DIY Pin Cushion

I love to have pretty, cute, and colorful things around me. I've been wanting a new pin cushion for a long time. First, because my old one wasn't large enough. Second, because removing pins while sewing was awkward to put them back in. And third, because my old pin cushion was not really my style and didn't go with my craft room.

What you'll need to make your own:

- Picture Frame

- Coordinating Fabric

- Stuffing

- Stapler

My first step was to find the perfect picture frame.
I was picky about the shape and color of the frame.
So when I found the perfect shaped frame I decided to paint it the color I wanted.
This frame was originally orange and I painted it black.
(I forgot to take a before picture. Sorry!)

Here are my main supplies.

For my first step I folded over the edge of the fabric on one side and stapled it onto the frame backing.

Inserting the frame backing edge that I previously stapled down,
I then insert stuffing into the fabric so it is sticking out the front of the frame.
Next I pulled on the fabric that is sticking out the backside of the frame, to get any creases out.
Once I have the fabric where I want it, I stapled the rest of the fabric down to the backside of the frame to keep everything in place.

Trim the excess fabric, insert your pins, and enjoy!

Happy Crafting!

Mission Organization: Laundry Room

My laundry room organization and transformation has been a process over a few months. I've been itching to share it with all of you but I wasn't willing to let you peek until it was complete!

Many of the things previously in the laundry room stayed but found a new area to reside. I'm happy to say with a little rearranging, a few things not being used around the house, and a couple of new things, I love my laundry room!

My blue bucket in the corner is actually new but was added in before I got a chance to take my Before picture. Sorry!
I actually have two (one in each corner).  One holds laundry odds and ends (steamer, cleaning products, etc), while the other holds doggy supplies.

The accordion peg rack might be simple but it is one of my favorite new additions to the room!
The fact that it only cost $2 from my local thrift shop doesn't hurt anything.
A coat of red paint and it's good as new!
Plus it's a great place to hang my bras to dry ;)

My laundry sign has been around for years but got a redo to go with my new color scheme.
You can find my blog post for it here!
The frame is made up of antique clothes pins that I got from a cousin after her grandmother passed.
The sign is both beauty and function as it reminds of the expensive electricity times.

The decorative clothes line is something my grandmother bought for me when I bought my first home. She found it a good excuse to go shopping and help me decorate. While some things were not my taste, some things were like this clothes line, which inspired the new colors for redecorating the laundry room. After my grandfather passed a year ago I treasure the things they gave me even more. Looking at these things around our house remind me of them :)

From left to right:

My first blue bucket to help keep things organized, a white dish to hold my bra savers, and a beautiful mason jar meant for beverages now holding my laundry detergent.

My laundry time sign hanging on the wall.

A cute clothes pin sign from my mother. It says "24 Hour Laundry Service Drop your pants here"
Definitely not 24 hour laundry service but it puts a smile on my face and how often does being in your laundry room make you smile?

A white basket to hold my stain stick, fabric softener ball, and a microfiber cloth (I use it to clean the lint off my dryer because I can't stand it building up lol), and my second blue bucket holding Zeke's (the dog) extra things.

A shelf that wasn't being used once we moved now hangs above my washer and dryer. It now holds blue and red mini pots that contain clothes pins, a red basket that holds my color catchers (if you don't use these you should look into them! They absorb and dye that runs in the load. No more pink jeans, which my husband is eternally grateful for!), and a pretty pot and flowers.

I hope you've enjoyed a little tour around my laundry room!

Happy Crafting!

Wooden Christmas Wreath

I saw this in a Lowe's creative ideas magazine. It was a smaller version for ornaments but I loved it so much I set out to make it larger. I love this wreath because even thought I originally made it for Christmas, I keep it out all year long. It adds a nice touch of color to my coat closet door.

What you'll need to make your own:

• Wooden poplar buttons (various sizes)
• Glue
• Paint

Step 1: Arrange poplar buttons in desired pattern and size.

Step 2: When you have decided on your pattern for the wreath, glue the poplar buttons together. I started by gluing my base layer edges together. Next, gluing my second layer on top of the first, alternating sizes (making sure you couldn't see the glue). To finish, I glued my smallest poplars on the underside to give it even more dimension.

Step 3: Paint wreath color of your choice. Hang and enjoy!

My wreath all glued together.

The finished product!

Happy Crafting!

Spray Paint

I have come to LOVE spray paint. I can turn something ugly that no one wants into something great! Where do I even begin to tell you all the things in my home I have spray painted to make it look better, update it, or to go with the new decor in the room.

If you read my first post then you know that I spray painted the cookie sheet to make the memo board. A few months before my husband and I moved into our new house my parents neighbor had this UGLY file cabinet on their curb for the bulk trash pick up. This file cabinet was a color call puke... not quite gold, not yellow, and not green. What some saw as trash, we saw potential in. Sure it was missing a handle and another handle was bent. Yes it was a AWFUL color but I turned it into a project and with the help of my mom and my aunt we spray painted it black. We bought new handles which my husband and I installed. To look at it now you would never know of the ugly color underneath. We basically got a free file cabinet and it has given us storage in our new home.

I have spray painted baskets and tins to go with the decor in different rooms of the house. My craft room has a black and purple theme. So I've been painting and spray painting everything to go with the new color scheme. We had mauve cabinets that were in the spare bedroom of our old house. I painted them beige to make them neutral. I did leave the inside mauve so we show our future children. I still have many things on my painting to do list. Next is an accordion peg rack... Another goodwill find. (Goodwill is great for finding thing to repaint!)

LOVE this spray paint! It has primer and paint in one.
Saves SO much time!

My filing cabinet (not quite done at this point). My husband and father in law had to hammer the cabinet straight. I know it's not perfect and needed a few touch ups. You'll notice the metal between the first and second draw didn't get spray painted well enough but now you can see the hideous puke color I was talking about. All in all not too bad I say!

Thread Holder

When we moved into our new home last December my husband and I were discussing what we wanted to do with all the space. The two extra rooms upstairs are waiting for babies, we made one of the rooms downstairs a guest room, and we weren't sure what to do with the other room downstairs. Well I helped my husband by deciding to turn it into my craft room. 

Finally I have a space for my sewing machine, fabric, scrapbook supplies, wrapping paper, and my ironing board. We bought a great sturdy desk from a hotel liquidation store. My sewing machine has a permanent spot there.

I LOVE having a room for all my creativity and also inspires me. I can decorate it any way I want. The color scheme is black and purple (the file cabinet I spray painted black is in there as well).

Now to actually tell you about my thread holder! After we moved in I began sewing things for the house or mending. It was driving me crazy trying to find the matching bobbins and thread. I have two or three different shades of beige... Similar yet different. And two different shades of yellow. It was so frustrating to dig through a pile of bobbins trying to find the one that you're looking for and matches! 

I bought a $5 picture frame from Walmart and painted it purple. I had Home Depot cut down a piece of peg board to fit inside the frame. Next I had my husband cut some chopsticks in half for me. I decided where I wanted to put the chopsticks in the peg board and hot glued them in. After it dried I spray painted it black.
The peg board is held securely in the frame with the clips in the back of the frame. I added heavy duty magnets on the back and put it on the side of the file cabinet that's next to my desk. I also added small magnets under the chopsticks that don't have the tapered end so that the metal bobbins can attach to the magnets. (The tapered end is small enough for the bobbin to fit on.) 

Total for this project I spent about $14 (frame, peg board, and purple paint). The rest of the supplies I already had at home. This was cute and cheaper then the premade ones at Michaels or Joannes.

Inspiration

Memo Board

A simple DIY memo board. What you'll need:

-old cookie sheet (it doesn't matter what it looks like. It will get spray painted.)

-spray paint in the color of your choice

-modge podge

-scrapbook paper

-paint brush

First it is important to make sure magnets can stick to your.cookie sheet. I went to goodwill and picked up an old cookie sheet for $2 since I didn't have an old one at home. My kitchen is black and green so I chose to spray paint the cookie sheet black. Pick out a few pieces of scrapbook paper to modge podge onto the cookie sheet.

Once the cookie sheet has dried, apply a liberal amount of modge podge across the bottom side of the cookie sheet with a paint brush. I used a foam paint brush so that brush strokes would not show in the modge podge. Using the raised edge of the cookie sheet towards the wall allows the nail to rest against the edge for easier hanging.

For my memo board I used green and black scrapbook paper along with a laser cut apple patterned scrapbook paper. First I measured out the paper. I cut two squares of green, black, and apple scrapbook paper. Then I took my scallop edged scissors and trimmed the border of my paper.

Next place the scrapbook paper onto the modge podged cookie sheet. You can create any pattern you like with scrapbook paper you like. I alternated the green and black paper. Placing the green apple paper over the black paper for definition. Smooth out any air bubbles as best as possible. I realize that the cookie sheet was already painted black but I still chose to use black paper for uniform texture and scalloped edge.

After this has dried apply a coat of modge podge on top of the scrapbook paper to harden everything. When that has dried spray with modge podge sealer.

Once everything has dried just hang and add magnets! The beauty of this is that you will have a unique memo board, that I guarantee no one else has!

Inspiration