Moving Day!

My blog and website are moving and it’s going to be EPIC! Visit my new site!

Thanks for reading! ~Kat

Infant “Tom’s” {DIY}

Recently, I had the CRAZY notion to try making some infant “Toms”-like shoes for my baby boy. Apparently, Tom’s makes shoes for toddlers and older children, but not babies. When I couldn’t find any infant shoes on their website, I thought to myself, “Well, that’s dumb. How hard could it possibly be to make some infant Tom’s?” And with that, I was on a mission to find out…

Using Prudent Baby’s awesome online tutorial and pattern as a jumping point, I decided to customize and add the cute little velcro band across the front of the shoes as well as a little patch for the heel. Here you can see my inspiration from the Tom’s shoes kids line.

Cutting everything out was incredibly simple. Making the band was only slightly complicated (I had to just zig-zag stitch the edges because it was too tiny to hem). The part that was utterly frustrating was attaching the top of the shoe to the sole. I believe, however, that this step would have been much easier if I had managed to do it properly. Oops.

I think that a second round at this would prove a tad less complicated on my part. Overall, however, I’m happy with how they turned out and hopefully Baby French won’t want to kick them off immediately…

Custom Baby Swing {DIY}

Here’s a brief summary of the custom baby swing cover I made today! The total cost for this project was $9.I received this baby swing several months ago through freecycle.com and loved that it’s in great shape and even works (sometimes a rarity with freecycle). I just wasn’t thrilled with the Disney fabric on it and knew instantly that I wanted to change it. 

Since this baby item will be more like a piece of furniture in our main living area, I wanted to pick a fabric for it that was less “nursery” and more in tune with the colors and textures of our family room. I found this blue floral fabric in the sale section of a local store and snatched it up for only $6 (1/2 yard*).

The basic project was fairly simple. I completed it in just several hours. First, I layed the fabric out on the seat and cut around it (leaving ample room for hemming). This gave me the basic shape for the seat cover. Just make sure that when you lay it out that you push into the seat as if a child is sitting there. This will ensure that you’re making it large enough.

Next, I ironed and hemmed all the way around the fabric leaving a 1″ hem that I could slip elastic through. The elastic, by the way, cost about $3 (and I have lots left over). Once the cover was hemmed, I pulled the elastic through and sewed it up. Now it looked like a small fitted sheet.

The next step was possibly the most complicated: sewing button holes. This had to be done to pull the buckles and straps through the cover (so my little one can be safe). So, with the cover actually ON the seat, I used my fingers to feel where the straps were underneath and marked the spots for the button holes with chalk. Now, the only thing left to do was use my sewing machine to create those button holes. This isn’t a terribly complicated step, except that with the elastic already in place, it was a kind of nuisance dealing with bunched up fabric around my button foot.

And that’s it! Pretty simple!

*I did find that 1/2 yard of fabric was a bit too narrow to actually fit the seat, so I split the piece down the middle and added the remnants of the fabric to create a center column on the cover, thus extending the width. You could always buy 3/4 yard and save yourself the trouble.

Great Find! Chair Clearance at Target.com

I just happened to be looking at the furniture clearance section on the Target website and could not believe how cute some of these pieces are! Below I will feature two chairs that I adore and are available online only.

First up is the Oak Park Arm Chair in Chocolate/Cream.  It’s been rated at 4 out of 5 stars. Super cute but maintaining a bit of a masculine flair to keep the hubby happy. (I kid…sort of.) Originally $379.99. Now $265.99 on clearance.

Next up is this fabulous Global Chair that is reminiscent of a Danish Modern side chair. Now, with 2.5 out of 5 stars, the ratings aren’t as hot as the first chair. According to reviews, it is not super comfortable and is slightly darker in color than appears in the image. So, if you are looking for an awesome decorator piece (and nothing more) then this is it! Originally $279.99. Now $139.98 on clearance.

Always look for the deals! Happy shopping!

The Year in PREview

Thanks to my artistic mother, I spent a good part of my childhood exploring thrift shops and antique stores. It seemed as though she needed to look at every item in every single store we visited. At times, I writhed in the pain of boredom; but, more often than not, I rejoiced in finding rare “treasures” with her. Discovering awesome items, from vintage 50’s circle skirts to antique post cards, slowly bore in me a love for revitalizing the use of  rejected items.

This past Thanksgiving I had the joy of visiting my folks in California and indulging in a “Girls’ Day Out” (as my mother so dubbed it 25 years ago). On our little venture, we visited a recently opened antique mall in my hometown. Walking through the cramped aisles rekindled the love inside me for re-purposing old things. 

I’m pretty sure that I want to devote a large part of next year’s blogging to finding and creating unusual pieces out of tossed materials. Whether it be functional creations or artistic explorations, I think it’s time to explore more opportunities to stop buying new and start saving old.

I believe that the hunt for the “right” pieces and the work that goes into the final up-cycled product is something that encourages a person to be more satisfied with an item rather than constantly feeling the need to buy, momentarily enjoy, and then crave to buy again. Let us not buy just for the sake of buying. Let ME not buy just for the sake of buying.

This leads to the severe conviction I have had lately about the plight of the poor, hungry, widowed and orphaned. How can a conscious decision to stop feeding my material cravings affect the lives of the “untouchables”? How can turning the old into the new help the poor? How can a selfless exploration into artistic endeavors give a voice to the voiceless? I hope to find out this coming year.

Don’t Fear the Pen Tool: Part 5

How do you make a clipping mask? I’m so glad you asked!

In simple terms, one use of clipping masks is to make cool shaped frames in which to place images. Learn how rediculously easy it is to make clipping masks in Photoshop. Click the image below to view this SHORT tutorial.

Click the image to watch video.

Don’t Fear the Pen Tool: Part 4

In this 4th video tutorial, learn how I create different stroke effects through incorporating Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop.

Can you say dotted line? Click the image below to watch video.

Click image to watch video.

Don’t Fear The Pen Tool: Part 3

Today’s tutorial video demonstrates how to change shapes using the pen tool in Photoshop. Hooray! This is very helpful!  Click the image below to watch.

Click image to watch video.

Don’t Fear The Pen Tool! Part 2

Part 2 is here! Learn how to create custom shapes in BOTH Photoshop and Illustrator with the pen tool!

Click image below to watch the video.

Click image to watch video.

Don’t Fear The Pen Tool! Part 1

Are you ready to step up your game in Photoshop or Illustrator? It’s time you tackle the dreaded Pen Tool!

There are A LOT of tutorials on using the Pen Tool available, but I wanted to be able to provide a series of videos that encompass MY main usages of this tool in my every day design.

In these six videos, I will cover everything from the basics of the Pen Tool to masking out photographs and even creating clipping masks…all skills that come in handy quite frequently.

In this first tutorial video I will cover the very basics of the Pen Tool (Photoshop Specific…but I’ll cover Illustrator in following tuts). Enjoy and stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon! Click the image below to watch.

You can download the English crest  image used in this tutorial here.

Click the image to watch video: Pen Tool Basics: Part 1