Another easy project that offers a huge feeling of accomplishment to the craft newbie is to make simple throw pillows. No, seriously. I know it seems stupid that just two pieces of fabric, sew some straight lines, and fill with poly fill, but it offers a huge change. 

I spent a few days working on pillows and let me just say that the only reason it took days was because I tried to be slick and do it all by hand. Not because I wanted to feel awesome and completely crafty, but because I didn't want to set up the sewing machine. Yeah, seems stupid to do it all by hand because I was too lazy to set up the machine, but everything looks bad in hindsight. 

I bought two packages of 8-piece fat corners that measured 18" by 21" and a huge bag of poly fill (that white fluffy stuff that goes in the pillows for those who need an explanation like I did). I lined up coordinating fabrics right sides together and pinned it in place. Remember to mark a space big enough to put your hand in. You'll leave this open when you sew the seams so you can stuff the pillow. If you leave the pieces as is it will make some fairly big pillows, so I cut some of them in half to make some smaller pillows.

Okay, now that you have everything pinned together, set up your sewing machine with a coordinating thread. Start from one side of the opening you marked and work your way around. Take it slow and try to keep your lines straight, but don't worry too much about it. When you fill it those little imperfections will even out. 

Okay, now you have all of your seams sewn with your opening. Now, we need to turn the pillows right side out. 

Time to stuff those pillows. Just fill to the desired firmness and then sew the seam closed by hand.

There you go. A simple project that takes a boring room into a comfy oasis.

I only have a few pieces of craft newbie advice. First, I highly recommend using a sewing machine. It just speeds up the process. It took me two days to make three pillows start to finish when I was doing it by hand, but as soon as the machine was out it took me probably 20 minutes to make a pillow. Second, make sure you buy enough poly fill to finish all the pillows you decide to make. I still have 4 half pillows that still need to be stuffed.

Another victory? I think so.

By the way, here's a picture of my eager helper concentrating very hard.

Alright, time for my first project. It was actually a relatively easy project, but I still have tons of advice for the other newbies out there.

The goal in mind for today was to make my laundry area (it's more like a closet in my living room) a bit more efficient. Well, more efficient for when the hubby-to-be has to do the laundry. 

It's pretty dull, I know. I had been researching some laundry rooms on Pinterest and StumbleUpon, just kind of cyber-nesting, and I was noticing that some people were creating some interesting things to help keep their laundry rooms organized. These two in particular inspired me:

http://www.tipjunkie.com/how-to-clean/

http://illgetyoumypretties.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-04-08T14%3A10...

 

The stain removal chart is a free download, but I didn't need a list that in depth. A simple list for stain removal and a how-to-wash guide was all that we needed so I typed them up, laminated them, and hung them up with some brown ribbon.

The missing sock station was pretty fun to make, let me tell you. I got to drill holes and spray paint stuff. That spells out an awesome day to me. I didn't do any special lettering because, well, I'm a craft newbie and don't know how to do that yet. I will learn, but for something that will reside behind a door I thought it was unnecessary.

Okay, time for some craft newbie advice. Every project is going to be trial and error because I usually don't have the forethought to do anything in a way that portrays common sense. I suggest you take the saying "measure twice, cut once" to heart, and also "measure twice, hammer once." Turns out sometimes just eyeballing it doesn't work. I also suggest that you double check what you buy to make sure it's what you need. I'm sure you've noticed that the magnets I used for the clothes pins are quite visible. There is a smaller size magnet at the store, but I looked at them and said the larger (and cheaper) size would be fine. Oh, how wrong I was.

Despite the bumps along the way, I'd call this project a success. What do you think?

Alright, here goes nothing. I've finally taken the first step and started the blog I've been bothering my fiance about. It's a rather huge committment for me and a huge leap of faith. Doing this opens myself for criticism, but I'm going to charge forward.

Okay, a bit of back story. I've only been crafting for about 3 or 4 months, so I'm still extremely new ot this. Every project is my first go around. I've tried a few things that I found on StumbleUpon and Pinterest and some have been a triumphant success and some have been a terrible failure, but it's all apart of trying something new.

I know there are probably a million and one craft blogs, but they have all been at it for years and have developed an expertise. They whip out beautiful one of a kind projects like it's nothing. I aspire to be one of these people, but I'm not. My projects don't take an hour because I have all the know how and the supplies, they take me about 3 days due to the research, trial and error, and a couple hundred trips to my local craft store. I'm starting this blog to help the craft newbie become the craft expert through my own adventure to do the same. We'll learn things together and I welcome feedback on the projects as well as suggestions for future projects.