Have CAPE will Craft!!!

A couple years ago we had a family reunion at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania.  We had a great time enjoying the rides and tasting all the chocolate!  My daughter (the shorter Super Girl) and her cousin won these SUPER cute capes.  They had a great time walking around the park and the hotel with them on.  
Up, Up and away.......

 My husband even took a turn!!! He tried to fly around the park, but didn't get very far!  The kids loved this one! 

My daughter found her cape in her (very messy) bedroom this week and was going to throw it out.  I KNEW I could do something with it so put it in my "to do" pile.  

A basket, who doesn't need an extra basket to put STUFF in??!!  I went back to YouTube and watched Whitney Sews tutorial on her fabric baskets.   Easy peasy!!  

 
So stinkin cute!!!  I wanted to keep it for myself, but she took it as soon as she saw it.  

 The inside is from a white cotton sheet I bought at Goodwill.  It was only $3.00 - bargain! 

The back is plain.  I love it.  

Thanks for looking, 
Have a great day. 
Cathy

Neck Tie to Camera Case

My favorite color is yellow and my favorite flower is the sunflower.  It just seems so HAPPY even when the flower seems to be hanging it's head down, the yellowish/orangeish flower makes me think it is happy about something.  

I found this AWESOME men's necktie at Goodwill and had to have it.  

Sorry about the colors, not sure why one seems darker.  Anyway, I knew I would be able to make SOMETHING from this fabulous tie.  

The first thing I did was take some really sharp scissors and split the tie up the back seam.   The tie opened up to a pretty good sized piece of fabric.  
I forgot to take pictures of the sunflower tie so I had another one that I'll show how to 

 open up. Start with a pair of sharp, small scissors.

Start snipping up the back seam, very carefully. 

You will see the flexible stabilizer hidden inside the tie.  Keep snipping all the way up the back seam.  

Taaa Daaa!!  

I separated the inner part from the cute yellow fabric.  

 Next you have to take off the white part from both ends of the fabric. 

Again, use sharp scissors and go slowly.  
Finally I ironed the fabric and you will see that there is big piece of fabric that can be recycled. 

 I LOVE the way it turned out.  The little yellow "tabs" you see are the ends of the black handles, that is where I sewed them together.  That is the worst part of the project, but wasn't sure how else to secure the ends.  I think I'll have to take another look at the situation!  The black handle is from my dog's broken retractable dog leash.  It was pulled all the way out and wouldn't go back in.  When it happened I put the leash away in a closet knowing I would be able to use it for something.  It worked out perfectly for this project. 

My camera fits perfectly in the new case!  Love it.  

There is even enough room for my accessories in the case.  

Can't wait to try this type of project again.  

Thanks for looking.  
Cathy

Nesting Baskets as Birthday Gift

My mother in law's birthday is coming up and I wanted to give her something from the heart.  I love making these types of fabric baskets as storage and because they are just plain cute!! I used Whitney Sews tutorial (check it out here)to make my own baskets.  I made my own dimensions for each basket.  The smallest one with pink interior, has final measurements of 7 inches deep, 9 inches tall, and 9.5 inches long. 

The middle sized one, with blue interior, measures 8 inches deep, 11 inches tall and 11 inches long. 

And, the biggest one measures 9 inches deep, 12.5 inches tall and 13 inches long. 

They are perfect sizes for nest inside each other. 

All 3 baskets were so easy to make, finished them in about 1 day. 

The final part of her present is getting a bunch of her favorite goodies and snacks and fill up the basket!! 

Hope she likes them. 

Thanks for looking. 
Cathy

Easy Change to an Old Basket

I found this super cute basket at a second hand store and wanted to update it a little. 

I liked the shape and the handle on the back of the top.  It is easier to hang on a wall with a handle attached on the back side.  

 

 Loved the basket, but not the weird bow and colors. 

Of course I had to use up my favorite color of spray paint!!  Grabbed my trusty can of yellow spray paint and went to work. 

First had to take off the bow from the front.  It was easy, just slid right off the basket.  

Next just sprayed the basket until it was completely covered.  

Finally I created a liner for the newly painted basket.  Used some scrap of fabric to make the top part of the liner and then just a small piece of white to finish off the liner.  I ran out of the flowered fabric!!  

 Not sure if I LOVE the polka dotted flower on the front, but it seemed to fit in with the color scheme!  And, as I look at it now I like it even less!!!  Fortunately for me, I only put a couple stitches on the flower to hold it into place.  Makes it easy to change.  

Thanks for looking.
Cathy

Sunglasses done MY WAY

I found these sunglasses in 5 BELOW and liked the shade of the lenses.  They seemed to be darker than some of my other glasses.  I know I'm a sunglasses hoarder, but these seemed different than the other pairs that I own.  Had to have them.

 The only part I didn't like was the design on the sides.  It looks textured but that is just painted on design. 

So I thought I could just add my own little bling to the glasses.  My opinion is that there isn't anything that a little spray paint can't fix!!  

I dug out my can of trusty YELLOW paint and went to work..... 

 I covered the lenses with aluminum foil and brightened up the glasses.  Very easy peasy!  The foil is easy to shape and completely cover the glasses or anything you want to spray paint.

I love the finished product.  

They turned out pretty nice.  

Sorry about my wet hair in this picture, but I'm happy with my new glasses. 

Thanks for looking. 
Cathy

Flag Bag

At the beginning of each summer I get the itch to make something that is related to our amazing FLAG.  I think it is because school ends and then the 4th of July is right around the corner. This is my project for this summer. 

The only part of this project I needed to buy was the inside fabric.  I had all the red, white and blue and the buttons.  To make this I just initially cut the dark blue fabric and then made the red and white stripes based on the size of the blue.  The blue behind the buttons is denim from a pair of jeans.  The same one from this bag.  Wanted to break up some of the blue and use a different shade. 

There are only 35 buttons for the states!!!  Not sure which states are NOT represented, but I had to evict 15 of them!!  Tee hee hee!  Just kidding, I got lazy with the buttons, guess I could have added more, maybe I will someday. 

I love the stars on the inside.  Makes it a little brighter and fun. 

Overall pretty easy project and useful!!  Love taking it to the store so everyone can see it. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day, 
Cathy

Found some extra Jeans - so I made a BAG!!!

While cleaning up my bedroom I found some old jeans that I don't wear any more.  Thought about donating them to Goodwill, but then, hmmmmm, I could create SOMETHING from them!!!  

Checked out YouTube for something to inspire me, and came across a Quilt as You Go video.  This was the first one to get me thinking, and this second one shows how to start with a piece in the center of the project and work around it. 

I started with the pocket and worked out and around that shape.  It isn't perfect but the final project is ok.  

This is the back view.  Wanted to make it different from the front.  

Handles.  

Finally, this is the inside of the bag.  Looking at it now, I don't love the fabric I chose to line it. 

Thanks for looking, have a great day, 

Cathy