DIY Embroidered Canvas–2013 Spring Pinterest Challenge

    Ladies and gentleman… I am finally posting something new! Can you believe it?? I can hardly believe I made time to write a post.  Thank goodness for being able to write a post and schedule publishing it!! Anyway, …

Pinterest challenge time again!

It’s that time people! Another Pinterest challenge has been given…and I am on board this time! Go check it out and join in the fun!

Thanks to younghouselove and Bower Power for getting us moving on those pins!

They are joining up with 2 great blogs for this challenge. Go check them out!

younghouselove
Bower Power
Red Bird Blue
Sparkle Meets Pop

Let’s meet back here next Wednesday May 8th and share what we did!

Projects, projects everywhere!

I am actually, truly, seriously working on some stuff. It’s a little ADD at the moment since I don’t have any one project pulled together. I am in super organize mode so there are little spots here and there getting tweaks. Did you know we have 6 people living in a 3 bedroom house? Did I mention said house is a good bit under 2000 sq ft? We are stepping all over each other. Add in baby gear and my crafting/project hoard and you have a house that is insanely out-of-order. After I returned to work, I have not had time to put things in order. And with a complete lack of storage in this place I am having a hard time getting things to flow in our home. We have never been neat freaks, and it’s really hard to keep everyone on board with picking up after themselves. My time at home is so limited during the week. As in, I get home at 6-6:30 and it’s bed time for the kids between 8-9 and I am not too far behind them. So I squeeze in what I can for cleaning, organizing and projects on weekends and spare minutes here and there. I plan to take a day off work in the near future and put things in order – but first I need all the tools at my disposal. I have been scouring Craigslist and Goodwill trying to find the items I need (namely a dresser and some sort of cabinet or bookshelf – and maybe a table for the entry way). NO luck so far, but I know I will come across the perfect pieces.

My project list is growing, but then it has never been small and ever-changing. I come up with a “great” idea and by the time I get to it I have either decided it won’t function well in our home or adapted it a little differently. So as of now, my project list looks like this:

Complete Hannah’s room
Organize and store craft supplies
Organize our mail and general paraphernalia that gets dropped on the bars
Start on the boy’s room
Redo guest bath
Finish master bedroom

I haven’t decided how I will post on Hannah’s room. I will either give you tutorials along the way as I complete them, or churn those out after the reveal. We shall see what time allows me. I have her room started…just getting into it deeper now. The to do list in there is not too bad.

1. New curtains
2. Paint the walls
3. Hang her chandelier
4. hang a TV on the wall
5. New bed
6. Get and makeover a dresser
7. Address storage in her room
8. Possibly a desk
9. Art for all walls
10. Bedding and pillows
11. Closet organization

I have paint for the guest bath and have already primed over the color that was in there. I have ideas and pinned some things for in there. It’s basically needing to be made more grown up and less polka-dotted. I have lots of organizing tools and plans, just need to execute those in the main living areas. I have also decided to rethink how we use our kitchen and bathroom cabinets. So much wasted space!! The boy’s room is the least planned out right now, but I feel like it will come together really easily once I get started.

And of course I can’t have a post without a pic of some sort.. so here is some inspiration I have for the guest bath and organizing.

Awesome bath found HERE
Go and check out the rest of Meredith’s handy work. She just revealed their guest bath remodel. Wow, it looks amazing.

Awesome organizing found HERE

If you haven’t checked out iHeart Organizing, I strongly recommend it. This woman makes organizing look fun, and pretty!! Her site is so motivational.

So I am just going to keep on keeping on. Hopefully that will include some fun blog posts as well!

DIY Key Holder

I spent some time working on a long over-due need in our home…a key holder. Things like keys get lost too easily in our home, so we needed somewhere to keep them handy. I didn’t want to buy anything for this project, so I culled my collection of craft and project “stuff” and came up with this. I had some leftover wood from a bedroom project (that I will be posting about soon! The final product) and parts to an IKEA curtain system that I had never used. In the picture below are the tools needed for this simple project.

1. small piece of wood
2. finishing nails
3. eye hooks
4. wire (I used picture wire)
5. masking tape or painters tape
6. wire cutters
7. paint (I used some acrylic paint I had)
8. paintbrushes (I couldn’t find my craft brushes – so I used what I could find)

I started by painting the wood white, letting it dry for a few hours, then taping off the pattern I wanted. This was the toughest part of the project since I am not a measure and tape kind of person with little projects.

Once all of the paint was dry, I screwed in the eye hooks, measured out the picture wire for how long I needed and attached that to the eye hooks. I strung the key hooks in before I attached both sides.

The last step was to determine where I wanted to hang it and get it on the wall. The front door above the light switch was where we needed it.

Once hung, I went over the nails with the acrylic paint to hide the nail heads. And.. hang the keys!! Super simple and useful project.

Anyone else get a little project knocked out over the holidays? How about a big project? I would love to hear what you have been up to!

DIY Maternity Pants

First, let me apologize for that “teaser” post earlier… I was working from my iPhone and hit publish when I meant to hit save.  Oops!!  Anyway… here is the full post – Finally!!!

I must also apologize for these crappy pics… our camera died on us, so the iPhone is all I had available.  I think a new camera will be a good purchase for Christmas this year!!

 

I had mentioned before that I have been making my own maternity pants.  Well, truth be told, I have made about 6 or 7 pairs.  It’s a little addicting.  And the total cost of the 6 or 7?  Probably around 30 dollars if I am rounding up.  Have you priced maternity clothes lately???  They are so overpriced.  Especially after I found making my own to be so simple and cheap.  And I will once again state – I do not sew!!!  I can sew a straight line, I can do things that are simple, but if it requires a lot of thought or measuring – um, nope.  There are a bunch of tutorials out there, well, a few.  I figured one more couldn’t hurt. 

 

My method…easy.  here goes…

 

My first step was to find a pair of pants and some sort of top to use for my belly band.  I picked up a pair of grey slacks from Goodwill, then found a tube top that I have had for about 10 years – and I do not exaggerate there lol.  Tube tops are actually my preferred top for this project since they already come equipped with elastic around the top. 

 

Other supplies needed:

Scissors

pins

sewing machine

thread

patience!

 

I started out by removing the zipper

 

 

I think this was the most tedious part of this project.  Once it was removed I needed to close up the fly.  I simply pinned it closed and sewed a quick straight stich close to the outer edge.  Most tutorials tell you to hand sew it…and this might have been a little prettier – but it was much easier to just use the sewing machine to sew it closed.  I forgot to get a pic of that right after I sewed the fly shut.

I found it to be easier to finish the fly before I moved on to the waistband, you may find it doesn’t matter.  So next I cut off the waist band right below it.

I chose to leave on the bottom part of the belt loops.  It just looks nicer once completed.  When I made jeans though, I removed those because it was just so difficult to sew over them.  I also noticed that on these pants, the pockets were sewn to the waistband, so once that was removed, the front of the pocket wasn’t attached to anything.  Although I could have pinned this together and sewn it all at one time when I put together the pants and the top, I find it easier to secure these parts before trying to deal with the top.  I pinned it down and put a quick stitch in the top of each pocket.  Every pair of pants you work with will have a different little glitch like this… just do what you think will work!

 

 

The next step was to attach the tube top.  I simply turned it inside and and slid it top down over the top of the pants.  Right sides should be facing each other, and the top part should be down towards the feet.  If you are in doubt of how you put them together, hold them as best you can together and turn the tube top back up – does that work?  I pinned it all the way around starting at the seams and working around the back first.  I pulled the back tight so that the tube top covered it all, and this part of the pants doesn’t need to be extra stretchy to wear.  The front on the other hand you want to try and avoid stretching too much since it will need some room to stretch once your belly grows.  I should also note that I put my pins up and down, rather than running horizontal to the waist.  I found that putting them horizontal they would slip and not hold the pieces together quite as snugly. 

Your in the homestretch now!  Now you need to sew the two pieces together.  I started the machine at the seam, and chose a stitch that I thought would be the strongest.  This seam will take a lot of abuse, so use strong thread and a strong stitch.

I kept getting hung up in the thick spots – as you can see from that little blob of thread where the fly is.  I was just patient, didn’t try to push things through and used a function on my machine that raised the back of the foot some to allow for bulkier fabrics. (I had to look that up in the owner’s manual)

 

And here you go… all done!!

And I did see a mistake… see the right side pocket?  Here, I will give you a close up…

Yea, missed that.. I should be more careful in the pinning process to get those spots under a pin!  My mistake and lesson learned hopefully helps one of you!  And to see them in action?

 

I hadn’t adjusted the top of the tube top yet to fit right above my belly.  I wanted to wait a bit until my belly was bigger, and I wore them for a while just folded down until I decided how I liked it. 

I didn’t take any pictures of that process, but it was also super simple.  I folded the top part down, and then sewed right above the elastic, then cut off the extra part.  It was a lot like the jean hemming tutes you see out there (which DO work FYI).  It was nice to wear it like a tube top for a while though as you can see in one of the above photos, it doubled as a cami. 

 

Well… that is it.. my DIY maternity pants.  I have done shorts, jeans, and some capris.  And  I know that if I need more, it’s so simple and cheap to do!  Anyone else been doing some simple sewing lately?

What I have been up to

It’s been a while since I have been here…it seems that my body has been keeping me busy trying to create a new life along with the many projects I have lined up for myself.  My energy levels in the evenings (when I write my posts) is, well, non-existent.  For some reason I have a little burst of energy tonight so I am going to take advantage of it! 

If you remember, I started putting together ideas for the master bedroom in this post.  I didn’t waste much time getting started.  Since we will be getting the house on the market before the end of March, I need to wrap up the majority of this project A-S-A-P.  I also decided that rather than waiting for all the info, I will post it as I go.  So the first project on the list is the board and batten on the walls.  There are some good tutorials out there, and it really seems like a no-brainer on how to put it up.  And CHEAP!!!  Love that part too. 

 

I got started with some furring strips that Garrett and I sanded down 3 sides to get them nice and smooth.  Then Jeff made all of my cuts for me.  I think the hardest part of this was deciding whether I should take out the baseboards or not.  I did buy the boards to replace them, but then decided that I didn’t want to tackle that.  Instead I am using the boards I purchased as the top part of the batten to make a thick edge to place a ledge on.  Check out these pics of the in process work:

 

First I painted the top half of the wall.

 

Next I put some lines on the wall to keep the top edge straight.

And then I marked the wall on each stud by using a stud finder.  I went ahead and taped up each board so that I could get an idea how they would fall and if I needed to fill any spaces. 

The bottom edge was my biggest concern, and although it does hang over some, I don’t think it will be very noticeable once it’s all painted white.

Here is what the top boards and ledge will be like.

So that’s where I am.  I need to permanently attach those boards with some liquid nails and nails, fill holes, prime them and paint them all white.  That’s on the agenda for this weekend.  I will try and fit that in with the home and garden show that is going to be at the Salem Civic Center on Saturday.

 

I have also been working on the master closet, so I thought I would share my current jewelry situation.  I think I am going to change it up and do some purging.  Here is what  it looks like now.

 

I don’t have any plans for it just yet.  But something on a smaller scale would probably work. 

 

And in case you missed it, I did share some news last week… I am expecting a new little member of the family in November.    We are hoping for a girl I think.

 

What have you guys been up to lately?

Pinterest challenge Winter edition -DIY Coffee sleeve

Winter??? Says who?  Well, either way, this is the winter edition of the YHL and Bower Power Pinterest challenge.  If you remember I shared the news last week and hinted at what I would tackle.  Well, I decided that I needed to stop eying this cute little cup sleeve and just make one already.  I really need to do projects like these to build some sewing skills.  Did I build sewing skills?  Maybe a little…. I DID realize that I need a basic sewing class very badly.  Adding that to the list of things to get taken care of this life-time. 

 

On to the tutorial… oh but first, see where I started from!

 

I pinned this a while back

 

Isn’t it cute!!????  Well I am an avid coffee and Starbucks lover, so this was something that I would put to good use on a regular basis.  The tutorial over at Crafty Staci is a pretty good one.  There was some impairment on my part since I really don’t know how to sew.  My mom was such a HUGE help.  She helped me get through most of it without throwing in the towel.  Here are the steps that I followed:

 

First I picked the materials that I wanted to use.  I used one piece of cotton I had just purchased and some silver stretchy material from a pair of pants that Hannah had in her dress up clothes (she was getting rid of them).  In retrospect… use all cotton! 

 

 

I had printed out the template that Staci had provided and cut it out.  She was specific to state not to let it scale down to print… I didn’t think I had, but possibly did a little. 

Next I used a fabric marker to trace it on my materials. Be sure to flip the template over for one of your outside fabrics. 

 

Here are all of my pieces laid out and ready to put together.  I ended up being able to get some batting that was lined with a heat resistant material from my mom (told you my mom hooked me up!).  I forget the name of it.

 

 

Before I could get to pinning it all together though, I had to make my little “hook”.  I took the hair band cut it in half, then used some super glue to hold the ends together until I could sew them down.

 

Next I layered all of my pieces together. This was actually kind of complicated for some reason.  Maybe because the tutorial I was using had used batting and ironing board material so there was extra pieces, or maybe I am a little slow… not sure on that one.  Either way, my mom and I figured it out. 

1. batting material

2. printed fabric face up

3. “hook”

4. printed fabric face down

 

Seems simple enough once it was put together.  My mom actually pinned it all down and turned it right side out to make sure it would work. 

Next it all got pinned together to get it ready for sewing

 

I would probably pin it in more places next time around.  Then sew an edge around it using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  I had major problems with this step (hence my mention of needing a sewing class).  It kept gathering on my and was really frustrating.

And using that stretchy material was exacerbating the issue for sure.  Here it is all stitched together.

And you notice that I stitched the whole thing?  Yea… I was supposed to leave a small section open to turn it all.  I just used my seam ripper and opened up a little spot.  Then I trimmed up all of the edges outside of my stitching.

 

And then turn it right side out and see how you did!  Just a couple more steps now…. take your turned piece and do a step I missed… IRON it!!  That should make things nice and flat.  Then take your whole piece and stitch as close to the edge as you can get all around it.  I had trouble with that little spot that I used to turn it but thanks to the advice given to me from Melanie over at The Crafty Cupboard, I think I can do a better job next time around.

 

Ok, down to the wire now…. we have to sew on that button!  I didn’t have any toothpicks, so I just used a spoon handle that seemed the appropriate thickness.  I closed up the sleeve and made a mark with my fabric marker where I should put the button.  Once I sewed it on I  wrapped the thread around underneath the button several times to add some support.

 

And voila!! Here you have it!  One coffee/drink sleeve made to order!  Whadya think??   I am, of course, my own worst critic, so I am not 100% happy with it.  There will be repeats of this!!  I am going to try one with all cotton and see how I do.  Oh and sign up for that sewing class   Notice the blooms on those trees??  Winter Sminter.  It’s spring in Virginia!!

 

Anyone else decide to jump into the challenge??  Go link up if you did, and please share here too!

 

younghouselove

Bower Power

The Great Indoors

Hi Sugarplum!

Bananas for red spray paint

I really do have a spray paint problem.  It’s becoming quite obvious.  I can’t imagine that it’s a surprise to anyone that my latest project involves a can of spray paint.  What can I say?  It’s a super simple and cheap fix for about anything.

Jeff and I had been debating over which banana holder to get for some time now.  I have no idea why this is such a hard decision…it should be a pretty simple pick.  Nope.  So when I came across this banana rack at the goodwill for .55 I couldn’t leave it.  OH yes, I did say 55 cents.  As in the change on the bottom of my purse (if I had change on the bottom of my purse that is).  Since we had a pretty full weekend, I figured this was one project I could get done pretty quick.  I used Rustoleum 2x spray paint again, and was very happy with the results. 

 

Here it is… now ready to reside in my kitchen!

 

I find it quite amusing that 5 out of 7 days a week we have bananas.  I went to take after shots of this tonight and guess what?  NO bananas!!  Ugh.  I am sure you can squint a little and just imagine a bunch of bright yellow bananas are hanging from that hook. 

 

So what did everyone else do this weekend?  Any spray painting going on???  We headed to Monterey, VA for the Highland Maple Festival again…. seriously amazing fresh maple syrup!!

Another Pinterest challenge – they just don’t get old!

It’s time for YHL and Bower Power’s regularly programmed Pinterest Challenge!! You know you have been pinning, you know you have a dozen projects you want to do. Well quit looking and talking and DO IT! I have a bunch of pins that are just no-brainers for getting done. I am pretty sure I have my project picked out, too. So go check out your boards and pick a project, then come back here next Wednesday, the 14th, and share what you did! Link up in the comments! Those crazy girls over there teamed up with Erin from The Great Indoors and Cassie from Hi Sugarplum! for this challenge. And if you aren’t familiar with Sherry at YHL and Katie at Bower Power you need to remedy that situation right now.

I think I will do one of these… you will have to wait till next week to find out which!

And while you are at it…go check out what everyone did over at:

younghouselove
Bower Power
The Great Indoors
Hi Sugarplum!

(Both Pinterest Challenge banners were found over at yhl)

Let the pinning begin!!!

DIY chevron rug from a towel

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post that I am purging some towels from our home, I decided to see if I could find a way to use a couple of them in other ways in our home.  I have a serious lack of rugs in this house.  As a matter of fact, I have 2 rugs – one in each bathroom.  I really need rugs in the kitchen, I want rugs in other places in the house for décor purposes.  I figured I could try this out, and if it doesn’t work, oh well, nothing lost but a little time and very little of my paint stash. 

 

Ok, well here goes… I am still not decided if this is a success.  I will have to let it hang out for a while.  It was very easy, but I am not sure if you can get it done without the helper that I had

 

One plain white towel.  I cut the end off that has the design on it as well as the edge on the opposite end.  I wanted it to be uniform on each side.

 

Then I used a level (because it was the longest thing I could find to make the lines) and measured lines all the way down the towel every 6 inches.  The tractors had to make sure I was keeping things even.  I then started placing my zigzags pretty much the same way I did in this tutorial where I made a DIY canvas.  You can’t really tell if they aren’t perfect, so just use your best judgment.  I did each row at a time, all zigs, then all zags… make sense??  Of course it does.

 

I just overlapped the tape as I went and trimmed up any edges I didn’t like.  Oh, and I used a plain old masking tape, about 2 inches wide.

 

Once all the lines were on, place child on towel to ensure all edges are nice and tight.  The dog on the corners is optional.

 

Next I chose a paint.  I was going to use green, but I forgot I used it all on the green wall.  Yellow it is then!  I used a small sponge applicator since that is what I had on hand.  I didn’t want to use a paint brush because I was afraid it would lay too much paint.  I did end up putting more paint in the first row than I would have liked, but it still worked well.

One line done…

 

And paired up with my lovely sunbeam mug… coffee just tastes better in that mug.

And here it is… It does look like a towel huh?  My plan is to apply some non-skid backing on it to keep it from sliding as well as give it a little stiffness. 

I guess we will see how it holds up and if I like looking at it.  I am hoping I like it and can figure out other ways to use towels like this.  It would be awesome if I could make rugs for several rooms to at least use to get the house on the market.  I think I am going to need to break down at some point and actually spend a little money on a real rug.

 

And since I have a love for chevrons, check out this window display I saw at a shopping mall in Richmond a weekend ago.  I couldn’t help but snap a picture.

 

 

Anyone else find any items to repurpose lately?  Maybe you made something or bought something you aren’t quite sure about?