DIY: Painted Oven Mitts

I needed some new oven mitts and while I liked the price of the dollar store ones...I didn't care for how plain they were. I found this old stamp in with my paints and decided to stamp my new mitts with some fabric paint.

 

MATERIALS:

fabric paint

paint brush

foam stamp

oven mitt(s)

 

STEP 1: Brush fabric paint onto stamp and press on oven mitt. Let sit for 24 hours (or however long the fabric paint bottle says) and then use!

 



 

These would make a great Christmas gift or hostess gift for the holiday season.

 

Happy Wednesday!

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: Love Your State Wall Art

When thinking up new wall art ideas for our master bedroom, I wanted something simple and personal. I've been seeing a lot of state themed art online and we love where we live...so it only seemed natural to incorporate it into our room somehow.

Wanna make your own? It's super simple! Here's how I made mine:

1. Traced the outline of our state off the computer.

2. Traced my template onto some cardstock and traced the edges with a black marker.

3. Cut out a tiny heart where our city is and glued it on. Then I glued it to another piece of cardstock and framed it.

Done!

We love our state! Do you?

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

DIY Twisted Turban Headband (from an old t-shirt)

I had an old shirt that I was about to donate, but I loved the print so much I wanted to find something to do with it. I love the twisted headbands I have been seeing everywhere and decided to make one of my own.

Materials:

knit fabric (or old t-shirt)

matching thread

STEP 1: Cut two strips out of the knit fabric. that are double the final width you want your headband straps to be. My strips were approximately 4 in x 20 in.

STEP 2: Fold each strip in half (with right sides facing) and sew down the long side of raw edges. Flip right side out. Now you will have two "tubes".

STEP 3: Lay out tubes (seam sides up) in the shape of an "X". 

STEP 4: Fold strips over so that they are linked together, matching up the raw edges.

STEP 5: Take the unfinished headband and wrap around your head to see how tight to make it. Line up all raw edges and sew together with a straight stitch. Cut off any excess.

STEP 6: Flip seam to the inside of headband and wear!

Happy Thursday!

I'm linked to:

Tatertots and Jello

The Southern Institute

$1 Cake Pop Stand

I made Oreo pops for my daughter's party...and then somehow forgot that I needed a place to put them! I looked into cake pop stands online...um...no. I could have a lot more fun at Goodwill with that kind of money.

Then I priced styrofoam at the craft store.

No, again.

So, I turned to my trusty friend, foam board. It never lets me down.

Want the tute? Here we go!

FOAM BOARD POP STAND

1 piece of FOAM BOARD

(I get mine at the dollar store)

1-2 sheets of TISSUE PAPER

SMALL SCREWDRIVER

(slightly smaller in diameter than your pop sticks)

SERVING DISH (or ribbon)

STEP 1: Take a serving dish of your choice and trace the bottom of it onto foam board. Basically you want the same shape as the inner center so the foam board can sit inside the serving dish.

STEP 2: Cut out two pieces of foam board and hot glue them together.

STEP 3: Cover the board with tissue paper.

STEP 4: Either place covered board in serving dish (keep in place with a few pieces of tape on the bottom), or cover the edge with a thick ribbon and sit on the table as is.

STEP 5: Take screwdriver and poke holes where you want the pops to go. I did this right before serving so I would know how far apart to space each hole.

That's it! You could also make this thicker by adding more layers of foam. Two layers is the minimum to make the pops stand and not fall over. You could also use fabric instead of tissue paper, you might just need something sharper than a screwdriver to make the holes.

OK, time to go make more treats that stand up!

Tatertots and Jello

Rapunzel Party: The Goody Bags

For the goody bags at my daughter's birthday party this weekend, I wanted to keep them fun and simple.

I found these treat bags with gold designs at the dollar store and they felt very "Rapunzel-ish" and inside of each is the following:

-Mini Rapunzel coloring book

(you can get the tutorial HERE)

-Pascal party blower

(idea and tutorial found HERE)

-play tattoos

-Rapunzel bag with pink Hershey kisses and pink Starbursts

(because my daughter's name starts with an "S")

For the mini coloring books, I printed off Rapunzel coloring pages (getting 4 images to each piece of computer paper), cut them out, and then put them between a folded piece of cardstock. Then, sew down the folded side to bind the book together. I put 8 coloring pages in each book.

The Rapunzel picture of the front of the book is from a box of valentines I found at the dollar store. I stitched it onto the front with my sewing machine.

The Rapunzel sandwich bags (for the candies) were also from the dollar store and the tattoos came in the same box as the valentines.

Each bag got tied with a "braid" that I made out of yellow yarn.

Happy Wednesday!

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

Candlestick Serving Stands

Since we are just having dessert at my daughter's birthday party, I have been thinking up ways to display all the sweets without just putting them in plain bowls. I came across these two glass candlesticks at Goodwill. I don't normally gravitate towards things like these, but I thought they looked so beautiful and elegant...perfect for a princess party, right?

I bought a set of two clear plastic bowls from the dollar store. I cut out pieces of white felt in the same circumference as the candlestick tops. I hot glued the felt to the bottom center of the bowls and then glued the other side of the felt to the top of each candlestick. I put felt in between because I knew the hot glue wouldn't stick to the plastic long, but it sticks to felt really well.

You can't see the felt when the bowls are filled either.

Fill with your favorite candy! M &Ms are one of my daughter's favorites.

I think they will look so pretty on the table with the tissue paper and tulle flowers I made earlier. Not too bad for about $1 a piece, right?

SOME NOTES: The bowls should not be much larger in diameter than the candlesticks, otherwise they could get knocked over more easily. Try to also keep them the same weight as the candlesticks. The glass of these is very lightweight, so plastic bowls were perfect on top. Basically, don't put a heavy bowl on top of a lightweight base, mkay?

Also, obviously you can't soak these in the sink to wash out, so only put in food that can be wiped out later with a damp cloth.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, to achieve the pink and purple small M & M bowl, I combined two packs of Valentine's M & Ms, one in milk chocolate variety and the other in dark chocolate. I just picked out the red ones. I also bought a back of Valentine's peanut M & Ms and also picked the red out of those.

 Don't ask what happened to all the red M & Ms...:)

I'm linked to:

I Gotta Create

Tatertots and Jello

Creative Me @ The Southern Institute

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

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:)