DIY Home Decor Organizer & Quick Reference

Although it's not a tutorial, this post is something I'm very excited to share!  As we have just moved into a new house and are finally homeowners again (Yea!), I have become overwhelmed with the home decor side of home ownership.  I have so many ideas and so much I want to do, but very little time and money to do it with.  I also have been out of the home decor world for so long while we were renters that I never know where to go to get what I want and where I might stumble upon something perfect for one of the many "work in progress" rooms in my house. 

Enter the DIY Home Decor Organizer & Quick Reference! 

I needed a place to keep track of all my paint colors and fabrics that was light weight and easy to carry so I could have it with my all the time.  I found that I would remember to bring the paint chips/fabric samples when I took a trip to Home Depot or Garden Ridge, because the odds of finding a potential treasure for the house was high.  But I also found that I sometimes didn't have them with me when I was running other errands and had to either guess if something was the right color, or just leave it behind and hope to remember the color chips next time. 

So I did some dollar bin digging at Target and bought one of those thin plastic picture albums for $1 to hold all my home decor sample and chips.  It's the perfect solution!  I am still working on the right order, but basically each room that is not completed (a.k.a. every room in my house!) has a few sleeves in the organizer that I stash all the paint chips, fabric samples, measurements, etc. that go in that space.  So easy!  So perfect!

I also plan to make a 'measurements' cheat sheet for all the rooms that will help me keep track of the dimensions for all the walls, windows, doors, etc. 

And since this is a photo album I plan on taking pictures of what gets added/made for each room as it's completed to add to the organizer. 

I have also found that it helps to have paint chips in the organizer for things other than the wall paint.  For example, I have some in my master bedroom section to match the color of my duvet, and others in the dining room section that match the color of the rug.  This protects me from any color variations that will come from my lack luster photography skills as I take pictures of those items.

I still have some rooms to add to the DIY Home Decor Organizer & Quick Reference, but it's serving it's purpose now and will be something I keep with me for years as this house grows with us!

I AM LINKING TO AS MANY OF THESE PARTIES AS POSSIBLE:

SUNDAY The DIY Showoff - Under the Table and Dreaming - Mad in Crafts - I Heart Naptime MONDAY Home Savvy A to Z - 1929 Charmer - Be Colorful - TheSouthern Institute - DIY Home Sweet Home - Singing Three Little Birds - Homemakeron a Dime - Between Naps on the Porch - Cottage Instincts - It’s So Very Cheri - Keeping it Simple - Making the World Cuter - Sumo’s Sweet Stuff - The Girl Creative - Sew Can Do - Skip to my Lou - Craft o Maniac - Trendy Tree House - BlueCricut Design - TUESDAY Me and My Boys - Home Stories A 2 Z - Bowl Full of Lemons - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Coastal Charm - Confessions of a SAHM - Homework - Vintage Wannabe - Strictly Homemade - A Soft Place to Land - Hope Studios - Today's Creative Blog - CSI Weekly Challenge - Creative Itch - I’m Topsy Turvy - Sugar Bee - All things Related - Letting the Creative Juices Flow - Night Owl Crafting - Tip Junkie WEDNESDAY Momnivore'sDilemma - SouthernHospitality - YesterdayOn Tuesday - Blue Cricket Design - Someday Crafts - Domestically Speaking - Sew Much Ado - Seven Thirty-Three - My Backyard Eden - Take it from Me THURSDAY SavedBy Love - The ArtsyGirl Connection - MyCrazy Beautiful Life - DelightfulOrder - Fireflies and Jellybeans - Somewhat Simple - The Shabby Chic Cottage - It’s Fun to Craft - The Train to Crazy - Craftastical - Treasures for Tots FRIDAY SassySites - French Country Cottage - HappyHour Projects - Whipperberry - DesignerGarden - Serenity Now - Bacon Time - The Crafty Nest - delicateCONSTRUCTION- Young& amp; Crafty - Lolly Jane - Remodelaholic - 504 Main – Kojo Designs - Fingerprints on the Fridge – The Shabby Nest - Simply Designing – It’s a HodgePodge Life - J A Girl – Design it Chic – SATURDAY Tater Tots and Jell-O – Along for the Ride – Funky Junk - I Can't Stop Crafting

Felt Placemat turns 3-D Wall Art

For about 6 months I was on the look out for anything butterfly related to hang in my oldest daughters' room.  I bought quite a few random items, and didn't really know how they would all work together to end up with the amazing "big girl" room I had for her in my head. 

One of the best items I found was these laser cut felt placemats for $2.

 

 Yes, only $2!  I was so excited!  They only had blue and green, but $2 for a 12" butterfly?!?!  I had to get them and figure out the details later.

I could have just slapped them up on the wall and called it a day, but I really wanted to do something to make them special and stand out in some way.

So, here is a quick tutorial for how I turned 2 plain felt placemats into

3-D butterflies for my daughters room!

Supplies you'll need:
Laser cut felt placemats

wire (plyable but stiff enough to support the placemat)

wire cutters

hot glue gun

First, measure and cut two lengths of wire for each placemat.  They should go almost all the way across the placemat about 1/4 of the way from the top and 1/4 of the way from the bottom.

Bend the wire into a slight curve where most of it will be hidden behind the placemat.  I didn't try to get the wire 100% hidden because the parts that are showing are super tiny anyways.  If your placemat has larger gaps it might be worth the time to bend the wire so its all the way hidden.

Using your hot glue gun place large drops of glue along the wire to secure it onto the placemat.  To avoid the glue drops from just spreading out wider and wider I found that if you make a drop the size you want, then build on it once its dried, you can add height without adding width.

Once all the glue drops are completely dried lay your butterfly half way off the table and bend the wires carefully in unison to get the placemat to become 3-D. 

Repeat with as many placemats as you have.

There you go, a super easy way to add a little something special to some $2 placemats for a girls wall art piece.

I have one more tutotial coming for the butterfly wall art in my daughters room, but here is a sneak peak of the placemats!  I love how her artwork turned out and can't wait to show you all!

I AM LINKING TO AS MANY OF THESE PARTIES AS POSSIBLE:

SUNDAY The DIY Showoff - Under the Table and Dreaming - Mad in Crafts - I Heart Naptime MONDAY Home Savvy A to Z - 1929 Charmer - Be Colorful - TheSouthern Institute - DIY Home Sweet Home - Singing Three Little Birds - Homemakeron a Dime - Between Naps on the Porch - Cottage Instincts - It’s So Very Cheri - Keeping it Simple - Making the World Cuter - Sumo’s Sweet Stuff - The Girl Creative - Sew Can Do - Skip to my Lou - Craft o Maniac - Trendy Tree House - BlueCricut Design - TUESDAY Me and My Boys - Home Stories A 2 Z - Bowl Full of Lemons - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Coastal Charm - Confessions of a SAHM - Homework - Vintage Wannabe - Strictly Homemade - A Soft Place to Land - Hope Studios - Today's Creative Blog - CSI Weekly Challenge - Creative Itch - I’m Topsy Turvy - Sugar Bee - All things Related - Letting the Creative Juices Flow - Night Owl Crafting - Tip Junkie WEDNESDAY Momnivore'sDilemma - SouthernHospitality - YesterdayOn Tuesday - Blue Cricket Design - Someday Crafts - Domestically Speaking - Sew Much Ado - Seven Thirty-Three - My Backyard Eden - Take it from Me THURSDAY SavedBy Love - The ArtsyGirl Connection - MyCrazy Beautiful Life - DelightfulOrder - Fireflies and Jellybeans - Somewhat Simple - The Shabby Chic Cottage - It’s Fun to Craft - The Train to Crazy - Craftastical - Treasures for Tots FRIDAY SassySites - French Country Cottage - HappyHour Projects - Whipperberry - DesignerGarden - Serenity Now - Bacon Time - The Crafty Nest - delicateCONSTRUCTION- Young& amp; Crafty - Lolly Jane - Remodelaholic - 504 Main – Kojo Designs - Fingerprints on the Fridge – The Shabby Nest - Simply Designing – It’s a HodgePodge Life - J A Girl – Design it Chic – SATURDAY Tater Tots and Jell-O – Along for the Ride – Funky Junk

Hand Towel Seat Belt Covers

Today's post is a great project that my sister thought up to help solve a very annoying problem...and I know you will all love it! 

Hi everyone, I'm Kathryn's sister, Stephanie, and I thought of making a seat belt cover from a hand towel that can help avoid getting your seat belt sweaty after a great workout (especially Bikram yoga!) or after getting caught in the rain.

Supplies you’ll need:

- 1 hand towel (makes two seat belt covers)

- 1 package of 36” sewable Velcro

- scissors

- thread

- sewing machine

Instructions:

So, I’m making two sets, one for me and one for friend I do yoga with. I bought two 2-packs of hand towels at Wal-mart for $3 each. I liked them since they had the corresponding stripes down each end and that is where I’ll make the cover. I like the use of hand towels since there are lots of nice, finished edges. I’ll be making two seat belt covers that are 16” long since I’m using the width of the small edge of the towel, along the stripes.  So that means I am only spending $1.50 in each set...what a great frugal gift idea!

First, cut the hand towel in half along the short length.

 

 

Cut each piece of Velcro in half, leaving approx. a 15” length.  Place one of the halves of the Velcro (I did the Velcro hook side first) towards the finished edge of each half of the towel.  I centered it on the width and just behind the finished edge, about 1” from the bottom of the towel.

Sew down the Velcro tape using a sewing machine.  I used white thread for the top thread and blue for the bobbin so that it was as hidden as possible.

(Don't you love the Sewing Machine Pin Cushion she has on her machine?  If you'd like one click here)

For the next part, you need to choose the finished width of the cover that you’d like and sew the finished edge. Standard seat belts are 2” wide, so I was shooting for 2.5” to allow for seams on each fold later on.

Fold over the seat cover to the desired width to determine where you should trim the extra. I measured 2.5” from the final fold and marked it with a pin. I think I measured an additional 1” for seam allowance. The pins are in the picture at 2.5” and 3.5” pins. I did this on both ends and then cut off the raw edge at the second pin.

After trimming the raw edge, turn up the edge 0.5” twice and pin it in place.  Then, sew it in place to create a hem.  I switched the top thread to blue to hide the seams.

Then, place the second piece of Velcro tape (make sure it’s the opposite type!) just inside the seam you just sewed.  I placed mine as close as possible to the new seam and I folded it over to ensure that the Velcro parts line up to make a 2.5” wide tube.  The hem is pretty thick (3 thicknesses of terry cloth), so you’ll probably have to offset it a bit from the hem to allow you to sew around the Velcro tape.  Pin the Velcro tape and sew it down like the first strip.  I switched back to white as the top thread to hide the seams.

Finally, there is just one step left.  I decided to sew two extra seams on each cover to help stabilize the tri-fold of each cover.  I sewed in about 3/8” on each edge with a single straight seam so that the cover would always fold to the same place no matter how many times you put it on and take it off the seat belt.  This wouldn’t be possible if I hadn’t made it 2.5” wide in the first place. 

Once all your velcro is on and your folds are sewn your seat belt cover is all done!  Here are the two sets I made, one blue and one red.

Here are my new seat belt covers in action!

I hope you all like my sister's project...and that it will help all the exercisers out there protect those seat belts!

$5 Dollar Store Challenge @ Living with Lindsay

Update: I'm going to submit this project for the CSI Project Dollar Store craft challenge...wish me luck!



I have accepted the challenge from Living with Lindsay…create a spring home decor item with $5 or less worth of items from a dollar store. You were allowed to add your own glue, paper, paint, ribbon and fabric if you already own them. Then post a tutorial on how someone else can recreate your super cheap project and wait for the judging to begin. That’s it...sounds simple, right?

First of all, I have a confession…I spent way more than $5 in my quest for the perfect project for this challenge. I hadn’t been to the dollar store in FOREVER so I was completely unprepared for what I found. There are some really cool things in a dollar store! So as soon as I walked in the ideas started flowing…and I started buying. I probably tossed around, and/or started, half a dozen different ideas for my project. But as I started to reevaluate the items I had, and coming up with some color schemes I was able to decide what I wanted to enter into the $5 Dollar Store challenge…

A clock.

Yup, as simple as that sounds, that was my big idea. I chose to do a clock because I knew I was lucky to have found a working analog clock that could be disassembled to fit a new clock face for only $1. The clock kits at Michaels and Hobby lobby are around $5 or $6, so I had to use it in some way for this challenge.

Once I knew I was going to make a clock…I needed to find a thin and strong item of some kind to be the new clock face. I ended up with a bright green chipboard sign from the Dollar Store that would fit the clock mechanism and allow me to go ahead with my idea. As you can see, it was not very pretty and not at all fitting with the modern look I wanted (it's the one in the top left, I didn't end up using the blue sign).

(Sorry some of the pictures are so dark...my office/craft room has terrible lighting and any pictures I take after the sun goes down turn out dark)

I began by cutting off the detail edge of the sign to make it a smooth rectangle. Then after a quick sand it was ready to paint. Since I’m really liking grey and pink lately, I was drawn to a night scene with a tree and some early spring buds…dramatic and whimsical at the same time. Using some simple toll paints I covered the tacky green with a grey base coat. Then I just added a simple round gradation effect to create a foggy moon in the upper right hand corner where I was going to install the clock.

For the tree and buds I used a Cricut expressions machine and cut out a tree silhouette and some simple flowers using solid colored cardstock. I thought about painting the tree instead, but I like the subtle 3-D effect of using the paper. To attach the tree and flowers I just used a regular glue stick.

Next was the all important decision of adding the clock and whether or not it would have numbers. I knew that the round area for the moon would work as a clock face…but I went back and forth on whether or not to add any numbers. After cutting out some simple 1/4” roman numerals I asked for the Hubs’ opinion and he like the numbers. So with the help of my trusty glue stick I added them to the clock. You'll want to use the minute hand from the clock parts to make sure they are spaced correctly.

Next I created the hole for the clock with the thickest nail I could find and cleaned up the back to make sure the clock mechanism would fit right up against the back of the plaque.  
(Note: if your plaque is wood you will have to use a drill to make the hole.)

I kept the clock arms silver, but you could just as easily paint the hands black to match the tree, or pink to match the flowers.

Now just a quick spray with some clear coat (with out the clock installed) and the project is all finished!

*UPDATE*
That is not the clock mechinishm sticking out on the right side of the clock, that's the roll of duct tape I used to lift it up off the table for the picture.  I made sure to install the clock far enough in from the side to completely hide the back piece of the clock.

That is about as easy and cheap (only $2 plus paint and paper) as they come. You can use this technique to make a clock for every season and just swap out the parts to update the look.

I knew from the beginning that this clock would have to stand up on a shelf because of the clock mechanism sticking out from the back, but that’s why I chose a very vertical design. I have some picture shelves in my hall way and our new spring clock has already found a perfect home!

I hope this tutorial has inspired you to rethink those boring round symmetrical clocks in your house and find the time to make your own custom clock!