Ikea Wall Art

I fell in love with this Ikea fabric and bought it without any idea of what I could use it for. It sat in a cabinet for many months until the answer finally came to me as I looked around my apartment at the vast stretches of empty white wall that needed covering. I picked up some canvas stretcher bars from Dick Blick and stretched the fabric over the assembled bars using a staple gun. The hardest part was the corners, but some quick Googling led me to lots of tutorials on how to fold them neatly. This was the one I liked best. It took a few hours, but it was a very cheap way to cover a lot of wall. The finished piece measures almost five feet wide by three feet tall.

Read Full Post »

Pattern Fitting

Another handy dandy little tool, once again put out by the manufacturers. Simplicity, Vogue, Butterick, and McCall’s banded together to create a “fit brochure”. I’ve seen many, many different pattern fitting diagrams, but their description and picture for “high bust” was really helpful. It’s nice to see how the makers want you to measure for their patterns, too. You can check it out here.

Read Full Post »

Christmas Gifts in June

Finally, a long overdue list of Christmas gifts, complete with pictures of our hastily scrounged together menorah. Mr. Chemist and I have a menorah that he adores, given to us by his mother. However, with our big move across the country, it still hasn’t made it out here. We found ourselves on the first night of Hanukkah without a place for our candles. Somewhat surprisingly, Mr. Chemist was the one who figured out a crafty solution. I have a collection of glassware, including many 50 mL beakers and Erlenmeyer flasks, which turned out to be great candle holders (with a little crafty foil modification). The servant candle, which is traditionally on a separate level from the others, was simply set on my little jar of ink to raise it up. Voila, menorah!

I tend to plan my gifts more thoroughly since they require a larger investment of time and handmade gifts have a bad enough reputation already. Several of my ideas and their results are posted within.

Read Full Post »

Treat Pouch

If you’ve ever tried to train a dog to do anything, you know that treats are a necessity. Unfortunately, I can’t store treats particularly well in my pockets; it takes me way too long to get them out in the middle of a lesson. I figured this was a problem easily enough solved, and I decided to make a small fanny pack type accessory to store the treats in for easier access. I also made a larger version with different fabric that I took with me on my recent trip back to California, and that was the first time I ever made a pouch like this (making this treat bag my second try). I pretty much designed both pouches myself, but I figured out how to put in a zipper via this awesome tutorial.

Read Full Post »

Birfday Outfit

I know you’ve been waiting for proof that I am the coolest person ever, so here it is.

Read Full Post »