“Yo yo yo, this is your girl L-Money, comin’ at you live on the microphone with a bliggitty blogging tip to help give your John Hancocks some suga’ and spice. Bricka, bricka, what?! It’s gonna be tight, y’all. You feel me?” Before you all run for the hills, let me explain that intro. I taught 9th grade English for three years when we lived in Ohio, and I would sometimes start my classes in a {read more…}
I am one of those people for whom it is one of life’s big thrills to label things. Yes, I’m a dork type A, an oldest sibling, a perfectionist…all of those personality traits that point straight to label-loving. Yes, I totally own a label maker…you know, one of these: Although I’m not into labeling “tax forms” as this photo would suggest, when I taught English, I did label nearly every single thing in my classroom. Scissors {read more…}
“It is a truth universally acknowledged…” that Lauren is atrocious at remembering birthdays. And when it comes to anniversaries? Fuggetaboutit. They don’t even stand a chance. Even my besties will attest that they’ve received many a belated birthday wish from me…and not just a day late, but in some shameful cases, months late! It’s embarrassing, really. And something just had to be done. I present to you, The Thinking Closet’s edition of a Birthday & Anniversary Calendar: Below, you’ll {read more…}
Happy, happy Friday, friends! As you may recall, one of the highlights of my sister’s surprise visit last month was a crafternoon shared together working on a banner to hang above her books in her bedroom. It only seemed fitting to use book pages as our primary material and to incorporate a quote by one of our favorite authors, C.S. Lewis: “We read to know we are not alone.” How true, Mr. Lewis. How true. {read more…}
I had the opportunity to try my hand at a project using Silhouette’s frosted vinyl, which allows you to create the impression of etched glass on mirrors and glass, but without the scary chemicals or the permanence; if you don’t like it, you can just remove it! That’s my kinda project. On the roll, the frosted vinyl almost looks silvery… …but you’ll see when you peel the vinyl from the backing that it’s transparent with {read more…}
One small step for YouTube. One giant leap for The Thinking Closet. Today, I share my first ever video tutorial, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. Sure, I’m a theatre person, and I’ve gotten up in front of some tough crowds in my day (remember, I teach high school students). Still, there’s something about putting yourself out there on video for the world wide web to see that is a little {read more…}
For those of you who may have missed my guest post over at Dream a Little Bigger last month, here it is in full…plus a new photo addition of my “Teenage Mutant Ninja Polka Dots.” Intrigued? I hope so! About Ruth This purse holds great significance for me because it originally belonged to a beloved family friend named Ruth. I can’t remember a holiday meal during my childhood when Ruth wasn’t at our table, warming {read more…}
Happy Monday, everyone. So, for fun, I thought I’d review some of the crafting trends that I’ve tried my hand at: Chalkboard - check! Mason Jars - check! Gold Accents - check! Burlap - check! Maps - check! Subway Art – che–wait a minute. {Gasp!} We haven’t tried subway art yet. What are we waiting for? Apparently, “we” were waiting for my friend Gianna’s birthday {cough–which was in February–cough, cough}. #betterlatethannever As I dreamed and schemed a gift for my {read more…}
With my friends having babies left and right, you didn’t think I would stop at the rhinestone and heat-transfer vinyl onesies, now, did you? No siree, Bob! Time to bust out the sewing machine for some super cute, super easy burp cloths: I have to credit my M.I.L. for inspiring me with this one (and she credits her friend, Robyn!). Last year, she made some burp cloths for expectant mothers, including my two sisters-in-law, so, {read more…}
Now that it’s officially spring, here’s the full tutorial for my fabric spring wreath. You may have seen this earlier in the month on Or So She Says. This is my eighth month living in Florida, and I’m starting to notice that we don’t experience much of a change of seasons here. Well, I guess you could say there are two seasons: stinkin’ hot and less stinkin’ hot. But I figured that wreaths could be {read more…}
Looking at this post’s title, you might be thinking, “Dream a Little Bigger…we know that name!” And you sure do if you saw the amazing Gold Shoe Makeover Allison, author of Dream a Little Bigger, shared here on Monday. Well, Allison and I are totally in cahoots with a guest post swap this week (mwah ha ha!), so I’m sharing my makeover (also involving gold) over at her corner of the blog-o-sphere right now. A Vintage Purse Makeover to {read more…}
Friends, it is an honor to introduce you to my blog pal, Allison. After leaving my millionth comment on her blog saying, “Oh my goodness. I LOVE this!” I decided to invite her over here to one of her amazing refashions here with y’all today. Allison, they’re all yours! Hi, everybody at The Thinking Closet! Let me introduce myself, I’m Allison and I’m a blogging craftaholic over at Dream a Little Bigger. I’m a huge {read more…}
Hi friends! If you missed my post on Or So She Says last month where I shared my major organization overhaul for my craft drawers, here’s the whole shebang. Let’s start with an “after” picture: They’ve undergone quite the change. For way too long, my craft storage drawers were in a sad state of disorganization and in desperate need of some purging and a bit of structure. They were becoming more like junk drawers than craft drawers, and {read more…}
Good mornin’, lovelies! Last week, I shared a tutorial for how to create a custom rhinestone name design using the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software. As promised, I’m back today to show you my completed onesie along with a tutorial for how to use the Rhinestone Template Kit to apply the rhinestones. But don’t worry, I won’t make you wait until the end to see a photo of the blinged-out onesie. Here she is in {read more…}
After all of these heady posts on blog migration, I’m guessing some of you might be chanting, “We want crafts! Show us the crafts!” Well, today, I can answer that cry as I’m sharing my Fabric Spring Wreath Tutorial over at Or So She Says. It’s a great project for stash-busting, I can attest, and the little flowers could easily be made into hair accessories or gift wrap embellishments. I’d love for you stop by and check it {read more…}
Stop the presses! Lauren is partnering with one of her favorite brands in the whole wide world, and you betcha she’s going to tell you all about an exciting promotion they’ve got going on right now. Let’s not waste a second longer and just dive right in to the good stuff: Silhouette is having a massive sale right now on their craft-cutters, as well as the Designer software. By clicking here, you’ll access Silhouette’s special {read more…}
Since sharing my January Silhouette Challenge project, exciting things have been happening behind the scenes. I created a Facebook group for Silhouette users looking to collaborate and encourage one another (wanna join us? shoot me an email!). And our group has grown to over 20 women in a matter of a few weeks. Several of those lovely ladies are joining me in The Challenge this month! How cool is that? Look out for links to their projects at {read more…}
