I was happy that it was at least identifiable and it was very tasty!
A rainbow striped, brimmed tam, I found the pattern at Vallieskids, she always has the cutest kids hats! It looks really cute on her, but she likes to pull it down to her nose, I imagine it’s because that really annoys me.
The basic supplies:
I applied a bead of glue around the edge of the backing board and spread it thinly with a brush and then applied the fabric, stretching it slightly and holding it in place with the bulldog clips while the glue dried. You don’t want to saturate the fabric with the glue, you just want to tack it down. Once the glue it dry trim off any excess fabric from the edges.
On my first attempt I rounded the corners of the squares, but the second time I did not, it made lining up the grid easier. I used glue dots to affix the circles to the corners of the squares. Then I started arranging the squares that I also tacked down with glue dots. I started in the lower left corner, 2” in from the left side and 1” up from the bottom. Working across the bottom row, I positioned seven of the squares 1/2” apart. At the end of this row I added one of the 3 1/2” X 10 1/2” rectangles 1/2” from the final square. The next row of squares was 1/2” above the first row. I used a clear ruler to make lining up the rows easier. I added all five rows this way and also added the other 3 1/2” X 10 1/2” rectangle 1/2” above the first one. The title rectangle ( 2 1/2” X 12”) was positioned 8 3/4” from the left edge and up 1/2” from the squares. Lining up all the squares was the most time consuming part of this project.
Now you can put your poster frame back together. Remember to remove the plastic coating on the Plexiglas, mine had a coating on both sides! The calendar is finished, just start filling in you numbers and appointments OR we can make it a bit fancier.
I opted for fancier. I used printable window clings to make the months, dates, and some standard things that I would have on my calendar (like Doctor, No School, etc.). I used a basic word program to type everything out, picked out a fun font (Beyond Wonderland) and printed the clings according to the package instructions. Everything had to be cut out, but my paper trimmer made that quick. I stuck all the dates on, the extras are stored on a page protector that I have stuck on the back of my calendar. I used Velcro fasteners to stick my calendar on the wall, so I can take it down and lay it flat to fill it out for the month. 
I barely had enough fabric to make the top match the calendar (there is a small stripe of brown at the back, I was about 2” short). Yes, hiding it is much better. The same stuff is under there, but it really looks a lot better, thanks Bonnie! Now I need to organize that organizer :P and work on the matching paper organizer that is going to hang under the key rack (that is why the table and calendar aren’t perfectly centered on the wall).
I have managed to get a little more knitting done on the mantelet, I am almost back to the point where I had to frog it last time (fingers crossed that it will fit better).
I’ve finished another Pieced Tunic, seriously this is my new Mom uniform. I’m going to need some more leggings, STAT!
What does work is the paper shredder, the filing system and the key hooks. You’ll notice that the command center seems to be oozing over onto the door too. It just looks so junky and it’s our front door :(
So even when I tidy it up a little it still looks tacky. BTW, I love having a purse hook to hang my purse on, sadly the handles on the turquoise purse are really to long for it to be effective.
I used a very fine pen to add all the journaling, I started out with the date and the “who am I” prompt and just did free writing. It went by quickly, but it did take me about an hour to do all the journaling.
Once I had it all filled in I erased all the pencil lines, they are visible in the picture above.
Here it is all finished with the pencil lines erased and next to the original. Now I need to figure out how to incorporate it into one of my sketchbooks. If you want to read more about the “Holley portraits” check out this link, there are also more examples of this type of self portrait.
I followed this tutorial from Wrights ribbon, nice and straight forward. I have two tips to make it go a little faster: first use darning needles on the ends of your ribbons to make the weaving through easier and second, on step 3 arrange the ribbon across the bar before you pull it through the center, this helps keep it nice and flat. I also tried gluing the ribbons together, I wouldn’t recommend that, it was a sticky mess and really didn’t make it any easier.
I restarted The Enelya Linwëlin Sleeved Mantelet pattern. This time I cast on 6 extra stitches and added a full repeat of eyelets. As you can see, the sleeve is quite a bit bigger. The fit is better, close fitting, but not stretched. Sleeve one is finished, sleeve two is started. I expect to get a lot knitted on this this weekend. What crafty stuff will you be working on?
This is a great technique to get some “fancy” papers for card making and collage. This is a fun project to do with you kids, just remember to carefully supervise them. It is also a great lesson in mixing colors and it involves one of my favorite things: melting stuff!
For a solid print with no white from the paper showing through you will need large pools of wax. For an open design (we’ll talk more about that in a minute), a heavy handed scribble is perfect. 
For splotches of color use your exacto knife or an old pencil sharpener to shave off small bits of wax from a variety of colors.
Once you are happy with you design put on you oven mitts and smooth the paper down on top of the hot wax. Be careful, that tray gets hotter than you would think, I can’t imagine using it to keep food warm, can you say scorched? You will be able to see the design absorbing into the paper, you can rub the back of the paper with you oven mitt to make sure as much wax as possible has transferred. Carefully peel paper off of tray, starting from a corner.
Set paper aside to cool, it won’t take long. I like to make another print to help remove the leftover wax and then I use a paper towel to clean the rest of the residue off of the foil. I found that I could reuse the foil for about three designs before the colors just got too muddy. When that happens, just peel the dirty foil off and smooth on a new sheet of foil, don’t forget to put those oven mitts on!
The printed paper is finished, I liked how the solid colored pages looked, but I wasn’t so excited about the ones where I could see the paper peeking through and although I liked the crayon shaving prints they really didn’t pop. The answer is to turn these papers into faux batik paper.
Load a wet brush up with black watercolor or thinned acrylic and start painting. The black will cover all the white peeking through and the wax resists the paint! I loved the results and now we have two different, but similar, beautiful papers to craft with.
There are tons of tutorials on making these pants and they pretty much are all the same, stack your bandanas up, fold them in half, cut a “J” shaped crotch and sew up (more detailed instructions here). It is easy and inexpensive to buy bandanas, I bought the red/black and the yellow at Hobby Lobby (on sale) and the other two at Wmart, all were less than a dollar each. The Hobby Lobby ones feel stiff and might be scratchy, I think they are starched. I am hoping that after the first wash they will feel a lot nicer. The printing is really irregular on all of them, which makes it impossible to match things up, but I don’t really think that is going to be too big of a problem, they’re lounge pants, not formal wear :) I also think that when they are being worn by children who rarely stand still no one will notice.
As you can see, I added a lot, but too much fabric is way better than not enough. I did error on the side of too much, but the finished garment is still very wearable. It is sooooooooooo comfortable and flattering too, this may be my new uniform. The pattern went together quickly and the instructions were very thorough. If you like the pieced look this is the pattern for you. I think I will be using up some of my hoard of $1.00 shirts.
I will have some modeled shots up on Facebook later (after my new dryer gets delivered and installed and I have time to get my tripod set up).
When I make this pattern again (and I will be making several more of this top) I will be changing up some of the alterations, taking the back in a tad, taking a little off the length, topstitching the neck/arm bands, and sewing the armbands on a little differently.
Hobo Drawstring bag on MADE, it’s a cushion cover from Ikea!!!!!
