Hand Trees

I saw an idea a few years back, but I can't remember where I originally saw this posted.

Anyway, I kept this idea in the back of my mind to save for when we have kids. Fast forward a few years and I decided to make this with my sister's kids.

It's really easy. You'll need about a yard or 2 of a solid fabric. Trace the kids hands and arms (to the elbows) on this fabric.

I bought fat quarters in coordinating fabric to cut out leaves and circles. The circles became the clouds. It takes a butt-ton of leaves. If you're not used to this form of measurement, cut out leaves until your hands cramp, stop for the day, start again the next day, and cut out more leaves until your hands cramp again. Then you may have enough.

Mod Podge it all onto a canvas. I think this one is 17x20.

Remember how I said a while back we redid our guest bathroom...well, this fit in nicely with our gray & yellow color scheme! Super happy dance!

Sealing Jar

I saw this a while back and thought it would be a good wedding gift for a friend of mine who recently got married. I didn't feel comfortable including the whole letter because, well, it's kind of personal and doesn't apply to us. I think the last time I canned something was about 6 years ago. I'm not a canning kind of girl.

However, I do have some Mason jars. I'm from the South and we drink from 'em! Just kidding. I mean sometimes we do, but that's not why I have them. I was in college when the first "painting jar craze" hit & I still have one from an old college roommate.

It's the blue one.

Anyway, I grabbed one of those bad boys up and thought I would just write the general message of the original post, but the jar was kind of gross.
So I painted it. Then I just wrote on it with a Sharpie.

I found a cute lid (I think it looks better than the brass ones) & tied some raffia around the top.

Cute, simple, cheap, easy. My four favorite things in a home-made gift.

Giving money as a gift

No one complains when you give them cash, but wouldn't it be great to receive it any other way besides in a card?

My cousin recently graduated. We gave him money. Years ago my aunt received a small (about 10 inches) artificial tree with money tied to the branches. What would a teenage boy do with a fake miniature tree?

I went to the local dollar store and bought a lei and some ribbon. I used the ribbon to attach the dollar bills to the lei.

He wore it all night...I think it was a hit!

I looked up some other ideas as well to give you some other options and these are some cute things I found:

Kids Cups

We finally live close enough for my family to visit us regularly. My sister has two adorable kids-a boy and a girl. We don't have kids of our own, but we try to spoil them as much as possible!

One thing that we're not used to (since we're childless) is the constant need for something to drink. I want them to be independent and try to do things for themselves. I decided that having them take care of their own drinks of water would be a step in the right direction.

I found some cups-Avengers for him, Tinkerbell for her. I used hot glue to attach some magnets on the back.

Now they're on the fridge ready for them whenever they want a drink of water!

Paper Towel Roll Art

It seems as though I've become obsessed with reusing rolls from paper towels & toilet paper. I decided to use my latest collection to make a piece of art for our guest bedroom.

You'll need rolls from paper towels and/or toilet paper cut into 1/2 inch sections, paint, and hot glue.

I constructed the piece on my floor first to help with scale and the look of the whole project.

I kept the whole thing together, just taking out one piece at a time to glue it together. Then I painted the whole thing and hung it up.

After doing several projects like this, I've learned that it's much easier to paint the tubes before cutting them. Paint the inside & outside of the tubes, let dry, then cut into sections.

the stickers are courtesy of my niece ;) she helped me decorate
the room until we got a bed to go in it :)

Candle Holders

I found this idea for candle holders, but I couldn't find colored tape. I mean, I have a hard enough time finding regular transparent tape and now Mar-tha wants me find colored tape. Geez!

Instead, I grabbed some double-sided tape, 2 clear candle holders, some glitter, and (of course) 2 candles.

I wrapped the tape around the edge of the candle holders & rolled it around in glitter.

Boom! Done!
Super easy, and really cheap. The whole deal only cost me $5. Take that Martha & your colored tape!

Easy DIY Curtains

We needed some curtains. Badly. All of our windows were bare because we couldn't either 1) find a curtain to match our stuff or 2) agree on one that kinda/sorta did match our stuff.

I thought it would be easier to find a material we both liked & then I could make the curtains myself.

There are lots of fancy ways to make curtains, but honestly, I just want something to cover my windows. The material I picked for the kitchen was pretty busy so I wanted it to be the focus, not some fancy way the curtain hangs on the window. The ones I did for the living room & bathroom are simple too because of the decor in those rooms.

You'll need:
material
double-folded bias tape
sewing machine
coordinating threads (one to match the fabric, one to match the bias tape)

First, measure the window you'll be covering. You'll need to measure width & length according to what you want the curtains to be when you're done. For example, if you want the curtain to reach to the floor, measure from where the curtain will hang on the rod to the floor. In other words, measure from where the curtain will hang on the rod to where you want the curtain to stop. When you pick out your material use these measurements, but add 5 inches to the length.

clicking on any image will enlarge it

You'll also need to figure out the perimeter measurement of your material. For example, in the image above, I will have 2 panels that are 55 inches long and 20 inches wide. 55+55+20(for one panel) x2(for the other panel)=260 inches. This is how much bias tape you will need. Most is sold by the yard so divide by 3 to get how many yards you'll need.

Once you get the material cut, take the bias tape & open it up on just one fold.

 Place the material inside the fold &, using a coordinating thread, sew along all but the top edge.

To get the top of the curtain, you'll need to follow the next 2 steps using the other coordinating thread:

I used this technique to make curtains for my guest bathroom (after we changed the decor...more on that later):

And my kitchen:

I also made a table runner using the same basic concept:

I'm covering the candles next week!

Happy sewing y'all! If you need any clarification on any steps, just leave a comment!!

How To: Subway Art

Subway art is kind of a big deal, if you didn't know. I think it's a cute, fun idea to showcase favorite quotes, house rules, etc. You could go out and buy something that sort of fits your home or you could do it yourself...let's focus on the DIY aspect of it.

These instructions are for Photoshop, btw. I tried to keep it as simple as possible so I present: Subway Art in 10 steps or less! (It's really 10 steps so you can see how the whole thing came together.)

First, create a new canvas by going to "File", "New", and then creating the actual canvas. I started out with an 8x11 72ppi blank canvas then used the paint bucket tool for the background color.

Then I used the Text Tool to create each layer. I created a screen shot of each layer I created so you could see the text and font size of each layer. These images can be made larger by clicking on them.

To create the sideways text, I simply typed in the text box then used the arrows to turn the text box.

Using different size fonts is key. You want to make it look random without it actually being random. Plan it out in your head & make changes as necessary.

I wouldn't suggest using more than 3-4 different types of fonts. If you use more than that it looks less like subway art & more like a 3rd grade collage.

 I made "stand out" in a different color because I thought it would look appropriate. I mean, it would make the words, ya know, stand out.

The last step is cropping and flattening the layers. This is the finished project.

Problem window

I have waited for an eternity to dress up the window in our living room. Mainly because I lost the hardware for the curtain rod. Sounds lame, I know, but that's what's been the hold up.

I saw something on Martha Stewart that suggested using shelf brackets as a way to hold the curtain rod, but I have a fear of Lowe's and Home Depot so I never went. I finally sucked it up and got all the stuff I needed. 

I need to make a wider curtain, but I'll get to that.

To make the sign, I just painted some wooden letters and super glued them to a white canvas. Super easy.

Oatmeal Hairband Holder

Ya know when you see something, think it's a neat idea, but also know that there's got to be a way to improve on it? That's the way I felt when I first saw someone turn an old container of oatmeal into a holder for their hair accessories.

Now, the way I saw it done was the lady (I'm assuming it was a lady) covered the container in scrapbooking paper. That's cool and all, but I didn't want this busy looking thing sitting in my corner of the room where I couldn't really see the designs of my super cool headbands.

For that reason, I'm changing this post's name to Super Cool Headband Holder. Deal with it!

You'll need:
paint
an empty oatmeal container
a candlestick...just go with it, k?
strong-ish glue (I used good ol' super glue)

Paint that bad boy. Glue the candlestick to the bottom & put your headbands on the outside of the container.

Put all of your other hair accessories (elastics, bows, bobby pins, etc) on the inside.

It was so easy & it's not an eyesore.

CHRISTMAS ON THE CHEAP: Ribbon Bookmarks

If you have an avid book reader on your list, use this to cross them off your list. I had most of this stuff on hand so I was able to make this for free! I listed a hair elastic in the materials needed, but I used a piece of elastic that I had on hand and sewed it into a circle. I realize not everyone has this, but I wanted to make this as cheap as possible for everyone.

You'll need:
ribbon
hair elastic
button

Measure a length of ribbon using a book as a guide. I just grabbed the nearest book & used it. Place the ends of the ribbon near a lighter or burning candle to seal the edges. Place the hair elastic at one end of the ribbon & fold the end over. Either by hand-stitching or with a machine, sew the end down.

Sew the button onto the end without the hair elastic.

Boom! Done!

CHRISTMAS ON THE CHEAP: Felt Dolls

We haven't been blessed with kids of our own. This means we get to spoil our nieces & nephews! Spoil them rotten then send them home! Merry Christmas to us!

My soon-to-be-four-year-old niece loves dolls. She seriously has a dollhouse at every home she goes to except ours. My mom actually has 2 for her to play with at her place. Our apartment isn't all that small, but it's too small for a dollhouse. I decided to make her something a little special for her to play with when she visits us.

I found this case at a local craft store & painted it pink then glued some gemstones to it. (Like most girls her age she likes things that sparkle.)

I used spray glue to attach some felt to the inside of the top.

Then I cut bodies & clothes out of different colors of felt. I even cut out some hair. I drew the shape I wanted onto one sheet of felt then used it as a template to cut out the other dolls. Then I used the doll shapes to cut out the clothes, ensuring they would fit and the dolls would be modest ;)

I'm very excited about this & I hope she likes it!!

CHRISTMAS ON THE CHEAP: A Couple's Gift

We decided to do home-made gifts to each other this year. This works great if you're friends with a couple or for your parents, spouse, whatever. You can even save this idea to use as a wedding gift.

I found the lyrics to the song we danced to at our wedding: "At Last" by Etta James. I copied the lyrics over and over again to take up a whole Word document.

Then I used the Google to find an outline of a tree I liked, blew it up on my laptop screen, then used my laptop as light box to trace the tree.

I cut the tree out as well as some leaves I printed onto green paper. I glued the tree and the leaves onto black cardstock to make it more sturdy.

I printed a heart on pink paper with our initials in the middle and glued it to the tree.
Then I painted a watercolor "landscape". Super easy! I promise. Run water over paper designed for watercolor paintings. Get it wet. Not dripping, but damp. Wet your paints, then brush the color on. I did one half in brown, then went over it with green, and then painted the other half in blue. Let it dry completely then glue the tree on.

So cute!

LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS ON THE CHEAP: Twine Letters

I know there are some of you (me included) who wait till the last second or have gifts you need to pick up for people you were thisclose to forgetting about! This month, I'm setting out to help you.

I bought this stuff a while back, before our move, and it's been sitting in my closet for a long time begging to be done.

If you can't find wooden letters, you can just cut it out of really thick cardboard. Same idea.

You'll need:
hot glue
letter
twine
anything you want to stick on it

It really works best if you cut the twine into manageable lengths so you don't have to worry about it getting knotted.

Just hot glue the twine down every now & again to help keep it in place.

I found these flowers at the local craft store. They were part of a garland. I just cut the flowers off of it because I really hated the garland, but loved the flowers. Use some extra twine or a ribbon to hang the letter & you're done!