Framed Patriotic Book Cover

A while back I picked up some vintage books to have on hand for various projects. One of them had an eagle and crest debossed on the front cover which I immediately thought would make a great Independence Day decoration. Well, seeing as how it's only four days away I figured I should actually finish it and put it on display!

After ripping off the cover I brushed white paint over the top of the design and wiped the excess off trying to keep some of the paint in the grooves of the design.

I thought it looked okay, but I wanted red in there, too. So I painted red, let that dry, then painted white over the top again.

I found a frame (in my stash) that was, thankfully, just the right size. Laying the glass on the book cover I traced it, then used a heavy-duty metal ruler and a Stanley knife to cut it to size.

For the frame I painted it with white craft paint first, then blue to make sure I would get a bright color. (By the way it was a major pain trying to get the paint deep down into all those crevices around the "carved" designs on the frame.)

Then I mixed up some light blue paint, dabbed a paper towel in it, and lightly brushed it over the top of the flourishes, corners and edges.

After that I put the two together and got this--

This may be the extent of my patriotic decor this year, we'll see.

P.S. Why is it that spell check thinks bazillion is a word, but not debossed. Look it up spell checker people!


I'll be linking up to these wonderful blog parties!

Remodelaholic Friday -- The DIY Showoff Project Parade -- Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special -- Sunday Showcase Party -- Flaunt it Friday -- Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Frugal Friday -- Seven Thrity Three -- Weekend Wander -- Wallet-Friendly Wednesday -- Transformation Thursday -- Show Off Your Stuff -- Furniture Feature Friday -- Show and Share Day -- Create and Share -- Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Tip Me Tuesday -- Thrilling Thursday -- Fun with Food Friday -- Take a Look Tuesday -- Saturday is Crafty Day -- It's Fun to Craft! -- Show Me What Ya Got -- A Crafty Soiree -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Whatever Goes Wednesday -- Craft o Maniac Monday -- Pink Hippo Party -- Craft Catwalk -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Let's Get Crafty Saturday -- Catch as Catch Can -- Craftastic Monday -- Friday Flair -- We Did it Wednesday! -- Creative Bloggers Party -- Your Whims Wednesday -- Amaze Me Monday -- Polly Want 2 Party -- I Heart Naptime

Out on a Limb No. 7

Wow, it's been a while since I've done Out on a Limb Tuesday.  I guess I'm discouraged about getting very little participation (but very grateful to those who have linked up in the past!).  But I'll keep going on and hope for some more link ups.

I did want to feature the last project that was linked up in #6.  It's a beautiful little girls dress (with tutorial!) made by my friend Teresa.  We knew each other before we both got married and I moved out of state.  Unfortunately she moved out of state right before I moved back!  Wah!  But I'm delighted to keep up with her via Facebook and our blogs (her's is Crafting in my Closet! ).  She is a very talented seamstress and sews lots of adorable things for her even more adorable daughter. 

I'm relenting on the rule of only being able to link up projects that are new to you in some way. Just link up any creative projects from your blog. The linky will remain open until Saturday night. (Please keep it family friendly).

**Please grab the button (or use a text link) and put it anywhere on your blog (your post, sidebar or party page).** I would like to get more participation and be able to help promote fellow bloggers!

<div align="center"><a href="http://catonalimb.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="Cat on a Limb"><img alt="Out on a Limb Tuesdays with Cat on a Limb" height="135" src="http://catonalimb.hostwebs.com/Blog_Party_Button_Final_copy.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>

Also a reminder that the giveaways will be open until Friday (sewing patterns) and Saturday (vinyl sheets)!

Pattern Giveaway -- Enter here!

Okay, so it's not officially a cool "giveaway" since it's just my stash I'm passing on to others, but a few of you expressed interest in the patterns, so I'll need to draw names for them in order to be fair.

I divided up the patterns into three groups.  It was a little difficult because there is overlap of sizes in many of the styles. 

Group #1 -- 12 Infant/Toddler patterns
Most patterns have some designs for both boys and girls. Sizes range from Newborn to 18 months on most.

Group #2 -- 16 Larger size women's patterns
Sizes range from 12 to XL.  (see size chart below)

Group #3 --  24 Smaller size women's patterns
Sizes range from XS to 14.  (see size chart below)

I've included the size chart to help you know which size you are.  Please read:  Unfortunately the sizing system for apparel in stores is completely messed up.  The sizes are not consistent between designers, and sometimes even with the same designer.  And they are NOT the same as the sewing pattern sizes.  There are even problems with the size chart they list on their patterns.  The "ease" [extra space to make sure you can move in the clothes] they add to their clothing patterns is far more than necessary, making the clothes too big and baggy, even when something is supposed to be fitted.  I've discovered I needed to find the size with my measurements, then go down one size (sometimes even two sizes, like from 14 to 12 or 14 to 10) and cut out that size instead of the one that matches my measurements.   So that should help you know which size you really are -- no matter what the pattern company says! ha ha [FYI, this is true for Simplicity, Butterick and McCalls.  I'm not sure about any other brands]

To enter:  Simply leave a comment with which group you would like.  You can leave a separate comment if you would like to enter for more than one group of patterns.  I'll leave the comments open until Friday at 8 pm PST and will announce the winners on Monday. 

*Be sure to come back tomorrow when I'll post a giveaway to celebrate 200 followers!  Yay!  (Retail value is more than $100)*

WARNING! Not for Long Term Storage!

Many of you probably know already, but I thought I would "blow the whistle" to alert anyone else who may not be aware... CDs / DVDs are NOT intended for long term storage.  [Recommended 2 years or less.]  I found this out the hard way.

I had every intention of linking up to laxsupermom's Before Blogging Throwback link party.  It's an awesome idea she came up with to help us showcase projects we did before we started blogging.  So I thought I would link up my wedding dress and flowers.   I pop the CD with our wedding photos on it into the computer and... nothing.  "Do you want to burn to this disk?" -- aka. BLANK disk.  I even downloaded some software that's supposed to recover lost files on CDs, but it found nothing.  Nooooooo!!!

To be reasonable, this is probably not the end of the photos all together.  The family members who took photos (we couldn't afford a pro photographer!) probably still have them... although hopefully they didn't move them to CDs!

Simple Pleasures -- A Cardboard Box

I'm so glad children find joy in simple things. Especially easy to make, free things. Like a cardboard house. Just cut out squares in the sides and top, you end up with fun and laughter for... at least 45 minutes. Maybe more. We'll see.

It's going to be a hot one today.  We may spend the day wasting time in various air conditioned locations. 

As of tomorrow, happy summer everyone!!

Another Shirt Refashion - with Obi Belt

Here's another one of my shirt refashions that (thankfully) only took two days to complete because I put off other things (dishes, house work) to make it happen.  My husband said "But you just made a shirt!"  Yeah.  So?  Right now he has at least twice as many shirts as I do, and I don't like most of mine!  So I'm taking time to make some shirts (and other clothes) for myself that fit and that I really like. 

Just an aside -- I'm going to start saving up for a coverstitch machine.  It's basically a serger with the added ability to sew a "coverstitch".  It will make working with knits a whole lot easier.

Back to the shirt... here's what I started with.  I loved the print, but definitely not the style of the cut.  Boring!

So I bought a little bit (1/4 yard) of contrasting fabric and turned it in to this --

I think I'm becoming a wee bit obsessed with obi belts. I'll be making a leather one from my stash at some point.
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I'll be linking up this project to these great parties--



Monday - Craft o Maniac Monday -- Pink Hippo Party -- Craft Catwalk -- Craftastic Monday -- Amaze Me Monday -- Polly Want 2 Party -- Making the World Cuter Monday -- Tuesday - Get Your Craft On -- Sew Cute Tuesday -- Tip Me Tuesday -- Take a Look Tuesday -- Show Me What Ya Got -- Tuesday Time Out -- Wednesday - Seven Thrity Three -- Wallet-Friendly Wednesday -- Show Off Your Stuff -- Create and Share -- A Crafty Soiree -- Whatever Goes Wednesday -- We Did it Wednesday! -- Your Whims Wednesday -- Thursday - Strut your Stuff Thursday -- Transformation Thursday -- Thrilling Thursday -- Friday - Remodelaholic Friday -- Flaunt it Friday -- Frugal Friday -- Weekend Wander -- Furniture Feature Friday -- Show and Share Day -- Fun with Food Friday -- It's Fun to Craft! -- Tickled Pink Fridays -- Weekend Wrap-up Party -- Catch as Catch Can -- Friday Flair -- Saturday - Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special -- Saturday is Crafty Day -- Let's Get Crafty Saturday -- Sunday - The DIY Showoff Project Parade -- Sunday Showcase Party -- Creative Bloggers Party -- I Heart Naptime

Shirt Refashion - From Baggy to Fitted

Here's my first project from my stash-busting mission!

One night (a long while back when we still lived in Utah) I went to Macy's looking for some shirts [and pants too, but I never find pants that fit right].  It just so happened they were having a big clearance sale, plus an extra 40% off the lowest clearance price.  Sweet!  I ended up getting a bunch of shirts for $5-$7 each.  Unfortunately most of them needed some sort of alteration or refashioning.  One of them actually didn't need anything changed, which is rare for me.  Ha ha!

This shirt started off as a super overly baggy, tunic length shirt with a belt.  I'm sure some photographer made a teensie little model look great in it, but that type of fit just isn't my style.

Ugh. It took lots of pinning and frustration working with the 10+ extra inches around the shirt. I took it in at the sides (going all the way up, including the underarm and down the sleeve tapering to the cuff so I wouldn't have to bother with remaking the cuff to fit the new sleeve). I also added darts to the front and back (along the princess lines) for a better fit and cut about 6" off the bottom and sewed up the new hemline.

To finish it off I took one of the faux leather cords off of the belt, since it seemed like a bit too much with two.

Now I like it.

One project down, only 15 bazillion more to go!
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Linking to the parties on my Blog Link Parties page.

Going on a Fast

I've decided to go on a fast.

A project-acquisition fast.

Why?  Because this is what my creative space looks like right now.  

I have so many things I've purchased (including decor, furniture, fabric for clothing, clothing to refashion, etc) that I just haven't gotten around to completing!  I've decided it's time to actually start completing those unfinished projects (or get rid of them completely).  I'm going to see how far I can get on just the things I have right now.  I will allow myself to purchase some small supplies to help me complete the projects such as buttons, thread, glue, paint, sandpaper, etc, but no new projects to work on.

I especially need to get started on using my fabric stash.  I got a little addicted shopping Fabric.com's clearance section (with free shipping after $35 and frequent 15-20% off total purchase coupons) that I acquired a lot of great quality fabric for awesome prices. The big obstacle right now is making slopers (basic patterns used to create other designs) custom with my measurements so I can start designing and creating clothing that will fit me perfectly.  Being tall has made it very difficult to find anything that will fit me right (so I don't really have many clothes currently available to wear).  Also being "cheap" I find myself purchasing ill-fitting clothing on the clearance racks (like cute shirts at Macy's for $5 each!) with the intention of altering it... but then getting around to doing it is another story!

So.  No more new projects for me until I work through what I've got.  How long will it take me?  We shall see!

P.S.  Are there any other project hoarders collectors out there like me?