Back to School Thank You Gift

It may be too late this year, but you can bookmark this idea for your child's teacher next year. I was looking for a simple, but creative craft I could replicate SEVEN times for Bryce and Harper's teachers at the daycare they attend. Yes, there are many wonderful helping hands at the school and I wanted each of them to have something handmade from us.

Repurposed Pajama Pants into Toy Storage

 

I've started 2015 off on a crafty foot. This project has been rolling around in my head for some time. I snagged one of the legs on these cute pajama pants about a year ago and put a huge hole on one side.  The fabric was too cute to throw out so I salvaged them long ago and tucked them in my sewing bin.

 

My original plan for these was to make shoe bags, for when I travel. I just hate putting dirty shoes on top of clean clothes in my suitcase. I thought it would be super easy to sew a few bags out of the legs of these pj's.

 

But then I had kids and well, things change! For Christmas this year, Harper received some great building blocks, but they were packaged in a cardboard box that didn't make a great storage container. My options were to find a bin (like everything else in the house) but then I would need to find a home for the bin on a shelf.

 

So here we go, I've photographed on my iPhone a quick tutorial on making a simple storage bag that we will use for Harper's building blocks.

DIY Yellow Easter Wreath

Home with Mandy got crafty again! I visited my grandmother last month in her new retirement home. She has a great two room apartment but as she showed me around the building I remember she pointed to a neighbors door and said they always have pretty seasonal wreaths. I decided during that visit that I would make her a new wreath each season.

My grandmama's favorite color is yellow and I fell in love with these adorable paper flowers so I chose them to be my inspiration. These became the "centerpiece" and anchored the floral arrangement at the base.

She also plays the piano, so I found some sheet music craft paper, ran it through my printer to make this Easter sign and then glued it to light cardboard.

The wreath looks really full, but I only covered half using four different flowers. In addition to the two paper flowers, I used one bunch of yellow daffodils, one bunch of yellow and white flower clusters and one bunch of pink/orange tulips.

In this picture you can see the loops of ribbon that I hot glued and tucked in between the flowers here and there. You can also see the fringe of the burlap that I frayed and left poking out.

Here is a picture of the back, it isn't pretty, but it doesn't have to be. I took strips of burlap to wrap the section of the wreath I was covering. I did this for several reasons. The burlap was used out of necessity because this wreath has been used before and I had to pull gobs and gobs of hot glue out of it and to be honest this side of the wreath looked ratty. The strips of burlap also made it easier for me to tuck and glue the flowers in.

The wreath didn't take me too long to complete, maybe an hour and a half. After I stripped the wreath from all the old glued on stuff, I wrapped and glued the burlap in place. Next I snip and tuck the flowers, starting at the bottom with the two paper flowers and just began building up. It was fun, minus the couple fingers I burned with the hot glue.

I'm thinking a colorful Mexican inspired wreath for Cinco de Mayo! Stay tuned...

DIY Coffee Table to Ottoman

I’ve been drooling over the fashionable ottomans displayed in almost every home and furniture magazine, but their price tag left a lot to be desired. Luckily, Pinterest is a great go-to place to find DIY…anything. After reading several blogs about turning a coffee table into an ottoman, I decided to jump on in and make one for myself.  Let's get a little crafty!

My grandmother gave me her coffee table, which is still in great condition with solid bones and sturdy legs. It may not look like much now, but with a little lovin' you will not believe what this piece of furniture becomes.

Tools you need for the project:
Sturdy coffee table
Sanding block or sanding sheets
Paint (if you want to redo the legs)
Foam
Electric knife or serrated knife
Ruler
Sharpie marker
Batting/Dacron
Upholstery Spray Adhesive
Drill
Scissors
Staple gun
Fabric
Button kit (if you are tufting the ottoman)

The first step is to decide what you want to do to the legs of your ottoman. Unless you are leaving them as is, you will most likely have to sand it down. I took a sheet of fine sand paper and took the sheen off the four legs. In some places I took it down to the bare wood.

I contemplated painting them the same green from the kitchen (adjacent to living room), and I also thought about retaining the legs a dark espresso color.

Creativity is Messy and I am very Creative!

Lately with Jim traveling out of town for work I have been making simple dinners for myself or meeting friends out so I don't have to cook. I will grill a simple fish filet or throw together chicken noodle soup - whatever I make, it's not something new and probably nothing my HWM readers would be interested in. This hasn't left me with much "material" for the blog.  Because I haven't been cooking as much, I've needed a new outlet for my creative energy - my Silhouette Cameo has really come in handy lately.

I'm in l.o.v.e. with this crafting machine. It can do so much and has given me the tool I need to start and finish (and finish is key) so many projects around my house. Let me show you just what I've been up to...
 

This is a sign that I used to have hanging in my house but after Jim and I got married he suggested I throw it out. I tucked it away in my craft room until I figured out just what to do with it. My first step was to spray paint this board completely black.

I got the idea on the wording for this new sign after spending Christmas with my sweet sister in law. I love this picture of her with my nephew on our hike in Tahoe.

She (and everyone else with babies) could really use a sign like this. A quick search on pinterest (my new obsession) gave me the perfect phrase to print. Using the silhouette software, I designed the sign and then sent the sticky vinyl through the machine for cutting.

Next, I weed the cut letters off my vinyl so I can create a stencil.

Talk about immediate gratification - fun!