Clothesline Photo Frame

As a Christmas present for my sister, I built a clothesline photo frame with plans by Ana White.  I was motivated to make this for her, because I figured she has the same problem as me:  we moved out, but don't own many (if any) pictures of us growing up.  I thought this would be a neat way of displaying them. I ended to make two, one for myself. :)

It was a really simple project to build, and each frame probably cost roughly $10-15 to build.

It took a few hours to build.  I used a handsaw for all my cuts.  I'm sure if I had used a power saw I would have used a lot less energy.

Now I have a request to build a smaller one from another sister. :)

Crochet Owl Hats

For the two younger sisters I crocheted them these cute owl hats from this pattern I found through Pinterest.

I realized after the deed was done, the eyes are spaced too far apart. Ah well, it still came out cute. :)

Polymer Clay Sweets

Just a quick post showing a few polymer clay sweets I've been baking :)

This first one has a pair of candy corn earrings, two slices of pumpkin pie, a cupcake and a slice of cake. :)

This last one is lots of mini candy canes.  I made a bulk order because I did mini workshop on making miniature gingerbread houses. :)

Knitted scale mail gloves

While at Gen Con this year, I took a workshop on how to make scale mail bracers.  It was a great workshop and this was my finished project:

The only problem is, tying up the bracer is really difficult solo.  I wanted something with scales, but that was easy to put on and that when I found plans for knitted scale mail bracers.

I learned to knit, just so I could make a pair and here's how my first glove turned out:

It's a little too loose for my liking, so I'll need to make a version 2.0. :)

Speaking of workshops at Gen Con, I also learned how to weave chainmail.  I went through a spree where I was an addict at making chainmail dice bags.  I now have more than I need.  Here's a few that I've made:

Vintage Step Stool

I present to you, the second woodworking project that I've finished:

...a vintage step stool built with plans from Ana White. :)

This little guy was an easy project to assembly.  The hardest part was being patient with the jigsaw.  I spray painted it with a layer of white paint and then with a layer of this blue paint.  Once it dried, I roughed it up a bit to give it a more vintage look.  When I finally placed it my kitchen (the area where this guy will be primarily used), I realized that this blue doesn't really match anything in my kitchen at all! :)

Ah well, I have enough scrap wood to make another one, next time in a color that matches. ;)

Benchwright Dining Room Table

Aaaah! It's been a loooooong time since I've updated this blog. I'll try to keep it fresh with projects that I've completed.

So up first! I built this Pottery Barn Inspired Benchwright Farmhouse table with plans from Ana White.

This is the first woodworking project my husband and I finished.  We certainly took our time building it as well. @_@

Here is a picture of the work in progress:

When I first applied stain and polyurethane, I rushed and I didn't sand between the layers.  My lighting was really poor while I worked on it as well.  When the natural light shined on the table it looked terrible! We ended up spending a day sanding off my errors:

(Personally, I liked the sanded down version of the table) We reapplied the stain with two coats of polyurethane, and this is how she turned out:

The table looks great in the dining room! When it starts to warm up again outside I'll have to fix some of the new errors in the finish, but for now I'm just pleased with the project as is. :)

Braided Hemp Bracelet

Inspired by all the awesome hemp bracelets I've seen floating around on Pinterest, I decided to try my luck and make one of my own.

I already had some wood beads laying around and some hemp from a previous project.

I started with 2 strands of hemp folded in half, and knotted at the loop, which left me with 4 strands. I clipped off the fourth and began braiding. Once I was satisfied with the length, I made a knot and began stringing some wooden beads.

I added 9 beads, knotted again and resumed braiding until I was satisfied with the length. I made another knot, stringed through and button and closed it with the final knot.

And voila! I had a bracelet. :)

Star Wars Themed Apron

For a friend's birthday, I really wanted to make her a homemade gift. So after brainstorming a bit, I came up with the idea of making a Star Wars themed apron! I searched online for some licensed Star Wars fabric and I found the most perfect pattern at Jo Ann's.

I used this super cute sweetheart apron pattern from the Etsy seller prettylittlepearl that I had purchased a while ago.

Here is a photo of the work in progress:

The apron on the left was more of a "lesson's learned" project. I'm still a noob when it comes to sewing and I didn't want to screw up with the pretty Star Wars fabric.

And here's me trying on the final work:

It's the first sewing project I've finished in a while. I have just enough leftover fabric, maybe I'll make one for myself. :)