Author Archives: smwaller

His Grace

   

Anthopologie sends catalogs to my parent’s house, and every time I come home, I have a nice little stack sitting on my bed. Perfect for a little collage.

Confession – I found this on Pinterest, and it just looked too easy to not recreate it. The whole thing says, “If His Grace is an Ocean, we are all Sinking.” This Anthopologie catalog used beach/desert scenery, which worked perfectly. I cut out the words Grace, Ocean and Sinking, using a similar color scheme for each word.

I used ModPodge to glue the letters to the canvas. When them in place, I simply used a paint pen to write in the other words. Even though I ended up selling this one at the Spring Fling Flea Market, I think I’m going to make another one for myself.

Sweet Dandelions

When it came time to start thinking about things to make for Samford’s Spring Fling Flea Market, these pom-pom yarn flowers were the first thing I thought of. One, they are incredibly easy to make. Two, the materials are super cute. And three, the are simply adorable. I only sold them for 50 cents, and since so many people asked me how to make them, I decided to provide a little tutorial.

Step one – pick out the yarn. For this project, you are going to waste a good amount of it, so make sure to pick the cheapest yarn available. Pick any color. To my surprise, the navy flowers sold out faster than the others. I figured the light purple would go first, but I was proven wrong.

   

   

Step two: Take the yarn and start wrapping it around two of your figures. You’ll need to do this maybe 120 times. Then cut a spare piece of yarn.

   

Step three: String the yarn through the ball and tie a knot (double knot it, just in case). Make sure the knot is tight. If not, all the yarn will fall out.

   

Step four:  Cut through the yarn on the opposite side of the knot. This will result in a crazy-looking pom pom. You’ll have to cut a lot of yarn off before it starts to resemble the finished product.

Finished, it should look like this. Once you have mastered this, you really can make so many things. I have seen them placed on wreaths, made into garlands or like mine, turned into my version of a crafty dandelion. To make the little flowers, I purchased some cloth stem wire.

   

Last step: I cut the wire in half, placed one end in the pom pom and used a glue gun to make sure it will stay in place.

I love how sweet they turn out. And once you get them down, you can make 3 in 5 minutes. Super easy and super fast.

Life as an intern

What would college be without an internship. Working 15 hours a week and not getting paid. Sometimes that frustrates me, but then I come into work and my boss gives me a really cool assignment – like shopping around Birmingham looking for products to highlight in the “Goods” spread – and the lack of pay somehow becomes a minor detail. I have been given this assignment two months in a row. For the April issue, it was a picnic themed. For May, you’ll just have to buy a copy of Birmingham magazine when it hits newsstands. April was fun. Having been given the theme of picnics,  I decided to take a vintage verse modern approach after I found this woman who sells vintage picnic equipment – baskets, badminton rackets, croquet – you name it. I paired her things with more modern picnic wear I found at local shops, like these spoon, fork & knife combination.

    

Once I had collected all products, it was time for the photo shoot, and it was my first exposure to the design side of the magazine, styling products to make them look good. Being my first photo shoot, I’ll admit I was a little intimidated at first, but I quickly became more comfortable. The whole thing was just so much fun!

For the whole experience, you really should pick up a copy of Birmingham magazine’s April issue to see the final product. But for those people in the digital world, you can also see it on the magazine’s website (Click HERE). I have some other stories in this issue too, so keep your eyes out for them.

The little things

My life is a whirlwind of crazy. With working at my internship, planning events for Samford, finishing the yearbook and oh yeah, doing homework and going to class, I spend the amount of free time I have sleeping. Multiple times already I had felt like I had reached my breaking point, but then the clouds parted, the sun came out and I spent some time crafting. Easter provided that time for me. Dying Easter Eggs is one of my favorite things. It’s just an added perk that it only take 30 minutes to accomplish.

I do have a few projects in the works, and the moment they are finished I’ll make sure to document the results. Thanks of being patient with me. I promise to post more soon. In the meantime, happy spring!

Vote!

I can now see how people quit their jobs to run for political office. It is time consuming, and let’s face it, I don’t have spare time. For Samford’s SGA, I am running for the position of Vice President for Events. Over Spring Break, I tried to work on campaign posters. Since I don’t have any Adobe programs on my laptop, I played around in Word, but quickly gave up in frustration. I figured, why use technology when I am way more comfortable being crafty.

I stumbled across a poster awhile back that cut out the letters using an exacto knife, and I figured why not. The first poster did take a two hours, but the second, third and forth didn’t take long at all. I quickly became obsessed with the idea.

     

     

I found black poster board at Walmart, so for the two posters I made with it, I played around a little more. For my name, I only pealed back the black layer.

     

My thought process behind cutting out the letters was that when placed on a bulletin board, the colors of the posters behind it would shine through. It didn’t turn out exactly how I envisioned it, but I still liked it. Sadly, I only made 5 posters – so you kind of have to keep an out of them

A letter for a friend

Back in 10th grade, I found this tutorial at a craft store about how to turn these cardboard letters into fabric letters. My large S still hangs in my room at my parent’s house, soI think it’s safe to say that 5 years later, I have mastered this craft.

K is for Karlie, my dear friend who had a birthday coming up. Luckily, I had a ton of batting and scrap fabric so all I needed to make this was the cardboard letter. I started by cutting the batting (2 layers of it) to the exact shape of the K. I did this for both sides.

Next, with the fabric I had chosen, I cut out a K with extra margins. Layer the batting on top of the cardboard letter and then the fabric on top of that. I used a hot glue gun (but you can use any adhesive) to glue the fabric in place, attaching the margins to the sides of the cardboard letter. Just make sure the fabric is taunt. Do this for both sides.

With that complete, I took the other fabric and made a strip that I could use for the sides. To make this strip of fabric, I cut it out and then folded and ironed the edges to make smooth edges. Simply glue the fabric in place, folding back the final edge so no raw edges are showing.

And there you have it. It’s super easy and makes an awesome gift!

Dorm-style bakery

Welcome to my dorm room kitchen. It is definitely not pretty (and yes, I do live with people who don’t like to do their dishes), but since I technically live in a handicap suite, my room is the only one in the building that has a oven and stove. So I guess I can’t complain.

My roommate and I talk about baking a lot, but we still have not invested in flour, sugar, baking soda – the basics. Then I remembered about these cake mix cookies. You only need 3 ingredients, and they are oh-so delicious!

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Chocolate Chips

– 1 box of strawberry cake mix

– 1/3 cup oil

– 2 eggs

– 6 oz of chocolate chips (half of the bag)

Set oven for 375 degrees. Simply add the first three ingredients, and mix. Then fold in the chocolate cups. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Put it in the oven and cook for 6 to 8 minutes.

   

Super easy, right! You can do this recipe with any flavor cake mix. Strawberry is simply my favorite. Most of the times I make this I double the recipe, which makes about 4 to 5 dozen. Enjoy!

Oh Baby (Quilt)

The day after my brother and sister-in-law announced they were expecting, I found myself in a fabric store freaking out over all the adorable baby patterns. I saw this fabric and knew I had to do something with it. Let’s face it, a baby opens up a whole new genre of crafts that can be made, and I am so ready to embrace it.

Naturally, the first thing that came to my mind was a quilt. So I bought a yard of this fabric, a yard of this amazing plaid fabric (that matched perfectly, I might add), and 4 inches of an orange polka dot fabric (that matched the monkey) for the binding.

To assemble the quilt, I decided to not cut up the fabric but keep the pieces whole. This made it super easy and super fast to make. I used the adhesive spray to stick the fabrics to the batting, and then I simply quilted boxes using the plaid side as my guide.

Finally, I attached the binding (see instructions on earlier posts). I was able to make the quilt in less than a day, and it might be the most adorable thing I have ever made.

I can’t wait for the newest member of this family to get here, but in the mean time, I’m sure there are many crafts I can make until then.

A few souvenirs

A trip to another country would not be complete without some awesome souvenirs. We visited the Medina at least once a day, so I took my sweet time scoping out all the different things so buy. And I’m pretty pumped about the items I ended up coming back with.

I purchased these pillow cases from an older woman in Meknes. We had stopped and looked at something nearby, but when I saw these, I knew I could do something really cool with them. We were told they are Berber designs. I ended up buying 4 total (2 of each design).

The leather in Morocco is so beautiful in all its many colors. We entered a particular leather shop in Rabat, and I came away with a beautiful weekend bag and this leather wallet. The leather smells rather funny (and it seems to get stronger the more you use it) but it makes it feel more authentic.

You would think that I would go crazy buying fabric, but alas, I only came back with a meter of material. I will admit, the amount of fabric places had was very overwhelming. I quickly fell in love with several patterns, but I asked myself, what would I do if I bought it? I didn’t know how much I should buy or what colors I would need. I finally decided to not buy every fabric I saw, despite the cheap prices. It may have been a mistake, but I figure, I always know where to go if I need fancy fabric.

   

I knew pretty early on that I wanted to buy a Moroccan teapot. They are just so beautiful, and America can’t beat their prices. So I bought two – the large one for my Mom and the little one for my dorm room. In Sale, I bought a few coffee mugs and these two cups. Hand crafted, they are the perfect companions in case I ever felt like making some mint tea.

I also purchased this bowl in Sale, and it might be my favorite thing I brought home. It looks like it belongs in a Anthopologie store, but it is definitely not made in China. It was made in the store I bought it from. The lady that hand painted it sold it to me. The bottom of the bowl even has the potter’s signature. And if you can believe it, this beautiful bowl only cost me $10. Talk about a great souvenir!

   

A cold land with a hot sun

When flying internationally by yourself, you really have to take a big leap of faith – trusting that God will not seat you next to a complete wacko for a 9 to 10 hour cross-Atlantic flight. This was the only nervous thought that crossed my mind as I prepared to travel to North Africa. Having purchased my tickets last summer, excitement was my main emotion. As the plane began its decent into Tanger, I knew that I had an amazing 10 days in store as I travel through the country of Morocco.

From a rooftop in Rabat

   

Looking out on the Atlantic Ocean and a well-known surf spot in Rabat.

Inside the fort, full of orange trees and street cats

   

Inside the fort – Outside the fort

Afternoon mint tea and nous-nous

Looking out on river between Rabat and Sale

Rabat acted as our hub for the week I was there. As the capital of the country, there were surprising not that manly tourists. We found ourselves in the medina at least once a day. And the city might have had the most beautiful view of ocean. Further north, we traveled to Meknes, an old imperial city outside of Fez. We stayed in this city for 2 nights with a day trip out to Fez. I adored Meknes, and the guest house we stayed in. We paid to take a cooking class lead by a local who was in graduate school studying English. (The tagine we made was out of this world!)

   

A beautiful (and huge) door right outside the Meknes’ square and medina

View of the square in Meknes - the market starts back in the far corner

Our guest house in Meknes with cooking school on 1st floor

   

Orange trees lining the streets – the alleyway leading to the guest house in Meknes

   

Carriage ride to the train station

Traveling to Fez and stepping into its medina was like stepping back in time. The medina was huge! Sadly it was Friday, so many of the shops were closed down for the afternoon, but we were still able to view the famous tanneries from the rooftop of a leather shop. Plus, the city had mapped out these wonderful walking tours that you could follow by colored signs.

The tanneries in the heart of the Fez medina

Awesome walking tours in the Fez medina (note the green sign)

   

A sign of democracy and sweet wall message in Fez

My flight back home flew out of Casablanca, so we traveled down a day earlier to check out the city. To be surprise, Casablanca is not the huge tourist attraction you would think it would be. Though we did check out the two things that were “tourist-y” – the 3rd largest mosque in the world (located right on the beach with this huge, beautiful square) and the Morocco Mall (something you would think belonged in Las Vegas or Dubai).

World's 3rd largest mosque in Casablanca

   

The three of us in Casablanca

I didn’t take a million pictures like I wish I did, but what made this trip so amazing was its constant sense of adventure. There were no museum lines or major tourist attractions. Instead, we wondered around the medina markets, full to the brim of people, food and crafts. We ate and shopped among the people who lived there, with lots of help from my brother and sister-in-law’s Arabic skills. It was a trip all about the experience. And the experience blew me away.