Refashion/Re-form Friday

I am playing with some different themes on my blog (ie Made IT! Monday and today's theme). I am just trying something new. I have all these ideas in my head and I am trying to make them tangible. This is a Re-Form post.
A family friend, who is the creator of the event HOTOBERFEST here in Atlanta asked that I work with the little ones to make some art out of recycled materials. The art will be sold to benefit the Joseph B. Whitehead Boys and Girls Club. If you are in town this Saturday come check it out. I will be volunteering in one of the booths.
Project #1 - We had some leftover while tiles from a bathroom in our old house. In Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts book she has a project on making coasters and trivots using old tiles and ceramic paint (you "fire" the tiles in the oven after you paint them so the paint sets and is dishwasher safe and heat resistant). My daughter painted these by using non-writing end of a color pencil and toothpicks (the kind where one end is a small circle). I think she did a good job. I helped by filling in some of the empty spaces. I learned that I need to take a back seat in her creative process. I think I gave a little too much direction because she got frustrated fast. We added felt to the bottoms so they won't scratch surfaces.


Project #2 was made from a mirror I found at a thrift store for a buck. I sanded it down and then painted it a solid color. I found some old CD's in the basement (while moving boxes out of water) that we bought awhile ago but never used because they were the wrong type of rewritable discs. The technology is now obsolete due to jump drives. I cut the CD's up (this part should be done by adults only) and then glued them to the mirror. Little people can help with arranging the pieces - though with care and close supervision because some of the pieces can be sharp depending on how you cut them. The end result is kind of cool. One CD was silver and the other was blueish. It was tough to get a good picture because the mirror and CD pieces are reflective. I had to do most of this project because of the sharp pieces involved.

Made IT! Monday - 9/28/09

With the arrival of Fall, new clothes are needed for the season - clothing with more weight, texture, and new colors. My daughter is first up on the the Fall sewing list. I had some leftover twill from a pair of capris I made her when she was 2 but not enough to make the skirt she wanted. Digging through my stash I found this fun floral print that I bought to make patches for her jeans. The pattern calls for just 3 tiers and I wanted the last tier to be the lighter weight material so their would be a little motion to the skirt. I added the floral material to the 2nd tier to break up the khaki. She has some adorable boots that will match with this. I hope she will be a willing model soon, so you can see the skirt in action.



More about MADE IT! Monday later. I have been silent due to the life and also our basement (where I sew) got its share of water during all the flooding in GA. My sewing space is a wreck but I sewed in the dining room. Which is an adventure with 2 little people that are very curious about my machines and notions. Edit - not sure why the picture is not centered properly but when you click on it, it is.

Soldier

The title is the pattern name of this hat. I thought it was really cute when I first saw it in the book Get Your Crochet On: Hip Hats and Cool Caps by Afuya Imobu. It was suppose to be for my hubby and finished by the beginning of the year so he could wear it in the cold weather. I blew 2 out of 2 on this one because as you can see from the model it is a bit small and checking the date you'll know that I'm way passed January. Anyway, it looks so adorable on my son and I had my daughter try it on to see if it would work for her. It does, I will be making her one but adding a flower to girl it out. I don't know how I messed up the sizing. I do tend to crochet very tightly so that is probably the cause. I checked the hat half way through and it was okay - Oh well. Don't ask why his mouth is open in the photos... It was impossible to get decent shots of him since it was passed bedtime.