Things I've made in the past few months...

This post should also be titled- "things where I didn't have the foresight to take pictures of the process to be able to turn into complete blog posts." Whoops!

I had so much fun working on these 3 projects but I think I was also so concerned they would come out terrible and wouldn't make it onto the blog. The pictures of these projects are heinous, I will give you that. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking when I snapped the sole photographs I have of these things. In fact, I'm not sure I was thinking at all. Despite that, these are 3 little projects that still deserved their time in the lime light so I am determined to give that to them- ugly pictures and all.

1. Ugly Couch Pillow Make-Over

This was seriously the simplest of the simples. I had, for whatever reason, grown to absolutely detest my couch pillows. I went to Home Goods a few weeks in a row (have I ever mentioned my complete obsession with Home Goods? I can assure you this isn't the last you'll hear of it!) because I was determined to find a good deal on new pillows. When I came to accept that I wouldn't find pillows I wanted at the price I was willing to pay, I switched my search to Jo-Ann's. Coupons in tow, I picked out 2 home decor fabrics I liked and asked for a couple yards of each. I can still remember the woman working there asking me what I planned to do with the fabric and me feeling the need to express to her my hatred for these pillows and my desire to change their lives with a make-over. She looked at me like I was insane, cut my fabric, and I cheerfully went on my way. Is it really so strange to dislike your couch pillows so much? 

I found the project in my Singer Simple Sewing book... It's probably one of my favorite go-to's for everything sewing machine related. Check it out!

2. Big Fancy Pants Scrapbook Paper Covered Letters

The title really says it all. I went to Jo-Ann's (yes you are sensing a theme here! I put that coupon app to good use people!) and I bought a couple of those big paper mache letters they sell. In hindsight, I could've bought the next size up. Maybe next time! Any hoot- I picked a scrapbook paper pack I felt was appropriate to my living room, grabbed a couple sticker packs... maybe a few extra that I didn't need..., a tea dye colored Distress Ink ink pad, and a new bottle of Mod Podge. In essence, all I really did was throw all these things at the letters and cross my fingers. Luckily they stuck! 

They now sit on opposite towers of my entertainment center and they couldn't make me happier.

3. Chalkboard Calendar for All My Comings and Goings

It came to my attention that an over-sized calendar that I could fill in regularly needed to find it's way into my life. Because I'm obnoxious and a little bit of a brat, I didn't want the typical dry erase board. I thought it was lame. Apologies to all dry erase board enthusiasts out there, including myself for the one in my kitchen that keeps track of my needed groceries. I decided to go with a chalk board, but chalk is messy. I don't care too much for chalk dust. Enter Chalk Ink! This is the stuff Starbucks and other grocery stores and restaurants use for their fancy chalk boards. Of course it makes sense for me to want these in my house! I got the artista pro line (the markers that only come off with products like windex) to draw all the outlines that I wouldn't want to retouch every month. Those were things like the actual outline of the calendar, the days of the week, and the notes section on the bottom. I also bought a few of the regular line (wipes off with water) to write in the month, the days, and our actual schedules! This came out so much better than I expected it to! I bought the chalk board at *shocker* Jo-Ann's and framed it in a big poster frame from Target. It's doing very nicely here and keeps me where I should be at all times!

 

I should also point out, next to the month name, I write the month in Spanish and Italian as a mini language lesson... Take that Rosetta Stone!

There they are- the forgotten and poorly photographed labors of my last few months! Here's hoping I remember to document the process of my next adventure in crafting!

Have a lovely weekend, all!