Crafts Archives - Page 13 of 45

accessories, arts and craft, Crafts, Guests, magnet, organizational tips, Stashbusting

State Pride Magnetic Key Holder

Today on the Rockstar DIY stage is Brad! Brad is our first guy rocker to join the tour. He has an amazing creative brain and woodworking skills that will blow your mind. Brad has created this State Pride Magnetic Key Holder for you to build. And if you look close you’ll notice that it’s magic because there are no hooks in sight!

I told you he’d blow your mind. Brad normally rocks on his home turf at FixThisBuildThat.

You may have seen his amazing Party Station recently. This cart comes complete with a spot for your beverage cooler, storage drawers and speakers. See, I told you he rocks!

I hear the whine of the scroll saw now, so let’s give it up for Brad!

Hey, everyone! Like Brittany said, I’m Brad from FixThisBuildThat.com. My site is all about helping you with Woodworking & DIY Projects, Posts and Plans. And today I’m happy to be here on Pretty Handy Girl to show you how to make this fun State Pride Magnetic Key Holder. If you want to check out some of my other work you can see one of my most popular posts, the Adjustable Shoe Storage Bench.

I’ve always been in love with state signs and cut outs and I’ve made several large state signs. But I wanted do something smaller, and I also wanted to solve the issue of always looking for my keys. In my house finding a set of keys is a little like playing Marco Polo…except the keys don’t usually call back!

I had a really nice piece of figured walnut I wanted to use for something and that’s when it hit me. State sign + really nice wood + key holder = Awesome project. I’d seen some similar things around the interwebs so I knew the perfect project to solve my issue.

Here is what you’ll need for this project.

Materials:

Approx 6″x6″ piece of 3/4″ wood (size varies by state)
12 neodynium super magnets – 0.47″ dia x 0.10″ thick
Quick set epoxy
Picture hanger hardware
Spray adhesive
Jigsaw or scroll saw
Drill
1/2″ forstner drill bit (brad point or twist will work too)
Sandpaper
Stain/Finish of your choice

Instructions:

Here is the piece of wood I started with. It is approximately 6″ by 6″ rough cut walnut that was just under 7/8″ thick. I had to do some serious sanding to this thing, but knew there was beautiful grain underneath to uncover.

After a ton of sanding I got it down smooth to 3/4″ and here is what was underneath it…gorgeous! (I added a little mineral spirits to show off the grain)

If you have a special small piece of wood this is the perfect project for it. If you don’t have any nice hardwoods laying around this could be your perfect chance to try working with walnut, cherry, maple, mahogany or something else. Go to your local woodworking or lumber store and see if they have any small offcuts. If you want to stay with wood from the home center then a 1×6 or 1×8 will do just fine as well.

I decided to use Ohio as my state for this project. My wife and I lived there for 13 years, but really it’s just because it fit way better on my board than Tennessee would have 🙂 To get the state shape onto my wood I used a printed outline of Ohio. I found a site called Coloring Castle that has state outlines for kids to color. The outlines are softened a little so it was just what I wanted.

I copied the image of Ohio and pasted it into Powerpoint and sized the image until it fit my board the way I wanted it. You can use a host of different programs or photo editors to do this.

After I printed out the Ohio shape I decided to take a little creative license with the shape of the state. I wanted straight sides and didn’t want to mess with some of the more intricate tight curves like the peninsula up top. So I just drew in new lines where I wanted to cut. Empower yourself and redraw state lines as you see fit!

Next you need to temporarily glue the outline to the wood. Cut the shape out leaving about 1/4″ around the edges. Then spray a light coating of spray adhesive onto the backside of the cutout. Don’t go crazy here or you won’t be able to get the paper off without scraping or sanding. Practicing with some scrap wood and paper will give you a feel for how sticky your specific spray adhesive is. Read more

October 2, 2015/2 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

art, arts and craft, Crafts, decor, framing, Home Decor

Pottery Barn Blue Textile Knockoff Art

Wall Art Pottery Barn Knock Off

Today we have Roxanne taking over the Rockstar DIY stage! Roxanne is the knock off queen. She will be showing us how to create these beautiful knock off Pottery Barn Blue Textile prints for much less. If Roxanne sees something from a high end store, she has the super power to create a knock off for 1/10th the price or less! She recently knocked off a $695 Restoration Hardware capiz chandelier for only $52!

You can do the math, but I know that’s a real steal.

Roxanne, is the talented DIYer behind The Honeycomb Home blog. She can frequently be found turning her cookie cutter home into a beautiful home on a budget. Please welcome the dynamic Roxanne to the stage!

I was recently browsing my favorite website, Pottery Barn, and noticed this set of beautiful Framed Blue Textile Art. I loved the wooden frames and the blue fabrics, but not the price! They sell for $169 for one, or $334 for the pair! I realized this would be very easy to knock-off for a fraction of that price.

To re-create this look, I ordered fabric samples from Calico Corners. To make this work, you will need the larger sized samples. Average size samples are usually around 5.5″ squared. The larger versions at Calico are 27″ X 18″. I always prefer to order the larger size because its hard to get a good sense of how it will look in the room from the small size. Here is a picture of the small sample versus the large.

I found two beautiful wood frames at Michael’s, which are normally priced $29.99, I scored them on sale for $10 each, it was a steal! I bought them in size 16″ X 20″, which is a little smaller than the Pottery Barn frames. Read more

September 25, 2015/25 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, Crafts, Decor Adventures, Plants

DIY Macrame Plant Hanger

If you follow home decor trends (or just love to add something different or vintage to your home), then a textile and macrame project is a perfect project to try. If you think they are a nod to the 70’s, you are right but this macrame project is fresh and fun. And it will make a great addition to your home.

Today I have a quick and easy DIY macrame plant hanger to show you that can be customized by color and size. It’s also a new way to display plants instead of just putting them on a shelf or plant stand. Here’s how to make a DIY Macrame Plant Hanger.

Materials:

50 feet of cotton or polyester clothesline
Scissors
Tape measure
Plant in a small pot or bowl
Small metal ring
Cup hook and anchor (Optional for hanging from the ceiling)

Instructions:

Open the clothesline and fold it in half three times so you have eight strands of clothesline of equal lengths. One end will have all of the ends still connected, and the other will have two looped ends and the two open ends of the clothesline.

DIY Nautical Towel Rack

The kids are back in school, but we still have plenty of hot summer weather here in Arizona. This means a lot of time by the pool. My boys swim every single day, and always leave a pile of towels left in their wake. I was tired of the towels and swim trunks piling up in their bathroom, so I decided it was time to make a designated place for them to hang everything to dry. This DIY Nautical Towel Rack keeps their bathroom picked up and it adds a little fun nautical decor to the pool area, so it’s a win-win!

Materials:

1 – 1x6x8′ cedar board
1 – 5 gallon paint stick
1 roll of 1×2″ sisal rope (about 10 feet)
6 coat hooks
Green Apple spray paint
acrylic paint in the color of your choice (I used Americana Bahama Blue)
Wood Glue
Super Glue
Staple Gun with 3/4″ staples
1 yard of adhesive vinyl and transfer paper for the stencil
Die-cutting machine
1 1/2″ hose clamps
1/2″ self-tapping screws

Instructions:

Spray paint the coat hooks and set them aside to dry.

While the paint dries on the hooks, cut the cedar board into two 3′ sections. (If you have a bigger family, you can always just cut it in half for a bigger towel rack. ) Cut the 5 gallon paint stick into three pieces to attach to the back.

Line up the boards and attach the paint sticks to the back using wood glue and staples. If you don’t have a staple gun, a brad nailer with 3/4″ nails will work as well. Read more

August 26, 2015/3 Comments/by Addicted 2 DIY

arts and craft, Crafts, gifts, Sewing, tote bag, Très Frugal, Tutorial

Cute Reversible Reusable Tote Bag Tutorial by Sawdust Girl

Are you enjoying Tote Week?!

If you’re just joining in here’s the line up:

Monday: How to Sew a Canvas Tote Bag
Tuesday: Dress Up a Store Bought Tote with Piping
Wednesday: Reusable Tote Bag Sewing Tutorial
Thursday: Customizing a Tote Bag with an Old Shirt
Friday: 21 Ways to Make and Decorate a Tote Bag

Today I have one of my closest friends and blogging buddies here. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, she’s the amazing, the incredible and the always vivacious Sandra from SawdustGirl.com. And she’s going to give you a tutorial for sewing those cute reversible and reusable tote bags!

Howdy Handy friends! I’m Sandra of Sawdust Girl – formerly Sawdust and Paper Scraps. I try to reduce, reuse and recycle anyway so this tutorial for reusable, reversible, ruffled totes is fitting. Don’t ya’ think? I like to use my totes as grocery bags and have given a pair of these as gifts along with a few reusable produce bags found at the dollar store.

I used an old sheet and a set of pillowcases to make mine but for a gift item, maybe use new fabric. If you look for sheets on clearance you can get a LOT of fabric for just a few dollars.

This is a really easy pattern that I made from looking at a canvas tote. (It fits perfectly on a standard pillowcase.)

*Seam allowance? I run the fabric along the right side of the foot. I think it’s a waste to take a wide allowance and then trim!

Instructions:

1. Use the same pattern for the bag and the liner. You could use the same fabric for both or mix it up for fun. I like to use 2 different fabrics so I can flip it inside out and have a totally different bag!

2. Sew all 4 pieces (excluding the bottom) together like this: front/side/back/side making one long piece of fabric.

3. If you are going to add any kind of embellishment, now is the time. I’m adding three rows of ruffles! Read more

August 5, 2015/6 Comments/by Brittany Bailey