Spring Wardrobe Makeover Inspiration

Among the many other crafty things I have in mind to do this spring, I definitely need to make some awesome modified t-shirts. There are so many freaking awesome tutorials floating around the blog-o-sphere right now I wanted to share some of my favorites in case you're looking to do some Spring Sewing along with your Spring Cleaning.  I've also got a "Clothing Crafts" board on my Pinterest account that you can follow if you're a Pinterest member (Not sure what Pinterest is? Tidymom wrote a really great intro here)

"Shirt Full of Posies" Tutorial from Designs by Vanessa

Winner of the Worm Factory 360!

And the winner is....

Comment #50:

JoyceAnna

You didn't leave an e-mail address, so I sent you a message through your Etsy shop. You've got until 2:00am on April 29th, 2011 to get back to me or I'll need to pick another winner.

Didn't win? Don't Worry!

If you didn't win, don't worry. You can still get your own worm factory and squirmy, garbage eating pets to call your own.  If you purchase your own Worm Factory (or anything else) through the Nature's Footprint Website, you can get 10% off (and free shipping on most items) by using the coupon code "carissa" through Friday, April 29, 2011.

A great big THANKS once again to Nature's Footprint so offering such an awesome and popular giveaway!

Happy Easter!

My wee one has hijacked my blog in order to say...

And...

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: DIY Glass Straw Cup (and tutorial)

I posted a bit of a rant last month about how all I wanted in life was a glass travel mug that had a lid and a straw that was not made out of plastic. Considering all of the awareness lately about the toxins found in plastic and how glass or stainless steel are best, I was surprised how difficult it was to find what I want.  So I did what any savvy crafter would do: I made my own.  In two versions:  Basic and Fancy

They have all the features I've been looking for in a cup (other than double walled insulation): glass, non-plastic straw, screw on lid so I don't spill my drink everywhere if I knock it over.

PLUS it reuses material that otherwise would end up in a landfill or recycling facility. It's way better to repurpose the things we already have than send them into the high energy, still somewhat wasteful recycling process.

Supplies Needed:

• Old Spaghetti sauce jar (or other glass jar) with screw on lid)
• Paint suitable for metal (I chose Plaid Outdoor paint b/c it's water base and non toxic)
• Rubber Grommet (1/4" in inside diameter)
• Stainless Steel straw (I used these)

Worm Factory Review and GIVEAWAY!

One of the best home management decisions I've made in the last five years by far has been my acquisition of a Worm Factory composter. I absolutely LOVE my Worm Factory. This week, thanks to the generosity of Nature's Footprint Inc (the makers of the Worm Factory) I get to help them give one Worm Factory 360 away to one of my blog readers for FREE! We all know that I am a fan of free. They have also generously offered Carissa's Creativity Space readers I discount for the next 2 weeks in case you didn't win. Read on, friends!

Living Moss Ball Tutorial

It's done. My fun little entryway spring vignette is done:

I had most of it done for about a week but the part I and most proud of?  The moss ball (far right).  You know why? Because it is the real deal - living moss. Not the fake floral aisle stuff.

There is so much awesome mossy goodness floating around the blogosphere right now. I have a whole board on my Pinterest account dedicated to moss. There are a couple great mossy rock crafts listed on Dollar Store Crafts.  My favorite (as far as the fake stuff goes), though is this one from Make the Best of Things.

She basically takes mossy rocks from the dollar store, peels off the moss and glues it to a ball form.  They look really awesome. But I asked myself: Is there a way to make these out of real moss?  Being a Pacific Northwest girl, I'm surrounded by the stuff. That, and this is what the flower basket on my gate looked like at the end of winter:

Filled. With. Moss.

I want to plant flowers in it, but what should I do with the moss? I felt bad just throwing it away. It needed a good home somewhere else.

I actually spent a couple weeks looking into the living moss ball thing. I couldn't find a tutorial online that used live moss and looked anything like what I wanted. The closest I got was finding this, which is a way to hang plants in the air and some moss gets wrapped around the base. But the bases were also pretty heavily wrapped in string. I just wanted a moss ball.  I knew I needed three things: a way to keep the moss moist and fed, moss, and a way to make it stick in a ball form.  This is what I came up with and I am thrilled with how it turned out:

Supplies Needed:

• Wet floral foam (1 sphere or 2 short cylinder shapes)
• Moss (scavenged from your yard or neighborhood)
• "Greening Pins" (I got a pack of 50 from Jo-Anns for $2)

Glass Pedestal Candle or Flower Holder Tutorial

So I said yesterday that I would come back and teach you how I made my awesome candle/flower/whatever pedestal holders for just a few dollars.

It cost me $6 total to make this set of three glass pedestal stands.

You will need:

• 3 glass votive holder bowls - $1 each at Dollar Tree
• 3 glass candle sticks - $1 each at Dollar Tree
• E-6000 glass glue - on hand.  If you don't have any yet, make sure you pay less by using a Michael's or Jo-Ann's coupon and get it for 40-50% off.
  

Spring Vignette in Progress

I've been working on the spring display on top of the book shelf by our door for a few days now. It still needs a few finishing touches but I wanted to show off what I have so far:

The two things I'm missing are a living moss ball (it's going to go on top of that tall bowl of white gravel on the right) and grass growing out of the egg shell on the left (it's still sprouting).

Let me break down the different parts for you...

Free Desktop Background for April

I love free desktop backgrounds. I really like ones with a calendar on them. And I really really like them if you can personalize them with your own pictures. Last month, I told you about the one I downloaded from Lee-Lou Blogs. Lee-Lou's background this month was okay. But I'm really really loving the one from The Shappby Shoppe (And no wonder I like it. It's pretty similar in style to my blog template).  This is what mine looked like when I finished putting my pictures in it:

Way to be classy, Kylie! Head over and get your own and make sure to leave a comment thanking Kylie for taking the time for putting it together and sharing it for free.