One Saturday Morning

This weekend I finally had a Saturday to spend at home, no interruptions, doing whatever my little heart desired, and my heart desired some creativity! So, I broke out my not-so-super-secret-stash of craft projects and spent 6 beautiful hours creating flower arrangements, subway art signs, and a storage bin. It was heavenly! I plan to eventually showcase all of my little projects but I am most excited about my storage bin so today's tutorial focuses on creating quite possibly the cheapest storage bin of all time out of fabric, ribbon, an old cardboard box, and hot glue.

CAUTION: If your name is Heidi Stephenson or Martha Stewart you should probably stop reading now because the closest I came to sewing my fabric box was cutting the fabric. HOT GLUE FOREVER!

 The basic idea for this little project came from Pinterest (wasting my time since 2011) but alas, I forgot to pin the original tutorial so I made it up as I went along :)

Smooth your fabric on a large surface to measure and cut. By measure I mean eyeball it because that is how I roll. I did a practice run by stuffing the fabric into the box, making sure it was touching all four corners, and then flattening it out on each outside panel so there was about 2 inches of fabric on the bottom of the box.This helped me ensure I had enough width and length before I cut; then I cut.

After cutting I did another dress rehearsal (stuff fabric into box smoothing it out to touch all four corners, and holding it flat against each edge) then I started gluing. At first I thought I would glue along each inside/bottom edge and secure the fabric from the outside in but that was a major failure so I started along one long side, gluing about two inches of the fabric to the bottom of the box. I wanted my fabric to be ruched, so I folded it over in a few places and kind of sheered it on. I then stuffed the fabric in the box, flipped it to the other long side and glued that side down.

(I hope this is making sense)

After both long sides of the box were glued in place, I turned to the short sides. Because my fabric was a little too narrow to fully cover each short side, I folded it into an envelope shape (there has got to be a more official word for that) - kind of like the short side of a wrapped gift. I first glued down the top flap, ruching it a little bit as I went. Then I folded one corner piece over, so it was overlapping the top flap, and glued. Then I folded the other corner over and secured it. See, gift/envelope style. I repeated this on the other side taking care to make sure the fabric was secured on the bottom of the box and was as smooth as possible so my box sat flat. 

TA DA!

Since plain white boxes are boring, I added a length of ribbon about 1/4 of the way down the box for a little flair. Instead of gluing the ribbon in place, since you never know when I'll want to change colors, I used a short straight pin to secure it to the fabric, making sure not to go all the way through the box. A little bling on the end (diamond, flower, bow) would be fabulous is you are displaying your box the long way.

I think my little DIY bin turned out perfectly. It may not be Pottery Barn but it was so SO cheap, easy to make and I won't feel the least bit of remorse when I decide to redecorate. (Not to mention it's infinite potential to keep Hubster's school stuff off the coffee table and living room floor) I like it so much, I might be making a smaller version for our remotes; maybe next Saturday :)
 

Hugs, 

   Erin

Speaking of Pinterest (wasting my time since 2011), Pin this is you like it!

And, make sure you are following us here on the blog and on Facebook. 

And, before you go get distracted by Pinterest, leave a comment. We love comments, emails, Facebook messages, letter by Pigeon. Really, any correspondence just makes out day! 

Linking to FABULOUS parties:

@ A Diamond in the Stuff
@ Not Just a Housewife

Sign of Spring

When Spring hits, most people plan a picnic, take a hike, or plant flower; I craft. Maybe it's my years of experience in the unpredictable Southern Utah weather where June snow frequently kills off picnics, hikes, and flowers. So, when the sun started streaming through my windows this weekend, I decided it was time to brighten up the living room a little. In honor of Spring and all.

I've had this board lying around my craft space for a few months, just begging for inspiration, and I decided to turn it into an inspirational sign. Including paint dry time, the whole project took about two hours; leaving plenty of time for a springtime, weekend nap :)

Supplies:
1 8.5x10 board
My favorite blue paint
A homemade stencil
White paint
Paper towels

I decided that I wanted a vintage-y, rough look for my sign rather than a crisp, clean look so when turning my board blue I used a long bristle brush and painted with very random strokes. It took a few coats but it turned out great.

Next, I used my trusty Silhouette SD to create a homemade stencil. I LOVE my Silhouette. Oh, how I love it. L-O-V-E. I usually use a super thick piece of Cardstock or sheet protector to make stenci,l but for this piece I wanted a little leak through around the edges of the letters, so I just used a regular piece of printer paper. To maintain the inside shapes of letters like 'a', 'd', and 'e', I glued the inside circle (hoping this makes sense) to the board with a really cheap glue stick and picked them off with tweezers after the paint dried. My quote comes from this song.

Then I started to paint. Because I was out of sponge brushes and too lazy to head to the dollar, I decided to use a blotting paint method. Sounds pretty legit right? Well, what you REALLY do is wad up a paper towel, dip it in your paint, and then sponge the towel over your stencil. It's super chic. ;)

Using a paper towel allowed me to still get some airiness in the paint. Instead of the solid white result of a paint brush, blotting with the towel let some blue show through. Make sure you don't have too much paint on the towel or else your stencil might not last long. I always dip the towel in the paint, then dab it on a piece of newspaper before blotting the piece.

Then I waited for the paint to dry. It took about 40 mintues or one episode of OTH on Netflix. Yeah, I frequently measure time by t.v. episodes.


After the paint finally dried, I employed Hubster in rearranging the books and decor on our bookcases until I found just the right spot for our new sign.



It adds so much color to the black abyss that is our bookcases and I just love it! Inspiration and spring color all in one!


Hugs,
Erin

Linking to this party and this one and this one.

Crafts of Green

Before the Month of Love had even ended, I was cooking up ideas for St. Patty's Day decor! I just love decorating with green, and since living with the grand-master-lover-of-all-things-March 17th,  Rach, in college, I have a new found appreciation for luck, leprechauns, and pots o' gold!

I also live in a small apartment, with limited decorating space, and an even smaller decorating budget, so I came up with some easy, DIY decorations to spread a little luck this March!

#1 - DIY Subway Art

There are so many cute subway art printables out there for every holiday imaginable, but after being inspired by a fellow-blogger I decided to make my own, frame-less sub-way art. I love the homemade and 3D look of the board, and  I've made a few of these but this is the first with an entire quote.

Materials:

17 x 11 inch board (use whatever size you want)
Green Paint
White Paint
Crackle
Lettering cut from assorted Card Stock
Glue Stick
Modge Podge (Matte Finish)

The process is pretty simple. I wanted a worn look for this sign so I decided to crackle the board. I started with a light coat of bright green paint; let that dry and then coated with the Crackle medium. After that was completely dry (usually 1-2 hours) I covered with a coat of white and sanded the edges.

Then I cut my lettering using my Silhouette. You could do your letters a multitude of ways (i.e. cut from stencil, die cut machine, buy a letter pack or stencil the lettering on with paint), and with any saying or collection of words! You could also use one of our free St. Patty's Day printables, print it to fit your board and modge podge it on!

After your letters are cut, simply arrange them as you want and start Modge Podging.
Modge Podge and I have a love-hate relationships. Every time I try to use the medium to stick my letters to the board I get bubbles, so I use a glue stick to actually stick my letters on, then I Modge Podge over the entire board to get a clean finish.

Ta-Da! One down, three to go!


#2 - LUCKY FRAMES

I was gifted a set of super cute frames that usually display our family name, but decided to give them a little holiday spirit.

Materials:

5 Picture Frames
White Card Stock
Several sheet for festive paper
Glue Stick

I simply used some white Card Stock to cut out the 'LUCKY' and then pasted them to 5x7 pieces of festive holiday paper. Slipped the letters into a frame and Wa-La - instant Luck!

# 3 -Green Greetings

A few weeks ago I had a nervous crafting breakdown and bought a bunch of cute 8x10 dollar store frames with lots of good intentions. Well, I forgot those intentions but now have lots of frames to use for holiday decorating. For St. Patty's day, I wanted something that actually said, St. Patty's Day so I pulled out one of my frames a came up with this.

Materials:

8x10 frame
Your favorite green paint
Card Stock in white and green

First, I painted the frame with my favorite shade of green. I only gave it one coat because I wanted to wood to show through. (Which you can't see well in the picture, sorry)

Using my Sillouette, I cut out the message on white Card Stock, popped the letter out and glued the "template" onto a green sheet of paper. You could do it the other way around as well and glue green letters onto white paper.

Stick the paper in the frame and you're done!

#4 - Clover Cubes

These are by FAR my favorite St. Patty's craft of the year!

Materials:

3 - 4x4 wood blocks
(At Home Depot you can ask for a 4 in. cut from a 4x4 and they should be able to help. Make sure the check their scrap pile before buying the entire board)
3 colors of paint
3 pages from a small book or a few pieces of newspaper
Glue stick
Modge Podge
Glue Gun
Fun embellishments

First, sand and paint your wooden blocks. If you're going for a more worn look, I would suggest only one coat so that the grain of the wood peeks through. Then sand the edges up real nice! I also took the sand paper to each face of my block for a little distressing.

While your blocks are drying, trace three clovers onto a book page or newspaper and cut then out. Warning: If you have OCD friends (like me) they will read the words on your block so make sure there isn't anything too outlandish.

After your blocks are dry, use a glue stick to adhere one clover onto each block, then cover with a thin layer of Modge Podge. If your clovers are cut from very thin paper you'll want to make sure you don't use too much Modge Podge or it might soak through the paper causing a hole.

Once the Modge Podge is dry, break out the hot glue gun or craft glue and start embellishing. I used some bright green cord ($1 bin at JoAnns), white embroidery floss, and a spiral of floral wire to jazz my blocks up a bit.

Blocks are super fun to make and can be customized for any holiday! My mother-in-law, sister, and I have already made three sets. Believe me, you can get a lot done during a basketball game!

Happy Crafting!

      Erin

P.S. You can make a few fun St. Patty's accents by filling a glass vase with dried peas and topping with a tissue paper ball, or wrapping decorative or Styrofoam balls with green yarn to cluster on shelves.

Edible Finger Painting

Little Man loves anything gooey.  He loves to squish, squirt and crumble.  I just know that he would love to fingerpaint, but I also know something else he loves to do...eat...everything!  So, regular finger paints are out.  Enter {Edible Finger Paints!}  I originally saw this idea HERE and fell in love, so we decided to try it!

What you need:
- Plain yogurt
- Food coloring

 That's it!  Scoop some yogurt into small containers, drop in a tiny bit of food coloring (colors of your choice!) in each container.  Mix each color and you're ready to go!

 Mmm...tastes good!  Worry free painting! =)

This activity kept Little Man occupied for at least 20 minutes (pretty good for an 11 month old!), and it was very entertaining for me!  We will definitely be doing this again!  We used the high chair tray as Little Man's canvas, which was a blast.  You can put down a piece paper to paint on if you want to preserve your kiddo's creation.  Happy painting!

More fun kiddo activities coming soon!

Homemade Valentine

{FREE printables below:}

Last week, Hubster said, and I quote, "I hate Valentines Day. It's just a stupid holiday used to make guys feel bad about themselves for not getting their woman something really nice." Well, that's one opinion.

Unfortunately for the love-of-my-life, I enjoy V-Day. It's warm, fuzzy, everything is Red (my third favorite color). Not to mention it is a great time to be creative in spreading the L-O-V-E. So here are
2 Homemade Valentine Ideas for showing your significant other (or mom, dad, sibling, kiddo, and crush) how much you heart them this Valentine's Day - cheap and easy style. Complete with free printables!

Keep reading below!