Rainy Day DIY

We just wrapped up a wonderful, relaxing Labor Day weekend with Jon's parents.  I'm sure there will be pictures and stories to come, but today it's dark and rainy.  And between the sludge running down the side of my yard, the pile of dirty dishes in the sink, and the box full of autumnal decorations sitting in my living room that I haven't yet found the motivation to actually put out ... I'm going to do a post that involves as little creative thinking as possible.

Now that's not to say that I haven't been feeling creative.  Oh, I have!  You should see Baby Girl's nursery ... too bad you can't.  Gotcha, haha!  It's not done yet, but we're getting very close!  Pictures will be coming soon.  But once you do see it, you'll know what I mean.  Hubby thinks Etsy done went and threw up in there.  Except I did it all myself (and with a little help from Marmie).  Needless to say, I've been spending countless hours in front of my sewing machine and totally loving it.  But sometimes I need to step away from the nursery for a bit - like when Jude is taking a nap in there.  So I found another area to focus my craftasticness on, my other baby - the DSLR.

I got a new camera for my birthday last year and I think it's been one of my favorite presents to date. I'm not really in to photography, and I can't edit for the life of me.  But I do love taking pictures of my kiddos!  And for that it has served me well.  So this year I got a prime lens that I'm also enjoying.  The only problem is I can't fit my camera, extra lens and all my accessories in my camera bag.  Actually, it wasn't really a problem. But that scratchy, black canvas camera bag didn't have anything going for it anyway.  All I needed was a good excuse for a cute, new camera bag... that could also double as a purse ... or maybe triple as a diaper bag.  Something like this.  So cute, so functional and oh so much more than I should probably spend on a bag.  So I put it on my Christmas list and prepared to wait out the next 3 months.

But then my mother-in-law and I took a trip to the mall and I discovered this amazing little store called Charming Charlie and immediately I was drawn to a mustardy yellow handbag retailing for a fraction of the price of my coveted camera bag and I thought to myself, "Why can't I just make my own camera bag?"  So I snapped a picture of it to take home and show my husband so he could go out and buy it for me for Christmas or something.

But my sneaky MIL was way ahead of me, nabbed it when I wasn't looking and presented it to me as a gift that night.  *awesome*  It didn't take long for me to look up a few DIY camera bag tutorials online and work out a plan of action.  If you're interested in making your own there are good instructions here and here.  Or you can just kinda wing it like I did.

Take one Charming Charlie handbag.

And a half yard or so of 1/2" foam, material and velcro.  (This is what was left after my project).

Measure the inside of your bag and cut foam to fit.  Cover foam with material.  Add velcro.

Put it all together and slip it in your bag.

Load up with camera and accessories.

You can either velcro/attach the foam insert to the inside of the purse or just have it sit freely in there, which is what I did.  So I can have a "normal" purse anytime I want!

And wa-la.  I think this cost me a total of about $3 (not including the bag).  I love it and now I can sleep well knowing my camera is safe and cozy too.

And in case you're wondering what that funky strap thing is on my camera, well that's Project #2.  MYO Gathered Camera Strap.  I'm not sure why I decided I needed to do this.  I was at a children's consignment store the other week and saw some there on the made-by-moms shelf which I thought were super cute.  And they were $15.  Apparently my craftiness is motivated by sticker shock because I got home that night determined to make one myself.  So I found this blog and knew this is what I needed to do.  I've never done a ruffle or a gather before, but I wanted to for the nursery so this would be good practice.  I ended up following the ruffle instructions on this blog because it seemed so much easier (and it was, and now I'm a ruffle maniac!).  And then picked back up from there.  I also didn't use fleece on the inside of mine. I just used a thick, soft material I had leftover from a crib bumper I disassembled (more on that later!).

So did I manage this with minimal damage to my wallet?  Oh, you know it!  Since the material was all scraps, the only thing I had to buy was ribbon.  I'm estimating this project was less than $2-3 and about an hour of my time.  The only downfall is hubby claims he won't be picking up my camera anymore.  This is funny because I don't think he ever picked up my camera before it had a floral, ruffled strap cover.  *sigh*  But the best part is, not only do I have a cute, comfy neck-strap, but I also have a fast, easy way to ID my camera at holiday functions.  No more of those "ahhhh who changed the settings on my camera" moments that occur when you unknowingly attempt to use someone else's gear.

So there you have it, two fantastic Christmas gift ideas to get crackin' on for that special photographer in your life (yes, I did just mention Christmas shopping because it IS September and we DO have a baby due next month!).  Unfortunately, I don't think either of the Uncles would appreciate a pursey camera bag or ruffled camera strap.  If you're experiencing a similar lack, perhaps one of these other DIY projects would work better.  I've had success with all this past month (okay the jury is still out on the mole repellent but I'll list it anyway):

DIY Changing Pad Cover

DIY Mole Repellent

DIY Laundry Detergent

DIY Cloth Laundry Detergent (I'll have to get back to you on this one, I wasn't so impressed the first time I used it, but we'll give it another shot soon)

DIY Natural Cleaner Orange Infused Vinegar

Shhh, just don't tell my siblings about my mole repellent and laundry detergent gift baskets I'm working on for Christmas...

Here's to a glimpse of the sun tomorrow!