Nautical Rope Lamp with Openwork Globe Shade

This lamp revamp is a fusion of two very different inspirations.  I'm enamored with nautical rope lamps, such as the monkey fist knot Round Rope Lamp from West Elm.  I also love all of the openwork iron sphere lamps and lanterns that are available right now.  Restoration Hardware's Iron Orb Table Lamp is awesome!

Source West Elm

Source Restoration Hardware

How to Find the Center of a Circular Object..........

or Why I am Happy I Paid Attention in Math Class When Everyone Told Me I Would Never Use it Real Life.

Have you ever been crafting and needed to find the exact center of a circular object, and eyeballing it just didn't cut it?  For example, when you want to find the circumference of a circular object without trying to finagle an uncooperative tape measure around it.  I have used this little geometry tip a bunch of times, most recently when making a sunburst mirror and a lamp shade.  It's very easy, I promise!

1.  You will need a piece of paper, pencil, a ruler and your circular object.  I am using a lamp shade ring in this example.  If you can draw directly on your object, you can skip the paper and step 2 altogether.

Latitude and Longitude Artwork & Free Background Image

Today I made this geographic coordinate artwork to display in the family room. I used Pic Monkey to create the background from a satellite image of the United States and several of the available Textures.  Then I added the latitude and longitude coordinates of our home and our address.

Star Spangled Banner Printable

For a while I've wanted to learn how to use Overlays in Pic Monkey to make layered graphics.  So today I sat down to teach myself and created this Star Spangled Banner printable.  It was pretty straightforward so I got the hang of it very quickly.  I had fun and I look forward to creating more!

Beach Themed Summer Mantel Reveal

Over the past week I have given you a peak at some of my creations for my beach themed summer mantel. Now it's time for the big reveal!

Seashell, Rope and Twine Wreath

I want to share the cheery little clam shell wreath that I made last summer.  I simply glued clothesline rope around a wreath form, added the shells, and then wrapped with jute twine.

Maritime Signal Flag Bunting & Free Printable

I loved the idea of a maritime signal flag bunting on the mirror above my beachy summer mantel, but the bright primary colors just did not work with my decor.  So I redesigned the flags with a palette of blue and green seaside shades. 

Beachy Photo in a Bottle

I think bottles are a fun and unexpected way to display photographs!  For my creation I used an empty olive oil bottle and wrapped jute twine around the top and bottom.  It conveniently covered up the logos on the bottle and I love how it frames out the photo.

Dollar Store Solar Nightlights

Here is another quick and simple craft you can do with the solar garden lights from the dollar store. My daughters needed new nightlights, so we made these together.

Today We Painted the Driveway

I make sidewalk paint a little differently than the typical mix of cornstarch + water + food coloring.  I mix 1/2 cup of cornstarch in 1 cup of cold water.  Then I put three cups of water in a pan, add a teaspoon of salt, and heat to boiling.  I turn the heat down to low and slowly stir in the cornstarch and water while constantly mixing.  It quickly becomes thick and gelatinous.  I pour it out into individual containers and let it cool a bit before mixing in the food coloring.

DIY Driftwood Tutorial

Living landlocked in the Midwest, I can't stroll on the beach collecting driftwood.  I wanted driftwood for my beach themed summer mantel, but the cost of purchasing and shipping the real thing was just too much for me.  What else could I do except find a way to make it myself?  Using my chemistry background, I've developed a simple process for making faux driftwood from sticks and logs found in your yard.  Let's get started!

Ship Wheel Makeover

I snatched a hunter green ship wheel clock for 50 cents at a recent thrift store visit with plans to paint it for my beach themed summer mantel. The clock mechanism was broken so I took it out.

Juice Can Lid Play Money

My five year old daughter wanted to learn how to count money. While I believe learning with real coins is best, this isn't an option with a two year old in the house. I needed the coins to be large, durable and easy to read, so after thinking about it I came up with these juice can lid coins.

Blogging Tip: Encouraging the Pinner to Go Back to the Original Source

7/19/12

UPDATE:  THIS POST IS OBSOLETE!

I just discovered an easier way to encourage the pinner to go back to the original source.....completely prevent the pin to begin with.  Jessi from Practically Functional shows you how to use the nopin attribute in the image tag to make a photo un-pinnable!  You can also use this code to stop photographs of your family from being pinned.

Dollar Store Sun Jars

My sun jars were originally a big craft fail.  Last summer I decided to make my own sun jars following a tutorial that I found on the web.  The tutorial called for removing the stake from a garden solar light, then gluing it to the inside of the glass lid of a wire bail canning jar.  It worked great.......for about a week.  Then the glue failed.  I don't think it could take the hot and humid greenhouse conditions inside the jar.  My husband and I tried four other types of glue before I gave up and threw the jars on a shelf in the garage. 

Decorating with Feathers

I love to bring the outdoors in by decorating with natural elements. I am displaying this vintage mason jar of turkey feathers on my mantel.

Paper Doily Decoupaged Bottle Tutorial

A few months back I found a package of pretty vintage paper doilies at the thrift store and decided to try decoupaging them onto empty wine bottles.  I love how my bottles turned out and want to share with you a simple tutorial for making them.

Gold Gilded Antlers

Two trends I have been enamored with in recent months are gold gilded decor and painted antlers.  So when my dad gave me a set of deer antlers and partial skull, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them....  Gold Gilded Antlers.

It was super quick and easy using one of my favorite crafting products, Rub 'n Buff Wax Metallic Finish.  I used Antique Gold.  Following the directions on the tube, I applied a small amount with a soft rag, then polished until it shined.  A little goes a very long way.

It's Skirt Week!

Here are my entries into the Crafterhours Skirt Week 2012 Children's Skirt Catagory! 

First up is a flower fairy applique skirt.  I had a small piece of an adorable flower fairy fabric and designed this skirt to display the sweet little fairies on it. There are six flower appliques going around the skirt, each with a different fairy sitting in the center. I left the edges of the flower petals raw to slightly fray in the wash and zigzagged the flower centers down.  The skirt fabric is a light weight denim, and it has an elastic waist with a contrasting yellow facing that peaks out the top.

My Poppy Princess

Poppy Princess was my entry into the Project Run & Play Season 4 Sew Along Signature Look Challenge.  The beautiful poppies blooming in a park near my home inspired me to design this outfit.  I love how their vivid red petals flutter in the breeze and shimmer in the sunlight. The skirt consists of  four overlapping petals made from polyester shantung, a few layers of tulle, and a lining.  I added black glass beads around the elastic waistband to resemble poppy anthers.  The black and white floral blouse has a continuous bound placket and button closure on the back, ric rac around the neck, and an elastic casing at the bottom with decorative ribbon ties.  I completed the look with a giant paper poppy and a butterfly crown.

Introducing Miss Dottie Gale!

My entry into the Project Run & Play Season 4 Sew Along "Let's Go to the Movies" Challenge was a remake of the iconic Dorothy dress from the Wizard of Oz.  I decided to go with a pastel gingham for the pleated skirt, faux straps and the big bow. I love how you can change the look of the gingham by cutting it parallel or perpendicular to the selvage, or on the bias. The bodice is made from denim and has an invisible zipper closure. The underdress had a previous life as a portrait dress that I made last year, and I added some lace to the bottom so it would peak out from underneath.

A Purple Experiment - Ombré Handkerchief Top

Purple was the color I chose for my entry into the Project Run & Play Season 4 Sew Along Color Week Challenge.  I had wanted to try dip dying for a while and the color challenge was the perfect opportunity to experiment.

More Skirts

Here are two more skirts from last summer.  This was my first attempt at making a pleated skirt and it was a learning experience.  I used a light weight denim with a bright orange floral fabric inside the contrasting pleats to make them pop.

Welcome to Craftiments!

 craftiment  (kräft-ə-mənt)  n.

1. an experiment in crafting
2. an attempt at a new or different craft; an effort to be creative

Hello! Welcome to my new blog, Craftiments!  Let me introduce myself..... My name is Kirstin and I am a stay at home mom who used to work as a chemist. I created this blog to document all of my sewing and crafting experiments. Because I taught myself to sew, I don't always follow the sewing "rules". Some of my favorite projects were ones where I had no idea what I was doing so I had to figure it out as I went along. Of course mistakes were made and my seam ripper got a workout, but I think this is the best way to learn! I am also a thrifty girl who loves the challenge of upcycling something old and worn into something beautiful or useful.