Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Permanent Chalk Board


I came home from Girl's Camp last year to a nice surprise from my hubby.  He had painted/installed a chalk board in our kitchen.  He went out and bought the chalk board paint, measured it out and added a trim.  The trim was left over from when our house was built, so it matched-but I just had to add my own personal touch.  I started by taping off the trim and adding newspaper for any over spray.

I used a nice off-white spray paint I got at a garage sale for 50 cents.  Gotta love garage sales.  I think it took 2-3 light coats.  Once it was nice and dry, I sanded it around the edges to give it a nice worn look.  Then I took some brown Ralph Lauren glaze and dry brushed it on.  Before it dried, I wiped away the glaze with a different dry cloth.
   Now, don't you think it went from drab to fab?
 Before & After
 

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Ruffled Bracelet/Cuff


Here is a fun, cheap and easy way to make a bracelet.  It incorporates all the trends right now-ruffles, yo-yo flowers and fabric.  I even had everything I needed at home-no need to go out and buy anything.  Here are the needed supplies:

Fabric
Ribbon
Thread
Velcro (optional)
Hot Glue Gun

Step One:
*Note-the sizing for these instructions are for a 7" wrist. You may need to adjust to accommodate your wrist.

Cut out a strip of fabric 2" by 16".  You can sew pieces together to get 16".  The seam will be hidden by the ruffles.  Believe it or not, I got my fabric for free from one of those design swatch books.

Step Two:
You can either fold your ruffles and pin, or just eye it like I did.  Sew a straight stitch all the way down the middle  to secure the ruffles.
Step Three:
Measure your sewed bracelet, and 1", and cut your ribbon this length if you are going the velcro route.  If you are going the tied-bow route, you will want to make your ribbon 3 times the length of your sewed bracelet.  Sew this down the middle again.  I used zig zag on some, and a straight stitch on others.  If you are using velcro, use the extra 1/2" on each of the ribbon ends to tuck under  the ends of the bracelet. (sorry, did not get a picture to show what I mean)

Step Four: 
Next you will need to make any kind of flower that is out there.  Or you can add whatever else you want to the middle.  I just hot glued mine right to the ribbon.  If want to use velcro, go ahead and add this, one to each end.  Make sure you add one to the top, and one to the bottom.  I tried just using the stick on, but after taking it on and off and few times, it started coming loose.  So, just sew it on with a few stitches.
I also made a few cuffs.  I did this by sewing the ends together.  Make sure you make it big enough to fit over your hand/wrist, but not too big to fall off.
That's it!  I made 7 of these in about 2 hours.  This included designing and figuring out the measurements.  Here are some more pictures of the finished product!



Another Ruffled Shirt Re-Do

Here is another shirt I turned from plain to ruffled.  I don't love how it turned out, but the shirt was only a couple of bucks and the fabric was clearanced, so not much lost.  I got the idea here.  She used a long sleeve shirt, but I just used fabric.  I think I will try it again.  Always turns out better the 2nd time.

Before
After

Up Close


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

"Sweet" Baby Shower Gift


My neighbor across the street had a baby shower this past weekend.  I have not bought a baby gift for the last 5 years, and I don't plan on starting now.  I found this idea on Cute as a Fox.  I think she bought her blanket and burp clothes, but I wanted to try making my own.  I didn't have a pattern, so I just made one for both of them.  I forgot to take a picture after I had sewed the blanket and burp clothes, so sorry.  The lollipop is made out of the blanket, the cupcakes are made out of the burp clothes and socks and the hard candy is made out of wash clothes.  The baby is a surprise, so I had to stick with neutral colors.  I am so excited how this turned out.  I even threw in some real candy for the mom-to-be!  Oh so sweet ;)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Plain Jane to Shabby-Chic


I found this great skirt at Kohl's on sale this weekend, but I didn't have a shirt I thought did it justice...so I made one!  I bought the plain t-shirt at Kohl's  for $5.  Picked up some clearance fabric at Jo-Ann's (always shop the clearance aisles), snagged a few buttons and lace and turned a plain-jane shirt in this fabulous shabby-chic shirt.  Total cost, including the shirt is $10!  Normally, you can't buy a plain t-shirt for that price!  Sorry, no tutorial this time, but I do have a link to where I got the idea and she put up some very minimal tips here.

Anthro Necklace


Another craft-lifted idea, this time from Tatertots & Jello.  I have been into the whole Nautical thing lately, so I just had to make this necklace to wear with some of my Nautical clothing.  Thanks, Anthro for giving such great ideas.  BTW, theirs cost $42, mine cost $2.50!!!  I got my cording in the clearance aisle of Jo-Ann's and the buttons there, as well.  Who doesn't love a cheap, easy craft that you can wear again and again?
Here is the link to the original and the knock-off

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Cork Board--->Necklace Holder

Here is another recycled project I made last week.  I have been so annoyed lately with how I keep all my necklaces.  Before this board, I would have to look in about 4 different spots for any given necklace.  I  had some hanging on doorknobs, in my jewelry box, in the bathroom, etc!  Now, they are all in one place and easy to see.  I have literally had this cork board since High School!  What used to hold Senior Pictures and ticket stubs, now holds my necklaces.  Here is how I made this:
Supplies:
Cork Board
Fabric/Paper/Contact Paper
Modge Podge
Spray Paint (optional)
Push Pins
I started by spray painting the wood frame an off-white.  No need to tape it off since the cork will later be covered.  I also spray painted my push pins at this time.  This is optional, I just wanted mine to match the fabric.

I then cut my fabric to the size needed to fit over the cork and modge podged it on.
  
And that's about it.  I arranged my necklaces while the board was laying flat and then added my push pins where needed!  It is now hung in my closet, out of the way and untangled!
 
  
 

Don't donate that old Sweater...

Use it to make a pillow or some leg warmers...or both!  Many of you know that Nate got laid off last month.  This obvioulsy hurt my craft fund.  Instead of having to take a craft sabatical, I decided to see how many things I could make with what I had already laying around.  The first was this cool sweater pillow.  I headed down to the basement, searched through my "garage sale" pile and found a few sweaters that would work perfectly.  Here is the one I used for this post:
 
Cut a little here, snipped a little there and came up with this:

 
and this:

 
I also used an old sheet and cut out 2 rectangles the same size as the above pillow pieces  to act as a lining.  I sewed all 4 together, stuffed with batting, and then hand stitched the pillow closed.
For the leg warmers, I sewed on the cuffs to the top (which were cut from the bottom of the sweater), and added a flower I made from tulle.   I made both in one night.  Another fun project, and completely free!

 
  
 

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Valentine's Day Frame

I made this little guy for Nate's sister's birthday.  Saw something similar somewhere and just added my own touch to it (as usual).
I found this frame in the Michael's dollar bin...score!  I painted the edges red to make sure the wood would not show through.  Modged Podged ripped paper.

 
Drying...

 
I wrapped burlap around the cardboard that came with the frame and hot glued it to the back of the frame.  I then hot glued  the scrabble letters and added the fiber and flower.   Cute AND easy!

Modge Podge on shoes?...Why not?


I came across this idea from 2 different craft blogs.  One was a suggestion from Stephanie, and the other I frequent almost daily.  Here is the link for the modge podge shoes and here is the link for the zipper accents.
 
These are the cheap pair I used.  I cut the bow off.


The final product :)