Bird Cage

 

I was shopping at Hobby Lobby and they had a section with 90% off - WOW! I found this black metal bird cage for $1.40, what a deal. It must of had something on it but it came off. I thought I would dress it up a bit.

 

 

I found this

beautiful paper in my stash( I have way too much paper) that had a bird cage on it - how appropriate.

I printed the words" Love One Another" on it from my computer.

 





 

I inked up the edges and added some scrolls with one of my favorite stamps

then glued it to the metal with mod podge:

 

 

Then I added some silver studs and I cut out one of the butterflies

and glued it on so the wings stand out:

 

 

A little ribbon and a button at the top and it's finished. Not bad for $1.40:

 

 

Before and After:

 

 

 

 

 

Craft storage - dresser before / after

I have decided to start looking for old wooden dressers that I can use for my craft area/storage. The plastic ones I have are okay but they're not very pretty and the tops tend to sag and they can crack, like this one:

I recently went to a rummage sale at a local church and found this dresser for only $7.50! It's solid wood, in pretty good shape, and has lots of drawers for storage. SOLD!

 

 

The color is not what I wanted so it's time to paint.

First, since I was going to a lighter color (white), I put 2 coats of Kilz primer on.

Let it dry really well.

 

 

Then 2 coats of white paint, leftover from another project.

Let dry well.

 

 

I was going for the distressed look so I sanded the edges.

 

Then I applied a coat of stain. Wipe on then wipe off - depending how dark you want it.

Let it dry for a couple of days.

 

 

And it's finished:

 

 Before:                                                     

              After:

 

Now it's time to fill it with my craft supplies!

Tea-Time Banner

Not only do I have a collection of adorable tea pots - mostly found at yard sales and thrift stores

but I also have a collection of tea cups - way too many in fact

 

but there is something very comforting about a nice cup of tea in a beautiful piece of china and most of the cups I find are very charming. Once a month a few friends and I get together for a Tea Party. We bring out the fine china and set a formal table. We each bring our own tea cup and we have a wonderful luncheon together. Well I thought I might make a banner to hang over my tea cups.

First I cut out  diamond shapes in red and white and also the letters using my cricuit.

I punched out half circles in red check and glued them to the back of each diamond.

Then I added a few flowers and leaves and a couple of black butterflies...

I punched small holes in each diamond and weaved a green ribbon through each one...

 

I think it turned out adorable ...

 

I hung it on the top shelf of my cup rack. It was so easy to make. What do you think?

 

Time for a cup of tea!~

 

Ruffled flower pillow

Start with some pretty fabric. I got mine from the thrift store. It was a crib sheet. Wash, iron and cut off the elastic. Nice piece for a buck.

 

I set an old pillow on the fabric to measure . I always make pillows with an opening, it's so much easier than sewing it shut.

 

Make sure to fold the flap over before cutting.

 

 turn the fabric right side down and pin. Then slide the pillow out.

Sew down both sides and turn right side out. Stuff the pillow in the opening.

 This way you can always take the cover off and wash it or change it out.

 Now for the fun part- making the ruffle. I cut 6" strips. I used my rotary cutter. It's so worth the investment and it makes cutting straight so much easier.

Sew strips together. Fold the strip in half so your ruffle will be 3".

If you have a ruffle attachment on your sewing machine great, I don't so I did a running stitch by hand.

I sewed my ruffle after I basted it so it wouldn't come apart.

Now, some sewers might gasp at what I'm about to do but since it's just for me and it's just a throw pillow, I hot glued the ruffle onto my pillow. First lay it out the way you want it.

I started gluing in the center and worked my way out. I made a small circle to cover the center. I love the way it turned out!

Wing chair slipcover

I'm sharing my first attempt at making a slipcover for a wing chair. I have upholstered a chair before so how hard can making a slipcover be? Well here's the before picture...

 The chair is really comfortable but ugly. I was going to do it in a white fabric but after looking at the fabric store I didn't want to spend that much for my first go at it, so I hit my favorite place for fabric - the thrift store. I found a double size sheet set in a lime green ( which for some reason the pictures look white,  I think it's because of the flash). It only cost me $4.00 so if I messed up I wasn't out a lot.

I started by cutting the fabric for different sections. ( there's alot of video how to's on the web) and pinning it in place. My fabric was the same on both sides so it didn't matter but if you have a pattern you would pin it inside out. It takes a lot of pins but it's worth it.

smoothing and adding pleats where needed. I really didn't want it too tight - more of the loose, shabby look.

 I didn't baste it but I would recommend it.When you pull it off to sew it things start moving around and some pins come loose. Sewing it was the hardest part, especially where three sections came togethter. After I sewed it, I put it back on. It fit okay. I few sections didn't come out quite as smooth as I would have liked but for a first time it's pretty good.

 Next came the fun part. Adding some buttons and bows and a pleated skirt.
I glued a piece to the back( easier than sewing it)

Then I made some bows that I also glued on.

I pleated the skirt.

and then added some buttons.

 

I just hot glued all the pieces on but I guess you could take the time to sew everything on ( too much work for me)

 

It's funny because the back of the chair is my favorite - It's soooo cute!

A pillow and a throw and it's done!...

                           Before                                                          and after...

 

Mug Rugs...

One day while I was browsing in Jo-Ann Fabrics, I came across this book for Mug Rugs. I had never heard of them before but I guess a lot of people have. I went home and googled - mug rugs - and all kinds of pictures and info came up - isn't the internet great ?! So I decided to give one a try.
I purchased a few fabrics that had motifs on them that I could cut out and use as the theme, ie flowers, cupcakes, owls etc. I only needed to buy 1/8th of a yard so this is a very inexpensive craft. Plus, I already had a ton of fabric that was accumulating and what better way to use it up.

This is the first one I made. I've never been a quilter but because it is so small I thought I could handle it. Finished size is about 6 x 9"

 I stitched in the ditch and appliqued the tea cup.  I also have a lot of trims and laces that I added for accents. Since I was making a few for gifts , I thought I would add their initials.

 

I added a little tage in the colors to match. It says -

Mug Rug

Smaller than a placemat and larger than a coaster.

The perfect size for your mug and a snack.

I think I'll be making more of these.

 And wouldn't it be fun to find a mug and then match the colors to it for a gift?