Crafty Chica Dia de Los Muertes Tote Bag Tutorial

Since I'm a blogger, I read a ton of blogs. One of the very first blogs I ever found that I truly loved was Diary of a Crafty Chica. I'd actually heard of the writer Kathy Murillo before just around the crafting world. Then I found her blog and realized she was amazingly talented and hilarious to boot. (She also has the cutest hubby and most gorgeous daughter ever!) Kathy is amazing, she writes a blog, she teaches how to create your own blogs, she designs crafts for Michael's, she writes books, and she even has a yearly crafts cruise. She has become both my crafting and blogging guru. So imagine my surprise when recently, Kathy chose ME to use one of her new Michael's craft products to write a tutorial and review for!

Kathy sent me some of her new flocked and embossed iron-on embellishments. As soon as I received it and saw that it was a Dia de los Muertes image, I knew what I wanted to make. I saw a tote bag somewhere on pinterest forever ago that was bright and colorful with a Dia de los Muertes picture in the center. It was something like $50 and I just couldn't bring myself to buy it. I'm so glad I didn't. So here's how I made my own Dia de Los Muertes (I just love saying that.) tote bag and you can too!

Step 1 - Gather supplies. For this project, you'll need either an old or a blank tote (available at Michael's and other crafts stores), fabric paint, masking tape, paintbrushes, and your embellishment. Adorable painting assistant optional.

I put the tape right on top of each other just to keep the lines
straight.

Step 2. Apply masking tape to make stripes. I was meticulous about this. I would put the tape down right after each other to ensure that it was always straight. See image to see what I mean.

Step 3. Paint with fabric paint. Most totes are sort of porous so they are going to absorb that paint right up. Make sure you have enough paint before you start. I just barely made it with enough of the yellow paint. Let the paint dry overnight.

Keep the fabric between as iron if you can. Be careful!

Step 4. Apply Crafty Chica embossed iron-on embellishment. The directions say to wash and dry your fabric first. Uhmm... I may have skipped that part. Moving on... I applied the iron-on plastic side up. Then I placed a small linen napkin on top and ironed away. I had a really hard time with the tiny little details not wanting to stick to the fabric (maybe because I didn't wash it first?) so I actually ironed directly on the plastic, applying a lot of pressure. Obviously, if you do this, be VERY VERY CAREFUL. PLASTIC MELTS. True story. Once the iron-on was stuck to the fabric and cool to the touch, I peeled away the plastic and voila.

Step 5. Add stars and other designs you wish to make. I thought mine looked a little lonely with just the stripes and the lady with her dog. (Did you see the dog in her hands? Adorable.) I added the stars with some bright orange fabric paint. I think a lovely turquoise would've been perfect too, but you gotta work with what you have.

Step 6 - Rock your awesome new tote!

What do you think? Does it need more stars? I thought that might be too much if I added more. Should I get some fabric pens and color in the lady? One of the other bloggers did that and it looks awesome, but I kind of like the black. Hmmm....

To do this and many other projects, check out the Crafty Chica supplies at your local Michael's. To see some other projects that bloggers have made with the new products, check out the Crafty Chica Pinterest Board. Pin It

Wordless Wednesday

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Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts

I was lucky enough to receive and eARC of Martha Stewart's upcoming book, Handmade Holiday Crafts. I absolutely loved it. I am a big fan of Martha's crafting and home-making. I subscribe to her magazine and wish I had the know-how (and the energy) to fill my house with all the goodies she makes.

This book is chock-full of awesome treasures to make. They range from simple kid-friendly crafts, such as the handmade Valentines and Easter pom-pom bunnies, to the fancy sea glass jewelry. What I liked most were the techniques pages. There were tons of pumpkin-carving techniques, tree-trimming techniques, and even egg-dyeing techniques. You'd think all of those would be simple common knowledge and then when you see how Martha does it, you think "Oh, why didn't I think of that?"

Some of the crafts don't necessarily have to be made for holidays. For example, my house has a sort of nautical theme going on. There were two crafts that I thought would fit that theme perfectly. First was the "coasters of the world" which were coasters made from old maps. Then there was the "paper-sail centerpiece" which was part of the Thanksgiving section. I could easily make that centerpiece and then have it on my mantel.

I definitely plan on buying this when it is edited and comes out so that I can get all the patterns that it comes with. The eARC was awesome, so I can imagine the full-color hardcover version will be even better.

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Papercrafting Leftovers?

Buddha Shrine made from leftover magazine bits.

I really like to do crafts. I crochet, do cross-stitch, and paint. My favorite crafts though, are paper crafts. I love making matchboxes and other random paper crafts. I used to do ATC's but I hate the way mine turned out. Whenever I do paper crafts, I end up with those little tiny bits of leftover paper. And just like Fabrizio over at Crafting Mad, I have a really hard time getting rid of those little bits of paper. I just always think that I'll be able to find a use for them. Even the tiniest scrap of paper can end up making the difference on some sort of paper craft! Or so I tell myself. I think this is one of those classic crafting sicknesses. My husband doesn't understand.

Lately though, I have found some use for medium-sized bits of crafting leftovers. I give them to the baby to scribble on! I made him some crayons that are big enough for him to hold on to, and he can scribble to his heart's content. See husband, I found a use for those random bits of paper!!

So what about you crafters? Do you use up all your crafting paper? If not, what do you do with the leftovers? Do you purge yourself of them or do you hoard them? Pin It

Still sewing

Paisley re-usable shopping bag

CJ baby pirate bunting

I can't believe how well I'm doing with this whole sewing with a sewing machine thing. It's amazing. I've done two more projects from the online home ec class and here they are:

I've learned how to make Xes on bag straps to make them stronger, how to sew circles, how to shape circles with fabric and all kinds of neat tricks. Next project is a bit more complicated since I have to sew through vinyl but we'll see. Pin It

I Can Sew!!

No really, I can!!

I just finished the first project in the on-line home ec class, a drawstring gift pouch. I used some pirate-y fabric I've had for a while, so I decided to make the pouch for the bambino's little toys. Here's the end result...


I am so darn proud of myself :) Pin It

Home Ec

I just signed up for the Home Ec class from http://homeeconline.blogspot.com/. I'm super excited. It's not really "Home Ec", it's how to sew and use your sewing machine and all that. The class is a go at your own pace course. Everything is laid out in explicit detail with images. They give you a bunch of projects that teach the techniques. The projects are gorgeous themselves. They even teach you how to hem jeans (important since the hubby walks on his jeans) and how to re-purpose clothes. It's $50 for the course. I already feel like it's worth it and I haven't even turned on the machine yet.

I have a computerized Brother sewing machine I bought in South Korea. I have never even turned it on. Until my mom was visiting in July, I never even took it out of the box. I see all these awesome crafty things that people sew and I want to do that too!! It would broaden my crafting horizons tenfold.

So far, I love the course. They break everything down Barney-style. I have been staring at the sewing machine for 3 years just boggled by everything on it. Then I watched Leigh-Ann's tutorial on filling a bobbin and threading the needle, and now it seems REALLY easy. This alone made the $50 worth it. Well, I'm about to plug it in and try it myself. I'll let you know how it goes.

Update:
HOLY CRAP I CAN SEW!! I figured out how to thread a bobbin, thread my machine, and stitch foward and backwards. This is AWESOME! I tried to take a picture of my work, but it didn't come out. Once I finish one of the projects I'll post a picture. Yay! Pin It