DIY: Patterned Planters

So my new project of late has been painting what I've dubbed my Patterned Planters. I found these three wooden planters up at Target recently in their arts and crafts isle. YES, they now have an arts and crafts isle...and YES you will buy silly little somethings that you don't need but must have. Please tell me I'm not alone in my thinking that Target pumps some sort of magical air into their stores that acts as a shopping aphrodisiac. I see you Target! I know what you are up to and yet I just can't quit you! 

Refocus. Planters. 

I mean, look at them. How could I turn away from their mid-century mod adorableness? It would be like leaving behind a platter of puppies at a buffet (I have no idea...I saw a Golden Corral commercial today at the dentist and now I'm obsessed with the idea of unlimited proportions). When I saw these, it was like a knee-jerk reaction, immediately grabbing them and tossing them into my cart (fun Southern fact: shopping carts are often referred to as buggies. As in, "Ima fixin to go on down to The Pig {that would be the Piggly Wiggly} and fill my buggie up with Pabst. Ya need anythang?")

I had no idea what I was going to do with these planters and so they sat for a good month doing a bang up job collecting dust and taking up space. After painting this wooden jewelry and really enjoying it, I decided to attack one of the planters one evening.  

I dunno if you are like me, but sometimes I will talk myself out of creating because of the following excuses:

* I don't have time. Which is usually true...but c'mon, those dirty dishes, lesson plans (hahahahaha, what lesson plans?!) and laundry can wait!

* I don't have the right supplies. Then use what you got!

* I don't have an idea. Which, I have found, can often lead to THE BEST ideas. It's having an idea that can be crippling. Letting go is the best way to open your mind.

...and, this one's THE WORST...

* I might mess up. Ugh! Who cares?! I remember one time I had this unpleasant teacher who produced the plays at my high school. When she was trying to decide who to give the lead role in the play to, me or my friend, she wrote us each a "heartfelt" letter. In it she told us both, "it really doesn't matter who I pick. It's not like either of you are going to end up doing anything with your talent." Side note: my friend is an EXTREMELY talented artist, art teacher and public speaker. Thank you very much. I don't know what that has to do with "messing up" but it just came to me and I felt like sharing. You're welcome!

To start each planter, I kinda grabbed a handful of paints from my stash and established that as the planter's color palette. I then painted each flat surface a color, allowed to dry and then attacked each with a variety of pattern. 

 I love to create "after hours"... I usually start around 8pm while watching some mindless something on Netflix that I only half need to pay attention to (I kinda love The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt right now) and work until, well, way past my bad time. This creative outlet is a great way for me to unwind unlike something like sewing...where I have to focus or my relaxing time becomes a marathon of seam ripping and creative cussing. It's an Olympic sport.

Because I happen to be a serial plant killer, I decided to opt out of the real deal and use these fun beaded flowers I recently scored at an estate sale. They are handmade. The woman had a beautiful window sill full of them and how-to books in her basement. Y'all better believe I scooped up both.

I went with a more retro colored palette for this planter. Of course, I am always heavily influenced by Mary Blair. I have a couple books of her work and I was constantly flipping through them for ideas. 

Nothing says 1970's Tupperware like this color scheme. Hello, avocado green!

This isn't my first time down pattern planter road. 'Member these cat liter container planters? (okay...trust me, follow the link. They are much cuter than they sound, y'all).

So now I kinda wanna attack everything with patterns. I mean, I even wanna glue these three together, run some wires through them and make it into the stand for a lamp. I know, right?!

 Then again, I also wanna frame my palette. So there's that. 

Awright. Thanks for letting me share. Now if you'll excuse me, that buggie of Pabst ain't gonna drink itself. 

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DIY: Shoes

This year's Back-to-School Shoes

Hi, guys! This is just an update...I recently created more DIY shoes, this time Platform Sandals (eep!), that you can read more about here.

I never really thought I had a thing for shoes. But the enormity of 'em in my closet (and under the bed, in the once-linen closet,  and stacked in the bathtub) begs to differ. So apparently I have a weak spot. Some people adopt little lost abandoned animals and give them a home...I like to think that I do the same. Just for shoes.

Now the prob with being a shoe hoarder is that it could easily become a costly venture. I found this out at the beginning of the school year when I saw the cutest pencil shoes at Modcloth...for about one hundred bucks. Being the thrift shopper that I am, I constantly experience sticker shock when shopping retail. After studying the pencil shoes, I realized that I just might be able to recreate them myself.

The kids love these shoes. Most frequently asked question: "How do you sharpen those?"

So off to the thrift store I went in search of a pair of shoes to use as my canvas. With a black pair of slip-ons, I drew out my design in white colored pencil. It was simple enough: a curved line for the lead, a scalloped line for the wooden part, a couple of straight lines for the end of the pencil. I used several coats of acrylic paint and covered the shoes in Modge Podge. 

Now, I'm not so sure acrylic paint is the best bet. I've worn these shoes a half dozen times (turns out pencil shoes don't  go with everything) and they have cracked at the crease of the shoe. I recently read that Martha Stuart makes an all-purpose paint (of course she does) that might have worked better. Any ideas? 

There's a reason I don't have many pairs of pointed shoes in my closet. Because putting my Big Foot-esque feet inside something dainty and small is like forcing my big bump-ited head into a hat: it's just not gonna happen.

After painting the pencil shoes, I was bitten by the shoe-painting bug. My next thrift store/shoe restore purchase was this pair of foot-torturing pointy black shoes. I went about painting them the same way I did the pencils: draw out design in white pencil, add coats of paint, seal in Modge Podge. Bind feet and wear.

My Crayola-inspired outfit: crayon barrette, made by me; thrifted shirt; skirt picked up off of etsy. Most frequently asked question: "Can you color with those?"

A couple of months ago, DIY glitter shoes seemed to be all over the blogs I frequent. And I just knew I had to have a pair for the countless Christmas parties I would attend (which was, like, two). Now, I have this inability to read directions. I see them, I understand their importance, my eyes glance over them and I think "oh, yeah. I got this." Well, before you follow suit, read these directions, friends: 

1. Spray paint any areas of your shoes (er, outside) that will be unglittered. I used high gloss spray paint over these once-gray thrift store shoes.
2. Use glitter dust (which I did not do) and Modge Podge
3. Mix a large amount of glitter with a small amount of 'Podge. Attack shoes with said Glitter Podge.
4. Allow to dry (duh) and wear.  

Notice the key words: glitter dust. Turns out regular ole glitter is just too big. After several wears, I've had to replace chunks of glitter that have fallen off. Being smaller, glitter dust seems to have a little more give.

My dear P.E. teacher friend had me glitterize her basketball shoes from high school!

I was attached several times while wearing these shoes...by my cat. The feather boas drove her nuts. And got her permanently placed on the Naughty List.

Okay, these are seriously cheesy. But I teach the littles, so I can get away with it. Using these thrifted never-worn red t-strap shoes, acrylic paint, Modge Podge, felt and boa, I Santa-ized these shoes. Because the design is on the toe of the shoe, these shoes have not had the design-cracking problem like the pencil and crayon shoes.

My favorite thing about these shoes? Being able to say, "Are you making good choices? Because," with a glance down at my feet,"Santa is watching." Worked better than Elf on a Shelf.

My Valentine's Day Shoes...you can read the complete, unabridged how-to here:http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2012/02/glitter-leopard-true-love-story.html

My latest, and easiest, DIY involved thrifted shoes, broken clip-on earrings and a hot glue gun. I betcha can guess how I did it.

Not sure what's up next on my shoe DIY list...I contemplated leprechaun shoes for St. Patty's Day...but now I'm leaning more toward bunny shoes for spring. Oh, the thoughts that fill my head. It's like a look inside Einstein's brain, isn't it?

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Summertime...

Summertime in the Sixties

  Clockwise starting with the blurry laughing lady: Grandma Marilyn, Grandpa John (who appears to be tweaking my grandma), Uncle Keith, Aunt Donna, my mother (guess who I inherited my big mouth from) and my Aunt Lottie in the middle.

I'm down to the hours before my summer vacay begins. I absolutely cannot wait. The first week off from school, I'm always so gung ho: waking up early, scratching items off my to-do list, cooking, cleaning, yard working. By the second week, that's all pretty much ended and I slide into my summertime routine.

 Mom getting her belly rubbed by Grandma while it looks as though someone's about to cool off my Grandpa. I would love see a Part 2 to this photo as my drenched Grandpa chases after who I assume was my Uncle Keith.

My real summer routine involves sleeping in, eating ice cream at least twice daily, reading trashy Brit-chic novels and thrifting. Every school year I day dream of all of the things I am going to accomplish during the summer and every summer I manage to do a whole lotta nuthin. But this summer is gonna be different.

Summertime in the Seventies

Left to right: Me, Cuz Angie, Aunt Judy. My Grandpa Eddy made our dining table and chairs. I love the red wagon and the Sit -n- Spin in the background.

And when I say "different" it's not because I plan to change or improve or actually do something about my lack of accomplishment. I plan to embrace the laziness. Love it. Wrap my arms around it and squeeze it. I mean, it's what summer is all about, right? At the end of every summer, I always beat myself up over not accomplishing this or that. Not any more.

Summertime in the Eighties
My Grandma Marilyn and Grandpa Eddy (her second hubs after G-pa John) took the three of us girls to Florida almost every summer growing up. She sent this postcard to mom.

My Grandma loved Florida...and I love that she signed the postcard "Florida People". I miss those summers with her.

My to-do list is going to involve the following: catching up with friends, watching some old movies (Hitchcock, preferably)  and eating deep fried snack foods with reckless abandon because they are delicious. Oh, and doing silly stuff with cat hair. For this, hubs and I decided to get a jump-start...

Um, yeah. That's all Asha hair. She's been shedding (and hairballing) like madness lately, so Mitch decided to give her a little brushing. We're planning on opening our own Troll Doll factory.

Needless to say, Asha was not impressed with our creative endeavor. I can read her kitty-cat mind: Boy, it's gonna be a long summer.

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DIY: The 1950's Butt-Tickler

Me trying to look 1950's domestic. Don't let the bowls and cookbooks in the background fool you -- I only bought them to match the decor.

Okay, I am totally prone to bragging, so let me just say this and get it out of my system and then I promise to not bring it up again for another 10 seconds: I MADE THIS DRESS! I know, I can't believe it either. Probably because it's only partically true. Ahem, lemme correct myself: I MADE THIS DRESS WITH THE HELP OF MY GREAT FRIEND DEBBIE (and by "help" I mean she did all of the hard, incomprehensible, rocket science-esque parts).

Speaking of, here she is workin' hard while I snap artsy photos and drink yet another of her delicious vodka, pomegranate and lime juice concoctions. She could really go in the cocktail biz.

Debbie and I have been planning our weekend of Memphis Craft for-evuh. I drove there right after school on Friday (while listening to Shudder Island on tape...yikes!...it got so spooky in some parts that I noticed myself driving slower and slower down the highway, even jumping when the CD accidentally skipped) and after a hot bowl of steamy soup and some delish cornbread, we jumped right in to the making of this dress:

Next on my fashion agenda: Bring back the dish-washing gloves with bangles look. Tres chic!

It's a pattern from the late 1950's/early 1960's that I found thrifting. This is my favorite era of dress and I've accumulated quite the stash of these kind of patterns. I have always wanted to sew from  them...but having never been very successful with patterns, following directions or anything that involves concentration and brain power, I've never tried...until now (please read last two words in your best James Earl Jones voice).

This portion of the pattern even stumped Debbie, though only temporarily. Notice the italicized writing: The portion of zipper which extends below waistline seam is free. That's right, a Free Zipper. Hangin' loose, free as a bird.

So following a pattern wasn't as impossible as I'd always thought, but it's definitely time consuming. I mean, the dresses from that era were no one-hour-and-then-you're-done affairs. They involved a lot time, focus and attention to detail. You know, the stuff my dresses from Forever21 seem to be lacking. We managed to knock out all hard parts which left me to finish the hem, the sleeve hem, buttons and belt. Oh! And the Butt-Tickler! 

  One of my kindergartener's clay snowman, sculpted in a 1/2 hour, thank you very much. I dare say all of these snowman brought us the good luck of a SNOW DAY!

Thankfully, I have the good fortune of a snow day today! With my time, I checked all of those dress to-do's off my list. Except for the dangling, butt-tickling zipper...I think I might keep that for a while!

Thanks again, Debbie and fam for having me! I had the best time...

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