Imitation = Flattery: Burlap Flowers

The new kitchen re-do has inspired some additional crafts to add those "final touches".  I saw this cute post on Pinterest and loved them.  She gave great instructions picture by picture.  There is also a video but I didn't have to watch it as the pictures were good enough.  Since I already had burlap on hand, this craft was free.  And it only took about 20 minutes for 4 of them.  I made mine quite a bit larger since they were going on top of the fridge and I wanted to make sure they could be seen.

I cut mine about 3" wide and double the width of the burlap (I guess 36").  I also used pipe cleaner for the stems.  They went in a vase so you can't see them but it keeps them upright.

I did the vases a few years ago from an article in Martha Stewart about making mercury glass.  I don't really like them up close but they look good on top of the fridge.

Spray Painted Shoes

Who would have thought?  Spray painting shoes...Do you remember when I sprayed the soles of my shoes here?  I decided to go for the whole shoe this time.  I did these for our family photos. I couldn't find kid shoes and women shoes in the same color. I wanted pink to coordinate with the outfits so I just decided to spray paint some older ones that we had in the closet.

Steps:

• Tape up all items that you don't want sprayed.
• Put something in the shoe so it doesn't get sprayed
• Prime!!!!
• Spray paint - learn from me.  Get far away and do many small coats.  Spray paint doesn't seem to dry on leather (or pleather) as well as other surfaces you may be used to.

They turned out perfect.

I have worn mine a few more times and they have started to crack a little bit.  Not enough for anyone else to notice but I will probably eventually have to hit them with another coat of spray paint.

Upgraded Light Switches

I am loving my new light switch covers.  I had read somewhere that you can put paper on light switches with mod podge.  It had been on my bucket list forever but with the new kitchen re-do, I knew I wanted to do it soon.  I picked out a paper that I love.  I thought it might be too busy but if you look at it from a distance, it doesn't look busy at all. 

I started by tracing on the back of the paper.  The sketch below is kind of how I cut out the paper.  The red is where I cut.  It worked out perfectly when you folded it over the cover.  I completed 5 switches in about 30 minutes.

File Cabinet Re-do

My husband has changed jobs and now does not have an office.  He still travels but will be working from home when he is in town.  Working on the dining room table wasn't going to work so we had to re-arrange the house a little.  We decided to move the his office into the mater bedroom.  Of course, I still wanted it to look nice.  I got a great desk on craigslist and painted it (post coming soon) and then I wanted to spruce up the file cabinet.  I love how it turned out.

I first covered the file cabinet with silver contact paper that I got from Lowe's.  It was very easy to cover and that alone looked great.  Then I wanted to add some blue to tie into the desk and walls.  I ordered these great decals from La Leni shop on Etsy.  I have a machine that I could of done this myself but sometimes it is just easier to buy it ;-)

 

I love being featured. Thank you!!  Check out these awesome blogs that featured my file cabinet.

Duct Tape Soap Dispensers

From a previous post, you know that I already re-fill my own foaming soap.  I don't know the last time I bought soap. I love the fact that I can re-fill it for a fraction of the cost. There are times that the soap looks a little clumpy and not as attractive in the containers they came in.  So I wanted to cover the plastic containers and make them look better.  I was about to spray paint them and then thought about all the duct tape that I have recently bought (a little obsessed with all the different patterns).

I tried to tuck the tape into the top and it didn't look very even so I added a ribbon to hide it.  They look very cute and add a little pattern to the bathroom counter.

These were featured on one of my favorite blogs - so exciting.


My entry into the Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles is sponsored by Appliances Online and their best Range Cookers.

Imitation = Flattery: Handprint Canvas

Another pinterest inspiration.  I mod podged some cut out of our hands to canvas.  Can you see the wrinkles?  I am not sure why that happened, has anyone else run into that?  You can't see it when it is on the wall.  I will still hang it in my study.  I think I want to do one every 4-5 years to see how their hands grow. 

Work and Craft Desk

I work from home 4 days a week. It is a great arrangement and I am so fortunate that I get to do this. It is so nice to be able to throw in a load of wash during the day or go to the grocery store on my lunch break. When I started doing this, I knew I needed a space that was away from everything else.  My office does not have a TV in it, however it does have my crafts.  I designed a table that allowed me to separate my space.  It has been so nice.

I designed the built in to fit on the entire wall in the guest room.  It surrounds the large window that is in the room.  The bookshelves are from walmart and we just cut them down to fit.  There are also drawers in the bottom that we ordered online.  The desk top is actually just a huge board from Home Depot that they cut down for me.  It is great to have a place for everything. I wish I had a before picture so you could see how hectic it was.

There is a lot going on but my work section is typically removed from my craft section so it works out nicely.  More to come on the pictures that are hanging.

Ribbon Organization

I'll admit, I have too much ribbon.   I have spools of it along with individual yards.  I love all the colors and patterns.  Every time Hobby Lobby has a sale, I can't resist picking up a few spools.  I needed a way to organize it.  This is what I did for the spools (or some of them)

I took the small tension rods and just put them in my bookshelf above my desk. I love how it adds color and they are so easy to use.  Unfortunately, with 3 rods, this is still only some of the ribbon I have.  I need to go buy at least 2 more rods and will later post what I did with all my yardage ribbon.

Birthday Wreath

This combines a few different wreaths that I have seen in blog land and on Pinterest. It turned out so cute for the girls birthday.

Supplies:

• Straw wreath (which was cheaper than Styrofoam)  
• Zebra duct tape
• Balloons
• Straight pins
• Wooden Letter
• Spray Paint
• Ribbon

I kept the plastic on the straw wreath and wrapped it with duct tape.  It didn't wrap very smooth so I tried to make sure the wrinkles were all in the back along with sometimes taking a few strips and placing them where I felt needed.  I think took the balloons and started bunching them together.  I used about 3 balloons per pin but you can just do it based on how it looks.  I spray painted my letter and glued it to the wreath.  It was so easy and cute.

This was featured on the following:

Imitation = Flattery: Ruffle Bedspread

Our master bedroom has a summer bedspread and a winter bedspread.  In the winter it is actually a duvet cover.  I have seen the ruffle bedspreads popping up everywhere and thought I would add a little texture to my existing duvet cover.

Adding it to an existing cover is both easier and harder than sewing it yourself.  It is easier because you don't have to make an entire duvet cover but harder because you have to be more precise where your ruffles start and end instead of building them into the seam.

I took 2 sets of twin sheets that I found at Ross for $5 each, one in chocolate brown and the other in white.  I then cut them into about 8-10" think strips.  The most tedious part was hemming the edges.  I used my rolled hem foot on my sewing machine and couldn't of done it without it.  It made the job SO much easier.

After that I "ruffled" them.  Since I don't have a ruffle foot, I just pushed the fabric through the sewing machine faster than the natural feed and it ruffled.  This only works if you don't need the ruffle to be consistent.  I didn't care and it turned out looking great. 

I love our new winter bedspread.

See the K on the pillow - just another heat transfer cut out and ironed on.  I think it adds so much to the white shams.

Pinterest Inspired Shoes

These shoes are adorable, right?  I saw them on Pinterest and loved them.  However, they weren't available from anthropologie anymore.

As I was going through my closet to make my Salvation Army pile for our yearly clean out, I found some striped shoes that were similar.  I got some grosgrain ribbon and just added a bow to the back of it.  Usually I would just glue the bows on but I thought since it was footwear that I should sew them on for durability.

What do you think?  they turned out pretty cute.  With jeans they look just like they did before but with a maxi skirt, they add a nice little touch.

Pinterest Inspired: Ornament Wreaths

Last week we had our Chirstmas craft party. They are always so much fun.  I posted last year about the christmas card frame that we made.  I already have mine up this year.

This year we made ornament wreaths.  I got the idea on Pinterest. Origially posted from this blog.  They were really one of the easist crafts we have done.  So easy that I came home and made another one.

The first one I put on the door of my girls room.  It is so cute and festive.  I also love the red, green, gold and silver.  I used plastic ornaments from Garden Ridge so didn't even have to glue the tops to them because they were pretty snug.  There are a few that popped off and we were able to glue those back together.

Pinterest Inspired: Handprint Christmas Tree

Pinterest has become a love-hate relationship.  I love all the great idea but I spend way too much time on it when I should be doing a long list of other things.

I am loving all the Christmas crafts right now.  The girls and I had fun doing this hand print Christmas tree.  I just did one tree for both girls and mixed up the handprints.

This pin was originally from The Other White House

Check out all the other Christmas crafts I am wanting to attempt.  I don't think they will all get done this year...

Feather Earrings

Feathers are everywhere right now.  I do think the feathers in the hair is cute but I'm probably a little too old to pull off that trend.  I did see some adorable feather earrings in the store but they were so long that they reached my shoulders.  I knew I would never wear them.  So, I decided to make some myself.

Jo-Ann's fabric has tons of feathers available and I already had earring bales on hand.  I actually just used duct tape to attach the feathers to the earrings.  i wasn't sure if I was going to like them and told myself that if I did, then I would re-do them.  I do like them and have worn them a few times but I know I will never get around to re-doing them.    Just look at my To-Do Pinterest board and you know I'll never get around to most of the things that I want to do ;-)

Imitation=Flattery: Pottery Barn Knock Off - Halloween Outside Ghosts

We had a fun craft party to make these Pottery Barn Ghosts.  Usually making something yourself will save tons of money but Styrofoam balls are expensive.  Why do they cost so much?  However, we did save some money and of course had fun getting together to make them.

My Version

Pottery Barn Version

Supplies:
 -  Styrofoam Balls - $6-$15 (I used a 8", 6", & 4") Use Coupons!!
 -  Black Marker  - on hand (for the eyes)
 -  Cheesecloth - $3/Yd.  I used 1 yd for the 8" but less for the other 2.
 -  Eye Screw - on hand
 -  String to hang - on hand
Total - about $35 for all 3

I just used a marker for the eyes and draped the cheesecloth over it. You can double the cheesecloth if you want and also cut vertical strips.  I didn't do either of these and love how they turned out.

Making Leather Bracelets

Ok, this a few weeks ago, the Today show Jill’s Steals had these awesome bracelets

Mon Ami Shamballah Bracelets

 

The deal was for $29 but they were originally around $80 each.  I have seen leather bracelets around every where and of course there are quite a few blog posts on how to make them.

http://www.rings-things.com/blog/2011/03/08/how-to-make-wrapped-leather-bracelets/

http://makebraceletsblog.com/2011/01/12/beaded-wrap-bracelet-video-tutorial/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrUMT7hiZbk&feature=related

However, I couldn’t find anywhere how to make these with the braiding in between until I found this post about macramé.  So I trotted off to Michael’s to pick up some beads and cording and went to work.  I did mine with 4 braids (1 to the right, 1 to the left, 1 to the right, 1 to the left) the way the picture shows it would actually only be 2 of the entire steps. Then would add a bead.  I also, only used 3 strands because my bead wouldn’t fit over 2 strands.  It worked out perfectly.

What do you think?  I am loving them and love the fact that all of these together cost me less than $20.

Burlap Wreath - Pinterest Inspired

Who doesn't love pinterest?  I saw the following burlap wreath and knew I had to have it. 

However, at $45 dollars, I thought I should first attempt to make it myself.

Supplies:
 - straw wreath (you could do Styrofoam but straw is cheaper)
 - 1.5 yards of burlap
 - straight pins

• I first took about a 2" strip of burlap and wrapped the wreath.  I secured it with a straight pin.  Glue would have worked fine but I didn't want to deal with the mess
• I then took about a 4" strip and folded it lengthwise and started pinning it in squiggles.  Really hard to explain and I did it probably 3-4 times until I got the look I wanted.  I had 2 layers of squiggles.  One on the front and then one more towards the outside. 

If I were to do it again, I would probably use glue (hot glue or E6000 would work great)

I used fall colored tulle and just made a loop bow and glued that onto the wreath.  The K is painted in my favorite spray paint - Rub Oiled Bronze.

I love it and it probably only cost me about $9 and 1 hour of time.

Imitation=Flattery: Chalkboard Shirts

Groupon had a coupon to purchase chalkboard shirts.  What a cute idea., but $25 is a little more than I wanted to spend.  For the shirts, toddlers or parents can write on the kids shirt before they are going out.   I made one for my nephew for Easter and it turned out so cute.  I just bought some chalkboard fabric at fabric.com and cut it into his initial.  I did a zigzag stitch around it to secure it to the shirt.  I now sell these in my Etsy shop - go check it out.  I have numerous different designs available.  http://www.etsy.com/listing/77616795/chalkboard-shirt-for-toddler-or-child

My sister-in-law said that it washed beautifully.  Now I just need to make some for my girls.  Why do the crafts for the family always come last? 

Imitation=Flattery: Wall Clock

Have you ever gone looking for a large wall clock?  They are expensive.  Even shopping at places like Ross and TJMaxx which I typically go to, they are still $60-$120.  Way more than I was wanting to spend but I desperately wanted a clock in the living room so I didn’t have to keep looking at the oven clock two rooms away.  I saw a great clock on pinterest (my  newest addiction) and thought – I can do that.  Are you surprised?

 http://fadedplains.blogspot.com/2011/03/diy-clock-project.html

$25 dollars later, I have a clock that I love.  I thought instead of having all the numbers, that large quarterly ones would make it look cleaner.  I found everything at Jo-Ann fabrics so with my 40% off coupon, it was super cheap.  I spray painted the numbers Rusteloeum’s Rubbed Oil Bronze which matches a vase in the room so I thought it coordinated well. 

Imitation=Flattery: Pottery Barn Decorating

This is my version of Pottery Barn decorating.  I put the games we like on a tray and 2 glass vases that I got at Ross for under $10.  It sits on our ottoman.  Cute and reminds me to have fun every so often.