Fancy and Crafty

So remember how I told you to check out my other blog Things We Fancy? Well if you haven't, you'll definitely want to when you see this:

Here are two of the DIY projects that Hillary and I have been working on:

{DIY} Anthropologie Snow Globes

{DIY} Anthropologie Silverware Easel

Yep.... Check it out, and please follow & comment. We love to feel the love!

New Blog!!!

So you may be asking yourself why I've been gone for FOREVER! Well, the truth is, I have decided to add yet another blog to my busy schedule. It's construction and projects needed have taken up a lot of time! Not to worry, Get Craftlicious will still be a part of your lives!

This new blog is called Things We Fancy. It started with one of my BFFF's Hillary from it's pretty magical. As all great ideas come about, we were just hanging around (probably watching Dexter) and laughing up a storm. We decided to dedicate this blog to be about the things that we absolutely love! Hillary and I have similar taste in Home Decor, Fashion, and we both have a background in Cosmetology. Posts will include DIY Projects, Home Decor tips and ideas, Fashion, Hair and Beauty, and much much more!


Do yourself (and me) a favor and start following it like NOW! We have a great line up and can't wait to show it to the blogosphere!


Here is our most recent DIY Project:

{DIY) Anthropologie Snow Globes

Yep, you're pretty much intrigued by now!

Be sure to check Get Craftlicious for a post on Decorating Surfaces soon!

Quotey-Quote, random post.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you'll see that I have a board called "Word." "Word" has pins of quotes that I come across and basically love. I am also a diehard Apple lover... Honestly, I don't even know what I was doing with my life before I owned a Mac device. Okay, maybe not that dramatic, but it's made a huge impact on me.
For those who aren't familiar with Apple, it's former CEO Steve Jobs recently passed away. It was sad to see him go, especially with him being such an icon and visionary. I came across this quote a while ago, and it really struck a chord with me. I know this post is totally random, and the only crafting involved was the use of Photoshop. I just wanted to share this. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Get Craftlicious isn't my full time job, but man do I love it. I love crafting and I love home decor... Creating new things brings a sense of satisfaction that I've never known before. It is my passion. I hope that everyone will seize their opportunity to do what they truly love and never settle for less.

Oh Martha, you slay me.

So, remember how I told you to be jealous of my new Martha Stewart multi-surface craft paints and stencils? Well, I have been using it like CA-RAZY! Seriously, it's for sure a top 5 fave. Wanna know what else? It paints like a dream on fabric. My latest project consisted of the painting of some burlap and using it as a backdrop for a picture frame.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to use it. You simply lay down your fabric (I had to iron my burlap cause it was all wrinkly) place the stencil of choice over it, and paint away.

I recommend using a regular paint brush... the sponge ones don't work. Trust me.

The color I used was "Wet Cement".... so flippin' dreamy.

Do you LOVE it? I sure do. The burlap gives it amazing texture and I get that pop of grey that matches my bedding. 

One of the best and easiest ways to add some color to your picture frame collage, is to use a large frame with a smaller picture and place patterned fabric or scrapbook paper behind it. 

For my smaller side project, I decided to make my storage a little prettier. Basically, no matter how I try to keep my toiletries (deodorant, perfume, lotions, etc.) in the bathroom, they always inevitably end up in our bedroom. It drives my husband crazy because I leave them everywhere. I didn't want to get tupperware storage, especially cause I don't want to pay for it. So, I improvised and grabbed some shoe boxes, and covered the outside in scrapbook paper. It's organized, and my husband is happy. ;)

So how's everone's OCTOBER going? Can you believe it's already October?! Freakin' nuts! 

This Project is partying at:

The Shabby Nest, Tatertots & Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Serenity Now, The DIY Showoff

Be Jealous.

Okay, so you probably already bought this, and you probably aren't jealous. I, on the other hand, am freaking stoked because I just picked up the new Martha Stewart multi-surface acrylic craft paints and a stencil kit! I'm super excited to start making some craftliciousness with this stuff.

Yep, it's gonna be awesome. How has everyone's week been thus far? Have you crafted anything amazing, or at least contemplated making a craft? I've been pretty low on inspiration lately, but good ole' Martha Stewart gave me a nice pick-me-up. (Not that kind of pick-me-up you weirdos!)

Spooky Books

Alright, here is just ONE of the Halloween Decor Tutorials! They are spooky books and they're super awesome. Just a forewarning, as much as I LOVE the really cutesy Halloween decorations, I like my house to look like a Haunted Mansion for Halloween time. Therefore, my decor is kinda creepy... don't worry though, my next Halloween Tutorial does include glitter. =)

Alright, your supplies need are:

-4 old books that you don't mind trashing

-black craft paint

-hot glue gun

-assorted paint colors in your choice for lettering

-sponge paint brushes

First, squirt some black craft paint in a bowl and paint it over the covers of books (if needed) and over the spines.

Set them outside in the sun to dry. Good news about craft paint is, it dries super fast.... especially if you live in the desert like myself. After they're nice and toasty, bust out your hot glue gun and write the words along the spines. I chose mine to say "Spells", "Brews", "Curses", and "Potions". Be prepared, this part can get pretty messy.

Once the hot glue has dried and hardened, go over the letters with your choice of color paint. After you've completed this step, you can be finished. I however, decided to go one step further and make them look a little more aged. All you do is dip your sponge brush in black paint, and dab most of it off with a paper towel. Then, stipple over the letters very lightly... this will make it look dirty. (Cause let's be real, witches probably didn't have clean spell books..)

As you can see, I didn't clean off every stringy hot glue piece. I was going to, but then my younger brother told me that it looks like spider webs, and I was like "oh, heck yes."

And there you go. Spooky Books a la Get Craftlicious.

Don't you love those apothecary jars?!! I mean, they're in desperate need of some candy corns and mini reese's, but they're pretty dang awesome. All I did was print off some creepy images from Janet Hopkins' Happy Haunting Printable kit, which you can purchase here.

I simply taped mine onto the jars because I don't use those for just Halloween, but if you want to make it more permanent, you could just mod podge it on there.

Didn't it turn out awesome?!!! I'm in love!

What are some of your favorite DIY Halloween Decorations? Are you more like me and love spooky decor, or are you more of a glitter and happy pumpkins girl?

This project is partying at:

The Idea Room, The Shabby Nest, Tatertots & Jello, Just a Girl, Be Different Act Normal, Serenity Now, The DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac Halloween Edition, All Things Thrifty

Ombrè?

Do you guys LOVE ombrè stuff as much as I do? For reals, it's freakin' awesome... and super trendy. Here are a few examples of some ombrè sweetness and a tutorial!

Ombrè curtains from Anthropologie

Ombrè cake from Glorious Treats

Ombrè dress that Zoe Saldana wore to the 2010 Oscars

Basically, ombrè rocks my socks. So, I decided to dye some fabric ombrè style, for yet another throw pillow. I think it's safe to say I have a slight obsession with throw pillows... just putting that out there.

Disclaimer: My Plan A for this project was crap... so I had to go on to Plan B. The only good part about Plan A is that I learned from my mistakes. It's kinda like The Godfather... the second one is way better, but you can't appreciate it unless you've seen the original. 

Alright, here was Plan A. So I thought it would be super easy. I would buy my fabric dye, and place the first quarter of fabric in the solution for about 15 minutes. Then the second quarter for another 15 minutes, then so on and so forth. I figured the bottom part would have a deeper color once I washed it out. Nope, didn't happen! First off, I bought this crap:

I don't like to rag on products I don't love, but this stuff is honestly the worst. I'm only telling you because I don't want anyone to make the same mistake of buying it. Basically it didn't even work... my fabric ended up all being the same shade of yellow. My friend Hillary from it's pretty magical, bought green dye, and it turned out to be a pukey blue color. 

Another reason this product sucks is because you have to heat it up on your stove, and it smells like a bad mix of fertilizer, plastic, and poison. This smell reeked through Hillary's house... I pretty much owe her like 5 cans of Febreze. 

On to Plan B! I ran to Michael's and grabbed Rit Brand Fabric dye. I didn't want to take any chances so I bought a darker shade of yellow (Golden Yellow), and Hillary bought Tangerine. I discovered that if you get your fabric wet before you dip it in the dye, it allows the color to bleed a little more, thus making it so you don't have solid lines. So, I got the fabric wet. dipped it in the original nasty solution for 15 minutes, then dipped it in golden yellow for 15 minutes, and then in Tangerine for 15 minutes. Rinsed and BOOM, I had ombrè fabric for and ombrè pillow!

Although I was pretty ticked the first dye didn't work and I had to go to the store and get more, it was still pretty cheap. The dye is only like 2 bucks a box, and since Hillary and I split the cost of fabric it probably only cost me about $12 for 2 pillows. Not too bad, eh?

Do you guys love ombrè or what?!!!

Are there any recent trends that you just can't get enough of?

P.S. Are you stoked for Halloween?!!! I am... and I have some pretty friggin sweet Halloween projects coming up soon! 

This project is partying at:

Tatertots & Jello, Be Different Act Normal, Serenity Now, The Shabby Nest, Craft-O-Maniac

Failure and a Vest.

As I have received comments from all of my readers, you guys have made me feel super awesome. Like so awesome that I thought I was the bomb-diggity. Alas, I am not. I was in the mind set that I could tackle any project and have it be a success. Well let me tell you, I have attacked two pretty awesome projects and they ended up being... not awesome. In fact, they were complete failures. Until I turned my frown upside down and got creative!

My original project was to make a maxi dress. Yep, this was the most embarassing one of all. So I was at Jo-Ann's with my 40% off coupon, and picked up some friggin sweet polyester/rayon stretchy t-shirt fabric for like $16. I had this awesome idea for a maxi dress, and as the project continued, it looked like CRAP. Seriously, I tried it on in front of my husband, and was literally embarassed. Which is saying something, because I've done some pretty stupid stuff in front of him! Anyway, I ended up tearing apart the entire thing and made a vest out of it... Here it is!

So I looked online for any instructions on how to make a DIY scarf vest, and it pulled up all these crazy tutorials with angles, and cutting, and surgers... not exactly my cup of tea. I need something simple and something fast. Soooo, I basically modified one tutorial I found, and it's SUPER easy!

All you do is get yourself ( roughly) one square yard of stretchy fabric. Mine was a poly rayon blend.

Okay, take your square and fold it in half. Next you are going to cut slits for your arms. Along the folded side, measure about 6 inches in, and then 6 inches down. This will be where you start the top of the slit. 

(If you have broader shoulders, you can bring it out a little further. I am rather narrow, so I only did about 5 inches. )

Now, you are going to make a vertical cut about 6-7 inches. Unfold it, and BOOM, you're done. You have a totally sweet scarf vest!

Here's what to do if you want to go the extra mile and make a tie for it. All you do is try on your vest and find where on your waist you'd like the belt to sit. Fold it in half again, and measure in about 9 inches from where you've marked it. Cut two 2 inch vertical slits, or wider if you already have a waist belt you'd like to use. If not, just take a long strip of fabric and slide it though your belt loops!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy right?! I love it when I can take a crap project and either salvage it or make it something completely different. Isn't it the pits when you just completely fail? Have you ever had a project that you thought was going to be dreamy and ended up being awful? Were you able to redeem it and make it awesome?

Here is a sneak peek of me trying to dye some fabric ombré style! Full tutorial coming soon!

Creative Escape 2011

You guys. I just had one of the most fun weekends of my crafting life!!! I had the amazing opprotunity to attend Creative Escape 2011 with one of my BFFF's Hillary! If you don't know what Creative Escape is, it's a conference where you are able to attend different classes everyday, and make awesome scrapbook projects! It's idea was pitched 6 years ago to Doug Jones the owner of Bazzill Basics Paper, by scrapbooker Heidi Swapp. (Just wanna say that I personally know Heidi... used to babysit her kids and everything.) Anyway, my mother has attended Creative Escape a few times and I always wondered why she was gone for 3 days, and then came back with crap loads of scrapbooking stuff. Well now I know... because it's freaking AMAZING!

 

You would not believe how many smart and talented women attend and teach for this thing, and I was lucky enough to MEET them! Women fly in from all over the world to let their creative juices flow and be able to partake of the inspiration Creative Escape gives. The theme of this year's Escape was "Create to Remember." When Heidi gave the keynote speech last night, she explained that when we create something around a memory, it's far easier to remember. With scrapbooking, you are taking these moments and making them sparkly and decorative... we do this because they are WORTH remembering. It completely made me realize that I need to start scrapbooking A LOT more!

Here are some photos of the greatness:

 

"Welcome" Sign Class -- taught by Heidi Lynn Schreiber

 

Oh... there's Heidi, who is also Hill's sister. We had a good time goofing around in her class... and making hilarious comments.

 

We won this cupcake in a jar in her class, which totally was a dream, and devoured within about 1.5 minutes.

 

She also made this lamp... I was jealous.

 

Memory Book Class -- taught by Amy Totty

 Amy also had these books on display in her class. So talented!

Oh, and she made this lamp too. Obsessed. 

 Gettin' my tan on at the pool

 Amy Totty handed these to Hill and I just before her class started... we had way too much fun.

 Hills and I not taking anything seriously.

And some dessert on the last night (which wasn't that great =/) and a little goody about Heidi Swapp.

Needless to say, I had a blast! It was so fun to be creative and meet those women, but most of all to spend some time with Hillary. We laughed so flippin' hard the whole time, and I want to publicly thank her and her family for inviting me to attend.

On a different note, I'm excited to inform you that I have quite a few new projects coming up. They include: pillows, ombre dying, doileys, and Halloween decor. Get excited.

MIA

I haven't blogged in close to 2.5 weeks. I have felt SO empty! I'm sorry I haven't provided any updates either. I feel really really lame!

Here's why:

So the first weekend of August was actually our first vacation of the summer. The husband and I planned a trip up to the mountains with some friends for the weekend, so we headed up to Fossil Springs in Strawberry. The day we got there we hiked down to where the falls are. Well, there were a lot of people there, and by a lot of people, I mean a lot of drunk people. Anyway, my husband was standing on the edge of the huge pool, and underneath some cliffs. Some kids were having a little too much fun on the rope swing, and shook some rocks loose on the way down. Ben just so happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and took a boulder (the size of a couch pillow) to the head. He was carried up the trail, took an ambulance to the small neighboring town, and air-vacced to Scottsdale. He had emergency surgery to repair severe lacerations to his head, and we later found that 4 of his thoracic vertebrae had been fractured. We spent 3 sleepless nights in the hospital.
It's amazing he wasn't killed or paralyzed, or has any damage at all to his brain. He is currently in a brace and will be for 2 more months. The staples in his head come out in a few days.

That being said, I spent a lot of time in the hospital doing NOTHING! The only thing I have "crafted" was putting the pads on the plastic part of his brace correctly. However, I spent a lot of time blog hopping and wasting WAY too much time on Pinterest. Do you have a Pinterest account? If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up... it is so choice. (Ferris Bueller anyone?) Since being home, I've been working like crazy (since he can't) and putting all of my time and effort into making sure he's taken care of. Things are starting to wind down, so there will be new projects soon!

Here are some cute ideas I came across while "pinnng" and blog hopping!

Thumb tack vase fillers
found on

www.landeeseelandeedo.blogspot.com

A fancified baby onesie... I'm a sucker for baby stuff.

found on

www.acoupleofcraftaddicts.blogspot.com

Curtain rods hung from the ceiling to create a canopy bed

found on

www.dressdesigndecor.blogspot.com

 

Cute Cute Cute reclaimed wood art

found on

www.cornerhouseblog.com

 

Freakin AWESOME zebra rug

found on

www.vintagerevivals.blogspot.com

 

Stenciled and Painted Pillows

found on

www.tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com

 

Family Sign

found on

www.jmbredsguardfamily.blogspot.com

SUPER cute stuff, huh? I love it all. Anyway, Halloween is coming up!! Yay! It's like my favorite holiday after Christmas. I still make my husband dress up with me. Anyway, keep an eye out for new posts featuring some fun Halloween Decor!

Oh, and my birthday is tomorrow, the 24th. Is it sad that I'm not even excited? 22 seems so lame... Who knows though? Maybe it'll be the best year of my life!