Cotton Branch Wreath

I'm a little late to the party, but in my defense....it took me forever to find cotton branches.  I heard they sold these at Michael's....and I finally found some in the fall section this year.  I purchased seven branches one week when they were 40 percent off.  

 Instead of using a wreath frame, I just used some brown wire (also bought with a coupon) to tie together the branch that I curved into a circle and connected.

So....for less than 30 dollars (I don't know the exact amount) I made one of these wreaths that usually cost at least 40 dollars+.

5 Dollar Quilt Ladder

 I've wanted a ladder to hold the blankets and quilts in my living room for a long time now.  On a whim, I hopped in my car and ran down to Home Depot.  I had no idea what I was doing, but for a planless project, I'm pleased with the results.

 Looking at the wood at Home Depot I found 2x3 8 foot pieces for 2.14 each.  I had the guys in the back of the store cut it down for me down to five feet each.  With the remaining 3 foot pieces (one from each pieces) I had those cut in half again so I had 4- 18 inch ladder steps.  I also bought the totally wrong screws.  So, don't do this if you care about things like that, BUT....I wanted those fat heads to show on the sides.  It holds the wood well enough to hold my blankets, so whatever. Just make sure they are long enough to go through the 2 inch wood...been there, done that.

 I then measured down the ladder starting at 1 foot down b/c I wanted the top to be a little higher than the bottom for the hanging blankets and then I positioned the rest of the steps every 12 inches.  I drilled a hole into the outside edge and then screwed the screw into the wood on through to the step.  At first, I used this little guy...

 That took forever, so I then used this little thing.  I don't know what the names are, but....it made life easier.  You can also use a nail and just hammer away.

 I decided to put each 'step' on at an angle so that the blankets hang a little neater.

 I repeated the process with side too (much easier to do with side two).  June is in her cage at this point b/c she wanted to lick wood stain.

 With 4 something in wood, and a dollar in hardware, I then went to the craft store and bought this little can of dark walnut wood stain.  It didn't even take half of the can.  I also used a coupon, so it was less than 5 dollars.

 I painted the whole thing with a foam brush, and then rubbed off the excess with a paper towel (just follow the instructions).

Last, I took a sander and sanded the edges for an aged look.

This is going in the corner of my living room to store the 17 blankets I keep on the chairs to hide from all both weeks of winter that come through Texas.  OK, maybe more than two weeks, but when the thermometer reads less than 70, I'm under a blanket.

New Old Storage Crate

 I needed a place to throw the pillows/blankets I've been collecting in my living room.  They look great....right up until the time I have guest over and they don't want 8 pillows behind their back.  I had this unfinished crate I got at a store going out of business....and have since seen at craft stores.

 Then I saw a tutorial for turning this into a vintage looking crate at homedepot.  I cut out about 16 of the steps...and just used some stain my brother left in my garage....that should teach him, and some handles I got at half off from Hobby Lobby.
I rubbed the stain on, partially following the instructions, then nailed the handles onto each side over the holes (the original tutorial has you filling in this part of the wood...uh....I don't think so.  A cute little addition to my living room that dust can gather.  :O)

Vintage Typewriter Canvas Art

 I went to Canton with my pal, Kelly a few months ago and we saw this little vintage type writer on a canvas.  The price tag read about 20 bucks, but for about 3 dollars I went home and made my own.
I got some beige fabric for an aged look, card stock, canvas (I went with 8x10), tape,  stapler, and adhesive spray.  I later added some furniture brads for the edge just for a fun look.

I used some adhesive spray to smooth the fabric and hold it in place as it through the printer...it peels right off when you are done.  I had cut the fabric a little large so it would wrap about the edge of my canvas.  I taped it down, but I didn't have any problems with it snagging as it ran through the printer (I'd always done exact size in the past).  

If you look at the one on the left....I was stingy with my adhesive, the one on the right I made sure to coat the whole paper....just an example of what not to do!!  FYI....I just googled 'vintage typewriter' and found one I liked then took a dictionary spelling.  I also google "free typewriter font"....I'm a google addict.  

 I then wrapped it around the canvas and stapled it to the back.

 I added furniture brads.

 Ta da!

String Quilt

So, a few years ago I joined a friend of mine at a quilting retreat.  There were some ladies there selling fabric and patterns.  One of the patterns was for this windowpane quilt using old scraps.  The deal was if you bought the cake stack (the fabric cut into squares) and fabric, the lady selling the fabric brought her scraps and let us dig through to use in the little squares.  Some of the fabrics were pretty terrible on their own (which is the beauty of a quilt....together some fabrics would never sell-in a pack-they are necessary for the overall picture).  I don't know why this appealed to me, but I loved the idea of getting to dig through her scraps that were pieces of quilts she had made the years (she is a master quilter). It's  one of the same reason I always find thrift stores so appealing-each item has a story-and I feel like I'm rescuing....incidentally the same reason I can not be allowed into animal rescue clinics.
This quilt is by far my funkiest...it goes well in my living room-which may not be saying much, but the jewel tones were fun, and it makes a great lap quilt....and look at all those little scraps I rescued?

Basically, you take squares of fabric all the same side, and you cut a triangle out of a piece of sand paper and draw the line on the back of each piece.

I bought one solid fabric, the 'frame' and those strips to the same size (1 1/2 inches).  I put the fabric face to face, and pinned 1/4 inch over the triangle you drew.  Sew.

Flip it over, pull it over and iron it down.  The rest of the pieces don't matter far as size.  I did the same thing...pinned it to the border piece (red piece) in the quilt, matching edge to edge, then sewing down the strip at 1 quarter inch.  Folded the second piece back and repeated.

The red piece (or boarder piece) is the only one that needs to be 1 1/2 inch and sewed 1/4 inch and 1/4 inch b/c it's the only piece you need to matched.  I trimmed it down to the square again...

Then I sewed them all together, added a boarder, and then the binding (after it was quilted) was the same fabric as the border.

Check out some of those fabrics...yellow balloons, little dutch children....fabrics only a mother could love.  I had the quilter use a circle-ee design.  I'm sure that is the official name.

I used scraps to make a border on the back as well.

See....it goes well with the colors in my living room.  At least  that was my excuse.

Matryoshka Russian Doll Pillow

 I've been creating a hodge podge of pillows for my house.  The more random, the better.  At one point everything was matchy match, but I decided that wasn't me.  So....I saw some Matryoshka Dolls pinned and I fell in love.  They were on little embroidery hoops, which would have been great assuming my neighbors will let me start hanging stuff in their house b/c my walls are maxed out, so.....how about a pillow?  I made this yo yo pillow a few months ago.   I found some other cute Matryoshka Doll and the template was for sale, but I just free handed my dolls.  Here is the Matryoshka outline I drew if you want it.  I printed it, then shrank it by 20 percent three times, and then didn't the drawings based on styles I liked. 

 I traced the dolls onto some white fabric I had, and then got to stitching. 

 I use scrap fabric for the back as well and sewed three and a half sides together with the right sides facing out, to cover the stitch I cut enough fabric 2 1/2 inches wide to go all the way around the pillow.  I sewed the two raw edges along the other raw edges. 

 I stuffed the pillow with I got to this point...

 Then I finished stitching.  I then took the folded part that was facing in towards the front of the pillow and...

 I folded it over all those raw edge to the back, and then stitched it to the back try to just catch the edge so you can see much of the thread. 

 Two down....since I'm a girl, that means I only have approximately 37 more to go....for my living room....

L.O.V.E Letters

I didn't do much 'crafting' for this little post, but I had the good fortunate to run across these letters, and I have a big space on top of my entertainment center that this fits nicely on....
I've loved old metal letters for a long time now, but it's hard to choose a letter to love most.  I found this letter set at a nearby antique mall and I could not pass go, I could not collect 200 dollars without purchasing these.  You are looking at the backside of the first three, but it's fun to see the different colors, and there are still rods that held their neon strips that went behind whatever plastic colors hung around.  The e has the front/clear glass and the neon back is missing.  Anyway....it's funky and fun, and totally me.....it's almost too much they are so big, but.....I could not would not leave them at the store.