Pinterest Challenge ----> recycled soup cans wrapped in printed paper

 

So, I have been following Young House Love for a while now, and recently they started a new section titled “Pinterest Challenge”. It allows viewers and followers to link to their creations from inspirations they found on Pinterest. I like to call them “Pinspirations”! If you haven’t heard of Pinterest, then I’m sorry for ya!

A few weeks ago, I found this great Pinspiration and documented my creation not even thinking about linking to YHL challenge. Well, just so turns out that I think it would work great for a challenge. So, without further ado, here is my Pinspiration turned creation.

bhg.com

Recycled soup cans modpodged with craft paper or DIY printed paper.

I started off with a ravioli can left over from my toddlers lunch. As I was starting to chuck it into the recycling, I realized I could maybe use it for something…Lightbulb! I had it! I was going to make some great pencil and marker holders. One’s that were hip and bold.

 

Earlier that week, I had made a chevron print stamp out of an eraser…an idea I got from You’re So Martha…( love her blog, go check it out! )

First I measured the length and the width of the can and cut my piece of paper to the appropriate size.

Then I started stamping away. The pattern wasn’t perfect, but come on…what really ever IS perfect in life.

After the ink dried, I took some Elmer’s Glue (didn’t even need ModPodge) and ran it along the inside of the paper.

After all the glue was in place, I rolled up the paper onto the can and secured it in place with some rubber bands until it was completely dry.

 

Once dry, I removed the rubber bands and plopped my pencils, markers and scissors in the can.

Ta-Da…My beautiful new pencil holder!

Thank You Pinterest, and Thank You YHL for your wonderful, creative blog!

DIY Chevron Eraser Stamp

 

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across this great blog, You’re So Martha. There was this great “pin” on Pinterest going around from Justine’s blog. I did some further blog stalking, blogking, and found some great DIY and crafts ideas. I thought I would give this one a shot…And, I LOVE it! Making your own stamps is so much fun, and the possibilities are endless.

Here’s the finished product!

items needed:

• an eraser (or two…just in case you cut too much off)
• an Exacto knife (preferably one that you can hold like a pencil)
• some kind of pattern or template (I freehanded my “m” stencil)
• an ink pad (you could use acrylic paint, but I found this worked just fine)

some paper (card stock works great for homemade cards)

When preparing to print stencil, just butt the ends of the “m” next to each other.  I like to leave a small space between them. It gives more of an organic look and feel to the chevron print!

Hope you have fun making your own stamps! Let your creativity run wild with this project!

-Hannah

Meet Me in St. Louis…

This week, FlyChicks is being featured on a local facebook page that promotes things to do and see around around the St. Louis area. “Meet Me in St. Louis” was started by Barbara Heise , a Keller Williams real estate agent in the St. Louis area. She wanted to inform buyers and sellers of the great things that go on around town and in specific areas from week to week.

Check out their Facebook page and “like” them to keep up on the happenings! You can even write in to inform fellow followers on things to do and see.

picture courtesy of Barbara Heise

studio tour: before pics---but no judgments ,please! :)

So I have been trying to get my life a little more organized, and I figured the best way to start doing so is to clean up and organize my lovely studio. You see, my first “studio”, more commonly referred to as “the dungeon”, was dark, gloomy, and pretty much the farthest thing from inspirational. It was really the only area in our old house that I could have full reign over. It was in the basement. It was dark. Scary. Cold… (note the wood paneling….uhg.)

---basement studio @ old house---

Soooo, when we moved into our current house, I kinda made it a big deal that I NEEDED to be upstairs, surrounded by bright lights and nature. No more dirty, dark, dingy basement for me!

I LOVE my studio. Most of the time. Especially when it’s nice and pretty and organized.

And now, for the unflattering promised pics of my workspace… AGAIN---NO JUDEMENT! I’m an ar-teest!

     

AHHHHHH….

it will be pretty, someday! check out that awesome letterpress drawer I scored at a rummage sale!

Finished studio pics coming soon! Stay tuned!

Have a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend!

drum roll please….

 

It is finally that time! FlyChicks has officially launched it’s website!!!! It has been a LONG wait, but we are now up and running! The “shop” button will redirect you to our Etsy page, but in the next couple of months, I will be working on getting an online shop going through the website. Thanks for your patience and tell a friend about FlyChicks Handmade Goods!

My Pinterest challenge ~ DIY simple bowtie top---->from Sweet Verbena!

 

So, I challenged myself to make the adorable bowtie top that I posted earlier! The tutorial is from Sweet-Verbena. My sis, Emily, made one earlier this week that was pretty darn adorable, and I just had to give it a try! So, here it is. I added an extra strip of linen to the bottom to tie together the linen sash that I chose. Hope you like it!

the power of pinterest!

 

So, I can’t get enough of pinterest! I know, I know…neither can anyone else! It is an addiction! But a good one. Well, I guess it’s good, except for the fact that I can’t seem to get anything done. There is WAY too much inspiration for one person to process. My list of DIY is getting way too long. But I guess I could have no motivation, and that, my friend, would be a horrible thing.

Here are a few things I have been drooling over lately!

   

              

What are some things you have been drooling over lately?

 

***all images hyperlinked to original website***

refashionista!

 

So, Sunday morning Jack and I built a tent/reading nook in the living room using an old sheet and some fuzzy blankets and pillows. An hour and some 20 odd books later, I remembered that Jack had gotten a gift card to a local book store. We were going to go on a book hunt!

It was Sunday, so I had a feeling they were closed. They were. Then, a light bulb went off. Borders was closing and they were having a HUGE blowout sale, or so I thought. We pulled up, the parking lot was a MADHOUSE! We lucked out, found a spot and headed in. After about 30 minutes in the kids section, I slowly made a move to the arts & crafts section. I remembered that Amy Butler’s Style Stitches was out and I was all about that!

We schlepped our merchandise downstairs to the checkout and then realized that the line for the checkout wrapped around the first floor!!! REALLY? The sales weren’t even that great! Jack was ecstatic about this fire engine book he had found so I knew I had to move with the quickness. I distracted him, placed all the books on a shelf, held his hand and ran outta there. I did feel kind of bad for not putting my finds back in the appropriate places, but the place was already a wreck and it was much more important to make it out alive. 

On our walk back to the car, I had to explain to Jack that the line was way too long. He just wanted some books. I felt really bad, because the whole point of our little adventure was to go buy him some new books to read in our awesome reading tent!

As we drove home, we passed a Goodwill!! Perfect. They always have children’s books. Distracted by the toy section, Jack had forgotten about our book hunt. I found about 6 paperbacks that would be perfect. At .30 and .50 cents a pop, we couldn’t beat that. And then, I found a cute little padded stool for $15 that could be cute with some tlc and new fabric. 

We checked with a grand total of $27.60. That includes five pair of shorts for Jack. Style Stitches alone would have been $28 with the BIG discount at Borders. I felt pretty darn good about our finds and our savings! Not to mention, the adorable stool that now lives by our front door!

 

Here are a couple before and after pics:

 

 

 

 

fabric.com, I heart you!

I came home yesterday afternoon to a package on my front stoop. Yes, I just said stoop! (I’m turning 30 in a month and much of my vocabulary is starting to change without my permission----porch=stoop, trashcan=wastebasket, underwear=underpants…who says “underpants”??? ). It was my fabric.com order!! My three chevron prints and one really cool Dwell Studios print! Can’t wait to make some awesome totes outta these beauties! Stay tuned and keep checking out ETSY for new items!

website…coming soon???

 

So, many of you have been asking, “is the website up yet? When will it be up???”. Well, I’m here to tell you, whatever it takes, I’m ready to get this thing up and going. Just need to talk to my web designer and tweak some things. I have thought long and hard about my website, and changed more than enough things along the way, and I thank all of you for being so patient throughout this journey of FlyChicks.

Many thanks go out to Sam, from Bobaloo!. She has been a great support system and inspiration to me through this process. If you haven’t checked out her site yet….DO IT! She has some great stuff for babies and kiddos! Jack actually has one of her banners hanging in his room!

So, thanks again for the patience and support of FlyChicks. You can still purchase items through my ETSY shop.

Terrarium Tutorial

Hannah and I had a fun little field trip to some Antique Malls here in St. Louis last Friday.  Hannah ended up buying this really cool glass container thing-y, though she wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to put into it. 

We decided to stop by the local farmer’s market before we picked up her little boy from pre-school.  We were just going to pick out some fruits and veggies for dinner when we saw a bunch of succulents, staring at us, begging us to take them home.  And they didn’t have to beg very hard- I’ve been looking to get some for a while now, and so has Hannah!

Then, the idea started brewing… we could make a succulent terrarium with the above glass thing-y!  Well, it would be a terrarium sans lid, since succulents need to stay mostly dry.  So we picked up some soil, some stones, and she picked out three different types of succulents (don’t ask me the names, because I have no clue!).

We lined the bottom with some medium sized stones (these can be picked up at many garden stores or Michael’s or Hobby Lobby).  Then, we packed some soil onto the top of the stones.  This will allow for drainage of excess water since succulents need only be watered once per week/two weeks.
Then, we took each succulent out of their respective containers, took some of the soil off of the roots (not too much, just enough so that it is easier to re-plant it into the terrarium), and placed it into the soil of the glass container.

Once we re-planted the succulents, we added some more soil and packed it loosely around the roots of each plant.  Then, we added another layer of the stones to make it look pretty!

   
We encourage you to find a unique glass container of your own, visit your local farmer’s market, and make your own tutorial.  When you do, we’d love for you to share it with us!