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!

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) 

Recycling Sweaters

I made a trip to the Goodwill Outlet (aka – The Bins) with some friends last Saturday. Sara and I filled up a cart with all kinds of cool treasures! I figured (from the Goodwill tags still on the items) I got about $350 for $30.80!

I picked up these three sweaters while I was there to make the sleeves into leg warmers.

I forgot to take the “before” picture until after I’d started cutting

I followed the directions on this blog but already knew what I was going to do and turns out I was right!

But I hated to let all the rest of the sweater go to waste. So I cut off the collar and shoulders, finished off the cut edge and made two infinity scarves. Then I cut the striped one into pieces, sewed them back together and made a traditional scarf, too.

Here’s how they turned out…

And here’s what they look like on…

Now I just need some winter weather…

Pumpkin Snowmen

What do you do with all those leftover pumpkins from your fall decorating? You know, the ones that still look pretty good but just don’t have that Christmas-y look. Don’t worry, you don’t need to toss them! Just add some with paint, a few accessories and you have an adorable winter decoration for your front porch!

I did one coat of primer and then a couple of coats of craft paint…

Then glue the pumpkins together: largest on bottom and smallest on top…

Then paint your faces using craft paint…

Add accessories: scarf, hat, buttons…

Then your snowmen are ready to live outside…

This might be the most snow we see before Christmas, so we’re gonna enjoy it! 

Independence Day Crafts

Here are the new decorations I made for the 4th of July this year…

This is just a sheet of scrapbook paper on plate stand

cut out mini vintage postcards to hang on my tree

 

I didn’t make either of these, but I love the vintage magazines and I used to look at the book at my grandparents’ house when I was little

there were three of these tp roll rockets, but the cat demolished one of them :o(

 I made this wreath by tying strips of old t-shirts on a hanger shaped into a circle. Then I hung another toilet paper roll rocket in the middle

I know it is well past the 4th of July but I like to celebrate Independence Day the entire month of July! Patriotism and freedom is good enough to be celebrated all month long!

Pop Open Gift Cans

I got one of those nifty safety can openers for Christmas! I have wanted one for forever, but our 20 year old model still worked and I couldn’t justify getting a new one. But someone must have taken note of my often drooling over them in the kitchen gadget section because there was one waiting for me under the Christmas tree.

It works like a dream! But the best part is that once you’ve removed the completely now harmless lid, it just pops right back on top of the can. Now I thought about it for a while and wondered how could that little feature be used to my advantage. Then I realized what it was… Gifts!

Fun, tricky, makes people wonder how you did it kind of gifts!

Here’s how you do it…

First you have to buy a fancy new can opener or subtlety convince someone else to buy one for you. :o)

Then buy some canned food that has a pop-off top and a normal can bottom. Not like the bottoms of some of those new soup cans! Those don’t come off with a can opener. I find myself looking through cans of food with pop tops and buying them even if I don’t need them simply because I like the size of the can… I know. I know. ;o)

When it is time to eat the food from the can, open the BOTTOM of the can with your can opener.

  Eat the food from the can!

Then peel off the lid and wash the can and the bottom “lid”. Don’t worry, it’s not sharp! LOL

  After the can is completely dry, cover it with whatever paper you like. This is the part where you can be as creative as you want to be!

Now remember, your gift can has no bottom but still has that nifty pop-off top! :o)

Flip your can over and fill it with whatever you’d like. Mine is filled with some homemade candies. Yum!

Keep in mind that whatever is on the top when you fill it will be on the bottom when it is right-side up… My marshmallows are under those caramels.

Now pop the “lid”/bottom back onto the can. You can glue it on if you’d like but I thought it stayed on pretty well just the way it was.

And there you have it! The recipient will be totally baffled as to how you did it! Unless you cave in and tell them… ;o)

Toilet Paper Roll Art

When I painted our living room, I wanted something new for the wall. Something fun and 3-dimensional. Something simple. And, most of all, something that was really cheap or easy to make.

I found something that met all of my requirements on Pinterest! What would I do without Pinterest???

Here’s all you need to do to make your own work of art.

First collect a whole bunch of t.p. rolls. Make sure they are empty. You don’t want white bits of toilet paper hanging from your masterpiece… ;o)

Then mark each roll with a pencil every 1-inch.

Cut them into sections on each line.

Crease at each end so they have that nice petal-shape.

Now you want to paint each one. Some crafters suggested spray painting them. Others suggested spray painting each one individually in a gloved hand to keep them from flying away while spray painting them. Some suggested spraying the entire piece when complete. A few mentioned that if you sprayed them too heavily they got too wet and icky from all the paint.

Whoa! Did painting a bunch of t.p. pieces really have to be that complicated???

I chose my own method. I set up a tv tray, lined it with a plastic garbage sack. Got some acrylic paints (I chose 3 colors instead of just one: gold, black and espresso) and painted each one by hand. First I did all the insides, then I did all the outsides. I watched Downton Abbey while I worked (if you haven’t seen it yet, you HAVE to check it out!) which made it fun and go really fast. Acrylics dry really fast and they were done before I knew it!

This next step also seemed very complicated…. I have no idea why??? That’s why God created glue guns.

Some used craft glue or white glue and held the pieces together with clothespins, leaving their slow-drying projects to look much like a wooden porcupine. I prefer my trusty old glue gun on low heat. Instant dry and no pins!

Begin gluing your pieces together however you choose…

I did mine in this sort of amorphous blob because I liked it the best.

I love the way it looks above the chair! 

But I also liked all of these shapes…

 these squares are from Full of Great Ideas

 

  the rectangle shape from SimplyRealMoms

 I love this one from The Mayberry Home Journal! It reminds me of a chrysanthemum. I think it would be gorgeous done in a bright purple-y magenta color!

 

{Twenty} Something did them on canvas backgrounds for a totally different look!

Tons of great options to match all kinds of decors! So have fun, be creative and start saving those toilet paper rolls!