Fluffy Flowers

how to recover old camp stools

We have here a couple of not too pretty, old camp stools. I think its time they received a makeover.

Of course I'm going to do this the super lazy and easy way just like when I recovered Slash's chair. So first I pried off the ratty old covers with a screwdriver. A butter knife would work just as well.

Hey, speaking of Slash, this sweet kitty wants to help out.

Ah, much better with those horrid covers removed.

Now it's time to shine up that dried out wood!

I use a bit of Pledge extra moisturizing. Ok, I use A LOT of it actually.

While I let the wood dry I ran inside to cut out the fabric. Hum, might need to iron it too.

I used the old ratty cover as a pattern and just sort of cut around it. Then it was off to the the sewing machine to sew up the edges. Sorry, I forgot to get photos of me wrestling with the sewing machine beastie. Ya know, I was rushing along with this project, trying to get it done before dark and forgot to photograph the next step too: stapling the covers on. It's just as well that I didn't photograph it because in addition to the ginormous heavy duty staple gun it also required a hammer and a lot of the time I was sweating and grumbling and wondering why I took this project on in the first place. Yeah. Anyway, I did finally get them finished.

Ta da! Here they are all revamped in their new fluffy flowers fabulousness.

Aren't they awesome? Totally groovy even?

I adore them! And I'm delighted that they turned out so well.

They're perfect for an outdoor tea party to for a camp out. Best for children though, they probably wouldn't hold the weight of an adult. If you love them and want them to spiff up your cottage they are for sale over in my shop.

Storing plastic grocery sacks - an easy, fast, and free tutorial

I don't know about you, but with two kitties in my house scooping the litter box is a daily chore. So that means that I really need to have some trash bags on hand. And since I'm on the frugal side I use plastic grocery sacks. But it took me forever to figure out a way to neatly corral them.

For years now I've been storing them inside an empty tissue box. This really compacts them down and makes for easy dispensing!

All you have to do is flatten out a bag. Be sure to notice if it has any holes in the bottom and take that one out to recycle.

Now stuff the bag inside the box and try to lay it out flat inside there. This isn't an exact science, you're just trying to spread them out in there so you can get in as many as possible.

Repeat until you've used up all your bags or filled up the box, which ever comes first. And you'll be surprised how many you can stuff in there! Oh, hi Slash! Kitty was a bit hungry I guess.

Now pull one slightly up for easy dispensing. You're done! I stick my box in the bathroom closet with the other kitty necessary supplies. It doesn't take up much space and makes for easy recycling. I also recycle those bags on walks with my dogs, if you know what I mean :)

Slash a.k.a. Slashables a.k.a. Mr. Pink Nose didn't want his portrait taken today. Sorry y'all!

cheap home improvement

Thank you so much folks for your sympathies yesterday. I appreciate it! I'm still sick but in between naps on the couch today I managed to squeeze in a bit of shabby chic home improvement.

I've had a couple of groovy decorative plates sitting around the house patiently waiting to be put up on the wall. Trouble is, I haven't had time or energy to get down to the store. Plus, let's face it, I'm cheap!

A thought was stirring up there in my head, a memory really, of how I could get those plates up there without those metal plate hangers. A few years ago I read about a way to do it in The Complete Tightwad Gazette: Promoting Thrift as a Viable Alternative Lifestyle by Amy Dacyczyn.

I gathered together four small paperclips and a couple of rubber bands.

I twisted open those paperclips.

Then I hooked the small ends on to the plate rim.

I flipped the plate over to make sure that I liked the placement of the four paperclips.

Then I flipped it back over and attached the rubber band. I added an extra one for more security.

Ta da! All finished. Now to hang it on the wall.

Not bad! I doubt anyone can tell that it's paperclips and rubberbands rather than a metal plate hanger. If you try this at home please, please don't hang your favorite heirloom plates with this method. I've hung my ninety-nine cents thrift store plates so no big deal if one crashes.

I'm guest blogging over at Absolutely Small today. You might remember Claire's adorable Chickenpants meeting with one of my creatures a while back. Anyway, I've offered up some super simple organizational tips that will hopefully motivate you to get your abode all spiffed up this year. Hope you get a chance to check it out.

how to setup a Christmas closet

Is today really December first? November seems to have flown by in a blur and now it's rolled over to the the Christmas month.

Lucky for me I can relax and enjoy the holiday season because all of my shopping is done. Everything is tucked away nicely into the Christmas closet.

You see, all year long I'm always on the lookout for stuff folks on my Christmas shopping list might like. When I spy that thing at a good price I buy it, write their name on it, and stuff it into the Christmas closet. Then about this time of year I take my list and inventory the closet to see if I still need to buy anything else. Usually my list is complete and I don't have to fight the holiday shopping crowds!

I highly recommend the Christmas closet to ease your holiday stress. Not having to shop at this time of year means that I can enjoy some of the other traditions like tree decorating, driving to see Christmas lights, and holiday plays.

It's easy to set up a Christmas closet.

• Just find an out of the way space that is away from prying eyes and hands. If it's lockable that's even better.
• Don't tell anyone about the closet so they won't be tempted to snoop!
• Be sure to write the intended gift recipient's name on the gift either directly on the package or with a post it note or a piece of paper and tape. This is important!
• Check that person's name off your list and keep this list in the closet.
• Be sure to always carry this checked list with you in your purse throughout the year. That way you can check the list if you run across a bargain you're thinking of buying.
• Start your Christmas closet right after the holiday season when bargains are available in every shop.

You'll be so glad you setup a Christmas closet when you've got your feet up and there's a mug of hot cocoa in your hands as you sit and enjoy It's a Wonderful Life with your family.

Just a reminder that today is the last day of my FREE shipping sale in the Fluffy Flowers shop.

how to repair a torn slipcover

Now here's  a really cute rascal.

Pretty irresistible with that adorable face living like a king on the couch, eh?

Too bad he's got big ol' ginorous, sharp toenails! We've gotta do something about this problem.

They don't make these slipcovers any more but Luckily (ha ha) I had some similar fabric on hand from the same Rachel Ashwell Rosalie line of sheets from Target. So its off to cut and sew a replacement piece!

By the way, did you know that Rachel has a blog? If you want to be inspired then head on over and check it out.

I measured the seat area and cut a plain white sheet and the print sheet to size. I sewed those two, right sides together, leaving an opening to turn inside out. I turned the whole thing inside out and sewed to the original seat part of the slipcover.

It took me a month to finally get around to finishing the project but, hey, better late than never! I love the way these patterened slipcovers brighten up the room. Its so cheerier to look at these newly repaired beautiful roses everyday!

Oh, I almost forgot! My Tiny Chair Makeover is featured on the Hallmark Magazine Carnival of Green Crafts blog today. There are a lot of other awesome green crafts links too so please check it out when you get a chance.

tiny chair makeover

I love thrift store shopping. You never know what you're going to find!

When I discovered this cute little creature chair I had to bring it home. But I wasn't in love with the seat. Not quite Fluffy Flowers enough for me. So it's time for a makeover!

Supplies needed:

• thread
• scissors
• scraps of pretty fabric

I just eyeballed the fabric before cutting. Didn't bother to measure anything.

Just cut an over large square piece of fabric, laid it on the chair seat and cut out around the chair posts.

I didn't remove the original chair seat, just left it in place.

That made it easy to sew the cover to the old seat.

Once the back side is cut and sewn on then I cut the front side.

I wanted a little ruffle in the front so I cut a piece and sewed it to the front.

I love this fabric. Its from a thrifted little girl's dress and the colors are so pretty.

Once the front and the back were sewn on, I turned the sides in like wrapping a present and sewed.

Ta da! Not bad. I did cut the fabric a wee too narrow on the left and the original chair seat was showing through. I just cut another small piece of fabric and tucked it up under the main fabric and sewed. No one will notice.

I love it! Turned out better than I expected. But what do the creatures think?

Uh, based on that little smile I'd say she was pretty pleased too. A sweet little chair for a shabby chic gal!

how to recover an ice cream parlor chair seat

By now y'all have figured out that the Fluffy Flowers household is animal friendly. Yep, dinner time can be quite the raucous adventure with several four legged creatures running around!

To try to keep the carnage at bay each critter has his or her own feeding station.

This happens to be Mr. Slashables's assigned area. Those of y'all with both dogs and cats in your homes know why its essential that kitty food be up on a table. Goodness knows how much weight Mr. Lucky Cowdog would gain if that tasty bowl of kibble was within his reach!

Anyway, to make Mr. Slashables's dinning accommodations more comfortable I've placed a chair conveniently located for him to haul his bulk up to his feeding station.

The problem is that the chair seat is looking a little worse for wear. He agrees with me that its high time we go on and recover the thing. We're gonna do this the lazy way y'all. Nothin' too fancy for us. Ready? Here we go!

You will need:

• pliers
• tacks
• butter knife (not your best one)
• small hammer
• pretty, thrifted napkin to match your decor

I hauled this project outside so I could avoid too many animal assistants. But since this was for Slash's area I let him participate. Uh, ok, actually, he insisted on supervising! You'll be seeing him a little later.

First thing you've gotta do is turn this joker upside down and unscrew the nuts.

One big tip here: You DON'T have to unscrew them all. I just undid half of them and the seat slid right out.

Ok, now that the seat is out its time to remove the old cover. I put this cover on years and years ago when I first got this ice cream parlor chair. I'm pretty sure I acquired this adorable little chair while dumpster diving when I was in college.

You see, back then I was pretty poor and the rich students would move out at the end of each semester and leave behind hordes of still extremely useful stuff. My friends and I would pile into a car, pass around a thermos of hot chocolate and make the tour of student apartment trash cans. Often the good stuff was sitting in massive piles outside the cans. Once I found a very fashionable shirt with a dollar still in the pocket. Another time one of my friends found a box full of china. It was incredible the amount of stuff that was destined for the landfill. I'm so glad I did my duty by rescuing and recycling.

Ok, anyway, sorry, I got off track. I pried the tacks I'd used before off with a butter knife. Works like a charm.

I left the original cover intact because we're doing this the lazy way. Anyhow, spread your thrifted napkin on the ground with the wrong side facing up. Lay the seat down on top of it as close to the middle as you can get.

Now its time to break out the hammer. Tack on four corners first. Think north, south, east and west here. Then fold up the loose fabric in between and tack those too. You can use some duct tape too to hold down any especially poofy sections. No need to concern yourself with prettiness. I promise you no one will flip this chair over to see what it looks like underneath.

Once you've got all the fabric tacked down flip it over and check out your handy work. Yippee! Better than I expected.

Ok, now comes the crummy part. You've gotta put the chair back together again. Make sure the loose legs are turned the right way before you screw the big bolts back on. Oh, and just so you know, some of the screws might be longer than others. Thats because the longer ones hold on both the seat back and the legs. Best to notice this before you unscrew and then rescrew. Um, I speak from experience here.

Oh, we interrupt this tutorial for a brief Slashables supervisory photo shoot. I hope that yawn wasn't boredom with this project. Anyway we're getting mighty close to the end!

I'm not quite sure what he thinks of this redo yet.

Seems like he's still mulling it over...

Or maybe he's got an itch to scratch...

Or perhaps he's distracted by something. Anyway...

Ta da! Here it is, finally finished!

Looking mighty good too! We'll have to see what the lord and master thinks.

Uh, Slash? Slashables! Where are you Slash?! Hum, he's no where to be found. Probably outside supervising the bugs.

Well, that's ok. I like it. And after all, he's a boy so he'll probably be happy however it turned out!

favor bowl

Need a little favor bowl to hand out sweet treats for Easter? I whipped up this cute little bowl from scraps laying around the studio. And the best part is it took less than an hour. You could probably complete several in an evening.

Materials:

• scrap of olive colored fleece
• scrap of pink felt
• pink embroidery floss
• black thread

Tools:

• pen
• ruler
• sewing needle
• scissors or rotary cutter & mat

Cut the olive fleece into a strip about 9 inches (22.8 cm) long and about 1.25 inches (3.1 cm) tall.

Cut a  2.75 inch ( 6.9 cm) circle out of the pink felt. I used an old plastic lid that was about the right size to get a nice round shape. I traced the circle onto the felt and cut out.

Use two or three strands of the pink embroidery floss to run a blanket stitch along one edge of the olive strip. The blanket stitch is fun and easy to do with the help of step by step instructions. Or if you prefer, check out this YouTube video.

Stand the olive strip up with the pink embroidered edge facing up. Join the two ends together and whip stitch closed with the black thread to form a circle. Or try using the pink embroidery floss again for added detailing.

Flip the circle upside down and use black thread to whip stitch the pink felt circle to the bottom of the olive fleece.

This is the opposite view with the pink felt bottom being sewn to the fleece. Remember to keep the blanket stitch edging at the top of the bowl.

Once you've attached the felt bottom, you're finished!

Fill the bowl with some sweet Easter treats or in my case, uh, left over Valentine candy from last month.

Or you can fill your bowl with a no calorie chocolate bunny squeezy. Great for getting out your frustrations! And its not just for holidays. These would be great for birthdays and other parties too.

Hope you enjoy making this favor bowl! I'd love to hear about your version.

Christmas Spirit banner tutorial

You know what you need to help decorate the ol' homestead this holiday season? A Christmas Spirit banner! These little ghosties are the the ones from the past, present and future. They sure are cute as bugs in rugs. And here are the instructions to make your very own.

Supplies:

3 Christmas napkins 17 inch square or Christmasy fabric

3 foam balls for heads - 2 inch diameter

6 small black glass beads for eyes

red polka dot felt for eyes

3 pieces of plain red ribbon cut to 12 inch lengths

1 piece fancy red ribbon cut to approx 32 inches

2 red buttons

red & black thread

sewing needle

My Christmas napkins came from the thrift store. The neato polka dot red felt come from the clearance section of Holly Lobby. All other supplies are from Michaels.

Use the small spool of thread to draw six round eyes on the felt. Cut out the circles. Tack the glass bead in the center of the eye with one loop of thread.

Center the foam ball in the middle of napkin to figure out where you want to place the eyes and mouth.

Sew the eyes into place. Sew on a small mouth.

Use the 12 inch plain red ribbon to tie the napkin onto the foam ball.

Sew a button on each end of the fancy red ribbon.

Evenly space the Christmas ghosts on the fancy ribbon and sew in place. I used a straight pin tacked into the wall through one of the button holes to attach the banner to the wall. Then I hung my sweater Christmas stockings on either end of the banner for extra festiveness.

Eh voilà! A fun and decorative Christmas Spirit banner to "liven" up your space. I love these little fellows so much that I've got to share. I've got one Ghost Banner and one Ghost Banner make it yourself kit to give away. Just leave a comment and I'll draw both winner's names in a few days.

Merry Christmas!

sweater Christmas stocking tutorial

One of the fun projects I made this week were a couple of sweater Christmas stockings. I've been wanting to make some for a long time and finally decided the time was now.

First I picked out a festive red angora sweater that I'd already felted a couple of times in the washing machine. Then I used a Christmas stocking that I already had as a template to cut out two stockings. I enlarged the toe area from the template because I wanted a roomier stocking. Also, I planned the design of the stocking with the cable detail on the toe. I used the side seam of the sweater as the straight side of the stocking and the bottom hem of the sweater as the top of the stocking.

I cut about an inch and a half wide piece of fluffy white trim to fit around the top of the stocking. I cut the trim to the right length simply by laying it on the stocking top and measuring.

Next I turned the sweater inside out and pinned all along the edge. Then I sewed the toe edge on the sewing machine being sure to leave the top edge open. Be sure to snip a little at the toe and heel for fabric ease.

Then I turned the stocking inside out and smoothed all the edges. I hand stitched the white fur trim along the top of the stocking by turning the rough trim edge under as I sewed. Then I cut a small piece of red sweater, about three quarters inches by three inches for the loop. I sewed this piece into a tub and attached it as a loop to the stocking edge.

Ta da! A pretty finished stocking. Its really as easy as it looks. And there is no end of possible design patterns. So if you've got an old sweater that you love that doesn't fit any more consider giving it new life as a Christmas stocking. Later this week I'll post a tutorial on making your very own Christmas spirit decorations.

hairball tutorial

Time to start the holiday gift crafting! Here is the perfect gift to make for your cat loving friends. You can make two or three in an evening in front of the TV.

Crochet Hairball Cat Toy

Materials:

Size E or larger crochet hook
Left over fuzzy yarn
Bit of fiberfill
Catnip

Instructions:

Chain 5.
Join in the round.
Single crochet 4.
On next round increase to 8 single crochet by crocheting 2 in each stitch.
Single crochet 2 more rounds.
Decrease to 4 single crochet by skipping every other one on the next round.
Leave the ball open and tie off and leave 8 or so inches of yarn.

Gather a bit of fiberfill and put about half a teaspoon of catnip in the middle. Roll it into a ball with the catnip as filling. Cram the fiberfill into the middle of the crochet ball. Use the yarn tail to gather together and close off the ball. Tie off and tuck the yarn tail into the ball.

Hope these pattern directions aren’t clear as mud! Feel free to email me if you have trouble. These hairballs are cat tested and approved. Slashables loved them! They may look ginormous but they're actually only about and inch and a half in diameter. I used Lion Brand Fancy Fur yarn which I found on sale at Michael’s. I found organic dried catnip in a bag at PetsSmart. You can make a lot of hairballs with just one skein of yarn and a bag of catnip!

musette

While watching this year's Tour de France my husband mentioned he’d like to have a musette bag. That thought stuck with me for weeks so I decided to make him one for his birthday.

A musette bag holds food and drinks and gets handed to the Tour riders in the feed zone. These fellows are pedaling on the road for hours at a time and they definitely need to eat to keep up their cycling performance. My husband plans to use his to bring his lunch to work in every day.

I’ve been mentally designing it for weeks using items that are recycled, thrifted, and gotten from Etsy. I wanted to bring together different interests that my husband enjoys. To that end, the outside of the bag has a bicycle, the inside has sail boats and the pleat on the front is accented with a nifty airplane bead. And now I’d like to share it with you.

Stuff you’ll need:

• old pair of your husband’s casual pants
• groovy, colorful fabric for interior
• old webbed belt or webbing for strap
• bicycle patch
• airplane bead

Cut a large section of the thigh out of the old pants. Mine worked out to be about 10.25 inches wide and about 11.5 inches tall. Sew the bicycle patch onto the front of the fabric. Sew the bottom of the rectangle closed and turn right side out. Turn top edge down towards inside about a half an inch and sew into place.

Cut the groovy fabric to the same dimensions as the pants fabric plus a quarter inch extra width. Sew the seam together so it is roughly the same size as the thigh fabric. Sew the bottom of the rectangle closed. Fold the top edge down towards the outside about a half an inch and sew into place.

Tuck the groovy fabric into the pants fabric and smooth them into place. Make sure that the top edges match up and pin together.

Cut the ends off the belt so just the webbing is left. Insert about an inch and a half of one end of the belt between the pants fabric and the groovy fabric. Pin into place. Do the same on the other side. Sew the two fabrics together making sure to go back over the belt a couple of times for extra strength.

Stand back and admire your beautiful new musette bag!

Oh yeah, and if you want that cute little pleat in the front then make sure you accidentally cut the interior fabric too narrow. That way you’re forced to make a little pleat and attach a really cute airplane bead. Actually, let’s not call it an accident. Let’s call it a design feature.

market & photography

Saturday, June 16th my creatures & I will be hanging out at:

The City Market on the Green

8a.m. to 12noon
corner of Poplar & 3rd Street
Downtown Macon, Georgia

If you're local come on out and see me.

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Thank you so much everyone for the creature love the last couple of days. I truly appreciate it! I was busy yesterday. I took a day away from the computer and decided to dive into my studio with relish. Ya’ll, if you can believe it, it’s actually a bit tidy in there. I swear it is and I cannot believe I forgot to take a picture. But you see I was cranking out those creatures left and right. A clear crafting table seems to have opened up the flow of ideas too because I surprised myself with my own cleverness which was a shock! LOL

There was some discussion here a couple of days ago about taking photographs. I am just learning how to do this and I’ve been improving with the nearly daily use of my digital camera. I am, however, by no means an expert. If there are some experts out there I hope you’ll chime in with your advice. But I thought I’d share with you how I take photos and perhaps you can try some of these things out for yourself.

Photography Tips

• I carry my camera everywhere. It never fails when a terrific photo opportunity comes up that will be the one time I’ve forgotten to bring it.
• Take many pictures of the same thing from different angles. Ya’ll, I’ve take up to twenty shots of something just so I can get one good one.
• Always look at the preview right after the shot so you can learn to tell the difference from a good shot and a bad one.
• Push the button down half way to focus. Make sure when the little box appears that it surrounds what you want in focus in the shot. If it isn’t, let go of the button and repeat the process, moving the camera around if necessary to get your item in focus.
• Never use flash. This is probably the one thing that I think is the most important. Flash pictures just don’t look as good. I always turn flash off and brighten the picture later on the computer if necessary.
• Use natural lighting. My house is sort of dark which is why I tend to photograph my creatures outside. There is one spot inside that I’ve used over and over again because it’s got wonderful natural light streaming in. But ya’ll are probably tired of looking at that blue wall so I’m going to get some different colored foam core board from the craft store to use as a different background.
• Use the close-up mode. Close-up is your best friend. This is the mode I use to get those tight, texture shots of my creatures. Using this mode in combination with the focus box and good lighting is the combination to my photo success.
• Don’t be afraid to reshoot later if they turn out awful the first time. I’ve had many photo failures ya’ll. Many. But the beauty of digital is you can delete and start fresh next time.

So how about you? Got any photography tips to share?

Flower Pen Tutorial

or How my boss loved me after I figured out a way to save the company money

Do you work in a job where the clientele keep taking your pens? They pick it up to sign something and suddenly the pen has disappeared into oblivion. Bermuda Triangle? Aliens from outer space? Nah, it’s only the natural reaction to slip that pen into a purse/pocket/bag and suddenly you find your budget being busted by constant pen replacement. Well, there is a way to keep those pens!

Most folks are honest souls who truly don’t mean to take your pen. They simply forget that it doesn’t belong to them because they’re trying to finish up the transaction with you and hurriedly dispense with it in the most logical place. Unfortunately this means that the pens grow legs and disappear.

Here is how I solved this problem where I work:

Step 1

Gather supplies. You’ll need:
a bunch of faux flowers
a fist full of pens
some gnarly scissors
a roll of packing tape

You can get a bunch of fake flowers fairly cheaply just about anywhere. Try your closet, garage sales, your local discount store, the dollar store, or if you want to get fancy, your local craft store.

You can gather up a bunch of stray pens you and your colleagues have lying around. They don’t have to be anything fancy; in fact, the free pens you picked up at conferences, etc. are great. I do recommend that you not use clickable pens. The clicking action will be a bit tricky after you’ve attached your pretty flower.

Don’t use your best scissors. You’ll be using them to cut down the flower and the metal will dull the blade. Don’t stress if you don’t have packing tape. Any tape will do. The packing tape is the easiest to use because it will cover the entire flower stem in one round.

Step 2

Cut the flowers from the stem. You want to leave about and inch and a half to two inches of stem on the flower.

Take your scissors and gently cut through the plastic stem outer coating. Turn the flower and cut the stem outer coating again so that all the plastic is cut and you can see the metal stem. Ditch the scissors and grasp the flower on either side of the cut. Bend the stem back and forth at the cut point until the metal snaps and breaks the stem into two pieces. This is easier on some flowers than others. If you’ve got particularly tough wire try using the scissors to cut it. If that doesn’t do the trick then seek out and use some wire cutters.

Step 3

Roll off and cut about an inch and a half to two inches of packing tape.

Attach a thin, quarter inch strip of the tape to the top of the pen. Slide one of the flower stems under the tape and next to the pen.

Wrap that flower stem up tight with the packing tape. Don’t worry about getting the tape perfect. It’s ok to have bubbles and be off center a bit. I promise that no one will notice. Everyone who uses the pen will be staring at the gorgeous flower and won’t notice the tape.

Step 4

Repeat process with all your pens and flowers including the rogue flower from the last batch you made.

Sadly, a handful of people will walk off with your pens no matter what you do to try to secure them. But they will last longer than the naked pens. And hey, at least they left the flower behind.

Step 5

Set all your pens in a pretty container and set on the counter at key pen usage point.

Many, if not all, of your coworkers will think that these flowers are real and will ask who sent you flowers. Tell them you grew them yourself as you whip one out to show off! Remember to tell your boss how much you’re saving the pen budget.