Fabric Scrap Magnet

This is such an easy project, and I was happy that for once I had all the supplies I needed right here at home.  It was also a chance for me to use my new sewing machine.  I am only a beginner sewer (is that a word?), so this was the perfect project for me.

 

The first thing you need is your supplies: scissors, fabric scraps, stamps, an ink pad, a needle, and thread.  If you have a sewing machine it goes much quicker, but you could do this project without it.

 

Step one: Cut fabric scraps into strips.  This is a pretty big magnet, so my pieces were 3-4 inches long, but you could do smaller strips.  I purposely made them different lengths.

Step Two:  Create your message on a white (or light-colored) piece of fabric.  You could you Sharpies if you don't have stamps to create the message.

Step Three:  Overlap your strips of fabric, and then pin your message on top.  You just need enough pins to keep the whole thing from falling apart when you sew.

Step Four: Sew around the edge of your message.  This keeps the entire thing held together.  The contrast of the thread also makes the message stand out.

Step Five:  The piece is obviously very flimsy because it is, after all, only made of fabric.  Here comes the part where I needed to dig through the garbage.  I needed a piece of cardboard to stabilize my project.  Because I am no longer hoarding things I don't immediately need, I had thrown several small pieces of cardboard away the day before.  The hoarder in me felt totally justified.  This is exactly why I hold on to things-- you never know when you will need them.  I did manage to find a piece of cardboard in the trash that wasn't too disgusting to use.  I cut it to fit the size of my fabric scraps.  Then I attached a large magnet on the back with good ol' Elmer's school glue.

Step Six:  Hang up your magnet, step back, and admire your work.  This entire project takes only about 10 minutes.  It's a quick, easy way to add a little pizazz to your refrigerator.  Ours is currently holding up our Summer Fun List.

Welcome Sign from Wood Lathe

My sister and her husand just bought a great turn of the century house (and I don't mean this century, either). 

 

It definitely needed a lot of work, but there was so much untapped potential that they were able to see. It is definitely a work in progress, but it is coming along beautifully and it has so. much. space!!! All this to say that I new there would be treasures for me to work with, and I was not dissapointed.  The other day I dug around the scrap wood pile and found some wooden lathe.  I knew immediately I wanted to make some kind of sign.  I just waited for inspiration to strike, and a few days later it did.

 

See the welcome sign I had for sale at my latest craft sale?  I'm going to show you how to make one of your own with supplies you probably already have.  And hopefully you have a generous brother-in-law who allows you to poke around his discard pile for scraps of wood.

 

 

I just laid the boards side-by-side and stapled them together.  It looks a little rough, but this is the back so it doesn't really matter.

 

 

I tried gluing the paper to the wood, but it was too rough, so I had to sand it down. 

 

I bought this great paper at Michael's a few weeks ago.  I applied Mod Podge to the paper and placed it on the wood.  I liked that the pattern looked vintage, but the colors were a little too bright.

 

I took tan acrylic paint (white would work, too), and covered the paper with a thin layer of paint.

I took a knife along the edge of each board to look like each board was individually papered.  I also gave it a good sanding.  The paper was fragile and it ripped easily, but I was okay with that since I wanted this sign to look old.

 

This is what it looked like after painting and sanding.

Then I just added the word "Welcome" with a sharpie and added a little design.   I love how it turned out.  And the best part?  It was a completely free project since I already had all the supplies.

Kid-Friendly Terrariums

I've been wanting to make terrariums for a long time, and the crisp fall air today seemed perfect for a trip to the forest to find moss.  I took the kids to Caledonia State Park.  I took lots of pictures of them, but they never stopped moving so I apologize for the blurriness.

 

Despite the confused look on her face Amirah really did love looking for moss.

 

The materials you need for making terrariums are small rocks (we collected ours, but you can buy them pretty much anywhere), potting soil, active charcoal (available at pet stores), a glass enclosed container of some sort, and plants.  We used moss, but you can plant mini succelents as well.

 

I was surprised at how many types of shades of moss we found in our short 10 minute walk.

 

The neighbor kids got in on the action too. 

 

Putting soil in the jar...



We had some moss left over so I placed some in a pot I had.  Not sure how long it'll last, but I thought it was so pretty and didn't just want to throw it out.



 

The finished product.

 



 

Directions:

 

1.  Find an empty clear container.

2.  Layer the bottom with rocks.

3.  Add a thin layer of active charcoal. 

4.  Add an inch or so of potting soil.

5.  Put a layer of moss on the top.

6.  Put the lid on.

7.  Cross your fingers and hope that the moss lives.

"Ghost" Lamp

There's a new trend in decorating that I've heared referred to as the "ghost" lamp.  And I couldn't wait to find a lamp shade with which to make one.  (Why is that correct grammar sometimes sounds so silly?)  A few months ago I bought this lamp from a lady who was selling some things from her storage unit. 

I really wanted the shade only, but she insisted on the base, too.  I bought the lamp for $1.00 and I figured I could do something cool with base later.

 

 The first thing to do was to cut away all the vinylish (is that a word) shade. 
 

 

I loved the shape of the particular lamp.  It reminds me of a flower.

 



 

For the life of me I could not figure out a way to get a hanging light through this, so I got out the power tools.  Oh, wait.  I don't know how to use power tools.  Instead I used a pair of very dull wire cutters.  It took me a very long time to cut through that metal, but I was finally left just the right amount of space with which to place my lightbulb socket.

 



 

The only other supplies needed were strips of fabric and fabric glue.  This particular fabric comes from a friend of mine who rescued these curtains from another friend.  Thanks Diane and Jocelyn!

 



 

I just wrapped the fabric around and around and around and glued as I went.  I am planning to spray paint the black part of the lamp kit so it blends better.  I'm thinking maybe red or bright blue to match the floral details in the fabric.  It took about an hour to do this entire project and since the only thing I needed to buy was the lamp shade itself the total cost for this project was $1. 

This is not the best photograph, but you can see how nicely the shadows from the lamp show up on the walls.  It's beautiful, isn't it?  Oh, and ignore the piles of toys just south of the lamp.  Keeping it real, folks.  Keeping it real. 

Marbelizing Paper

There is definitely an art to marbelizing paper.  Please keep in mind that I did this project with a four year old so the results weren't exactly as I anticipated.   And although this has nothing to do with anything vintage I chose to add it to this blog because it's a really fun DIY project.  It's messy, so it really should be an outdoor project. 

 

Here's what you need:

Shaving cream

Acrylic paint (watered down slightly)

Paper

Toothpicks

 

 

Our first step was to put shaving cream in a large container that you don't mind getting a little dirty.  A shallower container would be ideal, but this is what I had, so that's what I used for our project.  Amirah liked the smell of the shaving cream. 

 

I have a hard time remembering to record each step of a tutorial.  You should take your watered down paint and then just add it in drops. 

 

Then use toothpicks to make a marbelized look like below. 

 

The next step is to take your paper and place it on the shaving cream. 

We dipped our paper three different times.  You can see the three sections below.

You just want the paint to stay on the paper, and not the shaving cream, so take something with a straight edge (like a ruler or spatula) to scrape off the shaving cream.  Be careful!  The paper is slightly wet, so it's easy to rip. 

Amirah took a lot of these pictures for me, and I particularly like this one with her cute little toes.

After allowing it to dry you have beautiful paper to use for making cards, wrapping presents, or even framing!

Let's Try Again!

After my not-so-successful craft sale in May, I've collected my gumption and am trying again.  I've been having so much fun this summer puttering around.  Here's what I've been working on lately...

 

I saw this table sitting outside my neighbor's house for several days.  It was a little scratched, and a little outdated, but I spotted a treasure.  I rather sheepishly asked her if it was outside sitting forlornly because it was free, and if so... could I have it?  She gave the go-ahead, and so I picked this little gem and started dreaming about what she could be.

 

 

I took all 18 of the old screws out with a screw-driver since I still don't know how to use power tools.  I really need to learn that.  Once the pieces were taken apart it was time to sand them down a bit.  I tried using my Dad's sander, but it was having a mind of it's own that day so I ended up sanding most of it by hand.  Did I mention I'm not so good with power tools?

Then it was time to prime it, and let it dry.  

At the last minute I decided to paint the legs gold for a little drama.  I had to make a special trip to Michael's for some gold spray paint.  There I found not only gold paint, but a cranky cashier as well (but that's a story for another time.)

 



I love nothing more than a beautiful polka-dot.  The only tools I needed were acrylic paint, a stencil brush, and a stencil.  

 

This is what it looked like after one round. 

Here's the finished project.  I love how the gold glass in the center pays homage to the gold legs as well as the polka dots.  I love how it all came together. 

 





Isn't this glass beautiful?



 

This is probably one of the simplest projects I've done in a while, and it's probably my favorite, too.  I found this bud vase two days ago at Michael's, only it was clear then.  I dyed it using Mod-Podge and food coloring.  You can read more about that process here.  The frame was a thrift-store find that once held a cross-stitch picture of a panda eating bamboo :)

 



Side view

 

I think this particular piece is going to evolve into something else, but I'm not quite sure yet how that is going to happen.  Right now it is pieces of tissue paper glued to canvas and painted gold with a black stencil of a chandelier.  (Just in case you couldn't see that for yourself.)

 



I've had two of these shutters in my outside storage shed for years.  I finally decided to paint one of them.   It was really hard to paint on.  It says "This Way Up".  I think I may paint over it and try something else.  We'll see.

As you can see... there's a lot happening here.  Some things I love.  Some things are a work-in-progress.  I love the creative process.  It's so fulfilling!