November 29, 2016

After my last post I received several messages from friends about my plans to move to Portland, Oregon.

I am not moving for at least a few more months.  I have sooo many preparations to make.  Besides, the nice weather season has arrived in Houston.  This is the best time to live in Houston.  I hope to move before the weather gets too unbearably hot again.

I just have so much stuff!  I have to sort through it all and keep only some of my things.

This past weekend I've been weeding through my clothes.  I just love clothes.  I take such good care of them that they seem to last forever (or until they somehow get too small).  I took 2 bags and 1 box full of my clothes to Goodwill yesterday. 

For the clothes that are  just too good to give away I use thredup.com, an online reseller. They decide what items they'll keep and put on their website.  The other items they donate to charity.  They also decide the prices and do the shipping.  It used to be that the company would send out "clean out bags" with a prepaid label.  All I had to do was fill up the bags and drop them off at FedEx.  They made their money by keeping the lion's share of the items' selling prices.  Now they want $9.99 per bag plus their share of the selling price. The fee is deducted from the seller's portion of the sales price or if that doesn't cover the fee they charge you via paypal.  Their policy change is very disappointing, but it beats pressing everything, putting them on hangers and hauling them to a resale shop or even worse, holding a garage sale!

Sorry, I've gotten off topic.  Once I decide when to make the actually move I will be sure to share it promptly.

May 14, 2014: Pink Poodle Mannequin

I have saved searches on ebay for "poodle" and "pink poodle fabric."  That's how I found a pink poodle costume in size 3T.  I don't remember exactly how much I paid for it.  I do know that it was less than $5.00 total.  The best time to buy costumes on ebay is from January to August.  Nobody wants a costume during those months.  (Right now it's almost summer so sweaters and coats are the bargain items.)

How could I NOT buy this pink poodle outfit?  But then, what to do with it?  I decided to make a mannequin to fit the costume.  She is constructed from pvc pipe and fittings, cut to size.  Her head is a large styrofoam ball that I pushed on to the pipe that formed the neck.

I bought some pink shoes at a thrift store.  I cut styrofoam to fit into the shoes and jammed the leg pvc pipes into them.

I made some small pink mittens for hands and glued them to her "arms." I thought she would look cute as a "butler" type mannequin so I gave her a lightweight tray to hold.

There's never a dull moment at home when you have 3 cats and a dog.  Luckily I didn't put anything breakable on the tray.  The cats jump onto the tray and knock down the little stuffed puppies.  They try to play with them but my real life pink poodle, Sweetsie, swoops down and runs off with them.

The costume is completely removable.  Maybe my new baby granddaughter will want to be a pink poodle for Halloween when she reaches 3 years old.  I would just love to see her wear it!

Sweetsie

I have entered my Pink Poodle Mannequin and my Pink Poodle Telephone in a contest:  Craftys/Awards that Celebrate Crafts.  I would really appreciate it if you would go their website and vote for one of my projects!  http://thecraftys.com/

March 11, 2014: My poodle phones are on CraftGossip.com today!

I was very happy to see that my pink and blue poodle phones were on CraftGossip.com today.
As their mommy I think they are just as cute as can be.  I'm glad CraftGossip thinks so, too.

Here is the link:  http://craftgossip.com/?s=poodle+phone

2014/02/26: My Poodle Telephones!

This past weekend I finally got around to doing some crafting/sewing. 

I found 2 old-timey phones in the trash in my building.  Of course, I immediately thought of poodles!  These phones both are in working condition.

I had a couple of the fuzzy tubular scarves that I purchased at Goodwill.  These tubular scarves make crafting easy.  I removed the handset and cords from phone #1 and painted around the number buttons with white acrylic paint.  Opening up the pink tubular scarf, I inserted the first phone.  I folded under one end of the scarf, leaving about 6-8 inches of excess fur at the back of the phone.  I cut off the excess at the other end.  Then I glued and folded the scarf around the phone, cutting small holes for the number buttons and the cord openings.  I carefully glued around these openings.

I then took the handset and inserted it into the remaining portion of the scarf.  I took the excess on one end and pulled it into a rubber band, forming one ear.  On the other side I made a loose covering for the spiral cord.  I folded up and hand sewed the cord cover so it wouldn't be so bulky.  When I tuck back the cord it looks like another ear.

I inserted a piece of balsa wood into the bottom fur cover and glued it to the underside of the phone.  I glued a clothespin with its base to the wood and glued a large pink puff ball to the top of the clothes pin. Then I pulled the excess fabric over these pieces, taking a rubber band to tie the end of the clothespin to form the pouf of the tail and securing with a few stitches.

I added some doll eyes and lashes that I already had in my stash, used a button for the nose, glued in a felt tongue and tied a bow on an ear.
 I attached the handset to the phone base and plugged in the phone cord.

Now I just need to figure out how to make the phone bark instead of ring!

I decided my pink poodle phone needed a mate.  So I covered the phone #2 with a blue tubular scarf.  I took some photos as I worked on it.  This phone was a dark brown so I doubled the scarf over the phone to cover the dark color. 

The handset and cord were permanently inserted into this phone so I had to work around them.  I left the brown spiral cord uncovered and made both ears the same way by cutting off a piece of scarf. pulling the excess fur and gluing the fur onto the handset, folding it as necessary. 

I wrapped both end of the fur with rubber bands to form the ears. 

I made the tail from the excess fur on the back side of the phone - securing it with a rubber band and some stitches.

I cut out white felt ovals for the eyes (no more eyeballs in my stash) and sewed on black buttons with white thread for the pupils.  The nose is a button.  The tongue is red felt.

Aren't they just the perfect couple!

Scrappy Flower Pins

Inspiration for my pins came from several venues. I love recycling projects. These pins provide me with ways to use up scraps of fabrics, orphaned earrings and buttons while playing with colors and textures. I carry the makings in a big box so I can craft the pins while I spend time with my Mom watching the boob tube.

SCRAPPY FLOWER TUTORIAL

My scrappy flower pins are a great way to use up bits of leftover fabric and orphaned earrings and buttons.
The pins have 2 to 5 layers. I love to mix different textures and colors of fabric. They are like potato chips - you can't have just one!

My tutorial shows how this particular pink scrappy pin is made. I used 3 fabrics - tulle, open weave cotton and a regular cotton. Cut the strips according to the following measurements. I used a rotary cutter for the tulle. I just tore the cottons. I like the fraying that I get this way. The loose threads lend an organic look to the finished pin.

This is how I cut the strips:

Strip 1 - approx. 1 1/4" wide by 18" long
Strip 2 - approx. 1 3/4" wide by 13" long
Strip 3 - approx. 2 1/4 " wide by 22" long

The gathered strips turn into the pictured rosettes.

Sew a running stitch on each strip along one long side. Pull up to gather. Meet ends and sew together. Be sure the gathers are arranged evenly.

Sew (or could glue) the circles on top of each other - biggest to smallest.

Select a center for the flower - orphaned earring or button, pin, pendant, etc.

Attach the center piece through all layers of the flower. Buttons are the easiest to sew on. I also sew on earrings or pins, often I will remove their backing to have the item lie flatter.
You could also simply glue the center.

I chose a pink yo yo from my stash.

Sew (or glue) the yo yo to the back of the flower to cover the stitches and to help support the petals.

Attach a pin back - I use an adhesive backed pin and then also put in a few stitches for extra security.
Attach the pin above the center of the flower so it will hang nicely on clothing.

Here is the pin livening up a plain black jacket.

The scrappy flowers look great on hats. Either pin it to the hat or sew it on permanently.