DIY: T-shirt Beach Bag

 HEY! So it's time for a DIY. Are you ready? WELL TOO BAD. I found a quick tutorial which seemed easy enough and wanted to see how royally I would screw it up. But honestly, it's quick, it's easy and has awesome results. And it's from PINTEREST. What? I KNOW.

 

You take a t-shirt you no longer wear but is super cute. This is a tee I purchased from Tee Fury a couple of years ago. It's a Portal reference and while I love the shirt, it's just a tad too long and hugs me in the wrong places, yuck.

The directions say to snip off the sleeves, cutting off the hems, and the neckline and the hem at the bottom.

Pfffft. Cutting along the bottom didn't turn out so pristine but y'know I think I'll live.

Then, snip strips up from the bottom. Directions advise to use a ruler but crafting is about taking RISKS, MAN.

Then pull them taut so they get all stringy.

Directions say to use a box knot? Uh, okay. Well in AMERICA we tie stuff the REGULAR way. 

I put some heavy books in the bag to stretch it out.

And there you go. Perfect beach bag in about 20 minutes. I ended up modifying the straps and cutting a bit more of the neckline because yes. 

Until next time, 

stay excellent.

Easy felt coffee cozy

It's the first of the month and for some reason I like to post on the first of the month. I meant to blog about this earlier, actually. My mom has been OBSESSED (ob-freaking-sessed) with crocheting. She's been asking me what kind of things I want her to make and I told her I wanted a coffee cozy. She's not quite done yet, but when she is I'll show you all. While she's been working on it I decided to make one out of felt because it's probably my favorite material and I suck at crocheting.

This ceramic coffee cup is a gift from Dalila.

Ka-pow! This is what I came up with. Not really sure why i decided to throw a lighting bolt on it but I wanted some yellow on it. It was really easy, I just folded over a sheet of felt to the desired width. I don't really believe in measuring, haha.

 

Then cut at the top and where you folded so you have two separate pieces.

 

Next, just sew them together with a straight-stitch. You could use a machine if you want to, but I don't have one so mine it's hand-sewn. A whip-stitch would also be really cute.

Then I cut out the lightning bolt shape and sewed it on with a straight stitch. You could also just iron on a cute applique. They have tons at Walmart. I initially cut a slit on either end of the cozy so I could tie it together but my mom added eyelets that make it less likely for the felt to tear from constant use.

It also makes a cute Chihuahua capelet. I think they're in season.

In my free time I'll probably be making more as gifts. :D STAY EXCELLENT.

~C.M. xx

OBSESSED: Ramona Flowers

Decided on mostly a whim to look up some Ramona Flowers cosplay and found a cute picture so I thought I'd share them here. I'll try to give credit where credit is due.

I like this one a lot. For one, she's smiling and it's simple. I think it would be even cuter with fishnets but uh, I might be biased on that one.

A little tiny bit NSFW but still pretty cute. The shorts and bra are still pretty Ramona-y. But I saved the best find for last!

Not sure if she managed to get a picture of the completed outfit but upon stumbling onto this adorable-ass girl on Flickr I found links to her blog which is equally if NOT MORE CUTE. She blogged about this costume here. I'm so jealous of all her skills and love her style. Already hooked on her blog even though it puts mine to SHAME-Y SHAME SHAME. *adds to favorites* Anywho, just a couple of other cute Ramona things...

Isn't it cute?! I fucking love it! Too bad it's only in JUNIOR sizes though... which are not plus-size friendly but oh well. If you want to buy this shirt and rub it in my face you can do so here.

This picture also lead me to a new favorite obsession (Crafty Crafty Blogazine). It's so perfect and awesome! This bag is actually for sale on Etsy and I want it so bad but not a-hundred-and-thirty-dollars-bad. Yep, that's how much this fantasmagasmic purse will run you since it's handmade and comes straight from Brazil. There's other colors too which makes it so much harder to say no (or so much easier to say to DIY?)

ENOUGH PICTURES. Okay, I must retire to my bed since I've been exhausted for about two weeks. Don't worry, I'll be bitchi- I mean, blogging about that soon. Until then, stay excellent, bros.

-C.M. xx

Remember, remember

Happy afternoon everyone. :) It's Guy Fawkes Day! How am I celebrating? Ideally, I'd watch V for Vendetta along with a bottle of Welch's sparkling grape juice (I party hardcore, you see) but I have neither and am broke and carless so I will most likely just bum around for the day.

In other news, I have a new pet! His name is Freddie (after Freddie Mercury, of course) and he's a chihuahua. :D Here he is:

Don't tell him but he has a cat's collar. Even that's too big for him! He also likes to wear things such as sweaters. How did I manage to get a a chihuahua? A friend of the family inherited him some how but they travel/aren't home enough and just couldn't take care of him. They were going to take him to the pound. :( Couldn't let that happen, so now he lives with us. :) He used to fancy me a bit more than my parents but seeing as how I'm on campus more than I'm at home he's cozied up to my dad a lot.

Remember I said I was making stencils? Well, I have a picture of one I made the other night.

It's Gloomy Bear!

It was relatively easy to make. I found a picture of Gloomy and opened it in a photo editor (I use Microsoft Digital Image), converted it to black & white, then set it to high contrast. I didn't want to fuss with having "loose" pieces like the inside of his ears or his "snout", so I placed some white rectangles to avoid it and this is how the stencil came out looking on the cardstock before I cut it out with my (new!) Exacto knife:

Feel free to save it and use it yourself. I might be making more of my own soon and I'll show you what I stencil up with Gloomy Bear. :)

Speaking of Gloomy Bear... guess what my boyfriend sent to my house as a Halloween present?

Two Gloomy Bears! I had sent him a link a few days before over IM about these Gloomys being on sale on the Gloomy Bear Store. It's one of the best gifts I've gotten in awhile. I really really love them. :)

In other news I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do as far as my education. Right now the plan is to take MWF classes next semester and commute from home, but after talking with my parents I might end up renting a home or apartment near by, but we will see how things turn out.

Anyway, have a happy rest of your Thursday and Guy Fawkes day, cupcakes!

-melonXXXcupcake

A list, Christmas ideas and Halloween woes

Well, a few days ago I said that I might share my list of upcoming projects I want to someday finish soooooooooo I have the list here for you to see. Hopefully I can do a few how-tos from here:

• Tulle skirt
• Lace-y Bag
• Stenciled T-shirt (I actually have a few designs in mind)
• Glittery Boots
• Glittery Shoes (in the works!)
• Skinny Jeans
• Cute Monsters
• Tapemeasure Headband
• Fitted Shirt
• Cassette Shirt
• Absinthe Lamp (in the works!)
• Rainbow Crayons
• Cupcake Toppers
• Cat Ear Hair Clips
• Cat Ear Hoodie
• "Me" Doll
• Crafty Tool Belt (especially excited for this one)
• Gummy Bear Bracelet
• Oversized Bow(s)
• Felt Strawberries
• Cooking Mama Apron (that will be a challenge)
• Strawberry Bag
• Razor Necklace

So, as you can see, I've got a lot on my list. I haven't really got too much time to do these things while I'm in school, much less have the money for it but hopefully around Christmas time when I go home for winter I'll have time to take on some of these projects. Also, I'm planning on handmaking most of the gifts for my friends this year so we will see how that goes!

On another note, it's almost Halloween, my faaaaaaaaaaavorite holiday, but I have nothing really planned and I haven't had time to get my costume together. :( I want to be Flo, the girl from the Progressive commercials, but... just been really busy. I need a pair of white pants, a white polo shirt, an apron, a brunette wig, a headband and big false eyelashes. Ugh! I really love Halloween. I'm hoping this year won't be lame, but I will keep you updated, especially if I have time to shop for my costume essentials. Alrighty, that's the blog for today... unless I get the blogging bug again. Jeez, I'm lame. :/

Bye, cupcakes!

-melonXXXcupcake

A preview of things to come

It's a short blog today but I just wanted to show you a little peak of things I have in store.

Ooooh, shiny!

Here's me with a plastic flintlock pistol I got for a dollar. I plan to mod it for a cosplay costume.

Are you excited? Probably not, but I am. I love crafting and such. :) Also, I'm trying to fix up my blog's formatting. I got tired of the old layout... even though it wasn't all that old. Anywho, that's all for tonight.

Later, cupcakes!

-melonXXXcupcake

Crafts & Food. Two loves.

I've recently caught the craft-fever. I'm a maniac for crafty things. Just to show you how bad I am, here's a couple of things I'm working on:

A felt monster dolly mock-up I made. I plan on making one of these for my "niece".

Also, a bag I'm working on. It's still in progress.

I have a very long list of projects (maybe I'll share it?) I hope to take on soon when an influx of capital comes in and I can go on a Hobby Lobby shopping spree. When this will be I have no earthly idea but I hope it's soon. Once this is accomplished, I want to share some of the projects with you and maybe even take on a how-to... or two.

Anywho, last weekend I took a few pictures when I went out to have dinner and dessert with my parents and my boyfriend. Just thought I'd let you have a look:

Dessert spoons from Paciugo. If you've never had gelato, you've never lived.

My boyfriend got sushi for dinner. I'm not a big fan, but it it's really pretty!

Until later, cupcakes.

-melonXXXcupcake

A Journey Begins

Yes, I am posting AGAIN today. I simply couldn't go without jotting this down and sharing it with you all. When I say you all, I mean the 2-5 of you that read my blog. By the way, thank you for reading. :) Feel free to comment.

Anyhow, I just had dinner (breakfast actually... so is that Brinner?) with my parents and I came up with the greatest idea. I should finally set up an Etsy shop. I'm thrilled about it actually. Very, very thrilled. I've wanted to have a store for a long time, but of course haven't exactly had the kind of financial backing to do so. This is perfect. There is no rent to pay, no bills to pay. I've been in a very crafty mood lately and am simply ADDICTED to Cut Out and Keep. I think it'd be fairly easy for me to churn out homemade trinkets, since it's essentially my hobby to do so already. The only part that scares me is... the SHIPPING! How much do I charge? How do I ship? Aaaaah!

Your input is greatly appreciated. I'm off to make an Etsy account.

Thanks, cupcakes

-melonXXXcupcake

Grace and Poise isn't me

Hello, all. There are no pictures today, just a blog entry. :) I really want to try to update more regularly as I don't blog nearly as often as I used to. My primary blog was on MySpace, but I had very few readers, and now, most of my friends have abandonded their MySpace, leaving me with even FEWER readers. Before MySpace, it was Xanga, but I had to give that up as well. It's time for a fresh start on Blogger.

School has finally started for me, though I seem to have misplaced my camera's battery charger. Gah. I'm upset about that as I wanted to take pictures this week. Oh well. Things seem to be falling into place this semester. I'm really feeling good about it. Jeez, I'm tired. >.< Today on my personal Twitter account I mused that it would be really neat if there was a punk rock craft blog that was regularly updated. I found a few but they haven't been posted on in awhile which, makes me sad. I love crafts! Especially when they're easy and cheap. ;)

I've decided that I'm cooking for me and the guys on Thursday. I'm hopefully going to have a chance to go to Target tomorrow and pick up the food items that I need. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to make. I found two good recipes and I'll post about my decision tomorrow. Also, I'll try to take pictures with my iPhail of the cooking process and final result. That's all for today, have a good rest of the day, cupcakes.

-MelonXXXCupcake