Makeup Brush Case DIY

My makeup brushes have gotten out of control.  I really love them and take good care of them, cleaning at least once a month with a mixture of alcohol and water (or brush solution from Sephora).  FYI - my favorite brushes are from Real Techniques.  You can get them at ULTA or on their site, but they are wonderful and affordable.  I love my two MAC brushes, but one of them costs as much as an entire set from Real Techniques. 

However, they were all over the place.  I saw this tutorial on how to make a case for them and am so glad I did it.  It was easy and I learned a few more things by doing it.  You could make it for paint brushes, curling irons, whatever! The possiblities!

I do have to say that mine doesn't look quite as professional as the one in the tutorial, but it's fine for me considering it's probably going to have eyeliner all over it in no time. 

IMPORTANT:
I did learn that you need to make sure that there's only a little bit of the cord on the inside of the case that you flip inside out so there's a lot of cordon the outside of the case  when you are done.  My dumbass did this the opposite so when I flipped it to the right side out there was an itty-bitty nub of a cord.  DON'T DO THAT! I made it work by cutting the long cord from the inside and attaching it to the outside where it should have been in the first place.  It looks a little janky, but it's for me, so I don't really care.  If I was to make this as a gift for someone, I will do it right next time. 

You live and you learn!

Easy Baby Gifts & Learning to love sewing

I should start calling this blog Chicks with Needles, but that takes on a really dark meaning. No, but really, I'm trying to become one with my sewing machine.  My mom gave it to me a few years ago on my birthday and I've had a love/hate relationship with her ever since.  She's a tempermental bitch, so I'm not sure I can trust her yet.  I've had some hard times getting to know her, but I think we are on the path to friendship.  I would go upstairs, play with the machine for a bit, something would go wrong, I'd call my mom in a panic and then the anxiety of it all would make me want to ignore it for a few more months.  Now, I really enjoying making things, but I've got to get a few things down.  Here's a detail of my latest project I'm making for a family member....

Last weekend I decided to try to make a baby gift for a family member.  Let me just say that it did NOT start off well.  On Good Friday we got let out of work early so I decided after seeing this on Pinterest to try to make something like it of my own. 

I'm by no means an expert sewer, I'm definately a beginner.  I had some issues with my machine that night and literally spent 6 hours trying to resolve them.  6 freaking hours! First my mom came over and helped me fix my bobbin spooling issues, then when my husband came home I had ALL KINDS of issues that I couldn't figure out.  I studied the manual, I did trouble shooting, I watched YouTube video after You Tube video until I figured it out.  It was a rough night for me, but when I start something, I am determined to figure it out.  I haven't taken a sewing class, so everything I've learned has been from the manual, my mom or tutorials on the web.  I really could use a class sometime. 

Once my machine problems were figured out, I started on the blanket.  I tried following the directions in the post I linked to above from Juicy Bits.  Where I got confused was with the binding.  I totally messed it up.  I did the one side and realized it looked like crap so I took a break for a few days from it.  Last night I saw a post from Crazy Mom Quilts and it all clicked.  I went home and did the binding and while it's not perfect, I'm really happy with my first baby blanket. 

The burp rags are made from cloth diapers and scraps from the blanket fabric.  I've given these as gifts before and people like them because they are so thick and can absorb a lot more than other burp rags.  There is this Heat & Bond stuff that makes the onesie/burp rag making a lot easier.  It really does help the fabric stay attached to what you are sewing.  I highly recommend it. 

 Here's the final gift! It's by no means perfect, but I'm still proud! Included is 1 blanket, 2 burp rags and 2 wash cloths.  I got the wash cloth tutorial on 2 Little Hooligans.  I included a tag with one of my favorite stamps that reads: You aren't going to believe this, but I MADE THIS.  Now jump up and down and get excited or something!

So what would I do differently? 

• Learn to bind a quilt properly
• Sew in a straight line! A basic, that I should know by now.  I'm getting better, but there are some handy tricks that I want to try from Prudent Baby. 
• Line the pattern up properly so that what you want to be seen doesn't get cut off.  I was bummed I cut off some of the cutest parts of this fabric. 
• Figure out a better way to sew stretchy fabric

There you have it! Easy baby gifts and I enjoy playing with my sewing machine now!

Another wreath

Nautical yarn wreath

I made this one for my mother in law for Christmas. 

Christmas Wreath

 

This wreath was so quick and easy compared to my yarn wreaths.  I used ribbon for the wrap and to make the flowers look more realistic I used a needle and thread to make them.  I really like how it turned out.  

DIY Framing Hatch Print Yourself Saves Major $

My husband and I have 15+ Hatch Show Prints from the various concerts we've seen at The Ryman here in Nashville.  If you aren't familiar with Hatch Prints, you should watch this You Tube Video:

Our collection has grown quite a bit and we cannot afford to have them professionally framed.  Every Hatch Print is different and one of a kind, so it's hard to find a frame to fit it just right.  We decided to buy a mat cutter off Amazon and use coupons from Michaels to buy the rest of the supplies and do it ourselves.






Mat - $6.99 at Michaels (+ 40% off coupon)
Frame - $44 at Michaels (50% off)
Mat Cutter - $20
= Total of $46 and we will have the mat cutter for future framing projects.  Well worth the money to us.

 Helpful tips:
Use an oversized ruler like the one we used as a guide.  This is actually from my sewing set, but is severely helpful because of all the guides it has on it.  Also, having help from someone to put pressure on the ruler while gliding the mat cutter is helpful.  You have to push the blade into the mat, so you can easily push it off the guideline you wanted to cut without help.

Here's the final product! We are really happy with how it turned out. 

New Wreath!

This one is an Autumn themed wreath.  I used multi-colored yarn and buttons on this one.  You can buy this wreath if you like at my Etsy Shop.