My Little Ghosbusters Guy!

I found this site via Howaboutorange on paper crafting. So I needed to make this little Ghostbuster's character (he's not really a cannon character, but whatever.) Here he is!

Mallory ♥

Homemade Mac and Cheese!

I decided I needed to make some homemade macaroni and cheese today. Since I'm still pretty much a kitchen novice I needed an easy recipe. I found a recipe on Rachael Ray's website for Stove top Cheddar Mac and Cheese here. I halved the recipe since it was only going to be me eating it I also used mild cheddar instead of the listed extra-sharp (I've made this one other time and the extra-sharp was a little too 'sharp' for me). Here are some pictures of my adventure:

All of the ingredients:

The cheese sauce:Ta-Da! Finished Mac:
For a newbie cooker I would recommend having someone around to act as an extra pair of hands since noodles have a way of flying everywhere when you're stirring them in one-handed (trust me.) Other than that this is a really easy and great recipe. I would definitely recommend this to a friend.


Mallory ♥

Harry Potter = All Sorts Of Awesome!

Well, I just got back from the movie and overall I loved it! They left some things out that I would have loved to see but it was really funny! Much more than the book. I totally recommend this movie. Just keep an open mind and you have to realize that the movie and book are two separate things, so don't freak out because not everything that happens in the book is in the movie.

Dumbledore is one BAMF in this movie and there are some super special effects too!

Mallory ♥

Harry Potter Crafting!

So, it's that time again...Harry Potter time! If I haven't mentioned this before I'm a huge HP nerd. I'm totally addicted to all things Potter. So I decided that I needed to make a shirt to wear when I go see the movie this week.

Just a warning: this post is very picture chunky! Enjoy!

The stencil I started with: (I'm totally proud of the lightening bolt, I free-handed it!)

The stencil cut out:

On the shirt after I applied the paint:

After taking the stencil off, before removing the bridged pieces:
All finished:
Me, wearing it to show placement of the words:
All finished!! HP here I come!

I was planning on using a navy blue shirt but the JerZee brand shirts I buy never fit the same way. So I used a Hanes undershirt with grey fabric paint that I mixed. I wanted it to be simple and to the point. If you aren't a HP fan or you don't know what a horcrux is (shame on you! Go out and buy the books right now!) check out the Wiki page here.

If you're interested in learning how to stencil check out these awesome online tutorials:

Stencilry
Stencil Punks

Zippers Are Alright With Me!

So, I've calmed down from the meltdown I had over the pleated bag and I tried the whole zipper thing again. I've decided that I love pleats and zippers separately but together they will never be my friend! So I made this larger version of the coin purse, I guess it's a quasi-cosmetic bag. Here it is:

Note to self: Make a light box! Obviously the whole paper thing isn't working for me. I have no idea why each of these pictures are a different color.

My sewing frustration has peaked!

Well, I decided that I truly, truly HATE pleats (and zippers!!!)

And here's why: after finally attaching the zipper on my 'work in progress' zipper pouch the darn pleats didn't match up causing me to want to rip out my hair (and the stupid zipper) And when my not-so-trusty seam ripper failed to help me out of my situation I gave up on that bag for the moment.

And seeing how I need a gift for my co-worker today I decided to try something a little easier. A lined coin purse! I still had to work with a zipper, but this one didn't hate me so much!

[Here's a tutorial for making lined zipper pouches]

I used left-over fabric from the fat quarter and my black linen-look stash. I sadly had to use a white zipper but I think it turned out rather well. I just guesstimated the size, it was big enough to hold a necklace (still on the cardboard) and a gift card with extra room, we'll say it's on the large end of coin purse sizes.

I think it turned out pretty well. This is the first thing I've made that was lined with a zipper. So now that I kind of know what I'm doing I might think about finishing the pleated bag...or maybe not.

My Work in Progress!

I found a tutorial for a pleated zipper pouch here and decided that I needed to make one, pronto! This one is for a co-worker's birthday. I've been trying to make all of my co-workers something homemade for their birthdays since I got my sewing machine last Christmas, but I digress. I cut out my pieces (which I measured out as 10" x 6") and I interfaced and marked my pleats. Tomorrow is the big sewing day. Since I have a love/hate relationship with zippers I like to do all of my cutting and other preparations before I even think about sewing. Here are some prep-pictures for your viewing pleasure:

I found this purple fabric in the fat quarter section at Hancock Fabrics. The black is a linen-look fabric that I bought at Joann Fabrics.