Roses Are Blue...

A Flower In Every Pot: The Tutorial

I'm not sure how many of you remember this craft that I linked to back in the early days of Roses Are Blue but I have had a hard time throwing caps away since I made my first cupcake.  I was looking at my bowl of caps thinking it was time for a new pin cushion so I started thinking about pins that I covet (what?  You don't covet pins?  Have you seen the button ones?!  So cute.)  Anyway, I have long had my eye on these sweet little pins so I thought, "Duh.  Flower pot." and started warming up the glue gun.  Once I finished my pot I put flower pins on my fabric store shopping list (yes, it was the only thing on the list and no, I can't be trusted to remember why I'm there) and headed out to run my errands.  When I got to the fabric store I discovered that one box of 100 pins was $7 (twice as much as online?) and I thought what any good crafter thinks, "$7 for pins!?!  Are you crazy??  I can make those!"  So I did.

And darn if they didn't turn out even cuter than I planned!  I love them.  So now I will share this tutorial with you:

First make your pot.  Any plastic bottle cap will do (2-liter, 20 ouncer etc).  You can even make varying sizes and have a little flower pot arrangement (cute!)  Measure the cap height and circumference and cut two strips of felt, one a little more narrow than the other to be the rim of the pot.

Then cut the circle of brown felt for the dirt.  You can eyeball the size but it should be about an inch larger in diameter than your bottle cap circle.  You can always trim it down later if you make it too big (um, like I did here). 

Use a needle and thread to gather your dirt circle into a little bag, fill it with stuffing and tie it off.

Get out your hot glue gun and glue the two strips of felt to each other, the more narrow one slightly overlapping the wider one to form the rim of the pot.  Then  bit by bit attach the two strips of felt to the bottle cap.  It's important to note here that the top of the cap will be the bottom of the pin cushion so pay attention to your gluing!  In the photo below I have the cap turned upside down but the strips are glued correctly.  You can also add a circle of felt to the bottom just to make it look more finished but that step is totally optional.  Ok, all of the steps are optional but you get what I mean.

Once you have your pot done it's time to fill it with your dirt.  Make sure your dirt pillow fits and make any adjustments to it before you start gluing.  Once you are satisfied, slather the bottom and lower edges of the dirt pillow with hot glue and carefully place it into the pot.

Now you are ready to plant your flowers.  Of course, if you are not cheap like me then by all means stop here, go get the flower pins and Bob's your uncle!  However, if you want to save $7, onward and upward.  I pulled out my fabric scrap basket for this part because the petals and leaves are so tiny but whatever fabric you use, iron it onto fusible interfacing to keep the flowers from fraying.  Then draw on a flower shape and a leaf shape and cut them out.

See how cute?

The last step is to poke your ball headed pins through the shapes and add a little glue if you want (if you use glue remember to add it last so you don't gum up your pins).  Voila! 

Cut out as many more flowers and leaves as you want for your pot (or as many as you can stand to make in one sitting) and then admire your handiwork.  I'd love to see photos if anyone makes one. 

Simple Fix Part 4 and a half...

Ok, so you've had your sock board up for about a month now, right?  And it is like a miracle, I know.  But I am guessing that, miracle of miracles not withstanding, there are several singleton socks up there still patiently awaiting their reunion with their mates.  Sadly, for an unfortunate few, there will be no reunion (seriously now, where do they go?!)  So for those poor lonely widows and widowers I have done one more Simple Fix to help put those socks to good use, Cherry's Comet Dog Throw (I just made that up.  What do you think?)  This project works great with athletic socks, especially the long soccer/baseball variety (of which we have singles in every color...)  Again, not much of tutorial here but they put directions on a soup can so who am I to judge?  Ok, so for this project you will need:

• a lonely singleton sock crew length or longer
• a soft baseball or heavy-ish rubber ball (a tennis ball will also work if your sock is not too long)
• a rubber band (optional)

First, put your ball in your sock all the way to the toe then and add a rubber band (or tie a knot).  Take it outside (with your dog), spin it like crazy and let go.  Bingo!  A fun game of catch without having to touch a slimey ball!

And look how happy your dog will be...

Ok, so if a dog toy is not your thing (maybe you have a cat and that's ok), feel free to browse through this list of other clever ideas.  Pure genius, I say...

Bean Bags (scroll down.  This same idea could work for a cat toy.  Just use catnip instead of beans.)

Sock Monkey (this one requires two socks but they don't have to match!)

Sock Puppets

Baby Sock Puppets (too cute!)

Grass Sock Pet

Sock Worm

Sock Babies (again requires two socks)

Singleton Sock Bunnies

Sock Bunny (again!)

Sock Bunnies, Chicks & Eggs (next Easter you'll be ready!)

Sock Snow Friend

Socktopus (har!)

There another list of great ideas here and here (LOVE the camping soap idea!)

And check it out, here's a whole book dedicated to sock crafts!

Now you can really cull that sock wall.  I'd love to hear any more ideas (or see pics) if anybody has them!

Simple Fix Part Four (or, 14 Years As a SAHM and All I Have To Show For It Is 4 Measley Tips)

But I'm not bitter.  I saved my favorite tip for last!  Another simple fix with about a thousand variations give or take a hundred or two.  So I know, whether you have kids or not, that you have missing socks at your house.  That's just the way it is.  I don't know where they go or why they disappear but I am starting to think it has something to do with gnomes...

In any case, we used to have a sock box where we would throw the singleton socks.  The box worked great to keep them corralled but it didn't help when it came to actually finding the mates.  The sock box just piled higher and higher until it would tip over and we would realize that more than half of the socks in there were in pairs...

Then in a seemingly unrelated story, I had a spare bulletin board in the studio (curse you slanted walls!) that was too nice to part with.  So I walked around the house looking for a place to hang it (curse you open floor plan!)  As soon as I walked into the laundry room, though,  I had my epiphany.  And now I share it with you:

This fix isn't really much of a tutorial, as far as tutorials go.  All you need for this one is a wall, a bulletin board, some tacks and you're in business.

However, if you want to turn it into more of a project, some ideas include painting/staining/decoupaging the frame, painting the entire board to blend in with (or stand out from) the wall, hanging a smaller board for each family member & painting them each a different color, hanging a board in each family member's closet or room instead of in the laundry room, painting different color stripes or squares to separate family members (or sock types), having a board for athletic socks and one for dress socks (or kids/adults), lining the board with pretty fabric, adding a more substantial frame to make it look like the work of art it truly is...really, there is no end to the ideas!  So have fun with this and rest well tonight knowing that you have outsmarted the gnomes.

Simple Fix Part Three: The eyes have it.

Let me give a little back story here...we travel a lot in the summer, the boys and I, and this one particular summer about 3 years ago I had the irritating habit of leaving my sunglasses at home before every road trip we made.  Now if you drive, and I know that most of you do, you will know that you cannot make a road trip without sunglasses.  So I found myself stopping at truck stops, service islands and drugstores across America to buy another cheap pair of sunglasses to get me through the drive.  By summer's end, I had 9 pairs.  I agree, it was ridiculous.  And more importantly, where was I going to put them all? 

When we were finally home for the summer, I sat in the kitchen trying to think of a way to store all of the sunglasses.  I wanted them to be easy to find, easy to access and to be near the, ahem...organizer where I dump my keys.  Which was already overflowing.  The only open space was on the wall.  So this is what I came up with. 

At this point we are down to a reasonable number of sunglasses but this system will accommodate many, many more (trust me).  And the best part is, it's out in the open so it is very easy to remember to hang up your sunglasses which in turn makes them easy to find!  Now the keys?  That's a different story.  We are still working on that system...

For this project you will need:

• a bulletin board, mirror, shelf etc. hanging in a convenient spot (see the variations if you don't have this)
• (2-3) large cup hooks (they do not require pre-drilling)
• (1) 3/8 dowel in the length needed to fit your frame ( I used a skinny one but really just about any size will do.  Just keep your diameter in mind when shopping for hooks)
• paint or stain
• Little People (or any other finial you might like)

This project is about as easy as they come.  First, paint or stain your dowel to match or coordinate with your frame.  If you add some fancy details or you are worried about scratching the paint, feel free to add a few coats of your favorite sealer. 

 

Once your paint is dry it is time to add your finials.  If you are adding Little People you can just slide them on over the ends without drilling.  I have only added mine with double-stick tape (what if I want to play with them later?) but you can use hot glue if you want them to be permanently attached.

Now grab your frame and eyeball a good distance to install your cup hooks on either end to support your dowel.  I had to deal with the wall phone so my hooks are way off center.  Keep your individual space in mind when measuring.  If you have a very long dowel and lots of sunglasses you might want to add a cup hook in the center as well to keep it from bowing.  Once you have your cup hooks in, pop your dowel on there, add your sunglasses and just like that!  You are organized.  At least, your sunglasses are...

This system, like the first and second, also has a bunch of variations.  Some that I thought about include adding regular finials to make it a little more sophisticated (or just different toys that you might be partial to), using a branch, rope, or other found item in place of the dowel, wrapping the dowel in ribbon or fabric or decoupage, hanging the dowel from ribbon loops or chain... Also, if you have no frame or shelf in a good spot, you could just use a cafe curtain rod alone or a dowel through eyelet screws in the wall or a dish towel bar...and of course this system would work for reading glasses in any other area of your home...

Ok, I think you get the idea.  Have fun with it!

Simple Fixes Part Two: Our cupholder runneth over...

Ok, I don't think y'all needed a whole week to pound some grommets but I hope you are thrilled with your newly tidy bathrooms!  See how simple your life is now?  So let's move on to Simple Fix #2.  I'm going to do my best to not sound like an infomercial here (too late) but have you ever emptied your clean dishwasher only to find that there are enough dirty dishes sitting on the counter to fill it right back up again?  And they are all cups & glasses?  We only have four people in our household (give or take a few on any given day) but the top of our dishwasher was filling up daily and the counters were perpetually littered with abandoned drinking apparatuses (apparati?)  I tried assigning different types of glasses to each of us but that system didn't stick.  (Well, it stuck with me as I was the only one who could remember which glass type was mine and unfortunately now I seem to only be able to drink out of the white ceramic IKEA pub glasses but I'm seeing a therapist and should recover soon).  Anyway, for Christmas one year our friends gave us some glass coasters that hold photographs and I got an idea where to use them (since we certainly don't have the type of furniture that requires a coaster...)  I slipped photos of each of us into the coasters and lined them up on the kitchen counter.  Then I let everyone know that from that day forward that they have to set their glass on their coaster when they are done with it and only use one glass a day.  I will admit I was not holding my breath on this one...but turns out it works like a charm!  The original glass coasters have since chipped and broken so I made the new ones that you see here.  I also added two more coasters (which are not pictured) to the set to accommodate any stray children we might have around. 

So, for this project you will need:

• (6-or however many you want) 4" squares of canvas (or fabric of your choosing)
• (6-or however many you want) 4" squares of cork (I cut mine from an old cork wall tile but you can use cork shelf liner, an old bulletin board, readymade cork coasters etc...if you are using the wall tiles you will want to cut them with a very sharp blade.  Scissors do not work)
• gesso (if you are using canvas)
• glue (I used Fabri-Tac which has held up well but I would think all-purpose white glue would work too)
• acrylic paint
• painting supplies (brushes, palette, etc)
• polyurethane or similar heavy duty sealant like ModPodge outdoor  (heh heh heh...I said duty)

Ok, once you have your 4" cork and canvas squares all set, it's time to give the canvas squares a good coat of gesso.  You can do this before you cut them if you'd like.  The gesso preps the canvas for paint and will keep the canvas from fraying (if you are using a patterned fabric you should skip this step.  Duh, I know.  Sorry).  Once the gesso is dry go ahead and trim any loose threads from your squares. 

Spread a thin layer of glue (or follow label instructions) and adhere the canvas to the cork (if you are super um, methodical you might want to paint your canvas first so you don't get paint on the edges of your cork...but that's up to you).  I stacked heavy books on top of my coasters and set them aside to dry overnight because I wanted them nice and flat but you should follow the drying guidelines set by your particular glue.

Once your glue is dry, it's time to paint your designs & names.  Or you could draw with a sharpie if that's more your thing.  You can even let each family member design their own (if you are not a control freak like I am).  Once your paint is dry and you are happy with your designs, coat your coasters with 2-3 coats of your favorite WATERPROOF sealer following the directions on your product's label. 

This project has more variations than I could hope to list but a few alternate ideas I had included cutting up an old painting for the canvas squares, simple felt coasters with embroidered names & faces, laminated photos or scrapbook-like collages (with rubber stamps and/or stickers), laminated fabric (here is a great tut for placemats that could be easily altered for coasters), rubber stamps on fabric (like in Amy Karol's awesome book), ceramic tiles painted with tile paint,  painted & sealed wood shapes, divided runners or mats...ok, can I stop now?  If you only want the system and not the craft, there are hundreds of ready made coasters on Etsy that you could use including these gems.  You could also just use coasters you already have.  The key, though, for this system's success in our household was personalization with names or photos leaving no room for doubt about which coaster was whose (apparently, using different designs, numbers or colors is too arbitrary for the collective Garrett memory to handle).  Whatever you choose, once you have finally have all of your coasters ready, gather your family, make your announcement and sit back and watch your kitchen practically clean itself...

What?

Simple Fixes: A four-part series to make your life easy. Well, parts of it at least.

Over the years I have come up with hundreds of amazingly clever and practical systems to help make life easier in the Garrett household.  I have invented a system to solve just about every problem, from keeping track of chronically misplaced keys and cell phones to wrangling shoes in the living room.  There has only been one minor problem with these systems though.  Most of them have failed miserably.  Especially the misplaced key ones...

There have, however, been four systems to date that have withstood the test of time (and more importantly, the test of incredibly system-resistant children & organizationally challenged parents).  I would like to share these systems with you in a four part series with amazing picto-tutorials and helpful tips to make these ideas your own.  (I'd give them to you all at once but this is good material!)

Part One:

Now, I don't know how things happen in the bathrooms at your house.  Maybe you have girl children who don't use up all the toilet paper, fail to flush and then leave damp hand towels everywhere imaginable except for hanging on the towel bar.  But I do not.  Most days our bathrooms look like an interpretive Dali installation.  In all honesty, I am just thankful that my boys actually wash their hands.  But the hand towel thing...I mean seriously.  Is it that hard to hang up a towel?  (The answer is yes, it is.)  So after giving up on yelling at err, reminding the boys to hang up their towels, this is what I came up with: Carabiner Hand Towels.  *Poof*  No more hand towels everywhere.  Just like that.

What you will need for this project:

• Two to three hand towels per child (and/or adult if necessary)  Technically you can get away with one each but not if you do laundry like I do.  I actually use bar towels that I buy in bulk at Costco because they are the perfect size and I can bleach them when colds & flus strike.
• One large carabiner per child (and/or adult if necessary, in a different color for each).  Make sure it is large enough and of the right shape to fit over your towel bar.  (See variations below if your towel bars are unusually large.)
• An extra large grommet kit
• Scissors, a hammer and a good solid surface
• Pliers are optional but recommended

Follow the instructions on your grommet kit and install a grommet in one corner of each towel.  Make sure that the surface you are hammering on is SOLID.  I also hold the grommet setter with pliers instead of my hand so I can pound with abandon.  Learned that the hard way... Once your grommets are set, slip the carabiner on, lock it onto your towel bar and Bob's your uncle!  Genius.

Some variations of this idea include assigning a different color hand towel to each child, embroidering initials or adding different colors of rick rack or ribbon trim to the towel (in the same color as the carabeener even!), using miscellaneous golf towels with the grommets already installed, using eyelet hooks instead of a towel bar, using loose leaf rings or shower curtain rings in place of the carabiners (which will work well if your towel bars are large), and on and on.  So have at it.  I'd love to see what y'all come up with if you do this! 

Let's turn this into a tutorial, shall we?

I almost forgot about the second baby shower gift I made!  This is a slip-on collar bandana for Sadie, the big sister-to-be.  Yes, Sadie is a dog.  And yes, I do understand that she is not actually the big sister (and no, I don't refer to myself as my dog's mommy) but I didn't want to leave sweet Sadie out.  I mean, she was their first baby-like commitment.  And the poor thing has no clue what's about to happen to her status in the Mino pack.  She may as well look cute as she stares longingly inside through the back door...

Anyway, after finishing Sadie's big sister bandana (and remembering how quick and easy they are) I decided to stitch up a Valentine's day version for Cherry Sue.  Then, after finishing Cherry Sue's bandana (and reaffirming my thought that these really are quick and easy) I thought this would make a great project for my first attempt at a tutorial.  There aren't too many steps and it is about as uncomplicated as a sewing project can get (which is good for me since I have some issues with...words).  Plus, the nice thing about these bandanas is that you can make one in pretty much any size and fabric combination for pretty much any and every occasion!  I mean, if you are crazy.  Like me...

So, I will give directions for a bandana for a 1" x 16" collar that looks cute on a 25 pound dog.  But y'all can add or subtract as many inches all around as you need to fit your dog and collar.  Just be sure that when you stitch up your casing that you have made it wide enough to slide the collar through (which means adding to the overall length of your rectangle for a thicker collar).  This tutorial will rely pretty heavily on the photos.  Feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions.  Seriously though, I think we can do this...

1.  Ok, pick your fabrics (pre-washed) and cut out a 10" x 9" rectangle of each (do as I say here, not as I do.  I know the photo clearly shows a 9" square, which is totally my bad.)  Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise and make a mark along the raw edges at 4.5" from the bottom.  Cut at an angle from your mark to the end of the fold to create the pointed shape.  Do the same to the other half.

2.  Now if you want to embellish your bandana here is your chance.  I have added a simple embroidered heart (which my dog will promptly snag with her scratching, I'm sure) but you could add a heart (or decoration of your own choosing) with paint or fabric markers or iron-on...or your bedazzler.  Whatever.

3.  Once your embellishing is done, take both pieces,  lay them right sides together and pin them around the sides and bottom (if y'all weren't watching I totally would not have pinned this).  Stitch around the edges leaving a 1/4" seam allowance and remove your pins.  Remember not to stitch the top!

4.  Carefully clip your corners and turn your bandana right-side-out.  Push the corners and the point out with a turning tool or a chopstick or whatever you like to use and press it nice and flat and sharp.

6.  To make the casing, make a 1/2" fold at the top and press.  Then make another 1 1/2" fold and press again.  This is where, if you are using different measurements, you want to make sure you are making your casing wide enough for the collar you will be sliding in.  Remember to add at least 1/2" to the collar width measurement to accommodate the hardware.  (Again, this will hopefully mean that you already added to the length of your rectangle before cutting.)

7.  Ok, ready?  Pin the casing in place, stitch across 1/4" from the bottom edge and remove your pins.   I wish I could say something like my grandmother would be very proud of my methodical pinning for this project...but I don't have that kind of grandmother.  My grandmother is proud when I remember that lay (not lie) takes an object and when I don't misuse hopefully like I just did.  Anyway, I like to stitch this seam twice so it is nice and sturdy.

8.  Now go to your dog's collar closet (I assume if you've gone this far that your dog in fact has a collar closet.  Or at least a collar shelf) and pick out the best collar for your nifty new bandana.  Or if you want to go all out, make a matching/coordinating collar while you are at it!  There are bunches of great tutorials already for those and Bend The Rules Sewing has an easy pattern as well.  Now don't worry if your bandana is a little wonky or lopsided (like mine).  I promise your dog won't notice.  And once you slide it onto the collar and snap it around her adorable neck, all of the flaws will magically disappear!  See?  What do you mean you didn't pin?

Happy sewing!