Using a Skateboard as a Shelf :: Make a Personal Statement in Your Home Decorating

Looking to make a bold decorating statement in your home? Think outside the box and take a look around your garage for treasures!

My hubby was an avid skateboarder back in the day, and when we needed a shelf for a speaker in our living room, he suggested using one of his old skateboards that was just collecting dust in the garage.

The other half of this project, the shelf brackets, were also collecting dust in the garage. I had picked them up at Restoration Hardware on clearance for just $5 each several years ago, with the intention of doing something cool with them... well, they finally found their home! Check it out!



I think this turned out SO awesome!

Please ignore the fact that the Meowna Lisa is not centered in the photo... I keep forgetting to fix that... :)

Cheers!

Mario and Luigi Super Mario Brothers Crochet Granny Square Blanket Patterns

Thanks to Pinterest, I stumbled upon a really cool Mario Brothers crocheted blanket that uses granny squares to make up the pixels. NERD ALERT! This is absolutely the coolest and most perfect geeky gift for my brothers! I am planning to make one for each of my little brothers (who are really 27 years old, but about 12 at heart) for Christmas. One Mario, one Luigi.

Each blanket requires 252 granny squares - seriously, why am I signing myself up for this? Yes, I am crazy to want to take on this many granny squares at once, and it may take me until Christmas 2014 or 2015 based on the rate that I crochet (and how easily I am distracted from projects with other projects.. oh look, something shiny on Pinterest...) but my brothers will LOVE them, so it's worth it (little buggers BETTER love them...).

I wasn't sure what colors I wanted to do, so I started playing in Excel (I'm a spreadsheet nerd) and came up with several options. Some are more old school colors, while some incorporate newer Mario color schemes into the old school 8-bit character.

I figure I might as well share the color options I came up with in order to hopefully save someone else the time it would take to do it themselves.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD MY MARIO AND LUIGI DESIGN PDF

If you don't know how to crochet a granny square (it's simple), check out the great tutorial on The Purl Bee.

UPDATE 1/29/2014 ::
I've gotten a few questions about sizing of this blanket... my suggestion is to make a few granny squares of different sizes (2 row, 3 row, 4 row...) and then measure each square and multiply by 14 for the width and 18 for the length to see how large your finished blanket would be.

For a smaller throw, a 2 row granny would probably work fine. But if you want more of a bedspread size, you might need to go with a 4 row granny.

The size of your granny squares will depend on your hook choice and crocheting style (I crochet pretty tight, even when I remind myself to loosen up), so it really is a good idea to make a few samples and measure them to estimate your finished size.

Cheers!


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Easy Mother's Day Craft :: Use a Child's Painting to make a Card for Mom (and Nana and Grandma)

I hung mine on my cork board in the kitchen - I LOOOOVE it!

My kiddo loves to paint. Watercolors are her chosen medium.

I went to our local newspaper office and purchased an "end roll" (last bit of paper left over from a news run - but it's actually a TON of paper!) for just a few bucks, and we've been using it as watercolor paper. She has so many paintings that I don't know what to do with them all. Seriously, this kid LOVES to paint.

I have photographed most of her paintings, so when the time comes, I can recycle them... or, I can upcycle them! Today, I had the brilliant idea to use a couple of her paintings to make cards for Mother's Day for myself, my mom (Nana) and Jim's mom (Grandma).

For my card, I used a sheet of white card stock, scissors, a hole punch, yarn, and a painting. I simply cut a section of the painting down to about 7.5x10, laid it on top of the card stock, punched holes all around, and then sewed them together with yarn. SO. EASY! Look at how it came out:

For Nana and Grandma, I simply cut out a piece of each painting, cut into a shape (heart, rectangle, etc). I then punched two holes at the top and ran a piece of yarn through each hole and tied it in a bow so that the card could be hung. I used a purple sharpie to write "Happy Mother's Day" on each. Again, SO EASY, even a Dad could to it... *wink*

This could easily be done for any occasion. Which means I'll be saving ALL of Lily's paintings so I can upcycle them for special occasions!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there! Hope you had a lovely day!

Cheers!



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One for the Birds :: Earth Day Crafts to Celebrate Wildlife

With Earth Day around the corner, we are resolving to reduce our carbon footprint, to reuse and repurpose what we can, and to recycle and compost our waste.

We plant gardens and trees, clean and beautify rivers and streams and celebrate the wonder of the flora around us.

But what about our furry and feathered friends?

My family's little piece of the pie is right off the freeway and in the middle of a boring little neighborhood, but at any given moment, especially in the spring, there are buzzing bees and dragonflies, butterflies and hummingbirds, finches, quail, robins and jays and nesting doves.

We have a very happy (and thanks to the little old lady next door - well fed) colony of squirrels that terrorizes the dog as well as raccoons and possums that walk the fence line.

How can I not show my wild kingdom some love on Earth Day?

I scoured pinterest for the very best ways to spoil the wildlife. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Gelatin (or suet) birdfeeders (fancy gourmet for the birds) 

2. Fancy Bird Café Feeders (super cute feeders made from kitchen dishes) 

3. Easy DIY bird feeder from a toilet paper roll (just did this yesterday and the birdies love it! and so did my 3 year old!) 

4. Butterfly Feeder

5. 17 Must-have plants for attracting butterflies 

6. Yarn Scraps for Bird Nests (Save all those scraps when crafting and let the birds build fancy nests.)

7. DIY Worm Farm 

8. Build a Bird House - 49 great pictures to get you inspired 

9. Hummingbird Nectar Recipe (National Audubon Society recommends NO red food coloring, honey or other artificial sweeteners!) 

10. Build a Bat Box (Brown bats can eat up to 1000 mosquitos an hour!! Go Bats!) 

Make your own Sun Catchers :: Supervised Craft for Kids for Earth Day {or any day} :: Can the Earth Catch the Sun?

Can the Earth Catch the Sun?

You bet!

While the oven was hot when we did our Recycled Earth Day Crayons, we thought we would do another one of our favorite repurposing crafts. Sun catchers!

These sun catchers are made from melted pony beads - so easy, and so fun!

We chose to use Earthy blues, greens and whites to celebrate Earth Day, but the awesome thing about this project is that you can make them for any holiday, event, mood or season by just changing the colors you use!

Place the oven-proof containers on a cookie sheet, and put it in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until melted. Once these cool, they pop right out of the container. Drill a quick hole at the top and string some fishing line, and you have a lovely little Earthy sun catcher for the window.

Granted, these aren't perfectly accurate depictions of the planet :) but it is art... and the beads have taken some liberties!

This is another Pinterest find. Can you tell that I am hooked?

"These are going in the playroom," I was told. Fine by me!

I think that they are perfect.

Make your own Recycled Crayons for Earth Day :: Color the Earth Green {and Blue!}

In our house, we like to draw.

My big man (who is already 3 and a half!!) likes to write notes, do homework, make lists, and plain ole draw draw draw!  He does this with pencils, chalk (all over the bricks, sidewalk, house, gate...much to his Da's dismay), and pens, and of course, crayons!

So, I thought a wonderful way to celebrate Earth Day, April 22nd, would be to make our own Earth crayons.

I was inspired by an image on Pinterest, so I can't take credit for originality.....but wow! Did we have fun! This is also a nice quiet activity that can be done anywhere...we spread out on the carpet while watching Pooh.   

Little hands make quick work of peeling crayon wrappers. I had hoped that we could use sun power to melt the crayons, but it rained today and ruined my plans. Luckily, the oven can do the same thing, so about 12 minutes at 230 degrees and you have new crayons from old and broken ones.  A beautiful way to recycle!

Big Man says he is going to share these with his friends; maybe Te and Mow, Jakey and Vee and another special little Lily flower who likes to hug trees, collect acorns and draw, too!

Celebrate Earth Day 2013 :: Recycled, Upcycled and Reusable Home Good Patterns {Pinterest Round Up}

Are you crafty? Do you want to hug the planet by reducing your contribution to landfills? Do you like to upcycle old clothes and linens into reusable goods? Do you have an unbelievable stash of fabric and yarn that you've been hoarding and really need to destash??

Good, me too.

To celebrate Earth Day, I scoured Pinterest to find the best tutorials for reusable goods that can replace disposable goods in our homes.

Replace your paper napkins, paper towels, plastic baggies, plastic (and paper!) shopping bags, sponges and disposable swiffer pads with lovely, fashionable, long-lasting, reusable cloth!

It really is easy, and does SO much for our planet! Also, can you imagine how cute you'll feel with all of your awesome stashed fabric ACTUALLY IN USE?! I'm so excited!

1. Sandwich Cozy (doubles as a placemat!)
2. Mitred Corner Cloth Napkins (I've already made 2 sets using this pattern, and I LOVE it!)
3. Lunch Box Cloth Napkins (alternative corner method if the mitered corners intimidate you)
4. Knotted Reusable Lunch Sacks (no more brown bagging it!)
5. Crocheted Reusable Kitchen Sponge 1 (fancy looking sponges)
6. Crocheted Wash Cloths (to replace paper towels/sponges)
7. Crocheted Reusable Kitchen Sponge 2 (super basic sponges)
8. Crocheted Reusable Face Scrubbers (to replace the disposable cotton rounds)
9. Upcycled T-Shirt Shopping Bags (out with plastic bags!)
10. Crocheted Market Bag (I hear the farmer's market calling my name...)
11. Reusable Kitchen Towels (designed to act like a paper towel roll!)
12. Reusable Coffee Cozy (stop wasting those cardboard ones, and look fashionable at the same time!
13. Reusable Fleece Swiffer Pads (so easy, only need scissors! no sew!)

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Outdoor Spring & Summer Craft Idea :: Coffee Can Planters

I have a chain link fence surrounding my pool.  While it is a great safety feature, it's horrifyingly ugly! Chain link is so industrial looking, and very un-appealing to the eye (in my opinion).  So what's a lady supposed to do?  Adorn it with flowers of course!

Armed with 6 coffee cans that I got from a lovely woman on Freecycle, some fine grit sandpaper from the garage, a can of spray primer (about $5), a can of beautiful blue spray paint (about $5), a drill and 12 S-hooks ($3), here's what I came up with!  

Beautiful, durable planters for under $15!  Plus, I have plenty of primer and paint left over for another project. You could get away with doing this project for free if you happen to have the supplies on hand, or are able to glean them from Freecycle like I did.  If I had thought about it, I probably could have scored the primer and paint on Freecycle too, maybe even the S-hooks.  

First I removed the labels from the coffee cans, and chipped off the remaining glue on the can.  Then I rubbed down the outside of each can with sandpaper to give the paint a little something to hold onto.  I then washed and dried each can thoroughly.  Using newspaper as a drop cloth, I sprayed each can with one coat of gray primer, then two coats of blue paint, letting them dry according to the directions on the can between coats.  I drilled a couple drainage holes on the bottom and 2 holes on the back rim of each can, attached the S-hooks, then hung them on the fence!  Add a little dirt and some annuals, and voila!  Instant chain link fence beautification is complete!

I actually did this project last year, and totally forgot to blog about it (shame on me), so these photos are from last year.  Because the cans are made of metal and are positioned in full sun all day, it was essential to water them frequently, but they lasted from Spring well into Fall.  I finally took them down when the last of the annuals had expired. 

I'm super excited to pull these out this weekend and replant them!  I am considering purchasing some eco-friendly spray paint to coat the inside of the cans this year to prevent rust from ruining them.  But regardless, this was such a cheap project that I could just recycle the cans and start over from scratch, and maybe even choose a different paint color!

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Crafty Idea of the Day {Alphabet Sheets for Baby's Room}

When I was a kid, I had an alphabet train choo-chooing its way around my room.  The engine was the letter A and the caboose was the letter Z, with cute train cars in between covering the remainder of the alphabet.  I truly believe that the alphabet train aided in my early cognitive development, so I wanted something similar for Lily's room.  


I started decorating her room with a hodgepodge of items, but it has settled into a fairies, flowers and woodland animals theme.  I looked high and low, and just couldn't find exactly what I wanted when it came to the alphabet (in my price range).  There are very cute wall decals and posters containing the entire alphabet, but I wanted a full page dedicated to each letter, like my train had done.  And I wanted something whimsical and unique.  


Ultimately, I typed "fairy flower alphabet" into Google images in hopes that I would come across a shop or store that had what I wanted.  Instead, I found images of watercolor paintings by Cicely Mary Barker and I was inspired to make my own alphabet pages!

I printed the pictures, bought some pretty scrapbook papers, bought a flower shaped paper punch for the white accent flowers, and drew and cut out my own letters.  Each page is laminated.  I'm super happy with how they came out.  I used tacking putty to hang them because I didn't want to poke holes in them with thumbtacks; but they keep falling off the wall, so I need to figure something else out.


Happy crafting!




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