Pin Tested: Tile Coasters

I thought my living room needed some brightly colored coasters and I thought these on Pinterest would be perfect!

Inspiration and Directions:

I followed Lindsay's directions from her blog. 

Result: 

Pin Approved?: Yes, I love my cute and colorful coasters. I would suggest this project to others because the coasters serve their expected purpose and they were pretty inexpensive and easy to create. I have had so many other ideas for these coasters since I made mine - different colors of tiles could be used so I need more rooms in my house...
They would also make a great gift! 

Problems/Issues: I had my coasters stacked for awhile and the felt stuck to the coaster under it so now I don't stack them. I'm not sure if a different glue or sealer would fix this or if it was due to the conditions in my apartment. 

Pin Tested: Sweater Leg Warmers

A co-worker wore these last week and they looked store-bought so I was very surprised when she told me that she made them! She explained her procedure for me, but I could not do a craft project without checking on pinterest first.
Inspiration:















 
(photos link to source)

Cost and Materials:

• Sweater (I got mine from a resale shop for about $4 - many thrift/resale shops are having sales on winter clothes right now)
• Fabric Scissors

Process:

1. Lay sweater on floor
2. Cut sleeves off of sweater (my legs are short so I didn't need to cut all the way to the shoulder)
3. Wear them!

My method was just like Brie's (the second picture in the inspiration section)

End Result:  























Problems/Trouble-Shooting:
I'm expecting that the edges of mine will ravel a bit. I could fix these by using Sandra's method and adding a bit of fabric glue and folding over the cut edge. (She made a scarf too. And I bought two sweaters a second pair of legwarmers and a scarf may be in my crafting future...)

Pin Approved?:
Yes, I love my sweater leg warmers! I think they help add something new to my commonly worn boots!
I have a second sweater that I want to use for this project. I might make the scarf (from my 3rd inspiration picture) too.

Have you made a wearable craft based on instructions from Pinterest? How did it turn out?

Your Fellow Crafter,
Rachel

Show and Tell - Flower Art

I completed quite a few projects before I started writing this blog and I thought I would share them in Show and Tell type posts. Here is the first of many.

My Inspiration:

http://pinterest.com/pin/131589620332053429/

Where I got my instructions: 

http://itsdoable.squarespace.com/blog/2012/1/23/its-doablethe-flower-wall-art.html#comments

Materials/Cost:

• 3 Canvases (two came in a pack with others that I was using for another project)
• Scrapbooking paper (I already had all of them - I just went through my scrapbooking bin to find colors that work well together)
• Paint (I used arcrylic because I didn't want to spray paint outside in the winter, but spray paint would work well too)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Foam Brush
• Sissors

I spent about $10-15 on this project. It might be a little more if you didn't have so many of these items.

Finished Product:

Your Fellow Pinterest Fan,
Rachel 

Follow Me on Pinterest

Pin Tested: Framed To Do List

I've been meaning to make a framed to do list like this or this for a while now.

Supplies

I already had the supplies: a frame, paper, letter stickers, and a dry erase marker. It was a pretty simple project.

1. Cut paper to size of frame (I used the frame insert as a template so I didn't even have to trace anything)
2. Add letter stickers - I used these cute black glitter stickers to write "to do" and then added the little * for a bit of interest
3. Put inside frame
4. Write with dry erase marker on the glass

The only thing left more me to do is to decide if I want to keep it in my apartment or move it to my (super small) desk at work.

All Finished!

Pin Tested: Paint Sample Art

Final post regarding the Pinterest Party that I recently attended: my craft.


Painting - Dining Room Color Inspiration

For my craft project, I decided to make some Paint Sample Art for my dining room. I was inspired by this art (that I got from Goodwill about a year ago).


 I used instructions from A Beautiful Mess for inspiration, but I made a few changes...



Supplies

1. Two smaller frames instead of one large one - I got these two plain frames from Michael's for approx. $20 when I used a coupon from the weekly ad
2. Trim all of the paint chip pieces (to get rid of the paint color name) (this also made the samples the same height)
3. Leave a bit of white space (the back of the frame insert) between each color - it was a little time consuming, but I thought leaving a space would make the piece more interesting (and I could make it so the frame was filled with full chips)
4. I did not add a saying/phrase

Close-Up

Pinterest Party Crafts



Finished!

Rachel Approved: Yes! This project was inexpensive (about $25 for two frames and double stick tape - the paint samples were free) and super easy. It can even be accomplished while enjoying wine and snacks! I'm proud of how it turned out - it is a great way to add color to a room that you are not allowed to paint.

Also I'm a pretty crafty person, but to do this project you really only need to know how to use a paper cutter and apply double stick tape.

I would definitely do this project again (if my apartment were actually a mansion and nobody would notice the similar artwork in multiple rooms). Maybe I'll make another as a gift for someone?

Bonus: Allows you to practice your stealth/spy moves as you take a plethora of paint samples in the same few colors.

Pin Tested: Banana Bread in Mug

Yesterday, I found a recipe for banana bread in a mug and decided that today would be the perfect day to try it. I followed Kita's recipe.

As I assembled my ingredients, I realized that I did not have any baking powder so I did some research on backing powder replacements. A few websites said that baking powder could be made by mixing baking soda and cream of tartar, but alas, I had no cream of tartar either. I decided that I would use just a little more baking soda since the recipe only called for 1/8 tsp. of each anyway. I did make a few other additions: chopped walnuts and mini chocolate chips! (Also, check out that new whisk! The real reason I wanted to make this: to use a Christmas gift! Thanks Grandma!)

I followed all other directions from the original recipe. While cooking, the banana bread in a cup passed the smell test, but the taste and site tests were not as clear. I think the flavors of the bread were okay (but I might add a little cinnamon if I made it again), but I was not a fan of the texture. One of my favorite things about banana bread is it's browned, slightly-crusty top and it's slightly dry nature. Using a microwave (and the steam that occurs inside), caused my favorite qualities to be lost in this banana bread. It was a bit more cake-like than I enjoy. The bread not being my ideal texture, will prevent me from making this banana bread in a mug again, but I will continue to enjoy traditional banana bread. I'm also planning on trying some other (cake) mug recipes in the future.

Notice another popular pin? I created a Sharpie-d Mug a few weeks ago. I made it at a Pinterest Party with my co-workers. (We all brought a snack made with a recipe we found on Pinterest as well as materials to make a craft from Pinterest) The hostess provided traditional black Sharpie markers and these plain mugs to make as favors. I've been carefully hand washing mine, but I still lost a little of the black off of my handle. I've read in other posts containing a mix of successes and failures, but oil-based markers seem to have a better success rate. I'm going to love mine a lot and if the paint comes off, I'll be happy to troubleshoot and try again.