Monday, October 31, 2011

DIY Burlap Bulletin Boards

I've been busy crafting away for a luncheon I'm planning. As part of that I'm making a few raffle prizes.

I have several canvases I bought at Michael's awhile ago and thought I'd make one into a bulletin board.

I started by cutting a piece of burlap just slightly larger than the canvas (with enough extra to fold over each side).

Lay the canvas centered on the burlap and staple around the edges. It's best to start in the middle on all 4 sides (making sure you pull the burlap snug) and then work your way out to each corner.

Once you get to the corner, flatten the excess burlap to give a nice clean finish on the front and staple it down.


The front should look like this:


You can leave it as is, but I decided to embellish it a little more with ribbon and upholstery tacks.

I used my staple gun to attach a strip of ribbon on the back side and hammered in an upholstery tack to each corner.


Here is the finished product:


 

Friday, October 28, 2011

Lasagna Rolls

A recipe once again inspired by Pinterest! I've seen a few pictures that look similar and couldn't wait to try it out!

I started by cooking up a box of lasagna noodles and some ground beef. Then I gathered my red sauce, ricotta cheese, and spinach, but you could really fill these with anything!

I layed out three noodles across my cutting board, covered them with sauce, and sprinkled the cheese, ground beef, and spinach.

Start at one end and roll them up, then place in a baking dish.


I made 9 which was the perfect amount for us to eat for dinner and take to work the next day!

Once they were all rolled, I topped each with red sauce and some shredded mozzarella cheese.


Baked at 375 for 20 minutes. Delicious!!




Thursday, October 27, 2011

Mason Jar Caddy

I LOVE the look of mason jars in a wire caddy filled with flowers, office supplies, or even silverware. I've been on the hunt for a wire caddy for quite sometime.

This old milk glass caddy is darling with wild flowers.


Or this caddy:

I found this guy for $2 and figured I could do something very similar!

Did you know that Classico pasta sauces are bottled in Atlas Mason jars?

The spaghetti sauce is a larger size than the alfredo. I recently made a batch of spaghetti sauce and saved my empty jars. After a little scrubbing to remove the labels they fit perfectly!

I can't wait until our hydrangea's bloom so I can fill this guy up! Until then, I may use it to organize in my craft room.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Luggage Rack Makeover

I’ve seen lots of cute luggage racks used in home décor lately; I especially love the ones being used as nightstands!

When I found this one for $1 at Goodwill I had to bring it home. Unfortunately it’s been sitting in the spare room for a few months and I finally got around to finishing it!

It was missing a strap and the colors weren’t what I had in mind so I removed the nylon strapping and gave the yellow base a good coat of gray paint. I had to adjust it several times to get everything covered!



I love the look of burlap upholstery strapping and figured it would work great on this project. At $0.79 a yard, it’s a very inexpensive option!

I started by stapling the strapping on the inside of the rack. This way when it wraps across to the other side the staples will be covered.



Once I had the first side secured I marked where I should cut the strapping. You want it to be long enough that the feet sit securely on the floor, but tight enough that the straps don’t sag when it’s open.


I wrapped strapping the same way on the second side, but kept the rack folded so I could staple it down underneath.


Easy as that! It looks great with a wooden tray and can be used as an end table.


And it folds up easily to be tucked away!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Key to my Heart!

All you need for this super simple print is a frame, a piece of cotton material, some acrylic paint, a brush, and a printer! It only took me about 30 minutes from start to finish.

I gave the frame a good coat of brown paint and while I waited for it to dry I used word to print different clipart keys, our initials, and our wedding year.

I drew an outline of the heart the approximate size I needed for my frame and taped the keys, initials, and year inside the outline.

Since I used white fabric, I could easily see the black print through the material. I used brown acrylic paint and a small craft brush to paint the outline and fill in each shape.

Once everything was dry I just wrapped the fabric around the frame back and put the frame back together.


It fits just perfectly on a shelf in our kitchen where we keep our keys!



Thursday, October 20, 2011

Thrifty Thursday: Antique Mirror!

I'm in the middle of planning a large luncheon and I've been on the hunt for all kinds of things (I'll post more about those projects soon). Last night I happened upon this old mirror:

I love the size and detail! It weighs a ton and is real carved wood, so with a price tag of $7 I couldn't pass it up.

I'm still debating where to put it. I originally thought it would be great over my vanity, and I've been meaning to get a mirror for it, but then I'll have to move a few other things around.

This is what my vanity looks like now:

Here it is with the mirror:


I love my chicken wire jewelry holder so I switched out the iron piece.

But it still doesn't look right....I think I'll have to play around with it a bit more. What do you think about switching out the large chicken wire frame for a few small ones hanging on either side of the mirror?

Maybe something like my gallery wall, but with jewelry?



Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Spray Paint Fixes Anything!

I recently got a Christmas Scentsy set. I LOVE the scent, but wasn't crazy about the warmer. Here is the before:

I gave it a quick coat of Krylon silver paint:

Here is the After:

This will go much better with our holiday decor! I'm not too worried about the paint flaking off since the warmer is just heated by a lightbulb, but I will let you know how it holds up...

I'm gearing up for a few more holiday projects I will be posting about soon!



Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Thrifty Tuesday: New Lamps!

Awhile back you may remember I posted about making over our bedroom. It's still a work in progress (isn't everything?!) but I did come across some great lamps yesterday at Goodwill!

Previously, I had painted a few wooden lamps to use on our nightstands.

I wasn't really on the hunt for new ones, but these were so much better (and only $4.00 a piece!) so they came home with me.

They are super heavy, already the perfect color, and will be so much easier to turn on and off with the little pulls. I kept the old lamp shades for now, but may replace those too if I find the right ones!



What thrifty purchase have you made lately?

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Freezer Paper is AMAZING!

I've been dying to try Reynold's Freezer Paper but it's been a little difficult to track down. My mom finally found me a roll this week and it did not dissapoint! Freezer Paper works as a stencil. You cut your design out and iron the paper onto the fabric. It seals all the edges so your paint goes on nicely and it peels off so cleanly, you would never know it was there!

We're going down to LA to visit my sister who just joined a sorority so
I wanted to bring her a few new things!

I found these tote bags at Michael's for $9.99 (with a 40% off coupon they only cost $6!)

I used my Silhoeutte to cut out "Alpha Gamma Delta" and ironed it on to the front. However, if you don't have a cutting machine I saw a great tutorial recently where she used graphics printed from Word and an exacto knife to cut out the shapes.

Once the outline was done, I placed the little pieces (the inside of the A's, P, and D).

I made sure not to move it too much once I had ironed it on, I didn't want the stencil to come loose so I just painted right on the ironing board. I used her sorority's colors to fill in the words.





I only had to wait about 10 minutes for it to dry before I could pull off the stencil. I made two of these bags, one for my sister and one for her 'big sis' in sorority. Because I love personalization, I added some more lettering to the side of the bag with black paint.



I love how they turned out and I hope the girls like them too!



I also personalized a few more things for her!


Their mascot is the squirrel, so when my mom dug this guy out of storage I couldn't help but make him a shirt!


Thanks for stopping by!!