Embroidered Hats (blank hat, weaving thread, paper, 2 pins))

I have made a ton of embroidered hats over the years, they make great personalized present. Here are a few that are still lying around the house.

Begin by designing a graphic keeping in mind who will be wearing the hat. Draw the graphic on a piece paper the same size to fit the hat. Next pin it on the hat wherever seems fit and start sewing over the design. The hole punctures made while sewing weakens the paper so it pops right off when sewing is complete. It's easy and takes only a few hours depending on the detail of the graphic.



You can buy blank hats online or I bought a bunch at Walgreens. I recommend trying the fit of the hat before you purchase. The ones at Walgreens seem to fit both men and women really well.

Rug (6 throw rugs, weaving thread)

Ward off the Monday blues by patching together a new rug It is an inexpensive way to really change the look of a room. I have needed a new rug in my living room for a while and a few months ago I ran across a post on Apartment Therapy suggesting sewing multiple mini throw rugs together. Here it is. I'm not 100% sold on the final product but it definitely looks way better than it did before.

Bride & Groom Cake Toppers (stockings cotton black,white,red, and lace baterial, cardboard thread pipecleaners, blue top pins)

My wedding. When my mom said she would make my wedding cake (best carrot cake ever) I told her I would take care of the cake toppers. Searching for inspiration I discovered the brilliant, Ann Wood. I fell in love with her sweetheart cake toppers. Unfortunately, her fine craftsmanship wasn't within my budget, (although her price is very appropriate if not generous.) I consider myself a crafty person, but these little guys really tested my abilities. The result, two kind of cute kind of awkward birds highly representative of the bride and groom. However,the craftsmanship is pretty shady. Not very easy stitching and visible glue smudges I don't know how Anne does it. I listed the materials I used, but I have no clue how I ended up with the final product envision a wrestling match with me and a stocking. They were really fun with cake and added a personal touch. As cute and conservative as our little bird representatives looked we didn't act as charming and proceeded to smash the cake into eachothers faces. :)

Side Table (glass scraps, cement, recycled table base)

Mustache Tryouts (camera, photoshop, fcp)

A simple mustache can turn a cutie, into a man who looks like he drives a van with tinted windows. The photo left concerned me. I am in fact part Eskimo part Italian. What if I had a mustache? Yes, I spent a solid 30min of my life testing this out. Yikes! At least electrolosis is now an option.

Clock Canvas (oilpaint, weaving thread, sharpie, clock kit, pink t-shirt)

Sometimes I try to get to much done before my work day begins. This project was a result of that. Notice the uneven white lines and the green smudges. I did not wait for the green paint to dry before removing the tape. The tape was suppose to create a dramatic paint to canvas edge, oops! To distract from this error and make the canvas more interesting I cut a hole in it and added clock kit. I sometimes enjoy seeing the production process in a finished project.

Bird Canvas (waterbased paint, weaving thread, sharpie, wrapping straw)

I love to make canvas paintings and prints, but I am not great at drawing. Solution... add simple patterns with varying materials to make a simple drawing more interesting. I painted the base for this in one pre-work day and sewed about one or two rows of stitching a day so it took me a little more than a week of pre-work days. The process for this is slow because the tough canvas makes seewing hard on the fingers.