Saturday, October 29, 2011

One craft down...

I love our house.  I really do.  We were super fortunate to come across this find.  It's roomy and bright and our landlord allows us to make it our home.  Our last house, in our last town, was still on the market when we rented it and therefor, we were unable to hang anything up on the walls.  I have a lot of walls here and I sure am enjoying getting to unpack my belongings and find a new home for them.  In our living area we have a large wall that needed something substantial to hang on it.  Nothing we had really worked there.  During my daily perusings of the internet I came across this tutorial on how to turn an old frame into a display for several photos.  I thought to myself, "Now here's an easy craft I feel pretty confident in doing."

I sent out the word that I was on the lookout for a large wooden frame in any condition.  My wonderful mother was able to find one at an auction and picked it up for a whopping $2.50.
What $2.50 can get you...

I sanded it down and painted it.  Spray paint would have been easier and faster, but it also costs money and I'm not all for that.  Instead, I used left-over wall paint and gave it a couple of coats.  After it dried I sanded it again to give it a slightly aged look.

I bought some natural jute at Hobby Lobby and used thumb tacks to string it on the frame.  The original tutorial used upholstery tacks and pinned it on the front of the frame but I preferred to do mine on the back.


I had ordered some pictures to hang on the jute but I wasn't sure what size to get.  I opted for 4x6 but next time I may order 5x7.  I didn't want to use full size clothespins and couldn't find the small ones anywhere.  Instead, I used some binder clips that I picked up at the dollar store and found I like the look better than the clothespins.



I may add another line of jute and more pictures or I may order larger sized pictures, I haven't decided yet.  I thought of taking off the hanging line but I actually don't mind that you can see it.  All in all, it was a cheap and easy project and I am loving how it looks on my wall.

P.S. I have 400 feet left of Jute if anyone can suggest crafts that use it. ; -)

Monday, October 24, 2011

Another day, another craft

The other day my husband ripped a giant hole in the seat of his jeans as we were leaving church.  Not wanting to let these jeans go to waste I got online and searched for some crafts that I could make using the denim.  I still do not own a sewing machine, and even if I did I wouldn't know how to work it, so my craft choices were quite limited.  I did, however, come across these and thought I would give it a try.  My go at it didn't look as good or neat but considering my current level of abilities I grade myself on a curve. ;-)

I found one little scrap of purple fabric so I decided to use it but unfortunately I only had enough for one clip.





All and all I am pleased and my daughter loves it.  I will definitely be making more of these in the future.

P.S. If anyone was looking to get me a Christmas gift I could really use a nice, sharp pair of scissors. :-)

Thursday, October 20, 2011

It's been one of those days...

There are many moments during my days of being a stay-at-home mom where I just want to crawl into bed with a bag full of chewy Jolly Ranchers and watch episodes of Charmed.  Unfortunately, I doubt my children would appreciate me telling them to fend for themselves - "get your own food, change your own diaper!"  Yeah, don't think that would go over so well.  Today I woke up tired, with a headache and in an incredibly foul mood.  However, yesterday I made a trip to Hobby Lobby and got supplies for an art project I promised my 4 year old we could do, and could not let her down.  So, after putting mister to bed, I cleared a section of the dining room table and set the supplies out.

I had previously posted about the lack of decor in my daughters room and my quest to remedy it as cheaply as possible.  Today's activity was to make art to hang in her room using paint and canvas which I got on sale, two for $3.99.  Not bad!

During my internet surfing that occupies most evenings while watching post season baseball, I came across a picture that someone had posted of homemade art.  I didn't pin it (for all you pinterest junkies) and therefore was unable to find it again as a reference for todays activity.  So, I just kinda winged it.

I gave my daughter a canvas to do with as she wants and the two of us set about creating a masterpiece. ;-)


She's working so hard.

Showing off her painted feet.  She thought I was a little crazy I have to admit.

Mommy's finished work.  Not great I admit.  The caterpillar was made with missy's fingerprints. She thought that was hilarious.

She decided her picture needed a Caterpillar too.

And her finished product.  It's a flower and a caterpillar. 

All in all, a pretty good way to spend the morning and my horrible mood is somewhat lightened.  I guess painting is therapeutic....

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

In a crafty state of mind...

It's great living here in our new home.  We are able to decorate and hang things on the walls, which is a luxury coming from our old home where we could not.  I had fun decorating baby brother's room and have it just like I want it.  Sister's room, however, has been seriously lacking in the cute decor department.  She has been asking me for weeks when I was going to decorate her room.  "Sure," I'd think, "I'll get right on that."  Only problem is, I don't currently have anything to go in her room.  Everything that she owns is already out and we just do not have the money to buy anything new right now.  So, out of desperation I started perusing the internet, going to such places as Stumbleupon and Pinterest.  I happened to come across the idea to turn shoe box lids into art.  I found many different ways to do this, some using fabric (which I don't have) and others using Mod Podge (which I also don't have).  So I went scavenging around the house and found two small shoe box lids and a cache of scrapbook paper.  I dug around in the craft cabinet until I found an old glue stick that hadn't yet dried up and set to work while brother was napping.


Getting started with my supplies on hand.

Once I decided on my paper I trimmed it to size and wrapped it around the lid, using tape and glue to make sure it stayed put.

Here's the finished product.  I just played around with the paper. I have a heart hole-punch and made the "Z" free hand.

All hung up.  I had intentions of having the big lid lying horizontally but got distracted in my creative efforts, realizing my mistake too late.  Oh, well.

I have also spent a good portion of the afternoon in the garage painting, but those are different crafts for different posts.  Happy crafting my friends!!


Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Two in one day - WOW

Well, after my last blog post this morning I decided to peruse the internet and find a craft that could be done with materials I had on hand.  I decided to try this t-shirt head band with an old t-shirt I had lying around.

I have like 10 of these so it was an easy decision.

I wasn't sure how big I wanted my strips so I cut them about 1 inch wide.  Next time I will do narrower strips.  I also do not own a sewing machine so I had to do the stitching the old fashioned way.


I pinned this to my pants and found the process quite easy and fast.  My weave isn't as neat as the one in the tutorial but I like it.


I glued on the final piece.  It will be an experiment to see how well it stays together.


Pretty pleased with it myself.  My dome is huge so this one is for my daughter.

She likes it.  Then little brother had to have his picture taken too.


He doesn't have enough hair for a headband.  Okay, who wants one? :)

UPDATE:

I also made this next one using thinner strips.  I love how you can also clip a bow on it!



Nothing but time...

Sad thing about wanting to be crafty is that you need a little coin to buy the materials.  Sigh.  I have a project I am really wanting to do but until our finances even out a little bit it will have to wait.  Until then, I have spent some time scrapbooking and making bows with my box-o-ribbon that my mother sent me.  Here's some pictures of the bows I have made recently:



There are a couple more that I have made but they have mysteriously disappeared somehow... ;)

This Christmas will be a homemade Christmas for many.  I wont post pictures of those projects though until after the holidays. Don't want to ruin the surprise you know ;).

Happy crafting my friends!