Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Bath Tub Toy Holder

I am a big fan of the blog makeitandloveit. She had a great idea to make a mesh tub toy holder. We had a frog holder that we got off of Amazon. It worked great for a month or two. Then, the adhesive gave out due to the moisture in the bathroom. The other mounting option consisted of putting screws through our new tub surround. No way! So, when I saw her post I had an idea of my own. It is a no sew. We already use a mesh lingerie bag for Peanut's socks. It's great. You'll never lose a pair of those tiny socks again! Anyway, I bought another one at Wal-Mart along with a pack of 2 suction cups.
And this is what you get. Simple and easy and less than $5.

Trim a Lamp Shade

For this inexpensive project grab the desired lamp shade, a utility blade, pencil for marking, soft tape measure, and ribbon of your choice.
I placed my tape measure right above the trim. I made marks every inch. You can play with the spacing. Then, you take the utility knife and make vertical slits the length of the ribbon. Next, weave your ribbon in and out.
I did the top and bottom. I think it turned out pretty cute.
Here's the after pic of our bed area. I added red ribbon around the pics above our bed too. I still am going to make some fun pillowcases for our bed when I get some time. Our room looks totally different and I love the change. All together I spent less than $40 for the whole room. It will be closer to $50 when I make the pillowcases.

Master Bedroom Redo

I was getting b-o-r-e-d with our bedroom. Sometimes you just need a little change. I despise painting so, I wanted to add color without the mess. I also didn't want to spend much money so, I used things from other rooms in the house. It took me a while to figure out what color I wanted to add. I am not what one would call bold or daring. But, I sure took a chance with this. I chose red. I think it's sassy (so not me). So, here are some before and after pics of our room. I knew HGTV would one day rub off on me.
I just added red candles to my candle holder on my dresser. $1

These are my wedding flowers. I bent the stems a little to fit better inside of this picture cube that was in our dining room. Now I just have to add some different pics to personalize it. This cost $0.

Here they are together. I didn't add anything else because I like clean, clear surfaces. I'm a big fan of Peter Walsh.

This I made on our computer with the awesome software that Daddy got me for Christmas. I put this over the light switch. It's a nice touch of red and it's a great reminder. I used an extra frame that I had here at home. $0

Before: We were in desperate need of new curtains and color! I had a hard time finding red fabric that I liked and that wasn't too expensive. As luck would have it I found some interior fabric at Wal-Mart for $5/yard. I spent $27 on fabric and $8 on ornate curtain tie backs. This was where I spent the money. I used the excess fabric to make 2 throw pillows for our bed. I already had the poly-fil from making Peanut's Mr. Chicken Nugget.

After: I love the curtains. I think they make everything "pop" a little more. This was my first attempt at curtains. I don't think they turned out too bad. I guess we'll find out when I wash them for the first time.

Simple project to add color. These were already in our room. I bought a roll of red satin ribbon and I glued them around the candle. $2 for the ribbon.

Before: This is still my work in progress. So far the candles have been wrapped in red ribbon and there are 2 throw pillows on the bed to match the curtains. Next, I think that I want to weave the red ribbon through our lampshade on the night stand. I'm also considering changing out the pics over our bed. Any suggestions? I am open to ideas.

Chicken, Bacon, Ham, and Ranch Pockets

Having to cook every day is starting to bring out a more creative side. I really dislike making the same old things over and over again. It gets boring. Out of the blue this recipe popped into my head. I took the equivalent of Grands Biscuits and rolled them out flat. Then, I put mozzarella cheese, slice of turkey bacon, piece of thin sliced deli ham, cooked chicken pieces, ranch dressing (to taste), then more cheese, then took another rolled out biscuit and placed it over the toppings. I sealed the edges then baked it in the oven till the biscuits were golden brown. It makes 4 and they are EXTREMELY filling. Daddy and Peanut highly recommend them.

Modified Scripture Slip

I love this fabric. I think it is very feminine and just pretty. It's a gift for someone too. I made all the modifications to this one.
I trimmed it with white satin ribbon
Here is the back pocket.
Last but, not least there are two elastic loops to hold a pen and scripture marker.

Thanks honey for letting me use your scriptures for a guide and also for listening and laughing at me while I yelled at the sewing machine!

Scripture Slips

It's cold outside and my Scriptures were looking a little bit chilly sitting there so bare. So, I gave myself a sewing project, a custom scripture case.

I added a handle for convenience. I have the mini-scriptures with the snap closure which was a little tricky. The case velcros shut.
I don't like regular scripture cases where you either have to take them completely out of the case to use them or risk the whole thing sliding off of your lap. Maybe I'm the only one who has that problem so, I made it where you just open up the flap and you have total access to your Scriptures without any annoyance.
Here's the back view. Since I made this one I've made some improvements. I've added a pocket that spans the length and width of the back. I also added some elastic pen/pencil holders in the flap. I am having a lot of fun with these. Next, I'm going to try adding some cute embellishments. These are going to make some lovely gifts!

Peanut's Toys

Peanut's room is just overflowing with all of his stuff. It has been driving me insane. Hate is not a strong enough word for me to express how I feel about clutter. I loathe it! We have been trying to find a toy box since before Christmas. We couldn't find one that we liked at all. So, we found another option, vertical cube shelving. It is very versatile. You can add on horizontally or vertically. The possibilities are endless. Sigh. I LOVE it! You can get pull out canvas drawers for it too. Plus we got it on sale. It was just too good to pass up. Thank you Target. This is what it looked like before. We were using daddy's old book shelf. It was quite crowded.
After:
It's neat and organized. It is wonderful. And the peace of mind it gives me is...priceless. Just ask daddy.

Key Holder

I'm trying to get in touch with my creative side. It's a pretty hard shell to crack but, I think I'm getting there. Since I'm at home I've had some time on my hands to discover things that annoy me about our house. Room for improvement. Peanut is at that age of discovery. Well, he discovered the trash can. We had to temporarily move it into the utility room away from his curious hands. Unfortunately, the placement was less than ideal. It was directly under our keys which were only hanging by pathetic thumb tacks hanging loosely in the wall. Do you see where I'm going with this? After fishing the keys out of the trash not once, but twice something HAD to be done. We were in the process of finding a trash can with a lid but of course the only one Wal-Mart had was the last one and it was broken. Ugh! I decided to make my own key holder. Those little boogers are pretty pricey at the store. So, I found some items that we had just lying around the house. I used a wooden picture frame that was pretty thick, 4 mug/cup hooks, some scrapbook paper, and I printed out the work "Keys" from the computer. Put it all together and this is what you get:
To hang it I had to put hangers on both corners for stability. Now I don't have to worry about those tricky little things falling anywhere.