felt heart wall decor

Are you guys ready for a heart-felt project? 

Terrible jokes aside, I've started making little things to do a gallery wall in the bedroom. These little fluffy hearts are going to make their way into the new configuration one way or another. So get ready for a before & after in the near future!

This project would make a nice house-warming gift. I also may be making more of these come Christmastime as ornaments for the tree. I could also see doing a simpler version of smaller hearts & making them into a garland. Either way, felt & hearts is a win-win in my book.

To make one of these hanging hearts, you'll need:

• Fabric #1 (to be used with pattern #1, found at the bottom of post; I used cotton)
• Fabric #2 (to be used with pattern #2, also at bottom; I used felt)
• Scissors
• Alphabet beads 
• Polyester filling
• Bias tape (for loop)
• An embroidery needle 
• Embroidery thread

Step 1 // Cut out your pattern shapes. You should have one shape from pattern #1 with a negative heart in the middle, & two shapes from pattern #2. With embroidery thread, sew your bias tape in a loop onto one of your shapes from pattern #2. 

Step 2//  Sew your shape from pattern #1 onto the top of your second shape from pattern #2. Only sew along the inside of the negative heart shape. Tie off.

Step 3 // Stitch into the negative heart space through the back. Then feed your alphabet beads through your needle onto the thread, & stitch through the front of your shape. Tie off. 

Step 4 //  Place your first heart shape from pattern #2 (the one with the loop) behind your second shape. The loop should be in between the two pieces. Sew the two pieces together using a overcast stitch. Do not sew around the heart entirely - leave an opening of an inch or two. 

Step 5 // Fill your heart with the polyester filling. Finish stitching the entirety of the heart, closing it off. Tie off. 

I put the words "Happy Home" inside of my hearts because #1, I'm cheesy, & #2, my home is happy. I feel lucky to have a warm & welcoming place to come home to, & even on the bad days this place makes me happy.

xoxo, 

-m.e.

P.s. Patterns for shapes:

Related // For more tutorials with patterns, check out the Bow Tie project & the DIY Bike Pouch.

recycled t-shirt bag

Do you hold on to old t-shirts? Shirts that remind you of a great time in your life, but are frankly too small/big/unflattering/awkward to wear anymore? A quick cut & stitch helped me lessen my nostalgic t-shirt load, & I got a cute bag out of it!

First let me start off by saying I love this shirt. I bought it at my first Antony & the Johnsons show, which is a day I never want to forget. The illustration is a piece Antony did for an art exhibition, & it represents a ghost. I love the illustration - but the shirt is too small. So it's been sitting unworn in my closet for a few years now.

But not anymore! Get ready for a serious no-brainer - this up-cycling took all of five minutes. The t-shirt bag project has been done a bunch of ways - this is how I did mine.

You'll only need a few things:

• An old t-shirt
• Scissors
• A needle & thread (or a sewing machine)

First, lay your t-shirt out. Cut the collar & sleeves out as shown above. Top done!

For the bottom, turn your t-shirt inside out. Sew a seam along the bottom, just above the original hem line of the shirt. I curved my seam up along the sides, but this isn't necessary. Turn your t-shirt right side out. Bag done!

What did I say? Was that a no-brainer or what? I'm adding this project to my reusable shopping bag pile so I can carry my groceries home in style. Plus it folds up really small, so I'm more likely to remember to take it to the grocery store (or not, let's get real. Those reusable bags are darned hard to remember to bring along). 

There are a zillion ways to transform a t-shirt, what's your favorite?

xoxo, 

-m.e.

Related // Transform your t-shirt with a stencil.

out & about // pardon the dust

Please excuse the mess that is currently my blog - I'm having second thoughts about my entire visual scheme, & lots of decisions have yet to be made. 

After a short hiatus, I think I'm almost back to my old crafting self. The flu can be nasty, & this time it really took me out of the game (aren't summer flus the worst?).

For more photos, follow me on Instagram @WeCanMakeAnything

Watching // OMG We Bought a House! Lately I've been dreaming of my future house, so this little web series was right up fantasy-alley. Some of the styles Mr. Kate uses are a bit cluttered for my taste, but it definitely got the creativity moving around in my brain. Besides, if I can't be DIYing while I'm sick, what's better than watching other people get crafty?

Listening // Ever since Sam Smith's appearance on SNL, I have not been able to stop listening. Side thought: when you discover how young a performer/singer/actor is, does it make you feel happy for their success, or does it make you wonder what you're doing with your life? I feel a little bit of both. Mostly brief despair at my life choices.

Doing // Recovering. & blowing my nose a lot.

Feeling // Being taken down by the flu this week made me miss the times I was sick as a child. I know it sounds weird to say that: "You know that time I was sick? Man, that was the best." What I really mean is I miss shirking all responsibility, completely surrendering myself to my mom who possessed an almost ESP-like ability to predict my sickly demands. They consisted mostly of a blanket on the couch, Sprite, crackers, & all the television I could ever want. It's astounding how little is required to make a child feel peaceful. But I'm older now, & my world doesn't stop when I get sick. & the couch does not feel as comfortable as it once did. But at least I have someone to bring me a Sprite.

Loving // Mint green. I think I've found my new favorite color.

Hopefully I will be feeling 100% better soon so I can whip up some more DIY tutorials for you all.

Happy crafting!

xoxo, 

-m.e.


Related // I love mint green so much I painted my bike that color.

crochet baby blanket

Part of being in your mid-twenties means attending baby showers. Don't get me wrong, I'll take any reason as a good reason to party, but it seems as though everyone I know is having a kid! One of my favorite gifts to give the mothers-to-be is a crocheted baby blanket. They're easy to make, & a nice activity to keep your hands busy while you watch TV (or when you're sick, like I've been this past week). 

This blanket was made with two strings of yarn at the same time (which makes it go a whole lot faster!), & uses the shell stitch & double crochet stitch. Plus it has fun little tassels on the end. 

What you'll need to make this blanket:

•  Two skeins of Pound Yarn (I chose pink & white - someone's having a girl!)
• A size P crochet hook
• Scissors

Step 1 // Start by tying your two yarn colors together. 

Step 2 // Make a slipknot past the tie.

Step 3 // Chain 51, or any number divisible by 3. This will be the width of the blanket.

Step 4 // At the end of your chain, chain 2, turn around, then double crochet into the third loop. Double crochet the entirety of the chain, for a total of 51 stitches.

Step 5 // At the end of the chain, chain 2, turn around, then double crochet 3 times into the 2nd loop from the end of your original chain. This creates the shell stitch. Skip two loops, then double crochet 3 times into the 3rd loop. Repeat this pattern for the entirely of the chain, for a total of 51 stitches. 

Step 6 // Repeat steps 4 & 5 until you've reached 51 rows. Tie off. 

Step 7 // Cut 3 inch pieces of yarn, & bundle together. Knot them to the four corners of your blanket through the corner stitches, as seen above.

[Side note about tassels: make sure they are tied super tight if you are giving this gift to an infant! I pulled on each individual string to make sure that they were not going to budge in the hands (& mouth) of a baby.]

I like the variation of shell stitch & double stitch because it's not completely uniform & it creates a slight striped pattern. 

What do you think? What's the best gift to give at a baby shower?

xoxo,

-m.e.

// This is not a sponsored post, Amazon is an affiliate sponsor of WeCanMakeAnything //

Related // Speaking of kiddos, check out this adorable birthday party for a three-year-old.

pins i love // first edition

With the start of a new week comes the start of a new tradition on the blog - the weekly Pins I Love segment. The internet is a vast & wonderful beast, & Pinterest helps me navigate to some of its sweeter spots. This weekly round-up segment will feature my findings!

[SIDE NOTE // This week I am being featured on Cut Out + Keep as one of their Crafty Superstars of the week. Many thanks to Cat & all the other lovely people at CO+K for featuring my tutorials.]

// Top Links of the Week //

• Bohemian Food Truck Wedding // Because why have any old caterer when you can have a caterer on wheels?
• Baby Blue Bike // A bit of eye-candy as we welcome in the pleasant biking weather.
• Five Things to Stop Hoarding // Martha knows best, always. This list of things to quit holding onto is no exception! I'm a firm believer of throwing things away that are unnecessary, but I'm going to have to disagree with getting rid of mugs. There's no way I'm parting with my quirky mug collection, sorry Martha.
• DIY Painted Feathers // I've been gathering inspiration for a gallery wall in our bedroom, & these DIY painted feathers might end up incorporated somehow. 
• Tomboy Summer Style // With the hot summer temperatures approaching, I'm searching high & low for ways to stay fashionable while staying cool. I love this look.
• Kitchen Renovation in Mint & Gold // This goes in the dreaming pile - mint & gold might be my new favorite color combo.
• DIY Dog Bowl Stand // A simple but useful DIY from one of my favorite blogs for doggies to dine in style.

This is a test run to see how well this segment goes - if it goes well, I'll be posting on Fridays. If not, tweaking will be pursued! Either way I'll continue to spend an unhealthy amount of time on Pinterest.


xoxo,
-m.e.


Related // First Out & About post.

liebster award

Shout out to RaChil over at The Cwafty Blog for nominating me for a Liebster Award! If there's one thing I love about blogging, it's the community. The internet is a savage place, but within this community I feel such friendliness & sharing. 

The deal with the Liebster Award is that whomever is nominated poses 11 facts about themselves, answers a series of questions from the nominator, nominates 11 other blogs, & then creates a series of questions for the new nominees to answer. So here we go!

// Facts // 

1. Cereal is my favorite food, hands down.
2. I spent a portion of my childhood homesteading.
3. It's really difficult for me to sit through an entire movie.
4. I spent half a year living in Slovenia (related note, here's an awesome Slovenian cooking blog)
5. My cat's name is Donut, but she was almost named Moist Towelette.
6. I have been a vegetarian for almost a decade.
7. I like to craft (duh).
8. If I had to listen to one artist for the rest of my life, I would pick Antony and the Johnsons.
9. When I grow up I want to be a stop-motion animation artist.
10. I can fold my tongue in half.
11. I have never broken a bone in my body. 

// Questions Answered //

1. Whats your favorite color combination? // Mint & white.
2. If you could have any animal in the world for a pet what would it be? // Maybe this makes me a boring person, but I'm sticking with cats.
3. Coffee or Tea? How do you take it? // I have tried to be a tea-drinker - sitting in my oversized knit sweater relaxing after a deep shavasana right before I go out to tend to my vegetable garden - but I'm a tried & true coffee drinker. With cream.
4. Can you do a really good fake accent? // My southern accent is slowly becoming second nature the longer I live in Florida.
5. What's the first thing you ever remember making? // I remember making a fish tank for my very first dollhouse. It involved a baby food jar, little fish cut out of foam, & some water with blue food dye in it. 
6. What made you want to start blogging? // I love to write, I love to craft. Why not both (cue the El Paso commercial)?
7. Favorite artistic/crafty medium to work with? // I love sewing projects, because of the transformation & usage. But I also love it when I can use what I have on hand & turn it into something new.
8. A movie you know word for word? // Wet Hot American Summer (Henry! HENRY! Library!).
9. What do you like to do when you're not dazzling the internet with your creative genius? // Well, I guess I got some laundry done today, so there's that.
10. What's the last show you marathoned? // This is a serious confession, so don't tell anyone, but it was Animal Hoarders. Which is a terrible show, by the way.

// Questions Posed // 

1. What blog do you visit every day?
2. Do you have a favorite pattern (i.e. Chevron, Herringbone, etc.)?
3. What TV show can you watch time & again without tiring of it?
4. When is the best time of day to blog?
5. Where is your dream vacation location?
6. What are your top three favorite novels?
7. Which is better, yard work or house work?
8. Do you keep a journal?
9. What is your favorite season, & why?
10. Pencils or pens?
11. If you could build anything, what would it be?

The nominations are coming in! So far we have these lovely blogs:

Kathy from Up to Date Interiors
Maritza from Maritza Lisa
Vanessa from Cafe Craftea
& Daniela from Curly Made


Thanks guys! I will be adding to this list, so stay tuned!

xoxo, 

-m.e.

Related // Pins I Love, including RaChil's!

refinished tables

Do you know what I love? Furniture projects. Do you know what I love more? Completed furniture projects! I'm going to be completely transparent right now & tell you that these tables have been sitting in their various production stages in my house for over a month now. Maybe it's laziness, or the daunting idea of stripping paint, but either way I took my sweet time completing this project. 

glass coasters

Good morning, lovelies! 

I feel weird even labeling this as a tutorial, because it was too easy. I also can't believe I didn't think of this before, but it just hit me while I was riding in the car the other day. Tiles are made of glass & look like coasters, why not use tiles as coasters? Duh. To which my girlfriend replied, "Oh yeahhhh… That makes sense!"

All it took was a quick stop at the home improvement store, some hot glue & some felt!

I saw these glass tiles at the home improvement store a few weeks ago & had been secretly dreaming of what they would look like in my future bathroom. But since I'm years away from owning my own house, I thought why not bring them in as coasters in the mean time. 

All you'll need are:

• Glass tiles (I bought four from the home improvement store)
• Hot glue
• Felt (one piece of felt from the craft store will do)
• Scissors

 Cut the felt into tiny squares, then glue four squares to bottom of each tile to prevent scratching. Done! Or rather, duh. 

Plus they make great gifts, so helloooo Mother's Day present!

xoxo,

-m.e.

Related // Mother's Day Rocking Chair Re-Do.

caramel sauce

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you'll know I attempted to make caramel sauce yesterday. Guess what? It worked! Man oh man was it easy. Which is great news for me, who usually burns caramel sauce. This method was one ingredient & done. 

All you need to make this caramel sauce is a can of sweetened condensed milk & three hours! What? That's it? YES IT IS. How blown in your mind right now?

Follow @wecanmakeanything on Instagram for photo fun!

Directions // Peel the label off the can, then completely submerge the unopened can on its side in a pot of water. Set to a steady, slow boil for three hours. Some of the water will evaporate as you go, so make sure & refill with water to keep the can from becoming exposed. If the can gets too dry, it will explode! (this is just what the internet said, I don't know this from personal experience. But I'm okay with not finding out!)

After three hours, remove the can (careful! HOT!), & leave it out to cool off. Once it's cool, transfer it to a different container, as keeping food in a can is a no-no in case you hadn't heard.

My crafty friend & co-worker Sally gave me this recipe after I complained about never being able to successfully make caramel without burning it. She said it was easy, but I didn't think caramel could be this easy! Sally's always got a savvy way to fix problems or spruce things up. 

I've been looking for a cheap way to replicate an iced caramel macchiato, & I think I've almost hit on a winning combo. This caramel sauce recipe is a little to thick for coffee unless you want to stir it for two minutes, but after I've found a way to liquefy the sauce it's going to be AWESOME. Take that, Starbucks (just kidding, you know I can never give you up).

xoxo,

-m.e.

Related // Sweet tooth? Check out these recipes: Blueberry Cheesecake & Gingerbread Apple Pie.