Tie Dye Experiment...

While going through my rag-bag last weekend, I came across a smock top that I had loved, but it was ruined with bleach stains...(I clean with bleach alot...boys and dogs, need I say more?)
 I pulled it out to save, thinking I could use the crochet part on a craft project...however, as mentioned in the last post, I am going back to school, and really need clothes to wear since my wardrobe consists of mostly scrubs...So I decide to try a tie-dye type project on the shirt, see if I could salvage it enough for summer campus wear...
Here is a before pix, see the bleached section:

I mixed 1 part bleach and 2 parts water in a spray bottle. I then used hair bands to tie up sections of the cloth.

I then placed the shirt on the shower floor, and sprayed it with the bleach mixture, not too wet, so it didn't soak into the tied up parts. Then I immediately rinsed with cold water....

So I liked this (the back looks a little better than the front) so I threw it in the washer...

So what do you think? Better, but I am wondering, should I do it again to get a bolder contrast in a few more areas?
 Even so, I don't think its campus wear, but likely I will start wearing it around the house again.

College Girl...Again?

Well, I am working my way toward my goals...
I have officially registered for classes at Lamar University. Classes start next week, and this was sort of a spur of the moment decision...But everything feels right about this decision so I'm going for it!

Because I registered so late, I couldnt get in all the classes I wanted...but the Dean helped me choose alternate appropriate classes, so I am fine with them...Now the hard part...paying for the classes and purchasing the books...

However, there is one purchase I am looking forward to: the backpack! I want it pink plaid!

I cant wait to tell my kids! Now they will be able to rag on me about my homework!

Will You Be My Valentine?

Well my creative juices are flowing once again, now that I have cleaned my crafty space...I have been making Valentines out of leftover scrapbooking and book-print paper, wax paper, thread, ribbon, and a little bit of glitter...oh and a couple of rub-ons also.
 I saw something similiar on Pinterest.com , one was from blog.crescendoh.com and the other was from beckyshander.com ...so I have used their general idea, but put my twist on it!

Here's a pix of mine...

It is a heart cut out of "My Minds Eye" paper, with a rub on "love" by Glitz, and a sweet little stamped tattoo type bird by Pink Persimmon Stamps....all samwiched togther between two pieces of wax paper cut with pinking shears...I thought I could just iron the wax paper and it would stick together...but that didn't work, so I hand stitched the wax paper together with light pink floss.
 Now, I am going to have to investigate why this wax paper didn't melt and stick together...I know you have to get the right sides together... but many years ago, way back in my Brownie days, we used to collect leaves, flowers and such, and iron them between wax paper...and presto! it would stick...hmmm

 Anyway, from there I went to brown paper hearts (I found a huge roll of brown paper when I cleaned out my craft space closet! Imagine that...) I stitched them together with a little stuffing inside...See below:

This one has "My Minds Eye" ribbon, and the cute little ticket, the word sticker (that you cant see very well) says "remember" and is from The Girls Paperie.










 Here are some more I am working on...

 I think my next trip to the craft store , I will pick up a bottle of essential oil in a yummy fragrence, and put a few drops on the padding, to make the hearts little sachets!
 I will also be making some of these boy themed, I have some Cosmo Cricket paper and rub-ons that will look really cute!

Craft Room Clean Up

Well I did get around to cleaning up my craft room today...boy it was a mess! Actually the room is a shared space, I have two walls for my craft stuff and desk...and two walls are taken by my two youngest sons toys, plus they get the floor space (what little floor space there is).
 Here are the before pix:

 As you can see its a mess, all through the holidaze I completely ignored this room...My wonderful computer and printer were buried under junk, scraps and supplies were jumbled all around, toys were strewn everywhere...it seemed as if the lego container had exploded...

 Years ago, my two middle sons shared this room, and we started a redecorating project by painting 2 walls black chalkboard paint and two walls dark red...well its a little garish, but I erased the childrens scribbles, and wrote on the chalkboard walls myself, so now I kinda like it.
 We also added a super desk all across one whole wall...my oldest son Nick built it...the kids never appreciated it, but I love it. I added book shelves on each end for storage, and I have storage underneath also. I could use better lighting, but during the day its fine because I have a window directly in front of my work space.

 I added an idea - inspiration board also...actually this wall area was never painted with chalkboard paint because my son, Joe, had used huge screws to attach a bulletin board...and rather than destroy the board that he loved, I painted around it. Eventually the board was destroyed, so today I decided to pin up some of my favorite papers, etc...

 I went through all my rag bags (ie...all the boys clothes unfit for even Goodwill) and collected all the buttons (!), I love buttons, and saved several nice plaids and whites to re-purpose into banner-pennants.
 I put away all my christmas themed supplies, and now with my space so clean I am just itching to get back to creating!

 I have been slowly collecting fabric that catches my eye for a few years now...which is funny because truly I am a terrible seamstress, and terribly hard on sewing machines! I can make plain curtains when I really put my mind to it, and simple blankets, but thats about all.
 But fabric just calls my name! Recently, my youngest sons classmate brought a huge box of fabric samples discarded from a furniture store for anyone...Naturally, I couldn't resist, and brought home a big stack...I am not sure what I want to do with them yet, I have in mind to make a soft purse/bag out of a few pieces...
 For right now I guess I will just keep rearranging and re-organizing the swatches!

Green Onions!

Well, a couple of weeks ago on Pinterest, I saw that you could just stick the discarded green onion root tips in water and they would grow new green onions...well I knew to put green onions in a glass of water to keep them fresh longer...but I didn't think whole new ones would grow.
 My boys and I decided to try it out, on Christmas day I made a huge pot of gumbo, which left a plethora of green onion roots...so we stuck a few in water...and look at our window sill green onion garden!

Above the onions you can see the sweet paper bird mobile I made.  The birds are Big Shot die cuts out of leftover scraps of my fave scrapbooking paper, My Minds Eye...they hang on bakers twine from a regular ole stick outta my yard (I painted the stick white)

The birds also match the christmas ornaments I made this year...but I think I will leave the bird mobile hanging, when I put away my christmas decorations. I also made cute bird mobiles for my grandchildren, bright hues for Tristan, and pink and yellow birds for Autumn! Sorry I didn't take pictures of those.

I love to make stuff with paper and glue...book print is a favorite just now, almost all the patterns I seem to choose have print on them...I also hunt out old books and use those images, I look for books that are damaged...so I dont have to feel guilty about destroying them.

Valentines day will be upon us soon, so today I will be packing up all my christmas/holiday themed art items, and cleaning my desktop so I can begin creating Valentines! So gotta go now and get busy, but will post todays project later...after cleaning I am making old frames into message boards with chicken wire!

Changes

My name is Paula. I reached the birthday milestone of 50 this past summer, and since then I have given quite a bit of thought to my life...to me, my accomplishments, and what I would like to accomplish in my next 50 years.
Therefore, I decided to make some changes to improve myself, my life, and my family life. This blog will follow my journey through these changes: simplifying, creating, repurposing!
 I plan to make a complete clean sweep through my home, ridding us of unwanted stuff, donating it to charity. Hopefully, repurposing items rather than buy new. Goal: a clear place in the closet for the vacum cleaner! I know some of the items will end up in my craft room to be re-used in mixed media projects I have planned. (My youngest son and I are hoarding cardboard boxes to make cardboard castles...we saw a few really cool ones on Pinterest)

 Also, I have decided to repurpose my career...an RN for twenty years, but I enrolled in college for this spring semester to pursue a degree in Speech Pathology. I can see myself already, competing for space at the dining room table with my kids to do homework!

Hello!

Welcome to my blog. I have dedicated 2012 to simplifing my life through creativity and re-purposing with love and faith.