Scrap Yarn

ZOMGS BUTTONS!!!

Did I post this already?  I can't remember if I posted this already, but it is so cute!  Meli Melo has so many neat things on her blog...Check it out here.

This is a little bit more sewing and weaving in ends than I would usually do, but it is so much prettier than your average mug cozy... Instructables has tons of crafty crap beyond patterns for knitting and crochet, it's definitely worth adding to your favorites list.


                                 

Washi Tape Noob

So I'm always looking for little things I can do to decorate my place...Unfortunately, in an apartment, there's a limited amount of stuff you can do while still remaining on good terms with your landlord.  I have seen a whole bunch of fun ideas to add a little color using washi tape, so I decided to experiment a little bit.

This?  THIS IS FREAKIN' CUTE!  And so easy to do!  Basically line up your washi tape all nice and straight over the switchplate, poke a couple of holes for the screws and cut out the bit the switch goes through, and you're done!  

These are all ready to go in the hallway.

The black and white brocade one was basically an experiment, so the corners could have been a little neater, but if you come into my home and start staring at the corners of the light switches, I'm going to ask you to leave anyway no matter what your opinion on my switchplate decorating abilities, you big weirdo.  ;)

I think the only thing I would suggest is to make sure you leave a little bit of tape around the edges in the center when you cut it out.  Then you can fold that tiny bit over to ensure complete coverage and not have any of the plastic showing around the light switch.

Now I just have to restrain myself from buying washi tape in ALL THE COLORS and covering my entire place in stripes and dots and little dancing cupcakes and ZOMGS ASTRONAUT WASHI TAPE!!!

Resistance is futile.  Obviously.  :D

Crafty Halloween Awesomeness!

OK, so I love Halloween.  No, seriously, I FREAKING LOVE HALLOWEEN.

Unfortunately this year, I don't think I will be able to let my Halloween Freak Flag fly, but that doesn't stop me from collecting all the cool Halloween links I possibly can...Hooray for Pinterest and all the crafty folks out there who love Halloween as much as I do!

Spooky punch!

I wish my nails were long enough for this...

And Momnivores-dilemma has the absolute best idea for Halloween home decor!

I really can't believe I am posting two Martha Stewart links, but I love this bat headband so hard...

And no Halloween party would be complete without creepy shooters...

Best.  Costume.  EVER.  :D

I am not positive I would want my holiday decorations watching me...

 

And this?  This I would wear every damn day!!  

Most of the stuff in Mirela Olariu's Etsy store is wedding themed, but seriously...Who *DOESN'T* need a tutu??  ;)

My Name Is Elizabeth, And I Am A Geek

This is beyond awesome.

I am very fond of samplers anyway, but Superhero Samplers?  Full of win.

Wee Little Stitches also has more geek/contemporary cross stitch patterns available: The Big Bang Theory, Star Wars, the Justice League...AND FIREFLY!  :D

Organiza-SHUN

When I'm not busy studying or playing Plague, Inc. on my phone, I spend way too much time cruising Pinterest...Luckily, I have managed to convince myself that this is productive time, since I have found some really neat patterns, ideas for future projects, cute shoes, and awesome color schemes in case I buy a house one day.  Hooray for rationalization!!  :D

But while I hear other students on the bus planning their spring breaks in Cancun or Panama City Beach , I have plans to spend that time doing some serious organization, particularly in my Art Room O' Doom.

I already have a little date book I carry around with me to organize my schedule, but since I am a visual person, I thought that hanging something like this in the kitchen might help things along a little bit:

This has some really good tips...Sometimes the most obvious idea doesn't always occur to me, and the whole separating your WIPs from your stash?  ZOMGS, WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT BEFORE???  I might have already finished that sweater's worth of olive merino if it wasn't sitting in a tote with all of the other stuff!  ;)

I absolutely love how she's displayed her finished shawls here, and the whole yarn room has such a finished look to it, while still being a viable (and beautiful!) workspace.

Then there's this...

Not so sure I want to sit around winding yarn onto old TP rolls, but maybe there's something to be taken from the concept?  Or not...  ;)

I Has A Crafty

Ever since I moved into my apartment over a year ago, I have been struggling with organization, particularly in the bathroom.  My old space had a large linen cupboard, and a long countertop where I was able to keep my makeup all sorted into bins, hang my necklaces on pretty scrollwork jewelry organizers, and all kinds of good stuff.  My new place, as much as I love it, has absolutely NO counter space, and nowhere at all to put my beauty junk.  I have hardly worn earrings other than for special occasions, because it is such a pain to dig them out of the bottom of my jewel box.

Since I have no counter space, and no extra room for additional storage, I have been wracking my brain for ideas to maximize the space I do have, and came up with this:

An afternoon of stitching around the edges of some plastic canvas with a bit of acrylic, some ribbon, and I have a handy little earring organizer!

The top part is my favorite bit...Little bows, and I used a decorative brad I had on hand as a hanger.

My local JoAnn's had some 12 x 12 decorative metal squares, and I looked at them a few times, wondering what on earth they could be used for...

Slap a few magnets on the backs of some makeup containers, and it's handy cosmetics storage!  (And you get a cookie if you notice the reflection of my little paw in one of the eyeshadow cases  :D )

Done and done, the bathroom counter is cleared!

Lipstick Chemistry

Many, many moons ago I worked as a cosmetician, but since then I have definitely fallen into a makeup rut. I like what I like, I do minimal makeup on a daily basis, and my Fancy Party Makeup has been the same for years.  But that doesn't stop me from BUYING ALL THE THINGS, because you know the advertising that tells me I will be rich, beautiful and admired if I wear Such And Such brand is all trufax.

This leads me to my makeup collection, which contains maybe 30+ lipsticks, at least half of which I bought, tried once, and realized the color was terrible or not what it appeared to be in the tube.  And throwing them all out just seemed like a giant waste of money.  Then I realized lipstick melts in your car on a hot day, so could I recycle all those icky lippies and make a color I would actually like?

I grabbed up all those old, weird colored lipsticks, as well as a couple that had been favorites and were now all used up except for bits down in the bottom of the tube.

I actually used an old dental pick I had lying around to pry the product from the tube, but something like a tiny spatula would have been much better for scraping out the very bottom of the lipstick case.  Some of the info I found online mentioned using a double boiler, but I am an impatient person, so after emptying all the lipstick out into a small jar...

I melted it in the microwave.

You don't want to boil it, or get it so hot that it burns or separates, so I just did short 15 second bursts, three times, and stirred it between each go-round.

It is really important (and I can't stress this enough) that once it is melted, put it into the container immediately.  And when I say 'immediately' I mean ZOMFGS HURRY HURRY HURRY!  The first one I did is still useable, but it is super-messy and lumpy.  Your new lipstick will pour right out of the jar easily, provided it is still very hot.

I ended up with this:

From a bunch of unwearable orangey-reds, a pink that looked like cotton candy (ugh), and some tans...AWESOME!  :D

I didn't do any real measurements, but here's the list of colors I used:

L'Oreal Timeless Tawny
Cover Girl Toasted Almond
Revlon Natural Cocoaberry
Revlon Blackberry
Revlon Smoky Violet
Revlon Mulled Wine
Clinique (unknown pink)

Google tells me you can also add a stick of lip balm to make a sheer color, or throw in one of those lipsticks with sparkle to jazz things up a bit...You could even go raid the bargain lipsticks at the drugstore and make your own custom colors!

Imma need more containers...  ;)

Here We Go...

Since it's the New Year, and I've been playing with the idea of a new yarny-crafty blog for a while, I figure it's about time I did something about it, so here we are!

I am currently a university student in the Middle Bit of the United States, having escaped life in a corporate cube farm, and hoping to start grad school in the fall...A lot of this blog will be focusing on spinning (my true love), though I am also a crocheter, dyer, and the World's Worst Knitter (TM)...I do dabble in some other Crafty Chick hobbies, like cross stitch, painting, jewelry-making, and vague attempts at DIY, so these may appear from time to time...

While this is a crafty blog, it is MY little crafty blog, and a place for me to art out, blather, show off my work, post others' cool projects, etc.  As such, this is a benevolent dictatorship: comments will be moderated, opinions will be stated strongly, cusswords will be used, and anyone who gets their panties in a bunch will be mocked mercilessly.  :)

This is just a place for me to get my art on, I hope you will enjoy this crazy little corner of the Internet!

E