Bottle Wrapping Again

Maybe it is just  that I want to hoard empty bottles of various shapes and sizes? My closet is becoming full of them.

This time I tried something different. Traditionally they wrap around and around and around like these.

I like wrapped bottles and there are a wide variety of inspirations out there but I wanted to try something different.

This time I started in the middle of the bottle creating a circular pattern.

I love the way this looks. Starting the pattern was tedious. Again, the industrial double sided tape is amazing.

Then I had to figure out how to wrap around the rest of the bottle. I opted for a back and forth pattern like this:

I like the pattern but the edges are rough and loose. I will need to go back with super glue and tack them down. It would be fun to PLAN a bottle like this with those loops big enough to use as a chain to crochet or weave a pattern through.

I finished wrapping the bottle. The back and forth around the circle took longer than the circle itself did. 

So now I just need to figure out how to finish off these loose edges. (Super glue?) and also I am considering adding loose glitter that will stick to any remaining double sided tape edges that may collect dust otherwise. I will update to let you know how it turns out. 

The completion of "the big N"

Very exited to have finally finished this on 1/29. All in all I probably had 10 hours end, but most of that was done in 30 min chunks since a hot glue gun and an infant don't mix well. The only cost I had in it, besides time, was the spray paint. (And honestly, I loved that part! I have been spray painting all kinds of things!) I am quite pleased with the finished product. 

The Big N

It now hangs above our new buffet table with another of my recent projects, The shelf above the buffet was salvaged out of a dumpster - well, more accurately the wood was. I sanded it, rubbed it with stain to match the buffet top and used shelving brackets from Ikea ($4 ea.) to create the first of our reclaimed shelves. All in I think there is perhaps $10 (brackets, stain and sandpaper) and about an hour of labor. You will be seeing more of these around our house.

Of note as well is the blue seated chair which we picked up for $5 at a thrift store. I haven't yet decided whether I want to repaint the seat base. Thoughts?

Below are two other little projects. Diffusers are expensive to buy in the stores, and since I just recently purchased my first round of essential oils, I thought I would make my own. These bottles were $2 a piece from Walmart. I am brain scrounging items around my house I might use for more, but I loved these two little bottles. Bamboo skewers are the reeds. I used baby oil (which I found a site online that said I could) for a base, but am not pleased with it, so there will be modifications made when I can figure out what I prefer. 

Home Made Modge Podge

So I have a big project spanning several canvases that I am S.L.O.W.L.Y working on. The background is all collaged but I cannot afford to go out and buy tons of modge podge for the project. Pinterest has about 7,000 different pins for diy modge podge so I thought I would give it a go.

I wish I could find the original blog I found the recipe on - but I appear to have lost it.

These were the ingredients:
1.5 Cu Flour
.25 Cu Sugar
.25 Tsp Olive Oil
1 Cu Water

Mix ingredients together on the stove at low heat. From some bloggy research I did I found the oil is for sheen and spreadability. Here is the way it looked when I pulled it off the stove:

The blogs all say to find a tightly sealable container. But I also want to be able to apply it quickly and easily and to be able to shake the mixture back up (since water/flour mixtures tend to separate over time.) I chose a cheap condiment bottle. Also, I wanted my glue to have some opacity to it. I added a little bit of paint (from a sample container from Lowes) that I knew would match the room I intend to place the art in.

Here is my set up. (The can of coke is optional and not recommended.)

I used the condiment bottle to add the paste to the canvas and a thick brush to spread it around. I wanted to collage pages from the Bible (sacrilegious I know) so I went to the local thrift store and found several different bibles with different texture pages. 

Interestingly I found that thinner pages (that are more like tissue paper) didn't adhere as well. Over all the homemade paste seemed to work pretty well. Like any modge podge project I would like to go over the canvas again to seal the edges and then after all painting etc is done, use clear finishing spray to protect the whole project. 

Here is my canvas two weeks later: (My lovely assistant held the canvas for me.)

This is my lovely assistant:

Overall I give this diy effort an A. I am pleased with the outcome and will be using this on my larger project (stay tuned!)

Upcycled rug

Completed my first upcycled rug. I have also been sewing and painting, but instead of posting all the details here, I have started a craft blog where I will post. For here, for now, all you get are pictures!

Finished Rug

little bits of craftsy stuff

Tuesday my sister and niece and I spent the day together and we experimented with fusing plastic. First thought - this is not as easy as it looks. It is not difficult but it takes some experimentation depending on your iron, the thickness of the plastic bags, etc.



Different plastics have different thicknesses and different flexibilities.



I have a lot of practicing to do to get this the way I would want it... and also, I don't shop enough (outside grocery stores) and I try to take my own recycled bags whenever I can remember, so I don't have a lot of colorful bags. The whole point of this craft is to recycle what I have... so I need to put some more thought into this.

Slightly more successful is my crocheted rug from old sheets. When I finished slicing up one sheet this is what the ball of 'yarn' looked like:



I have started the crocheting process but no pics yet.

Many little things and pictures (mostly craftsy stuff)

Right now I feel like my life is made up of many little things that I enjoy - none are life changing or magnificent but they reflect who I am and I am liking myself more and more as I get to know me.

About 2 out of 3 Sundays my friend Sushil and I go to church together. Sometimes we go to UCity (where he usually goes) and sometimes we go to Warehouse 242 (where I have attended for the past 8 years.) It is nice to go to church with someone. Afterwards we usually go get lunch and this past week we went to Pinky's which is my favorite spot on my side of town and I had this:
Yummy Margarita. This was a small thing that made me happy - kind of like feeding the swans a few sundays ago did.


























I have been painting a little bit again lately which is nice and therapeutic. Last week I finished this one:
Faith.

Friday I did this one:
Tree




























And yesterday and today I worked on this:
In Progress Which became:

Holy Ground which I need to take a better picture of since the glare is so bad, but the canvas was still wet...



























I have also been crocheting. Here are three of my latest projects:

Cap

baby hat (which I am going to send to a friend in Austin who is expecting her first little boy.) and
Sushil's hat.

And this is me tonight... in my big fleece, enjoying quiet time at my house.
lazy me.