***DIY Camera Case/Bag***

So once again I was faced with the problem with needing something that was a little out of my price range. After purchasing my new Canon camera, I was in need of a camera bag that would hold my camera equipment securely and safely.

My problem was that most good cases were 50-100 dollars, for a nice padded one that holds camera and lens. So I fell back to my question I always ask myself...

"Can I make it myself?

And sure enough with an idea, a visit to Pinterest, I saw others had done it before, I decided to do myself!  Now this looks like ordinary fashionable pink purse. And it was, until I added to it and made it into my own camera bag. 

One diy blogger also wrote about a the benefit of the camera bag looking like a purse. It doesn't scream, "Shiny Expensive Camera" is in it, unlike other camera bags that obviously look like they hold cameras.



1 yard of material of your choice. (What I used was about half to 3/4 yard of material. Get a a yard to play it safe. And make sure its a durable material. Canvas, cotton, etc are great. Something like satin ravels and it hard to sew.)
Velcro
Velcro glue (You can sew on the Velcro, but the glue works fine as well.)
2 packages of foam (1' x 17' x15")
Ruler
scissors
Sewing machine
thread

You can follow measurements for the diy blogs linked below, or mine own. I recommend you figure your own measurements, because each camera is different and each purse holds differently. 
My own measurements were

Long foam sides was 9 inches long by 5-6 inches tall.
Shorter foam sides was 6 inches long by 5-6 inches tall
The bottom was about 8 inches long by 5-6 inches width.

The idea is to fit is snuggly.

My pieces that go in the foam box, I eyeball measured. You want a piece that will encase you camera body and another to circle around the lens.  The rest of the space is for holding charger, extra batteries, etc.

My picture above shows bigger measurements, but later I cut them down to smaller size. But the idea is to cut your foam to size to form this topless box. It will be held together with clothe and Velcro.

With your material, I cut my two long pieces of material that measured about 35 inches long by about 8 inches tall.

I sew one short edge and one long side. Then with each piece of foam I put it in the casing and sewed it along the side to make a pocket.

This part takes time and can be difficult is you are working with larger pieces of foam. With larger pieces of foam it might be better to make each foam pieces it own casing then sewing the cases together to make the padding for the camera bag.

The bottom piece and the as many divider pieces you have each get their own material casing.

  Next part is attaching Velcro. If you are sewing it on, you would do this step before sewing the foam pockets. Here I just used Velcro glue, following the glue instructions to attach the strips. Hook side on the divider thinnest sides and two long loop strips on each side of the lengths of the case. The last is to attach Velcro to each of the short end of the case walls. This way you can disassemble the whole thing if need be.

And this is the finished product looks like. It looks little funny by itself. But put it in your purse its adorable and protects your camera very well as any expensive bag does.

 Hope you enjoyed this DIY. Below are the links to DIY'ers version of this Diy, that I found on Pinterest. You will notice we have theme here with blue and white swirly material.

I owned the purse, but when I purchased it was 8 dollar Target, clearance buy.

But the whole project total was less than 20 bucks for foam, material, Velcro and glue. Including the purse still under 30 dollars!!! A much better price than 50-100 price tag for something that doesn't look cute!!!

Enjoy your day!

Toodles!

Ps. The reason you don't see my new camera in these pictures is because I was using it to take these pictures. :)

http://vanillaandlace.blogspot.com/2011/01/diy-camera-pursebag.html


http://buchorn.com/2011/12/04/project-diy-camera-bag-purse/

Enjoy the small moments.

Sometimes we wonder how in the world we grow up so fast. One day we are building forts from couch cushions the next we are wake up every morning and go to work. Sometimes we get so lost in a daily routine we forget what it was like to be children. Often I have found myself having one of those cranky day, where anything and everything my children do feels like they purposely trying to push my buttons. 

Then it hit me, I was so lost in my day I had forgot to step back and enjoy the moments I have now. My daughter one day was so fascinating with blue ribbon one I decided to make a video of it. It is to remind us to stay calm and enjoy our moments. Let our children enjoy their play time. Let them play and let them wonder.

Enjoy your day!

Toodles

Keep up the great work! Keep going!

How have you been doing on your New Year Resolutions? I hope you have gotten a little farther than the first week. If you are anything like me, you probably gave up on some of your goals by now. However this is not the case for this year! 

Earlier this year I told myself that I really wanted to get back into my art work, painting especially. With children and hubby in school it takes time and work and oil painting is not a little craft that ca whipped out with minutes. I was surprised I was able to get even four painting done so far.

You heard that! Four painting in the 3 weeks of the New Year! In honor of the new Hobbit movies that have been coming out I decided to paint a Hobbit hole. It looks so quaint.

This one reads, "Stand with me in the rain" I love the romantic feel and the cool tones. 

And then my flower paintings. I love doing close-up paintings of flowers. The Poppy flower one is special to me. The rose is not finished yet, but it was just a random rose I decided would look pretty. If you look at my youtube channel or older posts, you will see some of my older work. My older pieces hang around my place, but I thought I need some new pieces to hang up. 

Doesn't it feel great to find yourself succeeding in your goals? Actually getting my paintings out from head and into person always inspires me to paint more, but also just to keep chugging along.  Sometimes we just need a little inspiration to keep going. Sometimes even if we get half way there, like maybe instead of losing 20 pounds, you lost 10. You still did a great job if you stop now, but you will do even better if you keep going.   

I hope you all find the inspiration to keep going!

God Bless

Toodles

I

I DIY'd my own Toddler Bed :)

Well not even a week into the New Year and it has been quite a productive week here at my house. My son, Baby Boy, just turned one. No longer a tini guy, it is about time he starts moving into a bigger bed.  He is not quite old enough to sleep in a toddler yet, but I thought it would be a good idea to get him one now to start introducing it to him.

Let me tell you, it is no easy task finding a toddler bed. My daughter never had one because a friend gave us nearly new twin size bed. I thought maybe I could buy a cheap plain one at Wal-mart for 30 dollars. I am mama on budget so 30 dollars was pretty much my budget for bed my child will probably one use for 2, maybe 3 years. Well Wal-mart had their cheapest for double the price. Gritting my teeth for the moment, an idea popped in my head to buy from Craigslist! Surely there would be an unloved toddler bed that someone wanted out of their space. I could probably get one for even cheaper than 30 dollars. And I was right as well as wrong. Most beds under 30 were either pink or in the other state. If it wasn't those two, these toddler bed were priced at 100 dollars or more. (I don't care if the frame is from Pottery Barn. It is a toddler bed! )

Then my artistic and crafting brain starting turning. A quick visit to Pinterest, measuring, a few design tweaks and I was off to Lowes to purchase all I needed.

Behold my toddler for under 30 dollars. :)  Now all it needs a coat of paint, but for now the sanded edge, clean look will do.

 

It actually not to difficult to assemble and very sturdy. :)

It is kiddie approved and ready to use. Here is the design I followed from Pinterest. I did a few tweaks, but this was the basic idea. This blogger did an awesome job and thank her for instructions. Here's was around 40 dollars to make, but I assume the price can vary depending on how much you have to purchase yourself. Also here is a tip. Just have Lowes or Home Depot cut your wood to the sizes you need. Much easier and time saving than doing it yourself.

Instruction for Toddler Bed.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Stylish-Toddler-Bed-for-Under-40/step1/null/

Enjoy :)