New Year :: New Purse

January 29, 2015April 17, 2019 - Tobia 2 Comments

This year started out quite enthusiastic with making my big list of 2015 resolutions and then breaking it up into my January tasks. But to be honest once that was done I kinda felt drained.

After my December marathon of blogging I feel I need to step back from blogging for a bit before it becomes a task.

It’s not that don’t do anything with my time – on the contrary. We finally got our new wall closet installed this weekend and I also spend tons of time writing eBay ads to get all the clutter out of the apartment.

And I also finally got around to sew a new purse.

This was planend to be my new fall purse – hence the colors. I came around this ribbon and it reminded me of the Alps, a nice late summer evening where it’s getting really cold.

However I didn’t really know what to do with it. But of course I bought it anyways. (I had a major shopping spree and bought a boatload of ribbons that day. Seriously it’s been a bit scary what money I spent that day.)

Anyway a bit later I was going through my pile of old clothes to good to throw out and discovered our old throw pillow cases in the pile. Jackpot! Don’t those colors match perfectly?!

I used the Penelope Tote pattern I had sewn before and what has proven to be a good size for me. I found it here – but I think it’s not on the blog anymore. However there are ton of other patterns worth browsing. The instructions with the pin tucks throw me off every time and I really don’t think I sew them the way they were supposed to but I don’t know any other way.

I am quite happy with the result. Do you have a favorite purse pattern? Or do you try new ones every time? Please share because a girl can’t have enough bags and purses, no?

I also added a few pockets – it’s all about decluttering, right?
And since I sew it for myself I will join todays linkup RUMS.

Happy day to you,

Tobia

Starry Night #18 * Star Decoration * DIY Advent Calendar

December 18, 2014April 17, 2019 - Tobia 1 Comment

Today I have a really quick DIY you can almost do on the go. And once again most of you should have at the items you need at home. Let do some Christmas Star Decoration with cork coasters!

All you need is

♥ cork coaster
♥ pins
♥ a stencil

I painted my star partner with tailor chalk on the chalkboard and then pinned away. It is not as easy as it looks to get a similarity. I figured I do the corners and then evenly spread pins in between.

Pretty easy, huh? Now go put it on a shelf and enjoy.

Have a great day, Tobia

Lets make a shoe {denim espadrilles}

September 2, 2014April 17, 2019 - Tobia 2 Comments

I remember my first pair of Espadrilles – well technical they were my moms but I wore them around the house. Don’t tell. It was early in the 90’s and clothing fashion was more than doubtable. And very colorful. A while back when I read my emails I learnt that burda style was looking for participants of a little espadrilles design creativity. I wrote a quick email and was send one sole to work some magic. I was collecting some ideas on my Pinterest board and had a couple ideas. But when I started I changed my ideas as I went.

My sole didn’t come with instructions so I googled a bit and found this measure taking guideline & this step by step tutorial.

First I gathered all my materials.

I first wanted to to some white version but than denim jumped at me. And I had this bright denim-pink color combination in my head and it would not leave. So I actually had to leave the house to get the embroidery thread.

I wanted to try out one of the cut out (laser cut) versions you see all over lately.

Sewing the pattern I really wished I had one of those fancy embroidery maschines.

Assemble your pieces. I used textile glue to attach the pink dotted fabric to the sole and then pin needles became my best friend.

I looked into this video tutorial to get the stitches right. New thing learnt right there…

Of course it could be much more perfect but I am quite happy. What do you think?

What I learnt: don’t use such a delicate pattern. And it might also be wise to have a stronger fabric with no elastic. Measurements for the front didn’t really work out – would have to double check that. And I like it if the heel part is coming up higher.

I had fun doing the shoe but the best thing is I’m no longer scared of making shoes. I’ve got some old wedges lying around and have some ideas in mind. Looking forward to find time to realize the project. But now with autumn around the corner it’s most likely a project for next spring.

Have you ever done shoes? Show them! Always looking for more inspiration.

And because today is Tuesday lets meet other creative people on creadienstag.

Wrap it baby { Recycle Quick Tip #7 }

July 2, 2014April 17, 2019 - Tobia 7 Comments

Hey there,

are you online shopping crazy like me? I mean come on why hassle to the store, stand in line for the dressing room, fight your way to the cashier or not finding what you were looking for in the first place and ending up spending money that didn’t need spending…

Yes I am a big online shopper. I like it, it’s so much easier and much more relaxing.

However you do end up with all the boxing, papers, bubble wrap and what else. We keep some of it because we do sell online too but once in a while it’s just too big of a pile. That is when I start using the stuff laying around.

Like the other day I wrapped my friends birthday gift in boxing paper and added some masking tape.

I was quite happy with me. I thought it looked good, she liked it, less ruffle in my apartment and no trash in the can. Sounds like win-win for me.

Have a great Wednesday,

Tobia

Last Minute Wedding DIY {Winter Wedding Special}

June 21, 2014April 17, 2019 - Tobia 4 Comments

I know I know we are right in the middle of summer and no one wants to read about winter. But those DIYs are simply made for any wedding no matter the season. And I still wanted to show you a few more things I made for our special day back in February.

We’ve put a lot of effort in our save-the-dates & invitation. And we started out with two languages (German & English) for all the overseas friends & family.

So obviously we’ve ended up with tons of spare ones due to minimum purchase quantaties. You know me by now – I hardly through anything out so I was trying to come up with things to do out of those spare cards and what the hubby-to-be would agree upon.

I already mentioned the tissues at the ceremony.

I just cut strips out of the sparkling paper. Then cut out our logo and sewed everything together so that the tissue had a pretty little band. The whole project only took me about 1 hour once I figured out the look. Well of course it depends how many guests you’ve got.

The next thing I used those cards for. I just glued a nice part of a card to the cover of one of the bigger match box.

I figured I like it better than just the ugly store bought ones. However we never really used them. No ice lanterns and the tea lights we wanted to have in a star shape outside on the patio instead had to be removed because of heavy rain. So I am not only having matches on hand but over 60 unused tea glasses as well…

I also punched a quadrillion stars out of the cards but hubby thought it was cheesy so they never made their appearance… But it’s another idea. We were planning on getting this photo but simply forgot to shoot it.

The next one is a bit more time consuming. I looked all over for those cute shoe stickers that are quite common in the US. However in Germany it wasn’t really possible to find any and if the price was outrages. I actually would have payed but: how come that the fonts are always different for bride & groom? Or why are they mostly blue? This really bothered me so I just did them myself – a day prior in our hotel room. All you need is rhinestone stickers, a pair of tweezers, a steady hand and shoes, obviously.

And while I was setting up my craft lab in our tiny hotel room I also finished up our Best-Day-Ever-Garland (see header). A project I found a couple days before the wedding on Pinterest and we both suddenly needed urgently in our wedding. Here you see me working hard:

And one last one I have. I’ve had a really really hard time finding shoes. Either to small, to tight, to expensive, too cheep, not white white and matching my dress… You get the idea. And since I needed two pairs (inside and outside) they also had to have the same hight. In the end I gave up and got myselfs some plain white pumps I could easily spend the day in and figured I make myself some wedding-theme-matching shoe clip.

This project actually took more time than I anticipated due to the (old school) pom pom making. But I used the yarn my mom made my cardigan of. So all worth it. Once that was done I just glued them on the shoe clip*, attached it to the shoe and tada, done.

I hope you’ve found some inspiration for your big day. And I would love to see what you’ve done, so leave a comment and I come visit.

Cheers, Tobia

Some of the pictures were taken by our wonderful wedding photographer Anja Schneemann.

*affilliate link (more information here)

craftaliciousme

seeking a creative life

recycling

New Year :: New Purse

Tobia

Starry Night #18 * Star Decoration * DIY Advent Calendar

Lets make a shoe {denim espadrilles}

Wrap it baby { Recycle Quick Tip #7 }

Last Minute Wedding DIY {Winter Wedding Special}