The Things of Thora

What I've been up to

2012-01-28T12:35:00.000-08:00

It seems like every time I open my inbox (not every day, but as often as I can) I've got another email from Pintrest saying "Gorgeous Momma (that fits just about all of my friends, don't you think?) is now following all of your boards on Pintrest!"

I smile and sigh at the same time.

I smile because it's like a little note saying "Your life is so crazy and I never hear from you but I love you!" from each dear friend. It makes me feel so loved.

I sigh because I haven't pinned anything in months... well pinned online, lol. I have pricked myself a few times lately. Every project needs a tiny blood sacrifice, right? Even if you never mean to, lol.

So, here is my hurried attempt to catch you up on my crafty, devious, little projects.

Halloween, my vampire and mermaid turned out lovely and I bought a costume for my son because it was cheaper to buy the cartoon character set than make one. (Gasp, I know! Frightening that I've been reduced to BUYING a costume! What has become of me?)

Sorry the pics aren't great but I was down with the flu that week.
Umm... okay then my life was stressful and busy and I was bemoaning to my dear friend and guardian angel Kelley that I had no snowy white owl for my daughter's eleventh birthday back in November and that it still killed me to have not gotten one for her like we planned. So what does my angel do? She went home and she knitted and felted wool for me so I would have fabric to make an owl for my baby girl. Yeah, Kelley is wonderful.

So she gave me the pattern she had downloaded from WeeFolkArt.com and the felted wool. I cut out the pieces... and of course added to it, because I am me after all. I put a second layer for accent on the wings and extended the back panel to make a tail, and did an accent on the tail, and added feet (feet! So cute!)

So, this is how it turned out:

And this is my baby, in her Burger king crown, and she made a crown for the owl out of her water cup lid. The owl is well traveled now, it goes with her all over the place.
Now I just need to learn how to clean wool... hmmm.

This past week was Chinese New Year, Year of the DRAGON! Yay! So at work we celebrated all week with the kidlettes. I made a dragon to dance under. No pics of the plastic tablecloths I put on the back to hide the line of kids, but this is the head.

So much less scary than Perry, lol.

This is the eye detail I added after I took the other pictures.

I also borrowed another idea (that Kelley found for me) and went a little crazy with it. The itty bitties and I made a big cityscape with strips from a Chinese Newspaper and finger paints. It was a little crazy doing it with preschoolers, but it was fun and so worth begging the nice man at Chinese Kitchen for his newspaper.

The dots are little lanterns, btw, sorry so small, but it was a big project!

Easter eggs

2011-05-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

I love decorating eggs. I don't have a kystka and beeswax, so I can't really do Pysanka like I'd like to. Still, they aren't completely terrible... are they?

Asian inspired jewelry

2011-05-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

My sister gave me a really wonderful bracelet for Christmas. I love it so much and was thrilled that she sent along the left over parts with it. So I thought, and thought, and then ordered some Song Dynasty copper coins off of eBay.

The coins arrived promptly, but I was wrapped up writing, so they sat for ages. I put it all together the other day.

Here's the necklace:

Here's an earring:

Here's the whole collection including the brilliant bracelet my sister made:

Thanks Sis!

Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

(Apologies in advance for the bad quality of the pictures, I took them in my car as I waited in line to pick up the kids, after all the work I was out of time.)

This year, after a successful RS activity where I orchestrated re-making ornaments, I decided to make an ornament for each employee at work. There's only about 150 of us.

So I took several chunks of time and crunched out several options for them to choose from. Some were simple:

Some were very complex, like painting the continents on these globes:

And others were not so hard because I know a few tricks:

This last one was very popular, even though none of the people I spoke to who picked it guessed that it was supposed to be the North Pole. Ah well.

S&ST #9

2010-12-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

I was wrapping my friend's gift and wanted to do something special for the card.
I remembered that my mom used to emboss stationary for my grandmother. So I grabbed the roll of funny paper I have that has paper on one side and foil on the other. I used a crochet hook and the groove in my paper cutter to put in the lines of a square. Then using the 60 degree angle marker I made the lines of a snowflake. Then I put the card on a Styrofoam plate and embellished it. I found the Styrofoam made a great surface for freehand embossing.

Then I remembered that we have an event at work that we need snowflakes for, so I got on the phone with a friend and did these, two at a time:

I used a printed out hexagon to get the placement right, but the rest I just free-handed on the Styrofoam plate.

Out of curiosity I did a set with foil from the kitchen.

It worked fine, but the metal on metal thing was a little uncomfortable in a mild nails-on-the-chalkboard kind of way. It was fine when the paper hexagon was on top though, so keep that in mind. I also thought, well if anyone reading this isn't the freehand type, if you print out pictures of snowflakes you can lay it over the foil and trace the whole thing for a foil replica.

You have to be a bit careful to not press too hard and tear the paper/foil, but it was a lot of fun and it sure looks pretty.

Spindly snowflakes

2010-12-26T07:46:00.000-08:00

I have a bunch of snowflakes on my tree. Some of them my sister made, some of them I got from the thrift store. I wanted more, but as I looked at them and compared them to my recent research on snowflakes I decided I wanted a more spindly effect. I thought for a while and then realized that I wasn't thinking about it right. All I had to do was chain out for each arm and spindly lobe and then single stitch back.
So, I made several. When each was done I would pin it to a Styrofoam plate and use a dosing syringe to apply starch to it.

When they were done they looked great on the tree.

Crochet and Bead Snowflake earrings

2010-12-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

It's my friend's birthday tomorrow. I've been making snowflakes for my tree, so once I had made enough to know what I wanted to do I made these:

For those that speak crochet:
I put the beads on the thread before starting. I took the last bead that I put on and re-threaded it, then tied the ends so that the bead was in the middle of a figure eight of thread with just a little room on either side so I could stitch into each loop. Then I put six singles, three on each loop making a circle around the bead. I built four stitch chains between each single then half stitch climbed up the first loop to the center. * I chained out six, then turned and single stitched into the second chain. One more single stitch and then I brought up a bead and went around it to tack it in with a half stitch. then I chained out three, turned and single stitched into the second chain again. I single stitched my way down the side of the lobe and arm then used half stitches to move to the top of the next loop. I repeated from * until I had completed all six arms of the snowflake and tied off. I pinned the complete work to a Styrofoam plate and used a dosing syringe to apply starch to it. In the morning it was dry and I added the ear hooks.

Vamp it up

2010-12-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the school year Tali picked out several shirts that were marketed to teens that love Vampires and the new Alice in Wonderland movie. I bought a few for me too and then we picked out stuff to make necklace and earring sets for all three of us girls to match (well okay, so Jordi doesn't have earrings). I was wearing mine (which I would show a picture of, but it's in the room with a sleeping husband right now) to work one day early this month and my friend Eric saw it. He asked where I had gotten it, because he would like to get one for his daughter. I explained that I had made it, and would happily make one for his daughter and he could just pay me back for the supplies.
So I made her this set:

And he insisted on paying me nearly twice what I spent on supplies, wasn't that sweet?
Most of the supplies I got from Wal-mart, as it is now the only store in town that sells craft supplies. I did use a few things that I had salvaged from other necklaces from the thrift store.

Christmas Kicks

2010-12-12T17:35:00.000-08:00

and Elf Ears. I did whole elf costumes for our float in the parade tomorrow, but I figure the boot covers and the ears are all I'm going to bother posting.

Christmas Kicks
ie covers that look like curly elf shoes
For this you will need:
Christmas music playing in the background, I recommend Frank and Bing.
Boots, or shoes to wear under the covers
Felt by the yard, not the bitty squares
Pipe cleaners
Velcro (or not, if you are wearing over tights)
elastic (just a foot or so)
faux fur for the top
sewing machine, thread
needle, more thread
jingle bells
measuring tape

First, put on the boot/shoe and measure. You will need to know how big around to make the leg part, how tall to make the instep, and the circumference of the sole (heel, around the toe and back again.

Second, measure and cut, leaving half inch seam allowance. So, calf measure divided by two plus one inch is the width of each half of the the top of the boot, etc. Notice the toe is on the fold and is not cut.

Then cut the curl like so:

Notice the toe is still not cut.

Sew down the front of the boot and around the curl.

Then zig-zag on a pipe cleaner in the toe/curl for support. The stitches on the fabric will stretch out and be invisible if you use the same color thread.

Once you are to where the seam is you can bring the pipe cleaner into the center of your zig-zag.

Sew back seam or sew Velcro in at back seam hard side on the outside soft on the inside. Sew on the faux fur.

Turn, straighten the pipe cleaner and stuff with scraps from when you cut the boots out. I stuffed to an angle at this point, and then baste stitched by hand to keep it in place at the angle to rest right on the boot toe.

Fit to boot, pin a piece of elastic about 3 inches back, running under the sole. Remove and sew, this keeps the cover toe down and the curl standing up.

Add your bell.

Put them on and tap your feet to the music while you sew the rest of your costume.

Elf ears:
You will need:
The plastic cross-stitch stuff, don't ask me what it's called, I don't think I've ever used it for it's intended purpose.
Great Stuff - That's the brand name, it's spray insulation foam from the hardware store, in the insulation isle, and if you can get the "gap filler" not the "window-door" gap filler is sturdier.
Modge-podge
Paint the color of the skin tone you want. Personally I'm "buttermilk."
Knife, scissors, paintbrush
PLASTIC SHEETING AND RUBBER GLOVES (great stuff does not come off ANYTHING it gets on when it is wet, I've worn it for a week before I shed enough skin to get rid of it)
TIME, Great Stuff must cure over night before you can move it, then the modge-podge must dry overnight. The paint doesn't take as long.

Cut the plastic grid stuff into the shape you want. You are making the backing for your ears. This way you can sew through the foam and it won't rip off the thread. I traced my ear onto a paper towel with a marker and went from there.

Lay the ear backings you just made on the plastic sheeting. Leave large gaps between them, great stuff expands.

Shake the Great Stuff can until your arm hurts, screw on the pipe thing and carefully, gently dispense to cover your ear backings.

DO NOT TOUCH, DO NOT LET YOUR HUSBAND TOUCH, DO NOT LET THE PETS IN THE ROOM until it is dry.

(If your husband squawks about wasting the can of Great Stuff let him go play with it in the basement, but make him hold a paper towel under the tube as he crosses the floor. My husband can save a can for later use, but it's a pain and isn't 100% effective to clean the tube like he does because sometimes it clogs inside the can.)

When the ears are dry you can leave them bumpy and misshapen or shave them to a better shape with a serrated knife, like a steak knife.

Paint with modge-podge. Modge-podge will stick to the great stuff, paint just beads off. It will also help fill the little holes. Let dry.

Paint with paint, let dry. Sew onto a stocking cap or headband.

Somehow I did not get pics of that part... ah well. Maybe I will get some before the parade.

Sr. Missionaries Sculpture

2010-11-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

Our Ward's Sr. Missionaries are leaving soon. We tried to talk them into staying, but it hasn't worked so far. My friend was saying he wished we could pull something together to show how much we appreciate them. Their departure date got moved up so we are kind of in a time crunch. So I did this between shifts this week. Thankfully sculpey can be left out for ages without getting hard so I could put in a few hours here and there.

Yes, I've thought about painting it, and no, I don't think I will, unless I paint it white.

Making Halloween Horns

2010-10-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

This is kind of a Hall Hollow-ish post because the kids did the project with me tonight, but because it's a how-to I'm sticking it here.

I did a set of these for myself the other Halloween, and I wore them this year to work.

A little girl liked them, so I said I would make some for her. I decided to do unicorn horns, one for her and one for her twin sister. They have long blond hair, I couldn't resist.

To make these you need:
Sculpey
Aluminum Foil
Toothpick
Ribbon
Heavy clear fishing line
Paint
Insane desire to have horns

You'll want two pieces of foil really, one to make a cone for the inside of your horns and one to protect your table from the sculpey and paint.

Start with a toothpick and a long sheet of foil, three feet should do for three to four inch horns. The toothpick is a placeholder for when you need to string the horn. You fold the foil several times until you have a strip. Then you place the toothpick perpendicularly about 1/3 of the way down the strip. You fold it over then wrap and twist the foil to make a horn with one or two wraps of the foil going below the toothpick and the rest making a cone on top of it. The foil core makes the horn bake evenly and prevents cracking. It's also cheaper than a wad of sculpey.
I form the cone and then flatten the base by shoving it into the table so it stands well and will sit flat on the skull. If you want a curve to the horn, now is the time to make it.
Roll out the sculpey into snakes and flatten the snakes. I use a roller and small strips of wood on each side so I have a nice even thickness, again, so it bakes well. The flat ribbon of clay is wrapped around the aluminum cone, and you put a layer of the clay on the bottom too. Smooth it all together then apply any decorative strips of clay you desire to make it pretty... or ugly... or gnarly.
Bake according to directions on the package. Remember that sculpey can be baked longer than recommended but NEVER hotter than recommended.
When cool enough to handle remove the toothpick. Paint and then thread in the fishing line. I make the line about the size of the head then tie a loop on each end. Then the ribbon is threaded through each loop and you can use it to cinch the horns on tight and tie the ribbon. You can also use a few bobby pins on the fishing line up top if you like.

Like I said, I did this today with my kids, ages (almost) 10, 8, and 6. I have been working very very hard on controlling that impulse to "fix" my kids projects. I still have to do most of the work for my 6 year old though because, well she's 6 and a bit spoiled.

They are drying now and I just snapped a pic.

The two white ones are mine of course. The other one in the back is Jordi's. I ended up doing most of the work on hers, she put holes all over the place and painted it though. Jay's is the redwood-red and white one. Tali's is the bloody looking one.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

My kids watch a lot of Netflix. Mostly they watch Avatar (Airbender not blue people.) I enjoy watching it too, which is good because I would have been lost when they told me what they wanted.
So if you aren't familar with the characters, here is the official site for each of the ones the kids picked this year:
Toph

Sokka

Katara

Here is how they turned out:

A few notes:
James wanted to be Ang, but I nixed the idea when he insisted I could come up with a way to make him airbend. Sorry dude, I'm not putting fans up your sleeves. The thing on his head is a white swimcap that I put make-up on to fleshtone and sewed a section of a wig onto. It made his ears stick out, but he wouldn't wear it over them. The weapon is made of a ball, a coat hanger, a few oven liners, cardboard and aluminum tape.
Talitha helped make her costume. Her father didn't much like the idea of her first sewing experience being on a serger, as he lost a duel with one once, but oh well, she can meet a regular sewing machine later.
Jordan went through all the female characters before we settled on Katara. I just couldn't let her be Azula.

Face Painting

2010-10-23T17:24:00.000-07:00

I love to do face painting, I really do, except for one thing, the monotony. Even when presented with a variety of options, kids tend to pick safe things, hearts, flowers, spiders, rainbows. You can only paint just so many hearts in a day.

So I developed a plan to show kids how cool other options can be. I made a big board with pictures of faces with a variety of options.

Then I dressed up in a medieval gown and painted my own face.

I painted faces for seven solid hours and only did about 10 hearts, 2 flowers, and 5 rainbows. I got to do old age make up twice. I probably did fourty different "Fairy masks" and nearly as many "Batman masks."

Spiders, however, will be a favorite no matter what the season, and there is no getting around that.

The Witches Brew

2010-10-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is something that I cooked up at work for an event later this month. I left the lettering to my friend, I just did the fun part.

S&ST #8

2010-10-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

Glitter ball = $3.75
Candle jar ring = $4.99
Crystal ball that is "magically" unbreakable= Priceless

Bath remodel

2010-10-01T03:29:00.000-07:00

I'll start off by saying I had help with this one. Joe and the handy man did the tub/shower, toilet, and sink install, plumbing, drywall, electrical, and helped lay the hardi-backer for the tile. I just did the demolition, clean up, remaining hardi-backer, painting, trim, tile, shelving, caulking, grouting, threshold laying, hardware hanging, and decor.

I'm going to show you this picture first, because in it you can see the inspiration piece. When I decorate I have to have one thing I use to tie the room together, something that puts in my mind what I want the room to be. I found the canvas print above the toilet at... ahem... Wally World. The gray scale nature scene called to me and I realised I could build a bathroom around it. Gray is the hot neutral these days.

I didn't know what I was going to do for cabinetry, until I went on vacation and saw this in our hotel bathroom. This is where you picture me with a wicked grin and a light bulb over my head.

I didn't HAVE to do cabinets. I could do cubes, squares, like tiles, and the picture! The rolled up towels would also mimic natural shapes!

To go with the print I also had printed a bunch of b&w photos of nature that I have taken. Naturally they are edited liberally and didn't look much like this when I took them, but I am quite happy with the results. I also covered a jar with gray seashells and purchased some brick-a-brac to throw in or paint and throw in.

So without further ado, this is my hall bathroom:

Oops, forgot the "before" pictures, I snapped these right before I got out the crowbar:

S&ST #7

2010-05-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

Tali's first swim meet is coming up, and it's a Luau theme. Apparently there is some prize they have won several years in a row that goes to the team with the supporters who dress the best in the theme.
I may be completely inept at the rest of the sports mom stuff, but costumes I can do.

The background of this is my Muumuu, floral and parrot print. I didn't like any of the leis that the store had on hand, so I bought a garland and made my own with the help of fishing line and coffee straws. I also made a leaf only one which will go on someone I am sure, along with the handful of store bought leis. I took some shells from my room and drilled out the center. Some earring hooks and beading wires and the earrings are done!
I have pink grass skirts for each of the girls, and one for me in classic tan. James has Hawaiian print swim trunks.
I seriously considered a tiki mask for James, but I really don't have time before the big day.
Now if I could only remember the Hula dance Mini P. taught me in Kirtland.

So tell me honestly,

2010-05-14T04:06:00.000-07:00

this sucks right?
I was going for a Chaofeng, which as described on the Nine Dragon scroll is a lion like dragon, and I don't know if it's good enough to display at work to encourage kids to learn how to do paper mache.

Solar system project

2010-04-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

As if one project this month wasn't enough,

Tali had this due this week.
I think she did a really good job making the balls, making craters, painting inside the lines, and sticking pins everywhere. Naturally the others were very upset that she got to mess with

Mommy's sacred craft supplies.
She had to label so many things, but we were out of foil for the center of the balls, so we had to go small.

Kindergarten Science Project

2010-04-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

My daughter's options were:

Poster

Book

Pamphlet

Mask

Diorama

Clay Animal

She needed to include information on habitat, viviparous or oviparous, diet, and predators.

Based on the nature of the instructions and my daughter's reading level I quickly deducted this was a kid helps mom kind of project.

So, she TRIED to help cut it out. Do you know how hard sewing scissors on felt or vinyl are for a 5 year old. Yeah... tried.

However, she wore it like a chimp... er champ and has been climbing around like a monkey all day.

I seem to have failed to impress upon her the difference between monkeys and gorillas. Hopefully the zoo trip will rectify that.

Wallah.

Supplies: vinyl, paint pens, felt, sticky back felt, black mask from wal-mart, scissors, contact cement, paper, and one completely adorable little girl who lights up the lives of all who know her.

Word Tiles

2010-04-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'd say this was small and simple...

because they are small, and it was rather simple,

but it just looks too cool!
We got a magnetic whiteboard today to keep track of chores,

behavior, and bribes for the kids.

Yup, instituting allowance, bad Thora.
Naturally I cannot just write on the board.

How un-Thora would that be?

No, I have to make magnets to match the decor.

The room is based around my Blue Willow china, the ones we never use. Thus I have hand painted 36 little tiles with the Chinese characters representing important words. I took the meaning of each of our names and mixed them in with things like love, peace, happiness, son, daughter, etc, etc, and so forth. I think they look grand, and when they dry I shall spray them with high gloss spray and put them on the whiteboard.

Now I just need to get the whiteboard ready so I can beg Bobbi for vinyl cut outs of the kids names, etc.

Dragon Mobile

2010-04-02T20:24:00.000-07:00

The concept for this popped in my head the other day, and after dinner I decided to make it. 5 hours later she's all done.
Some of you may recognize her. If not, well I need to fix my text the text then, don't I? Shhhh.
I tried taking closer pictures to show the tiny detail, but the simple fact is I am better with kitchen scissors and a dremel than a camera.

S&ST project #6

2010-03-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

This one is really small,
but it brought me such joy to see completed
I thought I'd post it anyway.

I have had a pair of candle holders flanking my dressing table
since we moved in over two years ago.
I put sand dollars on there then, just to have something there
and I've been going back and forth
on what kind of candles to get ever since.
I finally got some yesterday and put them up.
They aren't impressive candles, but I think I like
that they are simple and lightly scented.
The room is probably over decoarated anyway
so a clean line or two is good.
I moved the sand dollar to the netting,
and put a few shells around the bottom of the candle.

Now I just need to paint over that yellow wall
from the previous owners.

Small and Simple Things #5

2010-03-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Flower Hairpins

I've made these before as birthday party favors,

but someone asked about them so I thought I'd throw a post up about it.

The supplies are bobby pins, decorative brads, fake flowers,

and a pair of jeweler's or needle nose pliers.

Thread the flower onto the brad.

Curl the brad ends.

Slip on bobby pin.

Now, that qualifies as simple, right? lol.

Small and Simple Things project #4

2010-03-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

We have Relief Society Meeting coming up in May. I'm calling it "The Jewels that Journeyed to Join us." It will be all about the Asian sisters in our ward, their history, culture, journey here, and their conversion to the gospel. I want to have the bulletin board up ASAP so I painted the maps tonight.
Fun facts: Laos (where most of them lived before here) is about the size of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Connecticut put together. It is a land-locked country that shares a mountainous border with Vietnam. After the Vietnam conflict a lot of people who helped us over there were forced to flee Vietnam and live in the mountains of Laos. These people have finally been able to immigrate here.

It is an honor to know some of them.

Update: The board is up, so I'm adding pictures of the finished thing.

I strung silver strands from different locations

in Laos to here and along them are the words and "jewels."

Big thanks to Bobbi for supplying the beautiful letters,

couldn't have done it without her!

UPDATE:

This is the-one-and-only-me dressed up in the traditional "Red Haired Hmong" New Year Clothes. I thought it was a joke, but apparently this is a real sub-culture and my friends happened to have the clothes. The ladies with me are young Hmong ladies that dance together. They are in "White Hmong" clothes and were very good.

I got a new name last night and everything, "Xob Liam" (said so-la, don't ask me what happened to the letters b and m...) which means "thunder," just like Thora does. I love being called Sister Xob Liam. It was the most fun I have had in ages. Oh, and Mom, you think chicken is good in a coconut milk soup? Try shreaded bamboo. I'm going to have to go to Sister Moua's house to learn to make it, just so I can tell you how.

Small and Simple Things project #3

2010-03-12T18:26:00.000-08:00

I finally decided what to do with the scraps left from my re-covered bag. I covered a binder with them! It took a little time to hand stitch the inside so that the whole thing was taut, but it was worth it!

Now I have a special binder for organizing book stuff!

Small and Simple Things project #2

2010-03-08T17:28:00.000-08:00

Half of celebrating the little things is recognising the things you do that you normaly wouldn't count. I normally wouldn't count this. It's just a bit of eye candy for my Relief Society meeting tomorrow night. I'll be talking about gifts and how everyone has them. I printed up over a hundred, cut them out with fancy scissors and tied them onto ting-ting. The vase was the one my darling husband picked out for my Valentines flowers (they were incredible btw.)
I think it turned out rather well and will look nice on the table with all the silver serving dishes I'm lugging over for the event.

Sisterhood

2010-02-28T18:41:00.000-08:00

This is a sculpture I did for a friend. It was inspired by her three beautiful daughters. I call it "Sisterhood" and had a lot of fun making it.
The heads, the hardest part.

And the full thing, looking from above.

Small and Simple Things project #1

2010-02-28T18:29:00.000-08:00

For an explaination of why I'm posting this see here.

These are some very simple Bun Buttons I made. (Cute name huh?)

All I did was slip a few old buttons from my button box onto bobby pins. I had a bracelette on that day that my friend made. It has a button on it, and I wanted to have a few more buttons on that day (plus it was a crazy hair day and a bun was a good idea, lol.)

So, here they are in my crazy messy bun, can you find all 3?.

Re-covered backpack

2010-02-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

My husband bought a new laptop a few months ago, the other was "old" after a few years of use. (This will surprise no one that knows him.)This time instead of making him sell the old one to one-third pay for the new one I gave in and accepted the hand-me-down electronic. (This is why I have two iPods, lol.)
With the pretty blue laptop came a not so pretty bag. It was still functional, but stained and ugly and definitely not "me." So I started looking for laptop bags.
Ever notice how much it costs for one of those? Yeah, to much for me, I'm so silly about spending money on things. If it isn't something I'm in love with, I don't want it, and I certainly don't want it $60+ worth.
So I started thinking of making a bag or re-covering the old one.
That's when I went to the fabric store with my sister. (Ahh the bliss! The excitement of fabric shopping has been known to put me in labor, hence the birth of my son.)As soon as I walked in I found ASIAN BROCADE 40% off! Yes, I know, God and JoAnne's love me. I am very blessed.
So I bought a quarter yard of 5 different exquisite fabrics.
Then (a month later, you know me)I sat down to make the bag. I lovingly pulled threads to get the cuts perfectly on-grain, then sewed the 4" wide strips together. Then I cut 4" strips the other way and staggered them when I sewed them back together. I cut out pieces on the diagonal from the zigzaggedy fabric. I wanted to do it diagonally because Asian art usually has a diagonal line to it. Then I hand stitched the pieces on with silvery thread. I also embroidered the Chinese symbol for "thunder" onto part of it, and added a dragon patch I got off the rack. I did a lot of the stitching deliberately uneven and added lots of unnecessary long reckless stitches on the seams to add a touch of funky-handcrafted feel to the backpack.
It took a while to finish because I only worked on the hand stitching in my spare time (ie during swim class, in the school pick up que, at the doctor's office.)
All in all I am very, very pleased.

It's probably a very good thing I live over an hour from a fabric store big enough to fill my strange tastes.

A History of Magic

2010-01-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

Or, ancient history anyway. I just realised that I have never done a blog post about the party I threw several years back. It was when Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince was coming out. I was INSANE about Harry Potter, so as soon as I knew the release date I started planning this party. A talking sorting hat sorted us at the start of the evening. We played an improvised tournament of Quidditch (I did have muggle neighbors you know), took O.W.L. tests on the previous books, spells, and who's who in wizarding(those with the best scores received handmade wands.)We ate chocolate frogs, cake, spider chocolates, treacle tart, pumpkin pies, and naturally drank butterbeer and pumpkin juice. We had our pictures taken with Harry, competed in trivia to earn points for our houses, fought a dementor pinata with a massive lion head mask, and generally made the muggles shake their heads in bewilderment.
My husband to this day has no clue how much money I spent on this party, because I deliberately did not keep track!
So, the evidence in a slideshow (I hope):

Included please notice:

The dementor pinata (I made two, on for this party and one for a HP Lexicon Gathering)
The kids, Harry, and I (it was hot, we were wilting)
The gown it took me eons to sew. I beaded the front, hand crochet the lace on the collar out of thread, and even though I started it before the cover art was released... I MATCHED THE BOOK!!! lol
My sister, the house elf was in an accident a few days prior, so she was on crutches, poor thing. Yes, I made the ears and the towel toga. BTW, Harry was a pic I downloaded and put on cardboard then attached to my shirt and old witch outfit on a hanger.
My son fights the dementor (I always make my pinatas too strong, sigh)
The butterbeer barrel I made to go over our big spigot watercooler, and the lion mask on top of it. For the barrel I used woodgrain contact paper over cardboard. For the lion mask (I wish it roared like Luna's) I used a punching balloon, "Great Stuff" spray insulation foam, paper mache', nylons, markers, and paint. You could see through the eyes.
The snitch
The "hourglasses" that held the house points (colored glass jewels from the floral dept.)

Snowflake earrings

2009-10-25T13:04:00.001-07:00

These are just simple earrings I did for my friend's birthday. Wire, Ear hooks, some little crystals and a lot of twisting.

I guess this means I'm kind of a twisted friend...

Halloween Wizard and Princess 2009

2009-09-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

This year for Halloween Jay wanted to be a Wizard, thank goodness. Jordi wanted to be a princess. Between their choices and Tali's I think I may just have to go as an Author to round out the grouping. Get it? lol

My kids have fun taste in fabric. It has made this process so much fun.

These are the concept drawings, though I have diverged greatly from this, as is my right as the artist (and the kids keep changing thier minds):

I love to use objects already on hand as patterns, hooded sweaters, t-shirts that fit just right, and my mother's old patterns from when I was a kid.

A word about my mother. My mom can do anything, and does do whatever she sets her mind to, no wonder I turned out the way I did. Sometime after USA Today ran an article on her and before she got her Doctorate level degree, she passed down her sewing patterns to me. I think I was the only daughter with kids at the time. Having watched in awe as she created incredible things all my life I was happy to have them. It was like she was passing on much more though, like it was my turn to be super-woman. I have never doubted that she knew I could do it, though at times she has raised an eyebrow at my methods, my mother has always believed that I could do anything I set my mind to. I only have to apply the thought, hard work, and love that she put into all her creations. I can only hope that the intangible legacy of creativity and tenacity that she left me is one I will leave my children. My mother doesn't expect me to follow her footsteps, I can make my own path, but she will tell you she expects me to surpass her someday. Nawh... we'll just be equals, sisters, like we always have been. (I love you Mom.)

Okay, back on track.
I used a combination of things as patterns for the cosutmes, sweatshirt hoods, t-shirts, patterns, and self drawn patterns. For Jordi's dress I extended and flared a t-shirt. Then the over layer is a big rectangle that I gathered, over-sleeves are gathered rectangles too. Jay's tunic is a large t-shirt extended, the cloak is a different take on the same pattern.

The over sleeve was machine gathered on the edge seam, so that it would lay right under her arm. You just do a long stitch, then gently scoot it down one of the threads.

Then with the skirt I attached it at the hem and waist, it hung down quite a bit, which was the plan. I pinned it up so that the hem was where I wanted it, then put in a few pins where I would stitch. Then I did a second round of the lifting and stitching so that I ended up with a fluffy skirt that has kind of bunched layers.

I did quite a bit of Applique on Jay's costume. If you have never done applique, this is what I picked up watching my mom. You pin well then sew a line right along where you want the edge. Trim very close to the stitching, then do a tight zig-zag over the top.

I think they turned out rather well.

(The Runes on the cloak read Magic Gift, Magic Wisdom, Magic Health, Magic Enlightenment, Protection, Victory, Joy)

For Jordi's crown I used a button, a few beads, and wire. I put the button in the middle of the wire and started twisting. It was a lot of fun. It's amazing what a girl can do with a few tools and a lot of love.

The finished product on the models:

Halloween Dragon 2009

2009-07-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

I know it's not here yet, but I'm in the preparation stages (if in doubt why, read my other blog). I'm going to keep editing this as I add things, I have split this one off as it is so involved.
This year Tali is going to be a dragon. I like the challenge of doing a dragon costume.

So here are the fabrics for all the costumes:

And here is the concept drawing:

I have a personal rule when making costumes. "Do what scares you first." So I started on the dragon head right away. I'm also worried about how to put together the haunches and tail, but that's simmering on my mental burner and may be there a while before I make a cut. I need to get it fully figured out so I don't waste fabric.

For the dragon head I purchased a pack of floral foam for $2. I glued the blocks together to make carving easier.

Then I put some bamboo skewers in for strength.

I studied some pictures of the dragon head shape I like and sketched it out with a crochet hook.

I started carving (note: if you do this, wear a mask and goggles, you don't want that stuff in your eyes and lungs). This was done with straight edged knifes. Then I hollowed out an area to sit on top of the head and cut the skewers where they got in the way. Then I added some more skewers for more strength.

I cut a strip of the snakeskin looking vinyl and carefully placed holes for the eyes. I wrapped the head, pinning underneath and making notches to get the fit right. The pattern of the vinyl helped mask the edges where it overlapped in back and front. Then I stitched on the bottom.

I needed to finish the eyes, so I glued on a piece to the back of each eye, then painted the front with glue. The glue has a lower water content and keeps the paint from making the floral foam turn to mush. It also creates a good painting surface, which is why one should always get paint-able glue. After the glue was dry (okay, it was about a week, life got in the way) I painted over it with acrylic paint and sealers. Thankfully I paid attention in the one art class I took in high school so this was not a challenge. Thanks Mrs. B. Tali wanted red eyes, to match the red ridge and tail tip she wants, and I did accents in silver and black for obvious reasons.

As far as the body, I like to do mock-ups in paper towels. I know, professionals use muslin, but I'm not wasting money like that, lol. So I use papertowels and tape. I spent a whole day thinking, sketching, measuring, cutting, and taping. Then when I tried the mock up on her it needed some adjustments, but that is what a mock up is for. The initial sketching and tiny mock up:

The leg with the additional piece to make it stand away from the body, and the quill inside, because I love my quills:

The finished mock up(Why one arm and one leg? Because you don't need a full suit, just enough to try the fitting of each piece):

These are the outer pieces of the dragon costume, they were lined to give support.

This is it, sewed together:

I also cut 3" squares out of red fabric to fold in to quarter triangles and put along the back. The zipper goes down the back.

I decided to tackle the teeth one day when I had the morning off of work. I made them out of sculpey with an aluminum core, baked them, painted them, and screwed them into the head.

I think I make a pretty good dentist, lol.

I also decided to put eyelashes on the eyes, to compliment the tail, and because the yarn was calling to me plaintively from the basket, and who can resist plaintive yarn?

We found some gloves in the fishing department, and I hand stitched on some claws and skin backing. My fingers may never forgive me.

I would go into detail about how I made the feet slippers out of flip-flops, fabric, batting, and pins, but mylanta it was complicated. Thank goodness I paid attention to how my cabbage patch dolls were made. (See mom it was a good investment!)

The wings are fabric, wire, paint, velcro, and lots of starch. I poured it in our spray bottle undiluted and went to town on the wings as they hung outside. They dried wonderfully stiff and keep this shape when horizontal. The wire runs from the base of the end that attaches to the back up to the point at the wing top. The rest is all starch. They are very lightweight and will be gloriously in the way as she goes to the parties. I can't wait!

This is the candy bucket, she wanted an egg shaped one. I built it around a pumpkin bucket. I should have done a balloon as the base for the fabric-mache (not paper) but wouldn't you know I didn't have a balloon? Ah well, it works.

Here she is in the finished costume!

We had a knight attending the party at church, so they had a bit of fun, lol.

Dress-up-blocks

2008-11-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what you can do with a few slices of 2x4 and a trip to the craft store.

I call these "Dress-up-blocks" but I'm sure the clever person who originally came up with them had a different name for them. I did one for a ladies meeting at church a few years ago and decided to make some to give away as presents this fall. When we made them before we had little stocking caps and scarves to go with the carrot noses.

I've expanded upgraded a bit from there. This group has 3 outfits each. They can be scarecrows all fall, ghosts for Halloween, and snowmen at Christmas. Back when I made my first I came up with the idea to make one eye wink, and this time added the full grin with squinched eyes look to one. All those hours doodling in class seem to have paid off. Once again I took someone's great idea and improved upon it. This practice tends to scare people away, which is sad because once you get over my creativity I can be a really nice person. Honest!

Okay, now for the directions. (Because I KNOW someone will ask.) I'm not going to step by step you through all the outfits, but I'll give you enough to get rolling.

You will need:

Time, lots of it, and if you are making the ghosts they dry 24 hours... so no table for 2 days kind of time.

A dime, in addition to the money you are spending on this.

2x4, and get a nice straight, smooth one for your own sake. (splinters stink)

Acrylic paint: black, white, brown, orange, and CRACKLE

Painter's pen, black

Sculpey, for the noses. You can get different colors and scratch the colored paint from the list, or you can get white and paint after baking. Me? I have about... 3 lbs of white in my craft closet.

The little cylinder shaped wooden pegs used for joining wood. Just ask the burly guy at Lowes. You can also buy a dowel and cut pegs, if you reaaaaaalllly want to.

Paint brushes, toothpicks, sandpaper, hot glue & gun, table protection, tin foil

A nice chopsaw for cutting the wood, or use your feminine charms to get the burly guy at Home Depot to cut your wood in 8 through 12 inch blocks, or con someone's husband into doing it. Personally, I'm in love with my miter/chop saw. It's hot, way hotter than the guy at the store.

Drill and bit to fit the wooden pegs, and make a test hole on scrap wood, please.

Half of the craft store for making the outfits. I used felt AND sticky back felt, 5 different fabrics, raffia, Christmas garland, fake flowers, cheese cloth, liquid starch, yarn... whatever makes your eyes twinkle and that wicked little grin cross your face.

The process (and you thought the shopping was fun)

Blocks:

Cut up a 2x4, if you do not have a nice miter box chop saw, find someone who does. You do not want them toppling. Mine are 8-12 inches high. The shortest one is kind of hard to dress.

Sand away the splinters. Dust off the sawdust.

Paint them black, let dry.

Put on a coat of crackle paint, let dry.

Slather on a layer of white paint, the thicker the coat, the better it crackles. Do not second coat, and try to go in one direction while slathering, let dry.

Use a dime on paper to make a circle. That circle is the dark part of an eye, so move the dime up a bit and draw in the oval. Make a template of where you want the nose hole and eyes to go. Cut it out and transfer by tracing the holes onto the block w/ a pencil.

Use a paint pen to draw the eye, let dry.

If you want a wink, make a curve from 7 o'clock to 3 o'clock on the oval of the eye, extend to make wrinkles.

Use a toothpick and white paint to make the twinkles.

Draw on a smile.

Drill the hole for the nose.

Noses:
Shape out of Sculpey, and insert the peg in back. Bake according to the package directions, paint.
Snowmen can have carrots or buttons, Frosty had a button, and I’ve never seen that IRL, so I do carrots.
Carrots: shape a cone, use your fingernail to put lines like the winkles in a carrot. If in doubt, go get a carrot out.
Ghost noses: Have fun, get a little crazy; ghosts get to have humorous noses.
Scarecrow noses: I opted for brown triangles, but if an evening on google image search leaves you with another idea, I will not be offended.

Outfits:
Okay, so this is really the hard part, and I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to describe it all. So I’ll give you this.

Felt hat:
Brim: Take a sheet of sticky felt, cut it in half across the width. Center a 2x4 chunk and trace. Cut a shape like this >-< in side the rectangle. Then peel off the paper everywhere else but inside the rectangle and place another layer of felt on the adhesive side. Open up the rectangle and cut it out on the non-sticky side leaving the papered tabs only. Then flip them through so the paper faces the outside.
Top: Cut a rectangle for the top part of the hat. Put it around the head, make it a little loose, then fold the top in and glue felt to felt so it looks like a cap.
Finish: When dry remove thye cap and then take the paper off the tabs on the brim. Stick them to the inside of the top of the hat. If needed add a little glue or stitch. Add a ribbon.

Ghosts: Liquid fabric starch and cheese cloth. Just make the shape you want out of aluminum foil as kind of a hat on your block, put a layer of foil over it all to protect your painting, cover w/ soaked cheesecloth, let dry. It’s easier than it looks.
Good luck!

Halloween 2008

2008-10-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

We had our trunk-or-treat last night with the kids, and a little festival inside.

This year was a little tricky. We started planning our costumes in July, and I made the kids give my their final orders in mid-September. I was going as a Satyr (or Faun, if you prefer the later Roman word) so the girls wanted to be something similar. They finally settled on half unicorn half human, to go with my half goat half human costume.
My son said he wanted to be a robot. Specifically, a broken robot, who's head has come off, with a spring coming out where the head was, and big silver arms. He wanted the head to be his candy bucket... something about having people put candy in his head appealed to him, lol. He's so brilliant.

(Quick note, please excuse my oldest daughter's expression. She fell asleep in the car on the way over and this was as close to a smile as she was getting. She is usually the best behaved little girl, while her sister is the wild one. One would never know it by the pictures, lol.)

The hardest part, by far was my hooves. They were kind of like high heels with out the heel. I made them out of the fiberglass material used to make casts then built the rest around them. I just slip my foot in and they fit like a glove. After an hour or so my feet hurt like crazy, but it was worth it.

Here are some pics of my hooves, and on one I shaded in about where my foot sits so you can see how I built this hoof around it. The shoe extends out to the back and to the front too. There is a balance point in the middle just behind the ball of my foot that gave me a little stability.

Leprechan and Faries

2008-07-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

We take Halloween seriously at my house. Not that we are into scarey stuff, because I really don't even like horror films, I just like having once a year that I can make pure fantasy come to life.
We begin discussing costumes in the spring, my plans for this year a positively wicked, and I can't wait to have them done... but this post is to brag about the past.
DDs wanted to be ballerina fairy princesses, which in translation means "Go crazy with pink, and make sure I have a tutu, wings, and a crown." I'm not hot on pink, but I let them pick, they will come around to my pov on pink someday, I'm sure.
DS wanted to be something just as magical, so we discussed Leprechans and he agreed that a mischvious little person was a perfect fit for him. I wonder why? lol

So I started with my concept drawings.

Then on Halloween we were a complete sucess!

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

2008-07-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that fake, carve-able pumpkins are the best invention of the last few years? Seriously, no more getting all glum that Halloween is over and my masterpiece is moldy and has to be thrown away!

I wasn't sure how well the fake pumpkins would work, I like to have translucent areas on my pumpkins where the pulp remains and the skin is removed. So I did a test pumpkin. This is how it turned out.

To say I was encouraged by my success is an understatement, I sat and stared at it for an hour, lol.

So the next chance I got, I took out my dremel and made my traditional tribute to Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater on a tall pumpkin, this time for keeps!

I spent hours on it, hours. The grass, the pattern in his sweater, the flowers, the folds in the curtains, her pregnant belly, and the kitty in the window, they were all worth it, because I get to take it out year after year!

Note: If you are even thinking about doing this you MUST have swimming goggles, a face mask for breathing, ear plugs, and an easy to clean room. The Styrofoam dust is painful in the eyes and lungs, and gets EVERYWHERE. The pumpkin SCREAMS the entire time you are carving it. Very Halloween appropriate, but hard on the ears. The sections that are cut out should be cut out with a drill bit in the dremel, then use the carving tools to do the shallow groves and patterns.

Christmas Stockings, Thora Style

2008-07-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Well, to tell you the truth my mom made these once.... well kind of. Like any idea I'm not happy until I've made it my own. Apparently this tendency is really social suicide, as people don't like their ideas improved upon, but I'm more into "I love you anyway" kind of friends.
So that said, this is how I do Christmas stockings. They are relatively simple, for the artistically inclined, they just require a little patience and love.

This is the set for my family. I blanket stitched around the edge, but honestly it was a huge hassle getting the hook though the felt. If you do this, find a punch of some kind to make little holes to crochet through.

One of my best friends, mother of six, re-married a few years ago. The lucky, and terrific, guy had three kids of his own, so that made eleven people to make into a family. My only thought for helping from 14 hours away was to make them a set of stockings to include everyone. I even made some blank ones for the ones I was sure would be added by two people so in love, and it's a good thing I did because #10 is crawling and #11 is on the way. If they go past 12 I get to make a whole new set!

Obviously I'm getting better, lol. I am rather proud of the way the mom's hair came out. I got to see them all recently though and was dismayed at the way they have all grown up so much from the pictures I made these from. It makes me want to start anew, to do credit to the wonderful and good-looking kids they are.
BTW, this project is very affordable if you do the shopping for it the day or so AFTER Christmas, then you have all year to get it done, but you will have gotten the stockings at 75% off!

My back saving bag.

2008-07-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

I have a bad back, for several reasons I won't bore you with, but it has been a cause of much invention in the past, and has recently contributed to the most remarkable little bag.
You see, we are headed to a rather famous, rather expensive, rather large theme park with the kiddos this summer. The thought of lugging around all the necessary items while pushing "Little Miss I'm The Baby of the Family" around in a stroller was not a pleasant thought. I am not one of those huge stroller fans either. I had a huge double stroller back in the day, and hated it. You can't steer it, you can barely push it, and good luck going into a store with it! My stroller of choice is the cheap umbrella stroller, it folds up super small to fit in almost any space, is light, and only fits one kid so I only have to push ONE KID.

The trouble is, they don't hold anything. You can get a mesh bag for the back, which rips, spills, lets bottles tip over... yeah what a pain. The mesh bags are also as open to rain as they are to seeing. It was obvious to me I needed something better.

So I designed and made this bag. There are 5 special pockets on the outside for water bottles, three similar pockets inside for sunscreen (I am a red-head you know.) Other things provisioned for are sunglasses, lip sunscreen or balm, papers, ponchos, wipes, changes of bottoms for the little ones, and a purse sized first aid kit. They outside is vinyl, for those sudden southern showers, and the inside is a sturdy fabric to preclude ripping at the seams. It's pretty cute too, don't you think?

The Desectration of Encyclopedias

2008-07-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm evil. I just destroyed a set of encyclopedias to make boxes to hide my husband's "stuff". The worst part is, now I'm blogging about it, but that's just because people are asking me how to do it. Yes, you read that right, I'm promoting the desecration of old books! I'm sorry Daddy, do you still love me? I SWEAR they had been molding in that thrift store for years... I know because I've been planning this for years... does that make me a bad person?

So if you now hate me on principle, I understand. I committed the crime and will have to live with the consequences. If you don't hate me though... well, here are instructions for your own act of desecration. Please read and understand before starting, I'd hate for any books to go to waste.

Step 1: find the perfect books to destroy. Thrift stores THROW AWAY encyclopedias, so you may have to ask your local one if they have any in the back, or if they have a call list for a set to be saved for you. Tell them you don't even care if it's an incomplete set... they will look at you weird, but hey... they won't forget you! Be sure that they are big enough to hide whatever it is you are hiding. So if it's dvd cases, get ones that are tall enough to hide the cases, etc.

Step 2: Examine the set, open them up and bend the covers back (feeeeel the guilt. You may hear the voice of your first grade teacher echoing in your head, "That is NOT the way you are supposed to treat a book!") If the spine comes away from the bound pages, this set is perfect. If the cover is attached to the binding... it may still be usable... but the spine taken off will be weak, I bet you can pick out the spines like this in my first picture, they are wrinkled. Those are the "year books" that went with my set and weren't bound the same way. IF the pages fall out of the book you just abused THAT set is DESTINED for you, ask the clerk, she will agree.

Step 3: Once you have the books home, clear out the kids. Seriously, some of this a kid can do, some of this can harm a kid, and some of this a kid can really mess up by breathing on it. This is an evening job, or a kids are at school job, or a kids are locked in their rooms until Christmas job. It is not a nap time, I've got a few hours before dinner job.

Step 4: Divest the pages from the cover. Open up, slide one blade of the scissors between the bound pages and the spine, and cut through ONLY the paper that connects the cover to the pages. If you have the glued on spine kind, carefully rip along the crease then peel away the fabric from the paper it is glued to.

Step 5: Recycle the pages... or use them to wallpaper a room... or glue them to a table and then paint polyurethane all over them so your kids can learn from something other than the cereal box during breakfast. (I told you I was evil.)

Step 6:Figure out how many spines to a cover. The easiest boxes are the ones that are one cover width wide. If the spines don't nicely cover the cover, you may need to trim the cover down with a utility knife so they fit with no gaps. Spare covers make good cutting mats, so you don't cut your table.

Step 7: Remove the covers from the spines, but not all of them. On each box you will need a front cover with spine still on and a back cover with spine still on. These go at the right and left sides of the box, so the still attached covers make the sides of the box. Their spines are still glued to the front of the box, but still being attached to the sides makes a pretty transition, like a book has. When gluing the sides on be sure to glue the cover edges together at the corner so the hard parts meet, not soft to hard. That way the box is stronger. Once you have the two sides glued on then fill the middle with just spines. (see my lovely drawing below)

When cutting the covers off, cut through the fabric of the cover about 1/2 to an inch away from the spine and peel. This way you have more to glue under.

When gluing, glue the spare cover on the sides of the spine, not the back sides of the spine. Folded under like that they look more like the original books (may they rest in peace.)

Hot glue works best, household glues take to long to dry and packing tape will degrade in a few years and flake away.

Step 8: Cut bottom and back. Decide if you want a full back or partial back. Loose items like game controllers need a full back, games and dvd cases can have only a short back. Take a spare cover, you now have plenty to choose from, and lay it on the table, take another cover and mark 1/8 inch short of the width of the cover along the length. So you have now drawn a line on one cover that makes a rectangle next to a square. The square is your box bottom. The rectangle can be scrap or a partial back. If it's scrap, cut it off, throw it out. If it's your partial back cut with your knife only about half way through the cover's depth and then bend it to a right angle with the board, less gluing! (See back on second and third pics for partial back.) If you want a full back grab a spare cover to glue in.

Step 9: Lay your box spines down. Let the sides (covers) lay to the side. Take your bottom and glue the edge to the very bottom edge of the center section. Then run a bead of glue up one side, bring the cover up, then repeat with the other. Last, squeeze a bead in on each side of back. (If you have a full back, do the bottom corner on back edge of bottom, press on top, glue up sides.)

Step 10: Examine spine side. Unless you are some freakishly super human forward thinker you are now noticing that you have a Q spine next to your B spine. Now everyone will think your encyclopedia's out of order and try to fix them. Then they will all find out you are a book slayer! OH NOOOOO!!!

Fear not fair maiden! Enlist the help of your non-acetone nail polish remover! Get your q-tips, and the nail polish remover. Dip the q-tip in the vile smelling stuff and rub the letters on your spines right off. (Old one-of-a-kind-doll maker trick. It works for barbie eyes and tattoos. And yes, barbies come with tattoos these days...) Now look at the spines on your box, too new looking? One worn more than the rest? Well distress (actual theatre term there) the other spines to the desired aged look by rubbing a remover loaded cotton ball all over the spines. I caution you though, that nail polish remover is strong stuff and will start to take off the color of the spine, so think obscure more than remove for the letters, most of the time a small dent in the shape of the B or Q will remain anyway.

You are done! Now, go put them on the shelves.

If you want to do these for gifts, try to find several different sets and use one of each spine on each box. Just keep in mind the heights need to be similar, and to use the shortest cover to glue in the middle. Oh and be careful who you give them to... you will have to account for having destroyed those books, lol.

Really tall and wide encyclopedias can be used to hold back issues of magazines. For that you could do a two spine box. If you have more back issue magazines than that... what's in them is likely out of syle!

Those with nice handwriting may want to get gold or silver pens and make up titles for the spines to fill in where the old titles have been removed. You could make it fit what you want to put in the box, pretend to be a classy literature affectionado, write naughty things in other languages, what ever floats your boat!

Most of all, enjoy!

Oh and you may want to concider NOT destroying one of those sets of encyclopedias, just in case we have an EMP event that takes out google. Or if anyone calls you on destroying the other set you can say, "But I have a real set, too! The thrift store was going to throw them away! So I took BOTH! I SAVED them!"