Christmas Crafts

Last weekend I must have been feeling in the Christmas spirit. Okay, really I was just putting off working on my final projects for school. Here are some crafts I did to make my apartment a bit more Christmasy. Sorry for the quickly taken photos!

I was inspired by a wreath that my sisters' friend made so I looked up a felt flower how to (I used this one here) and ended up with this for our door!


I also painted this canvas with snowflake templates that my mom made and wrote on it with a gold metallic paint marker.


I am excited for school to be over so I can work on some more crafts without feeling guilty!

P.S. I just have to share an amazing gluten free banana bread recipe here that is actually easy and doesn't require a bunch of strange ingredients. Check it out.

-Dani

Pillow overhaul.

It feels good to finally get my sewing machine out for the first time in months! Now that I finally have a little desk to use as my sewing area, I can get some projects done!

I just recently bought a little loveseat at the neighborhood wide yard sale a couple weeks back and covered it with a cute slipcover from target (i literally go to Target like every single day that I don't have to work... )But I like to keep my purple quilt on my couch and the throw pillows I had been using were plain old brown ones from my room way back in probably middle school. Sooo... time for an overhaul. My need to sew + no really good fabric stores in town + my newfound love of online shopping = fabric.com

I got two yards of this print for less than $30 including shipping. I definitely used less than a yard for this project, so I'd say it cost me less than $15. Cheap=awesome.

This is not really a very involved project, so I won't go into a lot of detail. But I'm proud of how these pillows turned out:



My pillows were 17 1/2 by 17 1/2 inches, so I cut squares of fabric that were 18x18 to allow for a 1/4 seam:





This is super easy. Just sew the squares together inside out, leaving enough space along one edge (about the middle third) to squeeze the pillow inside. Flip the case right-side out, insert pillow and pin and hand-stitch (or machine stitch) the opening. I don't mind hand-stitching them when I have plenty of time to sit around and watch a couple episodes on Netflix like I did today.





Ta da! Cheap, easy, adorable AND I never even had to leave the house. That's my kind of project.

Mouse Pad Makeover

So while at a garage sale I found the most hideous mouse pad I have ever seen. But it was only 50 cents. So I bought it knowing exactly what I had in mind for it.

For a mouse pad this gigantic in size, I need about a 1/4 of a yard of fabric. Make sure you choose a fabric that will not allow the design you are trying to cover up to show through.

This is a very fast and simple project!

I gathered together all my supplies, which included:

mouse pad
fabric
spray adhesive
cutting board
straight edge
fabric cutter
fray check




I took the mouse pad outside to use the spray adhesive, paying special attention to really covering the corners. Then I quickly laid the fabric on top.

Then I lined up my metal straight edge to the edge of the mouse pad to cut off the excess fabric.



Just for extra safety, I lined the edges with fray check.



I love how well it turned out! Or maybe I just like it because it is coral!







-Dani

Do-it-yourself adorable chair!

Okay, so more like "do-it-yourself with the help of your little sister and odd looks from neighbors," but hey, this was a fun project... and it turned out adorable! Now I actually want to practice my cello just so I can use my newly beautified chair!


I first saw this project on Pinterest (ahhh, so addicting!), and I immediately thought of my nasty old fold-up chair that I sit on to play my cello. Unfortunately I didn't take a before picture, but I'm sure you can imagine the former ugliness!

Easy project -- all you need is some spray paint and about 1/2 of a yard of fabic. Crazy or classy! Although I have to admit, my old-man veteran neighbor thought I was crazy for "wasting paint on a chair." He had to come over and look at the spectacle up close (I spray painted it in my front yard)! He then proceeded to talk non-stop to Dani and I for about 30 minutes. (He's a talker... it's okay though -- he's hilarious and has good stories!)



So, the project instructions that I saw on Pinterest involve actually removing the seat cushion and re-covering it. However, this was impossible with my chair, so Dani and I resorted to shoving the fabric through with a butter knife. Yes, butter knives can be used for more than just butter! So if you don't want to completely remove the seat/cushion, try this technique AFTER spray painting the frame of the chair.

This project was very easy & cheap!! About $3 for a can of spray paint and $3 or $4 for the fabric... and it's SO cute! Now I have a cute "cello corner" in my room instead of that nasty old chair!!

-Jenny :)

Lace Love

I love lace and I love my new bag!


For Valentines day, our mom made each of us girls the sweetest bags! She had seen me eying all the pretty laces at the craft store and went back and bought them to sew on a little tote bag! I was so surprised and just adore how cute it turned out!







-Dani

Craft Break

Over my long Christmas break I finally had time to try some of the craft ideas I had been thinking of. Plus, my room needed some sprucing up since it had become a dumping zone for school supplies and projects.

I had some canvases sitting around for a while but I had been too scared to commit to painting something on them to end up changing my mind. Finally I just did it. I decided to put on a phrase on one of them and it was super easy to do. All you need is your canvas, paint, paint brushes, and letter stickers. I just painted the whole canvas the color I wanted the letters to be, stuck on the stickers, painted the whole canvas in another color as a "wash", then took the stickers off.




I had been wanting a little chalk board where I could easily change out verses. I found an unfinished wood frame, sanded it a little, then painted the frame white and the inside part with chalkboard paint.


One day when I was bored and in a crafty mood, I made some chiffon flowers. Then I found some twigs outside and attached the flowers to them and put them in a bottle.



It's funny how some simple little projects can revive a room!

-Dani

Fabric Flower Necklace

Confession: I have been making lots of flowers lately (there will be more on that later). Until now they have all been to put in hair. So I decided to try something different. A fabric flower necklace! I used a easier way (I call it cheating) to make the flowers for my necklace than the way I usually make flowers. I used this tutorial as a reference. I was lucky enough to find all the materials right in my house and the fabric I used is actually one of my dad's old shirts!

What a great way to dress up a simple shirt! I added a pearl in the center of each of my flowers for a little extra something. Also, my flowers are slightly larger than that of the tutorial and I did not make the chain as long. Overall, this was a very easy, non-stressful project to do and took me less than an hour!

-Dani

Tennessee crafts

So, here's the thing. I finally gave in and got a Pinterest. BUT I'm actually surprised at how much it's inspired me. Instead of just sitting there and surfing the internet more, I have all this motivation and some fantastic ideas for things to do on my days off from the hospital.

Yesterday I decided to take a trip to the craft store, which turned out to be a disappointment. (I miss my Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's!) But I picked up a few things and sat around in the sun with my puppy doing projects all afternoon, which was great.

First up, I bought a cute picture frame on clearance for just $2. I put a cute patterned paper in it and now we can just write on the glass with an expo marker... it's perfect for writing verses or quotes or just little messages! I also bought some of those cinnamon-scented pine cones and just put them in a little bowl with some scrap fabric. This apartment still smells pretty strongly like cigarette smoke and I've literally been doing everything I can think of to both cover up the smell and get it out of here. If you have any thoughts on that, PLEASE let me know. So gross. But the pine cones remind me of Michigan, so I love them. And I had a few leftover to put in the bathroom too.






Here's what I have on top of the bookshelf. I LOVE the candle in a mason jar (from Amber's wedding I think!) Then of course we have a picture of the family and I got some flowers to brighten up the room.


And here's the whole shelf:



I also decided to recover my lampshade since it was boring old white and looking pretty grosss. I bought a little piece of tan colored fabric and recovered it, then put a dark purple velvety ribbon around the edges. I also bought some flowers to put in a little vase in my room, so I pulled off a couple of those and glued them on the lampshade as well. Then (Pinterest idea!) I used a sharpie paint marker/pen to write verses on it. It's not perfect, but I think that's why I love it so much. Now I just have to recover the bottom of the lamp to match it.


There should be more to come soon :) Or maybe some pictures of these gorgeous East Tennessee mountains I've been enjoying.

Love is like a butterfly...

I was inspired to make this project on the day of my good friend’s wedding. I was out for a walk that morning and came upon a patch of milkweed along the way. I was surprised to actually find several caterpillars munching on leaves, and figured that by the time Amber & Jacob got back from their honeymoon these little creatures would be chrysalises – a perfect gift, just waiting to hatch into beautiful “wedding butterflies.” I snagged a few and raised them for a couple weeks, gathering fresh milkweed leaves every 1-2 days (I had an internship with Michigan Butterflies last summer, making me an expert caterpillar-raiser. If you need more information about raising Monarchs, there are great websites available, or just ask me!).

Amber’s mom actually gave me a couple vases of flowers from the wedding reception – Mason jars to be more exact! I decided to use one of these for the chrysalises. Wedding-day jars and wedding-day butterflies! Once the flowers died, I threw them out and cleaned out the jar. My mom had some spare fabric in the basement, and I found some mesh/net white fabric to place over the top. It’s important to allow free-flowing air into the jar – otherwise moisture may build up and cause problems for the insects.

Once the caterpillars formed their chrysalises on the top of their temporary cage (a Tupperware container), I used my butterfly internship skills to pull the chrysalises from the top and hot-glue them to a stick. Remember to make sure they have plenty of space for the butterflies to emerge and open their wings!


I then decorated the jar with twine, flowers, and a small piece of paper with a quote reading:

Love is like a butterfly. It goes wherever it pleases and pleases wherever it goes.
I love this project not only because it combines some creativity with my Biology interests, but it’s for two of my great friends for a very special occasion. Congrats to you two & may your love be like the butterflies!

--Jenny