Thrifty Ribbon Rack

A while ago I found this little guy at the thrift store for $1.00 and knew he had great potential. Obviously it was for a little boys room, but I'm not sure about the original use?

I gave it a coat of primer, a few coats of gray paint, and added some vinyl wording and ended up with this:

I need to cut down the dowels and paint them either white or gray, but it will be the perfect place to store my ribbon.

BTW, did you know the dollar store sells a great selection of ribbon? I stocked up on all these colors the other day. It always comes in handy for craft projects or wrapping presents! 

Infinity Scarf

Turn any scarf into an infinity scarf in just a few simple steps! My sister has been looking for a spring (ie lightweight) infinity scarf so when we found this one I told her I could easily sew the ends together.

Start by lining up the edges and make sure all the tassles are out.

Then zig zag stitch about 1/2" from the edge.

Cut away the tassle part close to the stitches.

Turn loop inside out so your raw edge and stitches are inside.

Sew a straight stitch to enclose the raw edge and eliminate any future unraveling.

Turn inside out again to hide your stitches.

Then it's ready to loop.

How easy was that? I think I may be able to dig a few scarves out of my closet and give them a makeover. This would also be easy to do with any strip of material, it doesn't have to start out as a scarf!

Fancy Kindle Cover

Earlier this week I posted about two Kindle covers I made for my sister. I had a few requests for a tutorial for the second one so here it is... I made the pattern and tweaked everything as I went so let me know if you have any questions!

The materials:

Green outdoor fabric

Brown pattern fabric

Thin silver elastic

Thin black elastic

Blue bias tape

Coordinating button

1. Start by cutting out all the pieces. 

 

From the green fabric you need to cut 2 pieces (11.5" by 8")

From the brown fabric cut the following:

Left Pocket (8 by 4.5") cut 2

Card Pockets (4.5" by 2.5") cut 4

Kindle Pocket (6" by 2") cut 2

Right Pocket (8" by 5.75") cut 2

3. Take each of the 4 pockets and sew bias tape along the 4.5" side. Start with the top pocket and sew it on the left pocket along the bottom edge. Continue until you get to the bottom pocket.

4. Take the second left pocket piece and put it right side down. Sew along the right side. Turn over and iron.

5. Sew both Kindle Pocket pieces right sides together. Sew a slightly smaller piece of elastic just under the seam on one side.

6. Take one piece of the right pocket and attach thin silver elastic approximately 2 inches from the top of the right pocket. Pin Kindle pocket to the bottom and put other piece of the right pocket right side down. Sew both sides of the right pocket together along the left side. Turn right side out and iron. Still with me? Here is a picture showing how the Kindle will fit in the pocket. 

7. Using one piece of the green material. Pin the left pocket on the left side (surprise!) and the right pocket on the right = ). Also, pin a loop of silver elastic with the ends just hanging over the right side.

8. Place the second piece of green fabric, right side down. Pin and stitch from the bottom around, leaving a 4" gap at the bottom so you can turn it inside out.

9. I trimmed the edges a little bit and then turned it right side out. You can use any pointed edge to push out each corner.

10. Hand stitch the bottom and attach a button and you're done!

I hope that made some sense? Let me know if you need clarification about any of the steps!

Picking Paint Colors

We are procrastinating preparing to install the crown molding (Home Improvement Goal #1!), but have one small project holding us up. Remember this room?

I've decided to change it up a little bit and give it a coat of gray paint and maybe install some board and batten. I'm looking for a "true" gray, not too light and not too dark since the room isn't huge. I've narrowed it down to a few choices but have yet to slap some paint on the wall.

Behr Cathedral Gray

Behr Gentle Rain



I figure there is no point in installing the new crown molding and then having to cut in the gray paint so I'm hoping to get at least the top part of the walls painted so we can cover up the edge with the crown molding.

 Hopefully we will be able to make some progress this weekend.

Does anyone have a favorite gray they'd like to recommend? I'm not set on Behr paint, I just liked the tone of those samples but I'd love to hear about a favorite color that's worked for you!

Personalize Your Starbucks Tumbler

Last year my MIL bought me a Hawaiian edition Starbucks tumbler and I've been in love ever since! I take it to work everyday and I've been drinking so much more water than I used to.

Last week I saw this cute Christmas one on sale for $12.

I love the snowman and trees, but it just doesn't work all year long. The best part? It comes apart and you can remove the holiday film!

So why not customize it and make it a little more fun? I purchased a lace pattern from the Silhouette Store and cut it out on pink cardstock.

Then I used the original lining to trace out the exact shape and added a turquoise L.

Roll it up and slip it inside and you have your very own personalized cup!

And there are endless possibilities...you can change it out for every holiday or customize one for a gift!

Custom Cases - Kindle Sleeve

My sister bought herself a Kindle for Christmas but couldn't decide which kind of cover to get. I told her I'd make her a few so she could switch it out depending on what she felt like.

I started with a simple pocket case. For this one I just used some thick purple felt, silver elastic, and a fun coordinating button.

Homie watched over the extra felt while I cut off what I needed.

For this case I only needed two pieces: the pocket and an extra strip to reinforce the elastic hook. I measured the Kindle and cut the felt 2 inches wider and 2x the length + 1 inch longer so I wouldn't need a seam at the bottom. Still with me?

Then I reinforced a loop of the silver elastic on the extra strip and sewed it to the top of the large piece.

Then all you have to do is fold the large piece in half, sew up each side, and add a button!

Works like a charm!

I also made her this much fancier case. I'll post this tutorial in a few days!

Goals for 2012

Something like resolutions, I figured if I outlined my goals for 2012 you could all keep me accountable so I actually do them... let's see how that goes!

Home Improvement Goals

1. Install Crown Molding. We bought crown molding when we first bought our house almost 3 years ago. We've spent the majority of the past 3 years on other remodeling projects, but we finally pulled the crown down from the attic. Since it's taking up space in the garage we're hoping it will motivate us to get it up in the house!
2. Build New Kitchen Shelves. As part of our kitchen makeover we had to take down the old shelves and cut them down a bit. After putting them back up we decided we'd prefer a cleaner look. We purchased the wood last week so hopefully this goal will be accomplished soon!
3. Install Board and Batten in Dining Room. Our "dining room" is part of our kitchen/dining room/family room area. This isn't your typical "greatroom" since our house is 65+ years old so our table is pushed up against one wall. As part of this, the chairs often touch the wall and take off the paint. We're hoping board and batten will solve this problem and eliminate the need for constant touch ups.
4. Backyard Makeover. My husband would like to gut the backyard, but I think we'll start by removing a few big trees and taking out a bit of concrete. If it goes anything like our other "little" projects this will result in a whole new yard in no time.
5. Start Planning for the Addition. This won't get completed in 2012, but we've started saving and would like to start planning the layout/size/cost of building a master addition. We love are house and plan on staying her for a long, long time but will need a little more space!

Organizational Goals

1. Purge, Purge, and Purge! I've already started this one, but I think my closet could even use a second round of purging. Some of the bigger things I would love to put on craigslist. I have a feeling we will have quite a few things to sell this year!
2. Organize the Garage. A big part of this one is Home Improvement Goal #1. Once that is out of the way, this shouldn't take us more than a day.
3. Meal Planning. For the most part, I'm pretty good at keeping the fridge stocked, but this year I would like to plan ahead for weeknight dinners so I'm not figuring out what to make when I get home from work. I've tried this before so this will probably be my most challenging goal.

What are you hoping to accomplish in 2012? There's nothing like a new year to give you a fresh start and renewed motivation.