Ipsy Membership, Do you have one? I do.

I love my ipsy glambags so far.  This year, my husband got me set up with my ipsy subscription as a Mother's Day present.  I love it.  You get something different every month, a new makeup bag, and you never know what it's going to be.  I've gotten three bags so far.  The first was a really cute orange travel inspired bag.

I got eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and I can't remember what else, but I loved it all.  You get five products and it's chosen by the choices you made on their beauty quiz.

The second one I got was a multishade blue bag. Here's a pic of me trying out one of the eyeshadows I got from my ipsy glambag.  It's by a brand named Pacifica, which is vegan and cruelty free.  I love that!  And these colors weren't something I would have picked out myself, which is nice, because then I get to explore and get a little creative.

That green turned out like a fun look, I think.  My last bag I got is a pretty holographic makeup bag, which I decided to give to my daughter.  If you guys are interested in watching me open my glambags, I can put a link here to my instagram and youtube channel where I post videos of my makeup tutorials and unboxings, as well as other stuff.

If you want to sign up yourself, use my link.  Ipsy is $10 a month.  Five makeup items, some are full sized too and a cute makeup clutch every month.  I love looking for that pink pouch in the mail every month.  If you want to try it out, here's my link.

https://www.ipsy.com/new?cid=ppage_ref&sid=link&refer=tvpqh

Ever heard of this? Thredup.com

Hey everyone!  I don't know about you, but I love thrifting.  There's just something about going into a resale shop and finding a deal, or maybe something really unique you wouldn't have otherwise found.  Plus thrifting is good for the environment and your budget.

Have you ever heard of thredup?  It's a thrift store, online!  Only clothes, but its really good quality and in good condition.  I use them so much.  You may have never heard of thredup.  If you use my code, we both get $10.  I've been using thredup for years, they have purses and kids clothes.  They even sell jewelry and shoes.  Also maternity clothes.  It's a great place to shop.

You can also donate your clothes or even sell them through thredup.  If you guys want to use my code, here it is.

http://www.thredup.com/r/MKSK0I

Happy thrifting!

Jewelry and More

Hey everyone.  It's been a while.  I haven't posted for a long time, but I am back and I think I might start doing some tutorial videos on some of the things I've been up to.

I have been away for a while, but even on my hiatus from blogging, I've still been crafting.  Of course I am.

Some of my plans for tutorials include some jewelry techniques that I've been working on.  I have also started back again with needle crafts.  Cross stitch and more.  I love these yarns I've been finding in the hobby stores.  We have a Hobby Lobby by us and I've been loving their 50% off coupons I find in the Sunday paper.  That's my yarn right there for a new scarf.

If you know me, you know I'm pretty good with a crochet hook, but...  Can you believe I'm knitting?  I have been an avid crocheter for a long time, but never a knitter, at least, not until now.

I plan on sharing my projects here.  What am I currently working up?  An easy scarf.  It's simple and I'll post it up soon.  It's a knit scarf in case you want to try it out.  I'm a beginner so it's obviously simple.  :)

I have big plans for my little corner of the internet, so stay tuned.  Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Steenta

The Holidays are Here

I am back from my hiatus and I have some new crochet items in the works too.  Most notably are the mini bags I'm making and the crocheted and woven scarves.

Www.steenta.etsy.com 

This is one bag I have listed.  I think it would make a great Christmas present.  It could even be holding another present inside.

I had fun making this one and I hope to add a few more to be sold in the next few days.  Hope everyone is having a good holiday season.

Recycling can be Messy, but Fun

Some of my favorite things to do when it comes to being crafty, are to use what I already have and turn it into something completely different.  Something AWESOME!

I do this a lot with old shirts, paper, baby food jars, etc.  Even yarn that my kids pull from my crafty bags and decide to wrap around the entire room.

(Yes, this happened.  It looked like this laser field below but much worse.)  I've learned that using something, especially if it's going to be thrown away otherwise, is good.  It's fun.  It's liberating.  And yes, it's messy.

My kids smiles make it worth it, though.  By the way this pic is not how it looked.  It was much worse, because the kids were wrapping yarn on door knobs, shelves, vacuum cleaners...  :/  You get the idea.

Found originally on Pinterest.com

Earth Globe Plush

My inspiration from the etsy shop, Little Smiles Boutique

Earth Plush Pattern

It's getting closer to Christmas and I am still working away, trying to get presents together.  Like you all know, my husband is still looking for a job, so we are low on money for gifts this year.  My time is also scarce with three kids, the youngest nearly five months old.  

While trying to come up with gift ideas, I looked over my children's Christmas lists, and saw that my daughter wants a globe.  Adorable.  She's in kindergarten, and I love that she is so interested in learning!  Anyhoo, at first I was going to buy a blow up globe ball.  They're under $10.  I also found a Earth Ball for about $15 at the Fat Brain Toys website.

http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/orbis_world_globes/16_inch_diameter_earthball.cfm

I decided to save some money and just make a plushie of the Earth.  Here's what I did.  I got some blue yarn, and amigurumi crocheted two halves of a ball.

Pattern for Earth Ball

Make 2, using blue yarn...

magic ring, sc 6 times (6sc)

2sc in each sc (12 sc)

*1sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat around another 5x (18sc)

*2sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat around another 5x  (24sc)

*3sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat around another 5x (30sc)

*4sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat around another 5x (36sc)

*5sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat around another 5x (42sc)

*6sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat around another 5x (48sc)

*7sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat around another 5x (54sc)

*8sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat around another 5x (60sc)

sc around (60sc)

sc around (60sc)

sc around (60sc)

sc around (60 sc)

sc around (60 sc)

Now use blue yarn to sew the two  halves together leaving a couple inches to stuff it with stuffing.  After stuffing the ball, you have to add the continents.  You can use felt or fleece, whatever you have that doesn't fray.  You're also going to need some templates for the continents.  I used the templates from the site below.  You're gonna need to scale them down.  I also rounded some of the shapes, since there's no way I can create a perfect map of the world.  LOL. 

http://www-tc.pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/lesson/world/pdf/Balloon_Globe.pdf

Feel free to use different colors for different continents.  I'm going to sew a little star on our location, so my daughter has an idea of where we live.  Hope you liked this tutorial.  You can do it.  Happy crafting!

Upcycled Tank Top Cape

I saw some cute kids capes on the internet and I thought I'd try it out myself.  My challenge was no money and no time to sew.  Here's what I came up with.  

I have been going through my clothes and getting stuff ready for goodwill, so I already had some shirts on hand.    They are all t-shirt material.  I cut them up the middle front if there was no design, but if I wanted to utilize a design, I just flipped the shirt and cut up the middle on the back.  It's very versatile.  I made sure to stop cutting before I got to the collar.  Then I cut in a diagonal line from the bottom up to the underarm.  Then I repeated this on the other side.  Finally, I tied the ends.

I plan on putting letters on the capes for each kid.  If you use a long sleeve shirt, you can easily add leg guards or arm guards for the costume.  Also if the shirt is a button up, you can utilize that.  I also used some short sleeve stretch t-shirt sleeves for masks.  I just cut out eye holes.  No need to sew, but if you want it'll look more finished.  This is easy to make, personalize, customize, and embellish.  Best thing, it costs nothing but a little time.