Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn Mistcloak

I am a huge Brandon Sanderson Fan.  Before I read his books, I wouldn't have considered myself a fantasy fan, but after I read the Mistborn series, I was hooked.  Sanderson does such an amazing job developing his characters and settings that it just draws you in.   My husband (he actually introduced me to the books) and son Lucas are also huge fans, and after Lucas read Mistborn, he wanted a Mistcloak.

For Christmas, my mother--in-law made him a Mistborn Mistcloak.

My mother--in-law hasn't read Mistborn (but trust me she has heard plenty of conversations about it).  She did a lot of research online, wanting to make something more authentic for Lucas.

I asked her for some tips on how she made the Mistcloak that I could share with you, and this is what she told me

How To Make a MistCloak

Initially she tried to make the tassels from a light woven fabric, sewn to another strip for lining, but they would never lie straight, so she ended up switching to fleece or brushed-nylon.  An advantage to this material is that edges won't fray.

She made three layers, offset by nearly an inch, so that the row underneath would hang in the space where the the two in front of it separated a bit.  She used this many layers so that it felt "enveloping" like the book describes.

After a few trials- she took a large piece of dark grey fleece cut the length she wanted and cut it in 1 1/2- inch strips nearly all the way up, using a rotary cutter.  When she cut the strips, she stopped before reaching the end of the fleece, leaving a 4-inch uncut header at the top.  She used this header section to sew to the lining of the inside of the cape section.

For the top, she used a cape pattern she had, cutting it part way down.  This is where the strips began and were sewn to an inner lining before putting it together.

She did do one cheat, and used a metal clasp, as she did not have time to find a wood one in time for Christmas.  We are just pretending it is made of wood painted to look like metal.  (If you have read the books, you know why the Mistcloak would never have a metal clasp)



He absolutely loves it, and was so thrilled when he got it Christmas morning.  It often isn't easy figuring out what to give a teenager for Christmas, so this was perfect gift.

It truly was a labor of love, but it is a present that he will forever cherish.  

Kindy 500 Truck

At our school when the kids are in kindergarten, they participate in the Kindy 500.   My oldest went to a different school for kinder, for my daughter we made an ice-cream truck, and for my youngest, we knew we had to make a Ryder truck, since his name is Ryder.

We began with two boxes, one was a Smuckers box that we got at Costco, the other was just a big shipping box we cut apart.  The Smuckers box was about 2' x 15", which really seemed like a great size, big enough to do things with, but not so big he couldn't carry it.

We decided to turn the box upside down and cut a hole for what now is the top, this way the bottom was totally open so did not impede on his legs moving.

We created the cab by cutting the other box into a partial rectangle with a top tab, we cut a hole in the main box to slide the tab into and taped it into place.  The doors, were another long strip of the box that we folded up each side and down around the bottom.

Tab from cab inside main box before we taped it down

We painted the box white, which did take several coats, then finished with a glossy white spray paint.

Ryder made the wheels from card-stock.

 We used red duct tape for the stripe, fancy sparkly red and yellow card stock for the lights, printed the Ryder logo and glued orange pom-poms for the top truck lights.

For the straps, I actually got a roll of velcro and we used the sticky velcro adhesive strips (the kind you often use to hang pictures on walls) inside of the box then used the long strips to make two straps to go over his shoulders.

He loved his Ryder Tuck and had such a fun time going on a parade for the school, getting his first ticket, going through a car wash, going to the KMV (Kindy Motor Vehicles), and 'driving' through a Starbucks and Krispy Kremes, chocolate milk and donuts.


There were a lot cute and creative cars- here are some of my favorites from the day.

Another (our last) Kindy 500 is now done, his truck worked out great and he still wears it around the house pretty regularly. Does your school do a Kindy 500?

Desk Makeover: Painting a Desk

When I was redoing my craft room, I obviously needed a work space or desk.  I came really close to spending hundreds of dollars on a great desk at a store, but I help off and kept checking some of my favorite thrift stores until I found the perfect desk for only $30.

The desk definitely need a touch up, and I really wanted to add a pop of color to it.

When looking for a used desk, or any piece of furniture, one of the main things to look for is overall strength of the piece.  Little chips and dings, scribbles or marks, all fixable.  Missing a leg, wobbly, or drawers that don't come out are things that unless you are good at wood work might be hard to fix.

This desk has great bones, it was definitely chipped and dinged but it was perfect.  I love how deep it is, giving it a big work space, it isn't a small computer desk size.

I decided to go for a bit of a retro look and used Annie Sloan Provence Chalk Paint.

It took two coats of paint, but as is great with Annie Sloan paint, after a good wipe down cleaning of the piece you just start painting.

I took all of the hardware out of the desk before painting, and taped the drawer lock with painters tape to protect it.

I spray painted the hardware with Rust-Oleum Hammered spray paint.

Hardware after spray painting

I decided to leave the top of the desk as it was, as I liked the contrast of color between the blue and brown; however it was pretty chipped along the edge so I had to do something.
I used a dark stain and painted the edge only of the desk, which covered up all the dings and made the color a little deeper and richer making the contrast even greater.

I finished up with a coat of Annie Sloan wax to seal the desk.

I love how the finished desk looks, and love all the deep drawers for storage and the big works space.
You can see my final craft room here. 

Craft Room and Play Room Combination

I have always told my kids that when they got older I would be changing their play room into my craft room; well that day has come!   Though I wasn't a totally mean mom, instead of completely taking over the playroom, I created a craft room/play room combination.

We have a small loft space upstairs that I needed to make work for this combination room, but I also wanted to do so on a small budget.

I went to several local thrift store every week until I found the perfect desk!  This solid wood desk was only $30.  It definitely needed a touch up and I wanted to give it a pop of color. (I will be giving the specific steps of refinishing in a future post).  This desk is solid wood and even has the secret locking drawers.

Desk Before and After

I am a painter, that is definitely the craft I do the most; I purchased these two long storage containers at Home Goods and they are the perfect spot for my paint and brushes.  The little buckets are from the dollar section at Target.
My other great thrift store find was this long storage piece- I believe it may even be a piece that used to go over a bed, I honestly don't know, all I know is it was big and had these great slots. It's price- also $30! This piece I found a Habitats for Humanity Re-Store.

Before and after of my storage piece

I store my scrapbook paper, vinyl, wood to paint and canvases in there.



The corner-shelf I bought on Overstock- I love that it bends around the corner, though it can also be flat too.  I waited until Michaels had a 50% off storage boxes and then went crazy.

The metal bins are from the Target dollar section, though they were $3 each.

These decorative boxes are actually storage, one has kids crafts, one has my cross-stitch supplies and one is full of more wood for me to paint.
I love that everything has a place now and all of my supplies aren't just shoved away in the garage.

The other half is the kids play room.  We did go through and donated a lot of toys and books as we got rid of three more bookshelves of kids books (yes I have an obsession with kids books).

We have had this giant wardrobe for years, it used to be Alex's closet in a former house.  You can use storage bins inside closet spaces like this for nice organized storage.

Now I have to say if my kids were still toddler age, this set up (with my paints all out) would not work, but at the stage I am it is perfect.

I love that I can be working on a craft while my kids are there playing; as my kids are getting older it seems we are often around the house doing our own things, so I love having this location for all of us.
I love my new craft room/ play room combination! It is definitely nice no longer having to go to the garage to get my crafting supplies. I especially love that I was able to create this space on a small budget.