It's been such a busy past few weeks! We had my sister's first baby shower, followed by my mother-in-law's birthday party, then the second baby shower. I've spent a lot of time over at my sister's house helping her sort through all the baby goodies and get them organized and put away. So much to do before a baby gets here! I really had no idea! I will get more posts up about all those fun happenings soon.
I actually had a bit of time to do a project around my house, which was a nice break from all the running around.
Confession - I had my Valentine's Day wreath up until about mid-March and realized that I should put up my St. Patrick's Day wreath. The only reason it got taken down is because we had a huge wind storm and the bells on the wreath were driving me crazy banging against the door. I decided this time instead of making an Easter wreath that may end up getting left up until Fourth of July, I would make a nice spring wreath.
As seems to be the case with almost everyone around me, I've been down with a cold most of this week. Boo! So that explains the lack of posts. But in my down time, I've been browsing all sorts of other pages.
I'm totally loving all the St. Patrick's Day inspiration I'm finding. If I can manage to kick this cold, I may manage to get Valentine's Day stuff put away in time to get up some St. Patty's stuff.
I would love to bust out my new Silhouette interfacing and give this lucky pillow from Infarrantly Creative a try. It's just so festive and would be a great replacement for some of the other Valentine's decor!
After getting all the buttons sorted in my craft room, the Shamrock Button Art from Oopsey Daisy would be a fantastic way to put them to use.
I am totally in love with the St. Patrick's Day Banner from Simple as That. It's so beautiful that I may have trouble taking it down after the holiday.
My sister-in-law just mentioned the other day that there are no cute shirts for St. Patrick's Day this year. I think this ruffly tshirt from Thirty Handmade Days proves her wrong and I think I may end up making it for her. It's just too cute!
Gluesticks has totally awesome St. Patty's Day party ideas for kids. This rainbow looks so delicious!
And over at Let's Go Fly a Kite, they are making some reallyfun leprechauns. Now I know what I've been saving all those toilet paper and paper towel rolls for!
A big thanks to all of these blogs for the amazing inspiration! Be sure to stop by and tell them hi.
The craft room makeover is finally finished! Whew! It's been quite a month and I'm so happy with the way it has turned out. You may remember that I decided to organize my craft room/office since it was one of my projects to
complete on my 30 Before 30 list. This room was in major need of a
renovation as you can see from the before pictures. Since this room is both the craft room and the office it needs to be a very functional space.
My nephew's girlfriend Jennie came over and made an amazing video of the completed room for me. She is so talented and I love the video she made of the room. I felt that pictures alone couldn't give the full affect of the transformation that took place in here, so here is the completed room tour:
I took this project on as part of the 29 Day Organizational Challenge at I'm an Organizing Junkie. It's funny because I had been living with the chaos of the room for so long I had sort of gotten used to it. But once I decided to start organizing, I really got going and couldn't stand it anymore.
The steps I took to get started: I made lists of things to work on and projects that needed to be completed. I like making lists because it keeps me goal oriented and I can see the progress as I check things off. Then seeing the before pictures and looking at the progress I was making really kept me motivated. I also had my sister come over and help me. We did an entire day of cleaning and organizing. It was great having her here because it kept me from getting distracted by all the little things.
The hardest part of the challenge was deciding what was really worth keeping. Of course I felt like I loved everything in here as I came across it or had the thought that it could be useful. I kept having to remind myself that if I hadn't used it recently that I probably wasn't going to anytime soon. Once I saw how much space I was creating, I started feeling better about the purge.
One of my biggest purges was fabric. Luckily my sister-in-law Cassidee is planning a project for her Gold Award in Girl Scouts that will need a lot of fabric, so I sorted through and pulled out everything I thought she could use. I also had a huge drawer of scraps and another bag under my desk. I went through all of that and narrowed it down to a small drawer of useable scraps. I also purged a lot of the decor in here. Most of that ended up going to my sister because it just happens to match her house. I really wanted to try and have the place not look like it was the room of "leftovers." The rest of the stuff I purged went into a pile to donate to Goodwill.
The best part of the whole challenge came just a few days ago when my husband was doing some work from home and I was working on some sewing. We were both in here, spread out in our areas and not in each others way at all. The most amazing thing was that there was still plenty of room to walk around too! The room is completely functional for us now and that was the main thing I set out to accomplish.
One of the best finds in organizing the room was the 4-tier shelf I got from Lowe's. It was only $15! It fit perfectly in the closet and allowed for so much more storage space. I used a bunch of dollar store shoe boxes to organize my craft odds and ends. My sister Aspen came up with the idea for the cute labels that we put on them. I made them all with my Silhouette and the designs all came from their online store. I also got a new file box for my coupons. The old one had a broken lid so it wasn't very functional. All the couponing stuff is on one shelf and should stay nice and organized. I also know exactly what is in each box now, which makes it so much easier to find everything.
Another great find was the Closetmaid rack I used for the ribbon and paint on my wall. It's original purpose is for canned goods in the pantry but it's the perfect size for all my ribbon. I don't have to search through totes and boxes to find everything anymore. And as luck would have it, I had a bunch of mason jars that my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas and found that they were the perfect thing to sort all the buttons and embellishments into. My buttons are all sorted by color now which is so awesome!
The boxes on the shelf that hold my Silhouette and scrapbooking supplies came from Ikea and really help contain everything so that I can find it. Before they were all mixed together in a big under-bed box. Everything would get lost in the big box and I never really knew what was in there. I found out that I had 3 boxes of photo corners. The funny thing is that I can't even remember the last time I used photo corners. The pots under the shelf that hold my scissors and paintbrushes also came from Ikea. I seriously love that store! They need to build one by me so I don't always have to drive to LA every time I think of something great I need. I found it so helpful to have the painting stuff accessible the other day when I went to paint something and I could see all the brushes I have as opposed to the mess of Ziploc bags they were in before.
The best thing I did in the room was rearranging the furniture. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner but it is so much nicer in here. With the new layout, there is an "office side" of the room and a "craft side" of the room. Everything I need is in it's own area and very organized on top of that.
Overall the biggest thing I've learned from this is not to buy more craft supplies than I need for the project I'm working on. I have so much stuff - mostly fabric - that I bought just because it was on sale. Most of it will probably never get used and ended up going in a donate pile. If I can keep that in mind in the future, I know that it will be a lot easier to maintain this room.
The greatest piece of advice I can give you in tackling an organizing
project of your own is that you NEED to get rid of things. If you
haven't used something recently, it needs to go. If it's not functional,
it must go. If it's not your style, let it go. The thing is that if you
decide a year from now you want it again, there will probably be
something better available. It's not worth the clutter to hang on to
things because it might be useful.
There are a lot of really cute family name art pieces out there. I've even made a few for around our house. But the latest project I have been working on had me a bit puzzled. What kind of family art do you create for a "modern family" who may not all share the same last name?
Being the Shakespeare lover that I am (and having just recently watched the movie) the famous Juliet quote popped into my head:
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet. ( Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Sc. 2, 43-47)
Being a family doesn't mean that you all have to have the same family name, what matters is that you are family. After a little bit scribbling and a whole, whole lot of erasing on my scratch pad, I finally settled on this design.
I made the lettering with my Silhouette and I used the LDJ Forever Friends font. The "Our Family" is available in the Silhouette online store. The vinyl is from Expressions Vinyl in light brown. Expressions Vinyl is one of my favorite places to shop for vinyl. They always have good discount codes for their email subscribers and Facebook friends.
I really love how it turned out because the names are all connected - like a family is! It's perfect because all of the people I know with modern families can now have name art too!
My roommate's birthday was a few weeks back. I already had part of the gift planned - some really cool Stila eyeshadow and a few other make-up things, which I love and knew she would too. But I wanted to do something a bit more personal since she's so dear to me.
I came across this darling Subway art over at Kiki & Company. It was just the thing I was looking for!
Side note - so my friends and I always call patterns for projects "recipes" and I've had a hard time not doing that lately but I just can't help it! So...
Remove the glass (or in my case plastic) from the frame. Prime frame with 2 coats of white
paint. Let dry thoroughly in between layers. Then paint 2 coats of your desired color (also drying well between layers) and let
dry.
When it is completely dry, spray the entire frame with the Krylon Triple Thick
Crystal Clear Glaze. Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area like outside
(my roommates always gets mad when I do this in the house). Let the frame dry really
well before handling again - ask how I know about that!
Step 2:
While that is drying, you can pick out your Subway Art for the frame. Like I mentioned, mine came from Kiki & Company. You can also do a search for
"Free Subway Art" on Google for more ideas.
Funny thing was that I was trying to use the red and teal design on Kiki Creates. I didn't realize until it printed that my printer was out of magenta ink. Luckily, I
love the way it turned out. To make it fit in my frame, I scaled it down to
size in Photoshop and printed from there. I printed it on white cardstock to help the colors really stand out and make it sturdier.
Step 3:
This is my favorite part of any project - embellishing! I
chose to make some 3D flowers and leaves with the colored cardstock. I love it because it is two-sided! I used my Silhouette to cut them and then glued
them to the frame with the craft glue. You can find some ideas to make handmade flowers on my Favorite Flower Tutorials Round-up.
The best part of this project is that you can decide how
you embellish the frame. You can use ribbons, buttons,
stickers or vinyl cut outs. Personalize it and make it your own.
It turned out perfectly and she loved it! The best part of giving it to her was that I could finally take the sign off the craft room door warning her to stay out!
I may be a bit of a fabric hoarder. Okay well maybe more than a bit - I have an entire drawer in my craft room just for scraps. Plus a bag under the desk! For some reason, I just can't bring myself to part with them. I mean you never know when you might need them, right? Even the weird colored upholstery fabric scrap - that could come in handy too. BUT I'm supposed to be organizing my craft room and need to sort through all that stuff.
If you are sitting there wondering what to do with your pile of scraps other than toss them, I've got some great things in store for you! In all my scrap hoarding, I have managed to accumulate quite a collection of scrappy projects around my house.
These are some of my favorites:
The bow on this vase is made entirely out of scrap fabric.
To make it: make a tiny cut at the edge of the fabric about an inch and a half on each side and then rip down the length of the fabric where you made those cuts. They end up about 1 1/2" by 20". Ripping it gives it a nice textured look - kind of raw and unfinished. Then cut any really long threads that are left hanging.
I did this on about 3 different pieces of fabric and then tied them together in a big bow on the vase.
These easy wall art are all made out of leftover scraps from the quilt my mother made for my living room. It is Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 if you are interested in getting it.
To make: You will need embroidery hoops in varying sizes. These are available at most craft stores. Lay your fabric wrong side facing up and then center the embroidery hoop on the fabric. With a fabric marker trace about one inch outside the hoop. This will let you fit the fabric nicely inside the hoop. Then cut out the circle you traced. Take apart the embroidery hoop frame, center the fabric inside and then slide the pieces back together and tighten the top screw. You can cut off any excess fabric after you get it inside. Finish it by embellishing it anyway you like. I added buttons and felt flowers to some of mine.
The yo-yo on this project is a simple way to use up fabric scraps and can be used in so many different ways. This frame is on a shelf in my craft room and I love the bit of cheer it brings into the room.
You can find pre-made yo-yos at the craft store sometimes, but this is about using up your stash right? I love Positively Splendid and they have great instructions on how to make your own here: Fabric Yo-Yo Tutorial with Printable Template. They also have some other great tutorials and fun things, so stop by and check them out.
That should give you some great ways to help bust that scrap stash lingering in your craft room and hopefully I can bust some of mine before the month is over!
My brother-in-law has been wanting me to make him coasters ever since I got my Silhouette and he saw all the great things I was making with it. I was planning on making them for his birthday and then somehow it didn't get done in time. So I made sure to put them on the list for his Christmas stocking. They turned out to be such a fast and easy project, I don't know why I didn't get them done sooner!
I found these great tiles at Home Depot packaged in a set of 9 for only a few bucks. They are nice unglazed tiles so they should be perfect for absorbing condensation from drinks.
I cut squares of craft felt just a tad smaller than the tiles. I used my rotary cutter and ruler to get nice even squares. (Don't you love my carpet background? I had to work on the floor because every other space in the house was covered in Christmas chaos!) The felt is a great backing so that the tiles don't scratch whatever surface the coasters are going to be used on.
I coated one side of the felt with Fabri-tac and made sure to give it a really good coat. I wanted to make sure that all of the felt was going to stick to the tile.
Then I carefully lined it up with the back of the tile and smoothed it out to make sure that there were no bumps and that the whole thing was secured. I did this to all four of the tiles that I was making.
When they were all glued, I got a big stack of books and set them all under it to dry to make sure they set up really well.
Now for the monograms! On my trusty Silhouette, I settled on the LD Old Glory font and stretched it to a good size to be centered on the tiles. I made one and then copied it so they would all be the same size. Weeding out the little holes in the "Cs" was quite a task but I got them all done. I measured and marked each tiles to be sure the were centered and then applied the vinyl. I have step by step instructions on applying vinyl on this tutorial. If you don't have a Silhouette, you can always use an X-acto knife and cut a design by hand.
He loved them so much that he wants me to make more. Let's see if I can get them done before next Christmas!
Still needing last minute decorations? I have a few quick and easy projects that you can make in 30 minutes or less. Super cheap too! Always my favorite way to make crafts!
Up first stockings. I have two designs for you - one more traditional and one a little bit funky.
The first set, I made with my friend Melissa for her house. She was not happy with her plain stockings, so we decided to dress them up a bit. We traced out some sleeves to fit over the heels and toes of the stocking on a scratch piece of paper, then used that template as a pattern for some fabric she had on hand. I added about a half an inch seam allowance on all sides. Then sewed them up to fit on the ends of the stockings. That's the pretty black and white fabric you see on the stockings in the picture above. We attached them to the stockings with Fabri-tac. To make the sleeves look nice and finished she added decorative ribbons as a border around the tops using the Fabri-tac. On the tops of each stocking, we added more ribbon and some cute buttons, also using the handy-dandy Fabri-tac. I seriously LOVE that stuff! Very thrifty project and made the stockings look so much fancier.
The second set I made are my fun and funky stockings. I got them at Target for $1.00 each. They came with the rick-rack already on them. But they still looked too plain for my taste. So, out came the craft supplies. Fabri-tac to the rescue again! I put on buttons, ribbon, some left over pom-pom trim and my favorite - a felt flower with some tulle underneath.
The tutorial on the felt flower can be found here at Infarrantly Creative. It is super easy and probably my favorite way to make felt flowers. You can whip out a bunch of them in a short amount of time!
Next is a super fast and easy Nativity. It is not very expensive to make at all.
First you will need a plate. Whatever suits your style. You can usually find cheap ones in the clearance section of Ikea and Pier One or grab one at the Dollar Store.
That's where I typically head when I need them for projects.
Then I got out my trusty Silhouette. I found the design for the Nativity in their online store. It's the "One-piece Nativity." I cut it and weeded out the extra vinyl.
Then applied the transfer tape and placed it on the plate.
Voila! Fast and easy Nativity! This one is a gift for my mother-in-law who collects Nativities. I guarantee this is one she doesn't already have.
*If you don't have a Silhouette, you can still make this project. Look for a great sticker from Joann, Amazon or Etsy. They are all likely to have something you'd like. Apply some adhesive such as Zig 2-way glue to the back of the sticker and apply it to your plate. It should have a permanent bond and look just as beautiful!
This project came to be because I have always loved Craftsman tool boxes but that's really not in the budget right now. And diamond plate! Oh how I love diamond plate! At one point I really wanted a kitchen with a diamond plate back splash. The inspiration for this project was this ratty old dresser that I used to store fabric in. I have much better storage for the fabric now, so I have no need for the dresser. On Pinterest, I had read some tutorials about repainting laminate without needing to sand (which I've heard can be a nightmare). This one from Karla's Cottage was especially helpful.
So I give you - The Dresser Remodel:
1. I started with the ratty old dresser. Some of the laminate was peeling and it was just ugly. I prepped it by wiping it with a damp cloth and letting it dry. Then removed all the handles. The places where the laminate was hanging off, I carefully removed but didn't peel too far off.
2. The next step was to remove the drawers and paint two coats of Glidden Gripper Primer. The dry time for the coats is very short, only 30 minutes or an hour in between coats. It thoroughly covered everything. I only bought the quart size can of it and it was more than enough for the dresser and the drawers.
3. I used Benjamin Moore Color Samples in Red and Black. I had a coupon for two free cans, so that didn't end up costing anything. Two coats of black went on the drawers and two coats of red for the main piece. Then sprayed a clear coat of Krylon on the entire thing.
4. The finishing touch was new chrome handles and putting it back together. Total cost - less than $25 (some supplies I was able to get free and some I had on hand). Overall much cheaper than a new upright tool chest!
I knew that I wanted to decorate the living room yellow and
grey in my new place months before I even started apartment hunting. This is my favorite part of the living room. Honestly though, the rest of the room couldn't get more yellow and grey unless I got a yellow or grey couch. I was working on getting one, but I figured
out how to clean my couch here so the grey couch will have to wait. I would love to paint the walls a nice soft yellow or light grey, but that too is out since we rent.
This is about what I could do and I am so excited about it!
The quilt is a project I found on Happy Together here using Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 collection of fabrics shown here. I convinced my mother that it was the only thing that would do for a birthday present this year. I LOVE it. I think it is the most beautiful quilt I own. The pillows are from Ikea and very affordable. I love how they tie in the couch color with the yellow and grey theme.
The gallery wall is inspired by many that I saw on Pinterest. Search gallery wall and you'll see what I'm talking about. I used a few frames from Ikea (love that place!) and put in black & white pictures from an old Ansel Adams calendar I happened to have. It was really old - like from 2002! (I'm a bit of a hoarder.) The top left frame has lyrics to a song. It's super tiny writing but I managed to fit the whole song in. There is also a quote from e.e. cummings and the bottom right frame says, "Be Awesome Today." Those are all printed on cute scrapbook paper. The "S" is from Michael's, and covered in many, many coats of yellow spray paint, then hung with a black & white polka dot ribbon. I used my Silhouette to cut various words and phrases out of vinyl and used those to fill in the spaces around the frames.
I love using vinyl to decorate in the apartment. It doesn't damage the walls and adds a lot of style when you aren't allow to paint. I almost always get my vinyl from Expressions Vinyl and for indoor use order the removable indoor vinyl. There are so many colors and styles to choose from I could really cover the whole house in it! I'm not being paid to say that, I just love their selection, great customer service and fast shipping.
I knew my couch was dirty before I started this project, but I really had no idea how dirty. I have loathed it lately and had started shopping for slipcovers. Well back-up. First, I started looking for tutorials on how to make slipcovers. That looked like an absolute nightmare, really, I think you must be very brave or absolutely crazy to make them yourself. So then I started shopping around. The prices were killing me! I couldn't imagine spending what some of the places were asking and I wasn't even finding anything I was the least bit in love with. It just so happened on the same day, I found two AMAZING things to share with you.
First, for those in the market for a slipcover, check outwww.uglysofa.com. They have beautiful and affordable slipcovers. They carry brand name slipcovers at unbeatable prices. Believe me, I've looked at the other places. And I was not paid to say this, just found them and saw how awesome they were.
The second thing I came across was on Pinterest. I found a tutorial on how to clean a microfiber couch. (Update 8/13/15: the link to the original tutorial is gone.) It was really my lucky day because that's exactly the type of couch I have. So I figured I would give the cleaning a shot and if that didn't work, I could always buy one of the great slipcovers I found.
I made a list of all the supplies I would need and headed out to Walmart to get them. I couldn't find white scrubby sponges like she recommended but I found brown, which match our couch so I grabbed them. I had no trouble with the rest of the supplies.
Supplies needed:
A spray bottle, rubbing alcohol, soft scrubbing brush like pictured, scrubbing sponges (ideally white to prevent color transfer).
Pour the rubbing alcohol into the spray bottle and spray the affected area of the couch. Use the scrubbing side of the sponge to scrub the dirt off of the couch. Then use the soft bristled brush to rub the nap of the fabric back up after it has started to dry. It will help restore the original softness of the fabric. Try not to over saturate the fabric because it can leave "water ring" like spots and only clean in small sections at a time.
I didn't notice until I posted it but I had a nice glass of wine in my supplies picture. It wasn't mentioned in the supply list but it is a nice thing to have if your couch is as dirty as mine. You are going to be doing a lot of scrubbing and you will sure need it for your breaks. Warning though, open a window or two if you can, the smell of rubbing alcohol is VERY strong!
So this is my dirty, ugly couch cushion before:
And this is my lovely, almost perfect couch cushion now:
_thumb%5B4%5D.jpg?imgmax=800)
