Hi IS•LY Readers!

I’m Kami and I blog at no biggie. I’m so happy to be here today! I have loved getting to know Melissa. We both share a love for thrift store finds. Melissa invited me to share my proudest DIY Moment. Over the past year, of all the great thrifty finds I have found, I would have to say that this Mirror would have to be my favorite and proudest moment, indeed.

I was just getting into thrifting, and I had decided to spend a full day going from thrift store to thrift store. On that day, I found this beauty. This big Old mirror was priced at just $10. I know! Just $10! If you saw it in real life you could see how big it is. Luckily it fit in my car.

Here is what it looks like now, you gotta love spray paint:

Below are some pics of the transformation process.

A good friend was over recently and commented, “That mirror looks like it came from Anthropologie.” It was so fun to tell her that I bought it for $10 at the D.I.

You can find Kami at no biggie sharing all of her favorites: great recipes, upcycled thrifty finds and paper crafts. You can also find her blogging on Baby Center’s Momformation blog.

Jessica here of Allora Handmade where I blog about my crazy happy (mostly) life as a mom and handmade business owner trying to keep it all together. (I’ll let you in on a little secret. I don’t have it all together. Promise.) Moving on…

When Melissa asked me to post about my favorite DIY moment I completely drew a blank. Between working on my shop and making sure my kids have something to eat three times a day, there is little time for DIY around here. Unless you count Mac N’ Cheese. But I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count. Besides that, I happen to be married to one of the best DIY-ers I’ve ever met. Naturally, any project I dream up or even begin is more often than not made bigger and better by the Mr. I think I’m pretty lucky to be married to the handyman/graphic designer/interior designer pro, but when I look around at all the projects in my house there are very few (as in zero, ahem.) that I can call my own.  BUT, I think we make a pretty awesome team.

Since we have moved 7 times in the 5 years we’ve been married (can you imagine?), one of the most important DIY projects we do together is making sure our house feels like a home. Though it’s tempting to never settle in, we have put a lot of effort into every place we’ve ever lived, regardless of how long we were staying. Our taste and our skills have evolved with each new home, and I must say, our current home is definitely my favorite.

the view from our front door

Our style is pretty eclectic, but has to be 1 and 2 year old friendly. We love bright colors and pictures (obviously) as well as thrifted and vintage items. The Zebra rug is quite a statement, but I love it. Totally unexpected when you walk in the front door. The bright blue chair is my husband’s most recent project. It’s crazy wild, but my boys can’t get enough of it. Really, everyone who comes to our door feels compelled to step in and take a look around.

yes, i know the chandelier needs replacing...

In almost every home we’ve lived in, we’ve incorporated some sort of picture wall, but this one is different from the rest and has a little more flair to it. Instead of just pictures, we’ve added in some thrifted art, some personal art (even a few done by the boys!), vintage mirrors, etc. We love the way all of the frames look together – all mis-matched and gallery like. To recreate this look, start hunting around for some cool art with colors you like, some thrifted frames, and blow up some of your favorite photos. If you’re obsessive like us, measure all of your frames and draw out a map of where everything will go before trying to hang anything up. Keep in mind, it doesn’t have to be perfect! At our house most of the time the frames are a little cockeyed and full of little boy fingerprints.

treasures are kept high and out of reach

Hi! I’m Mique from 30days.  My little online spot  has craft tutorials, giveaways, guest posts and whatever else I feel in the mood for.   I also co-host a craft show in the San Diego area with my sister called the Queen Bee Market.

I was  flattered that Melissa asked me to guest post.   I absolutely love and admire her style in everything she does….and then she asked me to share my favorite DIY moment. Hmmmm.   Most DIY moments in my life are given away. I’m a DIY gift giver. So I thought about it and thought about it some more and realized that my favorite DIY gifts have been to my nephew.  I am sorry about the poor image quality- I took pictures and gave the presents away (no retakes!).

When Owen was born I made him this little embroidered cowboy. I found a coloring book page online and traced it, added his info, crayon tinted it and stitched it.  I added a few buttons for a little pop.  The best thing about embroidery?  You can take any image you want and embroider it.  There is inspiration everywhere.  Plus anyone can do it.  I’ve sketched a few ideas myself but most often I search Google for coloring book images.   I then print them directly onto fabric and then stitch over them.

And for O’s first birthday I gave him a fabric book of his first year.   It was my labor of love to my only nephew (at the time) on my side of the family.  This was my inspiration and I tailored it to my nephew’s first year.

I gave these presents away awhile ago. And unfortunately I learned the hard way that although the first year book seemed sturdy when I gave it away, I didn’t think about how a toddler would be chewing on it. AND it wasn’t water proof. Yep, you guessed it, it didn’t last. If you want to make a project similar to the first year book, I would suggest sewing vinyl over the top of each page or waterproofing the pages.

I think what I’ve learned most about DIY projects over the years is that they can mean a lot while costing a little.  Yes there was a time commitment involved, but the end products were completely worth the effort.

Today I’m headed out to visit my folks in Charlotte, NC!! We’ll be kicking it in Myrtle Beach for a few days, so maybe I’ll get to work on my tan. Perhaps? I hear we’ll just barely miss Hurricane Earl, but the folks in the Northern parts of the East Coast might not be so fortunate. I hope this one’s not too bad.

While I’m gone with likely no internet access (a welcome break or torture, I’m not sure) I thought I’d host a little mini series! A few bloggers have agreed to share their proudest DIY moments with you & I am so excited to see what they share. I thought I’d kick off the series by sharing with you one of my proudest DIY moments.

While in college, I had the opportunity to take some 3D art electives. I loved these classes. I almost considered switching my major from painting & drawing to 3D media because I love it so much. While taking these classes, I had access to the studio with all the tools & awesomeness with it. It was great, but I really wanted tools of my own. See, when a million students use the same tool every year, it’s not long before that tool is broken, mangled and/or crusted with mystery goo. I wanted my own tools. BADLY.

For my birthday that year I woke up at 6am, headed to Home Depot & bought a drill & a ton of bits. I was so excited to get this drill I also bought lumber & screws with it, too. Our apartment kitchen needed a stove-side table desperately & I was determined to make one with my new toy. Equipped only with my drill, bits & access to the junkiest mitre saw on the planet, I drafted up plans & made a simple table.

This table has had about 4 coats of paint on it. It started out black, then I wanted a different black, then I wanted white and then I finally settled for green. I also added wallpaper to the table top to make it interesting. It’s great wallpaper.

I love this table. It’s got a shelf. The legs are all the same length so it doesn’t wobble (miraculously) & it’s been from heck to breakfast over the last 6 years & still looks fabulous. I never knew this piece of furniture would last through all of my decorating phases & moves. I love this thing. I did it all by myself & I am proud of the end result.

I hope you’ll enjoy this mini series! If you have a proud DIY moment, PLEASE share in the comments!! I’d love to hear about and see (link to it!) what you’re most proud of making.

Regardless of birthdays, Chris & I have desperately needed to replace our sad mousepad. We bought a round mousepad from Ikea years ago for $1. It has served us well, but it’s in a sad & sorry state now. As soon as I saw Summer’s post I snagged the nearest scrap of leather, traced the shape of our old mousepad on the back & cut it out. BOOM. Motoring around our 24″ of screen is so much better now! The leather isn’t nearly as thick & juicy as the one available on Summer’s etsy shop (which is a cool etsy shop, btw), but it does the trick. Love it.

P.S. No pics of it on our desk because our desk is in a dark & scary dungeon.

Back in January as I was surfing my favorite blogs, I came across this post on Ultra Vroom about cardigans and fabric necklaces. I instantly fell in love and had to have a fabric necklace for my very own. I week or so later I remembered the large stash of white jersey hanging around the basement and hap-hazardly made my own version of Annie‘s fabric necklace.

If I remember correctly, I wore that necklace for 4 days in a row. I didn’t really take it off until Penelope bumped her mouth on the table and bled all over me (Penelope is ok, BTW). It was with much sorrow that I parted with the necklace long enough to launder it.

I love my necklace so much, I’ve been wanting to share it with you for sometime, but haven’t worked on the tutorial until just now. Here it is! I hope you like it.

Materials:

• 1 XXL or XXXL men’s t-shirt
• Scissors and/or rotary cutter
• Sewing machine and or needle & thread

Cut off the bottom hem of the shirt. Cut 9 2-inch strips out of the shirt.

Cut open one end of each strip. Stretch the jersey through your hands to allow the fabric to curl inside itself. Group strips into threes.

Sew coiled ends together. Secure the end to a stationary object (like a couch) with a safety pin. Start braiding. I find that a tight braid looks nice, but avoid pulling and stretching the fabric.

Once finished braiding, sew ends together to make three separate rings of fabric.

Cut a 5 x 7 inch square of fabric from the remainder of the shirt, fold it over the three braids and sew. Sew the tube as close to the braids as possible for a snug fit. Trim excess fabric. Turn right side out.

Voila! Your necklace is complete. Twist, and double over and you’re ready to rock and roll!

If you twist the loop twice before doubling over, the necklace looks like this (above).

Twist the necklace once before doubling over and pull some loops longer to have a cowl neckline (above).

So there you have it, in less than 15 minutes you can have a really rad fabric necklace ’round your neck. Hope you give it a try! Happy Weekend, All!

P.S. You might want to check out Annie’s etsy shoppe: Annily Green.

When I was 12 or so, my mom found a pom pom kit that she used ages ago. I tried making pom poms out of it (there may have been Japanese instructions), failed miserably and gave up. Then just over a year ago, I saw an adorable post by Jenn over at Ambrosia Girl about kid friendly Christmas Decorating ideas by Martha. They were all pom poms. I died. I made a bunch of white poms for my Christmas tree. Then I made a bunch of poms for winter hats. Then I made more poms for my Christmas tree this year. Then ALT happened.

At ALT, I met so many cool people with fabulous style. Each person was trendier than the next, wearing unique handmade jewelery and accessories to make anyone swoon. One of the many stand out pieces that I remember was Erin’s necklace. I remember things like that. Erin had the raddest embroidered necklace on from etsy seller spinthread. I want one.

As soon as I got home to some internet, I googled spinthread and was delighted to find so many cool things! Mostly I was blown away by her pom pom headbands and her crazy curly hair. You need to check it out. AND buy one of her headbands. Too bad they’re not in my budget. Boo.

My sister modeling the elastic pom since my hair is far too short for that sort of thing. Isn’t she so pretty?

I had to make some sort of accessory right away with a pom pom. I’m such a copy cat. I used some of my yarn stash (very small) to make one, but I wasn’t getting the volume that I had hoped for. Then it struck me, I have 5 yards of white jersey fabric, why not cut strips and use those to make the poms? It was perfect. I’m going to make my pom poms out of jersey from now on. For sure. There are a few tricks to getting it just right, so I thought I’d include a little tutorial on how to make them, just in case anyone else is interested in making some outlandishly large poms for head ornaments.

• Materials: scissors, needle & sturdy thread, cardboard sheet ~ 3×5 inches, knit fabric cut into 1/2 inch strips
• When cutting fabric, cut strips parallel to the stretch so each strip. Run each strip through your fist, stretching the material slightly. Each strip will curl around itself, forming a hollow string.
• Wrap each string around the card. The longer the card, the larger the pom. Don’t worry that the string isn’t continuous, just keep layering each segment on top of the other.

• Once you get a nice pile of jersey wrapped around the card, you’re ready to tie it off.
• Before removing the pile of strings, tie one side of the loop off. This helps to keep the strings organized when you pull it off the cardboard.
• Carefully remove the pile of strings from the cardboard.

• Tie the entire bundle with string as TIGHTLY as possible. You may need some extra hands for this part.
• With your awesome sewing scissors, cut each loop in half. You’ll want to do this over a garbage can, it gets messy. After you’ve cut each loop, fluff the material out to make a ball. Trim the ball down to a round sphere, fluffing as you go.

Penelope loves this headband, even though the pom is nearly the size of her head. I can’t get enough of her wearing the headband, either. I think I’m going to be making more. LOADS more.

• Put them on headbands, elastic bands, teeshirts, newborns or in a basket for admiring. Enjoy.

To download this tutorial, Please click the download button above. This tutorial is free for personal use only. Thanks!

{click on the image above to join the flickr group}

In celebration of the new flickr group, I’m hosting a little competition this month!

Whoever wins the best flickr group photo for the month of February will get all sorts of cool prizes. I haven’t picked out the prizes, but rest assured there will be a hand-bound book, some calligraphy and other goodies in there. You’re going to like it. PROMISE. So please, join my little group and show off what you’ve made! It can be anything! A drawing, a refashioned shirt, the awesome dinner you made last night, you get the idea! Please post a picture or 12, just as long as it’s made by you, photographed by you and very PG.

I really hope you’ll participate. I’ll keep you posted as I figure out what exactly will go to the winner.

This contest ends February 28 at 11:59pm MST. Winners will NOT be chosen randomly. 3 judges (me & two other guest judges) will vote on a winner. Judges’ entries are not considered part of the contest. Multiple entries are encouraged. You must have a flickr account and entries MUST be added to the flickr group pool to be entered. Am I forgetting anything? Sheesh. Comment or email if you have questions.

Good Luck!