Crafting – Page 9 – Pure Sugar

How to save pyjama bottoms and make something cute

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

A couple years ago, my brother and sister-in-law (before they were married) went to The Cape and brought back Jake these super cute pyjama bottoms from The Black Dog. Jake loooved these pj pants and wore them all the time. In fact, he wore them out. Somehow he managed to wear the knees so thin that one eventually tore and really it didn’t make sense to sew it up. But because he loved them so much I didn’t throw them away.

The other day I was reading one of my favorite new blogs, Nesting Place, and I saw her post with a how-to for this adorable Ragamuffin Garland. Instantly I knew why I had saved those pj bottoms: to make this garland! So this morning I got down to business and tore up the pants along with an old pair of my jeans, a onesie from when the boys were babies (::sniff!::), some fabric remnants, and ribbon pieces. I tore and tied and tore and tied and attatched a couple clothespins and voila! I had made my very own super cute ragamuffin garland. I ran upstairs to hang it over Jake’s bed:

I can’t wait until he comes home from school. I think he’ll get a kick out of it. Plus, he can hang photos or artwork from the clothespins. I am going to make one for Noah and I might also make one for the kitchen. Heck, I might make these everyone I know because they are really easy and totally adorable! (Well, I guess you have to like shabby chic/cottage living type decorating.) Now I’m going to raid all my bags of clothing donations…

Arts & Crafts Storage – Help!

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Carol — 5 Comments ↓

This is my first time participating in Works For Me Wednesday, and it’s a “backwards” edition. That is, instead of me giving you a tip, I’m going to ask a question and hopefully you, dear readers, can offer some advice. And what perfect timing because I have a huge problem with arts & crafts storage. Over the past few months, Jake has really gotten into arts & crafts which thrills me! I’ve also started accumulating a lot of supplies — egg cartons, pipe cleaners, foam stickers, paper, markers, glitter glue, small craft kits, you name it. My current storage solution is… well, less than ideal. Crayons and coloring books are in the cupboard under the fish tank (this way Noah can easily get at them too), and everything else that should be out of Noah’s reach basically gets thrown into a tote bag that I put in the laundry closet. This worked OK for a while, but now the tote bag is just a huge mess of stuff and in order to find anything, the entire bag needs to be dumped out:

Any storage ideas? The hard part is separating out the stuff that I don’t want my two-year-old’s hands on. I’d prefer to use what I already have (though you probably guessed that!), and I have plenty of baskets, plastic “shoebox” containers, etc. But I am open to any and all suggestions!

Wine Cork Wreath

Posted on January 5, 2008 by Carol — 10 Comments ↓

You can’t copyright an idea, right? Right! Well, this is one idea that I love. I was browsing through the Wine Enthusiast catlog online and came across this clever wreath made entirely of wine corks (save for the bow, of course). A couple months ago I finally started saving all of my corks (oh, to think of how many I’d thrown away!) in anticipation of some kind of craft project. I was thinking more along the lines of a trivet or (literal) corkboard, but this… oh, this is the one. I imagine that by the end of the summer I should have accumulated enough corks to make my own version. Of course, if you don’t drink wine it’s much cheaper to just buy the one they have for sale! But Drew and I do drink a lot of wine, so I’ll just continue saving up my corks. I think what will make the wreath even cooler will be the fact that I’ll be able to look at each cork and remember special events when we had special bottles. Just thought I’d share!

New Dishcloth Swap

Posted on January 3, 2008 by Carol — No Comments ↓

As I type this it is 15 degrees outside, so a “Defeat the Winter Doldrums” Dishcloth Swap sounds like just the thing I need! I love participating in these dishcloths swaps because they’re quick, easy, and fun. Sign-ups for this round will begin on January 11th. I already have some great ideas for items to include in my swap package! If you are interested, check out this post for all the details!

Quick Craft: Teapot Centerpiece

Posted on January 3, 2008 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my blog and I think this year I’m going to attempt to include a lot more crafts and recipes and ideas, rather than just my typical blather. My recipe blog is pretty stagnant (I knew that would happen!) because it’s just a pain to manage three different blogs. So I’ll be including more recipes here this year. Also, I know a lot of you like to craft, but most of us don’t have a lot of time, so I’m going to try to post ideas for quick crafts (I’m thinking 30-minutes or less). This cute teapot centerpiece took me all of 5 minutes to make, and it was cheap, too! For the instructions, continue on.
Continue reading Quick Craft: Teapot Centerpiece→

V-BLOG: And the winner is…

Posted on September 15, 2007 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

I’m sorry for getting this up so late, but my friend Kelly (hi Kelly!!!) came to hang out with us this afternoon, so this was the first chance I had. Now you can all see AND hear what a big dork I am. Sigh… I just figured this was the most fair way to do the drawing, so without further adieu, my first video blog. And if you don’t have the patience, the lucky winner is named below the cut.

Photo Sharing – Video Sharing – Share Photos – Free Video Hosting

Continue reading V-BLOG: And the winner is…→

Last chance!!! Giving you all one more day!!!

Posted on September 13, 2007 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Due to the fact that I have to work tomorrow and won’t be able to do the drawing, I’m extending the contest by one day… so you have tonight and tomorrow to write up your crafting posts, link to me, and be entered to win some scrappy goodies! Read the details here! So far I have entries from: Kim, Lisanne, Jayme, Cady, and Karen. If I missed someone, let me know. Let’s get a few more entries in here! 🙂

Shower Favors

Posted on September 13, 2007 by Carol — No Comments ↓

So today my two big projects are 1) moving my clothes from the closet in our “old” bedroom to the closet in our “new” bedroom and 2) making a dent in the shower favors (pictured here — they’re jar candles that pick up the colors in K’s invitations, and I’m just tying a raffia bow around the lid of each one). I think my plan will be to work on the closet during the day, since that’s easier to do with the boys running around. (I am so super excited to have my own closet! Currently Drew and I share one, but the upstairs bedroom has two large closets, so my stuff won’t be crammed by his anymore! And I’m not even kidding – he takes up way more closet space that me). The shower favors I should be able to do tonight while watching TV. I can’t believe my brother’s wedding is just over a month away! I imagine they’ll be sending out their wedding invitations soon. Aw, it seems like I was just coaching him on diamonds! I am super excited for all the upcoming wedding-related events. They’ll be here before I know it!

Scrappy Giveaway Contest!!!

Posted on August 23, 2007 by Carol — 11 Comments ↓

I’m so excited about hosting my first-ever blog contest! This one is mutually beneficial — I get to give away scrapbooking and stamping supplies that I am no longer using and you get to a chance to win them. Basically what I did was this: I found a box. Then I filled the box up with as many things as I could fit in it. Then, I took a photo so you all can get a peek:

If you want to look at anything closer, just click on the image and it will take you to the Flickr photo page. You can view a higher resolution image from there. The quick breakdown:

– 1 set of Deluxe Chalks
– 1 small album (either for photos, cards, or as a quick mini-album)
– Two brand-new, still-in-the-shrinkwrap Tim Holtz Distress Ink pads
– 4 containers of Pearl-Ex
– 4 containers of embossing powder (white, black, clear, and gold)
– 1 new package of Making Memories square jewel brads
– several mini baggies of random embellishments: brads, eyelets, etc.
– 6 rubber stamps (two are Rebecca Sower; not sure of the rest)
– 1 CD of Victorian clip art
– Burgundy skeleton leaves
– Random other stuff: some pop-dots, a tag, photo corners, a transparancy, ribbon, a couple bottlecaps…

All you have to do to enter is write a blog post about anything craft-related (scrapbooking, stamping, sewing, quilting, knitting… anything) and link back to this post (http://puresugar.net/?p=465). If you are feeling generous with the linky-love, you can link to http://www.puresugar.net as well. Leave a comment and/or a trackback for me so I know that you’ve entered. The contest will end on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th, and on Friday I’ll write down the names of all the contestants, put them in a basket, and Jake will draw the lucky winner. Easy, easy! If you want to use the graphic, feel free, but please save it to your own server or upload to a site like Photobucket. This is open to anyone in the U.S. or Canada (sorry, but this package is heavy and postage might get expensive). Good luck!

Contest in the works!!!

Posted on August 21, 2007 by Carol — 2 Comments ↓

Stay tuned, dear readers, because I am putting together a little contest. I’ve noticed quite a few other bloggers doing this lately and I thought I’d join in on the fun. Now, now, don’t get TOO excited. It’s not like I’m giving away a vacation with free Mendocino lodging or something equally as fabulous. But if you’re a crafter, you might be interested. After thinking long and hard, I am seriously destashing my stamping and scrapbooking stuff. It’s taking up space, and I’m not going to use the majority of it. I’m going to be putting together what I think is a pretty decent prize package and all you’ll have to do enter is link to me. It will be that easy!!! I’d like to get some new readers, and I thought this might be a fun way of luring people in, heh heh heh. Don’t misunderstand, though! I loooove everyone who’s been reading me for ages, but I think most of you understand the need for more links, more readers, etc. And likewise I would love to discover some new blogs through this too! Hopefully I’ll have it together by the end of the week, but it will be no later than the beginning of next week, so be sure to keep checking back!