Vintage Lace Mugs

Vintage Lace Mugs

I love painting pottery. As a therapist, I recognize that this is a very mindful activity and it has been a healthy coping skill for me in the past. However, I also go to the "do it yourself" pottery shops and it never quite turns out the way I had hoped. My friend, Ericka, and I painted pottery for our birthdays this year and there was a nice woman who worked there who took pity on us. She showed us how to make Vintage lace patterns. They're pretty hard to screw up. This was a relief for us...

You start by first cleaning your pottery piece with a damp sponge. Afterwards, paint three or more coats of your base color, allowing each coat to dry in between. The mug's base color (my creation) is black and Ericka's base color (the wine goblet) is brown.

Select a piece of lace that will fit on your project. You could also do this with any flat surface. I think I will try a set of plates next time. Hold the lace in place and paint one more coat of your base color over the part of the lace that you wish to use as the pattern. Once this dries, the lace should be securely in place.

After this coat has dried, begin painting the contrasting color over the same part of the lace you just painted. If you choose to make the base coat a dark color and the contrasting color a lighter color, this coat will be barely visible. I chose a Victorian pink for my contrasting color whereas Ericka chose an olive green. In order to get my pink to really show up, I painted at least five coats of the pink onto the lace, making sure that each coat had time to dry before beginning another.

 Once you're sure that the paint has completely dried on your entire piece, gently peel the lace off. The pattern design should be raised slightly. You're now ready to fire your piece! Our turned out quite well and they were really easy to make. It's a great idea for people who think they can't do a design or aren't "creative enough" (although I believe that everyone is creative in one way or another). I welcome your comments/questions -- it just takes a moment. Has anyone else tried this method and had similar/different results? Enjoy!

Up-Cycled Infinity Scarf

Up-Cycled Infinity Scarf

 This scarf is made from up-cycled pajama bottoms and a long crocheted strip that I created. I love these infinity scarves because you never have to worry about them falling off like a regular scarf. They look super cute with both long and short sleeves. I especially like this two-tone look because it can spice up your outfit without overdoing it.

I first cut two strips of pajama material that equaled 6 inches x 52 inches in length. More specifically, I wasn't able to get this length out of one strip since I was salvaging pajamas (the pink plaid part). Because of this, I sewed two pieces of fabric together using my sewing machine (making sure that the 'wrong' side of the fabric was the side with the seam). I then used single crochet to create a contrasting piece of the same size. Alternatively, you could also knit this piece or buy crocheted fabric in the store.

After I had my two matching pieces, I lined them up together (with the 'right' sides facing in on both pieces) and pinned them as shown below. I then sewed one edge with the sewing machine. Depending on how thick your material is, you may have to sew by hand. I used sport weight yarn to avoid this.

After sewing the first side, I flipped the two piece and pinned the other side, making sure that the 'right' sides still faced inward. I then sewed the second long edge together, creating a tube. Iron the seams flat and then turn the tube inside out, exposing the bright ('right') side of the fabric. If you want, you can iron the tube flat if you want a thinner look.

Sewing the tube together was the most difficult part. I first lined the crocheted pieces up and pinned them to create a giant circle, being careful not to twist the fabric. I hand sewed the crocheted pieces together as shown below.

Once I got to the fabric part, I turned the edges inward on both sides to create a nice looking seam. I pinned the seam together and continued to hand sew around the tube end until the tube was fully sewn together. The key here is that you're not sewing through the entire piece at once, but are rather trying to reproduce the look of the rest of the scarf.

Let me know if you have questions about this up-cycled piece! I love that I can make them to match any outfit and can up-cycle old fabric. In addition to pajama bottoms, you could also use old t-shirts, sweaters, or blankets. I also recently bought some of the $2 fabric pieces from Jo Ann and used them with some contrasting yarn to create a new look. Enjoy!

Paper Roses

I found the idea for paper roses on Pinterest recently, and thought that I would give it a try. I bought paper streamers from the dollar store and tore off a piece that was approximately the width of my arms, finger to finger. I then loosely rolled one end about three or four times and pinched the bottom with my fingers. I began to wrap the paper gently around the base of the rose, twisting it slightly every round, so that the twists were evenly spaced around the outside of the rose. Once I got to the end of the paper, I tucked it into the bottom and hot glued the base. On some of them, I had to hot glue in between some of the layers to prevent them from unraveling. I think that the amount of hot glue needed will depend on if you plan on hanging your roses sideways (i.e. on a wreath) or upside down at all (i.e. on a ball).

I purchased a stryrofoam wreath (about $4.99) and stryrofoam glue (also about $4.99) from the craft store. Once I had created enough roses, I used the glue to attach the flowers and let them dry on a flat surface. I was surprised and pleased with the results!

This whole project only took about an hour and cost only about $11, since I already had a hot glue gun and hot glue on hand. I'm going to try the styrofoam balls with paper flowers next!

Up-Cycled Bottles

Not sure what to do with those empty wine or beer bottles? Up-cycle them into bright vases.

Don't worry about peeling the label off, but rinse and let them dry. Find some brightly colored yarn, some ribbon, and an over-sized button or other embellishment.

Start from the mouth of the bottle with a slip knot and begin wrapping from the top down. This will prevent the yarn from slipping on the neck. When finished, you can add a dab of hot glue and then hide the tail into the rest of the yarn. I added buttons, but you could also hot glue small plastic flowers, beads, or other embellishments to add to a spring or summer look. Up-cycled and beautiful!