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Wine Cork Letter
Took me about a week to make this. Hard work, but I finally got that last bottle of booze drank!
I found the wooden letter at hobby lobby I think it was about $4. If you don't have your own corks, you can buy them online. You can hot glue them or super glue. I used super glue.
A sign I made for the deck out back. This is wood siding from a house that was being fixed up. This piece measures 45 inches long. And I have more out in the garage!! There are a couple of really cool pieces that have the house number on them.
A barn wood photo display. This turned out so cute!
Chicken Wire Photo Collage Frame
Thrift shops have tons of old frames. I found this one for 4 bucks. I removed the back and the glass. I did one coat of spray paint, lightly sanded. It already had the neat dings (or as my Dad called them, termite holes) in it. I like the imperfections, he obviously disagrees. Picked up a large roll of chicken wire at the feed store, 8 bucks. I've made 3 of these and still have TONS of chicken wire left for other projects. I cut the wire to size and attached it to the frame with a staple gun. The mini clothespins are from walmart. You can find them in the office supply area. A cheap and cute way to display your photos. And you don't have to worry about them being knocked off the wall and glass breaking! Or maybe that's just my home!
I really love how these turned out. I made these for my cousin as part of her shower gift for her upcoming wedding. These are easy to make and I had a lot of fun too!
These came in a set for less than 5 bucks at walmart. The first thing I did was sand these suckers! Not just the handles, but the whole thing. I got two splinters before I sanded! Then I taped around the handle and painted them with acrylic paint. On a couple I added some stripes and lightly distressed them. I did two coats of paint. Then I used a spray enamel coating (on the handles only!) to seal and protect them. Still, these will need to be washed by hand. I also went over the spoon part with some coconut oil to help seal the wood. Look how cute! They add a nice little POP of color to the kitchen too.
I was so excited about this project!! Trevor has a loft bed and we store a lot of toys under it. But, sometimes it's a hassle and a mess because it's hard to reach the stuff way at the back. So I made this!! I took a closetmaid cubby shelf (24x36) attached it to a 3/4" piece of wood, same size. Added a handle to the front and wheels at the bottom. It rolls nice and easy and now they can reach all their toys! This stands about 14 inches high, so your bed would need to be at least that far off the ground for this. This holds so many toys!
And they made shirts for themselves. Here's how:
How to make tie dye shirts/stuff
wash and dry shirts with just detergent, no softner
A few hours before you plan to dye shirts soak them in soda ash for a couple hours. Soda ash is the same thing as arm and hammer super washing soda, you can get it at walmart in the cleaning section. 1 cup per gallon of water. This is what makes the dye really stick to the fabric and keeps the colors vibrant.
Wring out shirts and place in dryer on low heat for about 20 minutes or until shirts are damp. You don't want them completely dry.
Once your shirts are damp, fold as you want and you're ready to dye. We used a Tulip kit with a variety of colors.
After you dye your shirts, place them in a ziplock bag and let them set for at least 24 hours. You can let them set more if you want.
After the 24 hours is up, rinse your shirt under cold water for a few minutes, then remove rubber bands and continue rinsing until you get most of the loose dye out. Then toss in the washer on warm with detergent, dry as usual and you're ready to wear!
Wash separately for the next 2-3 times.
NOTE: Soda ash is great for neutralizing odors. I use it to soak dish cloths in before I toss them in the wash.
Coat rack for the front entry. Again this is baseboard/trim that I painted, same thing I used for the bathroom towel rack. The hooks are just cheap ones from the hardware store and the name tags are made from 3.5x5 magnetic picture frames from walmart. Glued them on and printed their names on some decorative cardstock and wah-lah! Then I can change the look anytime.
New rustic towel rack I made for the boys bathroom. I love these numbers and hooks. Got them at hobby lobby half off. The board is just wood trim/baseboard already primed. All I had to do was paint! Even got a discount on the baseboard because one end had a ding. The whole thing was less than 20 bucks!
I worked with a very nice lady that made these awesome towels for Trevor, Travis and Troy. She also made the cutest little outfits with their names on them. Thanks, Mindy! These towels have lasted almost 9 years now!
Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub
Sugar scrubs are one of my favorite things to make. You can use a variety of fragrances and oils. The boys love using these too!
This makes enough for 2-half pint jars. So you'll have one for you and one for a friend!
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
Put all ingredients in a bowl and with a fork slowly stir in 2-4 tbsp. of either olive oil, almond oil or coconut oil. Adjust the spices to your liking and store in an airtight container.
Candy Cane Sled
You can make these a variety of ways. I used what I had. I took a small piece of scrap wood, sanded and painted it. I used hot glue to attach the candy canes. I filled a treat bag with candy and glued it to the wood. And that's it. This is a cute gift on it's own or add it to the top of a present.
I made these for my sister's baby shower. I didn't just want to have decorations on the tables that we would throw away at the end of the day. I made these cupcakes out of a baby blankets and washcloths, something for my sister to take home as a gift. I used cardstock and folded it back and forth to look like a cupcake wrapper. I tied them with string to hold them together and placed them in reusable/throw away dishes.
Also for decorating I made a clothesline with twine and hung up some new outfits for my sister's twins.
Pictures aren't great here. I had to keep these in a storage area so my lovely children would not destroy them.
Valentine's Day Treats
What the heck happened to the cool valentines we had when we were kids? You know the cool cards that came with actual envelopes that you could put candy in? Nobody makes those anymore! Now it's just candy with "to" and "from" printed on the label. Or cards that are so tiny and hard you can barely write on them. We wanted to do something different this year. We decided to go with hot chocolate, kisses and peppermint. Added some cute tags (from walmart, $1/24 tags) and put everything in a treat bag.
This is an easy underbed storage organizer to make. You could use plywood or mdf too.
I had this piece of pine that I re-used from Trevor's underbed storage (see above) I made. Since redoing the triplets room and getting rid of Trevor's loft bed there was no room for it. So I removed the wood from the cubby, put the cubby in the triplets closet and used the wood for this in Ty's room. I attached these plastic bins to the wood with small screws. The handles on the totes work nicely to slide this back and forth.
Thrift Shop Shelf
Travis needed a little display area for his legos. He's the only one that builds them and NEVER takes them apart. Fine with me! Beats stepping on them or sometimes (don't tell the kids) sucking them up with the vacuum! I thought about building a little shelf and then I saw this. It was $4.99. I cleaned it up with some warm soap and water. I used a spray paint (krylon fusion in cream) and primer (zinsser oil based spray primer) and added a beadboard paintable textured wallpaper (same thing I used on the sides of the kitchen cabinets and walls, I still have a ton left!) to the back. That's it! He's soooooooo happy! The boys share A LOT of things so he really loves having this little piece he can call his own.
DIY Bath Fizzies
These are so easy and they make great gifts! I made them for Christmas this year. Add a cute tag and some twine, simple and cute. Even my boys love them! Today I made lavender and lemongrass bath fizzies.
You can use any type of mold to make these. I use an ice cube tray that has a silicone bottom, so you can pop them right out. And when I make them for gifts I use these plastic balls, which you can find at hobby lobby.
What you'll need-
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup citric acid, found in the canning section at Walmart
1/4 cup Epson salt, I use Dr. Teals Lavender Epson salt when I make lavender ones
2 tbsp. corn starch
3 tsp oil, I've used coconut, almond and olive oil. You can use pretty much any kind
1 tsp water
15 drops of essential oil of your choice
5 drops of food coloring
Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and liquids in another. Very slowly and a little at a time, add the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisking constantly. Mix well and press into molds. Let set for 24 hours before using. That's it! Enjoy!
Baby Shower Gift
I picked up some fabric markers and this wide canvas style fabric from Walmart. I used some stencils to make the numbers and marks. I stitched a little pocket at the top to slide a dowel rod in. I used hot glue to secure the twine to the dowel rod. Added a marker and tag and wah-lah!
