Janet of All Trades

I love decorating and Christmas is the perfect holiday for me since I can re-decorate the whole house temporarily with old and new items. I especially like trees and in the past few years I have either made or found some of the most amazing renditions of Christmas trees to decorate my house.  It all started about 40 some years ago when I really wanted a Christmas tree for my bedroom. Reason being that one of my older sisters had this huge magnificent artificial tree in her room and I wanted one too. So my little brain started to work on how I could build my own. I proceed to cut some evergreen bows from a tree in our backyard and stuck them in a coffee can with a little dirt. I made a paper chain and ornaments out of felt. It was perfect and so the obsession begun. Since then I have always had a real tree for Christmas up until a few years ago when it just did not seem right to be throwing a tree to the street every year.  I then became obsessed again with making tr...

Every Christmas the decorating spreads to another room in my house. This year I am thinking about a small tree in the bedroom, just a little one with a few lights. While thinking about that tree I came up with some quick and easy trees for my craft room. I started with fabric scraps in my favorite colors and a 10 inch $1.00 foam tree. After ironing the fabrics, I started to wrap it around the tree, securing it with a pin. Wrapping it until it was completely covered and then securing the back with pins. Next I trimmed the bottom straight across. Then I secured the bottom with a pin. Now the pin was also used to balance the tree on a spool. No Sewing or glueing needed as my scraps can be used for another project it I want to. The perfect trees for my Craft Room Simple and easy. Festive and match my decor.  And the fabric can be reused! I love them.. Now just three more trees to decorate! Enjoy!

I recently received a bag full of vintage fabrics from a friend and within its contents was this lovely Blue and White Polka Dot fabric. I love the color blue and according to our local Sunday Paper, Polka Dots are a sign of Spring. I  decided to make a little dress for another friends daughter, since her favorite colors are Blue and White. It's a simple pattern that I have made before but every time I am impressed with the results of the Pillowcase dress. Just a little dress for the summer in Size 12 months. The Polka Dots are not perfect circles but they are no less cute. Ties on the shoulder for an extra touch of cuteness with a Navy Bow! Just wish I had a real model to show of the dress and not just my Mannequin. Extra roomy for this child will be walking in it soon! I can't stop taking picture of it! I want one in my size. But I guess somethings are just for little girls. Enjoy!

My obsession with mannequins continued this week when I remembered a free pattern for a tiny dress form pin cushion that I saw back in January.  It's a two page download at www.thediydish.com  with a video that takes you thru step by step of the process. I wanted to make a few of these for my craft room but thought they would also look lovely adorned with my recycled jewelry. So I started by selecting a few fabrics in colors that I love. Blues and greens are my favorite and make me feel like spring is not far away. After cutting and sewing the simple patterns and easy instructions (via video), I had these three stunning ladies in my craft room. They require very little fabric and can be mounted on candle sticks or spools. I made the long green dress form about 4" longer than the pattern since I wanted a bit of height and enough space to hang pedants. I added glass drawer knobs and beads for the neck inserts. I then added a few necklaces. I chose just a...

Not to long ago I picked up this standard black lunch box at an Estate sale for $5.00. I loved it for it's worn and well used look and thought it would make a great purse.  The inside was pretty worn too and thought just a coat of paint would help it. I painted the inside this lovely shade of yellow given to me by my neighbor. Perfect I thought just the right color to brighten it up. But I was sadly mistaken and it turned out not so lovely. It looked like a banana had exploded in my lunch box. So it sat in my craft fail closet for about 2 months, until I decided it need yet another face lift but this time with fabric.. And a little Mod Podge and it started to look a little better. Carefully I cut and glued the pieces so this time it would not be a Craft Fail. Concealing the edges with satin rope and admiring how it was starting to look pretty. Lastly it was done and ready to it's new use. It has been come my traveling jewelry studio in a b...