Deja - vu

I just unpacked from camp, and I'm already packing for vacation! I've also been making a lot of crafts too. Just like my last post. Weird. Anyways, I've had a few crafting successes, and a few crafting mishaps. Here is one of the mishaps.















For this craft, I used a circular hole punch to cut circles out of paint chips from several different home improvement stores. Long story short - Two years ago when I re-did my room, I wanted it to be teal. (It used to be a little boy's room- with yellow on the top half of the wall, blue on the bottom half, and a thin line of teddy bear wall paper in the middle. Yuck!) So we went to the store and got a whole bunch of teal paint chips, (which may not have been the best idea, considering I am usually indecisive.) After I had re-done my room, I still had all the paint chips, so I decided to make something with them. I was planning on sewing a few chains of circles together and hanging them over my door. It didn't work out because my sewing machine, doesn't work very well. The back kept getting knotted, making big loops everywhere. Now onto the crafts that worked out better.
























The next thing I made was an i-Pod case. Actually more like a purse. It looks like a case for an i-Pod nano, but I actually made it for an i-Pod shuffle, which is smaller. It would need to be longer for a nano. The idea for the straps came from Amy Karol's book Bend the Rules of Sewing.















Everything is slightly different than in the book, (the size obviously being one thing.) I made it 3 in. by 2 1/2 in, but I wish I had made it a little bit bigger. The ear buds don't fit in it very well.















I did have to hand stitch the top edge, which was kind of a pain, but overall it is a very easy project. I am definitely not an experienced sewer. I could even mess up a straight line! Here is one other project a little bit like this one, which I actually did a long time ago.
























The blue and green tie dyed fabric that you see in the picture above actually continues in the back, down to the bottom. What is seen a flap that goes over the bag.







(This is the back.)







In the photograph below, I used another piece of fabric in the middle of the strap because it wasn't quite long enough.















The i-Pod case that I made is just two rectangles sewed up at the sides. This bag has sides and a bottom, even though it may not look like it does in the photographs.

Packing and Crafting

Three days till camp! Just one problem. I have barely packed anything! As you can see from my suitcase, I'm not very organized when it comes to trips.















I have also been making a lot of crafts this week. A few days ago, I made sun printed bandannas.




For my birthday several years ago, I received a Sun Print Kit. I have not used it for a long time, so I pulled it out this week. What you do is paint a piece of fabric with special sun paint. Next, you take the fabric outside, lay it down in a sunny place, and place your objects. You could use really anything as long as it is able to make a shape. (For food, it is good to only use hard things: pretzels, uncooked pasta, etc. I used leaves for one, and buttons for the other. First I decided where to place them.

After everything was dry, I took off the shapes. They didn't quite turn out how I had wanted. Some of the prints were barely visible. It works better when the paint is darker, but the paint I was using was a bit old. My next project was tie dye T-shirts.















Yesterday a tie dyed 5 T-shirts before lunch! That may not seem very amazing to many, but for me it was a record. (I often start projects, and never finish them.) It was a pretty messy project too, so there was a lot to clean up. (I have also been known to make things, and not clean up the mess after.) I'm glad I wore rubber gloves when handling the dye because last year when my family and I made tie dye T-shirts we didn't wear gloves. Our hands looked like rainbows!
















Notice the sticks in the photograph next to the dye. My mom wouldn't let me use kitchen spoons, so I found some sticks to stir with. The only problem was that several sticks broke and some pieces fell into the dye. Here are the T-shirts I made:







(Sunshine Orange.)









(Kelly Green. This is against a window, so it looks like it's glowing.)













(Royal blue.)











(Sunshine Orange and Fuchsia - Swirled.)








(Kelly Green and Royal Blue - Swirled. This was also against a window.)









So all of these I made before lunch! It took a long time, and a lot of work, but now I have five new colorful T-shirts.

Something Missing?

As you can see, there is a slight problem with this cake I baked. Take a good look. You may just need to glance at it. Or maybe you were so enthralled with it that you didn't even notice. (Just Joking.) In any case, I'm sure you noticed that it only has 12 stripes. (Not quite enough room on the cake.) Don't even pay attention to the blueberries on it. There are definitely not 50 stars. (Actually none on this flag.) Nevertheless, it was still a pretty good tasting cake. I used a lemon box cake, and covered it with some Cool Whip. (The cake, not the box.)

Torture Instrument

(definitely not one of my great photos)

Before I begin to write, I have just one thing to say: Orthodontists - DO NOT READ! This object that you see in the photograph is an ancient torture instrument, that was outlawed in the Middle Ages. It was jammed into the victim's mouth, and tied behind their head. It was then pulled back as tight as it could go, and left that way. (Just Kidding.) It's really, as many people with braces already know, headgear. (For people with an overbite.) Many people have said that I will get used to it, but I don't know. I do know that I should be wearing it more, but it gives me a headache after it has been on for a while. (Maybe that's why they call it headgear.) Now that I have written this, I suppose I have to wear it.

Just in Time

Just in time. I thought I was'nt going to have enough time to make even a card for my dad, but I put together a little something. Here is another little slideshow for you dad!