Backpack Makeover

A few years ago, I found some brand new backpacks at Good Will for $2.50, but, I didn't like the design that was on them.  I picked up a couple of them anyway though intending to give them a make over.

This year, I was intending to get some princess fabric to decorate one for my youngest, but she decided she wanted a ballerina backpack.  So, I bought some fabric with ballerinas on it, cut it to size (with about a half inch extra on all 4 sides to turn under), then I sewed around the edges turning the raw edges under as I went.  I did the stitching by hand because I wasn't sure that I'd be able to manipulate the backpack with my machine enough to do a good job.  After I finished sewing it, I sprayed it good with Scotch Gaurd.  The fabric will attract dirt faster than the canvas part of the backpack, so I wanted to counter act that.

So, now my daughter has a backpack with the design of her choice and there's not likely to be anyone else in Kindergarten with one like it.  This would work well too for the times when your child out grows the theme of their backpack but it's still in good shape.

IC 32: Summer Contest

This week's challenge is the summer contest.  I decided to make a sun catcher.  A friend gave me a big box of little jars of the plastic pellets left over from sun catchers.  It looked like someone had saved all the leftovers from various kits.  There were only a few of the metal frames in the box, mostly it was just the plastic pellets.  I'd been thinking about what I could use them for, various ways of making my own frames, etc.  I saw where someone had made frames out of soda cans.  Problem is we don't drink much soda here and didn't have any cans.  So I decided to improvise.




Supplies:
1) Extra plastic pellets left from the sun catcher kits
2) A metal cookie cutter
3) Foil
4) ribbon
5) A study cookie sheet (not shown)
6) Hot glue gun

Instructions:


1) Take the foil and lay a piece on the cookie sheet (at least the size of the cookie cutter)
2) Take another piece of foil and line the cookie cutter with it (I took strips a little wider than the cookie cutter was tall and ran them around the inside, wrapping the foil over the edges, trying to get it as tight against the cookie cutter as possible.
3) Sit the cookie cutter on the cookie sheet and fill it with the plastic pellets.  Since there's no frame to stabilize this when we're done, I filled mine pretty full (1cm deep).
4) Bake according to the instructions with the suncatcher plastic pieces. I did mine at 375 for 20 min.
5) Cool enough so you don't burn yourself when you touch it
6) Pop it out of the cookie cutter and peel off the foil
7) Glue the ribbon to the back with the hot glue gun



8) Hang it in the Window!  (funny how you don't really notice the screen, until after the picture's taken!)

IC 31: Sculptural - Peanut Butter Playdough

Iron Craft has moved to Just Crafty Enough and this week's challenge is Sculptural.  We were to make something with clay.  If you recall, I used polymer clay back for the Hometown challenge. And while I'm not opposed to making beads or some other kind of jewelry, I was trying to think of something different to make.  That's when I remembered this playdough that I made a few years ago.  So I decided to make some of it and to make a teddy bear out of it.

Here's the recipe:

1 package (1/3 of a box) of graham crackers, finely crushed
1 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar (or to taste)

Soften the peanut butter in the microwave
Add graham cracker crumbs and sugar, mix well
Refrigerate before using.

You might need to add more graham cracker crumbs or powdered sugar to keep the dough from getting too sticky.

I embellished my bear with M&Ms,  Chocolate Chips and a sprinkle (for the nose).

Back to School

It's getting close to that time, stores have their back to school supplies on sale.  I took my youngest shopping for a new outfit for her to wear the first day of school.  We hadn't even left the store yet before she was asking how many days until she starts school.  She's just a *wee* bit excited about this next step!

After getting asked a number of times the rest of the day, I finally asked her if she wanted to make a chain to count down.  So, that is what we did.

I've made it into a pdf for you to print.

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Some of the graphics are from WebWeaver.

IC 29: Button Up

This week's Iron Craft Challenge is Button Up.

I start out on Thursdays with all these possibilities, intending to do more than one thing each week.  Then reality hits and it's pushing me to be able to get ONE thing done.

This week I was going to create bookmarks this week and crochet a bracelet in addition to the bracelet that I actually managed  to complete, but I never made it that far.  Apparently getting the glue gun out is too much LOL.



I actually ended up making a bracelet.  This was actually very simple to make, I just connected the buttons with jump rings and used a clasp to close it.  Very easy!



I found my button collection rather limiting for this challenge. I think I'm going to be keeping an eye out for buttons at garage sales and thrift shops.

While I was doing this I ran across a button bracelet that I made back when I was younger and in my Laura Ingalls Wilder phase.  The one I made this week is quite different!

IC 28: Reuse - Reusable Sandwich Bag

I'm not the most green person in the world. Don't get me wrong, I DO recycle and try to reuse things before tossing them, but I don't allow a product's packaging to influence my decision to buy it.

One of the green things I do though is try to keep the waste from my daughter's lunch to a minimum.  I've sewn several cloth lunch bags, we use a thermos for her drink, a cloth napkin, a heavy reusable plastic utensil and I've made a few cloth bags for the stuff inside the lunch as well.

I've been needing to make a new sandwich bag. So, when Iron Craft announced Challenge 28: Reuse, I knew right away what I was going to make.

For this you need:
thread
the bag from a box of cereal (empty), cut open so it lays flat
fabric

I don't have dimensions right now but the fabric was about 7 inches by 16 inches, it was a scrap left over from another project so it wasn't cut straight, but it didn't really impact how this turned out.

Lay the fabric down and place the bag from the cereal over top. Trim the bag to be the same size as the fabric.



Next, sew the two pieces together. I just did a zig zag stitch around the outside edge.


Then, fold the bottom up with the fabric sides together so that the bottom edge is about 2 inches from the top and then sew (using straight stitch) along the sides.


Now, you're ready to turn it right side out and start using it! I've washed the other one when it got particularly messy in the washing machine and it's held up pretty well for two years.


I just tuck the open end down in the bag once the sandwich is in there to close it.  You could use velcro if you wanted.

For more great tips check out We are THAT Family and their Works for Me Wednesday post.

For more great crafts that reuse, check out The Iron Craft flickr pool.

What do you do to reuse?

IC 27: Stars and Stripes

This week's Iron Craft Challenge is Stars and Stripes. I decided to do the obvious and go with the patriotic theme and actually did two things this week.

Earlier in the week, I'd done my nails for the 4th, once my daughters saw mine, they wanted theirs done as well. I wasn't going to count mine for the IC challenge since I'd done it before the challenge, but since I had to do 4 other hands, we'll just count them :)

We started with a plain coat of red.

Then we took some white and drew on some stripes.

Then, we painted the tips blue and followed that with some white dots for stars.

In between each step, we left the paint dry well.

For this challenge I also created some new hair bows for the girls to wear. In the center of each one I put a star shaped cupcake topper (I trimmed off the pick part).