Pinspiration Sunday: DIY Jewelry Organizer

Here's my Inspiration:

When I came across the above pin from The Charity Wedding, I thought...that could be fun to make. I have lots of burlap that I need to start using more of so this project is perfect…and while I’m at it, I’ll make a second one as a gift!

Here’s what I used:
Piece of wood (I got a 24X24in piece for under $10 from Lowe’s and my hubby sawed it in half)
Burlap
Mod podge
Scissors
Various drawer pulls hardware
Hot glue
Drill and bits
Sand paper/block
Pencil
Ruler
Iron and Ironing board
Eye hooks
Ribbon/lace or anything else you want to decorate with

First I just placed my hardware on the board to get an idea of where I wanted it. I used my ruler to make sure the sides were symmetrical (Well actually I did that more so on the one that will be a gift…mine I just sort of eyeballed it). I then marked the placement of my holes for the hardware.

Then I drilled the holes and sanded over them to get rid of any fragments of wood.( Special Note: My husband shared with me that the holes should actually be larger than the screws IF the hardware is threaded. I didn't know this...and I had to fix it. He says the screws should just glide through the wood but screw into the hardware.) You may want to wait to drill the holes AFTER the Mod Podge step...The Mod Podge filled the holes (duh! on my part) which made it more difficult to put the screws through. [I re-drilled my bigger holes after I mod podge and drill through the burlap and it DID NOT mess anything up] I also drilled holes along the top for the eyehooks (to hang it).

I placed the wood pieces on the burlap and cut an extra 1-2inches so that I could fold it over to the back.

Next, I mod podged the front side of the wood and firmly pressed the burlap down and allowed it to dry completely.
Then it was time to adhere the burlap around the sides to the back. I started by cutting diagonally across my corners so that the corners didn’t get too bulky.

I used the hot glue gun to adhere the burlap to the back starting in one corner and working my way around.

After that cooled, I started to attach the hardware. Unfortunately my nails were too long so I had to head back to Lowe's and get shorter nails.

Next I hot glued some lace to the top for decoration.

I used twine to hang it. Here's the organizer in action again:

Bracelets and earrings:

Rings

Earrings

And this is what I made for my friend. HaPpY BiRtHdAy, AnGeLa!

Pinspiration Sunday: DIY Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

Here’s an awesome Mason jar project! This project was from Julia over at Blissfully Content. Here's her beautiful jar:

For Christmas my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law got me Vanilla Bean Noel foaming hand soap from Bath and Body Works. Once that was gone I saved the pump for a future project…this is that project!!!! Here’s what I used:

Mason jar
Soap dispenser pump
Drill and drill bit
Needle nose pliers
Glue dots
Mod podge
Scissors
Hand soap to fill your finished jar

I used a pint sized, wide mouth jar for my project.

First I drilled a hole into the center of the lid. The largest drill bit I had was ½ inch. This wasn’t big enough for my pump so I used needle nose pliers and bent the edges back until the pump could fit into it snuggly. I also used the pliers to then flatten the pieces I pulled back against the lid.

Then I inserted the pump and attempted to screw the lid on, however the stick was too long so I had to cut a little bit off the end until it was short enough for me to screw the lid on.

Next I wrapped the jar with yarn I had left over from my yarn ball wreath. I actually wanted to use twine but I was all out…I’m not sure how I let that happen…however the red yarn with sequins looks good too and I think it would be nice to have this out during the holiday season. As I got towards the bottom of the jar it starts to curve and my yarn kept falling off so to help get a few more rows on I used a few glue dots to help it stick. I stuffed the end of the yarn under one of the rows and applied a small amount of mod podge to it to help it from unraveling.

This is my final jar:

I'm not sure how I feel about the lid just yet. I may end up spraying it with spray paint and seal it up...haven't decided yet. If I do I will be sure to post an update :)

Pinspiration Sunday: Decoupage Plate Covers

I started pinning about a year ago and one of my very early pins was decoupage light switch and electrical socket covers. My original pin was from The Real Housewives of Riverton. Here's what they did:



This is how I made mine. All you need is the covers you want to makeover, Mod Podge, ink (for the edges if you like that look), scissors and paper. I bought some new covers from Lowe's just incase this did not turn out well...LOL..but it did! Anyways, those covers were just over $1 each.



Once I found which scrapbook paper I wanted to use, I traced the plug openings on the back side of the paper.






Then cut the holes out,inked the edges around the holes and then attached the paper to the cover by I covering the plate front with mod podge and lined the holes up and smoothed out the paper making sure not to leave any air bubbles. The edges were curved back so I made sure the paper was completely against the plate and allowed this to dry.





After it dried, I cut along the edge.



Next I mod podged the entire surface again and allowed that to dry overnight. (I actually wanted to ink the outside edges prior to this but I got a little too eager…oops! Finally, I attached the plate to the electrical socket.



And there you have it. I plan on making more and when I do I will be sure to post the pictures of the finished covers.

Big Bag of Burlap

A few weeks ago an old friend from grade school got in touch with me via Facebook. She knows that I'm a crafter and that I love burlap and when the art department at the elementary school where she works was going to throw out unused pieces; she called me to see if I want it…for FREE! Whoo hoo! And ummm…yes, please! So we arranged for me to pick it up. Well when I got there it was a GINORMOUS garbage bag full…



I’m so excited! I can’t wait show you the awesome things I make! Keep checking back because I have been pinning up a storm for burlap projects!


THANK YOU SO MUCH, SHANNA!!!!

Pinspiration Sunday: Recycled Book Keepsake Box

I picked up a few old Reader’s Digests a few years ago from a yard sale. I figured one day I would find something to do with them. When I saw this pinned by Better Homes & Gardens, I knew I finally had something…a keepsake box.

Now I have no idea what to put inside this thing, but I had to make it anyways. Here’s what I did to make mine. First I applied mod podge to the very last page and allowed it to adhere to the back cover. Then I applied mod podge around the outside of the pages and allowed them to dry completely (making sure the front cover does not stick to the pages).

After it all dried, I measured one inch around each side and marked it. And then I connected the marks.

Then I used my xacto knife to cut along the lines (I actually used my ruler to help guide my first cut all the way around).

Once all 4 sides had been cut, I removed the pages. Then I cut along the same path and removed those pages. I continued to do this until I reached my desired depth.

Next, I thought it would like pretty cool if I colored the inside of the newly formed box. I sprayed it with Tattered Angel’s Glimmer Mist and allowed it to dry. Then, I sealed the inside of the “box” with mod podge and allowed it to dry fully.

For the envelope, I already had a box of them that fit 4X6 inch cards. I distressed it using Tim Holt’s blending tool and distressed inks in Vintage Photo and Antique Linen. I attached it to the inside front cover using my ATG gun.

Next I just decorated it. I used a burlap flower I made (future tutorial) and a burlap leaf on the cover. This is my final book/box:

Pinspiration Sunday: DIY Coasters

So if you have been wondering what I did with those tiles from my last blog post, you’re in luck because I’m about to tell you… I found this DIY coasters on Pinterest from Mine for the Making. Now she used photographs to make hers. Honestly, I was being lazy and didn’t feel like rummaging through pictures to find ones I wanted to use so I just grabbed a 12 X 12 sheet of scrapbook paper. And I am also using unfinished wood tiles so I wanted to stain the tiles first around the edges and sides. I used walnut acrylic stain again and allowed them to dry.

Each tile measures roughly 3 3/4inches and I wanted some of the stain to show so I then cut each piece of paper 3.5 X 3.5in. And I inked the edges with brown ink.

Next I mod podge each piece of paper on to each tile and allowed them to dry
Then applied a coat of mod podge to the surface and sides applying in one direction and allowed them to dry. Then I applied another coat of mod podge in the opposite direction (horizontal then vertical) and allowed them to dry.Next I sprayed them with an acrylic sealer.

Then I applied brown felt to the underside of each tile using hot glue and cut around the edges to remove any excess material.

Here’s the finished coasters

Glimmer Mists and Burlap

One of the great things I love about this blog is I can look to see how people came across it. This post is for the person looking to find out if you can glimmer mist burlap. The answer is...YES! I just haven't posted about it yet. I figured before I show what I was making with my glimmer misted burlap strips, I would just show you the strips. The first time I tried it I wanted to make a flower for a box but all I have is various shades of brown/tan/cream colors. I took my lightest color and sprayed it front and back with Tattered Angel's Cross My Heart glimmer mist. I let it dry completely (this takes awhile becuase it takes a lot of glimmer mist to cover it). This is the box I made:

Then I decided to make up a bunch of roses...here's the post on those. But these are the strips I made. I used Tattered Angel's Dragonfly, Pomegranate, Vintage Pink and Cross My Heart glimmer mists.