Ok I'm off to play!