Crocheted Creation - Star Blanket

So, a couple years ago, I found the cutest star blanket pattern ever! I loved it! And then I made it. And either the pattern never told me to decrease even time you're in the middle or something, but it was a messed up dead starfish creation. I had my cats sleep on it. And was very ashamed.

But alas, one must move on and try to improve! So I found a non-granny-square-like version of it, called "Beth's Little Star Afghan". A little harder to start off, but my GOODNESS did I like the results! But the cats already had their shameful dead sea star, so I made this one for a friend back up in DC who has what one might called, oh, an OBSESSION for objects with five points.

Tada! (please don't mind the fact that the points are cut off. Turns out I was wobbly standing on another part of the couch. Whoops? Alas, it still makes me smile so shush)

Yay! A star shape! A pretty star shape that I wish gave magical powers like in Mario and came with reallllly fast music when you touched/magically absorbed it into your skin! Alas, just a regular star shaped blanket. I'm pretty sure SHE used this as a blanket for her kitties too! (loves stars and cats, she's pretty awesome).

So even, after washing the shameful blanket enough, I REALLY needed to make a new one. I had used different scrap yarn, so the orange got realllly poofy, the blue looked withered... it was just bad. So I decided it was time to make the kittehs a special, actually from the heart and not from shame star blanket. And how I LOVE it! Even though it doesn't match the decor in the living room at all (eventually I'll make it ALL work), I love love LOVE the colors I chose. I wash it with the lights every week to keep it clean for kittehs, and they love to sleep on it! So alas, a kitteh and blanket montage for your entertainment...

The finished project! Yay!

Peaches kept bugging me to finish it already!

Gizmo's favorite spot to look cute while she's plotting evil schemes with her mustache.

Cuteness, right? 

Next up: well for the star, one to match the decor or one for a baby shower or something. Besides that, I'm working on Christmas Stockings right now! So I'll post about the diaper bag awesomeness for a great friend I already miss dearly, then eventually the hilariousness that will be stockings when I've never made them before and half the pattern has me going, "Ahhh, what? Isn't this supposed to be on the easy scale?!"

-Em-

DIY Creation 2 - Entertainment Center

A friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook of an old dresser she and her husband transformed into an extertainment center. So clearly I wanted to try! We needed something bigger for our TV anyway, so it was worth the shot! Here's the original dresser:

We took out the top drawers (that look like two drawers, but it's really one!) to start. Bought primer, paint, paint brushes, rollers, tarps, all that good redecorating stuff! We also had to buy a piece of plywood to put on the top of the middle drawers. After a couple coats of primer, paint, and painfully waiting almost a week to make sure it's REALLY dry, it was almost ready! Just one more step... drawer liners! With a little wrapping paper and TONS of Modge Podge, I had beautifully lined drawers! Slightly crooked since everything was too big and some were tilted, but hey, they're closed most of the time. :-p Here is the finished project, followed by what it looks like in action!

Open...

Closed...

In action! We LOVE it!

DIY Creation 1 - Bottle Cap Trays

I have taken a new fancy to not just looking through Pinterest items and dreaming of what I could do with random items in my home, but actually completing some items! This first post is for my bottle cap trays, which Pinterest and other crafty ladies had nothing to do with, actually! 

I was beginning to notice that the wooden trays I purchased at Target a couple years ago had taken a beating. Water stains, other random marks and scrapes. So I decided it was time to fix these with my Crazy Pack Rat Lady amount of beer bottle caps we had. The first one has our last initial at the focal point... in my hubby's favorite beer, of course :)

The next one is much more recent. After making some AWESOME patriotic place settings, I was inspired with my next creation! Why not do a FLAG?! So I did :)

The first time I had the "D" in there, I didn't glue each bottle cap in place. Bad idea. It looked just weird after a few months. So I redid it, just did a little bit of Elmer's in between the caps as I laid them down, and now they're stuck there! The tops are just thick plexiglass we got cut to size at Lowe's epoxied on the sides to seal it in! Here they are together (haha one with flash, one without, couldn't decide which I liked the best!)