Knock-off Week: Rose pillow

Note: I'm having some issues with pictures. Sorry! I was able to salvage one.

I'm not usually a throw pillow kind of girl. You know, the one who has 20 pillows on the bed and another 10 on the couch. I think they're a waste of space and money. However, I do like pretty things and I do like my home to feel welcoming. I also like for my guests to think that I care about my home's appearance. I found this at West Elm while surfing the net one day:

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Isn't it precious? However, I flat-out refuse to pay $47 for one pillow. $47! And that's marked down! Heck no! ...So I decided to make it instead.

You'll need:

felt

hot glue & gun

fabric that coordinates with felt

pillow form

sewing machine

coordinating thread

Measure the pillow form & cut out 2 pieces of fabric to cover it.

Remember my St Patrick's Day wreath? Repeat the same process for making the felt rosettes until you get enough to cover one piece of fabric.

Sew the 2 pieces of fabric together on 3 sides.

Slip in the pillow form & sew the remaining side closed.

Glue the rosettes onto the front of the pillow.

Knock-off Week: Tiered Platters

I love this from JSG Oceana:

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However, we are college students getting ready to move across the country and are, therefore, broke.as.a.joke. No lie. I still want a "fancy" tiered glass service set though for those time when we have friends over & the food just won't fit on our table.

Thank goodness Dollar Tree is just right down the road. 

You'll need: 

2 plates

1 bowl

2 taper candle holders

strong glue

Glue one candlestick holder onto the bottom of 1 plate and another onto the bottom of the bowl according to the directions on the glue. 

I didn't glue all three dishes together for storage purposes, but you can if you like. I just don't have a space where something of this size will fit properly. Besides, not gluing them all together gives me different options in stacking them.

Now, I don't trust the glue to hold up in the dishwasher, but the glue you use may be fine. Also, if one breaks, no big deal! I can just run to the Dollar Tree & replace it!

Knock-off Week: Calvin Klein bracelet

I am all about being frugal. I've said many times, "Don't buy what you can make." This week is dedicated to proving that you don't have to buy everything. Sometimes going the cheaper route is best.

I love jewelry! Even using "love" is still a bit of an understatement...ask my husband. I have so many necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, etc he complains a bit every time I open my jewelry box. I must admit though, most of my pieces I get at really good prices, but I knew that he would flip out if I paid retail for this beauty:

Source. $100!!!

Yeah, he would have flipped his lid on that one. So...I decided to try my hand at making something similar for about a 1/10th of the cost.

You'll need:
6-8 inches of black leather cording, depending of desired length

jump rings, I used 62

round disks (you can find these near the jump rings), I used 10

1 clasp, I went with a lobster clasp
2 cord ends

Fasten 1 cord end to one end of the cording. Attach one half of the clasp. This will help the jump rings and disks not slide off while you're working. Slide on jump rings and jump rings with disks attached to them (or loaded) onto the cording. I alternated using the following pattern: 5 empty, 1 loaded, 6 empty, 1 loaded, 5 empty, 1 loaded, 6 empty, 1 loaded.... until I reached 10 loaded jump rings. Then I ended with 5 empty.

Attach the other cord end and use a jump ring to attach the other half of the clasp.

Cherry Blossom Tree

One of my favorite things about the East Coast is the Cherry Blossoms. They smell wonderful and are a definite signal spring is on its way. Here in the Idaho desert, there are no Cherry Blossoms...unless you count the one in my kitchen.

You'll need:
1.25 or 2L bottle
black paint
pink paint (you may need white to tone it down)
a canvas or piece of wood

Paint a random "branch" onto the canvas with the black paint. The lines don't have to be perfectly straight. I think it looks better if they aren't.

Mix the white & pink paints to get a nice pink color. I mixed 2 parts "hot pink" to 1 part white.

Dip the bottom of the bottom of the bottle into the pink paint.

Press the bottle bottom onto the canvas to create the flowers. I used an eraser tip to create the flower centers. Allow to dry & hang.

St Patrick's Day Wreath

I think before long my new neighbors will realize I have a wreath for every holiday. Yeah, I'm one of those people.
My hubby & I are both of Irish descent. We don't take St Patrick's Day too seriously, but we do take time to honor our Irish heritage.
First stop: a wreath.

You'll need:
plain Styrofoam wreath (or something of similar material)
glue gun
scissors
1/2yd fabric
felt (I used 6 pieces)

Using a template, cut circles of at least 2 sizes out of the felt. The smaller size will help fill in the gap that the larger ones create.

Cut the circles into spirals. If you have fancy-edged scissors use them to create interesting edges on your flowers.

Starting on the outside, roll the felt together. Try to keep the bottom edge as flat and even as possible.

Cut the fabric into 3 inch strips and wrap around wreath.

Use a low-temp glue gun to glue the flower together. Then glue the flower to the wreath.

Keep going until the wreath is covered or the desired look is achieved.

Camera Buddy

I often kid that I have four jobs: housewife, student, shoe salesperson, and photographer. I love all of my jobs (sometimes I love the student job less), but I'm most excited about being a photographer. I get to meet lots of interesting people and capture so many special moments. One of the toughest things about that job though is making sure the kids look at the camera. Most of the time they want to focus on Mom or Dad or some shiny object that just caught their eye. This helps:

I love my little guy! He's really easy to make. Even better, I bought everything I need from the Dollar Tree! I made this little guy for $2!

You'll need a puppet animal, scrunchy of a coordinating color, fabric pen or marker, needle, and thread.

Place the scrunchy on top of the body of the puppet & trace the outer circle with a fabric pen or marker.

Cut out the hole.

Sew the scrunchy into the hole that you just created. Also, sew the bottom closed where your hand would normally go.

Slide the puppet onto the lens of your camera.

Pretzel Treats

I'm gonna do a two-fer. Two treats, one episode ;)

Depending on the one you want to try, you'll need either Rolos & pecan halves or Hershey Hugs to go along with the pretzels. The squares work better than most pretzels. I've tried many kinds and this is best.

Lay the pretzels in a single layer onto a cookie sheet. Top each pretzel with a Rolo or a Hug.

Bake at 350 3-5 minutes. Top Rolos with pecan halves. Top Hugs with another pretzel.

Enjoy those little guys!