Painted Dish Towels

Like usual,  I want a custom look at a cheap price and painting fabric is a good solution.

Tools & supplies:
sack cloth dish towels (I got mine at Target)
acrylic paint (I like Martha Stewarts)
fabric painting medium (comes in a bottle, like the paint)
tape (masking or painting)
paper plate
stencil
round sponge brush
iron
Pandora station: Amos Lee

1 - I made my stencil using a coated piece of cardboard, like a cereal box. It worked fine for the first color, but it was starting to get a little mushy, so then I taped it w/ painter's tape and made sure the paint dried on in between each color.

2 - Wash and iron the sack cloths.  Then tape one down onto some layers of newspaper.  Taping the cloths down keeps them from shifting.

3 - Place your stencil on the cloth, where you want it.  I used the bottom of the stencil and lined it up with the bottom of the cloth.

4 - Squirt some paint onto a paper plate, I mixed a couple of colors together to get the different colors I wanted.  Then squirt in the fabric medium, see the instructions on the container to see the ratio. It doesn't need to be exact.

5 - Using the round stencil sponge brush, hold the stencil with one hand, and then paint with the other.  Don't get the brush too full of paint.

6 - Move the stencil if you need to and paint again.

7 - Carefully remove the tape from the cloth and hang the cloth to dry, the instructions say to dry for up to two days, but in this Arizona heat, I dried them for about four hours outside on a clothesline.

8 - Follow the instructions on the fabric medium to see how long to heat set the paint with an iron, as well as to wash them again.

That's it!

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Easy dipped utensil cans

We got some cheap pack of wooden utensil at Ikea, then picked up some paint from Ace. Zoe and I dipped the utensils in the paint and then hung them from the clothesline with newspaper underneath. We occasionally brushed off the drips at the bottom of the utensils so that stalactites (not stalagmites) wouldn't form at the tips.  We just used painter tape to tape off the rings around the cans. Cheap and cute.

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Nesting again...

It's summer time, which means I have a break from teaching. So Zoe and I spend some time getting her college apartment fancied up.  As you can see in my previous posts, we go to great lengths to give her dorm special touches. Its a way for me to "nest" again, so I take full advantage of it.  This year she is moving into an on-campus apartment, so she will have a living room, kitchen, and her own bedroom/bathroom, with one roommate with her own bedroom/bathroom. The apartment is brand new, with stainless appliances and marble counters, and furnished, though we are negotiating that so we can try out making a palette couch. It's located on a new part of campus, which is mixed-use.  She is on the 3rd floor above two restaurants: Zaza's (gourmet pizza & bar) and Panera (chain fancy bread/sandwich shop).  Here is a couple of things I made: potholders & rags. I was inspired by http://gingercake.typepad.com/gingercake/2012/05/piped-pot-holders-tutorial.html to make the potholders, only instead of two fabric layers around a heat resistant batting, I used one layer of fabric, on top of a ironing board batting, easier. Here are some pictures:

I also made some rags. I bought microfiber towels at Big Lots, and then I had some old tie dyed fabric and just serged the two together. I also just sewed together the dyed fabric to old t-shirts.

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Bracelets a plenty

I have been having fun making bracelets, because the possibilities are endless!  Here are some that Zoe and I made.

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Catchin' Up!

Sorry I am behind on some posts, but I have been busy with end-of-school activities, Zoe coming home for the summer and general life distractions.  Anyway, I have had some time this last week to finally put in a peg board to help me keep my craft stuff organized," a place for everything and everything in it's place" certainly helps me keep things tidy.  Now I need to tackle my clothes closet where I have too much of everything and not enough places.

Love the helpers at Ace hardware.  FYI - They sell empty paint cans, which are a quick way to organize.

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