Recycled Shower Curtain

BEFORE: old shower curtain           AFTER:  new throw pillow sham

For most people, Labor Day weekend symbolizes the end of summer.  Maybe you'll go to the beach one last time, have a cookout with friends or enjoy a good book as you sit by the pool.  I'll definitely be enjoying the nice weather this weekend, but I'll also be working on a new craft to help keep some of the colorful summer fun in my house year round.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I love lots of things about the summer, especially the footwear.  When I got my first apartment, I decided to go with a flip flop theme for the bathroom.  Of course, some of the decor spilled over into my living room. So when I was figuring out how to decorate my couch throw pillows, I came up with a great idea.  You see, my original cloth shower curtain was more fashion than function.  It tended to hold on to water and continuously drip onto the floor.  I bought a new vinyl flip flop curtain and realized I could use the cloth flip flops for a new pillow sham.  Since an all white background would be kind of boring, I added a colorful polka dot border and backing.  I'm so glad I got to save some of the old curtain and I absolutely love the end product.  It's colorful, fun and totally me.  Now I just have to make three more! 

Puppy Love

Left to Right: Garbonzo, Shemp & Betsy

My cousin is a wonderful mom.  She raised these three beautiful dogs from pups.  Unfortunately, her beloved "Bonzo" passed away last year.  This year, she found out she is going to be a mom again.  Her first human baby is due to arrive at the beginning of winter.  I figured it might be a bit of an adjustment for Shemp and Besty, so I came up with a crafty solution to help the little guy or gal (that's right, they want to be surprised...don't you just hate that?) fit in with the rest of the pack.

 

The Perfect Hat for a New Pup

 

Sure, there are plenty of puppy hat patterns already available online, but I wanted to make mine special.  While this isn't specifically modeled after any of the three dogs, I chose a yarn color that most closely matched Garbonzo's beautiful fur.  I also wanted it to have eyes like Betsy and a big black nose to match Shemp.  I added the furry ears for fun!  I love how it came out...especially the detail in the eyes.  I used embroidery thread instead of yarn because it's hard to make anything but big, clusmy circles on such a small hat.  I think it really captured the beautiful shape and, what I always refer to as, her natural eyeliner.

 



My First Pattern

 

It was so easy to make and so cute, I decided to take the project a step further.  Here's my first attempt at a public pattern.  I hope you like it!

 



Perfect Puppy Hat Pattern by Ash 'N' Crafts

Progress & Side Projects



A picture is worth a thousand words,
but a personalized frame helps to tell the story!

As promised, I spent my week focused on scrapbooking and I finished my pages for the past few weeks!  Of course, when you get a good rhythm going, scrapbooking can be even more addictive than usual.  Just as I was finishing up, I found myself dangerously close to ordering more photos.  The fact that I spent $50 at A.C. Moore this week - I swear I only went in for a few pieces of loose paper, but they were having a really good sale - did not help me fight the temptation to keep going.  But as I was searching my room for photos I had already printed, I came across an old calendar that simultaneously inspired a side project and ensured I'd be needing a long break from scrapbooking once I finished. 



It's Kind of a Funny Story

I suppose it depends on who you ask...my mom would disagree.  It was winter 2005 and I was a freshman at Boston University.  I was on the cheerleading team, which usually didn't mean much at a school so obsessed with hockey.  For some reason (ie: the hockey team was away), the basketball team got to play a rare double-header at the new arena.  My parents and their friends had come to watch, so in between games I met up with them at concessions.  Unlike most of my fellow cheerleaders, food was always a priority for me.  Just as we got to the concourse, there was an announcement that the Red Sox's 2004 World Series Trophy would be on display in between games.  This was news to me - awesome news!  Unfortunately, there was a long line, and I'm not the most patient person.  I didn't have my camera so I borrowed my mom's and attempted to sneak a picture of myself with the trophy, while they waited at the end of the line.  Of course, that got some negative attention quickly and a security guard told me to go wait my turn.  Instead, I put on most innocent voice and said, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to take a quick picture because I'm a cheerleader (as if that wasn't obvious from my uniform) and I have to go get ready for the next game." Then next thing I knew, the security guard was repeating was I had said to another security guard in a sympathetic voice.  And then they offered to take my picture next!  This was probably the only time I benefited from being a BU cheerleader, but what a time it was!  I got an awesome picture and I practically skipped back to my parents to drop off the camera.  When I saw them after the game, I found out that they had waited with their friends for more than an hour to see the trophy.  When they asked the guy to take their picture, the camera battery died!  Oh yeah...the security guard had told me the battery was low after he took my picture, but I was so excited (and the line was really long) that I forgot to mention it to my parents.  They weren't too happy.  But it's been 7 years, so they've probably forgiven me.

Back to Crafts

So when I came across this photo in an old calendar my mom had made for me, I decided it needed a proper display.  Any old frame just wouldn't do!  So I pulled out my box of miscellaneous scraps and a few BU alumni magazines and got to work.  I went to work organizing a collage on the frame.  Once you decoupage it, it looks amazing, but getting there is a bit of a battle.  After hours of cutting and rearranging my scraps I was ready to pull out my hair.  But once I saw the finished product, I was so excited and proud of myself for sticking with it.  I accomplished a lot this week.  No doubt I'll be showing off this picture for years to come.  But it'll be a while before I mess around with any more scraps!



Crafts, Interrupted

Have you ever been really excited about a new project?  I’m talking really, really excited…so excited that you gathered up about two dozen old t-shirts, whipped out the scissors and went to work creating a mountain of fabric scraps.



Okay, it looked more mountainous before I folded all the scraps.


How will you reuse all of this fun fabric?  There are plenty of awesome ideas online.  You decide to start with pillow cases, because who doesn’t need extra pillow cases?  You carefully arrange the designs and start sewing.  You make exactly one half of one pillow case before it’s time for a weekend getaway with your girlfriends.

You tell yourself you’ll jump right back in when you return, but then it’s your birthday week and you’re busy celebrating with friends and family and eating cake…lots of cake!  Did I mention you get this awesome craft desk as a present?  You can’t wait to set it up.

Before you can tap back into your creative juices, you’re off again.  This time it’s a family vacation for almost a week.  You can’t very well pack a sewing machine, but you’ve gotten a few requests for crochet products and it’s the perfect time to make that puppy hat for your cousin’s baby.  It seems like a good idea, but you soon realize you’d prefer to use the furry yarn you left at home.  Might as well just relax and soak up the sun.

I may not have accomplished much with my crochet, but I did learn to paddle board!




Just a few of the pages I've finished so far.

You return home refreshed and ready to get crafting.  But when you think about the awesome few weeks you’ve  had – two vacations, a concert and lots of cake – you decide now is the time for scrapping.  So you load all your photos onto the computer and send them off to the printer.  You’re really excited to put all these memories down on paper.  Besides how long could it take to scrapbook a few (hundred) photos?

So many crafts, so little time

I’m guessing that by now you know I’m not really talking about “you.”  It’s been almost a month since my last post and this is the reason why.  I’ve started three new projects and finished none.  My creativity is seriously out of control and my crafts are suffering.  So maybe this isn’t your story, but you’ve probably dealt with a similar crafter’s conflict.  Sometimes life just gets in the way.  But I'm promising myself now that I'll tackle each one as I find time...I wouldn't want any of these awesome projects to end up in the bin!

Not Your Average Pot Holder



Every newlywed needs pot holders...why not make them special?

Not a lot to say about my latest craft, just thought I'd share a picture of the personalized wedding gift I made for my brother and sister-in-law.  The rest of my present was kitchen-themed and I wanted to make them something small to tie it together.  I originally thought of crocheting "Mr. & Mrs." coffee cup cozies, because they're both addicted to coffee.  I knew they'd like the idea but the reality didn't seem practical.  Most people either use a mug at home or get a cardboard cozy when they buy coffee on-the-go.

I love the Ravelry pattern search, because I sometimes have no idea what I want to make and the patterns help me out.  I came across this pot holder pattern from Lion Brand and designed the letters in Excel.  The entire project only took about 6 hours over two days and Krista & Drew loved them.  What do you think?

Dollar Store Art

Total Cost for Supplies: $18 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I don't believe that a work of art has to be worth thousands of dollars.  Sometimes I even make my own.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not exactly artistic.  But what I lack in talent, I make up for with craftiness.     

My Inspiration

In this case my inspirations was a gift bag...from the Dollar Tree.  Yes, you read that correctly.  You see, I've always been kind of like the little kid that spends her birthday playing with the box the present came in.  Don't get me wrong - I love presents, but I often have trouble discarding the beautiful packaging.  It's just too pretty to throw away!  I've saved stacks of wrapping paper and bags of bows in the name of scrapbooking (it's a borderline hoarding situation).  But this time I bought a gift bag solely for crafting.

I absolutely love sunflowers and this 13x19 inch bag caught my eye.  So I decided to buy it and frame it.  After all, it was only a dollar!  I got a 12x16 inch frame at Michaels along with a bottle of yellow paint and clear varnish.  The total cost for my supplies was roughly $18 dollars.  But you'd never know it from looking at the finished product.

The Process

The process was actually pretty easy and it only took a few hours to complete.  I started with a layer of paint and then cut the yellow border off the bag.  The width was perfect, but I used a paper cutter to take off another inch in the length. 

The hardest part is waiting for the paint to dry.  I used three coats of yellow and then I waited a day to add the varnish. 

The only thing left to do is find the perfect hanging place.

Repurposed Art By Ashley

 

It's Okay to Embellish



Dear Future Bryce,
It's not my fault you're so pretty. 
Love, Auntie Ashley


Before you judge me know this - I make no apologies for trying to expand my business.  I may, however, have to apologize to my nephew in the future for making him my unisex baby model.  We'll cross that bridge when we get there.  Right now, there's a lot more to crochet for girls than boys and he's the only baby I know.

Crazy For Baby Crochet

While I'm only just starting to sell my crafts, I know that my most popular past creations have been the animals hats and toys I made for Bryce.  Everyone loves babies, especially babies in cute crochet creations.  Sure, I'll eventually make stuff for boys and girls, but it's summer, so I thought I'd start with one of those adorable flower headbands.  Why buy my headband? Because it's fashionable and functional, with interchangeable embellishments to go with different outfits!  I came up with the headband and flower designs myself and sewed on a button to make it removable.  To give customers options I went in search of an easy bow pattern.  I thought I'd have to come up with something myself, but Izabel Ignatowska-Motyl's pattern was exactly what I was looking for.

I'll probably sell each headband with two embellishments.

More Fun With Flowers

Of course, I can't let Bryce have all my fun crochet creations.  I whipped up two different flower embellishments for a pair of plain flip-flops.  I'm not sure if I'll end up selling any, but I can see this revolutionizing my own summer wardrobe.  What do you think?  Would you buy my baby headband or flower flip-flops?

Don't forget to check out my Ash-N-Crafts Facebook Page! I'll be posting more pictures of the different crafts I've made.





When Life Gives You A Bum Thumb...

It didn't look good after the fall, but we had no idea
how much worse it could get.

About a week ago, my mom was running late for work - literally running - when she tripped and fell on the concrete garage floor.  Unfortunately, her left thumb took the brunt of the impact.  So instead of  going to work, she ended up at the hospital.

The next day, x-rays confirmed it was broken.  My mom was especially upset because my older brother is getting married at the end of the month and she wasn't sure what she'd have to wear while it healed.

After it stopped swelling, she went back to the hospital to learn her fate...and it was bad.  We're talking a big ol' hitchhiker cast the color of creamy tomato soup bad.  Worst of all, she won't get it off until three days after the wedding.  Needless to say, there were tears.

Not a match...not even close.

You might be wondering why a grown woman would allow someone to put her in a bright red cast - so was the rest of my family.  Apparently there was some discussion about black, which was deemed too hot for summer and then someone suggested they try to match her dress, her beautiful, deep raspberry colored dress.  This attempt was woefully unsuccessful.

So what do you do when life gives you a bum thumb and a bright red hitchhiker cast 3 weeks before your son's wedding?  You make a cast cover.

The Prototype

This is where I come in.  You see, there aren't many options when it comes to cast covers.  So I made one myself.  I started with a plain purple fabric for everyday wear.  I plan to use a champagne chiffon for the wedding.  Here's how I did it:

The Verdict:

Two Thumbs Up from Mom!

Setting Up Shop

Check out my Etsy shop

I finally did it! Sure, it took the whole damn day, but my Etsy shop is officially open for business. It's weird, because I've never actually shopped on Etsy, so I still have a lot to learn about how it works.

Profile Problems

I have to say, it was unusually hard to set up my shop. For instance, I had to add a picture and write a bio for my profile. Then there was another section where I had to add a picture and write a bio as a "shop owner." Do I really need two pictures and two bios for one profile? Then I had to write the story of my shop. The story of my shop?!? It's been open for like 10 minutes. Then it asked me to add pictures of other projects I've made. I've never dealt with such a troublesome uploading system. In fact I'm fairly certain, that something on the website was coded to figure out exactly what part of the picture I wanted to show and then it pushed it out of frame. I swear I tried to crop and repost my pictures about 4 times. Despite the mental exhaustion of this process, am I thrilled to start selling my crafts. Let me know what you think of my products.

It's a Craftastrophe

It's a fact: bad crafts happen to good people.  And sometimes, property is damaged in the process.  So instead of getting bummed out about the projects that didn't pan out, I'm paying tribute to some of my biggest craftastrophes (yes, I made that up) in the above song.

Disclaimer: I have no musical talent.

If you haven't already watched the video, let me apologize now (1) for butchering a beloved tune & (2) for not picking any particular key to do so.  It you're wondering...it is my voice.  I just disguised it as a chipmunk (you're welcome) with the help of my new favorite app: Ultra Voice Changer.  I realize this made the words kind of hard to understand, so I've included the full lyrics (see right).  I assure you this is much better than my actual voice would sound.

Please, let me know what you think of my video.  I'd love to hear about your craftastrophes, too!

The Bin of Unfinished Projects

I did something brave this week...I opened the bin.  You crafters know what I’m talking about.  In fact, you probably have one of your own.  Maybe yours is a bag or a closet (if I’m being honest I have bins and bags, some of which are stored in a closet).   No matter what shape it takes, one fact remains the same – it’s the place where inspiration goes to die.



Michigan Memories:  I turned my old t-shirts
into a blanket that tells the story
of my 2-year adventure living in the U.P. 

No More Excuses

In the course of crafting, there are plenty of valid reasons to take a break from your current project.  You might get tired or a complicated pattern makes you frustrated or your cohabitants request to use the dining room table for actual dining.  So you put it away.  But every day that passes makes it that much harder to pick it back up.  Eventually, it goes into the bin.

A Lesson Learned, A Project Saved

My Upper Michigan themed t-shirt blanket was the most recent craft that took up residence in my bin.  How’d it end up there?  Let’s just say it was a casualty of my long-standing feud with sewing machines (see rant at right).  It was also evicted after a month-long stay on the dining room table. 

This was particularly upsetting for me because I’d been so excited to make my blanket.  It was one of those projects that had me hopping out of bed in the middle of the night to sketch my ideas or search for supplies.  I just couldn’t let it go, so I decided to address the real problem.  I’d run out of thread halfway through the final edge and I couldn’t get it to sew correctly no matter what I tried.  I’d rethread it once and get big tangled bubbles on top, I’d rethread it again and it would rip underneath.  I wanted to scream in frustration.  Instead, I decided to reread the directions.  With 20 steps you’re bound to miss something, right? 



When all else fails, read the directions!

It isn't easy to admit this, but as it turns out my t-shirt blanket (and every other project I've attempted to make with a sewing machine) was a victim of user error.  Though I doubt I'm the first to make this mistake.  Once I properly rethreaded the bobbin, I was able to finish my blanket and rescue a project from my bin.  A good day indeed!





The finished project.

Art of the Mind (not the hand)

My head pictured the next Mona Lisa; my hand did this.

I've always had a great appreciation for art, but I found out early on, it wasn't an area where I excelled.  No matter how hard I tried, my paper mache fish had one fin too small (that was before Nemo made it cool) and my cross-hatching looked like a pile of hay instead of the roof of a train.  For years I continued to suffer in silence.  I knew I had great ideas, but something always went wrong in the execution.

The Diagnosis

It wasn't until high school that I discovered my affliction had a name.  I had stayed late one day with a friend - both of us putting in extra hours on our latest works of art.  When I showed her my design and explained what I'd been going for, she told me it was a classic case of "Art of the Mind." And I wasn't alone - she had the same exact problem!  Now before any of you hypochondriacs head over to Web MD, let me clarify, this is not a condition recognized by modern medicine.  Sure, we made up the name, but it's still a very real problem. 

Don't Give Up, Get Crafty

Around this same time, I fell in love with scrapbooking.  I could take perfect pictures, add glitter glue, cut up some construction paper and arrange a page however I wanted.  Finally, a cure for my overflowing creativity!  But I didn't stop there.  Scrapbooking is kind of like a gateway craft.  You can get away with random household scraps for a page or two, but soon you'll want stickers and fancy scissors and special background papers.  My frequent trips to Michael's only piqued my curiosity.  I soon explored the yarn section and begged my mom - a bit of a crafter in her day - to teach me how to crochet.  Let's just say, there was a learning curve.

Tight Fit:  The first sock I ever crocheted.



I put my hook down for a couple of years, unsure if this was the right craft for me.  Luckily, I picked it back up towards the end of college and I've come a long way.

 Check out some of my crochet creations on Flickr

My nephew is my favorite new model.

My newest goal is to sell my crafts.  After all, one can only have so many scarves and hats.  I've gotten a lot of interest in the animal hats, but I think I'm going to start with spring scarves and see where it goes from there.  I plan to create an Etsy shop and post about my current projects.  I'm always open to suggestions and feedback, so please let me know what you think.