DIY :: Charter School Cardigan for the ModCloth Blog

Last week I participated in a little DIY party over on the ModCloth blog. Myself and a few other bloggers fancied up some Charter School Cardigans so head over to check it out if you're interested! The other bloggers were Rebecca from The Clothes Horse (one of the first blogs I ever followed!), Kate from Scathingly Brilliant and Mandi of Making Nice in the Midwest so be sure to check those DIYs out too.

♥elycia

This post contains affiliate links which help me run my blog and contribute to my family. For more info on affiliate links click here. Thank you for your support!

Projects :: Chevron Crochet Pattern

Just a disclaimer before we go any further. I did not make up this pattern. It is from a 1973 crochet book called "The Easy Art of Ripple Crochet."

After mentioning the afghan I was working on a couple people were interested in the pattern so I though I would share it. Here goes!

Approximate Size: 42 x 60 inches
Materials:
Worsted weight - 16 oz A, 12 oz B, 12 oz C (for a three colour afghan) or
                          - 22 oz A, 18 oz B (for a two colour blanket)

Crochet Hook: J/6.00mm
Gauge: 3sc = 1 inch

Instructions for 3 Colours
With A ch 183, sc in 2nd st from hk, *1 sc in each of next 14 sts of ch, 3 sc in next st, 1 sc in each of next 14 sts of ch, skip 1 st, repeat from * across row ending with sc in last st, ch 1, turn.

2nd ROW: Working in back loop of sts throughout, sc in 1st sc, skip 1 st, *1 sc in each of the next 14 sts, 3 sc in next st, 1 sc in each of the next 14 sts, skip 2 sts, repeat from * across row ending last repeat with skip 1 st, sc in last st, ch 1, turn.

Repeat 2nd row throughout working 4 more rows A, 6 rows B, 6 rows C. Repeat these stripes 6 times then work 6 rows A, cut yarn. Finish all ends.

A few notes: When I change colours I do so in the last sc of the row, right before the ch 1. I pull the first loop through with the original colour and then use the colour I'm changing to for the second loop.

Let me know if you have any questions! I'll try my best to help you out if you do.

♥elycia

Home :: Papered

Hey remember when I added some paper to the hutch in our living room? Well, I just continued the project over to the kitchen by adding the same paper to the built in unit in our kitchen.

The paper looks a lot more subtle in the built in that it does in the hutch because it is a bit deeper and doesn't get as much light. It does brighten it up a bit though and I'm pretty into it. Also, just noticed that the calender was not even close to the right date when I took these photos. Oops!

I hope everyone is having a terrific Thursday!

EDIT: I have received a bunch of questions about this papering so I will let you know some more info about what I did.

The paper is actually just regular old paper on a roll that I picked up at a garage sale event in Ohio. This restyle is actually really great for people who are renting and can't do anything permanent because the paper is attached to the back of the built-in with painters tape. It holds well but is extremely easy to remove when/if you want/need to.

This project was super simple, I just measured the height and width of the back of the cabinet and then measured and cut the appropriate amount of paper to cover it. Like I said, I then used painters tape to attach the paper to the back panel of the unit, starting in one corner and smoothing it over to the other side. Easy!

♥elycia

Restyle :: Hutch

You may remember me mentioning the hutch that is in our living room before. The previous owner of the house left it in the basement for us and I really loved it so after we took down our Christmas tree we brought it upstairs. I had been thinking of painting the back panel for a while but didn't want to do something so permanent. I finally found some pretty paper while I was in Ohio and if I am remember correcly I only paid 25 cents for two rolls of this stuff! I papered the back of this cabinet a week or two ago while I was watching Dance Moms (don't judge me) and the built in unit is next on my list to be papered. I'm sure I will be watching an equally embarrassing show when I work on that project.

Of course I forgot to take an official before photo but here is what the hutch looked like originally.

And here is the newly papered version.

The paper really brightens it up and the colours are pretty perfect. I love this hutch even more now. However, if I ever stop loving the paper it is just stuck on with painters tape so it will be easy to remove. Once I finish up the built in unit in the kitchen I will be sure to show you some more photos. 

Today I am at Canada's Wonderland enjoying some rides and hopefully nice weather. It has been a really long time since I have been so I am really happy my friend asked me to go with her while she is in town this week. I hope you are all having a great day!

♥elycia

Restyle :: FunkKit Shoe Makeover

The lovely people over at FunkKit asked me if I would be interested in trying some of their shoe stickers and after taking a look at their website I was really excited to fancy up a pair of my shoes.

There are a bunch of cool designs but my favourite by far was "Origami" and I knew just the pair of shoes that I would stick those stickers to. Here are my shoes before:

The process was really easy and the instructions that came with the stickers were very clear and simple so I didn't need to watch this video but just in case, there is an instructional video.

The only thing I had trouble with when I was placing my first sticker was getting it in the exact right spot. Luckily the stickers are very forgiving and you can peel them off and restick them if you make a little mistake. The sticking part got easier as I went along and pretty soon I had some newly stickered shoes.

Although the colours still look bright they turned out more muted than I was expecting. That is because the stickers are slightly transparent so that they pick up the colour of what is behind, especially on the lighter coloured triangles. I don't mind one bit though and I feel like it makes them look like they mesh better with the shoes. 

Overall I am pretty impressed with the stickers and I will be back later to show you how I styled up my shoes in an outfit post!

♥elycia

crafternoon with my girl thursday and myself

Firstly, thank you to Annika for the clever 'Crafternoon' name. We obviously need people like you to  name things like this for us.

Chantilly and I are excited to announce our second craft along that will be happening this Sunday April 29th at 4 pm EDT on our UStream channel.  Hopefully we chose a time that will work for our local and overseas friends, we would love it if you joined us! This time we will be making a bike bag for all of your travel biking needs. Isn't it awesome?! I can't wait to make one for myself!

For this project you will need:
- 1 yard weather resistent or vinyl coated fabric (if you plan on doing lining with a different fabric buy - 1/2 y shell and 1/2 y lining)
- thread
- sewing machine
- 1/2 yard 3/4" velcro (heavy duty if you can find it)
- 3/4 yard 1" cotton webbing

We will be releasing the pattern you will need later in the week!

We had so much fun at our last craft party and I can't wait to do it again this time. Let us know if you think you'll be able to make it and we'll save you a virtual seat and assign you a virtual snack to bring. Ok, so, seating is not limited and unfortunately the technology required for internet snack sharing has not been mastered yet, I'm just trying to sound fancy.

♥elycia

PS. I'll be back later to announce the winner of the Chantilly (different Chantilly) prize pack giveaway so make sure you get your entries in if you would like a chance at winning!

restyle :: suitcases

Ever since I saw Rachel's tutorial on covering suitcases with pretty fabric I have been itching to try it. As you may have already seen I covered a suitcase for our bedroom in my most favourite fabric ever (so far).

I had these two suitcases that I wasn't crazy about the colour of so I decided to paint them as well as cover the tops in fabric.

I love the fabric on the pink one. I'm on the fence about the fabric on the purple one though. I might keep my eyes open for something that will look even prettier.

If anyone is interested I used Martha Stewart high gloss craft paint in 'Hydrangea Purple' and 'Amaranth'. The purple took about three coats to cover while the pink took four. 

♥elycia

DIY :: Film Baggies

I don't really love the word "baggie" but it was the working title of this project and I couldn't think of anything else to call them. Pouch...pouch would have been good.

Regardless of what this is called, I thought it would be a cute way to carry used and unused film around in your purse. Another idea is to use one side for regular film and the other side for Instax mini film. If you would like to make one for yourself you will need:

- cute fabric (you could even use an unwanted piece of clothing for the fabric!)
- 2 small pieces of fabric for embroidering on
- embroidery thread
- yarn or ribbon
- sewing needle and thicker yarn needle
- straight pins
- iron
- sewing machine

Let's get started!

1. Cut a piece of fabric that is 11.5" by 12.5".

2. Fold with right sides together. You are folding the longer (12.5") side so that the top edge measures 11.5".

3. Keeping right sides together, sew down both sides of your fabric.

4. Use pinking shears to cut the raw edges of the seams you just sewed.

5. Keeping your pouch inside out, turn down a small hem and iron. It doesn't need to be exact, but around 0.25" is good.

6.  Turn down another, larger hem (around 0.75" is what I did) and iron. This tucks in your raw edge and hides it from view.

7. Sew along the bottom edge of your hem. This creates a little tunnel at the top of your pouch that we will put a drawstring through later.

8. Turn your pouch right side out. Take a moment to pat yourself on the back for making it this far.

9. Next you are going to sew a line down the centre of your pouch starting at the line of stitching across the top. Meaning that above the stitch line will not be attached together while the bottom of your pouch will be divided into two sections.

10. Get out your embroidery thread and embroider yourself some labels that say "shoot" and "develop" or "instax" and "35mm" or whatever the heck you would like them to say. I embroidered my labels onto different pieces of fabric that I will sew on in the next step. Place your labels where you would like them to go and pin them down.

11. Stitch your labels on! I used a thin yarn and a yarn needle but you could also use embroidery thread and a regular needle.

12. Next we are going to add a drawstring. I used yarn threaded on a yarn needle again but you could use ribbon and put little slices in your fabric to feed it through. Insert the needle a little off from the centre front of your pouch. Carefully feed your needle through your tunnel and out the other side.

13. Tie little knots in your yarn right beside the holes so that your drawstring doesn't disappear into the tunnel.

You are all done! Put some film in your pouch and I will show you how to tie it up compactly.

Pull your drawstring and tie a knot. Then fold your pouch in half along the centre stitch line. Now you can wrap your drawstring around the top of the pouch and tie a bow.

I hope you found this idea handy! Let me know if you make one for yourself. I actually made this one as a gift so I will be making another one for myself soon!

♥elycia

tutorial :: zig zag nails

Remember our fancy nails from this photoshoot?

Well, today I'm going to tell you how to fancy up your own nails. You can do this with three different colours like Kaylah did in the photo above or two colours like I did.

The first thing to do is to rip off four or five pieces of tape. Grab some pinking shears and cut zig zags out of the tape. You can get two or three zig zag strips from each piece of tape and you will need one zig zag for each nail. A good way to cut to make sure your points line up is to lay the tape on one edge of your scissors like I did in the photo.

Once you have cut your tape stick it to the edge of a table and paint your nails the base colour. The colour you paint as the base will be the colour that ends up in the middle of your nails.

Wait until your base coat is very dry and then lay one of your zig zag tape strips across the middle of your nail.

If you are doing the two colour variation you can just paint all the way over your taped nail. If you are going for three colours you need to carefully paint one colour on the bottom of the tape and one colour on the top of the tape. To paint the bottom you can just start at the cuticle as you normally would and then stop once you are on the tape. For the top, just start on the tape and paint the end as you normally would. Make sure that you do not paint the nail polish on too thick or some may leak under the tape and look yucky when you pull it off.

I usually only leave the tape on for a few seconds after the painting is finished. Pull it off in one quick motion. Repeat the process for the rest of your nails. It is a good idea to let one hand dry before you work on the next hand to prevent accidental smudging.

Once all your nails are finished add a top coat and admire your beautiful fingers!

I love these nails so much and the colour possibilities are pretty much endless!

(c/o Kaylah)

♥elycia

ps. Kaylah and I each posted the same tutorial but pop over there to see her photos!

craft night :: cameras!

As you may remember, Chantilly and I hosted a craft night last Tuesday where we made some cute plush cameras. If you weren't able to make it to the craft night you can watch it anytime you like because we recorded it as I'm sure I've mentioned. Chantilly and I were really excited that so many people joined us and we are absolutely planning more craft nights in the future! We loved seeing the cameras everyone made so we thought we would put together a little post to share them with you guys!

:: 1. Jenny from Hello Sundae :: 2. Charity from A Lovely Little World :: 3. Meredith from One Sheepish Girl :: 4. Jayme from RAWR Creatures :: 5. Megan from Moonbeam Wishes :: 6. Tia from A Cup of T :: 7. Laura from Hooked up on This...  :: 8. Lisa from Good Knits  :: 9. Becky from The Tiny Nest :: 10. Christina

If you made a camera and we somehow missed you in this round up leave us a link in the comments!

♥elycia

PS. In case you slept in and missed it, Ms. Thursday and I also posted a little vlog this morning that you might like to take a peek at!