Wacky Wednesday #67—Strawberries

 

Today I’m wearing placemats. And why not? That’s what Wacky Wednesday is all about: crazy FUN!

Today’s creation started taking shape when I found some strawberry placemats at a thrift store and decided that they had Wacky Wednesday appeal. I love that these berry placemats are many times bigger than actual strawberries. A change in scale always sets the tone for fun.

 

I love strawberries—one of my favorite flavors—so this is a happy association for me, more appealing than if I’d found cabbage-themed placemats. Oh sure, cabbage is good for you, but it’s not in my top ten favorite vegetables. Strawberries? A different matter. They are colorful, delicious, and good for us—a source of fiber, Vitamin C and antioxidants (but hey, this is just a bonus—really, they’re just yummy).

One appealing aspect of wearing giant strawberries is that their shape is identifiable from quite a distance. You don’t have to be inches away from me to understand these shapes. For me, red is a happy color, a celebration. It energizes, and is full of life. And since I don’t live near any bulls, I won’t be charged by any horned beasts who see my red outfit.

 

(Fun fact: I just learned that when bulls charge at a red cape it has nothing to do with the color red. They are colorblind to red. It is the waving of the cape that leads them to charge.)

Anyway, when I saw these placemats for sale at Goodwill, I knew they could become a costume. Fun to wear. Fun to see. Good all around.

Total spent for today’s costume:

5 placemats from Goodwill                          $ 1.99

Red fabric for hat (already had)                  $       0

Fabric for earrings (already had)                 $       0

Hot glue sticks                                                $    .30

Red skirt and tank top (already had)          $       0

_________________________________________

Grand total                                                       $ 2.29

More fun facts: strawberries aren’t true berries. They are a member of the rose family. SAY WHAT?

Final fun fact: the ancient Romans believed that strawberries were medicinal. They used the berries to help with depression, fever, fainting, bad breath, kidney stones, and sore throats.

As I child in the 80s I had a Strawberry Shortcake doll, like the one below. My sister had a Blueberry Muffin doll--similar, but with blue hair. Both dolls’ hair smelled sweet.

It’s funny—today’s costume took less time to make than other costumes because I didn’t paint or create these big berries myself. But several people told me that this was one of their favorites among the costumes I’ve made. Red is cheerful, yes. And maybe strawberries remind people of summer, a season most of us love. Who knows? Either way, I’m glad that people liked this costume….

Well, it’s been fun talking berries with you, but the bees are swarming around my outfit, so it’s time to take off the strawberries and set the table for dinner. Berry placemats, anyone?

www.instagram.com/sarahconleyartist

Cheap Frills # 6: Garden Wall in Four Hours

Have you ever had an idea that was months or years in the making? I sure have. Let me share the story of the wall I’ve been working on for a few days. It’s outside our house and I am thrilled with how it turned out. A few days ago I finally set the ball rolling on something that seems to have been in the works for ages. Last year I bought some cement blocks from my local home improvement store. I thought I was going to build a semi-circular wall around a tree in our front yard, and paint it cheerful colors. Well, the tree had other ideas. Those pesky roots were bumpy and unpredictable and I lost interest when it took a lot of effort to try to make the blocks level. Fast forward til this year. I decided that I could build a semi-circular wall in another spot. I wish I’d done this ages ago but sometimes these ideas need to ferment a while. A long, long while.

Here are the before and after photos:

 

Landscapers might say that I’ve created a focal point in this wedge of land. The wall separates the space into a lower and an upper area, which is visually interesting. The paint adds color and fun. The wall makes the space more personal, because the owner designed and created it according to her own taste and style.

What I’d say is this: I love my new wall. It ROCKS! Color? Yes. More interesting than before? Yes! Cheerful? Yes!

This project turned out to be very inexpensive, as I already had the plants, cement blocks, paint and brushes. For something like this I use an inexpensive paint brush made with horse hair (not nylon) because the rough texture of the cement block will chew up the bristles.

If you didn’t have supplies, you’d have to buy or find them (sometimes the very supplies you need are available and even free on Craigslist). The 15” concrete blocks are roughly $1 each where I live. I didn’t use mortar between them because if I change my mind and want to reconfigure them, it will be easy to remove them. They are not holding dirt in—just providing an accent to the mini garden. The acrylic paint I chose is from the craft supply store and is inexpensive (69 cents for 2 ounces), as are the brushes (99 cents each). The paint I used isn't made specifically for outdoor use so it may fade with time. But that's okay. I don't need this wall to be there for another 100 years. (If you did want something that would resist fade you could have your paint store mix up colors that are designed for outdoor use and have a bit of shine to them, to fight fade.) I used 9 blocks and two half blocks. Your wall might be smaller or bigger than that but using these blocks is a very affordable way to add some fun to your yard.

This photo shows how I used paint colors in the same family. My dominant color is medium blue with darker blues, purples and aquas added for accents. This gives the wall some more interest but the colors are harmonious and work as a whole:

 

 

I won’t do a tutorial in a step-by-step fashion but here are some tips:abc

·         Figure out the length of the wall you want. Figure out how many blocks you will need. Place your center block first, so that the wall looks centered. (This applies if you have a very short wall—mine is less than 6’ long. With a longer wall you don’t need to worry about this as much.)

·         Try to get each layer of cement blocks level. I used a two-foot level. My wall is not 100% level but it’s close. Hey, I’m not building a bridge. It’ll be okay…

·         If you hate your paint choice half way through, as I did, fear not. Just keep going. The blue I chose looked really intense once I’d painted most of the blocks. But I added some lighter tones and darker tones and just kept going. (If you finish and really, really hate it, just try another paint color. It’s cheap and dries fast.)

·         Once your wall has been painted, add plants in front of it, behind it, inside the blocks on the top level, and on top of the wall. This makes the wall look like it is part of the scene rather than an intruder in it. This helped a lot with my mixed feelings about the colors.

This wall took four hours to make. That seemed like a very reasonable amount of time, especially because I was really happy with the result. I feel pretty silly for not doing this sooner. Those cement blocks sat out front (in a semi-organized half-square around the tree)—for almost six months. Perhaps longer! They didn’t look great but I just didn’t know what to do with them. I wish I’d figured out earlier how I wanted to use them. But I suppose life is not always a linear process. My life isn’t! It has twists and turns and dead ends and sloppy figure eights. But I’m delighted with my wall and so I’ll just focus on that. Do you have any home improvement projects that you can tackle this weekend? It’s a great feeling to do it yourself. Go for it!

Cheap Frill Tutorial #5: Belt or Headband or ???

Let’s cut up our clothes!

Yep, I said it and I meant it.

Now, I don’t mean you should grab the nearest pair of scissors and cut to shreds every last article of clothing you own. That would not be practical, given that it is winter (at least here).

What I mean is this: do you own an article of clothing that isn’t working for you? You love the color or fabric but something about it isn’t right? Don’t be afraid to take some scissors to it and make it better!

I recently bought a shirt at a thrift store (LOVE thrift stores—more on that in the future). I liked the fabric and knew I could use it for a SSP (Someday Sewing Project). At home I tried it on and didn’t like how the elasticized waist band sat so I cut off the waist band. Then I promptly forgot about it because it’s December and I have a lot to do before the 25^th!

A few days ago, in my attempt to reconfigure the avalanche of stuff in my art studio, I found the delightful scrap of fabric that I’d cut off the shirt. Either I was procrastinating getting back to reorganizing the studio or I was inspired to share what this scrap of fabric could be. 

(Now before I go further I feel a little sheepish even calling this a tutorial. Except for the initial cutting of fabric, there is nothing involved in this tutorial. Is it even a tutorial? Oh well. Maybe I’ll call it an idea…)

Headband:

This waistband from the shirt was elasticized and it could stretch around my head twice. If you have a scrap of fabric that doesn’t stretch around twice, stretch it around once and tie the ends at the back of your head. Colorful, keeps my bangs off my face, and keeps ears warm. (Cleopatra eye makeup entirely optional.) 

 

 

Headband-Scarf Combo:

Again, my fabric scrap was long, so I had enough material to make a figure 8 (the part where the loops cross goes at the back of your neck). This one is fun because it looks a little different, and keeps both ears and neck warm (which is a major bonus in a freezing place like San Diego!). 

Belt:

If your scrap of fabric is too long, gather the extra and fold it back and forth a few times in front before anchoring it with a fun pin you’ve made with felt and beads. (If you haven’t made a pin like that, don’t worry. Even a safety pin would do. But fun pin is obviously just more fun!)  

Actually, there could be a lot more options with this loop of fabric. You could wrap it around your wrist a bunch o f times as a funky bracelet. There may be endless possibilities.

A word of caution: if you are going to keep pieces of fabric for SSPs (Someday Sewing Projects) or FAPs (Future Art Projects), please learn from my story and know that you may end up with a huge amount of stuff because almost anything can be repurposed. The danger is that you may end up with an avalanche of stuff in the room where you keep such things. But this is the case when you have lots of creative ideas. It goes with the territory.

And now I must get back to my studio reorganization. I know you’re curious about all the other random things I’m finding in there, but I must put my foot down and insist that you wait until January. Please, no more interrupting me!

Crayon Time!

Cheap Frills Tutorial #4

Are you familiar with crayon rubbing? It’s a craft technique also known as crayon impression or texture rubbing. I’m going to teach you how to make unique greeting cards with textured elements.

You may associate crayons with people under the age of 10. But let’s open up the fun to those of all ages. I find using crayons to be an instant trip to happiness. Crayons are so colorful, easy to use and inexpensive. They also allow you to make something quickly because there is no dry time.  

Many people profess not to be creative, but I think they underestimate themselves. Crayon rubbings are fun and you do not have to be a professional artist to do them. No one is pressuring you to recreate Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel! Get yourself some crayons and paper and don’t be afraid. Just give it a try!

Things you will need:

1.      Blank note cards or card stock (paper that is thicker than regular paper)

2.      Envelopes for your note cards

3.      Scissors

4.      Glue

5.      Crayons

6.      An assortment of household items that have a raised design (simple is fine—see below)

If you are using a sheet of cardstock instead of a pre-folded blank card, cut your cardstock so that when folded, it will fit into your envelope.

Next, walk around your home and look for everyday items that have raised texture that will create impressions. The texture needs to be somewhat rigid. (For example, the bristles on a toothbrush are textured but they are too flexible for this technique, and you won’t get a clear impression when you rub.) I found it fun to walk from room to room and spot things that would make interesting impressions.

Here are some household items I used to make impressions:

·        Buttons

·        Rick rack

·        Tread on the bottom of a shoe

·        A corrugated tin can

·        The fake snakeskin on my wallet

·        Legos

·         The tines of a fork

 

Once you start looking, you’ll notice that there are many everyday things that have texture. Metal items give particularly good results as the metal is firm and the impression will be quite clear. Here are a tin can and the grate from our coffee maker. Both have raised and lowered parts, which will make clear impressions.

Get some plain paper and place a sheet over the item with the texture. Use your crayon to color the area above your textured item. Hold your item in place with one hand while coloring with your other hand.

TIP: The harder you press while coloring, the darker the texture will be and the more contrast you will see between the high and low parts of the texture.

TIP: If you are rubbing crayon over a pattern with a direction, color in the opposite direction. In other words, if your textured item has lines running up and down, color from left to right. This will make the texture show up much better.

TIP: There is no right or wrong to this technique. Whichever colors you like are fine. Experiment! Some items I used (like buttons) did not pick up the texture as well as I expected. Oh well. Try something else.

TIP: If you like how a rubbing has turned out, consider layering another color on top of it. Turn your paper a bit so that the impression from the first crayon will not match up perfectly with the impression from your second crayon. This will be a more visually interesting effect. Here are the results of my impressions using the corrugated side of tin can. On the left, I pressed down on my crayon with more force. The result is a darker look. On the right, I did not press as hard and I left a little white space, which makes a lighter effect.

 

The next photo shows how different patterns and colors created a variety of effects.

 

 

When you have an assortment of rubbings (at least six, but why stop there?), pick several for your first greeting card. I decided to make a flower so I began cutting petals out of my rubbings. Here is how it looked when I had my pieces cut out: 

 

I lay my pieces on my cardstock and tried a few arrangements. When I was happy with how things looked, I got a glue stick and glued each piece in place. Try to get a uniform layer of glue so that each piece sticks well to the card. (Of course, let’s avoid having rivers of glue run down the card. Universal rule of using glue: don’t use too little, but don’t use too much, either!) Here’s my finished card:

 

Here is a card I did using only three pieces of textured coloring. I made hearts in three sizes, and layered them on top of each other. It’s a simple design but cute and will brighten someone’s day.

My last experiment was a thank you card. I used blue cardstock and picked out eight different patterns and colors, but all with a blueish look. I cut out the letters and placed them on my card before gluing them down. Once I was happy with the layout, I glued the letters down. I decided to outline each letter so that the overall message stood out from the background a little bit more.

 

Creativity does need not be expensive or involve unusual tools. The only ingredient you need is the desire to try.

Total cost: $3.

·        crayons and glue (free, because I already had them)

·        cardstock and blank greetings cards: $3 for 10 cards.

Wouldn’t you like to send people hand-made cards with fun patterns on them? If you start now, you can make them in time to send out in December. It does not take long to make a one-of-a-kind card but the personal touch means a lot to the recipient. Have fun!

 

A Batch for the Patch

Cheap Frills Tutorial #3

I’m in a festive mood this week.

Good point. I’m almost always in a festive mood, eager to decorate, ready to celebrate, crazy for costumes. But this week it is officially Halloween Season, so I’m extra festive. Leaves are turning colors and falling (yes, even in Southern California). Some of my neighbors have decorations up (oh, I love their gusto!). Costume ideas are swirling around in my brain. Let the fun begin!

It’s been a while since my last Cheap Frills tutorial, so I won’t wait a day longer. I want to share the steps for whipping up a batch of pumpkin shirts. This weekend we are going to the pumpkin patch (it’s more a farm but let’s not split hairs). And what is more fitting than a batch of pumpkins (in the form of shirts) at the patch of pumpkins?

 

The first time I made one of these shirts was when I was 6 months pregnant. I figured that I should use my round shape as it would enhance the 3-d pumpkin effect. I’ve worn this shirt every October since. One can get many years of use from this shirt. (This shirt is double fun: cute, and cost-effective!)

(I feel a little silly even calling this a tutorial as it’s not very complicated. But no excuse is needed for fun holiday-themed outfits.) Let the crafting begin!

Supplies needed:

1)     Find an orange t-shirt. You could take one from your closet if you happen to have one. Or dye a white t-shirt orange. I bought our shirts at Michael’s craft store for $2.99 each.

2)     Get some black felt (a great deal at Michaels: 29 cents for a 9” x 12” piece, which is more than enough felt for one shirt.) Why felt? Because it doesn't fray.

3)     Find fabric glue or hot glue (I love hot glue because it’s cheap and dries fast.). If you love to sew, you could use black thread instead of glue. This tutorial involves glue, which gives quicker results than thread and I don’t know about you, but I need time-savers!

4)     Grab a pair of scissors. Those designed for cutting fabric are best, but ordinary scissors work, too.

5)     Find some straight pins, safety pins or tape, and a piece of cardboard.

 Instructions:

1)     Cut three triangles out of black felt. Mine are roughly 3” high by 2” wide, but you can make them as big or small as you like. From a design standpoint, it makes sense to put bigger eyes, nose and mouth on a shirt for an adult, and smaller eyes, nose and mouth on a shirt for a child. But there’s no wrong way to do this. Just have fun with it. If you feel nervous about cutting triangles, make a template for yourself using paper. Just fold a piece of paper and cut a half triangle shape across the fold. Open it up and you have a symmetrical triangle. Make adjustments if you don’t like the size or shape of your triangle. Some people like the eyes to be bigger than the nose but the sizes and shapes of your triangles are up to you. (And who says you have to do triangles? You could make eyes of any shape you like. I’m suggesting triangles because they are a classic jack-o-lantern feature.)

2)     Lay your shirt flat on a bed or table. This will help you to find the center of the shirt.

3)     Pin the eyes and nose onto your shirt, roughly where you think you’d like them. (Use tape if you prefer.)

4)     Cut a mouth out of felt. If you don’t feel comfortable cutting without a template, use the folded paper trick from Step 1 to create a half smile (or scary grimace). Unfold and you have a symmetrical smile. Pin or tape the mouth below the nose.

5)     Try on your shirt and find a mirror. If you don’t like the placement of the eyes, nose and mouth, take the pins out (or tape off) and make adjustments to the location of your jack-o-lantern face. When you are happy with the placement, lay your shirt down on a flat surface. Put a piece of cardboard inside the shirt, under the spot where you will use glue. The cardboard ensures that the glue will not seep through the front of the shirt and onto the back. Use fabric glue or hot glue to attach the eyes, nose and mouth to the shirt. (Take the pins or tape off right before you glue or sew the felt pieces.) Allow the glue to dry for the length of time recommended in the instructions (hot glue takes only a few minutes to dry fully, which is why it is my favorite.) Remove cardboard. If you feel inspired, add extra touches (eyelashes, a moustache, a bow tie, eye glasses, or whatever you like).

6)     (If you are really obsessed with crafts, as I am, and if you really want to avoid doing boring household chores, as I do, repeat Steps 1-5 on the back of your shirt. You will be a jack-o-lantern coming and going, which is twice as fun.) Now wear this shirt and show your HalloweEnthusiasm! 

Let’s break down our cost (assuming you already had glue): $2.99 for the shirt, plus 29 cents for the felt. Grand total: $3.28. I like to wear my shirt at least 5-6 times per October so that I’m really feeling the spooky season. The shirt will last for years, so this is a lot of bang for your buck!

 

 

Super-Duper Sunglasses

Cheap Frills Tutorial #2

 

 

Hey, y’all. I’m back with my second tutorial . I’m all about making fun, creative, colorful things to wear or enjoy, and making them on the cheap makes me especially happy.

This tutorial involves turning sunglasses that are just there into sunglasses with flair.

(Honestly, though, I feel a little silly even calling this a tutorial. It’s so easy to do and hardly requires specific directions. But I’ll plow on and share with you a quick, simple way to bring some fun to your face.)

 

1.   Get your hands on some inexpensive sunglasses. The pair I’m transforming cost $4.

 

 



2.  Look through your nail polish stash and decide which colors you want to use. (If you don’t have a nail polish stash but you want to make over your sunglasses, you can find inexpensive nail polish in every color of the rainbow for as little as $1. Why nail polish? It comes with its own tiny brush, it comes in a ton of great colors, and it is durable.)

 

3.  Make sure the rims of your sunglasses are clean. Open the glasses and stabilize them on something that will support them and keep them steady. Because I’m ultra-classy (and because I’d just come back from the store) I had a package of toilet paper nearby and found that propping the open sunglasses on a roll of tp worked very well. The tp has some give but also is fairly firm, which keeps the sunglasses from moving while you’re painting them.

4.  I started painting the outside rims of my glasses. I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue my design all the way across the front of the glasses. There’s no wrong way to do this, so relax! I chose to do polka dots because I love them, but you could paint stripes or squiggles or anything that comes to mind. When you start to paint with the nail polish brush, make sure that there is enough polish on the brush but not so much that you will get a giant flood of polish on your glasses. If you want to make a very tiny design, dip a toothpick into your nail polish and make your design with it.

5.    Nail polish dries within a few minutes but I recommend allowing your newly-painted glasses to dry for an hour or two before you wear them. Some of my polka dots were thick and I wanted to be sure they were 100% dry before I did my test drive with them.

6.   Wear your super-duper sunglasses out and enjoy the fun of having a completely unique accessory. I got a compliment on mine the first day I wore them. People will notice that your glasses have personality, and so do you!

 

Total cost: $5. (I already had several cheery shades of nail polish but I bought sparkly blue for $1, plus $4 for the glasses.)  

Cheap Frills Tutorial: Trashion Earrings

As you know, I love Do It Yourself projects, and I get special happiness from making something unique for little or no cost. Sometimes the most creative results come from the challenge of making an accessory from something you already have. Recently I decided that my blog needs a tutorial section, with instructions and photos in case anyone wants to try some of the things that have brought me such fun. Many times I’ve heard people say they are not creative enough to make things to brighten their world. And they’re wrong! Anyone can make things to bring a more personalized look to their house, yard, clothes, or to their life.

Welcome to my new tutorials section: “Cheap Frills.”

At first I thought I’d call this feature “Cheap Thrills,” as it gives me a thrill to make something cool yet budget-friendly. But a few hours later I decided that “Cheap Frills” was an extra-fun play on words and conveyed my mission to create or revamp things very inexpensively for fabulously memorable results.

(In this case “frills” does not refer to miles of 1980s rose-printed fabric, gathered and bunched into puffy drapes. No, for my purposes, frills will refer to any embellishment that makes a house, garden, wall, clothing item, earring, mirror, shoes (ETC!) more fantastic.)

Let the frilling begin!

My first Cheap Frills Tutorial is a fun pair of DIY earrings. (You can’t have too many pairs of DIY earrings. It is not possible!)

This is a trashion project. Trashion is exactly what it sounds like: taking materials that some might consider trash or recycling and turning them into creative, wearable conversation-pieces. (I know. I’m excited, too!)

Supplies Needed:

·         Junk mail or other glossy pieces of paper (magazines, etc)

·         Scissors

·         Glue sticks

·         1 post-it (3” x 3”)

·         1 sheet of paper

·         Clear packing tape

·         Ear wires (craft stores like Michael’s carry them for less than $1/pair)

·         Needle-nosed pliers

·         Standard sewing needle and thread (color of your choice)

How to make your own fabulous junk mail earrings:

1.       Cut up your junk mail. (I keep only the pieces that have colors or patterns I like.)

 

 

2.       Choose pieces for your first pair of earrings. (I chose a rainbow theme this time but you could do absolutely anything that speaks to you. I like pieces with some text on them because it adds more visual texture. For fun, I sometimes use only part of a word (or turn it upside down).

3.       (This step involves a post-it, and can be skipped if you prefer to glue your junk mail directly to a piece of paper.) Stick your post it to a piece of paper. The post-it becomes the back of your earrings. (I used a turquoise post-it because I wanted my earrings to be colorful on the backside.)

 

 

4.       Glue pieces of your junk mail to the post-it (or directly to your piece of paper).

 

 

5.       When the post-it is covered with junk mail, peel it off the sheet of paper. Cut the post-it into two pieces. They can be exactly the same shape or slightly different shapes.

 

 

 

 

6.       Get your clear packing tape and cut a small piece (half an inch by one inch). Repeat.

7.       Fold one piece of packing tape over the top edge of your earring and secure to the back of the paper earring. This tape won’t be seen but it reinforces the top of the earring. Repeat for other paper earring.

 

 

 

8.     Get your ear wires. If the loop at the bottom of each wire is not completely closed, use needle-nosed pliers to close the loops. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, find a friend or neighbor who owns tools and who can help you. It will take a minute or less—literally!)

 

 

9.       Thread your needle and tie a small knot in the end of your thread. Starting from the back of your paper earring, push your needle through the top of your paper earring, where it is reinforced with tape. Pull it all the way through until the knot touches the back of your paper earring. Put your needle through the loop of your ear wire, and then back through the front of your paper earring. Pull the needle and thread until the ear wire is roughly 1/8 of an inch above the earring paper. Repeat several times until you think the ear wire and the paper earring are securely attached to each other. Tie a double knot in your thread and snip away extra thread. Repeat for the second earring.

 

 

10.   Wear your fabulous custom earrings out and be prepared for ooohs and ahhhs.

 

 

Trashion Earrings from Junk Mail. I already had ear wires, supplies and junk mail so my total cost: zero! Total fun: HUGE!