T-Shirt Challenge! Cowl Neck Dress.....Sew easy!

Learn to take a regular t-shirt and add just a bit of fabric to make a stunning cowl neck dress in no time. You'll love making these!

Cowl Neck Dress

 T-shirt Overhaul!  Sew easy....

Here's the HOW-TO video!

 You'll need 

Sewing machine that with zigzag stitch

1 Black t-shirt

1 1/2 yards of knit fabric

Scissors (Fiskars is my brand)

Pins

Matching thread

Fabric chalk

Here are the basic steps in case you need a refresher after the video:

 Pin your t-shirt so that it fits your shape

Cut off the ribbed neckline 

 Trace where you pinned and cut off the extra fabric

Cut your skirt 

Stitch in your skirt 

 Cut and sew a tube the same measurement as your neckline

Hem the skirt with a zigzag stitch so that it has stretch

Grab a copy of THE BIG ASS BOOK OF CRAFTS 2!

You'll love it.

Butterflies Under Glass

I love going to the Museum of Natural History in New York and looking at all of the bugs and butterflies behind glass.  OK, big fan of the Wooly Mammoths too, but I couldn't figure out a way to put one of those under glass.  I've seen similar versions of these glass encased butterflies selling for some serious cash, so I decided to make my own for The Big Ass Book of Home Decor (Abrams 2010).  Check out your local craft stores for hand painted feather butterflies.  For a twist on this, you might want to have the kids paint butterflies and switch them out for the ones I used.

One of my early versions

Some of my latest 

Watch the quick video!

(Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel)

STUFF YOU'LL NEED

1 -2 packages of different sized feather butterflies

Hot glue and glue gun

Twigs from your yard

Glass Vase

Glass Candle Plate (make sure the candle plate covers the mouth of the glass vase)

2"x2" or 3"x3" wood blocks

Drill with 1/4" drill bit

HERE'S HOW

1. Drill a hole in our 2" x 2" piece of wood so that a twig can fit into the hole

2. Insert your twig and hold it in place with some hot glue or E-6000

3.  Measure the inside of the vase and cut your twigs to size so that the twigs fit inside of the vase when it's upside down

4. Carefully glue the butterflies in place on the twigs

5. Keep putting the vase (upside down) over the twigs with the butterflies to make sure that you have enough room inside

6.  When you're done gluing all of the butterflies on the twigs, cover and glue the vase to the candle plate to keep it from shifting around

For (over) 100 more projects, grab a copy of

THE BIG ASS BOOK OF HOME DECOR!

KRYLON GLITTER BLAST TUESDAY.....Only 3 rules to enter now!

Hello all of you amazing people! I've got some great new updates about our bi-monthly contest for Krylon GLITTER BLAST! Our contest used to be JUST Glitter Blast spray paint! But now KRYLON has graciously decided to add a few special pieces to make this the ULTIMATE CRAFT KIT ever! So enjoy Glitter Blast Tuesday!  Here's what you get, and how you can enter (and win):

 All of the colors of Glitter Blast!

 Several colors of Stained Glass Paint!

The amazing Chalkboard paint!

Kadi DeJardin's package from last week.  She photographed it and sent it to us!

RULES

1. Share this on your facebook page by pressing share

2. LIKE and COMMENT on the KRYLON FB page that I sent you!

3. SUBSCRIBE to my YOUTUBE PAGE and comment on a video.

Keep an eye out for the winner.  I’ll post it here and on my FB page. It helps if you can leave a way for me to contact you, too! It’s not a rule this week, but subscribe to my blog if you haven’t.  I’d love to have you here!

Drinking straw bracelets!

 Beautiful Drinking Straw Bracelet! 

I love this project because it's made with drinking straws, book pages and cord plus a couple of little things you already have!

Switch out the book pages for scrapbook paper and you're GOLDEN!

Take a look at the video and see how it's made.

Leave a comment and I'll send someone the actual bracelet, too!  How fun is that?

Version with a little less paint on the ends

Tape a book page to a straw and roll.  Secure the ends with Elmer's glue.

Cut the beads 2" long.

Paint the ends of the beads.

Tie a knot in 2 yards of cord and thread the ends of the cord through opposite ends of the beads.

Continue until you have created your cuff.

Tie a lobster claw on end of the row of beads.

Tuck the ends of the cord inside of the last bead and secure with glue. 

Not bad! Fashionable and recycled! 

Fiskars Friday.....The Best Day of the Week!

Today is our 13th official Fiskars Friday and WOW are we giving away some amazing prizes! Pay special attention to the rules and make sure to enter because as you already know, FISKARS has incredible cutting tools and they might just end up in YOUR craft room!  This contest is bi-monthly so look for our FISKARS FRIDAY banner and make sure to enter.

Not only will you win fabulous Fiskars products, you'll get your own signed copy of

VISION BOX IDEA BOOK:  Mixed Media Projects for crafting the life of your dreams!

Check out what our first winner (Jennifer Riker) received from Fiskars! 

This is what our winner Donna Harcourt received!

Not bad at all! And what generous prize packages from Fiskars!

Celia Webb's prize package from 3 weeks ago!

This is Sandra Strait's 89 year old mother posing with SOME of Sandra's prize package.  Apparently Sandra's mom decided it was hers!

RULES

1.  LIKE and comment on the Fiskars FB page that I sent you!

http://www.facebook.com/fiskars
2. SHARE on your FB page about the contest.

3.  Leave a comment here letting me know what your favorite Fiskars tool is and I'm pretty sure we can get it in your prize package!

4.  Subscribe to my Youtube page and leave a comment!
Mark on Youtube Link

Good luck everyone!

"Marko-Polo" shirt makeover.....Sew easy!

Have you ever been to an event and ended up with a polo style shirt with a logo on it that you would NEVER wear?  I must have 20 of these shirts!  Polo style shirts are everywhere and as much as I love wearing them, I wanted mine to be a little different so I came up with a way to add a little pizzazz to them.  It's super easy to do and I think you'll have a blast.  This is a great project for guys and girls and even more fun for kids!

I used anime fabric for this one but you could use a more conservative fabric if you wanted to.  

It's up to you!

This is the style I'm more likely to wear.

Watch the short video tutorial here!

You'll need basic sewing supplies and a selection of fabrics that you like.

Create your pocket by using another pocket on a different shirt for a pattern guide.

Press your pocket.

Create your placket by folding and pressing a strip of fabric to the size of the placket.  

Pin your pieces in place.

Stitch on the pocket.

Remove the buttons and stitch on the placket.

Replace the buttons and you're done!

Make sure to grab a copy of The Big Ass Book of Crafts 2 for more fashion recycling projects!