Leather Bag Makeover – Steampunk?

Remember this bag?

Remember I didn’t like the color or the front flap, or the strap. Now it looks like this -

Much MUCH BETTER! I dyed the bag with some antique colored leather dye I had laying around. I added the strap onto the front using rivets and punched in eyelets to hold whatever accessory I want to use.

After I got this all wired on my kids and hubbie told me it looks like a Sherriff badge…and they’re right…it does! It’s kinda  western Steampunk.The perforated metal piece is something I got from a clearance bin at JoAnn’s – it’s supposed to be a necklace part. I guess people would embroider a design on it or something.

The darker leather piece under the main strap is held on with heavy-duty snaps. I can change it out whenever I want and put something else there…like maybe needle felted flowers on felt or something like that. We’ll see. It took me years to get it to this point so I think it’ll stay this way for awhile.

 

I added this vintage key to use as a zipper pull on the back pocket – and a larger one for the main inside pocket. I also cut the straps off and used a long heavy duty belt as a handle.

The plan is to use snaps but I ran out so I sewed it in place this time…will add snaps later…this works fine for now. I really love how this turned out – I like the mix of different colored leathers and metals. It’s definitely better than it was! So now I’m on the hunt for another ugly old leather purse to redo for the bazaar – keep your eyes open for me!

Today I’m repainting my living room. I let the boys pick the color. It turns out what was supposed to be a putty color is actually a mauve/purple color. I hate it. I’m going to consider it priming the walls and get something else. Darn it!

And here is another polymer clay pendant I made using a big stone cabochon as the base. It’s heavy and I love how it turned out – think it looks like petrified wood?

And lastly, one more polymer clay pendant. Julie likes this one – I think I do too. It isn’t what I had in my head when I started out so I’m not sure how much I like it…

 

Happy Crafting!!!!

Finishes…

Over the weekend I finished this wool felt candle mat. I had purchased the kit a few years ago – using the birthday money I received from you Mary :) . While cleaning and sorting I came across it again and wondered “why didn’t I ever finish this”? I had cut out all the pieces and just never sewn it up. I soon realized why – I had cut the mat smaller than it should have been. I vaguely remember copying the pattern with my printer and not realizing it was on “reduce” and being frustrated. But – it is a time to use what I have and boy am I glad I did! I love how this turned out! Now I’ll pack it into the Christmas box and be surprised all over again next Christmas lol!

During the Super Bowl (that I watch for the commercials) I sorted out my beads into this suitcase. (I pulled this awesome suitcase out of a DUMPSTER!)

Everything fits in there really well! Because I have a hard time getting rid of anything I even kept my “ugly beads” – you never know when they can be used for something else…or covered with polymer clay…

I love those clear plastic boxes for sorting things. In “my jury-rigged life” I even use the broken ones…

This will sit in my drawer and keep my costume jewelry all nice and sorted. They stack nicely too. Look at these beauties – the first three pictures were rescued from a dumpster…so sad!

And these pins were given to me by my Great Grandmother Bestemor -

Back in the eighties we would button our shirts all the way up and wear a pin at the neck…so she gave me the purple one and the roadrunner to my sister…I wonder if she knows I’ve “kept it safe” for her these past 25 years…

Happy Crafting!!

Duh…

Do you remember back in November I showed you this “jury-rigged clothes hanger”? Here’s a picture to refresh your memory…

Well here’s the new and improved version!!!!

We were watching a movie awhile back…something on Hallmark…and a guy had a string in his workshop with clothespins on it to hold notes and such. Well, a light bulb went off in my head! All I did was tie one end of yarn to the hanger, string on some beads to keep the clothespins apart, add a clothespin by stringing the yarn through the spring on the clothespin rinse and repeat! Here’s one made using wire instead of yarn…

And there are all the previously drilled holes. lol. I like this so much better!!!!!! Bonus – it even looks cute! Someday I’ll paint it up all funky and cool…not today. Today I’m happy to just have them hanging in my back entry looking kinda nice.

In other news we spent the weekend in the fish house on Mille Lacs Lake. We were about eight miles out onto the lake. And about we were with a group of about five fish houses filled with old friends and new friends. Did I ever tell you spending the weekend ice fishing and living in a fish house is like being inside a monster’s belly? The ice on the lake is constantly groaning and grumbling. And at night, when the temperature falls it really goes nuts…sometimes sounds like a thunderstorm. And it’s all “snap crackle pop” when another vehicle drives by. I feel totally safe though so it’s really neat. I didn’t ask but I think the ice was about 2’ thick…I know at one point Grant had a hard time getting the ice auger through. What wasn’t so neat was when our youngest son fell out of the upper bunk at about 3 AM. Phew! We made him get back up there though. He was scared and probably would have slept on the floor but I told him he’d never fall out of it again. I didn’t tell him he’d probably never fall out of the bunk again because he’d never truly relax enough lol. He’ll be hugging the wall from now on. I remember when I fell out of the upper bunk onto my sister…I never fell out again. Then as we were packing up Abby fell into the fishing hole. (They are only 10” around so only one leg fell in.) I can’t believe her foot came back up with her shoe still on it! Yup, exciting times. We caught two “keeper” fish otherwise they were too BIG! Grant got one that was 25” and had to put it back. I didn’t know I was going because Grant had plans with other people…those plans fell through…so we went as a family instead. Anyways, I didn’t get much packed for crafts. I did manage to make a couple rounds on another pillow case. Don’t know if I’ll like this one because I used yarn instead of crochet thread but I’ll finish. Crochet is a great “small space” craft…not many supplies…not much to lose…down the ice hole. (Cause there are 9 spread throughout the floor! Always in danger of losing something…cell phone…iPod…small dog!…) - (First time we went Edith, our 5 pound dog, entered all excited – first one in the door - and tried to jump on the couch…missed the couch…bounced off and landed in a hole! I fished her out and she stuck pretty close to me the rest of the time!)

Have a great week! Happy Crafting!!!

How I make washing dishes more pleasant…

Aside from not using a dryer my dishwasher is also on the fritz. I’m pretty sure I can fix it but I just haven’t taken the time to try. I really don’t mind doing dishes. Of all my mom-cleaning jobs washing dishes may be the least offensive. I like to see the cluttered counters all tidy again. It’s instant gratification. It’s also a good time to ponder. I ponder very important things like…how can I make this job easier? (While I don’t mind washing dishes I don’t want it to take all day!) And after a big meal like yesterday, Thanksgiving, the dishes were everywhere!!! Here are my tips and another installment of my jury rigged life:

• Above you’ll see what I use to drain my silverware. It’s a plastic container some french fried onions came in…I drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and clipped it to the outside of my dish drainer. This way I have the entire dish drainer for plates and bigger stuff. The one that came with the dish drainer is under the sink holding sponges…it took up way to much room in the dish drainer.
• My dish drainer rests on the top sides of my sink…I like this because if something needs to be dumped out, like milk left in a glass, it won’t get on my clean dishes and it won’t get my dishwater icky.
• I fill up my copper bottomed tea kettle with the cold water that comes out of the faucet before the hot water gets to my sink. My hot water heater is in the basement on the other side of the house. Darnit. It’s cheaper and hotter to heat the water on my gas range than to keep pulling it across the basement from my electric water heater. 
• Let the hot soapy water do the work! I fill the dish tub with plates and silverware first and let them sit in the hot soapy water. While they are soaking for a bit I add super hot water from the tea kettle. Then I’ll do something else in the kitchen for a couple minutes…like put away the pot holders…or get recycling ready. When I get back to the plates they are clean and only need a wipe…not a scrub. Refill the sink with glasses or whatever and repeat. I always wash the silverware last. I don’t know why…habit.
• Have two dishcloths in the dishpan! While waiting for the hot water to do it’s magic on the dishes use one dishcloth to wipe the counters…if there is a really sticky or stained area don’t stand there wasting precious crafting minutes scrubbing! Take the other hot soapy rag from the dishpan and lay it on the problem area…while that is soaking go back to the dishes. When a new load of dishes is soaking go back to the problem area. Chances are the hot soapy dishcloth dissolved the problem and you can just wipe it away.
• Let the dishes air dry and have the kids put them away later. Air drying is more sanitary…having the kids handle them…well it’s a chance I take.
• I periodically refill my tea kettle, heat it on the range and add more hot water to the dishwater as needed.
• When I’m really on a roll I make sure my sink area is clean and tidy. Sometimes it’s the cleanest and tidiest place in the house. Sometimes it’s also the most peaceful place to be in the house…nobody bothers me because they don’t want to get roped into helping lol!
• Other tips: Use a good dish soap. I stick with Dawn. It’s nice to have a plant or pretty piece of pottery to stare at while pondering at the sink. Have something pretty in that area. If you use a sponge get it really wet and microwave it for a half a minute or so to sanitize it, don’t wash your dishes with bacteria from a dirty sponge!!

Well, while this seems like some pretty basic stuff to we “pro’s” I’ve noticed a lot of teenagers going through my house who don’t have a clue how to handle a huge mess like the aftermath of Thanksgiving…this post is for them…

Happy Crafting!!

More needle felting…

I’m starting on a new needle felting path. When I demonstrated needle felting at our church bazaar many people commented on the “cute pin cushion” I use to keep my needles in. So next year I will be offering some up for sale. This is the first one. I think I need to needle the little bird a little smaller. It’s funny how something looks different in a photo.

I’m also going to start showing you guys my “Jury Rigged” life piece by piece. Did I ever tell you that I challenged myself to live without a clothes dryer for a year? Well, it’s been about 6 months now without a dryer and I really don’t miss it. That might change come winter. Anyways, as long as I do a load of laundry every day we’ve been getting along just fine. But sometimes I don’t get that done. Like this weekend. I then end up with more laundry than clothes line. One thing I’ve jury rigged is this-

This can be a real lifesaver when a million socks need to get dry. I just match them up right out of the basket and clip them on the clothespins. To make it I drilled holes in a wooden hanger and drilled holes in the clothespins and wallah! I will probably modify it later – I think some jump rings and chain would be better than this cause the pins are “stiff” but if you have a similar problem this works great! (I then hang the hanger on the drying rack, I’ll show that another time.)

Happy Crafting!!!