Craft Bug Bites

Coming Back Soon

2010-09-15T19:28:00.002-05:00

Life has been crazy these past few months. With Halloween and Christmas coming up, I promise I will be back. Look for new posts starting next week.

On Vacation

2010-02-12T13:10:00.000-06:00

I have so many things to post about! However, I am on vacation at my parents house in FL for the month of Feb. Starting in March, look for tons of new things including a painted piano, floating shelves, coffee tables and a toy cubby!

Blog Swap! with Keeping it Simple

2010-01-29T00:00:00.001-06:00

Hello! I am super excited to be here with you today!! Isn't Heather just amazing!! Wow, I love all the things that she does. All the wood work and decorations are so great.

Let me introduce myself, I'm Kaysi

from Keeping It Simple.

I'm the mother of three adorable little boys, ages 4, 3, and 1. I'm married to an amazing man, he is just wonderful. My family is my life! Those boys bring me so much joy and happiness!

I am a simple person, I don't like to over do anything. I absolutely love color, especially green, brown and blue. With many hours of painting, I finally don't have a white wall in my house.

Each day of the week, I have something different.

Motivate me Monday, that's where I have link party and you get to show me all the cute things that you have done.

Tutorial Tuesday, I give a tutorial of a craft that I have done

Whatever Wednesday, this is my day that I put anything up.

Tip Thursday, this is the day that I post a scrapbook idea or give a scrapbook tip

Fridays are the days that I do Blog swaps with other bloggers.

Here are a few things that you can see at my blog:

Picture/Card Holder

Menu Planner

Binder Clips Picture Holder

Mod Podge Sign

Painted Countertops to look like stone

Ribbon Bow Tie

Baby headband

Scrapbook idea

You should stop on by!!

Children's Lounge Pants

2010-01-27T00:00:00.001-06:00

Disclaimer: My children wear these to bed; however, since they are not fire proof fabric, they are not Pajama’s

Every year for Christmas we open PJ’s on Christmas Eve (I told you I was behind posting!) This year I decided to make my children’s pants. It took maybe 10 minutes and was SUPER easy.

Materials:

About a yard of fabric

Scissors

Sewing machine

Thread

Elastic

Safety Pin

Directions

Fold your fabric, so that the wrong sides are facing and you have just enough room to fit your Childs best fitting lounge pants on

Fold your child lounge pants so that the crotch is pointing out

Lay them on your fabric and cut around them allowing about an inch all the way around, placing the outside of the pant on the edge.

Repeat

Now you have two pieces of fabric, open them up and place them right sides facing

Sew down the crotch following the curve, I double sewed this since the pants take the most stress in that area, do this to both sides

Now grab the sides you just sewed and put them together right sides facing; now they look like pants.

Sew up the insides of the legs, again double stitching in the crotch (I hate that word) area

Fold up about an inch for the bottom hems and sew all the way around

Fold down about a half inch and sew the waist, do not sew all the way around leave about an inch opening for the elastic to go through the waist

Measure a piece of elastic to your child’s waist size, mark that measurement with a line, cut the elastic about an inch or two past that line.

Place a large safety pin at the end of the elastic and thread through the waist hem pocket you just made. Just bunch and pull.

Once your elastic has made it all the way around match it up with the line you marked earlier, sew them together. Make sure your elastic does not flip while you are pulling it through.

Sew up the opening you left and you are done!

Cost:

About $3
Time: 10 min

Tips:

Wash your fabric prior to cutting

Make sure your fabric is right side up; you may notice the Maltase Cross is upside down on these pants!

ModPodge with Napkins

2010-01-26T21:21:00.000-06:00

Modpodge with Napkins

It is so hard to find any Valentine’s Day decorations! Even Hobby lobby was lacking! So I purchased your typical wooden letters, and then while at the grocery store I saw some cute conversation hearts napkins. So I thought, I bet I can modpodge with napkins!

Materials:

Letters spelling out a word of your choice

Napkins

Modpodge

Exacto knife

Wood for a backing (I used some leftover Birch plywood)

Wood to help plywood stand up (I used some left over Poplar 2x2’s)

Paint

Directions

Cover your letters with a thin layer of modpodge, use just enough to make it tacky

Press your letters, face down, onto the back of the napkin

Turnover and smooth out bubbles, be extra careful since the napkins will be wet and could tear. Also, you will have texture; it is not going to be 100% smooth

Do one letter at a time and then set aside to dry

Now cover the tops, just over the letters with another two layers of modpodge, letting it dry in between

Allow it to dry completely

While the letters are drying cut your plywood to your desired length and paint it (you do not have to do this step if you have letters that will stand on their own, my V would not so I had to glue them to a board)

Glue on a backer to help it sit straight up and down

Once your letters are dry, flip them over and cut the letters out using an Exacto knife. Be careful not to slice the wood.

Cover the letters with a final coat of modpodge

Once that is dry sand all the edges just to make them look as clean as possible, I used ultra fine paper so I didn’t take of any of the paint.

Glue the letters to the board and there you have it!

Cost:

$10

Time:

About an hour with drying time

Picture plaque

2010-01-17T11:44:00.000-06:00

The holidays were crazy! To say I let my blog slide is an understatement. I have still been working on projects; I just haven’t been posting them. Don’t feel slighted though; I haven’t been updating my family blog either, much to the annoyance of my mother!
These are the gifts that we made for each of the grandparents. Sometimes it is so difficult to get things for them, because really if it is something they want they buy it themselves! So we went with the old fall back, pictures! But how boring are just pictures in a picture frame? So I tried to spice it up!
Materials:
2x4
Scrapbook paper
Modgpodge
Paint
Picture wire or ornament hangers
Drill
Hot glue
Stamp pad
Directions:
Cut your 2x4 into a length that will fit each child’s name, we used 12 in.
Rip the bottom of your 2x4 so it lays flat
Sand any rough edges
Paint edges on all sides (you don’t need to paint the whole thing because only the edges show

Cut two rectangles to fit the front and back of your 2x4 out of scrapbook paper

Modgpodge the paper on the wood
Sand the edges to even out the paper and to expose some of the wood

Run a stamp pad along the edges to give it an antique look

Cut out your children’s names as well as a quote pertaining to the person you are giving it too.

Modgpodge these on, these pictures were taken of my 5th board; I was in a rush and didn’t get my spacing right on my quote. So take your time.

Cover with another layer of Modgepodge and let dry

Once dry, drill a small hole in the top of your board for each of your children

Squeeze some hot glue in and attach your wire that you twisted, or I found these awesome ornament hangers that were perfect, I just straightened out the end.

Stick pictures in and your done, I did a picture on either side. They were a hit with all the grandparents!

Time:
It took me about 1 hour for each
Cost: Including the pictures it was $3 a plaque

Christmas Stockings

2009-12-07T14:39:00.005-06:00

As I mentioned before, we added another member to our family this year. Also, for the past 3 years, one of our stockings has always been a first Christmas stocking (my daughter was due on Dec. 20th but didn’t come until the 28th, so one year we had stockings and presents for a baby who hadn’t arrived) Technically, one of the stockings this year should be a first Christmas one for Collin, but honestly I am tired of mismatched stockings, so he isn’t getting one.

So, I decided to make matching stockings for the whole family. It was some trial and error, so it took me some time.

Materials:

1 ½ yards of main fabric (I used Red Flannel)

1 yard coordinating fabric (I used black satin)

Coordinating thread

Scissors

Ribbon

Optional: I used a rotary cutter and mat, I would really recommend this, it made cutting out the stockings and cuffs so much easier. I spent about $20 on one at Wal-Mart.

Directions

I took an old stocking that had a good size. I then traced it out on my fabric adding an inch on either side for seam allowance. I folded my fabric in half so when I cut the first stocking I was cutting two pieces of fabric, so instead of 10 cuts I only made 5

Once I had the first stocking cut, I laid that on the next two pieces of fabric and cut another.

I then cut 2, 5 inch wide by 18 inch long pieces of black satin. Again, I repeated this 4 more times for my 5 stockings.

Turn your flannel right sides facing and sew following the shape, repeat for each of your stockings

Now put two 18 inch long pieces of satin right sides facing and sew along the top side

Then, open them up and fold them right side facing width wise and sew the short side

Turn them right side out

Place the cuff inside your still right side facing stocking unfinished side up

Sew around the whole inside of the stocking

Flip your stockings right side out, fold cuff over and press

Figure out what length you want your ribbon for hanging your stockings and cut.

Pin the ribbon to the inside of your stocking, on the side you want it to hang from

Sew the ribbon in

I took my stockings to a local boutique to have them embroidered.

Total Cost: for just the stockings: $15 for the embroidery $25 total: $40, or $8 a stocking

Total time: 2 ½ hours

Tackle it Tuesday

Cookies For Santa

2009-12-05T14:24:00.003-06:00

I saw this general idea blog surfing a few weeks ago. It is a mod Podged plate.

Materials:

Fabric

Mod Podge

Letters cut out for your saying

Glass plate

Directions:

I bought a glass plate at Wal-Mart for $1.50

Cut a round of fabric slightly larger than your plate

Flip your plate upside down

Put a layer of Mod Podge on the plate

Place your letters face down in the Mod Podge

Cover with a second layer, make sure to press down your letters well, my first one got some bubbles

Let that layer dry

Cover the whole plate with a thick layer of Mod Podge

Place fabric on right side down, press out any wrinkles or bubbles

Cover fabric with a layer of Mod Podge and let dry. It took about 1 hour for mine to dry

Cut your fabric as close to the plate as possible, then cover the edged with another layer of Mod Podge to seal them.

Here is another one I did

Cost: $4 a plate

Time: 30 min, not including drying time

Dollar Store Makeover Part 2- UPDATE

2009-12-03T20:03:00.007-06:00

Last year we only had 4 members in our family, I bought some stocking hangers at Target. This year, we have added another family member, so I needed to get another stocking hanger, but, the ones I purchased came in a set, so I was looking at buying a whole new set. A set of 5 at Hobby Lobby was $60! Even at half off it was $30. So my husband and I decided to wait on it, and look for cheaper ones.

I was at the dollar store later and they had stocking hangers for $1, they were ugly, but I saw potential. Then I dropped one on the floor, and the figure broke off and I saw even more potential. I had seen some cute letters at Hobby Lobby for $2. So I bought 5 of them and then headed back over to Hobby Lobby and bought each of our initials.

Materials:

Letters for each of your families names

Stocking hanger bases

Silver spray paint

Directions:

Break figures from their bases, I just dropped them all on our cement garage floor

Spray paint the bases in silver

I thought the letters looked really plain, so I thought I would add silver accents to the letters. I sprayed a puddle of silver on cardboard and then pressed the letters into it. It didn’t turn out exactly as I had hoped, but I like it OK

Let those dry, then super glue each letter onto a base.

I am not sure that they are going to be heavy enough to hold full stockings, so I am going to look into adding weights to the bottoms.

Total Time: 30 minutes, not including drying time

Cost: $12

UPDATE:
When I went to place these on the banister we hang our stockings on, they wern't really secure. The hook hit the wood at an odd angle and I was worried one would fall about 12 feet to our foyer. So I was planning on getting some type of weights at Home Depot.

I was at Walmart though and I saw these:

I almost did a dance in the isle. They were $6 for two. They had them in shinny and brushed silver. So I rushed home and re-glued my letters to these large more substatile holders. I think the dollar store ones will still work if you only hang empty stockings on them, or if the holders don't hit your wood at an odd angle.

Here is what they look like:

I have an extra one since they came in twos and believe me we are not planning on adding anymore to our family, so, if someone wants it shoot me an email!

Thrifty Thursday

Dollar Store Makeover

2009-12-03T19:48:00.001-06:00

When I was at Hobby Lobby the other day, I fell in love with some black resin reindeer. However, even with 50% off they were still 9 dollars apiece. I could not justify spending that much on something that would not be used all the time. After I got done shopping at Hobby Lobby, I headed next door to the Dollar store. Imagine my surprise when I found resin reindeer there! SCORE! They were an ugly bronze color; I had bought some Canyon Black spray paint for my other projects, so I knew I could just spray paint them.

Materials

3 resin Reindeer from the Dollar store

Canyon Black Spray paint

Directions:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Just spray all sides and let dry

Time about 5 minutes not including drying time

Cost $ 3

Christmas Crafts

2009-12-01T18:29:00.000-06:00

I love blog surfing and a few weeks ago I came across Shanty 2 Chic, I went through every single one of their posts! I saved these two projects to complete for Christmas.

Here are the links for the tutorials Apothecary Jars Joy Plaques

Total cost for the both of them $24

Wise Men Plaque

2009-11-29T17:17:00.008-06:00

Sometimes with all the cute crafts we can do during the Holidays, the real meaning (at least for me) is lost. My husband came up with this idea.

Materials

8x10 white canvas

Green Paint

Scrapbook paper

Mod Podge

I painted the canvas green

While that was drying, I cut out my Words and a Nativity Scene using Sure Cuts A lot on my Cricut.

Then I mod podged the cut outs onto the canvas

I finished it off with an all over coat of Mod Podge

Total Time: 1 hour

Cost: I used things around my house, $3 if I had bought the materials

Countdown to Christmas

2009-11-29T17:13:00.000-06:00

I have seen so many Advent and countdown calendars in my blog surfing. I knew my husband had some scraps in the garage, so I decided to make my own countdown calendar.

Materials

6 inches of 3x3

8 inches of 2x4

White Primer

Green Paint

Scrapbook paper

Mod Podge

I cut 2 3x3 blocks and one 8 inch 2x4 piece of wood for the base

I then primed them to cover up any writing or flaws

After two coats of primer dried, I painted two coats of green paint

While the paint was drying, I cut out my letters and numbers on my Cricut using Sure Cuts A Lot

I cut 2, of each of the following numbers 0, 1, 2, and 1 of each of the following numbers 3, 4, 5,6,7,8. The 6 and the 9 are the same just turn the 6 upside down.

I Mod Podged “Countdown” onto my 2x4 and the numbers, 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 to one block and 0,1,2,4,7,8 to the other block.

I covered everything in one more coat of Mod Podge and let it dry

Time: Including drying time 2 hours

Cost: I had all the materials on hand. If I had to purchase everything $5

Let It Snow Plaques

2009-11-28T22:53:00.002-06:00

Do you ever have a craft or idea in your head that keeps you up? This project was like that. I thought about it all day, finally I put the kids down and went to the garage to start it.

It was my first time using the table saw on my own; my husband was at the fire station, so I had to figure it all out without cutting my extremities off! It went well, besides me closing my eyes since I couldn’t find his safety glasses.

It was also my first time using my new favorite love, Sure Cuts A lot. Oh my, this eliminates the need for costly cartridges, lets me weld my letters together, and I can use any font on my computer. I LOVE it, and it was really easy to use.

Materials

32 inches of 1x4

White acrylic paint

Blue acrylic paint

Sandpaper

Mod Podge

Scrapbook paper or stencil

I cut 3 12 inch pieces out of a 1X4 my husband had laying around in the garage.

I then painted them white, I did this because I knew I was going to sand the edges and wanted it to show through, it also helped cover up the dark knots in my wood.

After one coat of the white dried (about 15 min) I painted them blue, waited and out 30 minutes and painted a second coat.

I then cut out my letters on the Cricut; you could also use a stencil with the letters.

30 minutes after the second coat I sanded the edges to show some wood and the white paint through.

I painted a thin coat of Mod Podge onto the front of the boards and arranged my letters. I am not really good at straight lines, so mine came out slightly wonky. I think it adds character!

I then painted another coat of Mod Podge over the whole front to seal the letters, be careful if you are using white paper, having dirty fingers will make your letters look dingy.

After the Mod Podge dried I hot glued the boards to each other staggering them on top of each other.

Total cost:

Truly free for me since I had all of the materials on hand. If I had gone out to buy them, I estimate about 10 dollars.

I am so excited to get started on my Christmas crafts I have so many things in mind! Check back soon.

Tile Magnets

2009-11-24T21:07:00.004-06:00

These were such an easy and quick project. I saw the basic idea browsing craft blogs, I can’t remember where. I went to home depot and purchased white tiles in 2x2, 2x6 and 3x6. The 2x2’s come in a sheet of 36 tiles, the 2x6 and 3x6 where purchased as singles.

I used my Cricut to cut out letters for each of our family member names. You could purchase a stencil and paint them on or print the letters out on your computer. I also tried to think of the types of things we put on our fridge.

Materials:

Paper

Mod Podge

Tiles in your size choice

Glue Gun

Button Magnets

How to:

Cut your 2x2’s from their backing.

Cut out, stencil or print your letters

Paint a coat of Mod Podge onto the tiles

Place your letters onto the Mod Podged surface

Let dry about 5 minutes and then do a second coat of Mod Podge

After they are dry, attach button magnets to the back

Total Cost: Around $6

Vanity ReVamp

2009-11-22T10:14:00.000-06:00

When we moved our daughter from her nursery to the room upstairs, we bought her a vanity. She loves anything girly and we thought she would love it. I remember as a little girl always wanting one!

I bought it new at Target, when we purchased it; it was all white with just the knob on the drawer pink. How boring! I had gotten a free quart of paint from Glidden when they were running a promo a few months back. The color I ordered was Pink Lemonade. Luckily, it ended up matching the pink on the drawer knob almost perfectly!

So I painted around the mirror and I also painted the top of her seat. Grace loves butterflies, so I cut out a large one from my Cricut and decoupaged it to the top. Then I cut a G out and decoupaged it to the seat. It gives it just enough personality to not look boring, but isn’t over the top either.

Materials:

Vanity and stool purchased from target

Scrapbook paper

Paint

Mod Podge

Total cost:

Just for the revamp maybe a dollar!

The vanity was a little more expensive!

Foyer Re-vamp

2009-11-15T15:08:00.002-06:00

This is why my husband is AWSOME! One day I am complaining about shoes being strewn about our house and foyer, asking him to build me something and on his next day off it appears!

We have a split level house, so basically when you walk in our front door, you have a small foyer and then you can go up or down stairs.

Last year during the winter imagine mittens, snow boats and jackets strewn about the foyer. It was awful. So this year I bought the peg board coat hanger at Hobby Lobby and painted it a cream color to match our key holder. In addition to the shoe cubby, I painted the hall table the same color, it was a sad, ugly dark stain before.

The cubby was easy to build and pretty cheap.

Materials

14 feet of 1x12 pine

Wood Screws

Paint

Primer

Baskets- I got mine free, but you can find them in Wal-mart’s craft isle

We bought 14 feet of 1x12 in pine. The cubby is 32 inches wide and 24 inches tall, with two 12 inch dividers.

Here is a mock up of the measurements (I forgot 1 inch is really ¾ inches in wood. So the 12 inch measurements are really 11.25 inches)

I am really contemplating using decoupage to cover the inside or something to make it more visually interesting. Any ideas?

Total time: 2 hours

Total cost: $40 dollars including paint and primer

Tips: If you do not have a table saw, get them to cut it at home depot.

The Nursery

2009-11-15T13:59:00.002-06:00

With my first two babies we lived at my parent’s house to save money while my husband was in school. While we could have decorated the nursery how we liked, we didn't really put much thought into them. I have some guilt, but I will get over it!

Now when I got pregnant with our third, we were in our own house, and have plenty of room for a decorated nursery. Although, we are renting, so no paint on the walls :(

So I thought about what theme we were going to do for weeks, I went between a fire truck theme (my husband is a fire fighter), a fish theme, a sock monkey theme etc. Finally I just decided to make the trek to Hobby Lobby and see what struck my fancy.

I found some mink dot fabric that had matching flannel coordinates. So I decided on a green, yellow and blue room. I knew I wanted to do the bumper, bed skirt, closet curtain, and window curtain and recover the glider. So I bought 3 yards of each color and style. I also bought a pattern for the bumper and ended up just making it up as I went and not needing the pattern. (I still have it, if anyone wants it for free)

While I was there I decided to go over to the dollar store. We live in small town in KS, our Hobby Lobby is an hour away, which is also the nearest dollar store. While I was looking though all of the crap they have, I found these cute wooden fish. A light bulb went off in my head and I bought all the ones they had. Here are the pictures, if you have any questions on how I did anything shot me an email

This is the view from the door way. The chair was super easy to recover, I just laid the cushions down, and cut around the shape twice and then sewed it together. It used about 3 yards of fabric.

His name decoupaged with coordinating paper

I cut the fishing pole out of vinyl with my Cricut

They are tied on fishing line

The canvases say one, two, and three. For one fish, two fish, three fish, I painted them in coordinating colors then decoupaged the fish and letters on them
I made the bumper by measuring the mattress and cutting 18x24 inch rectangles and sewing them into a tube that I stiffed with batting.

I got this from Wal-Mart plain, then painted it and decoupaged the fish and fishing pole.

I wish I would have taken step by step photos, especially of the chair.

Total time: about 5 hours

Total cost: around $150 for everything including fabric, paint, and accessories

Upholstered Headboard

2009-11-15T13:19:00.003-06:00

When we moved to Kansas two years ago we rented a house with 5 bedrooms. Since we had previously only had bedroom furniture to fill 3 bedrooms, and we were itching to get a king sized mattress, we decided to build our own.

We bought a foam mattress and my husband built the frame. Here is a picture of it before we put the plywood and the mattress on:

Since then we have wanted to add a headboard to it. Like I said before I am a procrastinator, so almost two years later we finally did it. This was before I decided to make a website, so I don't have step by step instructions with pictures but I will tell you how we did it.

Materials: ( our headboard was 79 1/2 inches wide and 34 inches high)

2 x 4 (we used 140inches almost 12 feet.your measurements will be different)
1 sheet of plywood
2 packages of foam padding (it measures 96 inches by 20 inches I believe)
3 yards of fabric(you will have some extra, and if your bed is smaller, you won't need as much, just pay attention to your fabrics measurements and go from there)
Staple gun
Spray Adhesive
Mounting hardware(ours sits on top of the platform bed, since we built it with extra length to fit a head board in, I will explain how to attach it to a "normal" bed)

Cut your plywood to the width of your bed, and to the height you want. We chose 34 inches high, it is tall enough to sit up in bed and have plenty to lean against.

Cut your 2 x 4 to the desired height of your headboard plus the difference from the top of your mattress to the floor. So if you want your headboard to be 34 inches above your mattress, and your bed height without the headboard is 20 inches cut 2 54 inch lengths of 2 x 4 (one for each side of the headboard.) Then cut a length of plywood to go across the top. So if you had a 79 inch width of plywood for your headboard, cut a 2 x 4 77 inches to account for the 2 inches of 2 x 4 on either side.

Attach your 2 x 4's to the back sides of the plywood, here is a mock up in paint, attach the screws through the front of the plywood, you want your 2x4's so they build a box. So, attach it on the 2 inch side of the 2x4

Spray the plywood front with spray adhesive, let sit a minute or so to become tacky, then apply the foam padding. Depending on the look you are going for you can pad the sides and top 2x4's as well

Lay your fabric down on a flat surface wrong side up, place your headboard on top front side down.

Pull your fabric around the headboard , securing it on the back with staples. Wrap it around all sides securing only with a few staples, then after making sure it is straight, staple about every 1/2 inch for a secure fit. You want to pull the fabric taught to avoid wrinkles.

Now to secure it, most mattress and box spring sets sit on top of a metal frame. On one end of that frame there is a flat piece with holes on it. You want to secure the headboard with screws through these holes.

Total time: about 1 1/2 hours
Cost of materials- about 60 dollars depending on your fabric choice.
Tip: Know all your measurements and have your home improvement store cut them for you. Home Depot does not charge any extra for this. Then you can be sure they are correct, and have no need for expensive power tools.

Good Luck!

Welcome!

2009-11-15T12:05:00.002-06:00

My name is Heather and I am a craftahoilic. I am also a procrastinator, so many of my craft just live in my head! Hopefully this blog will give me an outlet for all my ideas and help someone else cure their craft bug bites! Enjoy!