Pink Dresser

Since deciding to move to West Virginia, I realized that the only furniture I actually own is a bookcase. Everything else is just whatever is at my parents house. I don't have enough money (or a job to bring more money in) to go and buy all new furniture so I've been trying to make due with what I have. I broke down and bought a full sized bed. It has a simple design and it was pretty cheap but will work good in the future as a guest bed or child's bed so it was a good investment. Also, the inexpensiveness helps me not be so worried about what happens to it.

Next I needed a dresser. This is what I had to work with:


Yeah. This is part of the bedroom set my mother had as a little girl. When she got it the set was white with gold accents (French Provincial style I'm told) and it includes this small three drawer dresser, a seven drawer dresser, a vanity with a bench, a hutch that goes on top of the small dresser and a four poster bed. My mom used this furniture until she was married then took it with her and my parents used it as newlyweds. I think my sister used it at some point and it was painted yellow. Then when it was my turn to inherit the furniture everything was painted pink. All that paint one on top of the other. The furniture has held up pretty well. I think my parents got rid of the bed since two of the posters were sawed off anyway (I believe my brothers were jumping on it and broke the canopy so the end posters were shortened), but we still have all of the rest of the furniture.

I decided (because I'm crazy) to refinish the tall 7 drawer dresser. This means scraping off all those layers of paint, sanding the entire dresser and painting it. The handles will stay the same since they are unique and in very good shape. The drawers all work beautifully so function isn't a problem either.

I'll try to add photos as I finish the project, but here are a few to begin with:

The drawers prior to scraping paint off for the third (and last) time. Two coats of paint remover and three scraping sessions and I had as much paint off as was possible.

This is a crappy picture, but that's a drawer post sanding. You can kind of see the grain of the wood a little better.

So I've got all the drawers scraped and half of them sanded. I still need to get the paint off of the dresser and sand it as well. I'm thinking about going with a dark brown/black color paint...I'm not a fan of white furniture and I want something that will still be neutral and somewhat timeless (so no one has to go through all of this ever again haha).

Stay tuned...

Catching You Up

Since moving back to Maryland, I have been severely slacking in terms of blogging. I'm trying to be better because I really do love doing it, but haven't had much to say that didn't (to be completely honest) make me more depressed.

So here's a little catch up instead. Things I've finished since January and new projects I hope to finish before the year is through:

Monster Army (favors for Bug's first birthday party and a shirt for him to wear at the party). Bug had a monster birthday party. I made 16 monsters when all was said and done - some were sent off to live with faraway friends, most were given away at the party. Here are my early sketches:

The shapes had to be simple so I could sew them all quickly. The two on top were the most common shapes, only one looked like the bottom sketch and had a batch of yarn hair instead of ears. I thought he looked too much like a tooth so I didn't use that pattern again.

A plethora of eyeballs. Making the eyes is the hardest part really so I just sat down one night and churned them out so I didn't have to worry about them one at a time.

I also decided to embroider a shirt for Bug to wear. Lauren found hoodies with monsters on them for the boys to wear as well.

That couch was full of stuffed monsters and each went to a new home by the end of the party. I was surprised at how eager all the girls were to choose their own monster (Bug and Monkey don't have a lot of little boy friends their ages so it was mostly girls - I'm sure they won't be complaining come high school).

Flash forward a couple of weeks and you have this:

A flower hair band for my niece and a flower hair clip for me. Here we are posing together just before going to church. I also made the dress I'm wearing...It's the same as the blue polka dot dress I made last summer, just a different pattern.

Other than that I haven't done anything too big. I made a pair of baby leg warmers for Dizzy and a cute spit rag. Mostly I've been crocheting, I just haven't taken any photos of the blankets. I finished one for myself just before moving home. I made a baby blanket for my friend Crin's newest little boy, I made a couch throw for my friend Jamie and I've been working on two more that will be sent out as surprises. You can imagine a full size blanket can take a bit of time to crochet so I don't feel bad that I haven't worked on other things.

Sadly, the tutus have been put on hold. Not having a full-time job gives me the time to make tutus, but not the money for the tutu supplies. Such is life. I obviously would still make them if asked and paid for, but I can't afford to keep a stock on hand. I also have journals and clip boards to make that have been sitting around for a while. I figure I will get in the mood to use the mod podge one of these days and crank out a whole bunch...in the meantime, I'll be crocheting.

Zizi Blankie for Bug part 2

Here are the photos of Bug's Blankie. I used the rockets and spaceship so I wanted the other fabrics to coordinate. There are clouds and dots that look like planets and swirls for stars. This was the best I've done on making it all straight and somewhat lined up. Something usually falls apart somewhere so Monkey has gotten some slightly off blankets. He loves them just the same...I guess my blankets are just a work in progress.

Inspiration

The CPSIA has been put on hold for a year - so I'm still selling children's stuff. The problem is, with all the CPSIA and losing my job and such, I've lost momentum and inspiration. I need to start being productive on something, but crafting with a lack of job makes me feel more like a slacker. I guess if, in the end, it brings in money for me then it's not a waste...but still...no inspiration.

I've been listening to tons of music and trying to find a new book to read and I've faithfully been following my blogs (although not so faithfully giving my followers content). I have ideas for some simple journals - I just need to make them now. I have one other product all together that just needs sewing and posting to Etsy. And I have an idea of something I need and would like to use, I just need to figure out the logistics and how to build it. That sounds mysterious and vague, but I'm going to keep it that way until the finished product.

In the mean time, I need inspiration. I'm thinking bright colors (to remind us of spring and summer and to help us forget about this dreary, jobless winter) and in connection with my recent Beatles addiction, I'm thinking 50s and 60s, classic and mod. Plaids and argyles, too! But how do I work that into a tutu? Do I need to find something else that can be easily made AND that will get all these abstract ideas out of my head so I can move onto something else?

I'm also thinking about looking into a craft fair for the fall. I would have plenty of time to sew/build/make whatever products I intend to sell.

But there's an update for now. I don't have much more than that.

New look for a new year?

With all the stuff going on regarding handmade kids products (Help Save Handmade!) and the very real possibility that selling my tutus (and other items I had in the works) will be illegal as of February (purchase a tutu now, folks!), I've been thinking of how to proceed with Zeelightful.

There are so many questions to answer. What do I do with the tutus I have hanging in my closet? What's the best way to recover my cost before February? Do I just hang on to the tutus I have made (which thankfully are not that many) that haven't sold and use them as gifts later? What new products can I make that are not for children under the age of 12? Is it worth it to try and make and sell those products?

See my dilemma? I have decided to make some new products to put up on my Etsy page. That was the plan after all. I have also decided that I need a new, less tutu-centric look. This was also part of the original plan. So now I want some thoughts on the new look. The first photo is just the regular look, the others are variations and banners. I make use of the same colors (pink, yellow, green and orange) just a little more muted. The font is different and I'm personally digging the black and white. Now let me know what you think.

Zizi Blankie for Bug

I will post pictures soon, but today I made a Zizi Blankie for my youngest nephew.

I made a quilt for Monkey when he was born and of course my sister says I have to make one for all her kids.

Monkey's was a bit more detailed because there was a lot more embroidery done (I just couldn't get in the mood to sit and embroider this time around - although losing my job helped me do the stuff I did finish for Bug). Monkey's had...well, monkeys on it and was orange, yellow, blue and green. The back side was all fuzzy green.

Bug's quilt has rockets and a space ship on it and is blue, green and brown with fuzzy blue/green/brown striped fabric on the back. I tried to pick fabrics that were appropriate (jungle looking ones for Monkey's and space-y looking ones for Bug's) and the colors i chose match the blankets my mom crocheted for them.

Monkey named it the Zizi Blankie but he pretty much names everything I make him along those same lines but I have since made him a more grown up blanket (the cars blanket with the Mater pillow) and I'm sure I'll probably do the same for Bug when he gets older.

Gogo and Blinky

I was going to make handmade dolls for my nephews (ages 3 and 10 months) and my sister asked me to try and model them after the Ugly dolls that are in stores right now. This was probably my favorite project. I drew a couple free style patterns to figure out what shapes I wanted and just got to work. The hardest part was figuring out the best way to make the eyes. The easiest part was the fact that because they are Ugly dolls, I could look over any imperfections. In fact, the imperfections make them cuter I think. My nephews loved them, especially the oldest. He immediately gave his doll a big hug and took him on a trip in the car where he named it Gogo then went on to say, "Oh Gogo, I love you." Blinky was named by my BIL, I think it goes well with Gogo. Monkey made sure to tell everyone that Gogo only has one eye. I love that kid. (Sorry, the pictures are backwards, but they are all there.)

Gogo

Blinky was the first, and therefore a little lopsided, but he's supposed to be "ugly," right?

Pre-stuffed Blinky.

Hand painted dolls

I found these cute wooden dolls on Etsy a while back and have been putting them to use. The first set I painted was for a friend's little boy who liked trains. He got Sir Top'em Hat and a train conductor. These were for my niece for Christmas. They are supposed to be me (in the purple) and her (in the pink). She loved them and I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Misc Projects

Just some of the other things I've made these past couple of weeks.

my first stocking. not too shabby for free hand cutting. I found the owl fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnns for less than a $1 and had the blue fabric on hand.
Matching travel/car pillows for Miri and Mike who will be driving to Texas in the next couple of days.
A blanket for Whitney. My favorite part of this fabric is that it says "dot tree" like that is supposed to mean something. I don't get it, but think it's hilarious and a cute pattern (and it matches Whitney's things).

Monogram Hat Box

This was Amanda's present. She has all sorts of little things in her room so I figured she could always do with another box. It could be used for jewelry or little odds and ends.

I used the same method as with my clipboards - tear the papers into large chunks and Mod Podge them to the box. Make sure there are no bubbles in the paper. I did that all around the box and the top of the lid then I sealed it all with another coat of Matte finish Mod Podge. I cut a strip of paper to fit the brim of the lid and circles of paper to fit the inside of the lid and the bottom of the box and I Mod Podged those pieces in the appropriate places.
Just to give it a little more character, I added a ribbon across the lid and a fun, colorful flower. I left the ribbon hanging over the box and attached a monogrammed card to it.
I have plans to make some of these for myself. It was a quick and easy project and it produces something useful.