Merry Christmas Eve! (Last minute Ideas)

It's snowing! IT'S SNOWING!

Not in Greenville, but in Ohio where I am right now with family. I can smell the delicious dishes being prepared in the kitchen while Gram's big dog snores in front of me comfortably on the carpet. I'm still rocking pjs and slippers. In short, it's the perfect way to start Christmas Eve day. But I realized there are so many projects I'd been working on that never got posted in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. If you're looking for a few last minute details, one of these ideas might be just the trick. Most take very little time and use things that are probably around your house anyway.

1. Christmas Cookies



Here's a few of my favorite recipes:
Molasses Spice Cookies
Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2. Handmade Ornaments



Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments (I used the extras of these to make a garland)
Salt Dough Ornaments (these would be cute as gift tags too)

3. Felt Table Runner



You will Need:
Felt long enough to hang over the edge of your table and about 12" wide
Puffy paint
Ribbon
glitter (optional)

Tie the ends of the felt on each side of the table and use your puffy to draw on details like snowflakes. I accidentally got glitter all over it since I used glitter ribbon and ended up liking it better. Also, since I used remnants my felt wasn't quite long enough to hang over the edges so I sewed an extra 18" on either end. That means there's a seam at the edge of the table which at first I didn't like but that's grown on me as well. Basically, it's impossible to mess this up.

Whatever you've made, or not made, bought or not bought, eaten or not eaten, I hope it's all part of the magic that make your Christmas a happy and bright one filled with love and happiness :) More important than any of it is enjoying the time with family and friends. I'm off to go help Gram make corn flake cookies!

Sheila

Put a Cork in it! (Cork Place Mats)

A while ago, I found this amazing table that I fell in love with almost instantly. It's an antique folding table that has a healthy dose of wear and tear and was buried beneath a protective force field of dirt. Through all that I could see the diamond in the rough. I bought it, forced it to fit into my car, cursed my sedentary life choices while drudging it up the stairs to my apartment, and cleaned it up a bit. Now it's one of my favorite pieces of furniture. I'm having so much coming up with accessories and centerpieces. The most recent incarnation of "table dress-up" has been these very simple cork place mats.



I bought a roll of thin cork a while ago for a project that never happened. I'm pretty excited to let it live out it's crafty destiny in some way finally. The timing just happened to work out around Thanksgiving. This would easily be a fun project to keep kids busy while they are waiting for Turkey time AND teach them some basic sewing.

You Will Need:

4 pieces of thick cardboard, cut to 12"x18" rectangles (I used a furniture box)
1 roll of thin cork, large enough to cut 4-12"x18" rectangles
box cutter
glue
ruler
writing utensil
yarn of your choice
yarn needle
*optional: hole punch, decoupage roller

First cut your cork and cardboard to size. This was easiest to do using a SHARP box cutter. Make sure you cut the cork very carefully or it will tear. Not that it happened to me.*

*That is exactly what happened to me. 

Pour a thin amount of glue on the cardboard, focusing on the edges and corners with a large x through the center. I used a foam brush to smooth it out the first few but found that to be unnecessary. Line up the cork to the edges and press it to the cardboard. If you have a decoupage roller, you can use that to smooth the cork down. If not, just use your hands. They work too. After gluing I trimmed the edges with a box cutter again to make sure everything lined up perfectly.



Use your ruler and writing utensil on the back (the cardboard side) to draw a line an inch away from the edge all the way around. If you have a hole punch (I used my crop-a-dile on the small setting) you can pre-punch holes every quarter to half inch or so. You can just skip this step and get your yarn on if you're impatient but punching holes in advance makes the sewing go much faster. Double thread your yarn needle and start in a corner. You'll stitch all around the edges on the line. When the yarn runs out, just double thread your needle again and tie the ends tightly onto the old piece in the place mat. It makes for a pretty easy transition. 

Once you're done stitching the edges, tie the yarn to itself and flip it over. Admire your handiwork and subtly encourage those around you to compliment it.



Do you already have your Thanksgiving table all planned out? Is there room for a handmade addition or is it full of family pieces? I'd love to know!

Sheila

P.S. A sneak preview of tomorrow's project...

Chalkboard Bar Top (Renter friendly!)

I've just discovered the coolest thing ever: chalkboard contact paper.

The roll on Amazon is $6 for a piece 18" across and 6' long. I wasn't totally sure what do with it when I bought it, but I knew I wanted it. The package arrived Friday and by Friday afternoon this plain boring bar top area became a chalkboard bar top. It took about 10 minutes and should be just as easy to remove when it's time for me to move out again. In the mean time, I love the variety it brings to the kitchen and how it matches the living room.

Carefully cleaning the counter top is important since even a grain of salt leaves a bump in the finished surface. Unroll the contact paper to lay it out straight. A ruler works well to press down the contact paper as you pull the backing paper from under it very slowly to make sure it doesn't get crooked. The trickiest part was using a box cutter to trim the edges once the entire counter was covered. Last, I "primed" the surface by lightly covering it with chalk. I've heard that's an important step for all things chalkboard.

Oh, and I bought a fish! Her name is Fancy. She lives on the counter now. I drew her picture. Because I'm an adult.

A perfect, simple big impact project with little effort for us renters out there! Or homeowners who just don't want to commit.

Have you been wanting to try the chalkboard trend? Did you already jump in head first? I'd love to know!

Sheila

P.S. You should have at least a few inches left over from the end and the side. Hold on to them if you can, I've got some ideas in the works.

Scrapbook States!

You may have noticed by now that I really love maps, especially outline maps.




If you haven't noticed, there's plenty of proof here and here. There are so many amazing home decor projects on blogs out there but very few of them are possible for those of us renting. This isn't a huge project by any means, but could definitely add some color to plain beige, unpaintable, apartment walls. The secret? Removable glue dots. Those things are tiny dots of magic that hold forever and come right off when it's time to move on.

You will need:

Scrapbook paper, leftover scraps work great
a large map printout
scissors
removable glue dots

Print out your map. I believe the link included above is a public domain map. I printed it out over multiple sheets using Microsoft Paint because I'm high-tech. It seemed to work best printed in landscape, 3 sheets across and 3 down for a total of 9 sheets. Tape the 9 sheets together and cut out the large outline. I had to sacrifice Alaska and Hawaii in this... sorry.



Cut out each state from the big map and use as a guide to cut the state from the scrapbook paper. I didn't find it necessary to trace them beforehand. Helpful hint: As you cut out the states put them back together like a puzzle on a cookie sheet, it'll be much easier to transport them from your work space to the wall where you want to mount them. This whole process took about 2 hours, but I got distracted frequently. Thanks Netflix.



Add a glue dot or 2 to the back of each state and put 'em on the wall. I kept a quote on the wall with them for at least 9 months in my Montana apartment and when they came down they left no residue whatsoever. Not even a grease spot like sticky-tac tends to.


Basically, I hold a little bitterness to the New England area right now but I'll get over it.

If you invest in removable glue dots now, I've got some seasonal decorations coming up that will be able to use them as well ;) What are your favorite temporary decor projects? Any tricks up your sleeve for making a rented home feel homier? I'd love to know!

Sheila

Weekend Inspiration: Embroidery Hoops

There are so may neat projects all over the internet world. I love looking through them and thinking "How did they ever come up with this!?" Sometimes, people are amazing. Sometimes, not so much. But the not so much times are not what we are focusing on now. I'd like to start a new series on Friday called "Weekend Inspiration." My plan is to scour the internet to find the coolest DIY and crafty ideas with a theme. This week, the theme is using embroidery hoops. They're super inexpensive and extremely versatile. That's enough to inspire me at least...

This amazing table runner on On to Baby. 

This could be a great addition to any classroom. Or any room. Ever.
Made by Heatherlee of Lady Poppins.

Always been a favorite quote! From the Etsy shop Art by Autumn.

I am pretty much obsessed with this photo chandelier from Natalme.

So fresh and springy. From the Etsy shop littlenestbox.

This idea has been around for a while because it's so cute and simple.
This wall art is from Inspired by Charm.

Wouldn't this be a sweet baby shower gift? Made over on Creative Jewish Mom. 

OMGoodness, can you imagine a wall in a craft room with a bunch of variations on this idea as supplies organizers? Someday, when I'm not such a vagabond... Sewing kit from The Train to Crazy.

A wine cork trivet is classy and useful. This is so grown up-esque it's almost intimidating.
See the tutorial on Lines Across.

HOOP. There is is... I'm sorry. I had to. 

Will you make any of these? Have they inspired you for a new, completely different project? I'd love to know.

Sheila  :)

PS. Have a wonderful weekend! 

How to Make an Embroidered Painting

Today is my friend Margaret's Birthday! She's been one of my few good friends since I arrived in Columbia so I wanted to be sure to make it extra special. One of my favorite presents to make is an embroidered painting. 

I don't know if there is a real name for this: I've not seen the exact same thing before. But it's relatively easy to do and very personalized. It could be adapted into a sweet Mother's Day gift as well (I'll post more on my actual Mother's Day plans later). It might look complicated, but it's totally doable in one evening and worth the slightly extra effort.

You will need:

1. Acrylic paints in colors of your choice. These are the Joann Fabrics store brand (Essentials) in basic black and white, "Baby Blue," and "Carribean Coast," Scribbles fabric paint (aka puffy paint) in "Glittering Ruby", a wide flat brush, a skinny flat brush,  a detail brush, pencil/pen, and an awesome eraser.*
*this might be optional for you. But not me.

2. A blank white canvas on a wooden frame. Fun fact: These are usually about $3 a piece at Big Lots.

3. Embroidery floss, a needle, and a push pin.

Now let's get started!

Use a picture of an outline map as a guide to copy on your canvas. Mess it up. Erase it all. Start over. You could also trace an outline if you have a map cutout you like.When you're happy with it, pencil in your quote and location hearts. It's not going to be perfect and that's part of what makes it special.  Marge's family is from Florida, she lived in Philly, and now we're in SC.

The "...Whithersoever thou goest." is from the King James version of Joshua 1:9,
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Paint your background. The plan originally was to mix a very light gray for the outside, and a slightly darker gray for the land so the words and hearts would pop. It didn't look as gross as this picture would suggest, but I ended up covering the light gray with baby blue anyway. It was much harder to see the pencil then anticipated so it was a good thing I covered the final lines in a fine Sharpie first. That detail will be entirely dependent on the paint you use. Each layer should dry in about 10-15 minutes. 

Prep to start embroidering. Use a push pin to pre-poke holes in the canvas along your pencil outline, keeping the holes between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch apart. Don't skip this step: it will make the embroidering to come SO much easier. If you've worked with embroidery floss before, you know it's pretty thick to use the whole chuck at one. Unravel about 2 feet at a time and split the 6 strands so you have 2 long pieces of 3 strands each. Thread it on to your needle by pulling the length of the floss halfway through (you're now working with a piece that's about a foot long since it's folded in half through the needle). Tie a knot at the very end. You'll end up doing this step multiple times depending on the length of your quote. 

Now it's time to embroider your quote. I learned to embroider from my Grandmother when I was 10. My skills have not improved any since, but I like to pretend. To embroider, (1 and 2) you will bring your needle up through the next hole, (3) pull all floss through, (4) and stitch over the space you skipped. Those are terrible instructions. But these at Sublime Stitching are great, promise.

Once you've finished embroidering, the hard part is over! Now it's just time to add some fun details. The glitter puffy paint was a perfect touch for the location hearts. Then add some waves (Carribean Blue) and mountain ranges (1 more drop of black paint to the leftover dark gray mix). The color used for the waves just happened to matched the embroidery floss so it made the perfect color to finish the edges.

Let it dry over night, mostly for the puffy paint, and then it's ready to be gifted or displayed! The gray comes out looking like many different colors throughout this tutorial since it was dark outside while this was being made, but it actually looks pretty cute in real life and I would still recommend using it. I even grew to appreciate the light gray layered under the baby blue  All together, this took about 3 hours, not counting final drying time.

I can't wait to give it to Marge tonight! Who would you make something like this for? And where would your hearts be? I'd love to know.

Sheila :) 

Suitcase Coffee Table

Sometimes the best things in life truly are free, or at least close to it. This coffee table adds so much charm and whimsy but it cost a grand total of $4. Yup. And that was technically a donation. To make this adorable and cheap table, you need very few things:

1. A hard shell suitcase (thrift stores, garage sales, and estate sales are the best) 

2. Table leg top plates - 4 (like these)

3. Table legs - 4 of your choice (these are super cheap and could easily be dressed up or left plain)

4. Screwdriver

5. Very short screws - I needed 16 but it depends on your top plates. The length also depends on your suitcase. Don't rely on any that come with the top plates because they are made for much thicker bases. If you're a really cool kid, just take your suitcase to the store with you and hold screws up to the edge to test it. I'm sure the people at the hardware store have seen crazier things. I speak from experience when I warn that getting screws that are even just a little too long means they will poke through the top which can scratch you, ruin the suitcase, or at the very least make it super wobbly. It's a small, but important detail.

Make sure the suitcase opens to be a flat surface before you try to use it as a table. Once you have all the materials, the first thing you need to do is the use the screwdriver to attach the top plates in the corner of the suitcase. If yours has a rounded edge like mine, the plate should go just before it starts to curve and instead of flush against the outside edge. Its' a good idea to keep your other hand, or at least a finger, or the outside of the suitcase so you can feel if the screw starts to poke through. No bueno.

After your top plate is secure, screw in the table legs. Flip the table over and you're done! It should take you a grand total of 20 minutes to make.

My suitcase was from an estate sale on the side of the interstate (the $4 donation) and the table legs/hardware were generously provided by friends who collect antiques  some of which are not always in the best of shapes and can be used for parts. The moral of the story is: always ask around. Who knows what you might find!

The best thing about this table is that when I moved, it was easy to unscrew that table legs but leave the top plates on, then shove curtains, pictures, and anything else that belonged in the living room inside. It was like creating a living room decorating kit, contained in a pop up coffee table. Cheap and functional. Who could ask for anything more?

In the Montana Apartment:

In the South Carolina apartment: 

If you decide to make one, let me know how it turns out! It could also be a fun idea for a nightstand or anywhere else you need some extra, but removable, surface space.

PS. My favorite part is that the address label of the last (maybe original?) owner is still taped on it. It adds so much character. I've been tempted to write a letter to that address before but that seems borderline creepy...

PSS. I'm struggling with blog worthy photos! Any advice is greatly appreciated! 

Light Switch Swag

Blurry again...
In my defense I only took the picture at the time because I wanted to show my Mom.
Not because I had planned to share it with the internet world. 

If you move a lot, or live in an apartment, you probably either can't or won't want to paint the walls. It's a great homey touch, but TONS of work.

In order to get around this predicament, I tried to think of little ways to add color and personality to walls without leaving anything permanent or difficult to change. One of my favorite ways has been to personalize light switch plates. It's SO easy and can turn out pretty stinkin' cute. But if they don't, a light switch plate costs about 50 cents from any hardware store so you can probably afford to mess up a few times.

To make the one you see pictured, use shades of green and brown construction paper (the dollar store is  a great place to load up on this crafting essential), markers, and Modpodge. Nothing fancy! The bird is actually a garden marker from the Target dollar section bought a while ago that came in a pack of 3. Cut the green paper into slightly different shapes and sizes of leaves, using a marker to accent. Layer them over the plate using Modpodge under and on top of each layer. Cut your brown paper to any tree shape you like, leaving enough extra to wrap around the sides. Marker again is great to add a little texture. This bird just happened to be on a piece of wire that goes the length of the plate. It was easy to use the brown paper to wrap around that wire and keep it in place. No glue needed! Using markers to color the screws adds a nice touch. Cover the whole thing in a healthy layer of Modpodge and let it dry. It takes about an hour to make, but let it dry overnight before you display it proudly.

The fun thing about this idea is that it can be as simple or complicated as your style. Not in the mood to cut out a bunch of leaves? Use 1 piece of scrapbook paper, or even a shopping bag from your favorite place, carefully cut out the area for the switch, and Modpodge that sucker into submission. Don't forget to let me know how it turns out!

Moving? Decide you need a change? Get new furniture? Make a new one! These would make a fun, unique, and inexpensive gift too. This one now belongs to a friend in Montana who helped me move and asked to keep it.

Sheila