Update!

Hey Everyone! So back in April I did a tutorial on hand painted glass ware. I started a set of 4 wine glasses that I never got around to finishing until this week. Part of the reason I didn't finish is because the first one in the set got ruined. The poly acrylic sealer I used wore off after several washes which caused some of the paint in certain spots to come off too. I never got around to getting the proper sealer that I needed. I thought that the poly acrylic sealer would work the same as polycrylic sealer. I was wrong. I am pretty sure that this time It will not ware off. (However I will let you know if it does.) Polycrylic sealer is actually really expensive. I recommend getting the spray can for this project @ 20$ a can from A.C. Moore. I'm sure you can understand why I put this project off for so long. Anyway I am glad to finally have my pretty wine glasses! Here are some pictures.

Hand towels

This is an easy project, so easy that it hardly needs a tutorial. I wanted to make some matching kitchen towels to go with my place mats and napkins. I got some waffle textured cotton fabric on the cheap for 5$ a yard I was able to make 4 towels from one yard as well as the scarps I had left over from my place mats and napkins. I think they came out pretty cute and they didn't take long to make.


You will need:
1 yard of absorbent fabric.
small amount of decorative fabric.
coordinating thread
sewing machine and scissors

Step one: Cut your yard of  fabric in quarters. Then cut 4 strips of the decorative fabric the same width of your quartered fabric. Sew 1/4 inch hem on each raw edge of the strips. Once all your strips are hemmed you can pin them to your towel where you like. (If you use the waffle textured cotton fabric that I used it is very easy to line up the strips perfect and later to sew perfect hems on the towel.) Sew the strips to the towel.

Step Two: Sew another 1/4 inch hem all the way around the towel. You are done! It is that simple!

Place mats and Cloth Napkins!

Place mats and cloth napkins are always a great stand by for dressing up your table! Cloth napkins are also great in place of paper in order to cut down on waste! So not only are they pretty to look at but also Eco-Friendly! I would like to give a special thanks to Kaleena for leaving behind her kitchen table with me when she moved! Jesse and I sit at it every morning and enjoy some tea/coffee and toast before he leaves for work. These days there are not many families that sit down at a table and have dinner together on an everyday basis. As cheesy as it seems I think it is important to keeping open communication and a sense of community among a family. I can not wait until the twins get a little older and we can enjoy our dinners together as a family. Although most people save their place mats and cloth napkins for holidays and special occasions they are also great for everyday use.  So weather you want to get a head start on your preparations for entertaining this holiday season or if you just want to add some color to your kitchen this is a quick as easy project.

You will need:
Approximately 2 yards of fabric (I used to different patterns 1 yard of each)
1 yard of liner fabric
Coordinating thread
Scissors
straight pins
sewing machine
Rotatory mat and rotatory cutter (optional, I did not use one but if I had one I would have)

Step One: First decide what shape you want your place mat to be. circle, oval, square, rectangle...whatever you like. I choose to do a rectangle with trimmed corners. Then decide what size you would like it to be. For the place mats I did 17 by 15 and the napkins 13 by 13 squares. So you will want to take your lining fabric and cut out your guide for your place mats you can fold it in fours and trim it to make it symmetrical. This is where a rotatory mat and cutter would come in handy...to make your cuts precise. However you don't really need one it is just helpful. So cut out all your pieces. I made a set of four so you will need 4 place mat liners and 4 of the fabric you want. then a total of 8 13 by 13 squares for your napkins. My napkins came out a little small I would have made them bigger but I did not have enough fabric to make them any bigger.

Step Two: Pin your place mat liner to the top part of the place mat right sides facing. Then sew all the way around leaving about a 4 inch gap. Before you turn it right side out trim the corner, this will make them sharper. Once you have it turned you will want to pin the opening closed and sew a top stitch or two all the way around. I decided to do two to make it look more professional. Continue until you are done with all of them. You do the same with the napkins!

This is for the girls !

So recently I stumbled upon e.l.f. Cosmetics also know as Eyes Lips Face I was almost in shock when I was browsing through there products which looked rather high end and saw price tag after price tag of only 1$. Some things are more than 1$ but not much more. I must admit I was a bit skeptical at first and assumed that the quality must be very poor but I researched it a little and heard a lot of positive things and also found out that they do not test there products on animals. So I decided what the heck I should try this stuff out! I placed an order when they were running a promotion for there new mineral eye shadows. I got 10 free mineral eye shadows a 30$ value with a 25$ purchase. I spent a total of 31$ not including shipping which was a standard 6.95 charge. You will not believe this!

Tone Correcting Concealer 1$

I use this under my eyes and on any red spots. I blend it with a make up sponge. It works Great! I really like spot concealer because I hate foundation. I really like a natural look and the less make up I can get away with while still hiding my imperfections the better. I really dislike the feeling of of heavy make up on my face, plus it clogs my pores and results in break outs for me. I have sensitive skin. This product works great with my skin though no irritation or breakouts.





Complexion Perfection 3$

This is great also if you want to cover up any redness or discoloring and want to skip the heavy foundation. All you do is take a face brush and combine all the colors and apply like you would any face powder. The colors actually naturalize your skin tone. It goes on shear and blends in nicely.











High Definition Powder 6$

I am in love with this stuff! You have to try it. Again it goes on very light and shear but it give you a sort of matte finish. It takes away any shine to your skin and makes it look flawless....I know you might think it is a bit odd that the powder is white but don't worry. It will not wash you out or make you look pale. It is also one of there best sellers! Although it is more expensive than most of there products. It is still very inexpensive.






Brightening Eye Color 1$

I got this color it is called butternut! Great colors I love them! They have 18 different colors to choose from. So you are sure to find a shade you like. Blends very well you cant go wrong!












10 Free Mineral Eyeshadows 3$ each

These are awesome! They are really shimmery. So if you dislike shimmer I would not recommend this for you. I however like a little bit of shimmer. They blend very nicely and the colors are great. I got caffeinated, innocent, celebrity, Seductive, sassy, wild, socialite, angelic, natural, glamorous, and golden. So I think they ended up giving me eleven for free because I only selected 10.









Plumping Lip Glaze 1$

This is a new favorite and I plan on ordering some more shades. I love love love this. It actually reminds me of my old favorite lip plumper that got discontinued. So when I tried this I was thrilled! It kinda give your lips a tingly feeling which for some reason I really enjoy...don't know why but my old favorite did the same thing and I was so up set when It got discontinued and I ran out....I think I might have to stock up on these just in case...besides they are just a dollar and my old favorite was 10$

Brushes and Tools: Eyelash Curler 1$

I had never tried an eyelash curler before...I never felt like I needed one. I have to say though I am now hooked. Curling your lashes makes them look longer! Give it a try.

 Total Face brush 1$
Good brush comes with a nice case to keep nice and it is soft. It works well.

Kabuki Face Brush 5$

This is by far the softest face brush I have ever used. It feels great on your skin.  Blends well!











So that is all....I have to say I plan on ordering from them again I was very pleased and that is why I have blogging  my review! I really just wanted to spread the word to my girlfriends because We all know how expensive quality make up can be. They also carry e.l.f. products at Target if you don't like online ordering. I have to say though that they are constantly running awesome promotions online. So if you don't mind paying shipping and waiting for a week check out what they are offering online...I got 30$ worth of free eyeshadow that I love! So I say the wait was well worth it! Also I got some of the more expensive items...so you can totally get way more for you money!

Desing your own handbag

 So I got my inspration for this bag from a few sources. The first being  One Yard Wonders This is a really awesome craft book with a wide range of crafts that only require one yard of fabric or less. It includes all the patterns you need for every project. Which is where I got the pattern for this bag. The second source of inspiration came from This handbag from Charlotte Russe Last but not least was this awesome Fabric flower tutorial from Threadbanger.

You will need:
A pattern, you can make your own or use a pre-made one.
About one yard of fabric of your choice. (I recently went through my closet and took out all the clothes I no longer wore. So as the fabric for this bag I ended up using my maternity pants that were corduroy.)
I also used some left over fabric from other projects for the lining.
You may also want some interfacing...I did not used it because corduroy is such a durable think material I did not feel like i needed it.
Coordinating thread
Magnetic purse closure (optional)
Sewing machine
striaght pins
scissors

Step One: You will want to pin your pattern to the material and cut out all your pieces. If you are using a thin material you will want to use interfacing for the front/back of the bag and the sides/bottom. You will want to fuse your interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric using an iron.(or follow the manufacturer's instructions.)

Step Two: If you plan on using any pleats you will want to sew them now. The easiest way to make a pleat is to make two dots with tailors chalk about an inch  apart. match up the dots, press, and then sew at the top to hold.

Step Three: Assemble the exterior. If you want to add a bow like I did you will want to use two wide strips of fabric longer than the dimensions of the front of your bag. and a small piece of fabric to use as the bow's center. Wrap the small center piece of fabric around the two strips and closed by hand. Then you will want to pin the bow in place to the front part of your bag. Sew the bow where it meets the raw edges of the front piece. Once you have that done you will want to pin the side/bottom piece to the front piece and sew repeat with the back piece.

Step Four: Assemble the interior lining pieces. You can add a pocket if you like. I used the pocked from one of the pairs of pants that I used as the fabric. I just cut it from the pants pinned it to the lining and sewed it in place. Assemble the same way as the exterior.

Step Five: Insert the lining into the bag. Pin along the top raw edges and stitch together. Assemble the top band of the purse. I used four pieces to make the band and the straps. First I made the straps and then you will need four equal pieces the horizontal width of the bag. and about 3-4 inches tall. Take two of the pieces lay the first one the the right side facing up and then you will want to pin the strap in place on each side then lay the second piece face down on top of that lining up the pieces. Sew across the top. Repeat with the other pieces. then you will want to sew the band pieces together to form a circle. Hem across the bottom raw edges but leave them open do not sew them together.

Step Six: Attach the top band to the bag. Pin it in place and sew together. To finish it off you can add a closure like a magnetic one. You can also decorate with fabric flowers or whatever you like. Use your imagination and get inspiration from your favorite things!

Button Coasters

I just adore these coasters! They are pretty easy to make....that is if you do it the way I did it! Also super cute and functional. They could also make a neat handmade gift. They are also pretty cheap I spent less than 10$ for all the supplies.

You will need:

4 sheets of felt
Lots of 4 whole buttons I think I used 256 total
A sewing neddle that fits through the button holes
Embroidery floss
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Scissors

Step One: So there are two different ways to do this The first way I would only recommend if you do not want to add felt to the bottom of the coaster. Which would end up looking like this.

This is also really cute but I wanted to add felt to make the coaster more absorbent...after all that is the propose of a coaster right, to keep your table clean and dry. Although I think it looks a little cuter without the felt I wanted functional coasters. To start you will want to pick out your buttons and lay them out to form a square. You want to do this to make sure you like the size it will end up being and also if you use assorted colors like I did you will want to make sure you like the order of the colors. Once you like the way it looks you are going to thread your needle and start to weave your buttons together. Do one row at a time.

I decided to do 8 rows of 8 buttons. You will want to continue until you have 8 separate rows of 8 buttons(or whatever size you decide to go with.)

 Step Two:
Once you have all the rows then you can begin to weave all the rows together in the opposite direction.

Continue to weave until you reach the end. The reason this way is so difficult is because the buttons get tangled and it is hard to keep them straight. I also wove the rows a bit to tight so it ended up being a little crooked. This way takes a bit of practice.

Step Three: At this point I added the felt to the back with hot glue...This is before I realized how difficult it was to weave buttons and came up with an easier way. Again I would only recommend doing it this way if you do not want to add felt to the bottom.
The easier way: The second coaster I made I decide to stitch and weave the buttons directly to the felt. This worked out much better. You weave in the same order as above. First do all the rows separately and then start at any corner and weave the opposite way until you reach the end. Once you are done trim the felt as close to the edge of the buttons as possible. You can add a second layer of felt to hide the stitches on the back side. I used hot glue. Adding a second layer of felt will add extra absorbency and a clean and finished look. 

The back should like like this.