Better Late Than Never...Hmm...Maybe.

Read the original post from February 2016

That's it ***

 

Barking Bee Coffee Shop

 

☕☕☕☕☕☕☕

I'd heard about three new businesses not far from me that had opened. One of them is a coffee shop. From past posts you know I'm a coffee drinker. Of course I had to check it out . They did not disappoint.

My caramel latte was exactly the way I’d

requested. The staff along with its owner are friendly and take pride in their craft. Stylish green décor adds to the ambience and echoes its environmentally friendly ethics. From previous posts you know I am all for recycling, upcycling and respecting the earth. The green corrugated cups require no sleeve and are compostable as well as the green pasta straws. I will be returning.

Here's a 360 (unedited) of the inside. I'm loving the green sofa.😘

Prices are comparable to those of other coffee shops. Pastries and scones are also on the menu though I didn't have any. Outdoor seating is also available.

Raw coffee beans before roasting.
How coffee beans are roasted.

They also; 

 

•  Cater
•  Have gift inventory
•  Do  personalized coffee blends with personalized labels
•  Sell their coffees by the bag and in pods.

Much success to this new small business. 

Barking Bee Coffee Shop

That's It***

Remix- Another planter from plastic ice cream container.

Remix- Another planter from plastic ice cream container.

Click to see the original post.

beginning at the upper left: cover container with tissue paper. Tear up pieces of construction paper and add like a mosaic. Outline with black marker. Dry brush with black paint. Spray both with water soluble lacquer.  Stick on ornamentation.

Close up--  Bottom container has no mosaic.

With potted plant.

(Does the yellow placemat look familiar?😃)

That's it***

 

Decorative Ribbon Tassel- Part 2

I was going for a mosaic look using food color dyed egg shells by means of a process that worked perfectly when I used eggshells on a mosaic bracelet I made.    I guess foam orbs aren't made for that.  

mosaic bracelet from egg shells and cardboard 

After trying to save the orb, it went the way of other failures.

Take 2   ACTION >>>>>>

Since I had 3 foam balls in the pack, I started over by painting the foam ball with a gold acrylic. Let dry. Then I mixed a little  green glitter  in Mod Podge and painted the ball. Let dry. Since I was using blue ribbons also, I decided to go over the green with a little blue glitter mixed in Mod Podge, hoping both colors would show through as well as a little gold

As you can see, It's more blue than green. 

I also added a collar of upholstery corded beads in green and blue. I finished off the lower collar with a little fancy green stitching.

I added additional beads to some of the cords
similar to what I'd seen on the inspiration tassels  I'd seen in Hobby Lobby. 

I used a LARGE needle and drove a much
smaller hole through the bottom on up to
the top and added more beads and tied on a ribbon. 

Lengthwise, before the ribbon

All done and satisfied finally with the outcome

END***

Decorative Ribbon Tassel- Part 1

(13 pictures)


I wanted a decorative tassel to hang on the corner edge of a new single sleigh bed I bought, just in case I have an overnight visitor.

The type of  tassel I wanted can be expensive.   Being the creative and frugal  person that I am, I put on my thinking cap and tried to figure  it out.

I was inspired by the DIYs of tassels made from salt shakers such as the ones below.

Curiouspeddler.com

DancingBearTassels on Etsy

  So of course I scoured thrift stores to see what I could find.

On a whim I bought this ceramic 49 cent dinner bell, which is about  2.5 inches high and 2 inches wide. I was thinking I could remove the clapper and stuff the tassel inside of it. But, then I realized I wanted more color. It had the green of the walls in the room but not the turquoise I wanted to also use, so 49 cents gone. I'll figure out something else to do with it.












 Hobby Lobby was next, and thank goodness for cameras on phones. I could discreetly take a picture of what I liked and then  use my own imagination and that's what I did.

I ended up liking the style of the orange one on the right.

















I had ribbons galore from $ Tree and other places. I also gathered other things that I thought I might use.

I measured the ribbons to 28 inches each.     The eggshells, I  dyed overnight in a vinegar, food coloring and water bath. I've used this egg shell method in another project. Then I crushed the shells fine so that I can use them as a mosaic on the foam ball.

I used a regular pair of  scissors to make a hole through the ball so that the tassel will go through.

Cross the ribbons 4 at a time in the midpoint and tack together with a stitch

Here's a close up view of the ribbons tacked together at their midpoint. NOTE: It'll be hard to push a needle through all of those layers so content yourself with sewing each layer to the one directly underneath. In the end they'll all be together when you finish.

Next I wanted to test to see if the ribbons would go through the hole.  They did. But, I noticed there's a  lot of foam dust after digging the hole and pulling the ribbon through. 

I painted the inside of the ball with Mod Podge to tamp down the foam dust for when I get ready to pull the tassel through. The outside I painted green as the background. The egg shell mosaic with be attached to the outside. Drying the ball from the inside has proven to be the most challenging. It's taking a long time.

Part 2 -Coming Soon

Stationery Pouch

I found myself keeping my envelopes in one place and stamps, address labels and pens in another. To make things more efficient I decided to make a pouch where I could keep everything in one place.

I had left over brown felt from a previous project which I used as the base and might as well get rid of that piece of green and gold upholstery fabric.   The upholstery fabric would give it a little color.

For some strange reason I had to keep running through my head, the sections I'd need . So I decided to mark them off.  Long , short envelopes, address labels, stamps, pens.

I'll highlight the divisions by  putting a strip of the green/gold at the opening. And to make it even prettier , I'd make the fold over of the envelope pouch out of the green. 

😞 Now that I look at it, I don't like the crookedness. I also don't like the green thread I used which I thought would bring out the green of the fabric.

But, I can stencil over the stitches with green metallic paint. And, the flap covers the wonky pockets.

But wait!

You sewed the flap on BACKWARDS!!! The pretty fabric folds inside the pouch and won't be seen from outside. 

FAIL

Though I'm disappointed, I'll try again.

To be continued...   

NOTE: 5-30-2019 An update can be found in the middle of the page here.

Shoe Tree Doorstop 10 pics

The finished product

The inspiration. Found on Pinterest. Sponsored by Etsy

Found this one, lonely, wooden shoe tree

These were the colors I used, distressing between layers. 

Top layer of gold metallic and then lightly distressing again

Old jewelry used for decoration

More left over baubles glued on. You can see the colors coming through and also where I forgot to remove tape. Oops!

Close up of the top using pony beads and other plastic beads. Painted vines and stems.

Side view. Black felt glued to the sole to prevent scratch marks on the floor

Again, the finished product. Ta da🎶🎶

That's it

No More Wristlets

 ...for a while.

I've turned my handbag crafting and sewing to cross body bags. I'm going for a "boho" style or another way of saying Bohemian.

Here are 5 of the eight purses I prepared for a craft show that took place this month.
 In the world of small purses when carrying the merest of essentials, cross body purses seem to be the preference. If I plan to make any sales, I've got to give the people what they want.

Here in Alabama, football is a MAJOR focus. You must declare a team once you step across the state line.  Alabama and Auburn are the main teams.
I've never been a sports fan of any type but, numerous  friends suggested that I make a few cross body bags for the football fans out there. I took their advice.  Here's the first one I did featuring  The University of Alabama.

I didn't use everything below but, some or none.

                                                                 NEXT UP

 BLUE and GRAY and Beige tapestry with beige cording cross body strap, silver button closure, decorative button and stitching on the back
                                                    ***

 ORANGE, GREEN and DUSTY ROSE cross body bag with silver chain strap.
                                                 ***

Another Alabama bag with cream faux leather, hand stitiching on the side, Alabama "A" cheerleader on the back with rhinestone and ruby pom poms, tulle skirt, button and tie footwear. Black chain strap. Black, silver and while beads and trinkets.
                                                ***

GREEN BROCADE with raised gold threading throughout. Gold cord and chain cross over strap. Velcro closing

I have to admit, the green one is my favorite.

Below is my first attempt at posting my own video.  I'm only showing my table of crafts. You'll notice that I also have door/knob pillows left over from Christmas.  I wrote about that in a previous post.

That's it***