Tag Archives: decor

Making Inspiration | Scrap Leather DIY

23 Apr

A (totally awesome) friend gave me a partial roll of thick leather when she was “cleaning house” in preparation for a move. It’s still nice & soft & it’s been sitting in the corner of our studio/office, for months, torturing me — visions of potential leather projects dancing in my head.

But what do I really know about working with leather? It’s a little intimidating but after sleuthing the interwebs it doesn’t seem so scary (yay!). Here’s what I came up with for potential projects. I’m most excited about the first three but they are all pretty amazing!

1. leather party decor (perfect everyday decor too!)

2. pretty little leather bow (oh the possibilities!)

3. more decor…leather bowl (for holding a head of garlic in the kitchen or top-of-dresser-items like jewelry & change?!)

4. another painted bracelet treat 
(perfect for adding interest to any everyday outfit!)

5. sweet leather flowers here & here (thanks fleurfatale & Martha!)

I don’t know about you…but I can’t wait to start making!

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Recycle…Repurpose…Repeat | Yoga Mat Revival

19 Apr

Earth Day is this weekend so recycling, etc. has really been on my mind recently. And if you haven’t figured it out already, Jess & I are also thrifty/resourceful by nature.

We got a new little rug for in front of the kitchen sink and I was sick of it slipping on the tile floor. I’ve bought non-slip-under-the-rug things from bargain stores but they don’t work that well so I’ve decided to stop wasting money on them — it all adds up! I’m too thrifty to invest in a more expensive option until we have our own house. I figured there had to be an alternative that would work well & possibly offer a little more cushion…then…bing! Idea! Light bulb above head & everything. I remembered seeing my old yoga mat tucked away in the corner of our closet when I was hunting for  my Spring/Summer clothes.

I laid the yoga mat out on the floor; measured a length & width about 1/4″-1/2″ smaller than the rug I wanted to put it under; marked it with a Sharpie marker & then cut it with sharp scissors. It’s been working perfectly & it adds a nice bit of cushion, too (which is great since we’re at the sink every night washing dishes…I can’t wait until we own a home…with a dishwasher!).

I put the remaining piece of yoga mat under a throw that’s on top of a trunk at the base of our bed (the dogs & cat like to use it as a step up to the bed & it’s an antique). It’s holding the throw in place nicely & we no longer have to forever fuss with it to keep it in check. Besides, now the boys have a little bit more of a cushion for jumping, too.

I’m not the only one who has thought of reusing/recycling/repurposing old yoga mats. I found this great link while setting out to write this post. So many awesome ideas!

My favorites are 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 18, 26, 29, 31, 49.
#26 made me wonder if yoga mat would make a good baby changing mat? What about cutting a clean yoga mat down to a smaller size & tucking it your diaper bag? It’s so easy to wipe clean & would make changing away from home a little less stressful.

So…how do you plan to celebrate Earth Day? What things have you cleverly recycled or repurposed?

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Decor DIY | The Easiest Roman Shades Ever!

15 Apr

I attempted to make roman shades from scratch once (key words = attempted, once). It was several years ago and I enlisted the help of my friend & fabric whisperer, Andrea. In the end the project FAILED (at no fault of Andrea’s), the mechanics were a total pain in the butt to figure out & I was left with a bag full of fabric, a ½ sewn, lined panel & roman shade guts (little plastic rings, dowels & several yards of nylon cord).

Recently, I found that bag while cleaning out my fabric stash and was reminded of how much I love the look of a roman shade. But they are $$$, hence the reason I wanted to make them in the first place.

Thanks to the interwebs, especially Pinterest, I found a much easier option. And…after finding the tutorial, I excitedly remembered:

  1. I had a few yards of fabric in a bright print leftover from wedding stuff (Jess wasn’t in love with it then for wedding crafts but was okay with it being in our office window)
  2. Our office/studio window had some icky mini blinds in it. They were left by the last tenant & we put up curtains over them & then quickly forgot about them. A note about this: I happen to know that our landlord didn’t supply the mini blinds so they were free game to use for this project. (Yay!)
So this project was essentially “free” to make. Well, truthfully, it was $5.49 because I had to buy fabric glue.

Supplies

Fabric (a mid-weight cotton worked for me but the other tutorials I’ve seen use burlap or heavier cotton canvas)

Mini blinds in a size to fit your window (use old ones & upcycle them or buy cheap ones at your nearest home supply store)

Fabric glue (I used “Liquid Stitch”)

Measuring tape

Heat N’ Bond iron-on hem tape

Fabric shears or super sharp scissors

Double sided craft tape

Iron

Optional supplies:
Pinking shears
Binder clips
Quilting ruler
Thread in a matching color (only if you plan to machine stitch your seams)
Hot glue gun (I didn’t use this but many of the tutorials did)

Instructions

I mostly used the instructions here  & referenced an older tutorial for steps I wasn’t sure about.

Here are a few notes/things I did differently:

:: Prepping the blinds: This was much easier than I thought. I can’t emphasize this next tip enough: BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT THE LIFT CORD. You think it’s super obvious BUT it’s very easy to get into measuring & cutting & gluing & before you know it, you’re wondering why your scissors are having such a hard time cutting the fabric…& then you realize the lift cord was hiding under the fabric & you almost cut it & ruined the whole project. GAH! So….BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT THE LIFT CORD.

:: Glue: I had all of the supplies required with the exception of the fabric glue. I bought it at a local sewing store & the brand I used was called “Liquid Stitch”. I used it to adhere the fabric to everything – the mini blind slats, the thicker mechanical bar at the top and the thick bottom slat. So far, it’s holding up just fine. I didn’t use hot glue at all.

:: Fabric: I used a medium weight cotton print. It’s the main reason I didn’t use hot glue – because I feel like it would be less forgiving than a heavy weight canvas or burlap & I didn’t want to see lumps & bumps on the finished shade.

:: Seams & “pattern”:

  • I left a 2.5” border around all of the edges.  Meaning, I measured & cut my piece of fabric 2.5″ bigger, on all sides, than what I wanted my finished shade to be. For the left and right sides, I folded the fabric in 2.5 ” & pressed it with an iron. I folded the flap of fabric under itself, sandwiched the Heat N’ Bond between the layers of fabric & pressed it, leaving me with a double thick seam that measured 1.25″. I did this to give a little more stability to the shade on the sides.
  • I left the top & bottom edges raw so I could play around/easily cut off any excess fabric
  • My pleats (where I glued the slats) are spaced 7.5” apart because that seemed to work the best with the length of my window
  • I used the recommended Heat N’ Bond (no sewing necessary!) for the hem but also used a sewing machine to reinforce the hem on each side to give it nice finished & clean look

:: Finishing:

  • I used binder clips (yes, your standard office supply binder clips) to temporarily hold the fabric in place as the glue was drying on the top mechanical bar & the thick bottom slat. This was a really helpful step.
  • Once the glue on the top mechanical bar & bottom slat was dry, I used pinking shears to trim the excess fabric (to keep the raw edge of the fabric from fraying). As you are doing this, BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT THE LIFT CORD!!!  I was extra careful not to cut or glue the lift cord in all of the earlier steps & then nearly cut one of them during this last finishing step. OMG! Crisis averted though…phew!
  • Once the finished shade was in place, I put a little piece of strong double-sided craft tape on both sliding pieces of the bracket that holds the top of the shade in place & pressed the top corners of the fabric down (as the instructions in the tutorials state, you have to keep the corners unglued in order to be able to install the shade).

And….voila!…a sexy looking roman shade for less!

So sexy in fact, we thought the trim & windowsill looked too drab after taking down the original curtains. So…I lightly sanded away any ickies, taped it off with painter’s tape & painted it a nice bright white. Even after painting, this project still took just 2 evenings to complete.

Have you ever had a project unknowingly turn into more projects? Let us know how things turned out.

Happy making!

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Decor DIY | Frame it!

9 Apr

We have a small collection of screen printed posters created by local artist friends. They are unusual sizes & at first, the task of framing them seemed impossible or very expensive. While I’ve seen thrifty/creative ways to hang posters/prints like here & here, they don’t actually protect the art & we not only wanted to display them, but keep them protected, too.

DIY framing kit to the rescue! We use the standard black metal ones for a cohesive look but they are available in a small variety of finishes.

Supplies

Artwork

Archival mat board cut to the size of your artwork (or chipboard, foam core, or even corrugated cardboard will do — but keep in mind if you use these, it won’t be archival)

Glass or plexiglass cut to the size of your artwork

Flat head screwdriver

2 framing kits (in the width & height of your artwork) such as these 

Instructions

The instructions are part of the framing kit packaging & they are very easy to follow. The whole kit takes about 10 minutes total to assemble (including the time it takes to clean the glass/dust off the plexi!). Easy peasy!

Tips…

Glass &  plexiglass: While you might think that plexiglass would be cheaper, it’s often not the case, so investigate before you buy. There are two hardware stores near me & one sells & cuts plexiglass and the other sells & cuts glass. Call your local hardware store to see if they custom cut glass/plexi before you stop in. Be careful while handling either material — the edges can be deceivingly sharp!

Savings:

  • I’ve found the same brand framing kits in craft stores that publish “40%-50% off one item” coupons weekly. This can be a great way to save even more $ with this project.
  • Keep an eye out for coupons at your local hardware store. I saved $3 on a piece of glass with a coupon from the back of our grocery shopping receipt (thanks to Jess!).

Cutting mat board:

  • Many art supply stores have a “cut your own” large format heavy duty cutter that that they’ll let you use for free (like the Utrecht in Cambridge, MA). Typically, you need to purchase your mat board/illustration board first & then ask to use it.
  • Many art supply stores will often cut mat board for a small fee per cut.
  • You can also cut your own at home if you have a long straight edge (I like cork-backed metal rulers because they provide a strong clean edge and don’t slip) and a utility knife – you don’t need to worry about what the edges look like because they’ll be hidden by the frame — so smooth cuts aren’t necessary to fuss over.

Happy framing!

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