To create the Mondrian blazer above, I bought a cheap blazer from Uniqlo and painted it with DecoArt So Soft fabric paint. I wanted to paint another blazer with flowers, so I bought another blazer on sale from Uniqlo (I think it was $29). Here is what the blazer looked like beforehand.

It was a nice lightweight cotton. Although I had a good experience with DecoArt So Soft paint before, it’s kind of hard to find and I wanted paint that was a bit more opaque, so I did some online searches for suggestions and decided to try Liquitex Soft Body acrylics and fabric medium. You mix them in a 1 to 1 ratio, and the fabric medium keeps the paint from cracking.

I have lots of paint left over from this project because I didn’t need that much, but I did use almost 3 four-ounce bottles of the fabric medium. To paint the blazer, I started with the back because I figured if it didn’t look good, it would be the back and people wouldn’t notice as much. I laid the blazer on a large plastic drop cloth outside because I didn’t have room in my studio to spread out a blazer. Usually when beginning a flower painting I would paint a chaos layer on the canvas as the underlayer for the flowers. But I wanted to avoid having extra paint layers on the blazer or otherwise it would be too stiff. So I just painted an underlayer in spots that I designated for flowers. Then I painted greenery around those underlayers. Here’s how it looked at this initial stage.

Notice that the under layers are orange and peach colored. The finished flowers would not be that color, but I wanted these initial colors to peek through the final color to give the flowers more depth and interest. Next, I painted the background color of the blazer. I chose a light blue, and this went over some of the greenery and the rest of the background of the blazer. (Disregard the box of pour-on resin in the picture. I used it as a paperweight because it was windy that day.)

Then I painted the actual pink flowers on top of the orange under layers. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any more photos at this point, but you get the idea. After painting the main flowers, I added smaller details, shading and highlights.

You can see it really wasn’t hard to paint on the blazer. The biggest challenge was I had to do the whole thing in small sections because I had to let the paint dry before moving on. So it took patience to get through the whole blazer. I started with the back. Then moved to the front, doing the left and right sides at the same time. Then I tackled the fronts of the sleeves and then the backs of the sleeves. Finally I finished with the lapels and the collar. Each time I started from the beginning, doing the under layers, then the greenery, the blue background, and then the pink flowers.

Oh, by the way, I put masking tape over the buttons so I wouldn’t get paint on them. I love how this turned out. If you’re wondering if it’s really stiff because of the paint, I have to be honest that it is actually a little stiff, but not so rigid that you can’t move around in it. The fabric medium does soften the paint considerably, and I can scrunch and fold the fabric endlessly and there is no cracking or anything. And when I’m wearing it, it doesn’t feel that different from a normal blazer. In fact, the more I wear it, the softer it seems to get.

I just love how it turned out. There will definitely be more painted blazers in the future for me.

The blooms actually opened while in the canvas, and the painting became a living piece of art. I love how the painted flowers blend with the real ones. You can really see the 3D effect in the side angles.

I hope this inspires you to think outside the box, I mean frame.

For the tutorial on how to make the lemonade candles, click here.

To learn how to make the margarita candles, click here.

1. Start with a pair of mittens. The kids’ size works really well.
2. To stuff the fingers of the mittens, roll strips of aluminum foil into “finger” shapes.
3. The fingers are still a little skinny for my liking (I sound like the witch from Hansel and Gretel), so I then wrap each aluminum foil finger in fabric to fatten them up.
4. Then slide the fingers into the mittens. I also like to add one more small piece of fabric in the palm to fill that out a little more. When your hands are complete, place them on the two sides of the toilet paper dispenser. Hint: When the mitten is on the dispenser, make sure the aluminum foil fingers are on the outer side of the dispenser, so the hole where the bar fits in is unobstructed.

Again, I am the world’s worst sewer. I have a real hard time sewing in a straight line. Also, the thought of threading the needle and setting up the bobbin make me break out in a sweat. The non-woven material of the tote bags (and Oly Fun) makes it easy for beginning sewers like me because the fabric does not fray, so I don’t have to worry about hemming or turning fabric inside out.

Another problem I had when deciding whether to make my own masks was I did not have any elastic for the straps. I looked at some tutorials for masks with fabric ties, but these required 40-inch long pieces of fabric, and like I said I did not have any fabric on hand. As I was studying the tote bags, I wished that the handles on them would work for the straps, but they were too short. Then I was staring at the sewn seams along the edges of the bags. They provide the structure of the bag and go along the three edges of the front and back side of the bag. Lightbulb moment! These would be the ties for the mask. I cut these sewn seams along the edges, and they turned out to be 36 inches long, just shy of the 40 inches in the other tutorials. Close enough. That’ll work. Because they go along three sides of the bags, they do have 90-degree angles on them, but again, close enough, they pull straight to tie.

So here’s how I made the face masks. My first one, which I am modeling in the picture at the bottom, was really rough. My sewing was all over the place, and there were so many mistakes. But by my third mask, it was much better. Still not something I’d want to hang in the Louvre, but good enough.

Now, before showing the steps, I do want to emphasize that these are not surgical masks, and I don’t know how much protection they offer from germs and viruses. But at least when I wear one, I can feel like I’m doing my best to not spread germs myself if I cough or sneeze. And the non-woven material supposedly provides a better barrier than cotton. Enough exposition. Let’s get to the tutorial.

1. Cut two 7″ x 9″ pieces from the tote bag. At first, I marked the pieces with chalk and then cut the two pieces separately. By the second mask, I realized it would be easier to pin two pieces together and then cut the exact measurements. (I know my fabric is really wrinkled. I didn’t bother ironing it because this material doesn’t hold up well to a hot iron.)
2. Cut the sewn seams along the edges to make the ties. (By the time I made my second mask, I realized that this is really the first step, because after cutting off these edges, then the front and back sides of the tote were ready to cut into 7″x9″ pieces.)
3. Sew the two 7″x9″ pieces together along the top and bottom edges.
4. Insert the straps between the two sewn pieces with one at the top and one at the bottom. Pin them in place. At this point, you can also insert a twist tie or piece of wire at the top for a nose thingamajig that you can bend to make it fit better. Sew along the top to create a channel for the strap, then continue on the side, then continue along the bottom to hold that strap in, and then finish along the last side.
5. Make three pleats and pin them in place. Then sew vertically along the left and right edges to lock in the pleats. Not bad for someone who can hardly sew.

What you’ll need:

Six wire hangers

White electrical tape

Blue string lights

1. Gather six wire hangers that are all the same style and color. I prefer white hangers, as they will be the same color as the electrical tape and string lights.

2. Position three wire hangers in a triangle shape with the hooks all going in the same direction.

3. In the corners where the hangers meet, connect them with electrical tape.

4. Make another triangle with the other three hangers and place it on top of the first one to form a Star of David shape. Connect the points where the triangles intersect with electrical tape.

5. Bend the hooks in the center so they are evenly spaced. It should look like a flower. Reinforce the center where all six hangers meet with electrical tape.

6. Wind blue string lights around the Star of David, connecting the lights with white twist ties or electrical tape. I found the blue string lights with white wire on Amazon.