Painted Geometric Flower Pots

Greetings little fellas :]

How is everyone enjoying this Tuesday?
I know my cacti are enjoying today because, LOOK.

Cacti need a little love too, right? Just because they have a spiny exterior doesn't mean they don't yearn for companionship and attention just like anyone else...

[I have a problem with cacti actually. I've managed to kill about three or four cacti since freshman year, but it's because I LOVED THEM TOO MUCH. They always looked so thirsty, how was I supposed to know not to water them so much?]

Care to see how I did mine?
Here we go then!

Step One: First I gathered all my items: Pots [and their accompanying dishes], a palette [or other item resembling that purpose], acrylic paint, and a myriad of brushes.

Step Two: Next I painted just the rim of the pot. Pretty simple right? You can tape it off to get straight lines if you so please, but I like living on the edge sometimes [tip of advice: don't hold your breath while painting straight lines. I subconsciously tell myself to hold my breath whenever I paint or draw straight lines... force of habit... and I really don't suggest it haha].

Step Three: Plug and chug some geometric designs on there! Think straight lines and it's bound to be interesting! For example, with this one, I just painted the straight up-and-down lines, then added zig-zags between them.

Or maybe start with a zig-zag, and then go for some straight lines.

And there you essentially have it! To finish mine off, I painted the insides of the pots black, and then did a band of both white and then black on their little dish/coaster/holder things.

In the end, I'm sure the kids will love their new pots! These are my two newest babies by the way. In the back is Lucy [nice girl, diabetic], and in front is the newest acquisition from New Mexico, Flannigan [his species is Red-Headed Irishman. For real.]. I'm still working on pots for Scooter and Prickly Pete, so I'll be sure to post those as well!

Enjoy yer Tuesday!


Linkin' up to HEEERE and HERE!

Men's Shirt to Women's Blouse

'Sup Bro-skis!

Look who's back: THIS KID.
This week y'all get to experience a little bit more of my amateur sewing skills. I keep thinking to myself lately "Man Becca, you really should have taken a sewing class in high school or something. Fo real." But since I decided to take 8 billion art classes instead, now I just kind of wing every sewing project haha.

Take a gander at what I've been up to though:

Whaaaaaaat.
I saw something kind of like this on Pinterest, but didn't quite think that it would look good on me. So I decided to just make one that suited my own tastes.
So here we go, yo:

Step One: First things first- you're going to need to get yourself a shirt [Shocker, I know]. I don't exactly know what size shirt I used, but it said "16-20" on the inside... whatever that means in real life [men's sizes whaaaat]. Then I went ahead and chopped the sleeves off since I would have needed to be jacked as hell for my arms to fill those bad boys out...

Step Two: Next I tried the shirt on and made a mark where I wanted the waistline of my blouse to be. Then made a straight chop across [using a ruler to keep my marking and chopping straight] [also, using a cat to... I don't know, be a cat].

Step Three: Trying the shirt on inside out, I pinned in the sides to get a more fitted... fit. Let me tell you... trying to pin things on yourself is just all kinds of awkward. I think there's some sort of disconnect between my brain and my arms being able to bend that way haha. But CONVENTIENT RED LINES TO SHOW WHAT'S UP YO. Then I sewed the pin lines up to the the arm pits and cut off the excess.

Step Four: Next I took in my shoulders, kind of like a normal tank top [rather than huge man shoulder style].

Step Five: Hem those bad boys off like a boss.

Step Six: With wrong sides up, I measured the top of my blouse against the bottom of the blouse. As you can see, the top is now much smaller than the bottom of the original shirt, which is important when we start to gather the bottom of the blouse.

Step Seven: I gathered the bottom of the shirt by running a long straight stitch all the way across its width, then pulling on one end of the stitch so that the fabric began to bunch. I don't have a sewing machine [because, well... I'm a poor college student], but if you do have a machine, here is a great and more thorough tutorial.

Step Eight: Gather the fabric so that it is the same length as the top of the blouse.

Step Nine: Pin the the top section to the bottom section, right rides together, and then sew the pieces together. And essentially, there you have it!

Just slap on a belt and you're good to go! Or not... Looks fine either way in my opinion, but who doesn't love a good cinched waist?

I'm still quite the novice with sewing, but dang, doesn't it feel great to wear something you know you altered yourself? It's the little things in life man, the little things haha.

Whelp, happy Tuesday y'all :]


And linkin' up to THESE and DIS par-tays!

Ripped Jeans to Shorts

I love making tutorials; I love to share the things I make, and I think it's fun when people share their process. Because let's be honest- who remembers exactly what they did 100 percent of the time? [Not me anyway... I instantly forget things.]
So I thought I'd maybe put some more tutorials together this summer :]

Let's start out with something easy though, yeah?

This has become somewhat of a yearly ritual for me. At the beginning of every summer, I recycle my beat up jeans into some more modest shorts [because I'm not entirely a fan of all the hoochie length shorts that stores try to shove on girls my age...].

Also, am I the only one who annihilates jeans during the winter? Because I feel like whenever I rip jeans, it isn't just a little tear. It's like they freaking went Titanic and destroyed themselves. Go big or go home I guess?

And I've learned that over time, covering the hole up with a cat simply does not work.... unfortunately...

So here is what I do! It's really common sense, but I just wanted to get back into the whole tutorial thing with something easy:

1. Chop off the wreckage just above the top rip... or to a little longer than your desired length. Mine were [clearly] ripped pretty high, so I cut right above the rip to salvage a little more length.
2. Fold them pants up and amputate the other leg.
3. Fold the bottoms of the legs up twice on the outside and pin down, though I suppose you could do it on the inside too. I just like the looks of the outside hem better.
4. Tack the hems down with a few stitches on the outer and inner existing seams. 

And there you have it! A brand new [old] pair of shorts from those ratty ripped jeans! Whoop whoop!

I'll be linkin' this puppy up HURR and to Savvy Southern Style, yo.

Mason Salt and Pepper Shakers

Hey kids :]
I'm a little excited because I actually have a tutorial for you all. And it's seriously the easiest thing evvaar.

Mason jar salt and pepper shakers! Yes, I finally gave in and started making things out of mason jars, rather than just letting mine be sad and lonely in the pantry haha.
But we had no real salt and pepper shakers in the apartment, so I thought it was about time--

Here is how you can make your own! Seriously, its so simple and I don't know why I didn't do it sooner.

Step One: Gather your materials- jars with lids, a hammer and nail, and something to nail on top of [I just used a piece of scrap wood.]

Step Two: Locate the lids and mark them where you want to punch the holes. I marked one hole in the middle with six holes around it.

Step Three: Use the hammer and nails to punch them holes, yo. Just... don't use a super huge nail I guess... unless you like really salty food haha.

Step Four: Fill your new shakers up with salt and pepper, and you're ready to cook like a pro! A really... somewhat red-necky... pro....

I'd say mission accomplished :]


But yerp, linkin' up to Savvy Southern Style and other great parties OVER HER.

Oatmeal Scarf

Remember when I said that I've been crocheting a lot?
I've been crocheting a lot.

And this week I ended up crocheting my first infinity scarf--
I enjoy the whole infinity scarf fashion/deal/thing, so I thought it was about time I finally make one. I mean, the fringe monstrosity was born a few weeks ago, so WHY NOT YARN.

Cue dramatically lit pictures of said scarf.

[I can't help it, it was SUNNY for once]

I got some Homespun yarn for half price, which I've never really worked with before. But the scarf ended up pretty darn fluffy and obnoxious [in a good way]. I didn't really use a pattern because.... reasons... but if anyone is interested in making their own, I can attempt to write one up for this one.

Have a pleasant Sunday, kids.

Linkin' up to these PAAAARTIES!

Kristy's Owl

Evenin!

Whelp, in my last post, you got to experience just a little bit of my limited sewing skills. But the good part is that I'm still practicing! I really do enjoy sewing and making things, not gonna lie, so I refuse to give up on it just yet haha

Sooo, for one of my other dear friends [and she's my roommate to boot!] I decided to practice sewing a little more by making her this little fella:

I had some extra fleece lying around, and she really loves owls, so I thought it might be a pretty good fit.

I have quite a few things that I would like to change for next time, but for a quick project to whip up, I'd say it was a pretty good first try!

And he will be linkin' up to some of THESE parties!

Fringe Scarf

Greetings, compadres!

I think that my favorite gift that I made this year ended up being this one:

I made this fun fringe-y scarf for one of my very, very dear friends, Carolyn. And I really hope she ends up liking it! and if she doesn't... then... Idk. I plan on making one for myself anyway :]

AND WELL LOOK AT THAT. I took pictures so that you can make your own! Don'cha know.

So let's get started!

Step one: Find yourself three yards of fabric. I used a stretchy knit fabric in this pretty grey color, but I guess as long as you use something mildly stretchy and nice-feeling, this would work. Can you tell that I'm SUPER versed in all things sewing? [haha NOT EVEN. I just like to putz around with sewing...] But yeah. Take your three yards and fold it in half long-style. Then cut your fabric all the way down the fold you just made. Now you will have two long sections of fabric, but you'll only need the one to make the scarf.

Step two: LOOK, MORE OF MY INFINITE SEWING SKILLS SHOWING. Haha oh gosh. But yeah. On each side of the fabric panel, measure in about five or six inches. The measurement depends on how long you want your fringes to be. But since I'm terrible at making straight lines, I used a tape measure to keep the line straight.

Step three: Mark your straight lines with straight pins. This will tell you where to cut the fringes to. If you have a marking pencil [which I didn't] you could just use that if you want...

WARNING: This was where my cat entered. This was BY FAR his most favorite thing I have ever made... so if you have a cat, be aware that they LOVE to help with this project haha.

 Step four: Start cutting your fringes once you have both sides all marked out. I cut each of mine a half an inch each, but again, size is up to you.

Step five: Appreciate what a good helper you have.

Step six: Once you have all the fringes cut, turn the fabric once so that there is one twist in it, like the photo above. Then line up the two straight edges of the fabric.

Step seven: Sew up your edges, and you're ready to wear your new scarf! I hand sewed mine, but that's only because I'm not very comfortable with a machine. You can go ahead and machine sew it though!

 And there you have it: a fun fringe-y scarf :]
I very much enjoy odd scarfs, so I hope Carolyn enjoys it too!

 If you make your own, I'd love to see! I feel like this project can be much improved on, so I'd love to see if anyone whips up something fantastic :'D

And I'll be linking to these great PARTIES!