Summertime Business

Has it been a month already?

I've been so busy growing my Etsy Shop that I've managed to neglect my blog. Sorry. 

A lot has happened since I posted last. I've added a ton of new products- including laptop cases, makeup bags, tablet sleeves and more! I'm so incredibly grateful for all the success I've had, and I'm glad to be moving in the right direction to make this sustainable!

I've completed my first bulk order, and I have another one on the books. (Happy Dance)

Thank you so much for all of your support. Look out for a new tutorial soon!

Funemployed

Going into my Senior year of college I was determined to graduate with a job. To me, there was no other option and no way I was going to be "that girl."

My mind overlooked the fact that over 83% of the class of 2014 graduated jobless. It's the nature of the game. 

I don't think of myself as unemployed, I think of myself as funemployed and enjoying what's possibly one of my last summers for the foreseeable future. I decided that in the meantime while I continue to look for a big girl job, I'm putting all of my effort into my Etsy Shop to make all the money I can. 

With that being said, I'm happy to introduce embroidered and monogrammed Boat Totes to my shop (CLICK HERE) in lots of different colors! They're gigantic, feature and outside pocket and full zipper, and can be fully customized!

I've also added additional fabric options to my koozies, which you can check out below! 

I'd like to think that if there's any time in my life to throw myself into a new adventure, it's right now. As my business continues to grow, I can't wait to see where it takes me. 

As always, you can find me at the following: 

Twitter: @_madebymeag

Instagram: @madebymeag

New Products Coming soon!

Edit: The Koozies are officially listed HERE!!!!!!!

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I graduate from college in 9 days (AHHHH WHAT!?) and with that comes a lot of free time I've never had before!

As I haven't nailed down a full-time job yet, I've decided to throw myself full-time into my business, and with that comes some new products! Check out my shop in the coming weeks for lots of new products and re-stocking of my most popular items! With that being said, I'll be introducing Insulated Can/Bottle Koozies as well as custom-build options for shirts/bows instead of just pre-made items. I'm really excited for this next step in my business, and I can't wait to see where it takes me!

I've had a few people ask me for a tutorial on how to make the koozies (sans embroidery, of course), so look out for that very soon! I'll update this post at the top when they are available to purchase in my shop! They will be available with the sea turtle, anchor, monogram only (multiple fonts), Greek Letters, and full names/words as well. I'm also going to offer Big/Little w/ Monogram or Letters packages! 

I love feeling content. 

Recent Projects

I've been doing a few different things in terms of sewing, lately. One of my favorite projects I've done recently is a set of shirts for a Gamma Phi Beta Big/Little Reveal here on campus. I made a shirt for their newest addition, as well as her Big, GBig and GAunt. It was a really fun project where I got to do some improvisation, so I'm really happy with the result!

I know that Delaware is this mysterious state no one seems to know about unless they're familiar with incorporation law or tax-free shopping, but that's the state of Delaware on the shirt if you haven't figured it out. 

I also made a set of monogrammed pocket tees for the same reveal, which are classic and classy. 

Big/Little Week is in full swing for my sorority, with Activation of our new members happening in a week and a half, so I'll be in all-out sewing mode this coming weekend. As I move forward I've been able to refine my products and up my quality, so I can't ask for much more.

There will be many more pictures and items for my next post, and maybe even a tutorial. It's been too long since I wrote one, so I'm thinking a pocket-tee tutorial will be coming your way!

If you haven't already, visit me on Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/madebymeagana) and shoot me a message if you're interested in a custom order. I promise my shop doesn't normally look that empty but everyone bought me out, so that's a good thing!

Twitter: @_madebymeag
Instagram: @madebymeag  

Until next time.

Graduation Cap!

Update: I've seen sooooooooo many different recreations of my graduation cap at other schools! I almost wish I hadn't posted a picture so I could have kept it all for myself, but I'm glad I could serve as some inspiration. In my mind, I always did it first. :)

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Let's just say I'm absolutely obsessed with my graduation cap! University of Delaware's graduation is just 6 weeks away, but I had an entire day of free time so I decided to do some decorating. Needless to say I'm in love. I freehanded it completely from my own imagination.

The process was pretty simple. My cap was really wrinkly on top and it almost seemed like there was too much fabric for it to lay flat. I went underneath my cap and hot glued the fabric a little tighter so I had a smooth surface! Everything else was just done by some hand drawing with a white colored pencil, acrylic paints and a steady hand! It takes a lot of layers of acrylic paint to show up vibrantly on the cap, so make sure you take that into consideration!

I can't believe graduation is so soon. Gahhhhhh.

Back in Business!

Before you know it, you're 22 years old and still trying to figure out what to do with your life.

Lots has gone on since I posted last, school got really difficult, I turned 22, and I had a table selling products at my sorority's clothing sale yesterday! I'm so thankful for all the support I've received with the products I've made- yesterday was a fabulous success.

Also an update on my Etsy Shop... Seriously people are amazing. I've gotten some really great feedback and I'm almost completely sold out of all the items I posted originally! (This makes my heart happy) I've since added some more products left over from my sale yesterday.

In an entirely unrelated food-note, I made the most delicious baked breaded cauliflower yesterday and I'm still dreaming about it. Maybe I'll post a recipe soon!

As always, the link to my shop is http://www.etsy.com/shop/madebymeagana. If you're ever interested in a custom order, I can be contacted via Etsy! 

Until next time... 

Sometimes I Cook- DIY Chipotle-Inspired Burrito Bowl

It's my personal belief that Chipotle is God's greatest gift to mankind.

That may be putting it a little seriously but honestly, it's my favorite food. There's almost nothing better than getting a burrito bowl after a long day. The food is filling, healthy (relatively) and I don't feel like I need to go to the gym for hours after I eat it.

With all that being said, I don't like to spend a lot of money and after seeing many a pinterest tutorial on Chipotle copycats, I thought I'd try it myself. The issue I really find with a lot of the Pinterest tutorials is that I don't have all of the necessary ingredients, or I have a variant of something. Because of that, I altered all of the recipes I found to fit my college-sized pantry. I winged it, I'm not ashamed to admit that, but I'll try to give as best of a description as I can! I also made everything in much larger quantities so I would have left overs for later in the week.

A couple of things before I start. First: Somewhere in the reaches of the internet I found an article about how you can successfully freeze cilantro. Well I'm here to tell you that's just not true and if I were to change one thing about this whole process, I would use fresh cilantro, not cilantro that was fresh which I later froze. It turned to the consistency of cooked spinach (which I hate) and I had a lot of trouble cutting it. Second: This won't taste exactly like Chipotle. Nothing will. I think they put magic in their food. Also I used pre-cooked steak and leftover fajita veggies so that could be part of it. Third: Generally, I would have chosen chicken and cooked it myself but I had steak pre-cooked so I threw it in there. 

Also, do NOT under any circumstances touch your eyes after handling the jalapeños and wash your hands even when you think you're good. Because you will touch your eyes, and they will burn. I'm speaking from my experience just one hour ago.

For fully-pinterestable images of the components, check out the BOTTOM of this post! 

How I usually like my Burrito Bowl: Brown Rice, Chicken, Fajita Vegetables, Mild Salsa, Corn Salsa, Cheese. No, I don't like beans so I can't really help you with that, but I'm sure there are TONS of copycat recipes out there to mimic the black or pinto beans!  

Brown "Cilantro-Lime" Rice: (~3 servings)

• 1 cup brown rice (I used Uncle Bens Instant rice, and I'm SURE there are better ways) 
• 3 tablespoons lime juice 
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 
• salt
• pepper

Cook Rice according to package. After cooking, stir in chopped cilantro and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Mild Salsa (Pico de Gallo) (~3 servings) 

• 2 Medium sized tomatos, chopped
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 medium jalapeño pepper, de-seeded and chopped FINELY
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro 
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• salt 

Dice tomatos, onions and jalapeños. Chop cilantro and stir with diced ingredients. Top with lime juice. Season to taste

Corn Salsa (~4 servings) 

• 1 package sweet white corn, frozen (You can use fresh or off the cob, this is just what I had) 
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped (If you want to be authentic, use a red onion, I just, again, didn't have one) 
• 1 medium jalapeño, chopped 
• 2 tablespoons lime juice 
• 1 clove garlic (I used minced) 
• salt 
• pepper

Cook corn according to direction, stir in diced onions, jalapeños and garlic. Top with lime juice and season to taste. 

Snow Days Sew Days

I swear it's never going to stop snowing. Ever.

When I decided to attend the University of Delaware I was told that it never snowed and I would never have a snow day. A few months ago I probably would have told you the same story. This week (our first week of classes) we got a snowstorm resulting in 14+ inches of snow and more coming down now. We had a full snow day on Thursday and a delay on Friday which resulted in no class for me (Woohoo!).

Being that we had a day off on Thursday, I decided to spend the entire day sewing and stocking up on products for a Clothing Sale that I'll be selling at in March. Since it's the beginning of the semester I'm not totally bogged down with work yet so this was the perfect opportunity to devote an entire day to sewing without messing with my school work or schedule.  I also did some sewing today and I wanted to share this week's projects!

Feeling Patriotic? 

Bows on Bows on Bows on Bows

Monogrammed Top-Knot Headband

Patterned Lanyards

As always, I'm really pleased with how everything turned out. I'll be stocking up on more lanyards and key fobs before the big sale!

Here's hoping we don't get another snowstorm. I don't like living in a climate where the air hurts my face. It's too much.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@_madebymeag) and Instagram (@madebymeag) & look me up on Etsy (www.etsy.com/shop/madebymeagana)! 

Updates and Projects

I moved back into school over the past week for my last semester at the University of Delaware, so I haven't really had time to make many things. I've sold a few things on Etsy, so that makes me super excited!

I've filled a few orders that were a little different than things I've done in the past so I figured I would share!

Baby stuff really is the cutest. 

Over the Collar dog bandanas! 

Hopefully I'll have some time to get back to crafting soon. They say that syllabus week is slow but honestly, I disagree.

Until next time...

Today's Project- DIY Greek Lettered Shirt

I'm not going to lie, I live in my letters. And since I only have a few months left as an active member, I think I'm going to wear them even more often. The issue is that they are just incredibly expensive to buy. When I first joined my sorority 3 years ago, I thought I was extremely lucky to have a greek store on campus. What I didn't realize at the time was that letters are not cheap, and it was time to say goodbye to my money.

There had to be a better way. 

I recently bought a shirt from Target ($6) that I did an appliqué monogram on that I LOVE. I love it so much that I went back this weekend and bought another one. It's actually from the men's section so I bought my normal size in unisex clothing and it's the perfect baggy long sleeve shirt. It's going to be great with jeans or leggings, casual or light working out.

I decided to make my own lettered shirt today with materials that I had, including two different fabrics and fusible interfacing (approximately $1 worth of materials). I couldn't quite find exactly what I wanted in terms of font online so I just kind of made on up myself.

For a grand total of about $7 and an hour of my time, I'm now the proud owner of a new lettered shirt!

I'm in love with how they turned out. My process was relatively simple:

Specs: Letters measure approximately 8" X 3.5" spaced 1/4" apart 

1. Cut out desired inner letters. You can easily find block letters online and simply print them out to use as a pattern. I freehanded because I like to live on the edge.

2. Place inner pattern on backing fabric. Using a roll of Heat 'n Bond, I fused the inner fabric onto a rectangle of the mint green fabric. Ultimately, you could skip this step and simply pin. 

3. Fuse interfacing to wrong side of backing fabric. The trick with lettered shirts is that the letters are sturdy as to not wrinkle when washed. Do not skip this step. 

4. Sew the inner fabric to the backing fabric. If necessary, run a thin amount of Fray glue along the edges so the fabric doesn't fray when sewn. I recommend a standard zig zag stitch to attach. 

5. Cut out letter shape from backing fabric. Again, because I have no patience, I simply cut an outline around the inner pattern in an approximately even fashion. If you want to be extra precise I would recommend drawing on the fabric for perfectly straight lines. 

6. Fuse the letters to the shirt. With strips of Heat n' Bond, attach the letters to the shirt. Before you do the fusing, be sure to try the shirt on with the letters pinned so you have accurate placement. I recommend the letters come up to about 4 inches from the top of the neckline. If you don't want to fuse, pinning is always an option. 

7. Sew the letters to the shirt. Pretty self explanatory. You can also run some fray glue along the edges beforehand for that extra crispness. 

Like I said, I'm incredibly happy with the result! If you're a part of Greek Life and are interested in various greek products, please visit my Etsy Shop (in the top bar!) and we can talk custom orders. I'm currently offering Pocket Tees (embroidered and non-embroidered), hair bows, and key fobs!

Until next time, my fellow crafters.

My Etsy Shop

It's here. I'm freaking out.

What do I do with my hands?

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MadebyMeaganA

Right now my shop is just stocked with Gamma Sigma Sigma merch, but I can take custom orders through messaging! I can't believe my shop is finally open and I'm so excited to see where it leads me.

After spending all day yesterday fighting with my pop up soft box, I finally got some pretty ballin pictures taken and I JUST published my shop.

Can you tell I'm excited? 

Key Fob Tutorial

Update: My tutorial is currently featured on the University of Delaware's UD.I.Y. Pinterest Board! Pretty sweet, huh?

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It's my first tutorial (squeal)!

I've recently discovered (thanks to a family friend) one of the most simple but adorable sewing projects! Key Fobs are stupid easy to make- even for a beginner sewer- and I can't believe I hadn't thought of the project myself! The key fobs are durable and useful, and can be used to hold your house and car keys, and even as a replacement strap for a clutch! This tutorial can be modified using different size materials to make full size lanyards or even smaller key fobs.

What I used:

• 1 inch cotton webbing (*** For this particular one, I used a lighter weight non-cotton strapping, but I've recently switched over to the heavier cotton)
• Fabric of Choice (at least 12 inches long) 
• 3/4 inch Bias Tape maker
• Heat n' Bond Strip
• 1 inch metal D-ring 
• 1 inch split rings 
• Sewing Machine
• Iron 

Total Time: 10-15 minutes 

I started by cutting my materials to size. I like to make my key fobs big enough so they fit comfortably around my wrist, so with a seam allowance I cut my strapping to 12". Because the fabric needs to be pulled through the bias tape maker, the specs on that are 12" by a little less than 1 1/2". For the fabric, it really depends on the texture, some of the heavier fabrics need to be a little smaller to run through the bias, so you should play with it until it's perfect for you. (I know that's a little general but it's what worked for me! I've learned that sewing isn't really an exact science sometimes.)

While running the fabric through the bias tape maker, be sure to iron it as it comes out so you get the consistent shape. After running it through, I used a small strip of heat n' bond (cut in half) and fused it to the fabric for some added stability and strength! After that, take the paper backing off the heat n' bond and flip it so that the fabric strip and strapping are layered. Depending on wether you're using cotton webbing or something more synthetic, it's important to lay a towel or piece of fabric over the fabric and strapping before you iron to fuse the two materials. This will help prevent any melting on synthetic strapping! 

 Fusing the two materials together makes it a lot easier to sew them together and will help prevent any slippage that might occur. It keeps the materials nice and flat and makes it so that pins are unnecessary! I like having a pin-free fabric, I think it looks cleaner. For this step all you need to do is sew up and down each side to make a permanent connection between the two materials. The next step is super-mega important! Be sure to slide the D-ring onto the material BEFORE you sew it into the key fob shape! If you forget to do this you won't have anything to attach keys too and that would just be not fun at all. When sewing, be sure to put the two good sides together and sew so that you can see only the strapping. Because this material tends to fray, it's important to go over the seam a few times when folding over.

All that's left to do is turn your fob right side out, and sew another seam on the outside next to the D-ring (sorry I didn't take a picture of this step, but you can clearly see the outside seam on the finished product.) This seam will help keep the D-ring in place. After that, just attach the split ring to the D-ring and viola, you have your very own key fob!

This is a super simple project that almost anyone can do! I'm so happy with how the key fobs are turning out and I just had to share how easy it was. All in all making one takes between 10 and 15 minutes! I also have an embroidery machine so I like to embroider on the fabric before running it through the bias tape maker. That adds about another 10 minutes to the total time, but I think the personalized ones are super fun and make great gifts! 

Hopefully this tutorial was easy and straightforward! I can't wait to start sharing more of my projects as I expand this blog! I have plans to open up an Etsy store in the near future so look out world, I'm coming for you!

XO Meagan 

Perfect for Pinterest: 

The Start of Something New

(Sorry for starting this off with a High School Musical song lyric, except not really, no shame)

I am SO excited to finally have created a platform JUST for my crafting experiments! I'll be funneling my crafting posts here from my other blog (meaganwalsh.blogspot.com). I can't wait to start sharing my sewing and crafting projects with everyone! I'll be posting tutorials to some of my easier projects as well as step-by-steps for some Pinterest experiments!

If you haven't seen the latest post on my blog, it's about the Kindle Paperwhite case (below) I made for my good friend Julie! Feel free to check it out and look for more very soon!