Super cute and EASY Wrist Warmers (Re-purposed)- tutorial

This season I made it a point to try and stretch myself creatively and give a handmade gift to some of my closest friends. While some of my friends are artsy... not all of them are. So in an attempt to find something I could make with my hands, yet still make my non-artsy friends (Ah-hem... PATTI) happy, I came up with this quick and easy solution.

My friend Patti asked me for wrist warmers for Christmas. Patti and I have worked together in the past, and she has seen me get crafty on more than one occasion... but in this circumstance...I think she thought I was a little more crafty than I actually am. When she was explaining to me what she wanted she kept talking about crocheting a tube...yada yada yada... The truth is I can crochet a chain, and well anything that can be made from a very simple chain. At this point she lost me. 

So instead of thoroughly handmaking her wrist warmers, I decided to experiment and re-purpose. 

I went to the local thrift store and bought a few old wool sweaters. From here I took them back and washed and dried them a few times to felt the wool really tight. After the sweaters were ready I proceeded to cut strategically to create her wrist warmers.

To Cut, First cut the entire sleeve off of your sweater. This will leave you with two sleeves to work with. 

From here, stack your sleeves so that they are lined up perfectly.

Cut your sleeves to about 14 inches long, so that both sleeves are the exact same length. 

If your sweaters have sleeves that are thin and balloon out wider, the final measurements of the cuffs are roughly 14inches long, and 3 inches wide (I measured a pair I already had for this).

To finish off, rip the seem of your sleeve to create a thumb hole. In the picture below you will see I left about two inches from the top. Depending on how long you want your overhanging cuff to lay over your fingers, you can go anywhere from 1-2.5 inches from the top of the overhanging cuff. To Finish off, I added a blanket stitch just for some added detail.

 You can see here that on the opposite end of the cuff that I did a tight zig zag stitch on my sewing machine. From here I simply trimmed off any excess fabric that stuck out of the zig zag stitch.

Here is how the final product looks while in use. This pair is for our friend Lisa who likes purple.

 To wrap these, I just used a small bit of tulle tied in a cute little bow.

 Of course once you find something really cool to make, the rest of your friends start to drop hints that they might like a pair. So here are a few other sweaters I have picked up along the way for our other friends. The purple pair above were not actually made of wool (you'd be surprised just how hard it is to find purple wool sweaters!) so if you are not a fan of wool, a cotton, acrylic, angora or cashmere substitute should work just fine. The main thing to consider is that your zig zag finish can keep the material from shredding.

Supplies used: Old Sweater, sewing thread, sewing machine (If you don't have one you can finish the edge off by hand just use a tight stitch) and embroidery thread (I used Bazzill Basics, In Stitches thread.)

This is also great if you have sweaters that either you or your husband (not mentioning any names ☺) "accidentally" shrink your cozy wool sweaters. This is a wonderful way of giving them a new purpose and also letting your husband off the hook.

I hope this finds you all well and that it is helpful to you. It is really a simple project, but if you have any questions... feel free to email me :)  I would love to help!

~Liz ♥

Quick and Easy altered Girls Shirt

If you haven't already figured it out, I am a fan of semi-homemade. Altogether this option works so much better for me than either trying to hunt down that perfect present, or hassling with trying to complete my idea from scratch. 

Anything from cooking, sewing, jewelry making... well anything crafty, has some sort of semi-homemade alternative. Although I still love to learn new crafts and adapt to my needs, around the holidays... Semi- Homemade is about all you can get out of me when time is so sacred.

I found this T-Shirt for our daughter on the clearance rack of Marshall's for about $4. It is a nice dark fushia (the coloring of the pics are a little off) With silver thread finishes. 

Since this shirt was already kind of sparkly, it made a really nice base to alter to my liking.

Here is the neckline which I hand stitched different elements to.

Here is a close up of the detail of the hand beading I did along the original stitched neckline. For this use a thin beading needle and some bugle beads and simply follow the outline of the original stitching to create this nice sparkly detail.If you are making this for a young child, you may want to double stitch or knot in between stitches just to make sure that the beading remains durable. If you knot in between, this will also insure that if a bead does come off, it will not effect the remaining beads, and you will only have to replace one.

Here is the floral cascade that I created with some Prima Marketing Inc. trim. This trim is pretty popular. If you don't find this trim at your local scrapbook store, you could possibly find it at your local fabric/trim/craft store sold by the yard. I hand stitched each rosette starting from the middle and worked by way to the outer edge by spiraling my stitch out towards the edge. This is a basic stitch, nothing fancy. The one recommendation I do have is that you use a like colored thread and also hide your stitches by stitching the netting backing rather than the rosette itself. This will allow the rosette to remain full as intended.

Here is the full shirt, again... not sure why the coloring is off, but since I wrapped the present already, I can't take new pics... (Note to self, check pics BEFORE wrapping next time!) But being that these pics were taken with my I Phone... I really can't complain :)

 

So if you are in need for a last minute gift idea, but don't want to break the budget (time and money!) this is a simple and easy solution. And it would be made by you which makes it extra special :)

So check your local clearance rack, pull out some thread and maybe pick up some beads and trim (5 rosettes) and create something beautiful! I think the retail value of this project is around or under $10 so it is handmade affordable, which is always a plus in my book :)

Enjoy!

~Liz ♥

Dupioni Silk Necklace- tutorial

This year I have been enjoying making some handmade gifts for my friends and family. Something about working with your hands to create something for someone you love makes you feel good inside :)

This necklace is based off of a version I saw on-line. The original was a coral color and used large rondelles as the spacers. For this necklace I used black Dupioni Silk and wire wrapped it with hematite seed beads and wire. I didn't have a whole lot of progressive pictures of this project, but I tried to explain it the best I could. If you have any questions... just contact me. I'd be happy to help you out.

A little unknown fact about me is that I dabbled in jewelry way before I ever scrapbooked. I use to love jewelry making... the only problem was that I never could do it just perfect as in magazines and such. Earlier this month I took a class with Jen Cushman and her attitude towards jewelry making is to create "organic" pieces. Since I am "organic" in my art... this just made sense for me. It truly felt like I could liberate myself from the perfectness of what I used to do in jewelry making and now attempt it in my own fashion. If you ever have a chance to take one of Jen's classes. Do it. She is phenomenal in the way she teaches as well as very well educated in jewelry and mixed media.

This was just one long piece of black Dupioni Silk that I used to wrap wooden beads. Before finishing off each wooden bead with silk, I used wire to stabilize the middle of the wooden bead and used the excess of the wire to wrap around the base of the bead to enclose it in the silk. This is actually quite simple, once you get the hang of it. The wire I used was what I had on hand which was 24 gauge (that is what the packaging said... but it felt more like 20 gauge) in a silver finish. For the beading I took a long piece of thin wire and strung beads through it. From here I simple haphazardly wrapped it around the beads and the wire wrappings in between each beads.

To finish off each end I wire wrapped each end and trimmed the silk to fit in a silver cone bead. I made sure to loop some wire through and formed each loop and hammered it. For the closure, I tied some silk to the loop and sewed it close with a zig zag stitch.

It truly is a simple project if you just let your self play, make mistakes and find out what works for you. The only way you can learn is to make mistakes and learn from there what you like and don't like. Sometimes you may just fall in love with the unexpected and make that your new style :)

Products used: Black Dupioni Silk, Black Thread (From Joann's Fabric), Wire (From Hobby Lobby) Beads-Unknown.

Thanks for visiting today... I hope this helps you with your holiday gift giving :) If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via email or facebook :)

~Liz ♥

Crafting with a little Sunshine- giveaway!

As a reporter for The Scrap Review, I have been able to review some pretty awesome products. I was extremely excited when I received an assignment to review My Minds Eye- Lost and Found Two, Sunshine collection. This collection caught my eye at CHA, there was something about the bright yellow glittered accents that I fell in love with. If you would like to see the complete review, check it out on the The Scrap Review Blog.

Forever and a day Card- For this card I took the ready made embellishments and layered them with the patterned paper. The negative dots that came from the scalloped chipboard accent, I used inside if the potted pattern to create more texture.

Dream Big Note card- For this card I layered various patterned papers and tied them up with a bow of twine. I love the idea of making little cards I can quickly use for any occasion. The title DREAM BIG caught my eye and it makes this card for sure

 So in LOVE card- This card was made mostly of ready made embellishments for the collection. This makes for a very easy yet still stylish card. The depth and texture is nice too!

Happy Note card- This little note card again is using ready made embellishments this is a super easy card, but the ready made embellies make it look nice.

You are my Sunshine Card- This card just makes me happy :). I love the paper accent that says, "You are my Sunshine" so adding a sun accent around it just made sense. 

Supplies used- My Minds Eye Lost and Found Two (Sunshine) Collection, Adhesive- SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L ™, twine- Unknown.

Even though the holidays are in full swing, These note cards were a nice little escape to create. I loved being able to just play for the fun of it. I think I will use this card set as a gift for a friend for the holidays.

Make sure to check out The Scrap Review Giveway of some wonderful My Minds Eye product. the giveaway ends Friday, December 16th at Midnight. You can find the details here.


Thanks for taking a look :)

~Liz ♥

Peppermint Cookie Crunch Bark (AGAIN)

Every year right around Thanksgiving I notice that my stats on my blog go up and that the common search is for my Peppermint Cookie Crunch Bark recipe.

This year I was fortunate enough to have been asked to share some of my "awesome things" on the Brave Girls Club Blog. Of course... the cookie bark came to mind :)

So here is the link to last years post... Let me know if this is your first...third or fifth year making it... I love hearing the stories behind the giving of bark.

Make sure to check out the Brave Girls Club Blog and see all of the amazing AWESOME things they are sharing. It is one of my favorite things that they do, because no matter what... it just makes you smile.

~Liz ♥

Oreo Mint Truffle Cake Pops

If we are friends on facebook than you saw that yesterday I attempted to make cake pops. I had never tried cake pops before, mostly because I am a cupcake snob and well... the thought of simple cake on a stick just didn't cut it for me. This past Sunday at church cake pops were served at a reception our family and friends attended, and well... who am I to pass up cake?

I had NO IDEA that cake pops were more than just cake. That they were actually moist tidbits of heaven covered in chocolate. At this point I was hooked... if you are anything like me than you can understand how this simple encounter now became an obsession. If there is ever a time that I find something that interests me... I have to figure out not only how it works, how it is made, what are my options and just how much I can customize it to my liking. So with this in mind, we stopped by the store on the way home from church picked up some simple ingredients and I challenged myself to come up with a recipe I liked in time for a neighborhood cookie exchange I was attending Monday night.


So between this all, I posted on facebook for any pointers on making cake pops. Here is the recipe I came up with along with some pointers that really helped me with my prepping. I adapted this from a truffle recipe I have used for some years now.

Oreo Mint Truffle Cake Pops

ingredients:
1 package of oreos (I used mint oreos, you could use whatever you like) crushed and separated (for fill and topping)
2 blocks of Cream Cheese
1 13x9 fresh baked devils food cake
2 bags of nestle dark chocolate mint chocolate chips
Andes mint (garnish if desired)

supplies:
wax paper for drying
candy/lollipop sticks

Bake cake according to directions. When done, take cake while warm and place in large mixing bowl. Add in two blocks of cream cheese as well as Oreo cookie crumbles (all but 10 cookies, leave 10 cookies crushed for topping if desired). Once fully mixed, take mixture and create bite-sized balls and lay on baking sheet covered with wax paper. Recipe should yield about 50 bite sized pops. Let chill in refrigerator for an hour. One suggestion that was given to me by my facebook friend Marjorie was that if my hands started to melt my mixture, I could use ice cubes in paper towels to cool my hands down. I didn't have this problem like I thought I would, but if you do... this is great advice.

Coating:
For outer coating shell. Take your chocolate chips and melt starting with first bag (leave second for when needed). Start by placing entire contents of first bag in a pyrex measuring cup and melt for 1 minute. Chips will still be a little lumpy when done, mix with a sturdy plastic spoon and microwave in 10 second increments, mixing well in between. You should only have to microwave for 10 seconds beyond the minute, but if you do microwave more... just make sure your chocolate consistency is that of pancake batter, not to thick nor thin.

Once you have your chocolate ready take your cake balls out five at a time and begin topping them with chocolate. To top the with chocolate, I used a great recommendation from my friend Michelle on facebook and dipped my lollipop stick into the chocolate before plunging it into my cake ball.

Once your lollipop stick is in your cake ball you can begin to cover your cake pop with chocolate. For this I found it easiest to use a plastic spoon to cover my cake pop with chocolate. I also started from the base of my pop, making sure that my stick was covered and worked my way to the top. The nice thing about making these Cake Pops is that your chocolate doesn't have to be perfect, nor does your cake Pop have to be perfectly round. When you garnish it... it all just kind of comes together :)

Once you have your chocolate as you desire, quickly garnish with remaining Oreo crumbles and chopped Andes Chocolate Mints. Place finished pop on a Styrofoam base to dry. When you have all of your pops done, place Cake Pops in refrigerator until you are ready to serve. You can keep your pops on the Styrofoam to server or take them off and platter them.

So this is it!

A really fun and easy recipe, perfect for making with the kids or for a fun dish to share at parties. As I said before, I made these for our neighborhood cookie exchange and I have to say... they turned out very nice.

Here is my take from the Cookie Exchange... This is one of my favorite things about the holidays, and I am so grateful that we moved onto a street that shares this same sentiment. I love our neighborhood. I am always excited when we get together, so spending the time to experiment and make these fun Cake Pops is truly worth it for these special friends.

I hope this inspires you to experiment and take a chance on learning something new. I for one am really happy I took this chance to experiment... I look forward to coming up with some other fun recipes on a stick :)

Enjoy!

~Liz ♥