Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Booooooo!

Happy Halloween everyone!

I have to be honest: I love Halloween! I love dressing up in costume and pretending to be someone different! Unfortunately, this year I'm not doing anything to celebrate it. Then I got an idea from some dolly friends (meaning, fellow doll collectors/ooakers ): Halloween for my dolls! Since I couldn't dress up myself, and because it's cheaper to make costumes for my 1:6 scale friends, I decided last minute to do this! So less then a week ago I started putting together a few "costumes" for some of my favorite dolls. It was really fun and stretched me a bit because Barbie clothes are expensive! Well, expensive for me, lol. I ended up going through my limited doll clothes bin to see what I could come up with! But I couldn't just end it there. They need the right setting, so I decided to do my first diorama. It's extremely small and literally started gathering stuff for it two days ago, but overall, I'm pretty happy with my first attempt!

Onto the pictures!

Risen

“One life ends…another begins.” - Avatar

Reunited Love

"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." -The Princess Bride

Touched by Evil

"My, I'll bet you monsters lead innnnteresting lives." -Bugs Bunny

Romantic Rendezvous or Captured?

"I will not be denied. I'll give her the chance to come willingly. If she won't come, I'll take her by force." -Lex Luthor, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Hanging out with the Gang

"You ain't never had a friend like me!" - Aladdin

----

Costumes in order of appearance:

*Mummy - He's wrapped in gauze I bought from the dollar store! Very easy to do!

*Genie- Princess Jasmine attire I had on hand

*Girl Bunny - The pink suit I bought in a lot with some other outfits. It originally had stockings I cut off and pink feathers I replaced with white fur. The tail is a cotton ball and the ears I made out of felt and pinned to her head.

*Love smitten Lord - The blue costume is a prince outfit I had on hand.

*Fleeing Maiden - This was the most involved costume I made. 

The original dress was this:

I replaced the front panel, cut the skirt and added the underskirt, added sleeves, trim and lace. And I love it! She might have to wear this dress a little past Halloween. :)

*Witch - The purple top and black skirt I had in my stash. I made the hat out of felt.

The Diorama:

The coffin and the cat came from Michaels. The cat was originally orange that I painted black.

The tombstones, pumpkins, skeleton, background and moss all came from the dollar store!

Back with a vengeance!..... maybe...

I know, I know, I've been really, really bad. Super bad. I'm hoping to start updating more, but I have to be honest it's going to be a bit hard since my computer is broken. It's definitely not for the lack of subject matter, that's for sure! So here we go!

My all time favorite movie is Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." I love that movie. Love it, love it, love it. So here are two items that I've crafted having to do with that movie and I love them both equally.

The first, is a Gaston doll. I have a few Belles, I have a few Beasts, and I realized I needed a Gaston. Would you believe that they didn't make a Gaston doll?? (I think villains are shafted when it comes to the doll department.) Fine. I guess I'll just have to make my own! 

The Before Doll

This guy, I believe, is a Power Team action man. He was sent to me by a wonderful lady who just had him laying around and gave him to me when the doll I bought for him ended up being an epic fail. He's big, he's bulky, he's perfect for Gaston. He even has that I'm-better-then-you-and-I-know-it smirk on his lips. He just needed some refitting.

The After Doll - Gaston!

"Every last inch of me's covered with hair!" 

Yes, I did paint chest hair on him. I couldn't not do it! Anyway, he really only needed a few things for this amazing transformation. I trimmed the hairline back and molded new hair using this stuff called clay cloud. It was a pain because it dried REALLY fast, but the plus side is that it's been very durable. I sanded his nose to make it more crooked, removed the lip paint and repainted the pupils and eyebrows (and the very much  needed chest hair!). The clothing is made by me and the boots I stole off of, ironically, a Beast doll. I am more then pleased with how he turned out. So far, I haven't wanted to change anything about him!

The next thing is a necklace. I found this at the Disney store and loved it. Just loved it. But $50? I was pretty sure I could make it for less. I found a glass dome on etsy for $5, pulled out my oven bake clay and set to work. This was my result:

Although there are some minor changes I would like to make, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! It's one of my favorite necklaces and I wear it quite a bit!

Meep!

Once again, I have been HORRIBLE at keeping this thing update. My life the last few months have been hectic, to say the least. Hopefully I can get back to this. I am currently working on some wonderful projects I hope to be able to post soon!

But before all the goodie posts continue, I have to make something clear. This blog was created for the purpose of sharing craft ideas and exploring new techniques and projects. Over the past few months I have deleted comments promoting one's own site that has nothing to do with crafting. And I will continue to delete them. Any sites I mention are to share ideas and projects or sites to aid in the creating process. I'm not a billboard. If you want your site mentioned, just contact me otherwise the comments will continue to disappear.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let the fun resume!

Has it really been two months?

... I'm afraid it has been. I did lay low for a couple weeks because my March challenge kinda drained me, but I had no idea that it had been two months! So now I'm back and ready to start chronicling my ideas again. You're in trouble. ;)

I've found a new niche and I'm sure that there are going to be people who's responses are "You're doing what?" because I've already gotten a few. But I've found that I love reconstrucing Barbie dolls. I touched a little on the subject here, but because it's taken such a hold on me and I love it so much, I thought I would expand on it.

So, why dolls? A few reasons.

1) They remind me of my grandmother. She loved the collectible Barbies (the "wizard of Oz" set comes to mind) and would buy duplicates for her and for me. 

2) I've found that I can use many different crafting techniques on one doll. The perfect example was my Delenn doll. I got to sew (her costume), paint (her eyes and lips), and craft stuff (her head bone and triluminary) all in one project, without having to spend a butt load of money (of course, that can change the more detailed and "better" I want my dolls to be).

3) They take up less space and look cool then if I were to, say, make costumes for me and the hubby. Where would we wear them all to anyway??

4) Because I like it. Really, this should be enough of an answer, but alas, I know that people can't just accept that. And one thing I've realized is that there's really no difference from this and from someone playing video games or collecting trains or models or remote control cars/airplanes/helicopters/boats etc. 

How far have I gotten into it? Not very far honestly. I've been busy making things for others that I haven't gotten to engrossed into it for myself. That will change once some swaps I'm involved with are finished. But I wanted to share a few of the things I made for another person. We're involved with a swap and she wanted me to make some doll clothes for her. 

The first is based on this dress from The Swan Princess.

The pattern is my own. I actually used a slip for the white (yay for reusing!) and some scraps I had for the teal. The sleeves were the hardest part, but I think it still worked. The doll in the picture is an Aurora doll from Disney's Sleeping Beauty but I thought she would make a much better Odette. I repainted her eyes and combed her bangs to the side and I think it really looks like her! Now I just need to make one of these dresses for her!

The next is based on this Goblin King picture. 

Again, all the patterns are my own. I never knew it, but they make 1/16" eyelets, which are perfect for Barbie corsets and such. I thought they would be difficult to work with because of how small they are, but they were actually easier to use then then the 1/4" ones which I use on costumes. 

And the last (and my favoite) is a Belle inspired lolita dress based on this picture.

I love Beauty and the Beast and was so excited to make this outfit! Truthfully, I almost didn't send it to her because I loved it so much! The pattern is my own. I made the tiny roses out of red ribbon left over from Christmas. The shoes were plain barbie heels that I added clay to the front and painted. 

They were a lot of fun to make and I'm proud that I was able to accomplish it. Believe it or not, sewing in small scale is a lot more difficult then normal size! 

N.C.M #28 - #31 - The Final Posts for the Month!

Ok, so here we are at the last 4 items for National Craft Month!

#28 - Firefox's Green Lantern Cape!

For last Halloween, I was so busy making costumes for myself and 3 friends, I needed to take a break and do something that was fun. We had just brought home our kitty a couple months before and he loved sitting with me and watching me sew, I wanted to make something for him. Yes, I made him a Halloween costume. One of my friends had designed a Green Lantern costume and wanted me to make it for him and I had a bunch of scraps left over. The light bulb clicked on.

Looking at these photos makes me want to cry! He was so tiny and now at 8 months he's HUGE. Anyway, back to the cape. He didn't like it at first (as evident in the first picture), but later on I believe he began to like it. I suspect it kept him warm. I added the strap along his belly because it kept sliding around his neck. It was a nice, easy, quick project.

# 29 - Blue Shirt

You're going to stop believing me when I say I hate Simplicity patterns because of how often I use them. ;) But it was cheap (.99 cents!) and I really liked the pattern. Simplicity 3673 sat in my pattern drawer for over a year because I began to wonder if it would really look good on my figure or not. Finally, I decided I had to use it and created this amazing green dress that I love! (I promise to post pics of it soon). I liked it so much, that I decided I wanted to make it into a shirt.

I ran into a few issues with sizing, but less then I expected. The fabric is a really nice lightweight linen that I was given. It's not lined because I wanted to be able to wear it during the summer as well. I wore it this past Sunday to church and felt soooooo pretty in it! Which brings me to....

#30 - Pearl Earrings

I had made these earrings a while ago because I liked them but I didn't really have anything to wear them with. That is, until I made the blue shirt! 

Simple and feminine, these earrings are so me. It was my first piece of jewelry using copper and I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but I found that I do. I've used it a few other times and it's growing on me,

#31 - My First Purse

I wanted to post this even though it's older because I'm so proud of it. I wanted a purse with pockets. Lots and lots and lots of pockets so I could keep things nice and organized (and somehow, even with all those pockets, I failed). And I wanted it brown. Simple enough, right? Nope! I couldn't find anything I liked anywhere! So I patched some pictures together and severely butchered  pattern and came up with this.

This was the first purse that I ever made. It's made from 1 yard brown fabric, an old pair of hubby's pants (lining) and another $2 purse I got from the Salvation Army (all the zippers, clasps etc). I love this bag. It came out really well for my first attempt. (I had one lady ask me about it and she could not believe it was my first purse!) I used it non stop for over a year and it held up very, very well. The only reason I switched was because of my Doctor Who carry bag. 

So that's it! 31 projects in a month, both old and new. This was definitely a challenge for me because I didn't want to post just old things, but new as well. It helped me stretch my imagination, and taught me how to stretch my budget too! I can't promise that I would do it again, seeing how there were some days where I really didn't want to write, but we'll see. ;)

N.C.M #25, #26, and #27 - Babylon 5 and Superman Doll Recons!

It all started with my Weeping Angel Christmas Tree Topper. Reconstructing a Barbie doll into something waaaay cooler was so much fun, I thought about reconning other dolls into my favorite characters. Truthfully, I was afraid that people would scoff at me "playing with dolls" but I found that there's a whole community out there that does this! And what I found out is that I like using several different techniques on one project (sewing, using clay, painting, etc). I haven't done many so some of my techniques are still... rough, lol... but I really enjoy what I've done so far!

Delenn from Babylon 5

I'm going to post my latest one, and favorite one, first. :-D I love the show Babylon 5. If you haven't watched it, look it up! Fantastic sci-fi show. And my favorite character is Delenn, a Minbari who transforms into a Minbari-Human hybrid, which is how I made her.

She was really fun and challenging to make! I drafted the pattern for her clothing myself. The fabric was given to me, and I actually plan on using it to make a Delenn costume! I just needed a tiny bit and thought the sacrifice worth it. ;) The gold and silver trim were ribbons that I glued/sewed on. Fray Check was my best friend for this project. It would have been so time consuming to hem everything, especially when a majority of the edges were going to have trim on them anyways. 

N.C.M. #21 - #24 - Jewelry Sets

My latest kick is making jewelry. It's fun, it's easy and something I can do quickly (most times).

The first set is my favorite. The green glass beads I got from Hobby Lobby and the bronze beads from Walmart. I can't tell if they're butterflies or flowers, but they're pretty! I like this set because it's alittle more dress down because of the bronze colors.

The next set is one based on Doctor Who. The keys and blue beads are for the Tardis and the wing is for the Weeping Angels. I wish I could have a few more elements to put into this piece, to make it a little more Doctor Who-y, but perhaps less is better. I will have to change the chain because parts are tarnished. :(



The next two sets are ones I just whipped up when I was bored. They're made from glass beads I got from Joanns on sale and the clear beads came from A.C. Moore.

N.C.M #18 - #20 - Doll Clothes, Wedding Stuff and Scrapbook Page

#18 - Doll Clothes

One of my favorite dolls as a child was a handmade cloth doll my Mama bought me. She was so pretty and cuddly and I just loved her! But then I grew up, moved out and forgot all about her. When Mama passed away, I found her again. And looking at her on my shelf, I decided that I needed to make her some new clothes! (Her name is Felicia!)

The first set was from Disney's Beauty and Beast because it's my all time favorite movie!

Belle's Blue Dress

Belle's Library Dress

Belle's Christmas Dress

For her fourth dress, I chose to make Christine's pink gown from The Phantom of the Opera. I'm beyond thrilled with how this one turned out!

 I drafted the patterns for them myself. Each dress was made from scraps I had laying around so the only things I had to buy were the roses. My favorite one is Christine's because of how lovely the train turned out and she's usually wearing it. 

N.C.M #16 and #17 - Ruffly Teal Shirt and Dressform

#16 - Ruffly Teal Shirt

I really love Modcloth.com. They have some of the cutest clothing I've seen in a long time. But unfortunately for me, they don't sell their stuff in plus sizes. :( Which was heartbreaking for me when I found this amazing ruffly teal dress. But then I remembered that I bought some material on clearance that was almost identical in color! I didn't have enough to make a dress, but I did have enough to make a shirt. This was probably a good thing for me because I don't wear dresses too often.

My Version

The Original

Instead of chiffon, I used a jersey knit fabric. For the bodice, I used Butterick pattern 5454 and made the pattern for the ruffles and the bottom myself. I did put the bow on it, but I liked it better tied in the back instead of the front.

I'm actually rather pleased with how this turned out. I normally wear things where the seam is directly under my bust or without a seam, so this style was a bit weird for me. But I had several positive responses on Craftster so I may have to re-evaluate my stance on that. And my husband things I look sexy in it too. Seriously folks, the hubby stole the laptop and wrote that. Now I just have to wait for the 5 inches of snow to melt so I can wear it.

#17 - Dressform

This is something that my dear friend Hilary helped me make. Well, technically, she made it. When I started making my own clothes it was becoming slightly difficult because I was constantly trying things on to get the right fit. I wanted to buy a dressform, but at $200+ it was slightly out of my price range. That's when I found a tutorial on how to make my own dressform using duct tape! The result...

It was rather simple. Hilary just wrapped me in several layers of duct tape then cut it down the spine and I taped it back up. It took her about two and a half hours to wrap me and another two hours for me to stuff it with newspaper. Unfortunately the duct tape method is not the best to use because when stuffing, it pushes the proportions off. So certain areas I can use to help fit (shoulders and bust) but others are actually bigger then I am (waist and stomach). After I lose some weight, I want to try another method using packing tape, where it will actually be solid with much more accurate proportions. You can see the tutorial I want to use here and you can bet I'll let you know if it works or not. :)

N.C.M #13, #14, and #15 - Household Goodies

I've never really focused on making things for my house before, but lately I feel this need to create things for the house and fix it up a bit. Not huge projects, but things to make it feel more like home.

#13 - Candle Holders

I love candles. The smells, the light, the calming effect they have. And dear hubby bought me some candles for Valentine's day last year that I never used. So I broke them out only to find that I don't have a lot of candle holders. So I broke out the computer and did some searching and found an idea for using old non-functioning CDs! But I didn't want plain flat ones, I wanted to have them curved like a bowl. After some more searching I found that you can put them in the oven to make them pliable. And this is the result.

I'm really happy with how they turned out! I didn't expect the rainbow effect, but it's so pretty! To make these, it's really simple. You need a pair of heat resistant gloves, CDs or DVDs that don't work and an oven. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and put a CD in for 2-3 minutes. Test to see when the CD is pliable. Once it is, quickly and wearing your gloves bend up the edges. It starts to harden very quickly, so you want to be quick about it. I did them one at a time because of this. That's it. ***Disclaimer: You do this at your own risk! I am not responsible for anything that may happen!*** It does start to smell, so if possible have your windows open. I probably won't make anymore until it's warm enough to open windows to let it vent. :)

#14 - Coasters

I'm a huge tea drinker and unfortunately I've started to notice some rings on the table. Oops. Coasters are in order! My kitchen colors are light pink, cream, and green (because those are the colors of the dishes I have from my beloved Mama). I looked through my fabric scraps and found some that would match the colors and theme very nicely.

Umm... Yeah, that coaster really is square, it's just the angle of the picture that makes it look weird. ;) I like that they're reversible so they can be plain green when used with the dishes or pretty when alone. There's a layer of felt in the middle, so they're thin but effective.

#15 - Tea Wreath

As I said above, I'm a tea junkie and drink several cups a day. And it's a pain the neck to dig through the cupboard trying to find the boxes. I had seen this and thought it a clever way to make the bags more accessible. And let me tell you, it's amazing.

It's wonderful because I can grab a tea bag easily and only need to refill it about once a week. It took only an hour to make. To make this you need:

- a 12x12 piece of cardboard

- 20-24 clothespins

- glue 

- glue gun or superglue

- some scrapbooking paper

I glued a piece of paper to the 12x12 cardboard then traced a dinner plate to get the circle. I measured to create the smaller circle and cut it out. Then using a scrap piece of paper I cut strips of paper and glued them to the clothespins. I chose pink and cream since it's my kitchen colors. Then I used a glue gun to glue the clothes pins to the circle. Poke a hole in the top and slip a ribbon through. That's it! Really simple, but worth it for us tea addicts. :-D

I think my house is on it's way to feeling like home.

N.C.M #11 and #12 - Faux Stained Glass

I was browsing through some crafting websites when I stumbled upon a tutorial for faux stained glass. I was so surprised how well this looked and how cheap it was to make! I also remembered a dear friend of mine did this with some of her students when she was teaching and had one she did hanging in her bathroom and decided I needed to try it out.

I was originally going to do three of them from Doctor Who to hang next to each other on the wall, but decided instead to do three from my three favorite sci-fi series. I haven't decided on two yet, but knew I wanted one of them to be a Dalek. When I told the hubby what I was planning he asked me to make one for him of the Umbrella Corporation logo ("Resident Evil") for his Man Cave.

I drew each of the designs by hand then followed the tutorial and I love how it came out!

The Dalek measures 8x10 and the Umbrella Corp logo measures 4x4 (without the frames).

The cost breakdown of this project:

8x10 frame - $1 (Dollar Tree)

4x4 frame - $1 (Dollar Tree)

Clear Elmer's Glue - $1.77

White Elmer's Glue - On hand

Paints - On Hand

Total - $3.77 

Proof that crafting does not need to break the bank!

N.C.M #9 and #10 - Legend of the Seeker Costumes!

Last year we tried to drag... *ahem*... asked two of our friends to come to a Renaissance Festival with us in the fall. They were interested and it gave them an excuse to have costumes made from one of their favorite T.Vshows: Richard and Kahlan from "Legend of the Seeker."

I was really excited to do this because it was the first time where I was making something look straight out of TV show. I'd made costumes based on TV or movies, but nothing trying to look just like it.

For the dress, I used two bedsheets. They were light, but sturdy, and they didn't cost an arm and a leg for my friend. I altered Simplicity's 4940 pattern for the basic shape of the dress. Because the front of the dress is ope and laces up, I cut the front piece down the middle and changed the neckline to look like Kahlan's.

I also changed the sleeves to make them much thinner. The hood was the most difficult part of this costume. I tried to make my on pattern and failed miserably. I ended up taking the hood of another pattern and altering it. It... kinda... worked. I'm still not completely happy with that part, but I can deal because she liked it. For the black underclothes, the costume has a black skirt and a leather corset. We decided to forgo the corset because no one would see it and she just wore a black cami. The skirt I made from a black bedsheet. 

Richard's costume was the most challenging of the two, not because it was complicated, but because of the amount of detail. 

Luckily, we found a shirt almost identical to Richard's. Just a few minor modifications and it was all set. For the vest I used a basic vest pattern with a material that looked similar to leather. For the  front I cut a small strip to go around the front and collar. I added the patches on the shoulder then added the trim, which look like small X's criss crossing. I ended up cutting out strips and gluing them together with hot glue. It was time consuming, but worth it! Down both sides of the front I laced leather cording. 

The pants were made out of duck cloth, for the raw look of the fabric and the sturdiness of it. We ended up deciding the simplest thing was to put elastic in the waist and add the detailing to the front just  for show. Yeah, they're non functional. The greeves I used a Simplicity pattern and used the same material as the vest.

I guess that's enough talking. Onto the picture!

(Faces blocked for their privacy, lol)

Unfortunately, we didn't end up going to the Ren Fest, but they were pretty happy with their costumes. They'll look amazing at the Ren Fests we drag them to this year! :-D

N.C.M #7 and #8 - Renaissance Costumes

Two of my favorite projects are the costumes I made for the hubby and me for last year's Renaissance Festival. It was our second time going and we had to have costumes because it really adds to the whole experience. 

I broke my general rule about not using Simplicity patterns for two reasons; 1) they were on sale for $1 each and 2) I liked them the best of all the ones I looked at. Especially mine.

I chose the hubby's because I thought I could use it for several different costumes, including a Dark Elf. 

I was very, very fortunate because I was given almost all the fabric I used for free. This includes the exact same green fabric I was originally looking at for my dress! 

Unfortunately, because I broke my general rule and used Simplicity I had some issues with my dress, mainly with sizing and getting the pieces to fit properly. A few hours, and several choice words later, it finally worked! I also made the hubby's doublet shorter because I didn't have enough of the fabric for the longer length.

The buttons on hubby's doublet are gold plated (and I found them in the clearance section of Hobby Lobby!). The trim on the sleeves and the bottom were hand sewn. All the trim and ribbon on my dress were hand sewn, including the flowers and the vines.

I love, love, love how my dress came out. I have a few Renaissance patterns and thought I had the new pattern picked out, but I love this one so much I think I might wear it again this year.