clip board

My one year old is getting quite a clip collection and we needed somewhere to put them all where we could see them. I can't claim this idea as my own, I saw it somewhere, I just copied it, but it's really easy and turned out pretty cute!


All we did was wrap some fabric around a canvas and secure it with staples. Then stapled some ribbon on and hung it up on her wall. Easy Peasy.

painting fabric

I've had these chairs for a while now and just was never happy with them. I covered them in a solid fabric that ended looking the same color as the paint on our walls, blah. It looked totally different at the fabric store. So I painted numbers on them! a cute friend suggested this and I've been seeing it a lot in Pottery Barn and stores like that.

Fabric paint is really easy and cheep, and I just made the stencils by printing numbers on card stock and cutting them out with a razor blade.

(and check out the beginning of our Halloween decor, the bats hanging from the chandler)

quick update for scrapbooks

This was a cute idea I snagged from a friend. I am really good at keeping up on scrapbooks for my kids, just sticking pictures in each month, nothing fancy! So I have 10 books sitting on my shelves that are just really dull and mismatched.

I'm going to cover each kids in a different pattern. I found 4 different but matching fabrics.

Super easy to do (if you have a sewing machine).

Use your book for a pattern.

Cut out, sew all 4 edges over for a nice edge.

sew the 2 ends to make pockets to hold the cover of your book.

and there you have it! 3 of them at least, I figured that was enough for today considering all the other projects I have going at the moment.

Quick Bookshelf Improvement

I saw this idea on pinterest.com and I decided to try it out.  It is an easy way to add a little color to any room.  All you do is take the back off of a bookshelf, spray paint it the desired color of your choice and then nail it back on once it is dry.  I thought it turned out really cute.

Before
(Kind of boring)

After

watermellon

This is just about the best thing I've learned this summer.

My family loves watermellon and I hate cutting it up, trying to keep it from rolling around, it always makes a huge mess, and I feel like I wasted a lot of it. So I saw this in Martha Stewert...

Cut the two ends so that you can stand it up then shave of the sides and there you have a it, just the inside of the mellon! it's so great!

ENJOY!

tent

This was a really fun quick project, for anyone that has kids you should make this!

I saw it in Pottery Barn Kids and thought why would anyone pay this insane price when all it is is a couple sticks and fabric? it cost me just under $10. and a few scraps of fabric I already had.

Supplies:

7 2x2's any length, mine are all about 4 ft.

a few nuts and bolts

some fabric for the cover, I just pieced a bunch of canvas scraps that I had together.

and a handy husband who has the day off, or if you like to use a drill go for it!

1st step: make the ends that will cross as the opening, this is where we used the bolts/nuts so it could open and be closed for storage.

2nd: screw the bottom slats and the top one just sits in the X's

3rd: paint if you want and put your fabric on! my kids love it!

Rag Wreaths

My sisters and I got together to make rag wreaths for the 4th of July.  They are really simple to do.  I would suggest this as a group activity and have everyone bring different patterns of fabric to share.  Plus, that way you have someone to chat with while you are tying all those knots!

First cut strips of fabric in the different colors you would like in strips of 1"x7".
We chose patterns of red, white and blue for the 4th of July.

Next, bend a wire hanger in to a circle.

Then you tie the strips of fabric around the hanger, as my sister Noelle is doing.
(And she is so excited about it as well.)

Ta da!  The final product!