Indoor picnic, hollowed out book purse, and frame

Hey! I'm very excited to finally make a post on me and k's blog! It is long overdue. I have been holed up in the library studying for the MCATs and have subsequently been hoarding my crafting photos.

A couple of weeks ago, two friends of mine from college came through Providence to say hello. k and my roommate joined us for a cute, little indoor picnic complete with Chilean wine, cheese, apples, honey, and much more deliciousness.

k's man regaled us with stories

Then we all headed downtown to my favorite bar to dance the night away. What an evening!

Now for some crafting. I actually started this last summer, but then put it down once I started my job and only just recently finished it. Therefore, I only have pictures of the final product, although I do intend on posting instructions at a later date. What you see below is a purse that I made out of a book (modeled by yours truly, rocking an army jacket from high school with pink pajama bottoms, of course).

I bought the book for $1 at a sale outside the local hospital's cafeteria. I chose it because of its large size. I made a book purse once before but the spine was too narrow to hold very much.

I used an exacto knife to cut the pages from the book and then lined the inside with fabric. It was hard to find a color that didn't clash with the strange maroon-ish shade of the book, so I chose gold to go with the writing.

Using the fabric and ironed on interfacing, I created "wings" that fold inward for the sides of the purse (aka the top and bottom of the book). I also made pockets for my phone and my pad of paper, which goes with me everywhere.

I could have bought handles for the purse from Jo-Anns or Michaels, but they all looked tacky, so I opted to make my own. The benefit of this is that I managed a way to make the straps adjustable so that I could wear the purse over the shoulder or slung over my back like so.


All that's left to do is to get some strings to tie the purse closed at the top, so that everything doesn't fall out.

Two nights ago, I stayed up finishing a gift that I made for k. Friday was my last day at my job (!!) and I wanted to give her a little something for her desk seeing as we sat side by side for a year and half. I thought it might be nice to make a picture frame, even though I don't seem to have any good pictures of the two of us... minor problem, really.

What you need:
- picture frame, one preferably with a wide frame
- magazines, newspaper, or wrapping paper
- hot glue gun

1. Set out your frame. Then, choose a piece of paper that you'd like to start with. Cut it so that it is longer than it is tall. Make sure that you don't make it too short height-wise, otherwise it will be difficult to roll it up tightly.

2. Turn the piece of paper over so that the side that you want to show on the frame is on the table. Fold a little bit of the bottom evenly across.

3. Now roll the rest of the paper, so that you end up with a little, thin, scroll. Or you could make it loose and big, it's really up to you. Roll it until you are nearly at the end of the sheet of paper. Pinch the center, grab your gluegun, and glue all along the edge.

4. Put the tube down and roll it so that it adheres to the glued edge. Now you can glue it to your frame like so.

5. Go ahead and add the rest of your paper to line the frame. I tried to keep to a color theme because I noticed, again with a previous try, that when I had a very bright frame, it took away from the picture.

6. After covering the entirety of the frame with rolled paper, I ended up with this.

7. I toyed with the idea of cutting all of the edges of paper to fit the frame exactly except for the corner pieces, but decided against it. Turn your frame over, and cut the excess paper off the sides. I have not tried it, but an exacto might work better for this than scissors since they rip the paper a bit.

8. This is what the finished frame looks like, sitting on k's desk at work. (too be uploaded soon)


Well, that's all for tonight! I'm off to bed and then to the library again tomorrow! I hope you all are having a great weekend and had a chance to enjoy the sun today!

- e

Boots & Flowers

I would have to say there is nothing better than a warm, sunny Saturday.... Except, a warm, sunny Saturday where you put a little goodness in the crock-pot and head outside for some gardening.

It has been chilly this past week, so I have been outside today getting some much needed vitamin D... and having a little fun.

I decided to put my old cowboy boots to use as a planter. It seemed like a pretty sweet idea. Take a look...

What you need:

- Some old boots (probably something you think would be able to handle plants, dirt, and being watered daily)

- Soil

- Plants

- Plastic bag

- Razor blade

- Hammer

- Screw

- Screwdriver

1. Take your boot and make a few drain holes in the bottom. Hammer in the screw a little and then use the screwdriver to get it in the rest of the way. This might be a little difficult, depending on the strength of the bottom of your shoe. Use your muscles! Or...your burly boyfriend.

2. Using the razor blade, cut holes in your boot (be careful!). Make as many as you like. I made two on the side and then one at the bottom. Before you cut your holes, take into consideration where you will be putting your boot and how that will coincide with the location of your holes. For example, I want my boot to stand against a wall, so I only put holes on one side.

3. Once you are satisfied with your work, put a plastic bag in your boot. Cut holes in the bag that mirror the holes in your boot. Stick your plants in there. If your plants are bigger, you might have to fish them through the boot and out the hole. I had this problem because my roots were too big to go in through the hole I cut. I stuck the plant right in the boot and pulled the top of the plant out the hole. Fill the empty space with soil. And don't forget to put a few plants at the top of your boot. Give it a little water and you are good to go.

I wanted a little color for the deck, so I used mostly flowering plants. But, if you are so inclined, you can make yourself an herb boot. You also might want to make sure your boot is securely in it's final spot. Maybe throw a few rocks around it so it doesn't tip over if it is windy. It would be a shame to go water it in the morning and find the wind blew it over.

See, now after all that hard work I can go inside, crack open that crock-pot, and have myself some vegetarian lasagna. Yum!