Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Big Bright Blue Shutter Jewelry Holder!

Once upon a time, I found some old shutters at Habitat Restore.  (For real, it was around May of last year)  I had so much fun with my first project, my old pink shutter, that whenever I find shutters anywhere I grab them!   Here you see this shutter looking so lonely and bare on the old shower curtain I use for painting in the backyard.  
Here is the paint to give it a new life!  This is my youngest daughter's favorite color and, how convenient, that it comes in a spray can?
I sanded the shutters a bit then sprayed the paint right on - no priming, or any other prep work.  Sweet!  Added some knobs and drawer pulls I also bought at Restore - they were $1 each.  Here is my favorite one.  I think it would be so cute on a little boys dresser or maybe even whitewashed or glazed or painted!
Well, here it sits by the back door ready to get loaded into the car with tons of other stuff and travel with Julia to her college apartment.  I wish I had a picture to share of it with her jewelry because it looks really great.  She was sweet to send her Mom a picture but Mom lost it somewhere in her computer.    
I will get another one and add it soon!  
She has earrings hooked over the shutter slats and necklaces/bracelets on the knobs and handles.   The upside down pull holds her earring studs.  And she has pictures tucked into the slats.  Oh - I hope to share a picture soon!
And her friends loved it so much that I have made 3 more jewelry organizers (and they are not all shutters)   I hope to share those soon!

until next time!    
  

Monday, February 6, 2012

Finally finished my Dog Pillow!

I have been promising my daughter, Kathleen, that I would make her sweet Morkie a pretty pillow.  That was, ummm, about 6 months ago.    Today, I finally made it.  I'm one of those that needs the fabric to "talk" to me for inspiration.  And, I just bet, a lot of you understand!  
So, I found my inspiration fabric at Hobby Lobby last week.  It's a colorful paisley mixed with flowers on a black background.  I love this fabric.  Sad to say, I didn't write down the name of the fabric pattern and, when I went back to JoAnns, it was not there.  They sold out of it fast.   Well, live and learn....seems to be my theme lately.
Back to the pillow.  I wanted it to fit a standard pillow which is usually 20 x 28 inches.  I like to make my pillows a little smaller than any insert I will use - makes it a little more plumpy  (is that a word?)   It was originally going to be an envelope pillow but I decided, at the last minute, to experiment with an invisible zipper.  
This is my attempt and I tried to follow the manufacturer's instructions.  But, I gave up and sort of winged it.   Pinned the right side of one zipper side to the right side of the fabric.  Used my zipper foot to stitch as close as possible to the zipper teeth.
Pinned the other zipper half the same way (right side to right side)  and stitched again.  
 Okay, not too bad a job.
Now for the fun part... final construction of the doggie pillow!
Pin the right sides together and stitch all around.  FYI - I always forget to unzip before I finish the last side so I have to creatively find a way to unzip the pillow so I can turn it right side out.  
Insert pillow and I am finished!  Maybe.  I think I want to round out the corners...
and love this quilted dog bed!
Ohh - one last thing.  This is the next dog bed/pillow I want to make.  Love it!
By Leah Anderson


until next time!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Pillow Day!

Today was pillow day for me.  And it feels soooo good to finally start using some of the fabric I have been accumulating.   One of my favorites is this one with pink and green animal/reptile silhouettes. 
 It is similar to one I used on an old Lonestar chair that I bought at Restore for $5.00.  And, it was my first time using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!
   I love both these fabrics and think they would be adorable in a little girl's room.   The pattern design is something you would expect more in a boy's room and that is one reason I love it!   
Okay, so, back to my pillows.  I made two with the first fabric.  The 18" x 18" pillow back was made with painter's drop cloth and has a zipper in the back.  My 14" square pillow is an envelope pillow using the same fabric on the back.    They are different because I am experimenting a bit here.  (More to come)
Not the best picture - I will replace it soon....  And put on your shades for the next pillow.  I love this fabric - it is so happy cheerful!  (For some reason it looks a little "Dr. Seussish" to me - and that is all anything takes to catch my eye)  This 18" square pillow is another envelope one.   
 (FYI - the envelope pillow is my favorite to make.  Since I am NOT so great at tutorials, check out this site for instructions. Or, just Google it, as my kids say!)  More pillows and lovely fabrics coming soon......

until next time!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Cardboard Creations!

In my short stint at Design school, one of my favorite projects was to design a chair that I could actually sit in, and it had to be made from corrugated cardboard.  (Wish I still had the chair to show you but,  for some reason, it never made the move to our new house.  Bummer)  So,  a while back, I decided to make something small with one of the many cardboard boxes around the house.
I used the Vitatops box that my oldest daughter bought a while back.
They came in this sturdy box.  So, when I decided to make a cardboard project this was the box!
Here are my finished cardboard tea light candles.  If you want to see how I made it you can look at my previous cardboard post.  
And now, I want to share some other ideas from my favorite idea source, pinterest!  If you want to know more about any of these, just click on the link below the picture.  
DSC08687
Beautiful!  From recyclart
More storage ideas using diaper boxes
How sweet!  I love this cut-out idea
How about these cardboard logs by design sponge?
I even tried chalkboard paint on a scrap piece of cardboard.  I love the simplicity and the price tag here - free!  
(This was a quick experiment with a not so great photo.  But, I like the idea and will be trying more with colored chalkboard paint soon!)

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Pin It button on image hover