Posts tagged crafts

at work it seems there is always a free pile floating around somewhere, so awhile ago i picked up this little crate. at the time it had a beach towel in it as some kind of promo, but i figured it’d make a nice little addition to my desk after a facelift. 

i started off with just a quick once over with the white spray paint. i didnt want it to be perfect, so i just did a light coat. 

then i taped off a rough pattern with painters tape. as we all know, i am the queen of lazy, ghetto crafting, so i only did the sides people will see and just eyeballed the placement. 

this time, a light once over with the gold spray paint. i love how fast spray paint dries because i am also an impatient crafter. 

peel off the painters tape, and voila! done and done. 

you may or may not remember months ago josie and i found this little beauty next to a dumpster on one of our daily lunch walks and scooped it up. we attempted to make her over at work on our breaks, but things got crazy, i ran out of spray paint the first day, and then our schedules got changed. so she’s been sitting at my desk in this sad, half finished state ever since. i finally had reason to take her home and figured now is the best time to finish off the makeover. 

i started by turning her upside-down and sprayed the legs gold. i didn’t want a totally “finished” look, so i just loosely sprayed, leaving some wood peeking through. 

then i cut some decorative paper a little bigger than i would need to cover the nasty top.

i loosely folded the paper in half and scalloped the edges lengthwise. 

modge podge time! cover the base with a code of modge podge using a sponge brush. 

lay the paper down and put another coat on top. i actually used wayyyy to much and ended up with creases that i couldnt get out, but i’m an impatient, lazy crafter, so it doesn’t really bother me. 

repeat for the top tier. 

let dry, and voila! i actually don’t know if i’m 100% done with her yet. i might rough up the white some more or something. or this might be it. only time will tell. then i’ll let you know. all i know now is i can’t wait to bring this baby to the new office! 

i’ve been pinning these fabric portraits like crazy, and i’ve had this embroidery hoop for ages with the intention of doing this, so i finally just did it. the above supplies aren’t entirely accurate. i had this spray adhesive that i was planning to use, but it ended up being expired, so i ghetto-rigged my diy instead. you’ll see.

i had this lovely trina turk top that unfortunately died a long time ago with a big tear. i cut off the straps with plans to use them too, but the spray adhesive debacle didn’t allow it. 

first i found the part of the pattern i wanted to showcase and cut a square with plenty of allowance around the edges of the hoop.

i lost the dohickey that holds the hoop together so i taped it while i fit the fabric in place.

this is where a real crafter would have glued the edges to the back of the hoop. i ended up using tape. eep!

and that all folks! turn it over and hang it on the wall with the rest of your misfit art and call it a day.

voila!

1/22/12: night one of pulled-porkapalooza. the bbq goodness was followed by reminiscing of childhood movies. apparently i’m the only one who never saw the brave little toaster. 

1/23/12: the sky after the rain. crazy how sometimes los angeles doesn’t look like los angeles. 

1/24/12: these are the only things that have been getting me through work. 

1/25/12: reading in bed and cuddles. doesn’t get much better. 

1/26/12: i ghetto-crafted this diy. “tutorial” to follow. 

1/27/12: i couldn’t quite get a good shot of the pink sky, so i got the reflections in the background instead. 

1/28/12: 75 and sunny when i left work today. love it. 

see the rest of the years photos here: 

jan wk 1; jan wk 2; jan wk 3

1/15/12: holy cow its the middle of january already. WHAT. sunday i painted, marshall bought a bike, and i spent a couple of hours in a room with a bunch of nerds downtown, followed by enchilada night. felix approves. 

1/16/12: monday was spent with nontra. i had some laundry to do and we had some hanging out to catch up on. we took a walk to get crepes, but the restaurant was closed for the holiday, so we went to the candy store instead and i stocked up on taffy. its almost gone now (tuesday night). 

1/17/12: in the midst of cleaning out and organizing my craft supplies. the urge comes and goes in waves, so i took a break for food and makeouts. the kitchen is in disarray. 

1/18/12: somehow i burst a blood vessel in my eyeball. i thought i just had an eyelash in there and then i looked and it was not cute. i don’t know if wearing contacts has any effect on it or not and i’m too lazy to look it up, so i’ve just been playing it safe and wearing my glasses all week. thankfully its almost all better. 

1/19/12: hey remember that time i worked three twelve + hour days in a row? yup.

1/20/12: i’ve almost forgotten what daylight looks like. 

1/21/12: again, my weekly painting was put off until the last day of the week. but i am SO EXCITED about this one. it’s awesome. i’ll show you later. 

unique la, the craft fair of all craft fairs is this weekend. 

{above} welcoming entrance to the california market center, postcards, and pies. 

wristbands, free beer (!), la art. 

cassettes, wine bags, and california. 

donatello, trinkets, and la! 

hollywood, snail, and the cutest cards ever. 

here i am at my humble little table at the nativeLA flea market today! it was my first time showing my work in public outside of the internet and it was a little scary at first, but ended up being a good experience. i was nervous that my presentation wasn’t going to be fancy enough, but i like that i went with a simple backdrop to let the work stand out. and i may be biased, but i think it turned out to be a pretty cute table! the event was pretty small, but i got a lot of good feedback. it made me want to participate in more shows in the future, and definitely motivated me to produce more work. i’ve been seriously slacking in that department lately. and - there were other cool people there too! 

jo of jo bozarth illustration was super sweet and her illustrations are so adorable! 

i loved the designs of alice and doris of ilootpaperie. it was really difficult to chose a favorite, but i’ll show you what i got when i hang it up! 

there were also some gorgeous pieces over at amor orquidea jewelry!

(one last peek at my table!) 

months ago, a friend gave me this vintage shrinky dink paper and i’ve been dying to use it since, i just didnt know what to make. then it hit me - little shoe garland for my desk at work! 

i wanted to use colored pencils, so i had to sand down the paper first so the color would stick. 

i had nontra make me a pattern cause she’s better at free-handing than me, then i went to town. 

after i drew them all, i cut them out and punched holes in the tops to string them up.

line the baking sheet with parchment paper so they dont stick. (i dont have any fun in-the-oven shots because i covered them with parchment too so they wouldnt curl and stick to themselves. 

after! 

string them up…

and voila!