Freebie: Live Through Him Printable

So, I made it!  My project was the Cliptastic Carrying Case and I'll put up a tutorial in the next few days.  Starting in January, I'll be competing on {So You Think You're Crafty}. I'm super excited and currently trying to figure out my project list.  Thanks for voting and keep doing so throughout the season--- so excited for it to start! 

However, that doesn't mean I want to skip over December and Christmas.  I love this time of year.  Our kids are full into countdown mode; taking full advantage of all three of our Advents.  Including the freebie from last year, a {scripture-a-day book about Christ}.  It's not too late to make one for this year!

Since I love creating printables, this year, I created one to use on our Christmas card.  It's from {1 John 4:9}.

8x10

5x7

Click on the picture, until you get the largest size, then save it. Print it through your favorite store--- personally, I go with Costco.  I'm also using these as neighbor gifts this year.

If you use it, all I ask is that you follow us and let others know where you found it.

Happy Holidays & Merry (early) Christmas!

Am I Crafty Enough?

Lately it really hasn't felt like the case.  I've been in a semi-rut since I had our third kiddo.  (Handsome, healthy and happy baby boy--- by the way).  I've made a few things (mostly Halloween creating like my oldest boy's Shaun the Sheep costume), but I haven't had the energy to put it on the blog--- I'll call it being sleep-deprivied.

Now that that babe is 10 weeks old, I've decided it's time to stop neglecting this blog (which is one of my stress releases).  One way I hope to get back into the game is through {So You Think You're Crafty}.  Over the years, I've had friends tell me that I should be competiting on this blog.  You have to email the creator, Missy and she deems your blog worthy (or not) to be an audition blog for the next season.  Well, she liked our blog and TODAY starts the audition week.  13 blogs are competiting for 10 constestant spots.

So-- go VOTE!  Even if I don't make it, I'll post the tutorial for my audition piece at the beginning of next week.

Etsy Giveaway!

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More Perler Sprites

I decided to make more stuff using my perler beads, today. As you can see all of what I made are still video game related. I can't help it. I like video games. I may be horrid on certain days but that's okay. ;) I'm telling you, if you're a big video game fan then you'll enjoy making these kind of things. I may make these into magnets some day. We'll see.

"Super Mario World" sprites.

Zelda to match Link from "A Link to the Past."

Simply Meant to Be Embroidery Hoop

This is my latest craft endeavor. I've had this embroidery hoop for some time and I really didn't have any use for it. After looking at some other craft ideas with these hoops, I decided to take a crack at a movie scene. One of my all time favorite movie scenes. This is the ending scene from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. I love this movie and it's the reason that I love animation; especially stop-motion animation. I thought that this scene would be perfect to start off my Movie Scenes Hoop Series. At the moment I have a ton of Disney ideas, but I will also venture out to some others. Now I just need to get a hold of more hoops and some more black embroidery thread...

The Legend of Zelda Perler Coasters

Our brother, Zak, got married on the 21st this month and what a day it was! Before that, though, I knew that I had to come up with a gift idea that they would both like. Anyone that knows my brother knows that he loves video games, and if you really know him that his favorite series is The Legend of Zelda. I have even made him past presents reflecting this. When I found out that Krystal also likes Zelda--and some sniffing around on dA--I knew what I was going to make them.

These are the coasters that I made using Perler beads and some cork hot-glued on the back. I decided to use sprites from "A Link to the Past" since I remember playing that game with Zak when we were younger. I'm really happy with how these turned out. The cork is a little too thick, but finding cork options isn't as easy as one would think. Thankfully I had all the right colors that I needed since I bought a couple of buckets of perler beads. (And, yes, I separated all 12,000 of those beads... 30 colors... It was an undertaking... So worth it, though!) I'm really glad that Zak and Krystal like this. I'm hoping to make a coaster set for myself sometime in the future. Should be fun!

A Mission Quilt

My little brother will be coming home from his LDS Mission in 2 weeks and I thought that it would be fun to make him something for when he gets back. I have been pretty bad at sending him stuff all of the time and I wanted to make it up to him. I had sent some Christmas and one thing for a birthday, but I had missed other times. I decided to make him a Mission Quilt. I figured that he could use it when he goes to college.

I came up with a pattern that would get the most pictures and still letting them be big enough to see. I used iron-on paper for the images (and that was battle half of the time). I then painted the letters on the big squares. I found some plaid fabric at the DI (Deseret Industries) for really cheap and go the white at JoAnn's. There are three kinds of plaid, which is shown in the last image. I cut all of the fabric one day and then sewed them the next. I had to hurry to get it done since Amber and the kids were coming the day after sewing. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It's about 6' x 8' and should be plenty big for him even if he comes back a couple inches taller. ;)

Perler Bead Sprites

I have been looking at some cool and clever creations for some time and I wasn't sure if I would ever get a chance to do them. If you give the right people the right kind of medium they will make something spectacular! I didn't know what to start with until my brother got engaged. I wanted to make a wedding present for them and I just kept going. (The wedding present needs one more step before I post it here.) I'm pretty excited to finally have had the opportunity to make some of these. I think that I will be making more in the future. I just need to get a hold of more black beads first...

This one is my design. I followed the logo as close as I could.

"A Link to the Past" sprites!

Everyone could use a Mario sprite. ;)

This Companion Cube is NOT a lie.

Drawstring Bento Bags

I have been making some clothing for my nephew and niece with some fun fabrics, and I had lots leftover. I wanted to use the fabrics in another functional way that would be simple enough to make. Then it hit me. My bento bag is boring. I decided to go overboard and make these three. I really like how they turned out. They fit my everyday bento as well as my one-layer Ponyo bento. I would say that multi-purpose = WIN.

Want to make one? Follow my tutorial on deviantART.

Polymer Cat & Unicorns

As per usual, I've been pretty bad at uploading new crafts that I made the day of. I had put these on my instagram (@geisha-neko) but no where else. Now I'm finally getting to it. I've got to get a lot better at this.

As you can see I decided to take a try at making a cat figure. I'm pretty pleased on how it turned out except for the shape of its head. I think I'm going to change the shape of it if I ever get to make another kitty. I also wanted to add some fun details by painting it with acrylics before glazing it. I really do like how the details came out.

My older brother is getting married in July and my mother and I have been going crazy getting things ready for it. Turns out that his fiance really likes the movie Tangled so we're trying to incorporate it with their colors in mind. We decided that it would be funny to make some unicorns that will go around the reception in random places. I'm hoping that some of the guests will get the reference. My brother's fiance already did. That made me happy.  ;) Oh, and the eyes are swarvoski crystals. I thought it would be a nice touch.

You can see these and everything I make on my deviantART account.

Patriotic Tulle Wreath

Last year, I made a quick {Tutu} for my daughter to go with her Patriotic outfit for the Fourth of July.  Over the almost year, I constantly saw the Red, White, & Blue tulle in my cratt drawer and knew there was something to be made with them.

About a week before Memorial Day, it came to me.  A wreath!  But, it couldn't be a plain wreath, there had to be something else to go with it. (Seriously, though, I didn't see THIS other fabulous wreath until I started mine--- AND I picked up the Family Fun magazine and they had a different Tulle wreath as well.  I swear I had the idea too and didn't copy.)

Then, when we went hunting for a flag to hang outside our house, I had another idea--- a flag...

Since I'm currently in a 'delicate condition,' I had just enough energy to finish this project yesterday... a few days late for our Memorial Day celebrations.  Good thing I've got the Fourth of July AND the Olympics coming up!  Now I have TWO excuses to keep it up all summer.


Gather It:

• Wreath form: Styrofoam, wire, straw--- still wrapped, you get the idea
• Red, White, & Blue Tulle (I got mine at HL  25 yd rolls for 2.99 or 3.99--- use coupons over a couple of weeks or watch out for whne the tulle is on sale)
• 99 cent American Flag
• White paint
• scrap plywood, wood plaque
• red vinyl or paint
• Mod Podge
• Glue Gun & Stick

Create It:

1. First, cover the wreath.  I cut my tulle as a went with lengths between 12-18 inches, this is completely personal preference.  If you want a more uniformed look, cut your tulle, at the beginning all the same length.
2. After you have some cut tulle, start wrapping,  I folded my tulle in half, looped it around the wreath, and then pulled the ends through the loop of the tulle.  Then, to keep it in place, I tied a knot.  Continue until the whole wreath is covered.  This process takes a little while, so it wouldn't hurt to do this while chatting with friends, watching your kids play, listening to a book... you get the idea.(Sorry for the lack of pictures, one of these days I'll remember... hopefully it won't take me giving birth before I remember...)
3. If you don't want the flag, then TA-DA, you're done!  If you do, now is time to pull out the wood.  Mr. Nag had some extra plywood in the garage, so he cut one to the length of the flag I found.  I wanted my wreath to have a saying on the bottom, so we added 2 inches to the width.  Paint the wood white, front and back.  Let it dry.
4. Remove the flag from the pole it came with (or have your 2-year-old 'accidentally' break it) and prepare to mod podge it to the wood, once the wood it dry.  Only apply MP to the part of the wood under the flag.
5. While you wait for the first layer of MP to dry, cut out the vinyl saying, or paint it on.  I have a Silhouette, so I quickly whipped up what I wanted it to say.  As always, I'll send you the file, if you have one.
6. Transfer the vinyl, then apply one last coat of MP to the whole plaque.
7. Hot glue the plaque to the wreath, and a ribbon to the back for hanging.
8. Step back and break into a chorus of "God Bless America" (it was in my mind because of the quote.)

I thought about going back and making it look more uniform around, but honestly I like it in it's non-perfected state.  Plus, I can say it looks more like a firework that way, right?

I link up {HERE}.

Master Makeover: Repurposing Lamps

UPDATE:  These lamps were chosen as one of the Top-Ten for The CSI Project in the Lamp Challenge.  Thank you!

First master bedroom post {HERE}.

Our lamps, pre-master re-do, were from IKEA.  Nice & functional, but didn't give out a lot of light, so I knew they would get replaced, eventually.

When we got the furniture set, it also had 70s-style gold lamps (with pleated shades) to go with it.  Definitely NOT going to fit the feel of the room.  However, with a little bit of spray paint and the right fabric remnants, I was able to help them fit the decor perfectly.

I LOVE how they look now.  It was super-simple too.

GATHER IT:

• old lampstand
• spray paint
• spray primer
• plain white lamp shade (I got mine at Target)
• fabric (I needed roughly a 1/2 yd for two medium-sized shades)
• spray adhesive
• scissors

CREATE IT:

1. Prime & Paint the stand.  We got Valspar gray primer & Rust-oelum Hammered Metal paint.
2. While that's drying, work on the shades.  I wanted the crisp lines of a square-shade, so keep that in mind, as we go.  If you have a cylinder shade, skip to step 6.
3. Spray one side of the shade with spray-adhesive.  I worked on the long sides first.  Then, place it on the wrong side of your fabric, preferably near an edge, so you don't waste any fabric.  Cut a 3/4 inch border around the glued side, so now you are just working with the bit of fabric on the shade.
4. Spray the corner of your shade and press the extra fabric, gluing it down to the shade.  Repeat on the other side.  Then work on the top & bottom seams, spray the shade and wrap the fabric around the little metal bars.
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 for the other long side.  Then repeat for the short sides, however, there is ONE BIG difference.  When you go to do the corner seams, tuck in your extra fabric underneath itself, then glue it down to the corner.  This makes the seam flush with the corner & not frayable (it might be a word).
6. FOR A CYLINDER SHADE:  Congratulations!  You will not have to piece it together.  Simply, spray the adhesive onto the shade, sections at a time.  Then press the fabric onto the sprayed section.  Continue the whole way around your shade.  Just before the last section, measure out the fabric you need to finish the cover, add 3/4 inch to that, then cut.  Continue, by cutting a 3/4 inch border around the top & bottom.  Tuck in the extra 3/4 for the seam, then spray it on the shade.  Finish the top & bottom seams by spraying the shade  and wrapping the fabric around the small bars.
7. Step back and admire your ability to make something old... new again!

Super simple and it adds so much to a room!

I link up {HERE}.

Master Makeover: The Bed

So--- my excuse THIS time (for not blogging so much) is that I'm pregnant.  I'm actually almost 24 weeks along, which is why all of my blogging (including our family one) has suffered dearly.  He's a boy and due mid-September.  We're really excited, especially since I had two miscarriages last summer.

I haven't stopped creating (you could even say my body is doing the ultimate of creating right now, ha), so I have A LOT of past crafts to share (including travel ideas & a Star Wars Birthday Party).

Today's is actually a recent story.  Since Mr. Nag and I got married (EIGHT years this summer--- whoa), we have never had a great Master Bedroom.  In college, we started off with a full-sized mattress, rented from the school.  A few months into that we bought a barely-used queen-sized mattress for super cheap, since the couple we bought it from didn't want to lug in across the Atlantic (completely understand).  As of two weeks ago, we still slept on that mattress.

When we moved into our first home, one of the first things on my list (besides organizing my pantry) was to work on, little by little, our Master Bedroom.  I really like the Oriental-style of design, especially for a room that's supposed to take me away from the chaos of every-day life.  So, keep that in mind as we go.

Last summer, we painted.  Took the standard 'toasted almond' color out and brought it two shades of blue.

It made a world of difference.

Then, in March, we found out that Mr. Nag's step-mom was moving across the country and wanted to give us the California-King Master Bedroom furniture set my father-in-law and mother-in-law bought when they got married... 30 years ago.  It was even complete with a waterbed.  Totally 70s.  We really wanted it, but were slightly discouraged at how DATED it was.  Deep dark brown stain, brass/gold hardware, the works.  But, we were determined, all we had to do was chemically strip and sand the stain.  And by we, I mean, Mr. Nag because I was barely out of my first trimester and banned from helping.  My part of the help was picking out the stain color. :)

Here's the bedroom after the paint, but before updates. 

Megan--- Mule--- painted the kanji above our bed a couple years ago.  The color palette of the room comes from a Japanese picture we have hanging on the wall opposite our bed.

After a couple months of many nights in the garage, he completed the bed two weeks ago.  Here's the  in progress after (ignore my pregnancy body pillow on the floor):

We absolutely LOVE it.  He still has an armoire, dresser and nightstands to re-do; it's his 'before the baby comes' project.  When he does, I'll hound him more about tips & tricks he has to re-finish furniture.

A close-up of the stain:

To fix the bed, because we weren't about to keep the waterbed, we just updated the plywood-base and bought a new memory-foam mattress on Amazon.  We let it poof up right in the frame, so it fits perfectly.


Next: The new lamps.

Disney's 10 Princesses

I should have posted this a while ago. The Princess Merida charm that I made started a new adventure. I decided that I wanted to make Disney's 10 Official Princesses. And I say "Official" because there are plenty of princesses that get snubbed by Disney. (Eilonwy from Black Cauldron, Kida from Atlantis, etc.) I may get to the 'unofficial' ones eventually, but these sure took a lot longer than I thought they would! There were a few of these that I figured would be super easy to make, but they turned out to be deceptive! Especially since I'm using colored polymer clay. The only painted things are the faces. I'm pretty happy how they turned out. It sure was fun. ;)

Sorry about the column of pictures. I couldn't get them to sit side-by-side since Blogger changed their settings. It's really weird. If anyone can tell me how without needing to write a bunch of code, I would appreciate it.

Mule's Crafting Once Again!

Hey, everyone! This is Mule of Mule 'n Nag Crafts finally posting again. And why am I blogging again? I've graduated college and now have free time. What a concept. =O

I thought that I would go ahead and show everyone what I have been up to since I've been home. ART. Yeah, I now have time for art again. Hopefully I'll be able to find a nice balance between that, reading, writing, and other things that I want to do.

This is an acrylic painting triptych based on the movie My Neighbor Totoro. I've had the idea for some time but it wasn't until a few days ago that I could finally get to painting this. I'm glad that I did, but now I don't have a spot for them. Oh well.

I follow an artist on deviantART who goes by DragonsAndBeasties. Not too long ago she put up a video tutorial on how she makes her dragons. I decided to take a crack at it. The blue one was my first attempt but I ran out of navy clay to do the wings. The next dragon is done in a glow-in-the-dark clay and since it's considerably smaller than the other I was able to do the wings. I like how they turned out and hope to develop my own item that can transcend ages and groups that I can make and sell from what I've learned.

I'm pretty excited about this Friday. While I was messing with clay yesterday I thought it would be fun to make a couple of things that I could wear to The Avengers. I decided to make an Iron Man pendant to wear as a necklace and the A from The Avengers logo as earrings. They should be fun to wear whenever I see it. We're still not sure if we're going at midnight, yet.

Quick & Easy Easter Wreath

Don't have an Easter Wreath up yet?  I made one a couple weeks ago that will literally take as long as you wait for acrylic paint and hot glue to dry.

Like I've said before, I like to have a reminder of the real reason for the Easter season (still love bunnies and eggs, don't get me wrong), so I wanted our Easter wreath to reflect that.  I also wanted it to have a touch of Easter how we think of it--- hence the eggs.  (Although, did you know they are also a symbol for Easter because chicks break free of their shell just as Christ broke free from the bands of death--- everything points to Him.)

Gather It:

• Grapevine Wreath--- I got mine at Hobby Lobby with 40% coupon
• Wooden Eggs--- I got 2 pack for 4 for 1.99 each.  In the wood section of HL.  I honestly picked the size by holding them up to the wreath
• Paint
• Vinyl, stencil, alphabet stickers or a permanent marker
• sealer
• Glue Gun & Accessories

Create It:

1. Paint the eggs whatever color you want.  I put two coats on mine.
2. Create the Letters in the medium which suits you.  I used my Silhouette to cut the vinyl out.  It could also be done with stencil and paint, permanent marker free-handed or alphabet stickers.
3. After the eggs are dry, apply the letters and seal it (either with spray or paint-on acrylic sealer.  My front porch gets A LOT of sun and I wanted to make sure the letters and colors didn't warp.
4. Arrange and glue on the eggs.  I had a perfect section on my wreath to fit the word 'risen' and I thought the other ones looked nice above.  There's many ways to do this.  Then CAREFULLY glue on an egg at a time.  I've used a glue gun multiple times in my life and right after I told my almost 4-yr-old how dangerous they can be, one egg slipped out of my hand and onto my thumb, with fresh glue on it.  Seriously, be extra careful.
5. After you ice a finger or two (if needed) sit back and enjoy your new Easter wreath.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Story of Easter Countdown

I love Easter, but not for the 'normal' reasons.  I absolutely LOVE the fact that there is a holiday centered around the resurrection of {Jesus Christ}.  He lives--- and because He lives we will live again--- how fantastic is that?!?!

Anyway, I enjoy the bunny, candy, egg-boiling/dying/hunting/deviling part of Easter too, but we try to focus on the Savior.  That is why my {Easter Subway Art} is focused around the reason we have Easter.

With that said, we (Mr. Nag & I) wanted to do something to help our family remember Christ as we approach Easter each year.  Enter the fabulous idea of The Story of Easter (through Eggs) Countdown--- I really need to work on the title.

I saw this idea last year, in multiple ways and places around the blog-o-sphere and worked on ours just in time to finish for Easter day, so I didn't want to post about it until y'all had the opportunity to create your own.

Gather It:

• 12 plastic eggs
• Something to put the eggs in
• vinyl or permanent marker to label eggs (if you have a silhouette, I'll email you the file)
• The daily symbols
• scriptures for each day

 Create It:

Scripture Cards--- Print these out :)

1. Our local grocery chain (shoutout to HEB goers) has clear egg cartons.  I thought it would look great to use those, so I took my goo-gone and went-to-town on all the 'These are eggs, in case you didn't realize it' stickers.  This was honestly the most time consuming step, which wasn't too bad.
2. Using vinyl (or permanent marker), label the eggs 1-12.  You can also label the container too, if you so desire.
3. Print & Cut out scriptures for each day.  The picture is a 5x7 (you need the individual cards to be able to fit in a little plastic egg)
4. The top of the scripture cards, tell you which symbol to put in the egg with it.  So, now your job is to scrounge around for each symbol.  I found all of mine lying around the house (except for the sacrament cup, which I had to remember to keep--- being a Mom of little ones, it was hard to get one of these to survive the whole meeting block).
5. Put the scripture & symbol in the corresponding egg.

Using It:
Starting on March 28th (for the year 2012), open one egg each day, leading up to Easter.  Read the scripture associated with the egg and talk about the symbol.  At minimum, we'll read the bold scripture and *IF* the kids sit still, we'll read the others.


I hope this adds a little bit more to your Easter celebrations!