DIY: Numbered Coasters

I had been wanting to make a set of numbered coasters for a while but wanted them to look more vintage than shabby chic.

 

I found these blank wood coasters at Joann for $1 and I used a coupon that was about to expire on them...making them just $.60. Sweet!

 

I found a font I wanted to copy (this one is EcuyerDAX from dafont.com) and I printed the numbers out to create stencils. I traced each number with a sharpie marker and then free handed the boarders and lines.

 



I gave them two coats with a clear satin sealer that resists water and then one more coat of matte Mod Podge so I think they are well protected from our cold drinks;)

 



Now we have a new place for our newly thrifted owl glasses.

 



 

Hope you are having a lovely Tuesday!

DIY: Advent Calendar

I've never been consistent with the yearly Christmas advent calendar. The wooden ones in the store are cute...but I don't want to pack one...or try to find little things to fit in the spaces (it just leads to more little things to find between the couch cushions or to step on in the middle of the night, right?).

 

This year I decided I would do an activity themed calendar, filled with things we can do as a family. 

 

 

Oh, and did you notice I only have 20 cards in my calendar? Well, I decided to do a few less, that way if we miss a day...it's all good. (Plus, I only had 20 clothespins...so win, win.)

 

I made these cards in Photoshop, folded them in half, and wrote down 20 different things we can do as a family. I used an old frame and strung them on yarn taped to the back. Most of our activities cost little to no money.

 

Some examples are:

 

-have a slumber party in the living room

-write letters to family members telling them what we love most about them

-watch a Christmas movie

-pick a child off the Angel Tree at church and shop for them

-have dinner out on the patio

-get hot chocolate at a cafe'

 

I'm really looking forward to our month of family activities and teaching our children that it's not about opening a present every day...but about being together as a family and giving to others.

 

Happy Tuesday!

 





DIY: Fabric Scrap Map

When I saw this map idea...I knew I had to make my own version. I made this map before Jack was born and finally got around to framing it. I used an Ikea frame that I found at Goodwill, and matted it with posterboard.

FABRIC SCRAP MAP

1 large piece of fabric (mine was 20x27)

Scrap fabric

United States template (I found a blank map on Google and blew it up to print it out)

Heat N' Bond

Iron

STEP 1: Print out map and cut out each state.

STEP 2: Iron fabric scraps onto one side of Heat N' Bond per the package instructions.

STEP 3: Trace each state's template onto paper side of Heat N' Bond fabric scraps.

(REMEMBER: When tracing the states, the image will be mirrored once you iron it on...so make sure to trace each state backwards, so that it will face the right way once ironed together)

STEP 4: Iron on each state to your large piece of fabric in order, starting with California first, and working your way east.

OPTIONAL: You can also stitch down the edges of each state. I chose not to since my map was on the smaller size. I also framed it under plastic, so I'm not worried about it falling apart over time.

I'm so excited to have this project done. Within the first 5 minutes of putting it up, my daughter was asking the names of every state (while also telling me what other projects I have made with the same fabric.)

Have a lovely Wednesday!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello


The Southern Institute

Rapunzel Party: Sun Bunting

It's birthday week here in our house! Wa-hoo! My daughter is getting SO excited for her party this weekend...and to be honest...so am I!

If you have seen Disney's Rapunzel (about 500 times like we have!) then you know there is a sun theme in the movie. I saw ideas like this online that were done with paper. When I got to the craft store, felt was cheaper than paper...so felt it was!

SUN BUNTING

1/4 yd PURPLE FELT

5 small sheets GOLD FELT (9x13 size)

1/4" GOLD RIBBON

HOT GLUE GUN

MARKER and PAPER

(NOTE: You can find felt by the yard in the fabric section and felt sheets in the craft section of Joanns)

STEP 1: Cut purple felt into triangle shapes (I made mine more curved at the points).

STEP 2: Print out sun image onto paper to make a template (I Google imaged "Rapunzel sun"). Trace onto gold felt and cut out. I also cut out the centers and trimmed down the circles.

 (I got 4 suns per small sheet of felt.)

STEP 3: Hot glue suns and centers onto purple flags. Also, hot glue a long piece of ribbon to the top edge of each flag to join them. You can make the bunting as long as you want.

I ended up getting 18 flags and 3 rows of bunting out of my materials.

PRICE:

purple felt   $.75

gold felt sheets   $1.25

ribbon   $.20

TOTAL: $2.40

I'm linked to:

Sew Much Ado

Tatertots and Jello

Tissue Paper Flowers with Tulle

Planning for my daughter's birthday party is well under way. First I saw these flowers from The Craftinomicon and loved how simple and delicate they looked. Then once I saw these flowers from Greedy For Colour, I knew I had to combine the two into simple sweet decorations for her party.

STEP 1: I cut out 4" squares of tissue paper (all these colors came in one pack from the dollar store...score!). Then I cut out three pieces of matching tulle that were about 3" square.

STEP 2: I folded all the layers accordion style, making sure the tulle side was facing in at both ends. Then I took a green pipe cleaner and twisted it around the middle of the paper.

STEP 3:  I rounded both edges with scissors and pulled each layer towards the center, starting with the tulle first.

I put the flowers into some vintage vases that I had on display in my living room and that was it! Easy table centerpieces that look ever so lovely;)

I'm linked to:

I Gotta Create!

Tatertots and Jello

Creative Me @ The Southern Institute

Sew Much Ado

Rapunzel "Hair" Party Decorations

This was the first year I wasn't going to do a theme for my daughter's birthday. I was just going to put together a bunch of desserts she loves and have a good old fashioned party.

That was until my (almost) 4 year old set me straight. She asked ever so politely if she could have a Rapunzel party, and when she said, "Please Mama? PLEASE??"...then how could I say no?

So, there will be a theme, and that theme will be Rapunzel. I have to admit...it's one of my favorite Disney movies too and planning a princess party has been pretty fun:)

In lieu of just buying every licensed product at the party store (which is crazy expensive), I wanted to make some fun decorations that were unique. One thing that you think of when you think Rapunzel is long hair...and we will have plenty of that!

I wanted to string a bunch of "hair" all over the house, but I had to think about what materials to use that would be durable and cost effective. At first I braided together yellow crepe paper...but it wasnt the right color...and my daughter ripped it.

Then it hit me...yellow plastic table clothes!

I found this perfect yellow color at Walmart in their party section for $.98, cut it into 12 long strips and then made 4 long braids out of it. I taped together the ends and covered those spots with purple ribbon that I found at Michaels for $1.

To braid each section, I took 3 strips, taped them together with clear tape at one end, taped THAT taped end to the top of a door jam (so the strips could hang down easily), braided them together, and then finally taped the end of the braid with more clear tape.

One tablecloth makes 36 feet of "hair"!

I will be showing you more of the DIYs for the party as the weeks go on:)

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots

Friday Fun Party @ Craftionary

Fabric Summer Wreath

OK...so this isn't really just a summer wreath seeing as how it's been hanging on my door since January. I haven't taken the time to take a final photo of it within the last 5 months. My bad.

I originally found this wreath over at Here's Looking at Me, Kid and I fell in love with everything about it. It had me at stripes and flowers. So, after reading the tutorial here, I decided to make my own version.

Materials:

straw wreath (bound in plastic)

old T-shirt (or fabric of your choice)

hot glue gun

knife (for cutting the wreath)

felt for flowers

I found this T-shirt at my local thrift store for $1 and the wreath also for $2. You can also find these wreathes in all different sizes at the craft store and they are priced reasonably.

I started by cutting the sleeves off my shirt (at the shoulder seam) and then cutting my wreath in one spot so that I could slip the sleeves onto it.

I slipped one sleeve on the wreath in one direction, and the other sleeve in the other direction.

I hot glued them where they met up. I decided that where I had cut the wreath would be where my flowers would end up so I made sure to match up my stripes at the very top (where I would hang it) so that from a distance the seam would not be noticeable. The other seam at the bottom is where my flowers would be...so I didn't worry about that part looking too perfect.

Next, I cut out some flowers out of felt and used regular nails to press them into the wreath. I could have glue them...but I wasn't sure what kind of arrangement I wanted, and using the nails meant I could take them on or off until I got the look I wanted.

Finally, I covered the centers of my larger white flowers with small circles of felt...but I left the nails bare on the red flowers. I liked the industrial look at the time and I may change them out for yellow sewing pins some day. The yellow flowers are small circles of felt that I folded in half once and then once again and glued into clusters.

To hang the wreath, I took an old paperclip and unfolded it a bit so that I could push the two ends into the straw wreath and have a makeshift hook out of it.

So, I am finally sharing this wreath about 5 months after I made it! It's been living on our front door for about a month and it makes me so happy every time I pull into our driveway:)

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Sugar and Dots

No Sew Curtains from a Duvet

This has been one project that I have been putting off for a couple of months. I just haven't been in a sewing mood when it came to a larger project. I'm SO glad I finally got it done though because it made me fall in love with my living room! I have had a love-hate relationship with our decor for quite some time and I am finally figuring out what makes our space feel more like home and more like us.

So, I started with a king size duvet set that I purchased at Goodwill. I also bought the matching pillow shams because I thought it was a queen size (since that's what we have). I washed it and put it on our bed to realize it was a king. So I took a few weeks to decide if I wanted to sew it down to fit...or if I wanted to use it for something else. Long story short, after letting it sit on our bed, the hubs and I decided it was too much design for bedding.

source

Side note: Ironically I fell in love with this pattern about a year ago and had no idea where it came from. I was in an antique store in a nearby city and there was a large piece of fabric with this pattern. I loved it immediately...but the price was ridiculous. So, I searched online and figured out it was an Ikea duvet...that was sold out:( So, here we are, almost a year later and I run into the complete set at my local Goodwill, still in perfect condition (and with the original tags) for $11!! THAT is why I love thrift stores!

OK...let's get focused again:) I decided to take the easy way out and use hem tape for the curtains. My opinion on hem tape? I think its great for smaller projects...but after ironing and ironing on my coffee table (I don't have an ironing board)...I realized I could have sewed it much faster;)

The length of the duvet was the perfect length of curtains (yay!) so I removed both sides of the duvet. I basically ripped out the seams all the way around starting at the bottom where the opening was.

After I had one panel from my duvet, I folded that in half again and cut it into two equal parts to become my two curtain panels.

Finally I ironed in all my edges while following the direction on the hem tape package and I was done!

I absolutely love them! I wish I had a before and after to show you how pathetic they make my last curtains look...but I that's OK. I didn't want to embarrass them (or myself) anyways:)

So, I have the other side of the duvet still and that will become either a new shower curtain...or window curtains for our room as well. I also still have both pillow shams to work with too.

Total price (both panels): $4.00

5 Minute Headbands

I haven't been crafty in a looong time. I finally got a prescription for my nausea and we are best friends!! I'm mad I didn't ask for it sooner. I feel like a "normal" person again. You know...someone who can actually look at food and not want to puke:)

So, when I do craft these days, I like easy crafts. Who doesn't, right? So, when it came time for our 5th (and final) birthday party in April (we celebrate 9 birthdays and anniversaries total)...I wanted something fun, cute, and quick:)

We went to a birthday for a 4 year old who likes headbands ("because all the princesses wear headbands" duh.) so some matching headbands for a cute outfit sounded perfect.

I found this pack of three headbands at Family Dollar for $.60. They were already wrapped in satin and ready to embellish.

I got 1/8 a yard of pretty and lightweight fabric at Joann. The white/polka dot fabric was in the bridal section and the floral fabric was part of a new collection.

I started by cutting 6 circles out of the material. Each was about 3-4" in diameter.

I folded the circle in half:

Then folded 1/3 of the half circle in towards the center:

Then finally folded the other 1/3 of the half circle in towards the center (but facing the backside):

(If you are using something heavier than tulle or mesh, put a dab of hot glue at each fold)

Starting at about the middle top of the headband, I glued my fabric pieces down. The material was kind of like a mesh...so I didn't have to glue at all in the steps above...just gluing to the headband was enough to keep all the layers together.

Next, I layered the next fabric piece about halfway down the previous one and kept going along with that pattern.

(Note: Be careful when hot gluing white, most time the hot glue turns yellow when it dries. Mine didn't show through...but if you are having a problem, use fabric glue)

You could put something fun at the bottom piece like a flower, bow, or gemstone. I liked the simplicity of just the fabric.

I made another headband in pink and they both go perfectly with a cute summer outfit for the birthday girl:)

Price:

headbands: $.60

fabric: $.80

Total: $1.40 for both headbands!

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots