I thought I was done with things for the trip....

but found another project!  I decided I needed to use the rest of the "Texas Longhorn" fabric and make some luggage tags.  Browsing around Pinterest, I found a few tutorials on making them, but eventually ended up using a few hints from different ones and came up with my own design.

One thing I did use was how to print on fabric.  I had heard many people do this, but never did myself.  I just always bought the special paper at craft stores, but this is MUCH CHEAPER!!  Which, if you know me at all, you know is something I LOVE.  Anyway, you just use freezer paper and iron the shiny side to the fabric.  I did that before I cut the fabric to the size of a regular piece of paper, 8 1/2 by 11.

Anyway, I printed them off and went on my way.  The first one I made didn't turn out too great, so I kept going and ended up with this:



One for each of our new piece of luggage.  Our two checked bags and two carry-ons.

Other side:


I made them so they just fold in half, and a small piece of velcro keeps it closed.   Here's the inside:


I did put a piece of interfacing underneath the address for a little stiffness and just used elastic I had on hand to attach them to the handles.  I already have a small piece of this fabric tied onto all the handles, so these will be additional.  It will make our luggage much easier to find at the airport!

A Couple More Projects Done for Hawaii Trip

I'm slowly getting things done that have been on my "To-Do for Hawaii" List.  One of the things I decided to do was a cover for my Canon Rebel Strap.  I had made one out of flannel before, but I really wasn't too happy with it.  I had bought some orange "UT" fabric a little while ago to use to mark our luggage for the trip and had some left over, so decided to use it for the new strap.
Here's the new strap cover:

In case you're interested, here is the tutorial I used.  I like that it's nice and tight on the strap.
I had to use my other camera to take the picture, so it's not very good.

I also wanted to make some pouches to keep all my cords in.  Decided to dig out the Bernina sewing machine (that used to be my mother-in-law's) to label them.  Again, the pictures aren't that great.


A closer look at how they are labeled.  I had some old fabric paint brushes from years ago so used them to color in the letters.  The "ear phones" one I tried to used some dimensional fabric paint but that didn't work very well.  lol

In case you are wondering, here is the link for the tutorial for these.

Finally, I had been looking for something small to use for a travel journal.  I know I'll take one of our laptops so I can upload photos, but it's nice to put pen to paper every once in a while.  I had one for our cruise in 2010, so decided I wanted one for this trip, too.  Anyway, this is what I found at TJ Maxx for about $4 the other day:

They are small and don't take up too much room, but they're not very pretty.


So, I decided to try to put new covers on them.  I had bought some scrap paper a while ago for another project, so decided to use that to recover them.


These are the pages I decided to use:
Cover:


And the books:






All  I did was cut the sheets to the correct size, decided what I wanted on the cover and books, then used a glue stick to glue the sheets on.  It worked petty good, even though I had to take about 6 pages out of each book so they wouldn't be too tight in the cover.

This is after they were covered:






Then I decided to make some labels (printed on clear labels), then coated with modge podge (homemade, recipe here).  I was pretty happy with them, but while organizing the office (for the millionth time), I found some spray laquer that said it was good for decoupage, so decided to spray that on, too.  Here is the finished project:


Quite an improvement!!!!!










They're not perfect, but I'm really happy with how they turned out!

I still have some shopping to do before our trip, but need to go through my current wardrobe first to decide what else I need.  Counting down the days!!!!!!  Todd and I are both really looking forward to the trip!

Just another quick post

I've had a little free time, so decided to do some more sewing.  One thing that I finally got done was a Roman Shade for the storage rooms above our garage.  The sun comes in pretty bad, so I bought supplies and made the shade out of off-white denim.  I decided on denim because it needed to be pretty sturdy and off-white because that is the main color of the garage.  The trim on the garage is a dark blue, but if I had made the shade that color, it just would have faded, so settled on the off-white.

This was the first Roman Shade I've made, and it certainly could have been better, but it turned out pretty good.  I haven't taken a picture yet, but when I do, I'll post it.

Time is getting closer to our trip to Hawaii!!!  (50 days!!!)  While cruising around Pinterest the other day, I found a quick project to hold our toothbrushes and toothpaste for the trip.  Here's the link.  Needless to say, I decided I could whip that up pretty quick.  I didn't use a hand towel or anything, I have a couple different colors of terry cloth in my "fabric stash" so used that.    Here are the two I made:

the first one has two layers of terry cloth.


I used some flannel for the binding and just basic ribbon to tie it closed.


I decided it was a little bulky, so the next one is only one layer of terrycloth.


I also added a little flap on the top to keep things from falling out.




I'm not exactly sure which one we'll end up taking, it's always possible that we'll each take one since Todd always has his stuff packed for the truck.  I may end up making another one that will only hold one toothbrush and one toothpaste.  Mainly they will be nice to keep on the counter at the resort where we're staying.

Yesterday was Halloween.  Before Tab and the kids moved out again, I sat down with Alyssa and Angel and we made Tombstones for the front yard for decorations.  I finally put them out yesterday - here's a picture.


A better look at the one I did - the orange is supposed to be glow in the dark.


The only other decoration I had outside were the solar lights that are always there.  I found some cheap Orange napkins, so cut slips of them and put them in the lights so they glowed orange.  The kids enjoyed them!!!


I still have a couple more things I need to make for the trip, so keep checking back.  McKenna, our youngest grandchild who we'll see in Hawaii, has asked for a mermaid tail, so as soon as I get her measurements I'll get that made and take it to her for a Christmas present this year.

It seems I'm addicted to making barefoot sandals......

because we are only going to be in Hawaii for seven days, and I now have five sets of Barefoot Sandals.  They are really fun to make, even though they take a while and are fairly expensive.  I mostly use glass beads, but found some Ivory beads at JoAnn's the other day that I liked - - they looked "Hawiian".  :D  Here's the newest set - I also made some earrings and a necklace to match!  These are not totally stretchy, so I had to use other jewelry items I've had around since I made the jewelry for the cruise in 2009.

The sandals on - please pardon my dirty feet - I worked in the garden this morning and hadn't taken a shower yet.

The other set is black and off-white.  I also made earrings to match it.  I only had silver lobster claws, so need to get some gold ones to match.

Aren't they pretty sitting in my new chest?

I bought it at an Estate Sale for $10.00!!!  I haven't figured out yet what I'm going to do with it.  Tossing around the idea of painting it black, then detailing gold on it somehow.  For now it's just sitting on the floor in the office (which is getting very full!!!),

I also made one more four-section cosmetic bag.  This one turned out much better than the first!  The corners are matched up and I made the space around the zipper wider so more things will fit in it.

This one is being purchased by someone at work (who asked me to see if I could make it).  I'm going to fix the first one I made and use it myself, then I've decided I'm not making any more!  They are just too time-consuming and very aggravating trying to get everything matched up.

Enjoy the photos!!!  I still have a few more things I've been wanting to make, but Todd will be home for a few days this week (hopefully he'll be home tomorrow - he left June 11!!!)  So keep checking back for new posts!!!

Weekend Projects

Just a couple.  I did get another set of Barefoot Sandals.  I used Brown and Blue, so it matches one of the dresses I made for our cruise a few years ago.  (You can see the fabric here.)   I haven't decided if I'm going to leave it long, or maybe shorten it to either a dress or possibly just a top.  Trip's not until December, so I have time to decide.
Here is the last set:


And the three I made so far:


Love them all!!!!  I wan't planning to sell them, but someone at work asked about a set, specifically the black ones, so I may sell it and make me some more.  I can definitely see them get better the more I make.  They are VERY time consuming, though!

The other quick project I did was this:


And what to you carry in it?  Why, Dominoes, of course!!!

We have some friends who we have supper with every so often and it's fun to play Dominoes with them, so this bag will make it easy to carry the Dominoes around to and from their house.

I made a trip to JoAnn's last week and found this neat fabric.  I haven't decided what I'm going to make yet, but it will be something for the trip.  Maybe a beach cover-up???