I’m telling you people…my luck has been INSANE lately.

No, really.

First, I won my ticket to EVO (loved it…already bought my ticket for next year, and you should too).

Then, I won the grand prize package.

A Buick for a week
Microlite stroller
Lillebaby carrier
iPod (still no sign of it, but I’m patient)
Cricut Cake & cartridges
NuSkin Galvanic Spa System
PBS Kids gift bag (haven’t seen that one either)
City Deals gift certificate (also still MIA)

Crazy, right?

Then, I won the June Lisa Leonard giveaway over on Today’s Creative Blog. (Sharing some of that love with all of you shortly!)

And THEN, because all that wasn’t enough, just last week I won a FULL CUSTOM BLOG DESIGN from Kim over at seven thirty three.

So, things are going to look a little different around these parts.  More “designed” and less “you took a screen shot of your Word document”.

And, because every post is better with pictures…

Guess what the weather’s like in my neck of the woods today!

(And I have no idea what’s up with the hand gestures.  Maybe they started a gang in the backyard?)

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My pal Sabra over at Sew A Straight Line did this recently for shirts for a family reunion and when I saw it, I knew we had to do it at camp.

The original tutorial is here from Craftgrrl.

I found some drapery sheer fabric at JoAnn’s on the clearance table for $2/yard.

I followed Sabra’s advice and used Collage Pauge to paint my screens.  (I picked that up at JoAnn’s, too.)

The theme for camp was “For The Strength of YOU”, so I chose the strong man.  It’s just clipart that comes with Microsoft Word.

Here’s my fist attempt:

And here are a couple of shirts we did at camp:

See how that print was all blotchy?  SUPER windy.  The screens were getting clogged on account of drying out.

No worries…she filled in the lines with a fabric marker and it turned out super awesome 80’s retro.

And here’s one with both the silk screen and the Sharpie tie dye I talked about yesterday:

We ended up throwing away the screens when we were done (on account of the whole no running water thing), but I rinsed one out at home after my test run and it was definitely reusable.

I’ll FOR SURE be doing this again!

***Don’t forget to enter the Kikki’s Designs giveaway here***

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One of our activities at camp last week was decorating camp t-shirts.  We had a few options — some girls used one, some used another, some used all 3.

Option #1 was Sharpie Tie Dyeing.  I found a few different versions/methods of this when I searched.  I’m just going to show you what we did.

Supplies:

Rubbing alcohol
Some sort of squeeze bottle or dropper
Plastic cup
Elastic bands
T-shirt

Start by stretching your shirt over the top of your cup.  Put an elastic around the top of the cup.

Make 6-ish dots in a circle.

You can add a different color in between if you want.

Drip alcohol into the center of the circle.

I found that maximum spreading happened at around 15 drops and that anything more than that didn’t really change the look at all.

Try some different colors.

Maybe even put them on in some sort of orderly or artsy manner, instead of all willy-nilly like I did on my test shirt.

At camp, a couple of the girls discovered that you could dye through both the front and back of your shirt at once.

So, get yourself some Sharpies and try it.  I think I’m going to do this again with my kids.

***Don’t forget to enter the Kikki’s Designs giveaway here***

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Well, I survived.

I haven’t been to girls camp in, oh, 18 years. In spite of the fact that the overnight temperatures were cold enough for frost, we had a great time. I even have a couple of craft projects to share with you over the next few days. We’re talking easy stuff that you can do at 10,000 feet with no running water. (Don’t believe everything you read on the internet…especially the part on the campground website that says there IS running water, because there’s totally not. You *might* even have to drive 3 miles to get to running water.)

So, whilst I get my house back in order (hint: laundry), I’ve got a little giveaway for you.

Kimberly, who is a lucky sucker and won TWO of the 1,000,000 hits giveaways, has just started Kikki’s Designs. In fact, this week is the GRAND OPENING of her Etsy store.

She sells some darling hand stamped cards.

She also knits. And the pictures of these hats are SO insanely cute that I almost reconsidered the ban on residents in my uterus.

SEE???

Kimberly is giving one lucky Crap I’ve Made reader one of her Amanda Hats in chocolate brown.

TO ENTER:

Click on over to Kikki’s Designs on Etsy and have a look around. Come back and leave a comment ON THIS POST saying what your favorite item in her shop is.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each one, please):

“Like” Kikki’s Designs on Facebook.

Become a follower of the Kikki’s Designs blog.

Post this giveaway on your blog and leave a link to your post.

***This giveaway is open only to residents of the US & Canada and will close at midnight MST on Sunday, August 22nd.***

Want more opportunities to win? Head on over to the Kikki’s Designs blog. Kimberly’s got a bunch of giveaways going on over there, too.

And, everyone in the US gets FREE SHIPPING this week to celebrate the grand opening!

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Did you know Crap I’ve Made has a Flickr group? You can find the link at any time up on my menu bar under Crap You’ve Made. Go add your stuff! Please?

Projects from the Flickr group will be featured on Fridays.

And, there’s now a Flickr stream widget over in my left sidebar. Click on over from your reader and check that out.

Today’s feature is from jamielou4429.

She made this darling dress using Dana @ Made’s Warhol Dress tutorial and embellished using my freezer paper and bleach tutorial.

Enjoy your Friday the 13th!  I’m thinking that scheduling girls camp this weekend may not have been the best idea ever…..

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Whilst my neighbor Jami and I were on The Smelly Barn Adventure™, we met a cute lady who was wearing a darling necklace.  As we walked off, Jami said “We’re totally making those.”

She texted me when I was out of town to tell me she’d found a tutorial and was making them.

The tutorial is here at  Froo*Gal.

Helpful tips:

The beads at Hobby Lobby have narrow holes.  They  make it difficult to shove all the fabric in.  The ones from Robert’s (a local craft store) were WAY better.

Make sure you use a good glue stick.  The 10 for $3 ones dried too fast.

Use a needle with a blunt tip, not the super sharp ones.

Make a few extras and keep them in your purse, because people are going to stop you and ask you where you got your necklace.  At least that’s what I hear. 

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The spunky Ashlee from I’m Topsy Turvy was rocking the coolest felt flower in her hair when we met at CBC. She SWORE it wasn’t hard to make. I was skeptical.

I finally got around to trying it last week with my neighbor Jami.

The tutorial can be found here at HoliDash.

Guess what? TOTALLY easy. This was a great sit and chat project that didn’t require a whole lot of focus. I loved that you could make it out of one sheet of felt (CHEAP!).

Try it!

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The comments seemed to indicate that this dress was indeed tute worthy.  I’m breaking it up in parts.

Option #1:  Buy a t-shirt or use one you already have.  That’d be the easy way to do it.  And you can skip ahead to Part 2.

Option #2: Make the top, which is what I did.

I had Macy get a shirt from her closet.  I folded it in half and placed it on the fold of some knit yardage (this color came from Hobby Lobby).  There are actually 2 folds it’s placed on (one for the front and one for the back) but it’s hard to see that in the picture.

I traced, including 1/2” for seam allowances.

I also screwed up a little, see?  Good thing I used a disappearing ink marker!

Cut both pieces out.  Decide which one you want to be the front and cut a lower neckline.

Trace and cut sleeves (again on a fold and including seam allowances):

Sew ONE shoulder seam.  Use a serger or a zig zag or stretch stitch (looks like a lightning bolt) for all of your sewing with knits.

(Several pictures are missing here….I WILL get them up, it just might be after I get back from girls camp.)

Next I cut several 1” strips.  I folded them in half lengthwise and used them for the neck and sleeve trim…NOT the ruffle-y gathered stuff, just the normal trim you’d see on a t-shirt.  This ended up being covered completely by the ruffles, but it gives your shirt a more finished look.

Attach the strips to the neckline and bottom of both sleeve pieces using 1/4” seams.  Press up and top stitch.

Now you’ll sew your other shoulder seam.

Sew on the sleeve pieces.

Sew the side seams, from the sleeve cuffs to the bottom of the shirt.

For the ruffles, I cut 3/4” strips of knit.  I didn’t pre-gather or anything, I just wadded it up every few inches and then sewed over it and repeated the process around the neckline and the bottom of the sleeves.

And that’s it for the top!

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