A Little Piece of the Beach

Last weekend, despite an on and off rain sprinkle, my pittbull Kane and I ventured to the beach in search of smooth rocks.  We choose a beach that is close to home, yet usually empty.  Kane does not play nice with other dogs, so we have to find places where there are no doggy friends.

We had a great time, collecting rocks, playing catch and taking videos.

The Beach Rock Mat

Supplies:

Smooth Rocks, about the same size.

Rubber Door Mat, I used this.

E6000 Glue

Directions:

Frolic on the beach and gather rocks, lots of them.  On the backside of the mat, layout all the rocks so that they fit nicely and are space the way you like.  Starting at a corner, apply glue to the bottom of the rock, secure to mat.  Make sure to have a window open, unless you want to get high while you craft.  Continue till all rocks are glued to mat.  Let dry and enjoy!





Don't Throw Them Out

A favorite "hanging around the house" outfit of mine is men's ribbed tank tops and pajama pants.  The tank tops take a bit of abuse, cooking grease splatter, bleach spots from doing laundry and crafting, all take its toll on them.  At some point they they have to retire, but not before they get a makeover and a new leash on life.

At one time, these three tank tops were a solid red, blue and black.  The red was riddled with bacon grease stains all over the front of it, so much so I had stopped wearing it.  The blue and black tank tops had bleached out spots on them.  In an attempt to make them wearable again, I used a bleach tie dye bath.  I am not as happy with the blue and black tank tops as much as I am with the way the red turned out.

Do you want to give an old tank top some new life?  Here is how to make the stripped tank.

First, in a sink or small bucket pour about 1/4" layer of bleach.  If you would like, you can dilute the bleach with a little water.

Next, fold the tank in an accordion, starting from the bottom edge, see picture below.  Just like you fold a paper fan.

Then fold in half, see picture below. Using two rubber bands, wrap them around the folded tank top.  Do you notice the light pink stripes, that is where I wrapped the rubber bands.

Set the tank top in the bleach, do not submerge.  You want the tank to absorb the bleach at it's own speed.  Wait about 5 to 10 minutes, or until you have achieved your desired result.  (I did not time how long my tank was in the bleach.)  When you think it is done bleaching, rinse the bleach off the tank by spraying first with hot water, them cold water on the top.  Notice in the above picture, the tank is red on one side and light pink/purple on the other.  The red was the top and the pink/purple was the bottom.  I did not move the tank in the sink and to rinse, sprayed directly on the top.

Once fully rinsed, undo the rubber bands and wring as much water out of the tank as you can.  Dry and enjoy!

If you have any questions regarding this tutorial, please feel free to email me at hippiemissy@gmail.com



Only 22 T-Shirts

FINISHED!!!!!

It only took 22 t-shirts and a few hours to finish, ok more than a few hours, but it is finished, and it is beautiful!  The time it took to make this rug was well worth it.  Will there be more rugs like this in my future, probably not.  There will be more pot holder though, they only took a night to finish.

Old Jeans Get a New Life

Old jeans are one of my favorite clothing items to re-purpose.  The material is tough, lays out flat without needing to iron and has supplies lots of odd bits to use like labels, zippers, etc.

In an attempt to get myself back on the treadmill and into shape, the "exercise/guest/storage" room in my house is getting a make over to make it more inviting and comfortable.  In what I will now refer to as the Girl Cave, because why can't we have a one too, is a daybed used as a couch.  For the longest time, all that has covered the futon mattress has been fitted sheets. 

Last night that changed, I pulled out all the old jeans I had stored in the craft room and started cutting out 16" x 16" squares.  I was able to come up with 20 of these squares.  After deciding on the layout to the sewing machine I went.  Just a simple quilt.

A perfect fit!

One more row may be added, so the cover can tuck under the bottom part of the cushion.  Plus a back still needs to be added (or not).

Not More Knots

Knot, knot, knot, knot......oh yeah and then Knot some more.  Slowly, but steadily the rag rug is coming into shape.  It is about two thirds done.  I have it laying on the floor waiting for my husband to dig thru his closet and find more t-shirts he doesn't wear.  I had not realized how many shirts I would need in order to make the rug as big as it is.  BUT, it looks wonderful!!!!!!

My dog, Kane, has already claimed it as his.  Everytime it is laid on the floor, he makes his way over to it, then stares at me with a "will you finish this thing already" look on his face.

Eat, Sleep, Work! Repeat.

Haven't been able to get any finished projects done of late.  It is that time of year, where my "real" job sucks all of my energy and creativity.  I hate tax deadlines!!  (and "real" jobs, why didn't I choose to be a go-go dancer?)

After logging into blogger, to read various blogs that I follow and feeling really bad about not posting, last night I pulled out my rotary cutter and, despite my aching back and tired eyes, started work on the rag rug.

A year ago, with some left over dye, I tie dyed three old t-shirts to be used at a later time.  I love how each shirt became a different shade of blue.  These t-shirts were my inspiration for making the rag rug.  The rug is going to be about the size of a kitchen mat, maybe a little bit bigger.  The colors will form an ombre effect, with speckles of black throughout.

Still to do, cut black strips, finish crocheting the base and put together. 

Art Show News!

The art show is up! Last Friday was the Artist Reception and I went with two of my lady friends, whom also entered art into the show. With it being summer there wasn't as many entries as I would of hoped. For some reason the people in my town, shut down their hobbies for fishing season and outdoor activities. I disagree with this practice because I find the outdoors as well as the indoors a great place to knit and crochet....and the outdoors is a great place to gather shells, driftwood, and other stuff to use in my crafts. Also the outdoor activities rejuvenate me and spark my creativity. Why should one only craft or create art 9 months of the year?


So, what you have been waiting for....my art hung up proudly on the walls!

Mine is the the fourth one from the left, circular sun, with a black border...

Mine is the second one from the left, circular sun made out of a crushed cd...Mine is the second one from the left, needle felted sun....

Recycled T-Shirts

My weekend was spent cleaning house, grocery shopping and making yarn. I believe this may be the best use for old T-shirts I have found. Of course there are many ways to recycle old T-shirts, but this is MY favorite.

I would love to tell you that I was the one who came up with this...but I am not. I am not even sure who thought of this but whom ever they are, thank you. And to all of you who think you were the first and no one can duplicate with out your permission, you probably weren't so get over it.

Here are my beauties......

1) Cut the t-shirt into a very long 1/2" strip of material

2) Tug on the strip so that the material curls onto itself creating a tube. I pass the yarn thru this second process twice to make sure I get the maximum length out of the yarn.

DONE!!!!

I did decide that the solid colors don't suit my style so I decide to use bleach and make a tie-dye yarn with all the colors. Now I just need more T-Shirts and to decide what I will knit up with all this fabulous yarn.

AN ALIEN!!!...oh it's just a chair?!

The "Alien" has been sitting out of the way, and untouched. I had made great progress on it, till well I stuffed it with Polyfil and determined something had gone terribly wrong. I had in fact done nothing wrong, just hadn't finished it. Last night, after my husband went to bed I decided I would take another look at the thing and see what I needed to do to finish it. I still don't believe that I am done with my recycled jeans chair....but I am close.....

It may not be ready for the hippie van....but at least it looks like a chair.

What do you do with an old sub woofer?

Every Friday night the guys get together and play cards at my house. I usually play the sweet house wife...cook and serve food, make sure everyone has drinks, etc. After everyone is all settled I usually venture to my bedroom and watch a movie...boring!!! The solution, transform the guest bedroom/office/storage/dog room into my movie/gaming room. I turned the bed into a couch bed by shifting the already over-sized futon mattress to create a back cushion...the desk into an entertainment center by detaching the top shelving...I could go on but I don't want to bore you too much with the details.

Through all this rearranging, there was lots of throwing things away, including a sub woofer. When I looked at the room the next day, it was missing something...a table...so without further ado the Sub Woofer Undertaker table....

The sub woofer is the base (and still fully functional). The top is boards from the desk I took apart. With a little black spray paint, E600 glue, Mod Podge and an Undertaker poster......we have the coolest movie/gaming room table!!!