Striped Play Rug - DIY

I have been working on Riley's room for the last week; painting, organizing, and cleaning out old toys and clothes. (I still need to hang his book shelves and his pictures on the wall.) Since we went for a neutral white walls in his room too I thought I would add a bit of color with a rug. OK, a lot of color. This rug is actually four small inexpensive rag rugs from a big box store. Each rug was $3.50 and I choose two rugs of each color pattern so the stripes would line up when I stitched them together.  Thirteen dollars for a 6 foot by 4 foot play rug is a steal!!

You can see a seam where I attached the ends, but it should flatten out with time. Riley decided that he needed a play ice cream shop too, so I made him one from an old presentation board Jered had left over from school. He loved it, probably more than the rug. We have been enjoying beautiful weather here in Iowa. Hope your weekend was as nice as ours.

Industrial Pipe Desk -DIY

When Max decided he wanted his own room again I knew he was at the age that he was going to need a desk in his room. I decided to make him an industrial style desk out of galvanized pipes from the hardware store. It's very simple and boyish, and hopefully will hold up to rough treatment. 

Here is what I bought at the hardware store:

• 2 of  a 12 X 48 Shelf - $21.52
• 4 of 18 inch pipe - $12.96
• 4 of 8 inch pipe - $9.16
• 2 of 12 inch pipe - $4.98
• 4 of T-pipe - $4.96
• 8 of Floor Flanges - $26.88
• 1 can black spray paint - $3.68
• 3/4" screws  - $0.64
• 4 metal braces - $2.18

Total Cost of materials - $86.96

The floor flanges are the feet and the connection to the desk. I used the 8 inch and the 18 inch pipes to make the legs, and the 12 pipes are the brace between the legs for stability. The T-pipe makes the connections between the legs. 

The Floor Flanges have places to connect to the desk with screws. I used 3/4" screws so that they did not pierce the top of the desk. 

The desk top is two shelves put together with metal brackets. Four brackets are evenly spaced along the seam of the two boards and bind them together.

Before I put the legs on to the desk top I sprayed them a flat black quick dry paint to match the shelves in his room. 

I also made Max a recycled can light from a large can and a light cord. The industrial pipe desk was a pretty easy project to complete and it took about an hour from start to finish. The cost of the materials was a bit higher that I expected, but the results were great. Max really likes having his own desk and has actually been doing his homework without being asked, and that is priceless.

All you need is...

Love - isn't that what we all need right now? Winter is really hanging on hard here in the Midwest and my family has been fighting the flu all week. (Not fun!) Also my family is going through lots changes right now which makes me need a good cheering up. I saw this pin on Pinterest and I absolutely knew I had to have a marquee LOVE sign. I have been wanting to make this for a while and February seems like the perfect month to finally do it. Lights always make me happy! 

First I bought some cardboard letters at Jo-Ann fabrics. 

I cut out the back of the letters and removed the inside cardboard support. Note that MOST letters are the same either way - L is not one of those letters!

Then I figured out where to place the lights evenly across the letters. I used two packages, with 20 lights each, so 40 lights total. My lights use battery packs and LED so they are not a fire hazard. 

To poke the holes was actually quite easy. I used a nail and hammer to make a tiny hole, then enlarge the hole with a pencil, and then even larger with a paint brush handle. The holes were just large enough for the lights to fit through.

I used some cardboard poster sheets cut into strips, 1 1/2 inch wide, glued around each letter. Just plain Elmer's school glue worked the best, and the clothes pins held it while the glue dried.

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Once the glue was dry, I painted the letters with white craft paint, let that dry, and then spray painted them gold for the final shiny finish. 

I pushed the lights through the back and hid all the cords inside the pockets of the letters. I really like the way it looks when the sign is all lit up. Right now I have them hung on the wall, but you could also place on a shelf or mantle since they do stand up on their own. What would your sign say if you made one?

Cold Weather and Hama Beads

2014. We have been off to a slow start this year. The weather has been frigidly cold in the Midwest with the Polar Vortex holding us in the negative temperatures for weeks. Since we have been stuck inside I have been going through closets and trying to cull the hoarding. Usually at this time I set goals/resolutions, but last year was a tough year for us so I am struggling to set goals that wouldn't just be a repeat of last years goals or even find a goals that I might actually want to accomplish. Unfortunately this year looks like it will be as unpredictable as last year. 2014 looks to be the year to "keep calm and carry on". 

If I had to make a resolution it would probably be to make more art and finish all the unfinished projects I started last year. Max got some Hama Perler beads for Christmas and we have both been having a lot of fun being creative with those. I also want to get more plants indoors and outdoors this year. Maybe try some new plantings I haven't tried before. Mostly I want to spend more time with my family and friends and less time at work. Last year we didn't get much of a family vacation time and this year I really want to have a whole week to ourselves. Life does not always bring you roses, sometimes you have to make them yourself.

Thumbprint Cookies

It is ten days until Christmas. That's right. Ten. Since Thanksgiving was so late in November, my whole schedule is thrown off. Anyone else feeling this way? At least I have my gift list under control. Today I got around to baking our third Christmas cookie, Almond Thumbprints. I  always use raspberry preserves and orange marmalade, but any jam works. 

Almond Thumbprint Cookies

2 sticks of butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp almond flavor

1 3/4 cup of flour

Raspberry Preserves

Orange Marmalade

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cream together butter and sugar until completely combined
3. Add almond flavor and mix again
4. Add flour by halves mixing completely each time. If dough is too sticky you can add up to 1/4 cup more flour.
5. Roll into equal balls and press with thumb. Fill each cookie with jam. 
6. Bake for 14 minutes, or until slightly brown on bottom.
7. Cool and then drizzle frosting (recipe below) over cookies.

Almond Frosting

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp almond flavor

Mix together completely. If not able to drizzle, add more milk one tablespoon at a time.

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In other news, Riley got to paint his Christmas train today. I always try to get the kids some sort of craft to work on in case we get snowed in or just bored on the weekends. He also worked on some ornaments for family presents. Making is the best for giving.

Halloween Banner -DIY

 Halloween is one of my favorite holidays basically because hey, free chocolate! I also like the Halloween decorations because they are bright and fun and orange. This year I decided to make a Halloween banner for my kitchen nook. I didn't want to go buy a bunch of supplies so I just used what I had in my craft stash with a few sheets of computer paper printed with some graphic designs.

First cut your paper into 2.5 inch strips and tape them end to end so you have one long 24 inch strip of paper. I just used clear scotch tape on both sides.  Then accordion fold the paper, back and forth, so that you have quarter inch pleats. 

Tape the two edges together so that you form a doughnut and then flatten by gently pushing the middle down and making a disk.

I used hot glue in the center of the disk to hold it in place and to glue the letters for the banner on. For my banner I used the phrase "Trick or Treat" in Western font. 

You will need to hold the letter in place until the glue hardens so that the disk does not pop up and come apart. Once it is cool they will lay flat. To string my banner I used baking twine and a needle, poking two holes across the top of each medallion. I had some vintage cat cards in my scrap collection that I added in to break up the words.

The folding was the hardest part of this project, and it was nice to make something out of materials I already had on hand. Do you know what your going to be for this Halloween?

Shibori

Shibori is the Japanese art of tie dying. I have been wanting to do this craft for a super long time and this summer seemed like the right time to do it. I gathered quite a bit of materials for this project. I bought cotton pillow cases and sheet sets, string and thread, RIT denim dye (I couldn't find any true indigo in our stores here....), a large PVC tube, and rubber bands. I also used beads which I'll explain later in this post.

The most complicated method I did was the thread wrapping called Kanoko shibori. First I drew the pattern lightly in pencil on the pillow case. I did a very simple diamond pattern so that it would be easy to follow.

Then following the lines I placed a bead and wrapped thread around the base a few times. I did not tie the thread as you need to unbind the beads after dying. 

The finished pillow case looks like the picture below. This took about 3 hours to complete, but it was worth it.

I also did Itajime shibori which is tightly bound cloth, Arashi shibori which is wrapped around a tube and tied, and Kumo shibori which is where you fold and press the cloth into triangles.

To dye the fabric I uses 3 gallons of hot water (as hot as I could stand with my hands) plus 2 cups of salt and of course one bottle of Rite Dye. Some of the fabric I placed in the dye bath and some I just dipped and held to have the dye only stain part of the fabric fold.

I love the way it turned out. The Kanoko shibori technique is my favorite and took the most work. I would like to try true indigo dye some day, but these are still very cool and the boys love their new sheets.