And the winner is....

 

 

Lucy!

with the comment "Giveaways are awesome!"

 

Congratulations, Lucy!  Since I don't have your e-mail address I'll need you to contact me at diddle.dumpling@hotmail.com. Please e-mail me your mailing address and I'll get your box of goodies sent off! 

 

Thank you everyone for entering the giveaway!  This was so much FUN!  I'll definitely be holding more in the future.  Have a great week!!



300 Pinterest Followers = Diddle Dumpling's First Ever GIVEAWAY!

*THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Today when I hopped onto Pinterest to scope out what my friends have been pinning, I happened to see that I now have 300 people following my boards!  Is it silly that this makes me really happy??  Because it does!

 

I admit, I use Pinterest for solely selfish reasons and not as a way to grow a business or build a blog following or anything like that.  Not that those aren't totally legitimate and SMART ways to use it, I just haven't gotten there yet.

 

I scavenge for inspiration in decorating and DIY projects, simple and delicious recipes, fashion and beauty tips, and tricky ideas that I never would have thought of but want to remember so I can use them someday.  Pinterest has changed the way I search the internet!

 

As a sort of little celebration for my 300 Pinterest followers milestone, I thought I'd host my FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY here on my blog!  I've never done this before, so bear with me folks.

 

First of all, here's what I'll be giving away to one of you readers:

 

a SURPRISE!!!

 

Okay, now stick with me here.  I tried to come up with something that I could give away that would be really cool and exciting and completely AWESOME, but decided that instead of just sending one thing, how about a whole BOX of things?!!

 

I've scoured my house and stashes of goodies and have compiled a collection of darling little things that I think (hope) anyone would love to get in the mail!  I don't want to ruin the surprise, but everything included in your box will be something that I have thrifted or picked up because I liked it.  It will include things that are simply cute and decorative, vintage and new, as well as things that you can use to create whatever you'd like!  A lot of the items I'll send are things that I collect and want to share with you!

 

Is it sounding better yet? 

 

I hope so.  :)

 

So here's what you need to do:

 

1.  Enter a comment here on the blog including a valid e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.  If you don't want to submit your e-mail address you'll need to pay close attention when the winner is announced so you can contact ME. 

 

2.  Not a follower on Pinterest?  Follow me and comment here that you've done that so you can get a second entry!

 

3.  Already a Pinterest follower?  Thank you!  Tell me so in a comment for your second entry! 

 

I'll choose a random comment as the winner on

Sunday, February 10th at 10 pm EST. 

 

I'm so excited and I hope you are, too!!

Before and After: A Roadside Rescue (Antique Dresser)

It's been a little while since I've been able to share a good "Before and After" with you guys.  And let me tell you, this is a good one!  I had such a good time working on it and am super excited to share it!

 

Back in the fall, I was driving my son to school one day and got a little turned around.  We were new in town and I wasn't sure of the best way to go to get to the school.  As I was winding my way through a neighborhood, I spied a pile of furniture next to the curb.

 

Of course I had to slow down to get a look at what was being tossed out, and my heart practically leaped out of my chest when I spotted this beauty among the cast offs.

 

I quickly took my son to school and hurried back to get a closer look.  Upon closer inspection I found that both front legs were broken, pieces of trim were missing from the bottom drawer, the piece that extends between the front legs was broken (but had been somewhat repaired), and while it had a mirror stand, the mirror was missing.  Generally, it was in pretty sad shape.

 

In spite of all its flaws and needed repairs, I could not believe my luck!  I couldn't fit the whole thing into the back of my car all at once, so I decided to bring the drawers home first then go back and get the rest, all the while practically hyperventilating with excitement and anxiety that somebody would snag it while I was gone.  Luckily it was only a few blocks from my house.

 

Once safely in my garage, there it sat for a few months.  Finally, sick of the precious space it was hogging, my husband encouraged me to tackle it.

 

I repaired the things that needed it, then got to work on the fun stuff!

 

I started by sanding down the top and restaining it a nice medium tone.

 

The body and drawers got painted with a custom mixed bluish grey and I highlighted some of the details with crisp white.

 

A light distressing brought out its lovely details even more.

While I couldn't replace the missing trim pieces on the bottom drawer, I decided that filling in those gaps with white paint would help camouflage them a bit.  Unless you look closely, you don't really notice that it's just paint there.

 

Decorating the top was a fun little adventure, too!  I love shopping the house to see how I can pull things together.

I'm still trying to decide if it's really "done" at this point.  The top needs to be sealed somehow, and I'd intended to use a dark brown glaze on it but haven't brought myself to apply it.  I really like it the way it is, but I also like the effect that glaze has on a piece.  It gives it more depth.

What do you think?  Glaze or no glaze?

Maybe I'll live with it for a while and see if the fancy strikes to glaze it later.  Meanwhile, I LOVE my rescued antique dresser!

Tutorial: Recover a lampshade the lazy way

Do you ever have a project on your mind that you want to do, but DON'T want to do at the same time?  You  know, something that would be a big improvement once it's finished, something that you really do want done, but the idea of actually going through the process just makes your eye twitch?

This lampshade was one of those projects.  It started off as a nice big, plain lampshade, but during our last move it had gotten a little beaten up.  The plastic on the inside was dented and when the light was on those dents were an eye sore.

As I mentioned in the post I wrote about the painted lamp that this shade belongs to, I did end up trying to camouflage the dents by painting some 1" vertical stripes on the shade.

 FAIL!

They looked fine with the light off, but with it on the stripes were streaky and uneven and looked just awful.

I spent a long time trying to figure out how I could fix my flub without having to replace the shade completely.  That's where my lazy crafter side came out.  I did NOT want to hassle with trying to cover the shade with fabric, which to me seemed like a really unforgiving process.  You have to get the fabric on straight, get it on smooth, and don't you dare mess up or it'll be obvious!  At least that's what I imagined. 

Also, I hate spray adhesive.  Blech.

So I pondered and pondered, when one day as I was browsing lamp shades in Target I spotted a super cute one that I really wanted to just buy.  It was covered in a grey cotton fabric that had lots of tiny little pleats and folds all the way around it.  PERFECT!!!  No precision, no perfection and no spray adhesive!  I decided to recreate this look with my bruised shade.

I came home and carefully sliced through the thin layer of silk fabric that I'd painted the stripes on and peeled it off completely, leaving the bare, dented plastic lining.  I'm not sure this step was really necessary, but I didn't want those stripes showing through my new fabric.

Luckily I had a good sized piece of grey linen in my fabric stash, so I proceeded to cut it to the height of my shade + 2".  The length I cut was a total guess.  I used a piece that was the length of my fabric, plus a piece that was about 3/4 the length.  I didn't want my new ruffled shade to be too full.  But if I were to do it again, I would measure around my shade, then double that measurement and cut my fabric to that length.

I sewed the two pieces together end to end to give myself one long piece.

This next step was pretty cool.  I absolutely HATE gathering fabric for ruffles using a basting stitch.  So I did a quick search and found this tutorial for a tricky way to do it without worrying about busting your basting stitch.  Click on over for a full step-by-step.  But I'll give you a quick run down here.

1. Pull your top and bobbin threads out so they're a little longer than the length of your fabric.  Yep, waaaay out so they're as long as your fabric, plus a few inches. 

2.  Lay your fabric under your presser foot then bring both long threads underneath the foot and lay them out in front of your needle.

3.  Set your stitch length to normal (I used 3.5) and your stitch width to a wide zig zag.

4.  Stitch a zig zag right over those long threads, all the way down the side of your fabric.  (Make sure you're not sewing INTO the long threads when your needle comes down to create your zig zag stitches.  You just want to cover those long threads.)

5. Clip only your zig zag threads when you're done stitching, NOT the long threads.

6.  Pull on those long threads to gather your fabric.  They should pull easily underneath your zig zag stitch to create your gathered edge.

 Gather both sides of your fabric along the long edges, distributing the gathers evenly and checking to make sure that your finished length is enough to go entirely around your lampshade.

Take it to your ironing board and press the folds down in a neat or messy way, whichever you prefer.  I went with messy.

 

Place your fabric on the table, wrong side up, then lay your shade on top of the fabric.  Fold the fabric to the inside of the shade and glue the raw edges down using a hot glue gun. 

Glue a few inches on one side, then tug the fabric to the other side and glue a few inches on the other side.  Continue this way all the way around the shade.  *I wasn't paying much attention and my fabric got a little skewed as I went.  Not a big deal to me, but if you want your pleats and gathers to be nice and straight up and down, keep an eye on this as you go.  Or you could skew your fabric intentionally and end up with diagonal pleats!  How cool would that look?!

To finish off the inside, glue a length of grosgrain ribbon to cover those raw edges.

Learn from my mistake and give yourself enough extra width on your fabric so your zig zag stitches aren't showing once you've folded the raw edges in.  Some of mine are peeking over to the outside of the shade because I cut my fabric too narrow.

And here's the finished shade!  (See those diagonal gathers?  They don't really bother me, but I'd be more careful to keep things straight if I did it again.)

Bye bye ugly dented shade. 

Hello gorgeous custom pleated shade!!

Sometimes it's the little things

Last month, like many of you, I was in the throws of Christmas preparation.  Shopping and planning and making and running around.  You know, the usual. 

 

I wasn't making very many things, just a few little gifts like the dolls I shared recently, and a couple of new Christmas decorations.  But I kept having trouble with my projects.  Time after time I'd have to walk away in frustration, only to come back to it later and wrestle with it some more until it was done.  Not much satisfaction to be had.

 

One day it all just got to me.  I was grumpy and frustrated and had just had it!  You know what I mean?  I vented my frustrations on Facebook with this:

 

Today I've struggled with a gloom that's been pestering me. Maybe a mug of cocoa will help. Couldn't hurt, right?

 

to which a sweet friend replied:

 

Christmas music on Pandora, make a craft, get some sunshine. 

(Did I mention that Michigan is very dreary in the winter?  That was part of my problem at the time, too, I'm sure.  Sick to DEATH of the grey!)

 

She didn't know that I'd been struggling with that very thing, but the her idea still appealed to me.  I needed to make something simple but that required focus.  Again, I wanted to use my hands and end up with something successful. 

 

I immediately dove into my craft closet, searching for inspiration.  I spied an oatmeal colored wool sweater that I'd picked up a few months ago while thrifting.  It was in great condition, just shrunken.  Perfect for a craft project!

 

Next I started hunting for buttons.  I wanted big wooden ones, but didn't have enough.  This gave me another idea, so I walked out onto my back porch and rifled through a pile of twigs my husband had stacked next to the firepit.  I quickly found one that I liked and went back inside to start my therapy.

 

I cut the arms off the sweater right at the seams then turned it inside out and sewed it closed on 3 sides, leaving the hem open.  Pillow cover!

 

Next I turned my attention to the twig.  It was fairly straight but still had a few extra knobs that I wanted off, so I used my Dremel tool to clean it up a bit.  Then I cut it into 5 sections that were each about 1.5"-2" long.

 

With a little piece of sandpaper I smoothed each piece, rounding off the ends and giving myself the much-needed handwork that I was looking for.

 

I got the tiniest drill bit I could find and carefully drilled two holes in the middle of each section of twig.  Luckily I'd chosen a piece of fallen branch that was dried out but not rotten.  I was so scared that after all that I'd end up with split, crumbly and broken pieces of twig when I tried to drill into it.

 

But it worked!

 

I made button holes in my pillow cover then attached my new handmade twig buttons.

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot tell you how much I needed this project.  I just needed something to go right!  It only took me about an hour (you know how important instant gratification is to me), and to end up with something that I really, truly liked and could be proud of was HUGE. 

 

This project made me realize a few things.
1. My yard is a great resource for project materials!
2. Sometimes something as small as making a button can turn your whole mood (and crafting mojo!) around.
3. There's no need to go spend a bunch of money on supplies when you get the urge to create.
4. Projects don't need to be big, involved or impressive to give you a great sense of accomplishment.

So, Sasha, if you read this, thank you for your suggestion. It made all the difference in my day. And who knows? I may just be making some more wooden buttons somewhere down the road, because now I know I can! :)

An attempt at dollmaking

A few weeks ago I got the itch to make something.  This happens to me a lot.  Sometimes I get the urge to make something specific, sometimes I want to use a certain material, sometimes I just want to make something for a certain person, and sometimes it's all of the above.

 

I wanted to make handmade Christmas gifts for my best friend's children, so I had to come up with what I could make for two boys (ages 8 and 6) and two girls (ages 4 and almost 2).  The idea for the boys ended up being easier than I thought- marshmallow shooters!  Seriously, if you have kids (boys or girls) aged 5 and up, they'll love 'em!  Check out Pinterest.  There are tutorials everywhere!

 

As for the girls, I knew I wanted to make something girly that both would like, and something I could do some hand sewing on.  That was the itch I needed to scratch.  I wanted to stitch by hand.

 

The thought of making a couple of dolls for them made me so happy!  I browsed the Internet until I decided on the look I liked, then made up some paper patterns.  This took a little trial and error, then I had fun choosing fabrics. 

 

This little gal was my first attempt.  And yes, I made her with red hair and blue eyes on purpose.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since this was my first doll, I hadn't gotten the assembly really figured out.  I stuffed the head and limbs, stuffed the dress, then pinned everything in place and hand stitched them closed.  I didn't mind that, but I didn't like how floppy this made her head. 

 

A friend of mine asked if I'd be willing to make her two little girls a pair of dollies, so when I started on those I changed my approach.  This time the assembly took more thought and there was far less hand stitching.  I struggled quite a bit on a few parts and realized that my pattern pieces weren't quite working this time (i.e. adding pig tails made it almost impossible to turn the head right side out through that skinny neck!)  Ugh.

 

They did turn out pretty cute, though. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These two gals are the ones I ended up sending to my best buddy's girlies (as a surprise).  Again, LOTS of struggles on these.  I think I made the redheaded doll twice and she still didn't turn out quite right.  Oh well.

 

 

 

Clearly I'm new to this.  The dolls are all a bit wonky, and I still haven't worked out the kinks in my pattern pieces, but the particular itch I had has been sufficiently scratched.  And now both of my sweet friends' sweet girls have little look-alike dollies made by me.  That sure makes me happy!

Framed Jewelry Organizer

At last, I have a finished project to share!  Not that I haven't been doing things and making stuff, but for some reason I just haven't taken the time to stage and photograph anything for a while.

 

This little jewelry organizer project has been long overdue.  After we moved, my earrings were stored in a tiny little pouch, jumbled and mixed up and exasperating to sort through to find the pair I wanted.

 

My necklaces had been laid out and then rolled up in a pillow case for transportation, but then what?  Previously they were all hung on pushpins stuck into the wall just inside my closet.  It worked fine, but that whole "out of sight, out of mind" saying definitely applied.  I hardly EVER wore them, so I was determined to display them somehow.

 

This organizer is nothing new, and certainly not anything earth shattering.  Just browse Pinterest for about 3 seconds and I'll bet you find a dozen just like it.  But let me tell you, it's been a long time since I've appreciated an afternoon project so much!

 

I started with some inexpensive whitewood boards and bought myself a miter box and back saw for $15 for the set.  The wire mesh is sold in a roll in the gardening section and costs under $10.  Originally I'd wanted to use that pretty metal sheeting with a clover pattern punched in it (I think it's used to cover radiators) but at almost $30 for one sheet you know THAT ain't happening.

I measured and began cutting my boards with my miter box, but that back saw was just too slow and labor intensive.  So I made a few passes with it to give myself a good start on the cut, then finished with my jig saw.  MUCH easier.

My cuts weren't perfect, but for a first time project using mitered cuts, it was fine.  I glued them together with Gorilla Glue and later nailed them at the corners with some brad nails for extra strength.

After painting and distressing I stapled the mesh to the back on the diagonal because I wanted diamond shapes instead of squares.  Because I'm weird.  ((And P.S.-- WEAR GLOVES!  That junk is sharp!))

Finally I added these pretty metal bin pulls (upside down!) that I got on Decor Steals for a couple of bucks apiece. They're just what I needed to keep my post earrings and hoops and extra backs nearby. Maybe someday I'll even make labels for them! ;)

 

There are lots of imperfections and things I would do differently if I did this project again, but that doesn't make me any less happy with the outcome.  It turned out like I wanted it to and I love it.  Mistakes and all.