Fall Leaves

No new crafts because of midterms, but today I took a break from schoolwork to go on a drive and see all the fall leaves. I'm not fond of living in Arkansas, even if it is for graduate school, but I will admit the best thing about it is the nature. Lots of trees, lots of hills, and in October when the leaves turn it is incredible. So here are photos of that in lieu of crafts.

War Eagle Craft Fair

The actual War Eagle Mill, the epicenter and about 1/25th of the total craft fair.

This past weekend was the famous War Eagle Craft Fair near where I live. The nutshell version is this short news clip from a local channel:

Since I am poor and need to start paying off my student loans one of these days, I didn't spend much. I got two knitted wool scarves and a big bag of "rescued jewelry" that a vendor was selling. Here's the content of that bag:

Bit of things, pretty things, assorted items that aren't too pretty as are but have a lot of potential, flat out ugly things, useless junk, amazing things, etc!

I see so many future projects laying there on my blanket, and since today and tomorrow are fall break I can work on some of my ideas.

Also, since crochet takes awhile and I'm crocheting most of my Christmas gifts this year (I get to make a baby hat with ears, finally!), I'm going to be talking a lot about crochet this fall. I already have three projects done that need photos to be taken of them, and am about halfway through a fourth! With three more projects lined up when I finish the current one, I have something to do all autumn long. So there will be photos of all that eventually.

Have a great fall, and see you again soon!

Crochet Along and renovations

Still over at Maybe Matilda's doing the crochet along! I am going to have one fluffy cowl in a few weeks! Personally, I think that if the farmer's almanac is to be believed regarding the severity of the coming winter (worst on record last year and this one is supposed to be worse), then no amount of fluffy is too fluffy!

It's fluffy, and a good use of what's left of my brain after grad classes end for the day.

The bathroom renovation also goes well. The wallpaper is about 95% off and the molding (wainscotting) is slowly coming off the doorjams and baseboards. I broke the light in the tub section of the bathroom on accident, but we are going to replace it anyway. Hopefully this week we can get the primer on and buy the blue paint, if not completely paint. It's going great! Meanwhile, my brother and I are using the guest bathroom downstairs since there's exposed wiring in ours.

Photo from Thursday. Even my brother's girlfriend came over to help. This wallpaper was universally hated.

So all is well. See you later for another update!

Crochet Along with Maybe Matilda!

I'm going to do a whole project! Not finishing projects is my kryptonite (that and grad school and having a job), plus no one I regularly come into contact with crochets so I don't do it as much unless I need a winter hat/scarf combo. This shall change this year, hopefully, starting in a few weeks.

Why? Because I'm doing Maybe Matilda's crochet along! The idea is that a whole bunch of Internet-dwelling crafters are going to make the same project during the same timeline, and then post pictures at the end. There are prizes and such, but mostly I like the project that we're going to do. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out my yarn already because I'm that excited- Yarn Bee's sherpa blend 103- "Serenity", which apparently does not exist on the Internet. So I took a picture so you can see the pretty colors:

The best part (other than finding yarn at all) is that these were in the clearance bin, so I only paid $8 for all three!

I'll have more updates on this once the crochet along starts!

Virtual Redesign- Kitchen

Back in 2000, when we moved into a new house that Mom didn't like much as my Dad did, the agreement was that she be allowed to pretty much redecorate the entire place without having to consult him. Unfortunately, two of the biggest eyesores- the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom- have been untouched (Dad doesn't understand that there's a problem. There are walls, and the doors work, so everything's good, right?). It's finally been delegated to me, as the daughter bumming free rent during grad school a concerned family member to make the rooms pretty.

Things that can't change in the kitchen: the white cabinets, island counter and plantation shutters have to stay as they are.

Ideas:

^I love the color and look of these countertops

^The wood panel island idea is fascinating.

^When I showed it to mom, this was her favorite.

I like the walls, light fixtures, and everything about the

countertops (color, texture, rounded edges)

^Accent color tiles

The main thing is to replace the countertops and repaint in our kitchen, those two things alone will completely change the room. Next update: the upstairs bathroom ideas!

$5 or less- Goodwill Floral Dress

Above: Before. Below: After!

Hi again! Sorry it's been so long, yesterday was my first official day of graduate school. I'm about to depart for more errands (I bought two of the same textbook on accident, go me!) but wanted to update first. I haven't been slacking on the crafts, but I haven't taken any photos of my latest stuff. Eventually I will and will post them, but today's focus is this awesome 90s dress I got at Goodwill.

I've expressed my love of altering Goodwill clothing before, and this piece was just as easy as the dress in the link. The original dress had the hemline about 4" lower, a back and sleeves, and- of course- shoulder pads! What made me want to buy this was the little vintage crochet piece on the front and the little buttons right below it, and whatever I did to this dress must feature those pieces. So, halter!

Those were on the dress already and prettier than anything I can do.

I cut the shoulder pieces out to add to my collection and then cut the top of the dress into a halter shape sans the straps. I raised the hemline and used some of the fabric from that to make straps, sewed them on, and fitted the dress to me a little better, and BAM! Brand new dress in very nice condition for only $5, and nobody else has one like it! Bonus: this dress seriously slims me down. I'm fairly heavyset and it's nice to look skinny. Another bonus: cute and fresh without having to resort to copious amounts of cleavage.

This afternoon one of my stops will be at a local vintage dress shop I discovered in my college town, hopefully I'll have a post about that soon. For those of you in school, have fun, and for those who aren't, also have fun!

College cleaning tips

I somehow seem to spend the most time in the smallest, most cramped places. In my current living situation (back in my parents' house post-college), I have roughly 2/3 of my apartment's contents in an 11x 14 space. This includes my desk, queen-size bed, bookcase, dresser, several large storage bins, and a craft table. Yikes! So despite me not being a particularly messy person, piles accumulate.

Also, as hot as it's been in my area (yesterday it was 110 out, I wish I was exaggerating), I've been indoors when I'm home, hiding from triple-digit temperatures in air conditioning. So again, things are piling up.

Here's a bunch of tips I have learned about how to make a messy room (or entire apartment) look presentable in under 1 hour:

1. Make the bed first. Not only is this going to make roughly 1/4 the room look nice right off the bat, but it gives you a surface to put other things on while you clean.

2. Put all the clothes away. Trust me, unless you're super Type-A there's clothes laying around. Fold/hang up the clean stuff, and put the dirty stuff in its proper place.

3. Throw away all trash. Tissues, plastic cups from various stores, receipts, outdated post it notes, tiny fabric scraps, etc. Also, take this trash to the trashcan. Don't leave the bag sitting around the room.

4. Put things in their correct spots, or if you're in a time crunch stack things pleasingly. Textbooks can be gathered and stacked in one pile. Fabrics and papers can be folded and stacked.

5. If there's time left, dust/vaccuum, Febreeze, etc.

And voila! Passingly cleaned living quarters in under an hour!