Viva Las Vegas (with a little craftiness mixed in too)

Hello!

I went on a trip last week. You probably didn't even notice because I scheduled my posts ahead of time so they magically appeared even though I was completely cut off from computer access.

Where was I? I bet you can't even guess.

I went to Paris! 

No, just kidding. Here's another hint.

Las Vegas?! However did you guess? (I'm not very subtle, am I? Between the post title and the excessive neon lights and the famous sign, I hope you guessed Las Vegas. Because if you didn't, then that's really kind of sad.)

For the past 9 years, the hubbinator and I have made almost annual pilgrimages to the land of kitsch and Elvis impersonators. (We didn't go last year, but we went twice the year before.) This year was the "Troy's 40th Birthday/Our 10-year Wedding Anniversary Celebration and Extravaganza." Which really just means we splurged on rooms at Caesars Palace, where Troy has always wanted to stay. 

Caesars Palace was nice. At check-in, Troy mentioned that we were celebrating our 10th anniversary, and we got an upgrade to a room with a jacuzzi tub and a view of the strip. Score!

Our room was in the tower on the left. We could see the Bellagio's Dancing Waters from our window.

The weather was even nice while we were there. Sure, it was 104 when we landed, but it was a DRY heat. And Wednesday evening, it dropped to 70. I got goosebumps, people! In Vegas! Outdoors! In June! I know! (And when we landed in Minneapolis at 11:30 Thursday night, it was 91 degrees. 91 degrees in the middle of the freakin' night. And that was most certainly not a dry heat. It was a thick, humid, disgusting heat. I actually wished I could go back to Vegas to cool down.

We are very conservative gamblers. We play mostly the quarter video poker machines (and occasionally the nickels). We have a very anal-retentive effective system which allows us to never lose more than $10 at any given machine. Once we lose 10, we go somewhere else or at least switch to a different machine. It was a good thing we followed that system too, because luck was not on our sides AT ALL. It was almost comical how quickly we were capable of losing our money. Still, we were able to gamble at 31 different casinos over 5 days without losing nearly as much money as we budgeted to lose.

In between giving our money to the casinos, we did a lot of people-watching. Vegas never disappoints in that department. I noticed there were a lot more panhandlers, buskers, and street performers than usual. I guess that's a sad sign of the recession.

We also took in a magic show, played pinball at the Pinball Hall of Fame (it's off the strip, but it's worth the trip if you like pinball games), watched the Bellagio's Dancing Waters (one of my favorite Vegas activities), got an all-day pass to the buffets at Luxor and Excalibur, experienced Fremont Street, ate a lot of ice cream, and took a lot of pictures. We tried to see Big Elvis at Bill's Gambling Hall and Saloon, but apparently he was on an emergency phone call and couldn't perform his regular show. (Big Elvis totally rocks, BTW. If you get the chance to see him, you really should.) We didn't make it to the Neon Boneyard this year, but that's another spot to check out if you every get the chance. 

But anyway... This is not a travel blog. It's a craft blog. And I promised you a little craftiness. So here it is.

The night before we left, as I was finally starting to pack, I discovered that I lost my mp3 player. This loss was (and is) a major bummer. After looking everywhere for it, I gave up. I was grumpy and sad. So to cheer myself up, I decided to do a craft. Here's what I made:

It's hard to see, but it's a luggage tag made out of Las Vegas fabric.  I used this tutorial: Sew4Home Luggage Tag. I made a few variations to their tutorial, mostly because the interfacing I had was really flimsy and it just wasn't working to sew it together like they said, so I ended up just sewing it together wrong sides together and then turning it. But it worked out in the end. 

I also thought I'd share some inspiration I found in Vegas. This cute little dress was at one of the boutiques.

I don't think I could replicate the embroidery (actually, I KNOW I can't replicate the embroidery), but I think I am loving the flowers and the straps with the big bow. So who knows, maybe you'll see a knock-off of this dress in the future.

This dress was at Anthropologie:

I'm loving the pintuck detailing (or pleating or whatever it is called) on the neckline plus the big bow at the waist. Another knock-off possibility?

And finally, check out the window display at Anthropologie:

Here is a closer look:

It's made out of security envelopes, cut open and then glued together to make rectangle blocks, then hung on string! Awesome! I have no idea what I would use it for--party decorations, maybe? I just thought it looked so cool. So I'm storing that idea away in my noggin.

By the way, we do have Anthropologie stores in Minnesota, but I have never been in one before. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

And I never did find my mp3 player. I had to go buy a new one. But at least I have most of my music stored on my computer, so I didn't lose any of that. And there's still hope that it will show up. The baby probably put it in some random kitchen drawer or something like that. Such a stinker!

Until next time,

Megan

EDITED 7/8/11: The mp3 player has been found. So you can all stop looking now. Weird thing is, I found it in a drawer where I looked a million times. Troy looked there too. It's a place where we often put the mp3 players. Then I opened it up today and there it was, right next to my new one. It was not there before. I know it. So I blame the blue people. They're always messing with my stuff. Now I have two mp3 players.

20 Followers! Thank you! (and a free printable)

I'm so excited to have 20 followers, lol! I love followers so much. So I just want to say thank you for signing up.

A long time ago, I promised a totally rockin' printable for you. But I've been waiting for the right time to put it out. The 20-follower landmark seems like a good time. So here you go!

Charlie Sheen has faded from the limelight lately, and I'm glad. I hope he can get the help he needs. I didn't make this printable as an endorsement of Charlie Sheen. Instead, I just love the quote. I think we all need to stop pretending we're not awesome. So I hope you enjoy the printable!

Just click here: Rock Stars from Mars printable  . It should take you to a page to download an 8x10 jpg at 300 dpi. If it doesn't, let me know! 

As always, this is for personal use only! Thanks much.

Until next time,

Megan 

I linked up at: 

Let Freedom Ring: a 4th of July Wreath

I was sad to take down my cheery spring wreath from my front door. But it was time. To cheer myself up, I quickly made a new wreath. I suppose I'll just have to take this one down in a week or so, but I had so much fun making it that I don't think I'll mind making another more general "summer" wreath to replace it. 

I managed to make this wreath entirely with items I had on hand.

To start, I used this tip from the Penny Parlor to make the wreath form. Just pick up a piece of foam tubing from the plumbing department at a home improvement store. Cut it to size, and duct tape the ends together to make a circle. I got my foam tubing at Home Depot for 97 cents. Seriously! And I'll be able to make two wreaths out of it. (This wreath was a little on the large size--if you cut them smaller, you can probably get three wreaths.) Total bargain! 

I wrapped the wreath form with red yarn, then cut out a bunch of blue felt diamonds and used sewing pins to stick them to the wreath. Then I used white yarn to make the argyle pattern. 

The wreath seemed a little underwhelming just like that. So, inspired by this wreath at Just Sew Sassy, I added a burlap ruffle around the back. Then I made a bunch of felt flowers and a paper "firework" (tutorial here at I Heart Naptime). 

Finally, I made a little bunting by cutting burlap into triangles and hot-gluing them to some ribbon. Then I just used a sharpie to write the letters.

Finished! I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

And here is a better view of it on my front door:

Until next time,

Megan

I linked up at:

Sewing Machine Cover--with an Extra Added Bonus Surprise!

I love my sewing machine. I call her Connie. She's a Singer 7470 Confidence machine (hence, Connie). Since I got her more than a year ago, I've just used the plain, boring cover that she came with. Serviceable, yes, but not exactly stylin.

Then, while surfing Pinterest last week, I came across this beauty:

From Bloom

First of all, I am a total sucker for anything with words on it. I also was drawn to the design of it, with the colorful, off-center strips. But it was a little too complicated for my taste. I'm all about quick and easy. So I used it as a jumping off point to make a new outfit for Connie.

Here is the result:

It really wasn't hard to make. I probably could have finished it in one day, but I had to track down some fusible fleece. So it took me two days.

Want to make one of your own? Here's how (and don't forget to scroll all the way down to the Extra Added Bonus Surprise!):

You'll need:

Note: Not Everything Is Shown

• small scraps of fabric for the strips
• larger pieces of fabric for the background fabric (I used muslin)
• fusible fleece
• ribbon
• heat transfer vinyl (optional--I used it for the word "stitch")
• the usual sewing necessities: scissors, ruler, measuring tape, thread, pins, machine, iron

1. Measure your machine to find out what size rectangle you will need to cover it completely. Mine was 16" wide and 27" from front to back. I added an inch for seam allowances and such, making it 17" x 28".

I didn't want my fabric to be too matchy-matchy. I just picked fabrics I really liked.

2. Gather your scraps and cut them into strips. You don't need to be a perfectionist about this! I mean, I suppose you can if you want, but I sure wasn't. And I cut the strips in all different heights. I just kept cutting until I figured I had enough to add up to at least 28". Don't worry about making them the same width--you'll trim them down later.

3. Iron your strips nice and flat.

I used my 1/4" foot to make a 1/4" seam allowance.

4. Start with two strips. Place them right sides together and stitch along one long side. Then just keep adding strips. (see picture above)

This is what the strips looked like all sewn together, from the front.

back view

5. Turn your fabric over and iron the seams flat.

6. Using a ruler and a rotary cutter, even out your strips. At this point, you can decide how wide you want your patchwork strip to be.

7. Cut a piece of muslin that will be on the left side of your strip. I decided I wanted it to be about 3", so I cut it 3.5 wide with the seam allowance. Line it up along one edge of your patchwork strip and sew it down. Again, I used 1/4" seam allowance.


8. (I forgot to take a picture of this step) Cut another piece of muslin for the right side of the cover. You'll have to do some math to make sure the total comes out to be the right width. I suck at math, but somehow I figured it out. For my cover, I needed it to add up to 18". Taking 1/4" seam allowances into account, I figured I needed it to be 10.5". (But you know what? It doesn't really have to be exact. This style of sewing machine cover is very forgiving.) Attach the second piece of muslin to the right side of your patchwork strip.

9. At this point, I took some time to embellish my cover. I used my Silhouette to cut the word "stitch" out of heat transfer vinyl and then ironed it onto the cover. (I didn't take pictures of this step either)

10. Cut a piece of fusible fleece the same size as your cover (mine was 18x28). Follow the directions to iron it on to the wrong side of your cover. (I suppose you could skip this step, but it does give the cover a little more shape and adds to the quilted look.)

Pay no attention to that pucker in the top-stitching. Oops! Oh well, imperfection adds to the charm of homemade stuff, right? I said, RIGHT???

11. Top-stitch along each side of the patchwork strip. Again, this adds to the quilted look. I like the look of contrasting thread, so that's what I used.

12. Cut ribbons to use for the side ties of your cover. I didn't really cut a specific length. I just erred on the side of making them too long. You can always trim them later if they're too long. Pin them to the right side of your cover, making sure they match up on each side. I tied them together in the center to make sure that the ends didn't get caught in the seams when I sewed it all together.

13. Cut a piece of muslin 18x28 for the backing. Pin it to the front of the cover, right sides facing, making sure the ribbons stay inside the cover. The fleece should be on the outside.

13. Stitch all the way around the outside, leaving a 2"-3"-opening for turning. Trim excess fabric around the outside, and snip your corners to make it easier when turning. Turn cover right side out.

14. Pin the opening closed. Top stitch around the entire piece, closing up the opening as you stitch.

Finished!


And now for the Extra Added Bonus Surprise!

It's reversible! 

Before I stitched the back and front together, I embellished the back side with some vinyl and a little applique birdie. I love this side just as much as I love the other side! Now whenever I sit down to sew, I feel like Connie is saying hello to me!


I hope this little tutorial makes sense. Feel free to ask questions!


Until next time,


Megan