THE WINNER IS WENDYS!!

Congratulations!  We hope you enjoy your knit a two-of-a-kind tie:)

For those of you still looking for ideas.  Here is what I have done in the past.

 The red silk tie I made from my wedding dress fabric dyed red with my kids handprint. The pink tie I did  not make...I was too busy that year. We just added the handprints.

As my childrens hands are getting too big, we used our thumbs instead.  In the accompanying card, we wrote, "We give you 6 thumbs up!!  I just used a regular ink stamp pad. I like that the hearts are subtle...for a guy:)

FATHER'S DAY GIVEAWAY!!!

This is my husband's father's day gift.  I made two.  I like upcycling items.  See the picture of the original knit used to make the tie. 

It's a super cool knit clip on tie. One can be yours to give away or keep.  All you need to do is comment by June 14, Thursday morning 8 o'clock. I'll take the names put them in a hat, and draw.

  Good LUCK :)

DECK WORK

Here is my newly resanded and stained deck.....Sorry no before picture, but trust me....it was bad.  You could not walk on it bare foot without getting slivers.  This project took my husband and I one full Saturday and a half day to finish.  It was worth it.  Last year we put on Thompsons water seal.  I would not recommend this product at all.  Halfway through the year the deck looked horrible, and was more warped than ever.  I do have to admit that the Las Vegas sun is brutal.  This year we rented a drum sander and used a hand sander.  We used Beher Premium semi-transparent waterproofing  wood stain.  We'll see if it holds up to the 4 yr promise.... I HOPE SO!!

A close up. The turtle my girls painted with nail polish.  The turtle was originally black and can be purchased at Joanns. 

Also painted the door this week.  I used high heat spray paint used on grills.  Hoping that the high heat spray paint lasts longer since the sun does a number on everything.

80's Night

Ok so I have to give a shout out for YELP!  We have been to some great events put on by them, and this was FUN. This was the Las Vegas Spring Break event. Who doesn't like going on a date that is FREE? We got free food, great music, saw and wore fun costumes, and had a great time.

Our goal was to use only clothes we had at home for our 80's costumes.  Nate's is a little Miami Vice/ Marty Mcfly inspired.  I was going for a Cindi Lauper feel.

RUG CONT...

I had no idea I would run out of room...Sorry this posts backwards..

Step 12: Use your finger to poke a hole in the top strands.

Step 13: Feed the strand closest to the braided edge up through the hole.

Step 14: Pull it tight and it makes the braid a little circle. Now braid for three hand movements.

Step 15: Take the new strand that is closest to the original braid and go up the same hole you started in.  Pull it through.  We are going to keep braiding around the circle going in each outside braid loop twice.

Step16: My new loop hole is ready to go up into.  Don't forget to go in the hole twice with braiding for 3 movements in between. Continue the process.

Here you need to add more length to the red strip again.  Don't add too many strips at a time as it is hard to braid with really long strips.  Continue braiding for 3 movements and going into each hole 2 times, and this will give you a circular rug.  CLEAR AS MUD!!

My little rug finished!! I did not want to make another, since I have made two.  What a cute hairpiece.  You could also make little coasters, or hot pads.  Have Fun.  Ask for help if you get stuck.

RUG TUTORIAL

I had two people ask how it is done.  Here are the instructions.  Sorry if they are as clear as mud.  Hopefully the pictures help.

Step 1: Cut used t-shirts (knits) or used clothes woven or new fabric and into even sized strips.  I cut them about 1".  The length does not matter.  It can be as small as 4".  Make lots and lots of strips. To make my rug I even used the entire shirt even the collars of the knit shirts.

Step 2: Fold over the end of the fabric and clip it. Do not go through the end. It should make a small hole, as seen above. Clip both ends of your strips.  Clip all the strip ends.

Step 3:  To start your rug select one of the strips with the ends clipped.  Fold the strip in half and clip a tiny hole in the middle of it.

Step 4: Feed another strip end up through the hole created in the middle of the strip.

Step 5:  Now take the opposite end of the blue strip and feed it through the hole at the top of the strip.

Step 6: Pull on the end until it catches up at the top of the red strip.  Now the blue strip is attached to the red one. This gives you three strips to start braiding.

Step 7: More fabric needs to be added to the short ends.  Feed a new strip up the hole of the other strip.

Step 8: Take the end of the blue strip and feed it through the hole on the other blue end.

Step 9: Pull it tight, and now we have an extended strip.

Step 10:  Now our strips are longer we are ready to start braiding.

Step 11: Braid about 2 inches.