Copy-cat me makes a pendant light

;) so you all have such good ideas. I found this one and knew I HAD to make it for my buck-a-roo's room.
Remember his safari room? I just had to had to had to add this lamp.

What do you think?! Check that link above from where I got the idea and you can get the tutorial. Time consuming but easy project and I am in LOVE!

clothespin wreath update

Here is a final picture of my clothespin wreath.  I finally got it up in my laundry room today. Woot!

In case you missed the project click here.

Clothespin wreath

Had this posted yesterday as a guest post at thecountrychiccottage.net

So. Today I am going to show you a craft I imagined up while doing laundry. Our laundry rooms are often bland, but I thought it would be fun to make a wreath out of clothespins for my laundry space (note, my 'laundry room' is the back half of my bathroom and shares space with the toilet. They get along swimmingly.).

Supplies:

A wooden wreath form (or cut one out of cardboard to save $$$), scissors, matte Mod Podge, Foam brus(es), 36 clothespins (one package from the dollar store!), various coordianting papers, paper cutter, nail file, acrylic paint.

Paint your wreath form along the outside and inside white. Paint any other part that might show, too. I.e. I am hanging mine on a mirror/window in my laundry area and so the back will be visible. I painted the back white as well.

Trace and cut paper to cover your wreath form. I wanted my background to be simple so I chose white. Measure and cut two 12" by the width of your clothespin of each of your papers. If you have double sided paper cut four strips.

Mod Podge your backgroud paper onto your wreath form, trying not to get any bubbles in your paper. I got a few but since I am covering it up it wasn't a HUGE deal. Use the nail file to 'sand down' any paper that hangs off the side.

Mod Podge your strips of paper onto your clothespins. Coat a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the clothespin and then carefully attach your paper strip. Using scissors trim the strip off at the end of the clothespin.

 Repeat for each clothespin. Then finish them with a couple of coats of Mod Podge to seal.

Lay out your clothespins on your wreath to arrange how you would like the to look. You can do more clothespins for a tighter look, just buy a second package!

Hot glue your clothespins one at a time to ensure the spacing stays how you want it.

I like simple and clean and fresh in a laundry room so I am not planning to embelish mine (although I may buy some wooden or chipboard letters to spell out 'laundry' and attach them later) but you can add a bow, or flowers, or words... it is completely up to you!

Hang in your laundry room and enjoy!

 

Two quick ideas (that are really the same idea) for Mod Podged clothespins. Think about Mod Podgeing clothespins and attaching magnets to the back and then using them either:

On a magnetic message board in your kids' room

or

On your fridge to hang your child's art or grades. You can use paper to make them match any decor.

You can also spray paint the clothespins first for a less 'natural' look. I wanted my clothespins in my laundry room to still look like clothespins, but if you sprayed them hot pink first and then Mod Podged girly paper on them, they would look SO stinkin' cute. I would embellish with buttons, glitter, sequins, ribbons, stickers, etc. if I were putting them on a message board in my kid's room

Romance your Home with Simpler Times

Lately I have been thinking that with a baby in the house the hubby and I need a little space just for us that is special and wonderful and romantic. I have done a number of small things but my most recent project that I feel really brings the whole thing together is this homemade, completely custom chandelier. Yes. YOU can make one too!

Start with a wire hanging basket. Spray it and its chain the color you choose. I used the color 'nutmeg' by Rustoleum. Buy 10 ft. of white 2 wire cord and a white plug. I got mine at Home Depot. They connected them for me so I had what is called a 'whip'.

Then purchase a lamp socket. Mine was black so I stuffed newspaper inside and spray painted it white. At Home Depot they will connect this for you as well.

I got lucky. The guy who helped me at Home Depot was SO helpful. He helped me find the pieces I needed and helped me customize anything that wasn't exactly right.

Buy a washer and some plastic connectors, too.

The guy at home depot filed the washer so it fit exactly inside the 'top' hole and then we super glued it in place. Make sure you do a line of super glue along the top and the inside. Once that is complete you can spray paint a touch up coat OR spray paint for the first time.

Strip the ends of your wire and stick inside the plastic connectors. Using a lighter melt the plastic until it is sealed. This will help it to be safer and keep the connectors on. Then unscrew the little screws on your socket, put the round ends of the connectors on the holes and then screw your screws back in. Don't forget to buy a light bulb making sure your wattage isn't too high. I went with 25 watts. Perfect for my project. Soft light that won't melt the plastic.

NOTE: I am NOT an electrician. I had the Home Depot electrical guy do everything so I wouldn't electrocute myself. Be careful!!!

Put the end of your socket up through the hole and then use the washer to keep it in place. The chain can be used to hang your chandelier. It is a good idea not to rely on the cord to hang your chandelier. It's better to use the chain and just drape the cord up over the ceiling hooks to get it out of the way. Doing this insures that your chandelier will hang level.

I couldn't find any 'crystals' at the craft stores so I bought a strip of trim that had them on it and just cut the bits I needed off. I kept the fabric of the trim for a little later in the project.

Using a cricut machine set on 3  and 3 1/2 (NOT real dial size) with the 'Wild Card' cartridge I cut birds from one side of the paper and the back side so I could have them double sided with the print of the paper I like showing on both sides.

Using various beads that coordinated I made three crystal hangers that I hung off the place the chain used to connect. I embellished my birds once they were cut out.

I also added a little 'bling' at the bottom of the string that I hung my birdies from. This weights it down and adds a little embellishment. With the birds 'open' put a glob of Tacky Glue and then stick your birds together over the thread. This seals the thread in and glues your two sides together.

Do as many on a string as you like/ as will fit. Mine each had four birds. I hung them from every-other curlicue so they wouldn't be too dense.

When I was done I felt it was a little plain so I glued (with tacky glue, I figured hot glue couldn't hold up to extended heat from the light bulb) some fringe around the bottom and around the socket (note: the fringe on the socket is the fringe leftover from where I got the crystals).

I added some tulle around the hook to disguise the hook a little.

And voila! Your own custom chandelier that adds a little romance to your home.

Book page wreath... my version

I've seen a few different versions of book page wreaths around. This is my version.

I made this for an English teacher hence the 'Bibliophile'. You could do any number of things but the English Teacher is a guy and didn't want anything girlie (with good reason) as decoration. I also wanted to use book pages for as much as possible.

First I covered my foam wreath form with book pages torn in half length-wise. I then mod podged it (I needed it to hold up since it will be in a classroom).

Then I started at one corner of the a book page and rolled until I formed this. repeat, repeat, repeat.

I glued them down using Elmer's glue. I decided after that I should distress the edges with ink.

bad idea once they are all glued down. I used a cotton ball squished onto my ink pad and then distressed the edges that way. If you want to do this to yours I suggest distressing them the regulkar way BEFORE gluing!

Make your embellishments! I used 1, 2, 3, and 4 book pages (taped together) folded 3 times and then rolled around a skewer. I glued them with Elmer's glue at the end to keep from unrolling.

Paint your rolls any color(s) you like and once the paint is dry mod podge to seal.

Fold a book page a number of times until you end up with a triangle.  cut three points (kind of like making a paper snowflake) and unfold. I did four small and two large. I double them up and connected each burst with a brad. I carefully mod podged them so they'd hold up a little better. Keep them kinda squished up so they look more burst like.

Cut out letters with your electronic cutter or on a die dut machine that you can use at certain scrapbook stores (Archivers has a die cutter in the back).

Arrange all your embellishments, hot glue it all down, and then seal it all up with mod podge again.

There you go!

Wooly whatnots

We love wool, right? Doesn't fray and always lends to feeling cozy. Wool's expensive, though.

SO! Thanks to a fabulous friend I found that you can go to the local thrift store, buy 100% wool sweaters and felt them in the wash.

HOW??????

SO simple. You throw the sweaters you buy into the wash and wash them in HOT water with detergent (MUST use detergent, it is part of the reason the wool felts) and then dry them (I did on high). Repeat, repeat, repeat until your wool is felted. It should look and feel like fabric and you shouldn't be able to tell it was ever knitted.

Your sweaters should be ready to cut and turn into projects. I am planning to make wool cupcake pincushions. Will post once that happens, but I have to build up my store of colors of wool first. Right now those pictured above are the only colors I have.

Alos, tip from the same friend. If you like a sweater you find for a child, but it is an adult size, you can just shrink it in the wash until it fits your kid. Cute!

I plan to use wool for:

baby shoes

pincushions

flower pins and hair clippies

embellishments on sewing projects

 (am learning blanket stich for this very reason)

who knows what else!!!