Quick & Easy Batman Costume

Just in time for Halloween, the quickest and easiest Batman (or Batgirl) costume.

What you'll need:

• Computer and printer
• Scissors
• A black shirt of any type
• Yellow chalk

To make the matching mask you'll need black felt and some elastic or ribbon, preferably black. I used a sewing machine but it could be sewn by hand as well.

I googled "batman mask template" and came across this one from Laura's Crafty Life.com.
I corrected the size to fit my particular superhero (I used the same template for the mask) and hit print.

Next I simply held the cut out on the shirt and used yellow chalk to outline it in bright streaks moving outward from the paper to the fabric.

Be sure to spray with an ample amount of hairspray to set the chalk.

Let the hairspray dry before pulling on the shirt.

  Nothing to it!

MASK:

The mask is slightly more complicated. I used the same template for both projects. I used the chalk exactly as I did to make the symbol on the shirt only this time I used black felt. 

Make two of these, pin them back to back and sew around all the edges.

Add some ribbon or elastic to complete your mask.

To the Batmobile!

Simple Art To Match Anything - Part 2

As promised: New bed, new bedspread, new canvas.

Very similar to the last post with a few things I learned along the way.

The first step was to take a photo of the pattern.

I decided I liked the white space above the flowers and decided that this would be my square to duplicate.










I used Paint to divide the photo into 4 separate files.

Next I printed them each on a separate piece of paper.
(See, I did learn something.)










All four pieces should fit together on the canvas.

I used carbon paper behind each piece as I did the first time.







Things were much easier to line up with the four separate pieces of paper

I purchased a new paintbrush that made the whole process much, much easier.

 I added some colour to highlight the flower cushion. It was somewhat successful.

Ready to hang!

Simple Art To Match Anything

After taking a photo of my bedspread (any pattern or design that stands out in any room will work), I painted a matching piece of art. This was supposed to be a rough draft of sorts since I don`t paint...at all...but before I finished working on it I purchased a new bed and needed a new comforter. I plan to do something similar with the new comforter but maybe bigger
and with some added colour.

To make the pattern for the canvas I took a photo of a part of the comforter.







I decided to invert the colours (I used Paint) so that I was painting the pattern and not the background. It`s an option but not a necessity of course.

Annnd print! 

I was tempted to take the printed sheet and stick it in a black frame and call it a day.

These are the materials I used. The smaller the 

paintbrush the better when painting in small details. 

I purchased the carbon paper from Staples for less 

than $3.00 and I have lots left for my next project.

Next I taped my print to the carbon paper and taped the whole thing to the canvas.

I used the other end of a paintbrush to trace the design onto the canvas. It was a bit tedious. 

I would suggest printing off extra copies and lining up the pattern and adding the carbon paper to the whole thing so that you don`t have to move it around. My pattern didn't quite match up and I ended up with a gap.

All the tracing is completed and we're ready to start painting.

 

Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. Great art is never perfect.

DIY Laundry Sorter

Dark, lights, colours, delicates, underwear, that red sweater aunt Marta gave you that sheds on everything. Laundry deserves an organization system too!

I tried to solve my laundry sorting problems by purchasing a laundry sorter. As soon as I got it home I realized it took up too much space, and besides, it looked like I had three burlap sacks hanging out in the corner of my room.
 

 
Finally I came up with a simple solution, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.


I used my old laundry hamper (he lost his handles sometimes around move number three), a couple of wooden dowels, some large pins and a couple of worn pillow cases.









I picked these pins up at Walmart for pretty cheap. They're actually nail-on furniture glides, so they're very durable.  Push a pin through each side of the hamper where you would like to place a divider.

I left space between my dividers for another small bag of delicates or anything else that needs to be separated from darks and lights.

I bought one dowel and cut it to fit my hamper.
Push a pin into your dowel. The easy way to do this is to make a small indentation in the dowel with the pin then place the pin (head down) on the floor and hammer your dowel onto it.






Cut square holes on the inside of your pillow cases near the top. One hole should be near the seam and the other should be far enough away to cover your dowel. It's best to cut one hole and then size up your hamper before you cut the other hole - you'll want to have enough to fold over the sides of your hamper.


Once you've made the second hole you can put the dowel through the pillowcase and push the pins into each side.

Pull the rest of the pillow case over the sides of your hamper.

Repeat for the other pillowcase.

I like to secure my pillowcases with a binder clip just to keep everything neat and tidy.

 The pillow cases can easily be removed by slipping them off from one side

(makes a great laundry bag).

There you go! 

Darks on the right and lights on the left and space in the middle for delicates.

DIY Rag Rug

This is a great way to upcycle your old bedsheets. 

This is a pretty easy project. All you need are some old bed sheets and a needle and thread.

Begin by cutting your old bed sheets into 2 inch strips.  If I had my time back I would have used three colours so that the braided pattern would be more obvious. Maybe next time.

When you've cut all your sheets into strips you should have a pretty big pile. Now it's time to start braiding. 

Pin three of your strips together and anchor them to your sewing machine...or perhaps something facing your television. As you braid be sure to keep your material flat, you don't want it twisting around.

Of course, you'll want to add more strips as you go.

This part is a little bit complicated to explain but once you've done it, it's really quite simple. 

When you come to the end of a strip, make a slit in the old strip and the new strip.

Feed your new piece of material (navy) up through the first strip (white).

Next, pull the end of the new strip through the slip in the top.

When you pull them tight you should have something like this.

Continue braiding, adding strips as you go.
Eventually you'll have a long, long braid. 
It's best to roll this into a ball.
 

Now you're reading to start sewing!
I sewed mine by hand and it was rather time consuming. Next time I'll be using the machine. Other bloggers have suggested using a zigzag stitch with a medium stitch length.



 


 
Here are my stitches on the back of the rug. Sewing by hand does ensure that there are no stitches seen on the front of the rug.


 


If you want a round rug you can begin by forming a small circle and adding to it. If you prefer an oval rug it's best to lay a long line of braid and go around it (clockwise is best).
Keep sewing around keeping your rug on a flat surface to keep it from forming an odd shape.

 

 After that you just repeat! 

I pinned before sewing just to keep everything together.

 


When you've used up all of your braided material you can just sew the ends together, tuck them into your braided rug. 

The finished product!

 

DIY Closet Door Plaid

Every now and then we all get tired of waking up and staring at the same white block of space in front of us. For me, the first thing I see is more of a white blur but either way, I was tired of looking at it. I figured the outside of my closet should reflect the clothing inside - eclectic and colourful.

On a side note, the colour scheme for this project actually came from a prom dress I saw way back when. It was white with pastel colours running through it. I couldn't find a picture so you'll just have to use your imagination.

I started by sketching what I wanted so that I could see how the colours and angles worked best together.

These are the materials you'll need. I used acrylics because they're great on wood.
You can choose colours that compliment and brighten your room.

I used painting tape to lay out where I would paint...and added tabs for each colour.

The overlapping parts can prove to be a little tricky, I put my tape on and
then removed it after adding the stripe that would cross over on top of it.

Two coats. I did one coat and let it dry then added another.
You can see that the pink still needs some work.

After removing the tape I was left with gaps that had to be filled in.

I added tape (be sure to keep the tape on the same angle as the original strip)
and covered the stripe with tape as well to avoid any overlap of colours.

I only used one layer of paint for the gaps and it seemed to work out alright,
just be sure not to spread your paint too thin.

The finished product. A simple way to brighten any space.
Can be used any door or even a wall. I decided to leave the other door plain
just because I didn't want the colours to be overwhelming.