Here's a five minute craft for summer! Something fun and creative from the brain of my husband. A psychedelic painted sun hat!
The story: for 4 years, he has been wearing the same mesh sun hat for working outside. Even though it went through the washing machine regularly, it was stained and unsightly and, well, take a look at what I mean...
Ew, right?
A few days ago I spotted him heading for the back yard, clutching three cans of spray paint and the hat. I grabbed my camera and followed.
Hijinks ensued.
Isn't it awesome? His colors: teal, purple and bright chartreuse.
I loved it so much, I made one for me. They only take a minute, you guys! I started with this dollar store straw hat:
I went with a slightly different color scheme - I kept the teal and chartreuse, but added touches of bronze and antique silver.
The paint dried in 10 minutes and the hats were ready to wear.
They look super cute hanging in your house, too.
Tips:
*Start with just a light spray, don't blast on heavy coverage. (That way the hat will still breathe.) If you want deeper color, add one or two more very light coats.
*Don't paint the underside - you don't want to wear spray paint against you hair or skin.
*These won't go in the washing machine, but cloth hats can still be spot cleaned on the inside. (Maybe even hand washed in the sink; I have had good luck with hand-washing spray-painted fabrics.)
Okie dokie, I hope you liked Jeff's quickie idea. Try it, have fun! Give a sad old hat a whole new attitude.
Well hi! Today I thought I'd show you the quickest, simplest beaded home decor project evah. It's practical, it's pretty, it's economical - heck, there's even a little element of upcycling in there for good measure.
It's a scarf hanger system, for storage and display.
The DIY takes about a minute. You will need:
-a buncha big beads
-an old shoelace
Ready? Go!
Thread 16-20 inches of big beads onto an old shoelace (or any bit of cord or ribbon you happen to have handy). Tie a bow, and double-knot it.
That's it, baby! Hang one (or three or six or ten!) on your wall, as demonstrated here...
Then just add scarves.
I hung mine on a cute 3-hook coat rack, but you could hang these up in a number of ways. Use little nails, or individual hooks, or even those removable hooks for apartments.
I was looking for a way to use up a vast quantity of not-so-thrilling wooden beads, and this was just the ticket. I'm a VERY scarf-y person, so it's something I actually need and use - daily!
It could also be a fun project to do with kids, tweens or teens. Let them choose beads to suit their personal style to make hangers for their own rooms, or to give as AWESOME handmade gifts.
Hope this one catches someone's fancy. See ya!
Hey, here's something I've been meaning to show you for a while. I have a lot of these ranged around my studio. Penny-pinching, earth friendly, practical jewelry displays...and they do brighten everything up!
Can you picture the top of the tissue box and how I used it? Got 5 minutes, scissors and a stapler? Here's the ridiculously simple DIY.
Cut the top and sides from a square tissue box, like so:
Cut a piece of scrap cardboard to cover the opening.
Glue or tape the cardboard to the inside; I use packing tape because it's a strong hold. Then poke a couple of holes near the top. Here's how it will look when flipped right-side-up:
Now staple together the two sides - one staple at the top, one at the bottom. And that's it! Here's your 3-D frame seen from the back:
Hang earrings inside and stand it up. So darn cute! And it's fun to match the earrings to the frame.
Tissue boxes are so pretty nowadays. Find one you like and give it a second life.
Later, gators.
Today's craft: a DIY ring made from scraps of fleece and felt.
A five minute craft for any age and skill level. I like it plain...
And I like it patterned.
Aw heck, I just like it.
The How-To is particularly fun, and involves a dog biscuit. So now you have to try it, right? Ready? Here goes!
You will need some floppy scrap fleece (the green stuff) and some slightly-stiffer felt. You will also need scissors and a tiny piece of string.
Cut a fleece leaf and a felt petal. (The petal can be a simple circle or a more flowery shape if you like.) Poke a hole in each as shown here:
Now make a dog biscuit out of fleece, like so:
Fold the biscuit in half and insert the string at the fold.
Stack the leaf and petal, then use the string to pull the folded biscuit through the holes.
Pull until the biscuit ends are bunched in the center of the flower and you can't go any further.
Done and done.
For the fancy version, I just Sharpied the heck out of both the felt petal and the fleece leaf (or leaves). Here you can see some potential different shapes for both elements:
And that, you guys, is my Scrappy Fleece Flower Ring. Sure hope you like it!
Oops, gotta go, someone has been waiting patiently while I wrote this post.
Thank you for coming by!
Hello hello! I have something small and fun to show you today. First take a peek at these sweet necklaces - the pendants are made from sewing bobbins and vintage buttons.
If you want to make a bobbin bauble - an oldie but goodie, from way back in the history of this blog - here's the original tutorial.
To create a necklace, all I did was add two beads up the center of the bobbin, with loops on both ends. One loop got a tassel, the other got a beaded necklace. Done!
The thing I wanted to mention is the two colors of beaded necklaces. Both are mother-of-pearl...one is pure white, the other's a darker version. Both started out white - and I tea-dyed one to match the sepia-tone pendant.
Most crafters have heard of tea-dyeing fabric, but did you know you can tea-dye beads? So simple. Just soak them in a small amount of water, along with several used tea bags.
Works a treat!
The length of time you need to soak them will vary. With these ultra smooth and hard MOP beads, it took overnight. A more porous material (like bone beads) would be a much shorter soak. Just keep checking every hour or two until you reach the color you like.
I happen to have a long drawn out cold (going on three weeks now) and have been drinking lots of tea. Next time you or a loved one is sniffling sick, save the tea bags and try a little tea dying magic.
See you next time...and take care of yourself! (cough cough)
Hello, my people! Thought I'd show you this interesting lamp makeover, which looks pretty fancy but cost just a few bucks.
I started with an old cowboy-themed lamp from a yard sale.
I ripped apart a broken lampshade and attached the upper part of the shade's underwire to my lamp. Not easy to spot: I attached it upside down, which for some reason looked more interesting.
I added an Edison bulb, knowing it would be on display, not hidden at all.
And finally, I strategically stacked on a bunch of...well, these thingies!
They are called rod chairs; they hold up rebar when pouring concrete foundations. Awesome looking and really inexpensive - find them at any home improvement store.
How'd I stack them? Well, it looks complex - but in fact, it's only eight rod chairs.
I connected four vertically, forming a kind of Swiss-cross shape, like so:
I tried a couple of different connection methods. In the pic above I used aluminum duct tape. It looked fine, but a bit too bright for my taste. In the final version I simply wrapped craft wire at the four connection points.
I balanced the Swiss-cross on the wire circle. Finally, four more rod chairs got perched horizontally on top, where they sit beautifully secure without any connectors at all. Here's that close up again...
Ahhh, another satisfying hardware store upcycle. I love how industrial chic it looks, while retaining the worn vintage feel from the little cowboy lamp.
In case you missed it, check out my post about repurposing the rod chairs into these easy tabletop frames:
Hope you enjoyed this one. Laters, gators!
