Do you remember that cute little blue striped bin in Renee’s storage unit? The one that she uses for junk mail and recycling.
How much do you think she paid for that? Would you believe nothing?! I made it for her out of a cardboard box and art supplies I had on hand.
Materials:
Cardboard Box
Black Spray Paint (or other color)
Spray Mount (Spray Adhesive)
Elmer’s Glue
Scissors
4 sheets of scrapbook paper (wrapping paper, fabric or wallpaper)
Instructions:
1. I started with a square Huggies Pull Ups box. I knew you wouldn’t believe me, so here is the picture to prove it.
2. Spray paint the inside of your box (be sure to wear gloves because the spray will coat your hand since it swirls around inside the box.)
3. Spray adhesive on the back of 2 sheets of scrapbook paper.
4. Attach them to opposing sides of the box.
5. If your scrapbook paper wraps around the sides, that is good. Be sure to snip the top of the paper at the corners of the box so it can fold over inside the box.
6. Cut your other two sheets of scrapbook paper to the exact width of the uncovered box sides. Spray adhesive on those two sides and attached them to the box. Then fold over the top edges of the paper.
7. If the folded top edges don’t stay glued, put a little elmer’s glue underneath and then use a book, clothespins, or binder clips to hold it down while it dries.
I thought I’d sneak one more fun craft in before Halloween. Don’t fret, this craft takes about 5-10 minutes. You’ll spend more time gathering the supplies than you will creating it.
My sitter came over to make these pumpkins with my boys. I was a little skeptical when she asked for three rolls of toilet paper, but the results were so stinkin’ cute!
Materials:
Toilet Paper Rolls
Fat Quarter of Fabric
Sticks for stems
Ribbons
Tissue Paper
Scissors
optional: acorn, sweet gum tree ball or other natural elements
Step 1: Lay out your fabric, and set your roll of toilet paper in the middle.
Wrap 1-2 sheets of tissue paper around the sides.
Step 2: Tuck one corner into the center of the toilet paper.
Step 3: Continue tucking in the fabric, folding any fabric under that won’t quite meet the center of the toilet paper.
Step 4: Fluff your pumpkin sides and work with the fabric until you have a nice round pumpkin shape.
Don’t forget! Tomorrow’s the night that we’ll be drawing one lucky follower who will win a CD/DVD car visor wallet and a $25 gift certificate for Amazon.com. If you are a follower via Google Friend Connect or Feedburner (see my side bar), your name has been entered! Be sure to check back for the lucky winner.
I have so much to tell and show you, I can hardly contain myself! If you follow me on Twitter (PrettyHandyGirl), you may have seen this photo of the light fixtures I scored from our Habitat ReStore last week! (Yes, I also have a Facebook Fan page.)
I was ecstatic to find another light that I turned into a Pottery Barn inspired lantern. And it is identical to the one I showed you here!
In addition, I finally found a foyer light fixture that I love (after a little spray paint magic). And I also grabbed a three arm chandelier that looked like it could have been in Ballard Design’s catalog! This treasure was promptly installed in my girlfriend’s mudroom (which I can’t wait to show you!) She and I worked for several days on a storage and shoe solution for her narrow hallway. My goal is to get the final pictures of the project to share with you shortly.
In other news, I’m very excited to have been mentioned in November’s Family Handyman magazine.
Definitely not me on the front cover. |
My son’s closet turned reading nook is pictured on page 94. If you don’t subscribe to this magazine, it is a great DIY and repair resource. But, if you don’t want to subscribe, you can still access most of the tutorials on their website.
Running out of breath here…
Finally, By Your Hands has a Q&A feature post on me today.
Check it out here if you are curious to learn how I got my start at being handy.
Anyway, let’s just say I’ve been a busy Pretty Handy Girl the past two weeks.
One of the reasons I’ve been busy is because both my sons had birthday parties to attend this week. I decided to make a few special gift tags that would double as luggage tags for the lucky birthday munchkins. They were very easy to make and really looked fab on the gifts.
Without anymore blah, blah, blah, here is the tutorial:
Supplies:
Metal Tag Maker Rims (bought at Michael’s)
Scrapbook paper (cardstock weight)
Mod Podge
Wax Paper (did you know you can use your recycled cereal bags for this?)
Paint brush
Paper cutter or Scissors
Decorative scissors (optional)
Ribbon
Regular pliers – I used glass nibbling or grozing pliers but any kind should work (DO NOT BUY the special tag crimper tool that the store wants to sell you for $25!)
1. Measure your metal tags (the set I bought came with a template).
2. Print out your gift recipient’s name on cardstock paper. Skip a few lines and print out their address and phone number on the same sheet. (In fact, I ganged up several names including my son’s so I could make many tags at once.) Be sure the names and addresses will fit inside your tag dimensions.
3. Using the tag template, cut two coordinating papers for the background of your tags.
4. Trim the name and addresses smaller than your tag dimensions. (I used deckled edge scissors.)
5. Line up all your cut paper and supplies on top of wax paper (cereal bag). Poor a small amount of Mod Podge into a bowl and dip your brush in it.
6. Coat the back side of one of your coordinating background papers. Place the other sheet of decorative background paper on top of the first one (backs together.)
7. Next coat the back of the name sheet with Modge Podge and adhere it to one side of the background label. Be careful to leave space for your hole punch on one end. Brush Mod Podge over the top of the name and the background paper to seal it.
8. After the front side has dried, flip it over and repeat step 7 for your address label. It is very important that you position your address on the same edge of the tag as the name on the opposite side. Otherwise you will end up punching a hole through one or the other.
9. Once the tag has dried, use your template to trim the corners off your tag and punch a hole through the middle.
10. Gently insert your tag into a metal tag frame (some trimming may be necessary). When you tag fits snuggly inside the frame, pull out your pliers and start squeezing around the edge of the metal frame. Work your way all the way around.
11. Thread your ribbon through the hole and tie it to your gift! Your tag can be re-used on a lunch bag, backpack or luggage!
put my son’s name on it;
and threaded it on with the gift tag
so the birthday child would know who gave the gift.
I promised you that I’m embracing Autumn now that the weather is cooling off. In fact, I’ve been switching out the summer decor for some more seasonally appropriate reds, oranges, brown and greens. I even spent time Mag-nolia-fying a Fall Wreath. What? You don’t know what Mag-nolia-fying means? Well stick around and see how I made this Magnolia Leaf Wreath on the cheap.
Here is a little sneak peek from my mantle:
My Ballard Design Knockoff Pear has already found a spot to sit.
In an effort to spend less and store less, I’ve been trying to buy just 2-3 wreaths that I can switch up and tailor to meet the season. A few months ago, I bought this little white bud wreath from Target:
It will be my springboard or base wreath for many seasons to come. The neutral white color works well with any color and I can add other natural elements and ribbons to change the color palette.
When I saw how Centsational Girl, made a beautiful wreath with magnolia leaves, the light bulb went on for me.
My neighbor has a beautiful magnolia tree, so I asked if I could steal some of its fallen leaves. I filled a grocery bag with the ones that looked most interesting to me. Then brought them home, rinsed the dirt off of them and laid them out to dry.
After they dried, I started playing with them and found that I they would easily work to mag-nolia-fy the bud wreath. Here’s how to do it:
Materials:
(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)
- White Berry Wreath for Base
- Hot Glue Gun & Glue (for permanently affixing leaves)
- Magnolia Leaves
- Ribbon
Instructions:
Tuck magnolia wreaths into the grapevine base frame. I fully intended to hot glue them in place, but they held tight and stayed on their own! The leaves must have been so happy to be offered a second life, so they cooperated.
Tie a cotton ribbon onto the wreath. You can thread it through the loop that came with the wreath. Or tie around the wreath.
Here are the results for that super easy mag-nolia-fied fall wreath:
Hang it on your door and enjoy it until December.
Then you can quickly turn the berry wreath into a Christmas wreath by removing the leaves and adding greenery! Bam!
Want more Fall Wreath inspiration? Enjoy these 24 more Fall wreath ideas:
Happy Fall Y’all!