DIY Painted Couch!

I know I have, once again, been horrid about posting, but I'm about to make it up to you with a super huge project!  In my defense, we had a pretty bad ice storm, so for the last week the internet has been spotty...This is actually my second attempt at posting this as the first time the internet would be on for 10 minutes then off for an hour or two, so I nerd-raged...

A bit of background:  Someone gave us this couch forever ago.  It is very old and looks to have been white at one point, but it had turned this dingy, stained, beige-ish, yellow-ish color.  At the time, we had no couch, though, so we were happy to have it!  We recently got a new couch for the living room, but this old one had a hide-a-bed in it that is perfect for when we have guests, so I really wanted to try to save it.

A few months back, someone gave me a TON of gauche.  I had no idea what to do with it as I can't really canvas paint to save my life, but upon consulting Violet for ideas, figured it would pretty much work on whatever, so I decided to just try something completely random.

I pulled out all the bright colors of gauche since my craft room will be all bright and cheery and I wanted the couch to match.  I had taken a before pic, but my camera is trying to give up the ghost, I think, and it somehow vanished.  You can see how awful it was in the unpainted places in most photos, though.

You may not want to try this method if the furniture is going to be in a high-traffic area or if you have kids that spill because I really don't know how this would hold up to water, but since this will be used mostly to pile craft projects on unless someone needs to visit, fold out the bed, and crash on it, I wasn't concerned about that aspect.

It also had some frayed strings and edges on it, so I cut those off before I got started.

I started off by putting about a pea-sized dab of gauche straight from the tube onto a wet brush about an inch wide.  I rubbed the paint into the fabric, then dipped the brush into water and kept working it around until the color was spread as far as it would go.  Once that color was done, I repeated the process with the next color.  Since you're using so much water, they will sort of naturally blend and run together.  Also, where you use plain paint without watering and blending it enough it sill stay sort of crunchy, so be sure you add water and blend, blend, blend!

Inside and back...Ahhh, crafting with cats.  I'm sure you can tell she "helped" the whole time.   The older cat couldn't have possibly given a shit less what I was doing, but the kitten was all "OMG STUFF I CAN POTENTIALLY MESS UP!" the whole time.

Outside....Here, you can see on the back how dingy this thing was.  I did the skirt on the bottom in solid back.  Because, that's why.  Please note the stuff on the carpet is strings I cut loose and paint splotches, not grime...although, this carpet is pretty grimy and won't be going with us into the new abode, hence me not worrying about what all I got on it.

Time for the cushions!

To tone things down a bit, I used blue for the cushions.  Same method.

BLUE CUSHION!  Big improvement.

Now, eventually I will finish this part, but this was WAY too hard to keep the cats off of even for the one tiny area I did, so I have to wait until I get it IN the new craft room to finish it so I can lock them out.

Either way, I took some puffyish fabric paint and outlined (and will outline the rest of) the piping in red.

Like so!  :)

And done!  I blacked out all the messy-ness of the paint on the floor so as not to distract from the overall picture.  I left the back cushions, which were scavenged and not original to the couch - those were missing - the color they were since they also help tone it down a bit and do blend with some of the oranges and yellows.

This will be wedged in between shelving when it is at its proper home, so this is what you will see.  Probably complete with cat.  >.<

Side view!  With strings and paint still all over the floor, haha!

All in all, I'm VERY happy with how it came out.  It is bright and cheery, so it will be great in the craft room, and it is a VAST improvement over the stained, dis-colored bleh I started with.  Totally saved this couch's life.

<3

WW

Craft Quickie - Bling Your Razor!

This is a super quick craft.  Not really a tutorial, but it is something you could easily do yourself, in your own style, and with very little time...Just be sure and shave your legs right before you start as Loctite needs 24 hours to set up properly!

Grab your razor and take the cartridge off of it so you don't hurt yourself.  Yep, I use a men's razor.  It works better than any women's razor I've found yet.  I actually stole this one from the Wookie.

I painted the non-grippy parts with my favorite nail polish (Ruby Pumps by China Glaze), then used the Loctite to glue on the little strip of chain and the skull.  DONE!  Make sure you use plenty of Loctite.  I need to re-glue my chain as it fell off, but the Wookie fell in love with this, so I did his as well in green with gold chains and a gold lion's head pendant on the front.  I used more glue on his and it has stayed on with no problem!

Easy!

<3 WW

Random Photo Post - Critter Edition

It has been ages since I did a random photo post, so I guess it is about damn time!

This little guy landed on the glass part of the screen door one day and I couldn't resist a photo.

A neighbor's chicken...It is at that ugly, funny, adolescent stage, just getting in all its feathers.

We have these neighbors who are so awesome that they take in and rehabilitate abused horses.  This little foal was so malnourished when they got him that he couldn't even stand.

As you can see, he's feeling much better now and is just the friendliest little guy!

Pretty, blue-eyed beauty.

Another rehab horse...I think he thought I had a carrot or something.

Yes.  I do take a picture of EVERY butterfly I notice land on the door.

Der fishie.

GOATS!!!  So cute.  I used to mark all my photos, but I'm really too lazy for all that now.

Hope you enjoyed the critters!

Listening to:  "Doom" - Black Gene for the Next Scene

<3WW

Bunny Plushie DIY

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!

<3

-WW

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This post is a tutorial for...SURPRISE!  Another felt plushie.  A bunny plushie!

You're in shock, aren't you?

Yes, I'm on a plushie kick.

First, figure out what basic shape you want your bunny to be, then draw it onto the felt and cut it out of your desired color and don't forget to use two layers so you have a front and a back.  I wanted my bunny to have an abnormally large head.

Using one of your body-pieces, lay it on your sheet foam and cut around it so you have a roughly bunny-like sheet foam shape, then sandwich them all together.

Play around with face parts and figure out how you want your bunny to look.  This look really creeped me out, so I went with this one instead:

Once you get the look you want, either stitch or glue on all the pieces.  I glued most of them, but stitched the tiny white pieces and the sequins for his dreamy little eye glimmers on with thread because hot glue and felt tend to be a hard combination to control at times, and I absolutely loathe a project with hot glue bubbles and strings sticking out all over the place, so if its something tiny where I'm afraid I won't be spot-on in my application, I use another method.

Sandwich it all together, stitch it up, and now you have yourself a bunny plushie.

A cute little happy one without the creepy "I'll-come-alive-and-kill-you-in-your-sleep" teeth.

Unless its a gift for someone you secretly hate and you want them to be peeking out at the evil thing from under their blankie at night and trembling in terror - then use the creepy face for him.  This was for my niece and I love her and don't want to creep her out, so I made him all cute and friendly.  :)

<3
The Wookie Wifey

Charm Bracelets - Two Easy Ways

Charm bracelets have been around for quite a while.  I see them quite often in stores, already fully charm-ed out, but sometimes you want something that's a bit more personal for yourself or for a gift, right?  Well, here's two versions of how to make your own.

For the first version, you'll need a bracelet with decent-sized links, the charms of your choice, and jump rings.

I didn't have enough jump rings of a same size, so I took these off of this necklace which I was re-doing anyawy.

Next, take your needle-nose pliers, (I use two sets), twist the jump ring open, loop it through a link in the chain, add the charm, then twist it closed.  Be sure to TWIST, not try to pull them open or you'll never get them to go back right and it will look pretty bad.

I find it helpful to count out how far apart I want the charms before I get started so I can be sure they will be evenly spaced and it will be as full as I want it to be when it is done.

...And there's version 1!

Easy!

For version 2, everything is the same except this time I made the bracelet itself from scratch as well.

I found some old chain I had lying around, trimmed it to the proper length.  Then, using jump rings, I attached the toggle clasp to the ends.

Here it is with just the toggle on.

Once I had the clasp done, I began adding charms just like before.

Keep going...

And done!

<3

WW

Review - DIY Foaming Hand Wash (and all-purpose cleaner)

I wasn't quite sure where to post this review as it sarted off as foaming hand soap, so...Beauty wing, right?  However, it ended up as an amazing, multi-purpose, indispensable item that could go on here since this is crafts and home/random shit.  At any rate, I figure it was high time I review my home-made products now that I've had a few months to test them properly.

If you like the review and want to give my recipe a shot, you can get a full tutorial here with the instructions on how I DIY'd my liquid castile base here.

Simply put:  I'm in love.  That is an unbiased opinion as one of the things I made will NOT get a good review and was replaced by this (obviously, the all-purpose cleaner).  While family seemed to really dig my other all-purpose cleaner, and it DID do its job, I just couldn't get over the heavy vinegar smell it had, even though there wasn't really all that much at all in there once it was diluted properly.  I loathe the smell of vinegar and had hoped all the other ingredients would cut the scent at the right mixture, but it turns out even a drop of the stuff makes everything stink to high heaven.

Now, this works great as a foaming hand soap.  I re-purposed an old dispenser, the only issue being that it foams great for one or two pumps, then not so much unless you let it rest for a bit, but that may be the pump.

After deciding I didn't like my all-purpose cleaner much due to the smell, I opted to give this a shot.  I've used it straight from the foam pump to dampen a cloth to dust, I've used it straight from the large container to wipe down the walls, cleaned the stove, mopped the floors, etc., and it does a marvelous job and leaves no residue or icky stuff behind that I've noticed at all.

The best part?  You're cleaning your house with something so natural and gentle that you can feel comfortable keeping it by your sink and washing your hands in it.  Try that with store-bought cleaners.  The mix of castile and the eucalyptus oil I added to the mix makes for a delicious, clean scent that is light-years better than vinegar, as well.

Verdict?  On this particular, glorious, multi-purpose product, I am NEVER going back to store products.

<3
WW

DIY 5-minute Hair Accessories

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!

<3

-WW

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Why, yes, I do realize it is taking me forever and a day to move things over, but, sadly, life does not always cooperate with our plans.  Things have been busy and when they haven't I've just been too damn tired to worry about blogging, but I am making a concerted effort to do better.  I have a shit ton of craft projects to finish and it should be cooling off soon, which means I can get back to creative cooking and wearing makeup for more than ten seconds before I sweat it off, which will really up the posting frequency of all of the wings, so please bear with me and don't abandon me.  

I'll be all weepy and pathetic if you do, and that just isn't pretty.

No one wants to see that.

Here's a simple, quick, and super cute way to make some hair accessories out of old buttons.  See?

Cute,  no?  Easy, too.

All you need are some buttons, some bobby pins, some super glue, and some embroidery floss.

First, pick your button and see if the bobby pin will fit through the loop.

If it does, then this 5-minute craft just turned into about a 3-minute craft.

Dot some super glue on it and set it somewhere it can set up for the glue to dry.

If the your button holes are too small to fit the bobby pin through, grab the embroidery floss, cut off a small piece, use it to tie the button onto the bobby pin, then trim the ends as close as you can get them.

Super glue it all together, and don't forget the ends of the floss so they don't come undone.

One of them I put two buttons on...It still stays in your hair pretty well, actually.

And here's the whole line-up.  Quick, easy, and you can make hair pins to match anything.

<3

The Wookie Wifey

Hearthstone Plushie DIY

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No, your memory is not failing you, nor is it that funny taste that may have been in your drink.  Although, if that actually happened, you may want to look into it.  You may have seen this post before.  In an attempt to make everything easier to navigate for everyone, I am working on transferring all of the old beauty and craft posts from the recipe blog to their appropriate homes on the newer wings.  I'll be only one a day so as not to clog up your feeds, so please bear with all the boring re-caps!

<3

-WW

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This is one of my favorite projects still, even as simple as it is.  :)  It is just one of those things that gives me a happy every time I see it!

Isn't it obvious I just HAD to do this?  I mean, come on.  Its cute.  And home is where the hearthstone is, after all.  Which is usually either Undercity or Orgrimmar.

This was easy, but if you're confused on a few of the plushie steps, I've made a few already so you can check out this one if you need more clarification since its tutorial is pretty in-depth.  :)  Above, the hearthstone I made is pictured with Lurky, whom the Wookie got me from the Blizz store because he loves me and he's awesome.  (Not sponsored, duh, I'm just a WoW nerd.)

Since I didn't have any grey felt, I used white.  As usual of my plushies so far, I only have that sheet foam you see up there, so the stitching is on the outside because that stuff is nearly impossible for the inside-out-stitch-then-flip-and-stuff method.  Admittedly, though, the stitched-together-DIY look is rather starting to grow on me.

Back to business, cut out your two hearthstone shapes - I drew it on the felt in my awesome off-brand yellow sharpie (its hard to tell because is so cheap the print is fuzzy, but I think its technically a "Shoupie" or some shit and I have no idea why I find that so entertaining.), then cut them out.  Same with the swirl.  Three cheers for super easy patterns!

Once you have the hearthstone shapes, lay one on top of the foam sheet, then trim the foam around it to get your stuffing.  If it is the same size as your felt or even a teeny bit bigger, that's okay, you can just squish it in as you sew and it will be fluffier, just make sure it's not WAY too big or else it will try to fold and curl up and then you'll have a lumpy hearthstone.

Stack 'em and stitch 'em.  I used white embroidery floss, then just glued the swirl onto the front with hot glue because I wanted the swirl to be flat instead of all stitch-y,  but its whatever you prefer.

DONE!  Set it with your favorite innkeeper and there ya go!  I'm going to Azeroth now, I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

<3
The (totally nerdy) Wookie Wifey