$5 Red Suede Studded Clutch Purse

While perusing through the thrift store, I found this bad boy.  It was red. It was suede.  It was awesome.

 I picked up a some gold studs at JoAnns ($3 for a pack of 50 studs.) 

The studs have little metal prongs on the back of them.  So, I just poked the studs through the suede and then pushed the metal prongs in place.  Easy-peasy! 

I opted for a simple row of studs along the top of the purse.

 I wanted to add a few studs down the sides, as well.  I removed the stitches from the inner lining so I could get to the inside on the suede.  Then I add 5 studs to both sides of the purse.

My new rockstar-studded purse.  What do you think?

Embroidered Anniversary Pillow

The husband's grandparents were celebrating their 60th anniversary.  That's something worth celebrating!  60 years is no easy feat.

First, I scoured Pinterest for some ideas.  I saw some cute personalized anniversary subway signs which inspired me to make a pillow version of it.  Off to JoAnn's we go!

There were so many great fabrics to choose from!  I settled on the following fabric selection.  A nice Fall upholstery print for the pillow, a cream bottom weight for the embroidery fabric, and three coordinating embroidery thread colors. 

Next step was to create the embroidered words.  I downloaded a 30-day trial version of BuzzWords.  This application easily converts fonts into embroidery fonts.

BuzzWords application in action

After I was happy with the wording, I transferred the embroidery from my laptop to my sewing machine.

Getting ready to do some embroidering

Here's a picture of my bottom weight fabric, the 360x200mm hoop, and some tear-away stabilizer.

The supplies

My stabilizer and fabric all hooped and ready to go!

I pressed the 'START' button and let the magic begin.  It took about 1 hour for it to finish embroidering.  It was a very nerve-racking hour, too.  I was so worried something would go horribly, horribly wrong!

The start of the embroidering..

Almost done with the green font!

Here is how it looked after it was done embroidering.  I had to go through and cut all the jump stitches.

Look at all those jump stitches!

It didn't turn out perfect.  There's lots of puckering... I think next time I'll use a twill fabric and a cut-away stabilizer.  (Every project is a great learning experience.)

Now, it's time to make the pillow cover.  I folded and pressed the sides in about 1 1/2 inches. 

I cut the pillow fabric into a 26"x26" square giving it a 1" seam allowance.  Then I lined and pinned the embroidery to the center of the pillow fabric.  Once it's all lined and pinned, take it to the sewing machine and sew a straight-stitch down both sides.

Then sew around the perimeter of the pillow fabric to close it up.  Make sure to leave 3/4 of one side open so that you can stuff your pillow form inside of it.

Sew around the pillow fabric.

All ready to be stuffed!

Here is the finished product!

Etched Shot Glasses

A dear friend of mine was turning 40.  I didn't know what to get for the girl that has everything.  I turned to my crafting skills to make her something special and personal...

My intention was to do glass etching on beer glasses.  So, I headed over to Pier 1.  (I don't shop their often, but I had a gift card to use!)  I perused through their clearance section to see if there were any beer glasses up for adoption.  Then, lo and behold, I stumbled upon my future project: 12 shot glasses for $8.  They came with 12 little spoons, too.  So, I guess they are actually little appetizer thingies.  Gotta love dual purpose items!

There was nothing wrong with the shot glasses other than it was missing the box.  And this just gives me the opportunity to craft a nice gift box!

12 shot glasses w/spoons; 75% off at Pier 1

Step 1: Figure out what to etch onto the glasses.

This is the fun part!  I spent a couple of hours just playing around with different designs.  I tried to choose designs that represented the birthday girl.

Step 2: Cut out the stencils.
After I came up with 12 different designs, I used my silhouette to cut out the stencils.  Then I covered the stencil with transfer paper.  This is the easiest way to transfer your designs perfectly onto the glasses.

Step 3: Wash the glasses.
Before, applying the stencils to the glasses, I washed the glasses with dish soap to remove any debris or fingerprints.  Then used a towel to dry them.

Step 4: Apply stencil to the glasses.
Remove the backing of the stencil and adhere them to the glass.  Then remove the transfer paper from the top.

Step 5: Apply painters tape around the stencil.
To avoid accidentally etching the surrounding area, border the stencil with painters tape.

All taped and ready to be etched!

Step 6:  Apply etching cream.
I picked up Armour Etch from Michael's with a 40% off coupon.  Use a popsicle stick to liberally apply it over the stencil.  Be careful that it doesn't drip  onto any unwanted areas.

Step 7:  Wait 5 minutes.
After I applied all the etching cream to all of the glasses, I waited 5 minutes.

5 minute break

Step 8: Rinse the cream off.
Using warm water, rinse the etching cream off of the glasses.

Pics after the etching cream was rinsed off

Step 9:  Remove the painters tape and stencil from the glasses.

Step 10:  Sit back.  Say 'Oooh'.  Then say 'Aaaaah'.

Salsa Recipe

Today's blog is non-craft related, but still a good read!

Anytime there is a gathering, dear hubby always asks that I put together some salsa and/or guacamole.  They are both very easy to whip up and always a hit.  I've been asked on a few occasions for the recipe, so I thought a salsa recipe post would be apropos.  This is a recipe given to me by my mother-in-law.

The recipe yields a large party-size batch of salsa.  I would suggest cutting the recipe in half, unless you've invited the entire neighborhood over.

Ingredients:
- 1 onion
- 5 to 6 cloves of garlic
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1 jalapeno
- Stewed tomatoes (four 14.5 oz cans)

You will also need your handy dandy food processor to finely dice the ingredients.  (I've tried hand dicing this recipe before and, trust me, it doesn't come out as good.)  So, unless, you went to a Culinary Art School and got an A+ in Slicing & Dicing 101, please whip out Mr. Food Processor.

Step 1: Peel and lightly chop up the onion.  Throw this in the food processor.

Step 2: Peel and lightly mash the garlic.  Throw this in the food processor.
It's up to you how much garlic you want to use.  If you have vampire-like tendencies, then use less.  I, for one, do not hail from the town of Transylvania, therefore, I like lots of garlic.

Step 3: Wash the cilantro to remove any dirt or grit.  Then wring the water out of the cilantro.  Remove the leaves from the cilantro and throw it into the food processor.  Discard any of the tough stems.

Step 4: Wash the jalapeno.  Remove the seeds.  Cut them up and throw it into the food processor.

Step 5: You should now have the onion, garlic, cilantro and jalapeno loaded into the food processor.  Turn that bad boy on and let the magic begin.. Everything should be very finely diced.

Step 6: Transfer the mix from the food processor into a large bowl or Tupperware container.  (I used a 14-cup Tupperware container so that I could store it in the refrigerator.)

Step 7: It is very important to use STEWED tomatoes.   (I used diced tomatoes one time and it didn't come out as good.)  These have jalapeno, garlic, and cumin in them.  Open up all four cans.

Step 8: The stewed tomatoes will have some liquid in them.  Drain the liquids into the tupperware.  Then dump the stewed tomatoes into the food processor.

Step 9: Finely puree the stewed tomatoes.

Step 10: Dump the pureed stewed tomatoes into the tupperware.  Mix everything together.
You can either serve immediately, or stick it in the refrigerator to let all the flavors marinate.

Step 11: Don't forget to clean up! Recycle those tomato cans.  And throw the vegetable scraps into your compost.  Those worms will thank you for it!

Fun fact:  The kids love eating macaroni and cheese (and so do I).  When I make it for them, there is always a little bit left over for me.  I throw a couple of spoonfuls of salsa into the macaroni and cheese.  It's delicious.  :)