Chevron Striped Tray- DIY

 I had this little unpainted wooden tray from Michael's, and I wanted to try my hand at a chevron stripe. 

- I painted the outside of the tray yellow and the inside white.

- I used a ruler to make equal squares on the white. I then used the ruler to connect one corner of the square to the other. I used a pencil and my hand kept rubbing, so the white got completely dirty.

- I taped off the stripes that were going to be white, and then painted them. After it dried I did the same for the gray.

-I pulled off the tape and I was disappointed, the tape let a lot of the paint seep through to the white.  

- I wanted clean lines and had no intentions of re-taping the stripes. I used gold glitter to clean up the lines.

It's not my favorite project, but it still looks pretty cute. Now I use it to throw my keys into when I get home, at least it has a purpose. What do you think? 

Adding Fabric to an Old Cabinet

So this is a project that was a project. I purchased a white cabinet from Kmart around 6 or 7 years ago. About 4 years ago I removed the doors, painted it black, and added a curtain where the doors were. I had no use for it after a while, so it got put into storage. 

I was looking for storage to put in my daughter's room, and I remembered the cabinet. 

-I cleaned it up, primered it, and painted the entire thing white (it's original color). 

-Then I took the back to a poster frame, and cut it to the size of the ruined backing on the cabinet.

 - I covered the board with this pretty pink fabric that I bought from a yard sale for $.50, using glue to secure it.

-After it dried, I nailed the fabric board to the back of the shelves.

 

 It was easy, and basically free since I had most of the materials. How do you think it turned out?

DIY: Vintage Embellishment Meets Shadow Box

For the past couple of weeks I've been helping my parents-in-law go through and pack up their house to move. No small task, seeing how they lived in the home for over 25 years.

I've found so many things to use for my crafting fun, including this sweet little embellishment. I thought it could go great with this old shadow box frame that I've been holding on to for years.

After a little painter's tape, some hot pink spray paint, and a piece of old scrapbooking paper -Voilà - A pretty picture for Charlie's room. What do you think?

 

DIY Owl Plush

My niece Haylee had her second birthday this past month, and I was completely strapped for cash for a gift. I have a three drawer container that is full of different pieces of fabric (all of which only cost $5 from a yard sale), so I decided I’d try my hand in plush-making. An owl seemed to be just the right animal.

Charlie helping Haylee blow out the candles.

I used manila envelopes and paper scraps to draw out the shapes of my pattern. I tried to make it as basic and simple as possible, just cutting out shapes for the body, eyes, belly, and wings.

 

 

I secured the eyes, belly, and beak to the front piece of fabric. I sewed all of the features of the owl on before I sewed the body together. I pinned the front and back together inside out and started sewing. I added little wings in the seam, and two flower embellishments to the eyes. I used stuffing from an old unneeded pillow, and hand stitched the final opening shut.

I’m really happy with the finished product, and I think Haylee loved the owl too. She even put on her owl jammies to match her new friend. It was easier than I thought it would be, and I can’t wait to make something else. I now have a special bunny in the works for Charlie, and it’s going to be so awesome.

Me, Myself, and I .... Craftasauras Rex

 My name is Jaclyn, most people call me Jackie (or Crack if you’re one of my sisters). I've lived in sunny California my entire life, and I'm still one of the palest people you'll meet. I was born on June 8^th in 1985, to a family of my mom, dad, and older sister Darlene. I was the second child born, my parents added my younger sisters Robin and Nicole in the next nine years that followed. My mom is a nut, and had all four of her daughters at home with no drugs. Heck, I remember being excited the night Nikki was born, because I got to stay up late and watch Jay Leno. All while my mother gave birth in the next room, kind of horrific now that I’m thinking about it. 

                    Me and my older sister Darlene (left).

          I had a great childhood. Years were spent living on a cul-de-sac running the streets like a wild banshee, while the rest was spent climbing chicken coups and using my imagination in the trees. I was a tomboy for years. I chopped off all of my hair in the fourth grade, and spent months being asked “Are you a boy or a girl?”

          After graduating from high school, I got a job in customer service. It was at an HVAC company, and that’s where I met my husband. Matthew and I were married approximately two weeks before I accidentally got knocked up. Our entire honeymoon period was spent with me being fat and unsexy. Charlotte aka Charlie Bucket was born in January of 2008, and she just recently turned four.  Charlie is amazing, and already ten times smarter than her parents (she literally corrected her doctor last week).

 

       

  I adore crafts, and discovering new crafts. I took four years of ceramics in high school, and I still have a deep-seeded longing to do it again. It's the reason I started playing with polymer clay in the first place. I opened a shop on Etsy a few years ago for all of my creations, but have since switched to only selling wine charm sets. I also crochet, scrapbook, re-purpose, paint (badly), do a bit of woodwork, and other various projects and ideas I find across the internet.