DIY: Painted Herringbone Memo Board

I found this cork board on a walk with my mom one day. It was out in front of a neighbor's house in their pile of things to be picked up by the city for removal. I am always amazed at the perfectly useful items that people put out for "trash". 

So, obviously I picked it up and carried it another block back to my car.

I had the idea of a painted memo board in my head for some time. I taped off the frame of this one and spray painted it black. Then, once I decided on a herringbone pattern, I drew it out with a black marker.

I started with vertical lines:

    Next, I used a ruler to make alternating diagonal lines. A herringbone pattern is similar to a chevron pattern. The only difference is alternating the colors between the lines. I colored in the lines that needed to be painted so that I wouldn't loose track while painting.

I used regular acrylic paint to paint in all the lines. I redecorated my daughter's art nook and it makes for a fun and new way to hang her artwork:

She's in a rainbow and heart phase...if you can't tell;)

 I also wanted to incorporate my latest vintage find. This basket makes for the perfect place to keep her coloring books and crayons both organized, and away from her little brother;)

I originally created this board to hang horizontal, but found that it fit the space better if hung vertically. Oh well, it was a fun and free project and I love the way it turned out...no matter which direction:)

DIY: Replace the Glass in an Old Clock

Our old living room clock had an accident and fell off the wall. The glass shattered everywhere and left us with either replacing the glass or the clock as a whole.

 

After going to the home improvement store (and them having NOTHING in the entire warehouse to help me) and being referred to a glass specialist (do you know it's hard to cut glass in a circle?)...I ended up at Walmart.

 

Yup, Walmart.

 

For once, that store actually had something I needed!

 

I bought this cheap $6 frame with thin plastic (instead of glass) and decided to take a chance on cutting it to fit in the clock.

 

 

I took the face out of the clock and traced it onto the plastic:

 

 I cut out the circle and it splintered just a bit:

 

 

 I put the plastic back into the frame, sealed up the clock and it is good as new!

 



 

It looks exactly the same and is a lot lighter now too.

 

Happy Wednesday!

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: Painted Pumpkins

 

Can I make a confession?

 

I am not a seasonal decorator.

 

I know...decorating and crafting for the seasons is like blogger content gold, right? But, it's just not me. It has something to do with living in smaller quarters and not wanting to store it and not wanting to clean it and not wanting to clutter the home.

 

I know, sometimes it's difficult to live in my head.

 

But I am trying my best this year to add a few more seasonal items to our home without feeling like I live in Hobby Lobby. Plus, I already have an obsessive amount a few owl decor pieces in my house...so that passes for fall decorations, right?

 

I picked up three pumpkins from the dollar store and repainted them so they fit into our vintage/modern decor.

 

STEP 1: I painted all the pumpkins with ivory paint.

 

STEP 2: (for the chevron pumpkin) I drew a chevron design on the painted pumpkin with a pencil and then painted in the lines with a deep orange acrylic paint.

 

STEP 3: (for the polka dot pumpkin) I dipped the end of a pencil eraser in black acrylic paint and stamped it on the pumpkin creating a polka dot pattern.

 

STEP 4: (the yellow pumpkin) I painted the whole pumpkin with two coats of mustard yellow acrylic paint.

 

STEP 5: I painted all the "stems" brown and then sealed each pumpkin with two coats of clear glossy spray paint.

 

This was a a fun project and it helped ease me into seasonal decorating...which I hope to get better at, and enjoy too!

I'm linked to:
Tatertots and Jello

DIY: Potholder Hook

 

This craft was actually a failure as far as what I intended it to be (a mug rack), but it ended up serving a better purpose (a potholder rack).

 

You see, I kind of have an obsession with vintage mugs. I wanted to make a mug rack, but after I assembled this, I realized that most of the handles on my mugs wouldn't fit over the hooks.

 

Bummer.

 

But, then I spotted my potholders and realized it would be perfect for those. Plus, the rack can hold one of my smaller mugs (and my favorite!) so I have a quick cup to grab for cooking on the stove.

 

STEP 1: I took an old piece of wood from the garage and sanded down the edges.

 

STEP 2: I nailed in some picture hooks onto the back of the board and then used some silver hooks onto the front that I had leftover from my necklace holder.

I love the simplicity of it and that it was made with stuff I already had.

 



Have a lovely weekend!

DIY: Stenciled Mickey Shirt Using Bleach

I made my husband a Jack Skellington shirt last time we went to Disneyland so this year I decided to go classic and make him a Mickey shirt.

 

I have been seeing stenciled shirts using bleach all over blog land and decided to give it a try myself.

Materials:

 

t-shirt

 

spray bottle

 

bleach

 

freezer paper

 

iron

 

cardboard

 

STEP 1: Cut out a stencil of what you want your design to be out of freezer paper. Iron the shiny side down onto your surface.



STEP 2: Place cardboard in the middle of your shirt so the bleach doesn't soak into the back.

Mix a solution of 60% bleach and 40% water in a spray bottle (use more bleach depending on the color of your shirt. This shirt was dark...so I knew not much bleach would be needed.)

 

STEP 3: Spray bleach solution evenly over stencil and wherever else on the shirt you want. I sprayed evenly over the front to make it look more even. Depending on the color of you fabric...you will see the change in a few minutes.

 

STEP 4: Peel off the freezer paper after a few minutes so that it doesn't get soggy.

STEP 5: Once you are done applying bleach, soak the shirt in water for about 30 minutes to an hour. Then wring out thoroughly and wash in the washing machine to ensure all the bleach is out. I washed it with some of my cleaning towels just so I didn't waste a whole load on one item;)

 

I think it was quite an upgrade for the $.50 shirt I found at Joann!

DIY: Custom iPhone Case

Naturally, while my husband was playing with his new iPhone and downloading lots of apps...I was trying to find a cute case for mine.

Fail.

Don't get me wrong, there are many cute cases out there...just nothing in my price range. $40 for a case, Apple Store? No thanks...there is much more fun to be had at Goodwill with that money!

Plus, there is the whole issue where I change my mind about every other day.

But that's another issue for another day.

I ordered myself a clear iPhone case off eBay for $6 (including shipping and it also came with screen protectors) and decided to make my own insert for the clear case.

STEP 1: Start with a clear case for your phone and paper of your choice (I chose some vintage wrapping paper). Also, grab a pen and some scissors.

STEP 2: Trace the back of the case onto your paper and cut out...you now have an insert for your phone case.

STEP 3: Snap the phone case onto the phone and enjoy your new case cover for just pennies!

I love being able to customize this whenever I want. Holidays, different seasons, and you know I'm going to be rockin' a Little Mermaid one on our next trip to Disneyland!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Snow White Dress

My daughter's favorite princess these days is Snow White. I finally got this dress done for her and now the only problem I have is getting her to take it off!

I don't have a real tutorial for this but I thought I would still share how I made it.

I started with an existing Snow White dress that my mom found at Goodwill. It was in sad shape and one size too big for my daughter. I also found this red satin blouse for $1 at Goodwill because I knew I could use it to construct new sleeves, a cape, and a matching headband.

 For the cape, I cut out the back piece of the red blouse and hemmed the edges. For the collar, I cut out a collar shape from white satin and ironed on some craft fuse to the back to make it really stiff and stand up. I sewed the cape onto the collar and then the collar onto the sides of the shoulders of the dress.

I did not attach the collar all the way around the back of the dress because I wanted my daughter to be able to get into it easily. So, under the cape is the opening the back of the dress for her to get in and out.

For the sleeves I took some blue satin I already had and some red shirt material and used this tutorial from Craftiness Is Not Optional. Instead of putting a band around the bottom, I hemmed the raw edge under and then sewed elastic onto the edge (pulling it tight as I went so that it would pucker).

The tulle on the dress was ripping everywhere so I cut it off at the waist to leave the satin skirt on it's own.

For the headband, I covered an old headband with some red satin and then used this tutorial from Smile and Wave to make a big bow on top.  

 I ripped out the old stitching on the bodice of the dress and sewed on new silver trim that matched the glittery sleeves a little better.

Oh, and don't forget the red sparkle shoes;)



Happy Friday!

I'm linked to:
Tatertots and Jello

DIY Clock from Saucepan Lid

This is probably one of the most random projects I've done...and one of my favorite!

I saw this saucepan lid at Goodwill and fell in love with the pattern. There was no matching saucepan to go with it, but I decided I still needed to bring it home for just $1.

That's when I got the idea to turn it into a clock!

DIY CLOCK (from a saucepan lid)

STEP 1: Remove knob from saucepan.

STEP 2: Remove motor and parts from clock.

(At this point, I reassembled the clock pieces again and tested them with a battery to make sure taking them apart didn't break them.)

STEP 3: Assemble clock pieces through the hole on the saucepan lid where the knob used to be. Glue the motor to the back of the pan if needed. I also cut out some numbers from the original clock to Mod Podge on the front.

Have a great Thursday!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

DIY Chevron Shoes

Here's a fun DIY that can be completed in one night. I took a pair of shoes that I found at the thrift store for $2.50, washed them (I put them in the washing machine and then let them air dry), a fabric pen, and fabric paint.

I cut a chevron pattern out of paper to use as a stencil. I traced it onto my shoes with the fabric pen, and then painted in the lines with the fabric paint.

All done!

This was a fun and easy project and I love my new shoes. I already got a few compliments on them when I ran errands today:)

I'm linked to:

Sugar and Dots

Tatertots and Jello

Motorcycle Onesie Redo

 I was productive today...and it was exhausting. I got 6 projects done and didn't realize how long I had been on my feet until I saw they had swelled to about three times their normal size. Oops.

One of my projects was this motorcycle onesie refashion.

                        

I started with a small romper with a picture of a motorcycle on it that I got for $.99 at Goodwill and a plain onesie that I picked up for $.50 at another thrift store. The romper had a glittery heart on the top that said "biker baby" so it was not approved for regular wear by my husband...so that just means I got to do something crafty with it!

I cut out the motorcycle from the romper and turned it into an applique by using the same method as my daughter's Minnie Mouse shirt.

Then I lined it up along one side of the new onesie and sewed it into place. At first I wished I had a white onesie or at least a contrasting color...but once I sewed the applique on, I ended up liking the gray on gray after all. I did use white thread for contrast...and because it was already threaded into my machine and I was too lazy to change it:)

I keep thinking if I make more things for this baby...maybe he will come out already! Oh well, I am only 38 weeks, so I know, I know...my chances of him coming out soon aren't great...but a grumpy swollen girl can dream, right?

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

Sugar and Dots

Fabric Covered Baby Wipes Case

I've had a string of crafty failures this week which has left me with a "blah" feeling. So I decided I needed a quick project to boost my crafting self confidence. So that's how we get to the fabric covered baby wipes case:

My daughter isn't a baby anymore...but we still have a case of wipes in her bathroom and the downstairs bathroom because they are still just so darn handy! After staring at this Disney princess case for over a year, I just couldn't take it anymore and something needed to change.

There are many tutorials online on how to go about redoing a wipes case and this is how I chose to do it.

I started with my case, some white acrylic paint, and a foam brush.

The material I wanted to use was a little too thin to cover the original image on the case, so I had to paint it white. If you are using a thick material or an already white case...then you can skip this step.

Next, I cut out a strip that was a few inches bigger than the wipes case in both directions. I cut my piece to be 25"x4"...but I recommend cutting yours 25" by at least 6" because I didn't have quite enough for the back.

Now, I brushed a coat of Mod Podge onto the case and started wrapping it with my fabric from the front (starting with the center of my fabric strip).

With more Mod Podge I worked around both sides. The case curved a bit so to avoid bubbles, I just pulled the fabric tight and trimmed the top edge as needed to be flush.

I used hot glue on the bottom of the case for the bottom edge of the fabric. I folded in the corners kind of like wrapping a present.

Here is a view of the back. I applied a little Mod Podge to the seam as well. You can see where I didn't have quite enough fabric at the bottom to accommodate the curve of the box. It doesn't bother me too much though since it will be facing the wall.

At this point you could also apply Mod Podge to the outside of the fabric to seal it, but I liked the fabric texture and decided not to.

Now this can go back on top of the toilet tank in my daughter's bathroom looking a little nicer than the princesses before it:)