New? storage....Luggage

I am sick and tired of the storage "solutions" being damaged or just is not the right size....

Well. I have found a solution. I am taking luggage (solid) and painting them to fit my beauty girl's color scheme. Now we have Polly pocket storage, barbie storage, stuffed animal storage and art supply storage. And all of it fits under her bed. By having all of this luggage taking up all of the room, it helps keep other things from being shoved under the bed.
(After all, that is the meaning of cleaning your room. Push it under the bed and no body will be the wiser. Right?!)

Anyway. On to the process.

• Find old luggage.

(I happened across this really nice set of Samsonite. The insides were in prime condition. a little wash and good as new.)

• Lightly sand the out side shell.

(tape off anything you want to keep paint off of. I taped the handles and latches.)

• use "good" spray paint. I used Krylon.

(several coats will be necessary. I should have primed the luggage first. Then I would have only used One can of the ballet slipper pink. But none the less, I did need two cans of paint for three pieces of luggage.)

Now for the cream. I could not find a crown to save my life and I did not want to have PLAIN luggage storage. It needs a little whimsy. I made a stencil out of laminating film. After I used a good sharp exacto knife and cut away the pieces that would show on the luggage, I taped the stencil into place. This is where I used a different color of paint. Bronze? I think was the color. But It goes great in her room. And Yes! I did have to cut out a second crown stencil because my first one was too big to fit on the train case (which houses the small Polly pocket dolls).

We have filled the suitcase storage and now have some great places to keep her stuff. UNDER the BED! Hooray!!!

Lets Play House

OK... It is a little uncanny that one of my sisters and I are so similar. Well, here is yet another example of this! I had drawn up plans for a PVC play house for my Beauty Girl a few years ago. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a completed project of a pvc house on HER blog! Anyway, it got me all inspired to actually put my plans into action. I did look at the plans she used, which were almost the same as mine, but I added a door to the front. (My Beauty Girl is a tad accident prone and would have tripped over the pvc pipe in the entrance.) And for the sides, I put in holes for windows. This is two fold, One there is better ventilation and the breezes do not tear apart the whole thing. Two, I can check up on play more easily. That is my job as the MOM.

I also recycled! I used left over pvc from my Dad and used old sheets that were going to be donated. But viola, I found a use for them. I attached hook and loop (Velcro) to the walls and sides for easy removal of the walls. This is an outside thing you know (but it is under the back porch). For the top, I used a queen sized fitted sheet. I just popped it on and there it is! I did have to buy the connection pieces and one more piece of pipe. I think I spent around $15-$20.

We did put a few other things in there. An old spool for wire was painted pink and is now a table. There is a tin mail box (painted pink) outside the door. Also, an indoor-outdoor rug is under the house. That is just to make it a little nicer for my Beauty Girl!
Take a look. Tell me what you think!

Purse from scratch

Here is my newest purse- from scratch.























I used some leather like material I got several years ago (and never used) for the outside. The inside is made from the pants pocked of an old pair of jeans. For the flower, I cut circular shapes with indentations. Then I burned the edges to give it a darker brown trim. The hardware are clasps from a pair of overalls and the hooks of a worn out purse.


The Peacock on the front was a broken broach that I sewed on.


This has turned out to be a great little purse.

camo pants NO MORE

These were a pair of camo pants from my son. I do not know why I still had them hanging around, since he is so much bigger now. But lucky for me, my little beauty girl really wanted a camo skirt. So, I cut off the pants, and pieced together a ruffle skirt, attached it and......Tada!

Little girl camo skirt.

Dollar Dress

Now here is something that finally worked!
I bought this sheet at a thrift store on a sale day. I payed one dollar. I then preceded to make a dress out of it. It is a pullover with elastic at the waste. It is all cotton, perfect for Arizona! No zippers or buttons! The only thing that I had to spend extra on was the rick rack on the edge. Other than that, I did not spend anything. I used up supplies I had (thread, elastic)








The sleeves were gathered up (because they were too long) which ended up looking pretty cool. I made a few changes. I moved the rick rack from the neck to the hem line. Here is a close up of the sleeves and hem.