Door Mat Makeover

Our doormat at the front door used to say “God Bless Our Home”. But after walking on it and wiping muddy feet on it for a couple of years, it didn’t say anything anymore. However, I wasn’t willing to just go out and buy a new one and wasn't talented enough to recreate the original. LOL
So I beat all the dirt I could out of it, taped off some lines, got out some craft paint, stencils and a few stiff paint brushes and gave it a makeover. It only took 30 minutes from start to finish! Now we’ll see how long it lasts…

Owl Mouse Pad

I’m sure most people don’t even use a mouse pad anymore. Kids under 5 probably don’t even know what a mouse is. But I’m a bit old fashioned and still have a corded mouse (gasp!) next to my computer keyboard. It is a cheap Dollar Tree mouse pad, just plain black and boring.

I just went through my fabric stash and kept some of my favorite scraps for those someday sort of projects. Well, someday was today. My desk was just crying out for a very cute and stylish owl mouse pad. So I made one…

Super easy to do! All you need is some Wonder Under fusible web (I buy mine by the yard at the fabric store), some fabric, a mouse pad, a pencil and an iron.

First trace your mouse pad onto the paper side of the fusible web. Cut it out as close to the edges of your tracing as you can.

  Place your fabric upside down on your ironing board. Preheat your iron according to the directions on the fusible web.

Lay your fusible web on the fabric where you would like it to be paper side up. (It’s very nice that you can see through the web so you know where your pattern on the fabric is.)

Iron fusible web onto the fabric according to the directions.

Cut it out and let cool completely.

Peel off paper back and lay on top of your mouse pad.

Iron the fabric to your mouse pad according to the directions on the fusible web.

 

Now you’re ready to click away on your stylish new totally old-fashioned mouse pad!

Very “Mice” Valentines

I made this Valentine years ago for the boys and decided to make them again yesterday with a friend’s two kids. They are super quick and easy to make (even if you don’t have the punches)! They also make good Valentines for your favorite cat… ;o)

First cut out a large heart from gray construction or cardstock paper that has been folded in half. Just cut out half a heart on the fold.

Then punch or cut out one smaller heart for the ear from the gray paper.

Next cut or punch out two very small pink hearts. One for the nose and one for the inside of the ear. Glue the pink heart into the middle of the “ear”.

Glue the ear and the nose onto your mouse. Draw and eye using a black marker.

Then cut out a small piece of gray yarn for a tail. Tape it to the outside back of the mouse.

    Then write your greeting inside and you’re all done.

Dry Erase Crock Pot Label

Whenever I make something for a party or potluck in my crock pot I always wish there was a way I could label it so everyone would know what it was. Sometimes I make cute little folded signs to put next to it but sometimes I forget or don’t have time. Today, however I was inspired by some old magnetic dry erase boards for the fridge that I have sitting in my craft closet.

I cut one up, added some stickers and viola!  Quick and easy, reusable labels for my crock pots! And now my red one is an owl crock pot, too…

Just make sure you cut them so they fit where you want them to go on your crock pot. My oval one was almost too big…

I think this is one of my best ideas in a long time!

Woodsy Baby Girl Quilt

I started this quilt before WAY before the holidays and finally decided it was time to get it off my to-do table…

I used my favorite, go-to fat quarter pattern from Two Little Banshees. I love this pattern! Quick, easy and so fun to make it unique!

I decided to appliqué this brightly colored quilt with some woodsy little cut outs. I also love the way the yellow gingham binding looks on it!

  Quilting inside each block with a 1/2” border is just as easy but more visually appealing than stitching “in the ditch”.

I think I want to try a boy version of this quilt someday…

Tea Bag Gift Bags

The past year I have officially become a tea snob. I just can’t drink tea from a bag anymore. Buying all that loose-leaf tea means I have lots of empty tea bags. I empty the bags into tins that keep the tea much fresher longer. And all those bags get stored in my craft closet hoping to someday get used for something…

I made these sweet little gifts for my sisters’ birthdays and needed a non-Christmas gift bag to put them in. (I’ll post the gifts after the party.)

Then I remembered my stash of empty tea bags.

Since I wrote the names of the teas on the bags, I couldn’t just stamp directly on them. But I stamped some birthday stuff on white paper, added some extra fun papers and I ended up with two sweet little gift bags all ready to go!

Sometimes holding on to stuff is a good thing… ;o) 

Craft Room Makeover

Since I'm not homeschooling anymore (still sounds and seems so strange), I decided to make the room less classroom and more craft room...

No big changes, just a few fun additions to the walls.

I started with putting up some new crafty words up on the border by the ceiling. There used to be history timelines the boys made up there…

I made each of the words out of the material the word is.

I spruced up the wall by my sewing machine, too…

Lastly, I decided to cover up the icky old bulletin board by the door. It doesn’t get used much any more but it might as well look cute and crafty while it’s hanging there… (the sewing themed prints are perfect)

I really like it but I still can’t seem to quit calling it the schoolroom… :o)