What I Wore Wednesday

 Yellow hat that I made, my trusty green scarf handmade by Jess, floral short sleeve dress (hand-me-down), black cardigan (Goodwill), leggings (Target), and brown boots (Plato's Closet)

 Couldn't get a full shot of my outfit, but I really like it! I'm realizing how I can keep using Spring or Summer clothes through the colder seasons with some creative layering. And I crazy love my new leggings!

I loooove these boots. Charlie said I look like a Nashville princess, which I think was his way of saying I look like a cowgirl. Oh well, there are definitely worse things!

Baking Soda Ornaments

Oh man oh man!
I have been so very sick the past couple days. Just a bad cough but that combined with having a too long to-do list equaled pure exhaustion. I had a show in Athens, Georgia on Saturday and it was a good show but I think I learned my lesson about pushing past not feeling well. I was outside in the cold all day and didn't get a chance to eat until a fellow vendor took pity on me and gave me some pretzels! It ended up being worth it though, because I got to see my cousin that I haven't seen in years and her new husband!

My cousin had made these lovely Christmas ornaments (she gave me one) out of baking soda and cornstarch and I was so impressed I had to make my own! So here is how to make really inexpensive, totally custom ornaments!

Baking Soda Ornaments

You Need:

2 Cups Baking Soda

1 Cup Cornstarch

1 1/2 Cups Water

Watercolors or Sharpies

Step One: Stir together the baking soda and cornstarch in a saucepan and then add the water.

Step Two: Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly.

Step Three: The mixture will start to bubble and then thicken. When the mixture is thick enough to form a ball and leave the sides of the pan, it is ready.

Step Four: Put the mixture onto some wax paper and wrap it up. Leave it to cool and thicken a bit more for a few minutes.

Step Five: Roll the dough out between two pieces of wax paper so it doesn't stick. Use cookie cutters or can lids to cut out shapes you like. This is a great time to get the kiddos involved! It's even more fun than playing with play dough because it's softer and they get to make it into something permanent!

Step Six: Using a toothpick, make a hole in the top of each ornament (to hang them) and if you want, scratch out a design or words on the ornament.

Step Seven: Bake in the oven on 300 for 30 minutes or until the bottoms of the ornaments are hard. Be careful not to crack them when you are checking!

Step Eight: Paint! Use watercolors or if you are feeling low maintenance, sharpies!

What I Wore Wednesday- Lacey Jeans

I missed Make it Monday this week because I was hang in out with my lovely sisters and just couldn't squeeze it in, but last night I got my crafting on and did these pants! Scroll past the pictures to see how I did them!

 Teal shirt from Forever 21 (Thanks Abbsters), Checked Scarf from Ihavenoclue, Peacock Earrings (they actually belong to Abbsters), Toms, brown belt, and diy jeans (originally New York and Company)

Alright, so these pants were really simple. I made some regular jeans into skinny jeans in the same way that I did my cords (look at my previous posts) and hot glued some lace into the pockets. SheZAM! That's seriously it and they are seriously cute, no?

Holiday To-Do List

Hey there y'all....I am working right now on thinking through all I need to get done in the next few weeks. This is the busiest time of year, so I'm going to use this space to post my to do list, basically. Feel free to do the same and put a link to it in my comments!

*Tag animals for my show tomorrow and decorate my little Christmas tree with my bird ornaments. Plus, come up with a new display board.

* Start making Christmas presents for my family. I already know what I'm doing for my parents and grandparents, but I gotta figure out what I'm getting Suzi Q, my nieces and nephews, and a couple other people. I would post my gift ideas on here, but, uh, some of them read my blog.

* Come up with some awesome Christmas decorations- I'm thinking acorn balls, a chalkboard Christmas tree, Christmas pillows, and hanging letter flags.

* Get ready for my shows on December 7th, 8th, 15th, and 16th. It's gonna be NUTS! There's going to be stuffed animals coming out of my ears.

* Start my official training plan for the half marathon I want to do next summer.

* Practice flute for the Behold the Lamb concert on December 9th.

* Make sure to keep Just Be and Design Archives stocked.

Man, I have a lot to do. Sooo this to do list will be sprinkled with breaks for bubble baths, dates with Charlie, hanging out with my family, and possibly eating Mac and Cheese out of a box a lot so I don't have to cook. Andddd go.

How-To Videos for Embroidering An Animal Face!

Hey guys! Today I'm posting three videos that will show you how to embroider an animal face. They are longish, but walk you through each step slowly. You could use this technique to put an animal face on a stuffed animal, hat, pillow, or even clothing! If you end up using my video, I'd love to see what you make with it! Just post it here!

What I Wore Wednesday and the Pants Solution

Okay, so remember those sad pants that would not be bleached? I told you I wasn't finished with them and here they are!

 Pretty Purple Shirt (thrifted), Green handknitted circle scarf (thanks Jess Chen!), and my now orange pants.

 1. Okeedoke. So the first thing I needed to do was size the pants. They were too big and weren't really skinny pants. I got a pair of skinny pants that fit me and laid them out on top of my cords.

 2. Next, I cut open the seams very very carefully.

3. Then I cut the excess of, leaving 1/4 inch for the seam.

 3. Last I used a zig-zag stitch and stitched up the edges of the pants. After I went back and added the seam. See? Look to the right of the picture and you can see what I did.

4. I decided that even though my pants wouldn't bleach I would still try dying them. This was the color I wanted- Sunshine Orange. Doesn't that sound great?

5. This was the dye process- fill the sink with boiling water from the kettle and dump the dye in. To be honest, this was not the best method because it didn't allow the pants to move freely and dye evenly. I'm going to need to re-dye them eventually to make it totally even. Even so, I love the results!!!

Crafty Monday- Pinterest Fail

Hello hello! I am not one for being able to focus on blogging while my raucous family is around, so apologies for no Thanksgiving post! It was a fabulous time and most of my family was there, about 8 of the kids, 3 in-laws, and 2 parents. We ate lots of delicious food, sang some Christmas songs, played football and corn hole, and did some thrifting and Black Friday shopping (NOT to be repeated lol.) It was great to be with everyone, but it's nice for things to be back to normal now.

Getting back from vacationing time, I decided to get my craft on, to subsequent chagrin.
This post could have so many names, like: "Not Everything You Read On the Internet Is True," "There Is Such Thing As Impossible," "The Little Pants That Could (not be bleached)," and "Sometimes Maybe It's Better To Just Buy It."

Okeedokey, so here's what happened. I had this amazing vision of bleaching out a pair of denim or corduroy pants and dying it mustard, like this girl made hers pink: http://www.thelittlegiggler.com/2012/05/pink-skinny-jeans-re-fashion.html#.ULPCwGgkMr4

Unfortunately, not all pants are created equally and my brown cords simply would not be bleached! I went through two bottles of bleach and NOTHING HAPPENED. I was so mad I poured an entire bottle of comet in too and...absolutely nothing...See?

 Before

and after....

Charlie kept coming in the kitchen/laundry room where I was pouring in the bleach and asking me as nicely as possible why I would't just give up and buy some colored pants. Whatever. I'm not totally done with these pants, so check back for part 2 of this post!