Tangled Up In Glue

Finished pillow

This hand embroidered silk piece was all left for gone at a thrift store in town. It was a stunning pale pink with green leaves, red and pink flowers, but had pen marks all over it (the original artist drew the pattern in pen). So when I decided I was going to clean it up and turn it into the pillow it so deserved to be....well, I found out the flowers were all hand dyed and never rinsed! Oh man! Vibrant red ink ran all over this gorgeous silk embroidery! So instead of calling it a loss, I decided to just dye it all red.

 I upcycled a women's mustart yellow blouse from the thrift store by cutting the tucks off the front and re-sewing them onto the left and right sides of the back piece.  It doesn't have the same "dainty" look as before but now it has a cool spanish flair!  I love the way it turned out :) 

 It is soo incredibly soft...it feels just like you're laying on your mama's chest!  Amazing :)

Jazzy's twirly skirt

Jazzy's twirly skirt, originally uploaded by tangledupinglue.

Here is the three layered silky pink and silver twirly skirt I made
for my little princess! It was tough using the rolled hem foot on such
a slippery material, but luckily I had three layers of practice. :) I
am going to attempt a tutorial on the rolled hem foot for a circle
skirt soon! Fun!

thrifting fun

I have a little problem...well more than one, but the one that I will describe here is the thrifting one.  Sometimes I feel like I know a little too much about the thrift stores in my area.  Like when a friend says, "I need to go buy a rolling pin" and I say, "Ohh, just go to ARC, they have one on the bottom shelf against the back wall, but if that one isn't what you want then go to Goodwill cuz they have one too and it's cheaper!"  I stop for a second and think "wow, I have a problem".  Needless to say, I have developed quite a knack for thrifting and I love it.  I can find anything and probably too much.  Here are a couple of things I have found over the last month that I am MADLY in love with.

 

A super awesome vintage dutchgirl doll.

 

Dutch girl and boy light switch cover and a folkish mug that I l.o.v.e.

 

A little girls apron with a folk design! Adorable!

I definetely think I have gone deep into my folk art obsession and am totally digging it!  I am working on several projects for my next festival on July 4th in Nederland, CO, so I will try to post some pictures soon!

Awesome birthday weekend!

 Well, my oldest turned 2 on Saturday and we had such a great weekend.  I, of course, had many plans that were not fulfilled, but it was still a blast.  For instance, I really wanted to make handmade garlands and these amazing pom-poms.  Didn't happen.  Instead I went to Party America and got a dozen balloons.  I'm lame.  I made a pepperoni pizza and a fruit pizza for Drake's "actual" birthday and we had a great barbeque on Sunday with all of our friends.  The fruit pizza turned out delicious (although the crust was a little dry) and the vegan chocolate monster truck cake was a hit!  Go me! I was very proud of myself considering it was all arranged very last minute as usual.  Does anyone else ever feel like a total slacker mom?  I know I do regularly.  All of my friends have invitations sent out and plans made like months in advance.  I on the other hand sent out a mass text to friends one week in advance and made all the food, cakes and rest of the plans, the day before the party.  Well, I guess it still works. For anyone who has toddlers who don't eat anything.  Try this pizza crust recipe.  It is delicious and my son gobbles it up.  I know I am always looking for things he will eat.

Pizza Dough:

1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)

2 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons white sugar

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, white sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine.  Beat well until a stiff dough has formed.  Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

3. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface.  Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape.  Cover with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes depending on your crust  preference. 

This recipe is super quick and easy! Enjoy!  Here are some pictures from the birthday bash!

 

Fruit pizzas.

Monster Truck cake.   

Yes, he is always that cute  :)    

Play first, then eat. 

Diggin' in. 

Today's project: Pacifier Pouch

I could hardly sleep last night with all the project ideas running through my head, one of which I had to immediately write down and design before I could fall asleep.  A pacifier pouch that would be convenient, efficient and of course adorable.  So I set out to design one that would be all one peice that snapped together and made of a vinyl to make it easy to clean. Any mother knows that it is hard to keep those pacis clean. So it would be nice to at least know it is going into a clean pouch.  Also, I wanted it to be easy to access without rumaging through a chaotic diaper bag because it is a vital tool for keeping some babies happy.  So here are some pictures of the project that consumed my day.  It was alot of fun to

make!

   

This next one is what it looks like when it is unbuttoned.

 

This is the back view:

 

This is what it looks like attached to my diaper bag:

 

The next step is adding a cute label.  That will be my project for the rest of the evening, or at least until it's time to make dinner!  Let me know what you guys think!

Hello World!

I am sooo very excited to have finally started my very own blog! This will be my outlet to this wonderful world of mine and I can't wait to get started.  Just a little about me: I am a mother of 2 awesome kiddos, Drake (2 years old) and Jazlyn (6 months old).  I live in Fort Collins, CO, where my husband and I have a aquarium maintenance company and are in the beginning stages of a coral propogation greenhouse. My passion though is crafts! I love all things crafty and have begun my very own home-based business creating one-of-a-kind children and baby items.  I am planning on doing several festivals and open air markets this summer and fall, and I am super duper excited! Hope you all stay tuned, because I have a lot of things in mind for this new blog of mine!