Curioser and Curioser

Sorry it's been awhile. I'm up to my ears in projects. In celebration of the LDS Temple in Atlanta being rededicated, the youth are performing for the leader of our church, President Monson. I've been asked to be a dance coordinator which entails teaching teenagers choreographed numbers . . . not the easiest task but it should be fun. So I'll be doing that for two months. Then, I'm trying to finish a screenplay for the Nicholl Fellowship Competition. The deadline is May 2nd. Did I mention I'm also trying to potty-train my toddler? Or that my husband is on a three week business trip? Have I squeezed any sympathy from you yet?

ANYWAY, I had to share a project I tried the other week. I got it from The Felt Mouse blog and it was really easy and neat. It's a tutorial for an Eyeglass Brooch. As Jennifer points out, all old eyeglasses should be donated to the Lions Club or other organizations that collect used glasses for those in need. I got my lens from an old pair of my mom's reading glasses . . . she buys a pair, loses them, then buys another pair. This happens about every other week so she has lots and lots of glasses! If you don't have any old ones laying around, plenty of stores carry reading glasses for cheap (some even for $1!).

I followed Jennifer's directions, only I used E-6000 as my adhesive instead of Diamond Glaze. From the look of it, I think E-6000 is much easier to use. It's a gel and so it doesn't run. I just squirted a generous amount on the inside of the lens and evened it out with a foam brush. I did have a few air bubbles but I still like it. I used an illustration from a copy of "Alice in Wonderland" and I love how it turned out. Instead of painting the back of the brooch like Jennifer, I coated the back with matte ModgePodge (one of my favorite things in the entire world! LOVE that stuff!) so the text of the page showed.

I still felt the brooch looked unfinished so I glued a blue ribbon around the edge and tied a bunny charm to the top. It still looked a little off so I glued a ruffle as well. It's a little more fussy than I intended but I think it all works.

Going along with the Alice-themed post, I've got to brag on my "Alice in Wonderland" book purse. Yeah, yeah it's cute and all but what I'm really proud about is the button closure. It's ELASTIC! I finally made a button closure I can be proud of! I usually use ribbon but it's kind of a hassle to get on and off. I didn't want to use just plain elastic because it's not cute and it could get caught and tear. So I made a little tube of fabric to protect the elastic and frankly, it's just cute because it matches with the rest of the bag. YAY! Every bag with a button closure will now have a fantastic elastic loop. I'm in the process of "updating" my current bags so they all have elastic loops, too. I'm just so happy my bags are functional as well as cute. That's very important to me.