Thrifty fun, alterations and kitty wings!

Hello, and since it's today ~ Happy Spring Equinox! 

I have been going through my wardrobe the past several weeks. Weeding out clothing I no longer wore, had out grown style-wise or just found to be too worn out. I always donate my gently worn clothes to several local places. And of course, I end up at the thrift store seeking new clothes! It's my number one place for gently worn, pre-shrunk clothing finds. 

In doing that I often find pieces I love but want to improve upon. It could be a simple change in buttons or altering it to fit my figure better. If something is too small you can add width in several places. The first can be at the zippers, which I will touch upon next month (currently doing just this to a skirt!). The second is to add width under too-tight arms. Some are very easy alterations for any beginner while others can be more involved.

Here is a pretty blouse I picked from the thrift store recently. It's vintage, I suspect from the 60's and the white buttons it came with just had to go.

I took the original white buttons with me shopping at a craft store. I picked the same size to fit the current button holes. I simply cut the old ones off and added the new black buttons. It's all done by hand and is an easy change for any beginner seamstress.

here is the thrifted blouse with new buttons

My other fun project was new kitty wings for my fluffy cat who wears a harness (because he is a puppy cat!). In the past I have made him fairy wings, which I have shared in a post with adorable photos. But since I made the dog a dragon wing cape last year, my cat needed some too. 

dragon wings for my cat

These are very light weight and made from pipe cleaners and tulle. I hand stitched around the wire to make sure the tulle didn't come of. If you follow me on Instagram (click my side link to find it) you can see videos of my pets and my cat in this adorable winged costume!

dragon cat

I hope spring is arriving for you soon enough! Our flowers are trying to poke up from under a blanket of frost and a dusting of snow. Do visit my many links to keep up with me on a weekly basis. 

Happy DIY Halloween

Are you ready for some ghosts and goblins? No, how about at least some DIY Halloween decorations & projects? Yes ~ then read on my friend!
Well it's cold, a chill is in the air and by the weekend it will be Halloween. I finished our dog's costume (cape) with faux fur and  ~ it's adorable! He loves coats since he has short hair. I give you, Chewbacca!

no Wookies were shaved in the making of this costume

It fits and is held on with wide ribbon and large metal snaps. Easy to get on and off and he is nice and toasty when out in the cold. The entire costume cost less then $10 total in supplies.

Now for the DIY for you! I found some lovely pages out there with many projects. This one is devoted to just decorations for your home. It is called Simplymost and has a large selection to review! From cute banners (be it fabric of paper) similar to this one.... (the DIY is here)

photo from Crafthubs.com

To melted wax pumpkins, haunted terrarium and floating witch hat luminaries! Certainly a little something for everyone and all ranges from beginner to mid-level/practiced crafter. Most DIY projects no longer require you to spend a lot to create something. Now you can often find the supplies you need right in your craft stash or closet. 

I wish you all a fun, safe & happy haunting weekend ahead! And don't forget to 

nab that discount candy later. 

H A P P Y  H A L L O W E E N!

What I'm working on

Sorry I haven't shared anything for a while! I get busy, start new things and have twice weekly stuff to attend. Somehow in all this I manage to start some new work for my crafty shop.

Felt charms, in the works!

I made a charm for my purse, ever since I get compliments and questions. So I decided to make a few charms that I will sell in my etsy shop. They are inspired by some favorite animated films ~ I hope you recognize them! 

Can you guess who it is?

We are also getting ready for some Halloween fun-time! Each year there is plenty to do where we live, like corn mazes or haunted houses. There is a pretty cool jack o lantern event that - people, get this - is an hour long line to get in! But it's worth it, it's so much fun to go view. But until I have some neat photos of those, here is my cat in his dinosaur costume.

Roar, I'm a vicious snuggling kitty! 

Halloween paper lanterns DIY

It's almost here ~ one more week to Halloween! I love Halloween as a child, it was so much fun and perfect autumn weather. My mother would always have a project to make, be it a scarecrow or ghosts to hang from branches. Not only was decorating fun but deciding on a costume was too. We'd plan and often make our own - my mother would do our costume makeup.
I wanted to make a easy DIY project for either Halloween or autumn. It require minimal supplies and can be done in less then 30 minutes. I decided paper bag lanterns would be a fun, easy project!
What you will need for this project:
- an assortment of paper bags
- pen or marker
- scissors
- spray paint or spray glitter, color of your choice
- battery operated candles (I would advise against using actual candles inside paper bags)

To start: Pick any bag you please, I have this medium sized one collecting dust. Use your pen or marker and design any face you like. Remember, you are going to cut out the shapes, so you might want them thick. I just used scissors to cut my face out, poke the scissor gently into a shape - then cut around your outline.

design your bag using pen or marker

I made two bags, one medium one large. You could even use the small lunch sized bags too! Once you have the bags cut, bring them outside. Now, for this step I used spray glitter in orange. It is very messy, so I used dish washing gloves and laid plastic down. Spray the exterior of the bag in enough spray paint or glitter to cover any design printed on the bag. 

bring it outdoors to spray it with paint or glitter

It shouldn't take long for the project to air dry outdoors. Once it was dry, I cut points or triangle shapes, at the top of my bags. If you aren't going for a jack o' lantern design, you could also do autumn themes. Ideas I have in mind are: initials, house number, leafs, trees, gourds, almost anything you fancy. If you search online you will certainly find an array of design t pick from.

finished paper lantern

Use battery operated candles for safety, place a few inside the lantern. Here are a few pictures of my lit paper lanterns. I can't wait to put them outside for Halloween night! 

finished lantern bags

I also had a chance to go to a costume party this month. I think I had too many sweet treats, I swear I felt myself fall into a sugar coma that night. It was so much fun and I designed my costume after watching a tutorial online. I decided on a Fawn with a head piece crown I made from craft supplies (I added antlers and felt ears). Here is the link to the fun makeup I used by FreshBlush on you tube. Here are pictures of what I wore with it, which I had in my closet already.

my fawn head piece, with moss and felt ears I added

my fawn costume

Have a safe & happy Halloween!