Quatrefoil Pillow

This is the quatrefoil pillow I made like my zebra print pillow.

This pattern was a little more difficult (OK a whole lot more!) than the zebra because it had to be symmetrical.

What I did was found a quatrefoil pattern on Google, saved it to my computer, and blew it up on my computer screen.

Then I ironed my heat and bond to my white material (it was a left over flat sheet from my homemade bed skirt) and then held up my material/heat and bond to the computer screen and traced the pattern on the paper side of the heat and bond with a marker.

Then I cut it all out and ironed it on to my black material. I didn't go back and stitch over the pattern. It would have been way too intricate and since this pillow is staying on our bed...I know it will be safe from The Princess:)

Sorry there were no process pictures of this...it took about 5 hours after an attempt to paint on the design. Finally at 2am we had a pillow for our bed! I have to say I really do love it...so it was worth it...right?

Price:

black material: $.90

white material: recycled flat sheet

heat n bond: $.50

stuffing: an old pillow (seriously never throw those away!)

Total: $1.40

Our room is coming together (slowly) so I will have pictures up soon!

Appliqued Zebra Print Pillow

I wanted to make a fun pillow for our couch, but something neutral...so I asked the hubs if zebra print would be OK and he said that was fine, and that he actually likes zebra print.

OK...there are two things that my husband should never say to me:

1. "Calm down" Anyone else hate that one?

2. "I like zebra print"

The second one is most dangerous because I have had an obsession with zebra print since my teen years. For example, this is my actual dresser:

Oh yeah...for real. It's painted zebra on the top and all four sides. I painted it when I was 15 and my parents were not too happy to discover the project halfway through. Luckily they have always been understanding about my need to paint anything white. They drew the line at my white car though...

When we moved, the movers kept trying to put it in my daughter's room...but I kept pointing to the other room (ours)...finally the guy just stopped in the hallway and looked at me until I said, "It's mine".

Luckily for my hubby, I keep it in our closet:)

ANYWAY (see how easy it is for me to get off track?!) I was more than thrilled when I got the green light on a zebra pillow for our couch.

Materials:

fabric for pillow (I used 1/3 yard)

fabric for stripes (also 1/3 yard)

Heat N Bond (I used the lightweight version)

iron

thread to sew on stripes

1. Cut out the pieces for the front and back of your pillow. And yes that is my unmade bed:)

2. Cut out a piece of your stripe fabric the same size as your pillow panel. Iron the Heat N Bond on the wrong side.

3. Draw out your stripes. You can reference a picture if you like:) Remember that your image will be reversed when you iron it on..so in this case it didn't matter...but if you are spelling something or want it to go a certain direction...then draw it on in reverse or mirrored.

4. Cut out your strips. I found it easiest to place them on my pillow panel as I was cutting them out. Peel off the back of the Heat N Bond and arrange them on your panel piece.

5. Iron the stripes on your pillow panel per the Heat N Bond directions. Yes that is my actual iron. Jealous?

6. Now sew along the edges of your stripes. I sewed as close to the edge as I could. This is great if you are not perfect at appliques because the stripes are wavy:)

7. Place your pillow panels together with right sides facing. Pin together and sew around the edges, leaving an opening at the bottom to turn it right side out and to stuff it. Also clip your corners (not through your stitching).

8. Flip right side out, press your seams, stuff, and sew the opening at the bottom closed. Sorry no pics of this...it was midnight:)

And you're done! This one is going on the couch...but it also looks nice on our bed:)

Price:

pillow fabric: $.65

black fabric: $.60

1/2 package of Heat N Bond: $.50

Total: $1.75

I also made a quatrefoil one for our bed that I will show off later:)

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Saving Money and Living Life

Hang Pictures with Aluminum Foil

Well, yesterday I showed how I matted my picture frames with posterboard and today I will show you how to hang them with aluminum foil:)

This technique can also be used with tissue paper or any other lightweight, easy to tear paper.

First, here is what my picture frames looked like before. I got them at various thrift stores ranging from $.50 to $1.00.

I originally wanted them all white or ivory...but with them all being different textures I wasn't sure if they would look streamlined in such a light color. I knew black would make them look more uniform and hide any imperfections in each frame.

I was really dreading spray painting them. I don't consider myself to be weak...but my fingers have never had enough strength for spray painting. It would always turn out uneven. But my need to conquer something overcame my fear of spray paint.

Plus I found this amazing color that Krylon sells. It's called Oil Brushed Bronze and it has the exact same finish as the brown/black furniture at Ikea (which we have a lot of)...so I was beyond thrilled to find it!

Then, my husband showed me this:

Have you seen one of these gun attachments for spray paint? It was $2.47 and it changed my life! I was able to spray paint each frame effortlessly and evenly. Now I want to spray paint everything!

So...getting back to the subject of this post...you want to start by arranging your frames on the ground and then taking a picture for reference.

Materials:

aluminum foil

black marker

scotch tape

1. Roll out your foil and place your frame on top. Just pull up on the foil to get an even tear all the way around your frame.

2. Looking at your picture of your arrangement, fold your foil pieces in half whichever way they will hang (vertical or horizontal). This will give you a center point of where to put your nail.

3. Flip the frame over and place the foil on top. Press down the foil to find the hook on the back (or where you will hang it from) and mark it with a dot.

So you are marking your dot on the vertical fold line and the horizontal point where you want the frame to hang.

4. Arrange your pieces of foil on the wall, using your photo as a guide. I used a small piece of scotch tape on the back of each one.

5. Now you can hammer in a nail at each dot on the foil pieces.

6. Start to hang your frames. I left the foil on to show you just how accurate it was!

7. Once you are happy with the placement, simply rip the foil off the wall (your nail should stay in tact).

At first I thought this technique may not be worth the extra work...but I was wrong! This was the easiest way to hang pictures and I liked how the foil was pliable and already in my kitchen pantry:)

Here is my wall all complete (well...without my photos):

I don't think I could love it any more than I already do! Now I just need to fill in the frames.

Price:

13 frames: $12.50

spray paint: $2.67

posterboard mattes: $.50

Total: $15.67

Posterboard Picture Frame Mattings

I have recently started a photo frame collage for our living room. I already had a small one...but some of them got ruined when I tried to spray paint them white...

So I bought a few new (to me) frames and wanted them to all have the same color mattes. Some of the frames were weird sizes that I knew I wouldn't find in stores...so I decided to make my own.

Originally I was going to use cardstock...but it wasn't on sale at the craft store and I wanted something a little thicker. That is where the posterboard comes in:) It is thicker and comes in a ton of colors! Plus the dollar store sells the standard colors for 50 cents. I just chose white since I want my pictures to be the main focus in my collage.

Materials:

posterboard

pen/pencil

ruler

scissors (I used a slicer that I got in the scrapbook section at the craft store)

1. Take the glass out of the frames and arrange them on the posterboard. If your frame doesn't have glass, then you can trace the back piece it comes with, or just measure the opening in the back.

2. Trace them with a pen or pencil.

3. Cut them out. I just used scissors for the outsides since they won't be seen in the frames.

4. Cut out the center pieces for your picture size. For some standard sizes I just traced an old matte I already had. For my special sized frames, I just measured and drew in the centers myself.

5. Cut out the centers with scissors (if you have a steady hand), or a handy paper cutter works great for clean lines and corners.

For now I like all the mattes being white...but I might change my mind later:) This would be great to do with scrabooking paper too:)

That was the easy part...now I need to arrange them, hang them, and fill them! I just threw them all on the floor to take this picture...but I actually kind of like the layout:)

Total price $.50

Boutique Style Flower Clip

I'm sure you have seen these flower clips in all the boutiques ranging anywhere from $4.99 to even more! Personally $4.99 is way too expensive in my opinion...and now that the Little Miss has longer hair...it was time to make some of my own.

Materials:

silk flowers of your choice (I found these gerber daisies at the dollar store)

craft gem for the middle (Mine are by Favorite Findings in the button isle at Joann)

hot glue gun

alligator clip

ribbon to cover clip

1. Remove the flower from the stem, the back plastic part and the center plastic part.

2. Dab glue between layers of flower. I didn't take mine apart completely, because I didn't want it to loose its original shape...so I just stuck the glue gun in between different layers while holding it together in the center.

3. Glue your gem in the center.

Now on to the clip:

1. Place a line of hot glue on your ribbon and stick it to the underside of the top part of the clip as shown:

2. Put line of glue on the top of the clip and press ribbon over the top:

3. Dab glue on the insides of the end pieces (NOT on the spring) and press ribbon into the crease:

4. Dab glue onto bottom part of clip and press ribbon onto bottom and clip off any extra.

You could wrap the bottom part of the clip...but I find they hold in hair better if the bottom is left exposed.

Now glue the clip the back of your flower!

Now you have your very own boutique style flower clip for less than $1 each! I got 7 flowers on my bouquet from the dollar store and 5 gems...so I have 4 extra finished flower clips that are off to be sold. Since I have two extra flowers...I may have to experiment with fabric button centers instead of gemstones:)

Price (for all supplies):

7 flowers: $.99

gems: $1.40 (used 40% off coupon! Woo-hoo!)

clips: $.50

ribbon: $.10

Total: $2.99 to make 5 flower clips!

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Alphabet Wall Art

My 2 year old loves all things alphabet. She loves to sing the alphabet, recite all the letters and their sounds...and her new favorite game is to find out which letters start different words. So when I thought about what new things we could put in her room now that her personality is developing beyond her current "nursery" decor...I knew the alphabet had to be included somehow!

Here is how you can create your own Alphabet Wall Art

materials:

chipboard alphabet

picture frame

fabric or decorative paper

hot glue gun

1. Cut your fabric or paper the size of your frame...in my case it was 8x10. If using fabric, you want it a little longer all the way around so you can wrap it to the backside and glue or tape in place.

2. Arrange your letters however you like and glue them in place.

That's it! You can place the glass in the frame if you like...but I chose not to. Also, just to give it more personality and color...I painted my daughter's initial a different color. As soon as I showed it to her she said, "Oh wow! All the letters!"...so I think she likes it:)

I may still paint the frame another color...and I want to add something to the bottom corner by the "z"...maybe a silk flower to pop off the frame? I think it will look so cute on a shelf in her room. Now I just need to hand the shelves that we have had for over 2 years...

The possibilities are endless with this project. The craft store also sells so many different styles of alphas in so many different colors! I chose just a plain white glitter to keep it clean and simple.

Price:

chipboard alphabet: $.99

fabric: $.25

frame: already had it

Total: $1.24

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Cloth Placemat Pillow

I found this butterfly placemat at TJ Maxx today in the clearance section. They had so many beautiful colors...it was hard to choose...but we went with a household favorite...pink!

Here is how you can make your own placemat pillow:

Materials:

cloth placemat (make sure it has two separate sides so that you can open up the seam and stuff it)

needle and thread

pillow stuffing

seam ripper

Here is my placemat before. Iron it if needed.

1. Rip out the existing seam on the bottom (or what will be the bottom) of your placemat. I opened it just large enough for my hand to fit in for stuffing it later.

2. Stuff your placemat. I used an old pillow that I was going to get rid of.

3. Fold in the seams and sew closed.

I kneaded the pillow a little afterwards (almost like dough) to get all the stuffing even and to get rid of any lumps.

And that's it!

My daughter was so excited when I handed it to her. She carried at around all afternoon saying, "Oh...pretty buttersly!"...so I guess it is approved:) She even had to show my husband before bedtime. I think it made going to bed a little easier for her...so it was well worth it!

Total Price: $2.00 for the placemat.

Mod Podge Soap Dispenser

This is one of those times that my camera forgot to save every picture of this step-by-step process...except the last one:) I am grateful I have at least one picture to share! Luckily this was so easy that I can describe it...I think:)

Materials:

clear spray paint

Mod Podge (I used the gloss finish)

foam brush

paint (I used acrylic)

decorative paper (enough to cover surface area of dispenser)

old soap dispenser that needs some love:)

1. Start by taking the pump off the top (you could rinse out all your soap and wait for it to dry...but I didn't want to waste time...or soap...so I just put a little piece of paper over the top and left the soap in there.)

2. Paint your soap dispenser with the foam brush. I did a few coats.

3. Spray with clear spray paint.

4. Cut out your paper in the size that you want it to be for the dispenser. Apply Mod Podge to surface of dispenser and back of your paper. Roll your paper around the dispenser and press out the air bubbles by work from the center of the paper out to the edges.

5. Let dry and seal whole surface of dispenser with more Mod Podge. I did three coats....letting each one fully dry in between.

6. Now spray whole surface with clear spray paint again to make it water resistant. I gave it two good coats.

7. Place the pump back in and pat yourself on the back for recycling something!

I hope that all made sense even without pictures:) Let me know if you make one! My dispenser used to be brown with an old looking map design on it...now I love it! I am going to have to try this again...maybe with fabric?

I had everything on hand except the paper...so this whole project just cost me $.20!

Fabric Shower Curtain Hooks

Recently I have been updating our guest bathroom. The shower curtain hooks were two shades of brown...so I painted them white...but still wasn't satisfied. So I went through my fabric scraps and found this material that I had previously used on a lamp shade redo. I ended up taking it off the lamp shade because I thought it was a little too busy...but it looked perfect over my shower hooks!

Materials:

shower curtain hooks

scrap of fabric enough to cover all hooks.

hot glue gun

scissors

1. Cut out your fabric with about 3/4" extra all the way around.

2. Dab some glue in the center of your ring piece and place on the wrong side of your fabric.

3. Start to glue and wrap the edges of the hook all the way around.

Here is a finished one:

I thought I wanted every hook to look exactly the same...but I had more fun playing around with the different directions of the fabric.

They still are a little too neutral for me...so maybe I will go back and paint in the centers with a brighter color:)

These are for my guest bathroom that almost never gets used...so I have no idea how they would hold up in a super steamy bathroom. I have hot glued paper onto the hooks in our other bathroom that gets used regularly...and they are fine.

Price:

hooks: $0...I already had them

material: $1.50

Total: $1.50

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