Dorm Décor

So this weekend I was trying to come up with some ways to liven up my dorm room - white cinder block walls aren't really my thing.  So I have a few posters and a multi-picture frame but there is still a lot of blank wall.  So I turned to crafting!  The best solution for any situation :)  Considering I am in my dorm room with limited crafting supplies, I could not fully create my ideal decoration, seen here (last picture).  However, this is what I came up with:

Although it is small, I really like it! Plus I still have plenty of room left for more art!  You can so easily make this yourself, it would make a great card for someone too.  All I did was:

On an 8.5" x 11" sheet of cardstock, draw lines 1" apart all the way down the page, then alternate shading in stripes with a black crayon (thats all I had!).

Next cut out a heart from red construction paper or card stock and glue in the center.

Finally write something, love, in the bottom right corner and you are finished!  Your art work is ready for display!

If you are wondering about the hearts on the top corners, those are what is holding it to the wall:

I used pink but the orange version is pictured above.  These are really great for dorms because they look nicer than tape and are really strong!

Happy Crafting and Dorm Beautification :)

Just a few thoughts

Hello again!

So it's been a little while since my last post but with school starting back up I've been a bit busy! I don't have a tutorial for you today, just a few thoughts I wanted to share.

Tips for Pinterest: 

Every time I'm on Pinterest I wish people would do two things:

First, make sure when you pin something from a blog you actually click on the post and then pin, otherwise it can be hard for other pinners to find what you thought you pinned, later on.

Second is to change the comment when you re-pin something. I hate wondering if my friends actually wrote the comment to go with their pins or if they just re-pinned without adding their own comment.

So if you like Pinterest and want to make it even better you can follow these simple tips :)

Have a great weekend!

I love funny ecards!

Update(3/21/13)
After a long day I spent too long on Pinterest resulting in too short of a night...

Update(12/10/12)
First of all, Happy Birthday to my mom! The best of the best, I am so blessed to have her <3
Second of all,

A great rule to live by :)

Update(9/17/12):
This has happened to me a lot so I decided to make an ecard of it and see who else agrees with me! :)
Hope you're smiling!

Original Post:
I don't know how often you go on Pinterest, but I do almost every day.  One of my favorite things is going to the humor page.  Trust me, something will make you crack up, probably a lot actually.  This weekend my family took a trip to the beach, it was wonderful!  On the way to dinner one night I was saying how tired I was despite the fact that all we had done was relax on the beach all day!  My dad knows about all those funny ecards out there (mostly because I tell him about most of the ones I find oh so humorous) so he said that that would make a good one... and I agreed!  So here it is, my first ecard:

Hope this made you laugh, or at least smile :)

Hope you enjoy what is left of the weekend!  

Follow me on Pinterest: KraftieKatie

Quick Tip about your Sewing Machine Needle

Hey bloggers,

So I spent the day with my grandmother today shopping for fabric and other sewing supplies.  It was really fun!  I had been having problems with my sewing machine needle coming unthreaded every time I start to sew, so I asked her about it since she is a sewing expert.  She said to make sure the thing you loop the thread around is always up when you begin.  Like this:

Problem solved!  For you sewing newbies out there I just thought I would share this helpful hint!

Happy Sewing :)

Boyfriends need crafts too!!

So today I decided to make my boyfriend a case for his sunglasses!  He is always losing those things or complaining if they get scratched so I hope this will make him happy.  I actually made this all up from my own mind and even took pictures during the process of making it!  You will love this craft because it can be made for anyone and took me maybe 20 minutes from start to finish... not bad for a thoughtful gift!

So here we go!

First I decided on some fabric with flames and dragons (this was the most... ok only, manly fabric I currently have) and for the lining just a reddish fabric with some small design on it.  I also used a dark red thread for my needle thread.

Next I cut two pieces from both the lining and the fabric that were approximately 8" by 5".  For the dragon fabric I made sure to center a dragon on each piece so I didn't end up with a bunch of dragon parts on the sides :)

I then sewed one piece of lining to one piece of the outer fabric, wrong sides together.  I sewed close to the edges because this step is just to make it easier to manage your fabric later, in the end this stitching was actually cut off.  So don't worry if it isn't straight or if it goes off the edge a little.  Here were my pieces:

The next step is to fold over your top edge so that it will be on the inside in the end.  My top edge was the side with the selvage (the white strip).  I folded each piece over the width of the selvage and then again.  Then I sewed across it, I didn't have to backstitch at the beginning and end because I knew that I would be sewing over the edge again later.  Be careful at this step!  If your needle and bobbin thread are different colors, be sure the color you want is on the right side.  Since I put the dark red thread in the needle, I had to sew with my dragon fabric face up.  Here is what it should look like with the top edge sewn:

Now you can line up your two pieces with right sides together, making sure the top is aligned correctly.  Then sew around the long sides and the bottom.  This is where your stitching needs to be more precise. But since you will be turning the project inside out in the end it doesn't have to be exact, so no worries! Make sure that you sew to the inside of the stitching which is holding the lining and the outer material together.

Once you are happy with that, trim off the excess material leaving about 1/8" edge, this means you may cut off what you sewed in the beginning (I told you it didn't have to be perfect!).  I ended up cutting off all of mine!  You can also trim the bottom corners so that you will have more precise points when you turn it, up to you.  Just make sure that you don't cut off any stitching when you trim the corners, other wise you will have holes in the corners.  Here is my trimmed project, you can see how much I cut off:

Finally, turn it right sides out and you are done!  Easy right?  And it will make a great surprise for boyfriend, I think he will love it and be happy to know that I still think about him when I am in one of my crafting frenzies :)

Making something for someone else is so much fun!  I love giving things to people and seeing how touched they are by even the simplest of things.  I hope your sunglass case turns out well for you and your recipient loves it, even if the recipient happens to be you! 

Happy Crafting! :)

Update! Here is another gift idea for your guy: Personalized accessory pouch to clip to his golf bag! Great for dads too! Order one here.