Z is for Zebra

We made it! Today is the last day of the 2015 Blogging from A to Z in April Challenge. It's day Z!

It's been a whirlwind of a month and I've read a lot of blog posts, but I'll be taking May and June to get around to blogs on the list that I haven't visited. During the challenge, I've probably read over 2000 posts just from A to Z bloggers. That's a lot of reading. But it's really been a fun time. I've met a few new friends as well, so that's always worth it.

Today, I'm sharing the Zebra Hobby Horse I made for my nephew's 2nd birthday earlier this month.

To make this baby you'll need felt in black and white, a wooden dowel for your stick, some buttons for the eyes, some scissors, some fiberfil stuffing, and a sewing machine.

I made my pattern by modifying the one from over at Lia Griffith's blog. I liked her general idea, but I wanted a larger head for my zebra.

Even with my enlarged pattern, I still wanted more space. I cut a generalized shape for the head that was about an inch larger all the way around and then fine tuned it.

I cut out a total of two head pieces and two ear pieces. You could cut out four ear pieces and make stuffed ears if you like, but I liked the looks of these ones. I cut everything with pinking shears just because I liked the look. Nothing fancy.

I then cut out my stripes from the white felt, as well as 3 x 12" strip each of white and black felt to make my mane.

I used scissors to give myself a nice fringed mane and then weaved the black and white strips around each other to add dimension and break up the colors.

I pinned on my stripes and added some white felt centers to the ears.

All pieces got their individual stitches. All stitching (except for the mane) was zigzag stitching (another Z word!). Again...just because I liked it.

I pinned an ear on each head piece and marked the locations for the eyes as well as a general idea of where my mane would start and end. I stitched across the bottom edges of my ears once they were folded and pinned to the head.

I lined the mane up and sandwiched it between the two head pieces. I then sewed down the edges all the way around, leaving the bottom open.

With my zebra all put together, I started stuffing him with fiberfil until he was nice and plump. It took a lot of working down the nose to get the face right before I could get the rest of the head and neck ready to go.

The trick was trying to make sure that both sides of the nose and both cheeks were in the same positions - otherwise my poor zebra would be lopsided.

The ears didn't lay quite where I wanted them to after stuffing, so I hand stitched them for positioning. Probably not a bad idea anyway since I'm sure they'll get some good tugging.

Next was adding the dowel. I tried using the glue gun method, but it was just messy and not helpful. Instead, I used it just enough to gum up the insides and get the dowel attached to the fiber fill inside. That will prevent the dowel from simply sliding back away from the head. I then stitched across the bottom of the head piece to tighten and secure the dowel.

Lastly, I added his eyes and a blue ribbon around his neck to cover up his surgery.

He's all ready for a ride around the Serengeti. I like how he turned out, but next time I think I'm going to shorten the dowel by about 6". It's just a bit too long for the younger kids.

And there you have it! Blogging from A to Z. Amazing. It really is a fun event, it's just exhausting. I did a better job at being prepared this year, but I still have room for improvement for 2016.

And now...well...now I'm going to take a small break and be happy that I don't have to do a post for tomorrow. I'm going to do some blog reading for the next few days and then I'll be back for more fun. 

Mother's Day is coming up, so I have projects to work on. I also still have a few UFOs (unfinished objects) that could use a little of my time. And then there's the matter of the sewing room. It's a bit of a disaster at the moment. It could probably stand a little touch up...

Thank you SO MUCH to those of you who joined me for A to Z. It's been a blast! I look forward to doing it all again next year!


Miss any of my A to Z posts so far this year? Find them below...

1. A is for Anna (Easy Anna Cape)
2. B is for Bath (Appliqued Bath Mat)
3. C is for Child (Children's Growth Ruler)
4. D is for Denim (Denim Bib)
5. E is for Etch (Etched Casserole Dishes)
6. F is for Felt (Felt Hopscotch Mat)
7. G is for Good Night ("Good Night" Envelope Pillows)
8. H is for Hood (Easy Hooded Towel)
9. I is for Insulated (Insulated Beverage Cozies)
10. J is for Jumper (Embroidered Spring Jumper)
11. K is for Know (Know When to Hold 'Em/Fold 'Em Laundry Sign)
12. L is for Loveseat (Envelope Loveseat Pillows)
13. M is for Mittens (Fleece Baby Mittens)
14. N is for Ninja Turtle (Felt Ninja Turtle)
15. O is for Owl (Owl Stuffies)
16. P is for Princess (Princess Peg Dolls)
17. Q is for Quilt (Moustache Quilt)
18. R is for Reading (Appliqued Reading Pillow)
19. S is for Superheroes (Superhero Peg Dolls)
20. T is for Tumblers (Custom Etched Barware)
21. U is for Upcycled (Little Kitchen)
22. V is for Vinyl (Vinyl Pallet Art)
23. W is for Whipped (Wild Orange Whipped Body Butter)
24. X is for Xtra (Play Kitchen Accessories)
25. Y is for You (You Are My Sunshine Nursery Decor)

Are you visiting from A to Z?

Be sure to leave me a comment (including your blog link) so I can come over and return the favor!

W is for Whipped

It's the last week of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge! This week, we take on the toughest set of letters... W through Z. Today is letter W and I'm doubling it up with Wild Orange Whipped Cocoa Body Butter.

Homemade gifts are becoming more and more popular and it's always nice to have a spa product for yourself. I've assembled more than one Pinterest board for making homemade items including soaps, body scrubs, and of course body butters.

There are a lot of different recipes for body butter out there. While I liked the scent used by Amy over at The Idea Room (and her labels), I actually fabricated my body butter based upon merging a few of the different recipes from my pin boards.

I started out by purchasing some 4 oz. Bell jars. The rest of my supplies came from Bulk Apothecary.

Ingredients:

1 cup Raw Cocoa Butter
1/2 cup Coconut Oil
15 drops Wild Orange Essential Oil (use more or less as you see fit to get the strength of smell you want)

When you get ready to put this together, your cocoa butter will be a solid brick. That doesn't mix well. Measure out what you need and then pop it in the microwave for a quick 10-15 seconds, just enough to soften it up, but not so much that it completely melts into liquid.

I blended my ingredients in my mixer and made a serious mess. Not kidding. It was a greasy, sticky debacle. But my hands were super soft when I was all done.

The goop was transferred into jars and sealed up. As it sets, the mixture will harden again. If it's too hard when you're ready to use it, just pop it back in the microwave for about 10 seconds and it will be ready to roll again.

It doesn't take much for this body butter to go a long way. It's a slightly greasy application, but it does soak into skin pretty quickly. Afterwards, your skin will be nice and silky and smell like delicious chocolate oranges. You could probably eat this if you really wanted to, but I'm pretty sure it smells better than it tastes.

A jar of this will last a long time, but may start getting bacterial growth (due to bacteria from your hands as you scoop it out) after 3-4 months. Periodically zapping it in the microwave will extend its life as you kill off some of that bacteria.

Miss any of my A to Z posts so far this year? Find them below...

1. A is for Anna (Easy Anna Cape)
2. B is for Bath (Appliqued Bath Mat)
3. C is for Child (Children's Growth Ruler)
4. D is for Denim (Denim Bib)
5. E is for Etch (Etched Casserole Dishes)
6. F is for Felt (Felt Hopscotch Mat)
7. G is for Good Night ("Good Night" Envelope Pillows)
8. H is for Hood (Easy Hooded Towel)
9. I is for Insulated (Insulated Beverage Cozies)
10. J is for Jumper (Embroidered Spring Jumper)
11. K is for Know (Know When to Hold 'Em/Fold 'Em Laundry Sign)
12. L is for Loveseat (Envelope Loveseat Pillows)
13. M is for Mittens (Fleece Baby Mittens)
14. N is for Ninja Turtle (Felt Ninja Turtle)
15. O is for Owl (Owl Stuffies)
16. P is for Princess (Princess Peg Dolls)
17. Q is for Quilt (Moustache Quilt)
18. R is for Reading (Appliqued Reading Pillow)
19. S is for Superheroes (Superhero Peg Dolls)
20. T is for Tumblers (Custom Etched Barware)
21. U is for Upcycled (Little Kitchen)
22. V is for Vinyl (Vinyl Pallet Art)

Are you visiting from A to Z?

Be sure to leave me a comment (including your blog link) so I can come over and return the favor!

Tomorrow is the toughest letter in the alphabet...X...where I get a little creative with my word usage.

V is for Vinyl

This has been one crazy week! I'm pretty sure it was just one long string of Mondays. I'm so glad it's done. Of course, I work an alternating schedule that affords me one 2-day weekend followed by a 5-day weekend and...guess which side of the rotation this weekend falls on? Blerg. Back to work on Monday.

Luckily, this weekend will bring a little bit of fun back into view (hopefully). Today I'm sharing one of my favorite three projects for the 2015 Blogging from A to Z Challenge. I'm also participating in Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon (which starts at 6 a.m. local time).

Today is V day, not to be confused with Valentine's Day. Today I'm featuring my Vinyl Pallet Art - a wall decoration that Collin & I made for my sister-in-law and her family for Christmas. This one was really fun to do and I think it turned out pretty well.

Ready to see how we made it?

We started out with a pretty dirty and worn pallet that we gathered up for free from a friend. Collin tore the pallet apart so that we had some individual slats to deal with.

He built me a solid rectangle out of four of the slats by using two of the other pallet pieces as vertical stabilizing pieces on the back. I stained the whole thing in the same MinWax Wood Finish stain (Provincial 211) that I used for the Children's Growth Rulers.

Once the basic construction was done, I started adding on the decor. I cut out my vinyl using my Pazzle and transferred the individual letters with transfer tape to keep everything appropriately in line.

I used indoor vinyl. It was okay, but for any future projects I'll be using outdoor vinyl. The indoor is just a little extra temperamental and struggles a little bit with uneven textures like that of the wood.

I pushed the letters down pretty hard and made sure everything was smoothed out so that any bubbling up would be minimal.

Once the letters were all on, I added my photos. I added a 5x7 of each of the girls and an 8x10 shot of their entire family. These were ModPodged to attach and then both the photos and the lettering got a ModPodge coating.

I let the initial Mod Podge layer dry and then did a second layer over the entire face of the pallet. We put some photo hangers on the back and it now hangs on their family room wall.

Not bad for an old, ugly pallet, right?

I can't believe we're almost finished with A to Z! This month has gone by in a flash. I have some work to get done before Monday since I've totally procrastinated on a few of the last letters, but I'll be back with letters W through Z then.

In the meantime, I'll be posting about my Dewey's progress in an additional set of postings over the 24 hours of the read-a-thon. If you're a reader, feel free to join in! There aren't any set rules, it's just a social event wherein you get some reading done at your own pace. There are also mini-challenges and chats and it's a good excuse to cozy up with a book and some junk food. I'm ready to get my read on!

Miss any of my A to Z posts so far this year? Find them below...

1. A is for Anna (Easy Anna Cape)
2. B is for Bath (Appliqued Bath Mat)
3. C is for Child (Children's Growth Ruler)
4. D is for Denim (Denim Bib)
5. E is for Etch (Etched Casserole Dishes)
6. F is for Felt (Felt Hopscotch Mat)
7. G is for Good Night ("Good Night" Envelope Pillows)
8. H is for Hood (Easy Hooded Towel)
9. I is for Insulated (Insulated Beverage Cozies)
10. J is for Jumper (Embroidered Spring Jumper)
11. K is for Know (Know When to Hold 'Em/Fold 'Em Laundry Sign)
12. L is for Loveseat (Envelope Loveseat Pillows)
13. M is for Mittens (Fleece Baby Mittens)
14. N is for Ninja Turtle (Felt Ninja Turtle)
15. O is for Owl (Owl Stuffies)
16. P is for Princess (Princess Peg Dolls)
17. Q is for Quilt (Moustache Quilt)
18. R is for Reading (Appliqued Reading Pillow)
19. S is for Superheroes (Superhero Peg Dolls)
20. T is for Tumblers (Custom Etched Barware)
21. U is for Upcycled (Little Kitchen)

Are you visiting from A to Z?

Be sure to leave me a comment (including your blog link) so I can come over and return the favor!

U is for Upcycled

I mentioned yesterday that today's post for the A to Z Challenge would be a bit of a cheat. But I also promised it would be a good one.

It's been a really rough week full of Mondays and we have a lot going on around here so my planned project for U just didn't happen. Luckily, I had this little gem from last year that I was able to bring out just in time.

Today, U is for upcycled. It's a kiddie kitchenette upcycled from an old entertainment center. (I suppose technically, it's also an upcycled post...upcycled from 2014's L post to 2015's U post.)

I was going to put the effort in and restructure the post for this year, but I'm wiped. I'm taking the mulligan on this one and hoping my energy returns for tomorrow's post. Luckily, that one has been long done and just needs a post written around the photos. Until then...here's my awesome cheat project.

Okay...this has to be one of my most favorite projects ever. I loved this one. It took FOR-E-VER, but I loved it. Even better? I made the whole thing for about $40. Yup...$40.

It all started when I found this entertainment unit at a thrift store for $20. It had some issues, but I knew I wanted it. You see...I had seen things on Pinterest. Ah, it's always the Pinterest.

I saw this picture of a little nightstand turned into a kitchen and I was hooked.

It took some work, but I tracked this down to the original designer.
It was made by Miranda Walker over at Narrating Life.

With the mental images of all the possibilities tumbling through my head, I moved forward like a woman possessed. I was obsessed with this project. 

I had decided to make it for Miss Marley for her 2nd birthday. And that was it. It was time to get to work.

I picked out my paint colors, wanting something bright and cheerful. I wound up selecting Iris Plum and Tropical Green from the Clark & Kensington series.

I happened upon a commercial for ACE Hardware just about the time I was getting ready to start this project. You see, Clark & Kensington does a promotion about twice a year where you can get free paint. Yes...FREE. So I was able to get a sample quart of each color for my project. Cost = $0. Awesome.

And then the dismantling began. I drew up some loose plans and removed non-frame pieces from the original cabinet. All of the hardware, doors, and shelving came off. Then I sanded all the things. So. Much. Sanding. It was everywhere.

Collin helped me out here and we cut a section out to fit the "sink". The sink is actually a metal mixing bowl that I got from another thrift store for all of $0.50. The sink was fitted and attached with epoxy.

I started painting. I had gone back and forth with where I wanted the green and where I wanted the purple. In the end, I just flew by the seat of my pants. Oh...and don't mind the messy garage in these photos.

Doors got painted green and cabinets started getting attached.

I discarded the original glass door and instead sectioned a shelf to create a fridge and freezer. They open separately. The handles I got in a bag of about ten from a thrift store for $2.

I sliced another door in half so that I had a microwave and used a separate shelf to create an oven. These pieces were painted black and then had a screen area of gray painted on. I also made the buttons. I used my printer to make these on photo paper, printed them, cut them out, adhered them with my sticker maker and then Mod Podged the crap out of them. LOTS of painting and coating was involved in this step.

I wanted everything decorated and homey. I got more kitchen parts from the thrift store (a faucet, some stove knobs, a towel rack) and then added a leftover dowel from one of our upstairs closets and a set of small hooks that I had from who knows where. The faucet knobs and the stove top knobs all turn.

The stove is my least favorite part, but it turned out okay. I painted a square section white and then added black spirals for the burners.

I found some cute fabric on sale at JoAnn Fabric and sewed myself some curtains and a dish towel.

This piece was a somewhat last minute add on. The piece that I used for a set of standing shelves was actually a media divider in the bottom drawer of the original unit. I bolted this to the side of my kitchen and created a chalkboard above it using black chalkboard paint.

Hinges were added to the microwave, the door below the microwave, and the oven. Handles were added to the microwave and oven doors.

And then we delivered the kitchen to Miss Marley on her birthday. Her favorite part was the buttons on the microwave. She sat there for at least five minutes saying "beep, boop, beep" and punching buttons.

(2015 Note: Miss Marley is now 4 and her little brother is the age she was when we took these pictures. She's still adorable, just sassier.)

She quickly busted out her grocery cart and supplies and stocked her kitchen. She loved that the knobs turned.

She set to work making meals for everyone there.

I was super glad to finally have the project finished after months of work and I was even happier that she loved it so much.

Cost:

Unit: $20
Paint: $0
"Sink": $0.50
Door Handles: $2 (with a pile to spare)
Oven Handle: $2
Stove Knobs: $1
Faucet: $3
Towel Rack: $1
Fabric: $3 (with about 1/2 yard to spare)
Chalkboard Paint: $2
Hinges: $5

Total Cost: $39.50. Boom! Under $40. Not. Too. Shabby. And I still love it oh so much.

Miss any of my A to Z posts so far this year? Find them below...

1. A is for Anna (Easy Anna Cape)
2. B is for Bath (Appliqued Bath Mat)
3. C is for Child (Children's Growth Ruler)
4. D is for Denim (Denim Bib)
5. E is for Etch (Etched Casserole Dishes)
6. F is for Felt (Felt Hopscotch Mat)
7. G is for Good Night ("Good Night" Envelope Pillows)
8. H is for Hood (Easy Hooded Towel)
9. I is for Insulated (Insulated Beverage Cozies)
10. J is for Jumper (Embroidered Spring Jumper)
11. K is for Know (Know When to Hold 'Em/Fold 'Em Laundry Sign)
12. L is for Loveseat (Envelope Loveseat Pillows)
13. M is for Mittens (Fleece Baby Mittens)
14. N is for Ninja Turtle (Felt Ninja Turtle)
15. O is for Owl (Owl Stuffies)
16. P is for Princess (Princess Peg Dolls)
17. Q is for Quilt (Moustache Quilt)
18. R is for Reading (Appliqued Reading Pillow)
19. S is for Superheroes (Superhero Peg Dolls)
20. T is for Tumblers (Custom Etched Barware)

Are you visiting from A to Z?

Be sure to leave me a comment (including your blog link) so I can come over and return the favor!

S is for Superheroes

Today is S day in the 2015 Blogging from A to Z in April Challenge and it's one of my favorite three projects of the challenge! At EPJ, S is for superhero!

If you didn't see the project for P day...these little guys are the companion pieces. Princesses for the nieces, superheros for the nephew.

When it came to my superheroes, I (thankfully) didn't have as many to paint. I had two sets of ten "man" peg dolls hanging about, so I made two sets of ten each. Again, each doll stands about 2 1/2" tall...about the size of Fisher-Price Little People.

By happy accident, when I decided which characters to make, I ended up with an equal distribution of DC and Marvel characters. Amazing. I'm just magical like that.

As with the princesses, these guys were hand-painted with acrylic paints and then clearcoated to keep them a little more durable.

I set them up in a similar assembly line fashion to minimize brush washing.

Each peg doll took just about an hour, some a little less than others.

I think I was able to get through two full seasons of Brothers & Sisters by the time I finished them all.

There were some lessons learned along the way...i.e. painting yellow over red doesn't work super great...

Eyeballs were especially challenging for these guys since I had to deal with masks. As a result, not everyone wound up with the typical black eye/white pupil design.

That was a total bummer since it added to the difficulty.

I'm pretty happy with how they all turned out. I'll be making these guys again.

However, I will be investing in a new set of paintbrushes before I do since some of my fine brushes have been mangled in the process.

What do you think? Could you recognize them all? Do you have a favorite? I'm particular to Superman's hair, but I like the way the detail turned out on Spiderman.

If you liked these, don't forget to go check out the princesses from last week! I think they turned out even better.

Now you've seen 2 of my 3 favorite projects for this year's A to Z. The last one is letter V, coming up Saturday. I promise...this one isn't peg dolls.

Miss any of my A to Z posts so far this year? Find them below...

1. A is for Anna (Easy Anna Cape)
2. B is for Bath (Appliqued Bath Mat)
3. C is for Child (Children's Growth Ruler)
4. D is for Denim (Denim Bib)
5. E is for Etch (Etched Casserole Dishes)
6. F is for Felt (Felt Hopscotch Mat)
7. G is for Good Night ("Good Night" Envelope Pillows)
8. H is for Hood (Easy Hooded Towel)
9. I is for Insulated (Insulated Beverage Cozies)
10. J is for Jumper (Embroidered Spring Jumper)
11. K is for Know (Know When to Hold 'Em/Fold 'Em Laundry Sign)
12. L is for Loveseat (Envelope Loveseat Pillows)
13. M is for Mittens (Fleece Baby Mittens)
14. N is for Ninja Turtle (Felt Ninja Turtle)
15. O is for Owl (Owl Stuffies)
16. P is for Princess (Princess Peg Dolls)
17. Q is for Quilt (Moustache Quilt)
18. R is for Reading (Appliqued Reading Pillow)

Are you visiting from A to Z?

Be sure to leave me a comment (including your blog link) so I can come over and return the favor!