Tea Cup Rain Chain - Iron Craft #11

Our Iron Craft challenge was to create something dealing with rain, clouds, etc. I was intrigued by the idea of rain chains - alternatives to downspouts which "make a water feature out of the transport of rainwater from the guttering downwards to a drain or to a storage container." Wikipedia

I wanted to make a rain chain out of little tea cups, so I headed to the thrift store. It's a great place to shop for craft supplies. Here's some of the pretty little cups I found, only 75 cents each.

Other supplies for this project included some chain (I used white plastic chain), some 14-guage wire to wire the cups onto the chain, and some wire cutters.

Since I needed to drill a hole in the bottom of each cup, I picked up a masonry drill bit. I assumed that since it was strong enough to drill through cement, it would surely be strong enough for porcelain and ceramic. However, after trying to drill a hole for at least 15 minutes, and making little more than a dimple in the surface of the cup, I realized I needed something stronger.

So don't use a masonry bit to drill in tea cups.

Instead, I found a diamond-tip drill bit that is specifically for use on ceramic, porcelain, and glass. I guess I should have believed all those web sites I checked out when they said you had to use the diamond-tip. They know what they're talking about!

This video shows how to drill a hole in the bottom of a ceramic pot, and I used this technique to drill a 1/4-inch hole in the bottom of each tea cup. Some took longer than others. It depended on the thickness of the cup, as well as the strength of the porcelain or ceramic.

Then I cut the chain into segments of about 10 inches each. Similar to this video, I attached the cups to the sections of chain, only I used the 14-guage wire instead of fishing line.

And here is my finished rain chain! I love how it turned out, so dainty and pretty.

Due to some problems with our gutter, I haven't actually installed the rain chain yet. I took these pictures with the chain just hanging off a loose gutter nail. Once we get the gutters fixed, the chain will hang where the downspout currently is.

I want the water to drain into a large container, so that we can collect the rain water and use it to water our vegetable garden. So I bought this large planter, which I'll place directly under the rain chain as soon as we get it properly hung.

There were five of these lovely cups at the thrift store. I was thrilled. Unfortunately, they took the longest to drill through, so by the time I was done, I was quite a bit less thrilled with these cups! But now that I'm done, I can love them again.

  And thus concludes this installment of the tale of the dainty rain chain. I will post about it again once it is properly installed. :) 

Linked to:
Think Tank Thursday at Joyful Homemaking
Project Inspire{d} at Dukes and Duchesses 

Iron Craft #6 - Peeps Mantle Decor

This Iron Craft challenge was fun - create something with marshmallow Peeps, or use them for inspiration. I stuck with something simple, since I'm still recovering from my gallbladder surgery. My mantle needed some brightening up, so I used the neon colors of the Peeps to add springtime brightness and fun.

The glass containers were ones I already had lying around. I used candy-coated chocolate eggs in the bottom, topped with Peeps, and then some flowers from the craft section at Wal-Mart. Easy peasy!

I finished the mantle by spelling Happy Easter with my letter blocks, hanging a Peeps banner I made a year or two ago, and displaying a picture of Christ at the tomb (a reminder of why we celebrate Easter).

Linking to:
Think Tank Thursday at Joyful Homemaking
Weekend Wrap Up Party at tatertots and jello

Iron Craft #5 - Green Binky Clip

This is so far my smallest Iron Craft creation, but I have a really good excuse. I've been dealing with some really painful gallbladder issues, and finally had to have my gallbladder taken out. Actually, I'm writing this post a few days before the surgery, but since my surgery is scheduled for the day before Reveal Day, I'm just writing this ahead of time, and that ornery little organ will be out and gone by the time this post is up.

Our challenge this round is Green - either the color green, or the environmentally-friendly "green." I've been meaning to make my little guy a binky clip for quite a while, so I made him a green one.

As a fourth time mom, I'm not really all that concerned about germs on the pacifier, a little dirt never hurt anyone. However, it was really frustrating when he would drop the binky because it would roll unpredictably all over the place and disappear. Those things are sneaky! I could never keep track of his many pacifiers because they were always getting lost. Not anymore!

I followed this tutorial from see kate sew to make this pacifier clip.

Linking to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-Up Party

Iron Craft #4 - Mockingjay Tote Bag

In honor of entertainment's award season, this Iron Craft challenge was to make something inspired by TV or movies, or something that could be worn on the red carpet.

I had a really tough time trying to figure out what to do for this challenge. I just wasn't feeling inspired by any ideas I had. Finally, I was browsing Pinterest and came across a pattern for crocheting or knitting a Mockingjay Pin, worn by Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. A light bulb went off. I love The Hunger Games! I've got the books on my kindle and have read them at least 4 or 5 times. So I grabbed some yarn and got to work.

I know this makes 3 out of 4 challenges that I've crocheted. I do have other crafting skill sets, promise! It's just that my sewing machine and other craft paraphernalia happen to be in the baby's room, so it's not available to me during my favorite crafting time (late at night), because the baby's asleep. I've been meaning to move all my craft and sewing stuff to my room, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I think I'll commit to getting that done in time for the next challenge. Hold me to it!

Anywhooooo ... This page contains a link to the chart I used to make the mockingjay.
*Update* Unfortunately, the chart pattern seems to have been removed from the website. I haven't been able to find another chart like this one. If I do, I'll post it here.

As I crocheted, while it was exciting to see the pattern slowly emerge and become recognizable, I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with this square I was making. Eventually I settled on turning it into a simple tote bag. So I made another square for the back, sewed them together, and added handles.

I've crocheted tote bags before, and while I like the way they look, I don't like the way the crochet fabric stretches out of shape when you use the bag. So I put a sewn lining into my bag (here's how). Now it can handle actually toting stuff around, and won't pull out of shape.

Hmm, now I'm craving bread, goat cheese, and lamb stew with dried plums...

 

Linked to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-Up Party

Iron Craft #3 - Rows of Blossoms Scarf

In honor of Valentine's Day, this Iron Craft challenge is Flowers and Hearts. The craft must feature either flowers or hearts (or both if desired), though it doesn't have to be Valentine's themed. I threw around a couple ideas in my head (fabric collage, friendship bracelets, flower-covered tote bag), but when I found this crochet pattern, I knew this is what I wanted to do.

 This is my lovely Rows of Blossoms Scarf. I love how the colors look together, very feminine and romantic. I used a pattern for an afghan, just made it smaller. I also put only two rows of stitches between the blossoms instead of four.

I like how the rows look like simple textured stripes from a distance, but when you look closer you can see the pretty little flowers.

 I can wear this as a scarf around my neck, or a wrap over my shoulders, or even wrapped all around my head and face for when it's really cold outside. Which, in Utah in winter, is pretty often.

 Yep. I like my new scarf. :)

Linking to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party

Iron Craft - Orange

The second Iron Craft Challenge of 2013 is Orange. This could be something that is the color orange, or something made with oranges. Not my favorite color, but as was pointed out on the challenge post, this is supposed to be a challenge. So I embraced it and dug through my fabric stash to find something orange.

I have had my eye on these dress form mannequin pin cushions from The DIY Dish for quite some time. I love dress forms, and I love pin cushions. I think that combining the two is just an adorable stroke of genius.

The butterfly fabric is a fat quarter I got from Wal-Mart a while back. My fabric stash is fairly limited when it comes to orange, so I'm glad I was able to find something this cute. I do wish that I had cut it so that the big butterfly in the front would be right side up, something I'll keep in mind if I make any more of these (and I probably will because it's so easy, cute, and fun).

The candlestick came from the thrift store. While I was there, I picked up a variety of different stand possibilities. I ended up choosing this glass candlestick because I thought it matched the big bead at the top of the dress form.

But how cute will these be for other pincushions in the future!

The flower is a small strip of rolled felt, with a pretty button from my stash.

Now that I've made this adorable pincushion, I find myself suddenly obsessed with pincushions! I have a couple already, a plain tomato and a patchwork square. But now I want to make more and more, because I think little Miss Dress Form looks lonely. She needs some friends. Like these! Or these! And one of these would be fun too. :)

Linking to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party

Iron Craft Challenge - Cotton

Well, I'm working on jumping back into the saddle and posting on my blog again! I have joined Iron Craft at justcraftyenough, where a new crafting challenge is posted every two weeks. 2013's inaugural challenge theme is Cotton. So many possibilities, and I'm excited to see what my fellow Iron Crafters have come up with!

I eventually decided to take the crochet route. I crocheted this lacy little dress for my daughter's 18-inch doll.

It's kind of funny, I think I'm more interested in dressing this doll than my daughter is. She's more interested in bugs, spooky things, science, nature collections, and stuff like that. I say more power to her - I loved science stuff when I was younger too, and still do. But maybe someday she'll decide that playing dress-up with dolls is fun too.

So here I am, slowly adding pretty things to the limited wardrobe of this poor, unappreciated little doll. I should have cleaned her up a bit for the pictures - her hair is a mess and her face is covered in crayon. Makes me glad I never went out and spent big bucks on an authentic American Girls doll - this one is a cheaper version and it was a hand-me-down from a friend besides. :)

Close-up of front

Close-up of back

The dress is made from size 10 cotton thread. The dress pattern is found here. I found the pattern a bit difficult to read, the instructions aren't very clear in some places. That's okay, I wanted something that would challenge myself a bit. My dress ended up a little different than the original, especially in the back. But it's still a very sweet little dress.

Linking to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-Up Party