Holy cow, the last few weeks have flown by. Lots of fun family stuff going on, and some not as fun stuff. And unfortunately, that kept me away from making too much stuff. The real time killer was a surprise appendectomy the middle of last week. Nothing kills motivation to do things like prescription painkillers.
But the lack of doing turned into super motivation today! When I whipped up the list of current projects, I decided it was time to get a few off the list for good. Then I get to feel all happy and accomplished while I get closer to mailing out gifts for friends. And today I wanted to share two projects I got done.
Sunday I did a project for me that I have been wanting to do for several weeks. You may already know I pretty much love the Martha Stewart brand craft acrylics. I mostly use them for projects with my daughter, but I wanted to test the label claim that it can be used on glass. After a 21 day cure, the paint is supposed to stand up to a run through the dishwasher. Recently, I ran across these Argo teas. Not only are they yummy, but the bottles are great for reusing. No screen-printed or super glued labels. A neck large enough to fit ice into. And since it’s a little bit tapered so it’s pretty easy to hold onto. And before I say any more, I do have to say Martha Stewart and Argo aren’t giving me anything to say nice things. I just like their stuff.
Luckily, I have four of these bottles, so I decided to paint two to test out the paint. And while they are curing, I still have two I can use. I scrubbed the bottles really well and prepped them with alcohol, just as the bottles of paint instruct. After that, I just had fun. On one bottle, I used four different colors to create a pattern loosely based on the Moroccan motifs I love so much. If this paint really does hold up, I will probably do another bottle like this but with more detail and more colors. I am thinking lots of purples and blues with pops of silver and red. The other bottle took a fraction of the time. Lots of blue and green streaks with touches of yellow. Now I wait.
Today I focused on a project I had to get done. We got our first snow yesterday and it is cold. My little man was in need of some warm gear. Most important, a warm hat to fit his giant head that he can’t take off. Every bit of material came from my large stash of scraps and damaged clothing. I used this tutorial from So You Think You’re Crafty as a starting point. Once I got the red band on, I realized I didn’t really need to add an ear flap band. Instead, I turned the part above the eyes up and sewed it down.
After that, I added two double-layered ear patches inside the hat as well as a bit of elastic at the neck. Finally, the strap. I had to create something secure but comfortable and adjustable. And something he can’t undo. So I came up with something a bit odd. One side has a super long strap. The other has two pairs of d-rings. And one is high up enough on the hat that he can’t reach it. These last steps were done after my little man went to bed, so I am really hoping everything fits him.
Slowly but surely, things are getting checked off my list!
daydreamhouse 