DIY: Backyard Fabric Garland

See those big kids on bikes?  Those are my older two.  They are getting too big.  And see that garland hanging on my back fence?  I made that this weekend.  It is way longer than you can appreciate based on this photo.  I gathered up a bunch of my favorite vintage and colorful fabrics and chopped out some triangles and sewed them to burlap twine.  It was literally that simple and I love the way it looks.

Have you ever made a fabric garland? Are you looking for a use for those fabric scraps in your craft room? You should try this!

DIY: iPhone 4 Cover

I have a confession to make: I have now owned four iPhone covers and haven't been FULLY satisfied with any of them. And I've only had my phone since May of this year. So yeah, not a great track record with the cases...

Anyway, this past week I decided to just make my own and now I am SO much happier. I bought a clear case with white bumpers from Target. I then cut a piece of oilcloth from my craft stash to fit inside the clear back against the back of my phone. The most time consuming part was cutting out the camera hole but it turned out really well.

And the best part? It is EXACTLY the way I want it. Seriously, this was the easiest project ever. Try it!

DIY: Decoupaging a Filing Cabinet

This week I took my very utilitarian (read: boring) grey file cabinet from drab to fab. I had been thinking about doing it for awhile, then suddenly, I just DID it. Love it when creativity + time = perfect moment to make something.

I decoupaged the sides and drawer fronts with pages from the classic "Atlas Shrugged". It was a very old copy so the coloring was perfect. I simply bought a container of decoupage glue from Michaels, ripped up pages randomly (sorry Altas...) and applied everything while watching TV.

Once it was dry, I finished up the project with some handles I had laying around from Anthropologie.

The whole project took about an hour, plus 12 hours for solid drying. It was worth it. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Handmade for Home: White Board Calendar

Do you have one of those white board calendars where you write in all of the numbers...and sometimes the numbers get smeared...and you get frustrated about it? Hmmmm...can you tell that has happened to me?!

Well, I decided that there was a better way.

I went to Michaels and purchased a package of wooden numbered circles, took a dab of hot glue from numbers 1 through 31 and afixed a magnet and voila! Numbers for my calendar!

I then found ABC circle stickers in a font I admired, glued them to flat wooden circles and afixed another magnet to the back and voila! A whole set of the months of the year!

Now our kitchen calendar is so much more streamlined...and less likely to get smeared.

Pin It

Handmade for Home: Monopoly Money Lampshade

This is a GREAT idea! DIY Monopoly money lampshade. You really could apply this idea to so many things: old game pieces, game cards, old foreign currency you're too lazy to go get exchanged...

But this artist did things right. Check out the explanation from her etsy shop for the lamp:

"Who needs budget reform when you have this table lamp. Base is covered in a kitschy safety green and the shade is truely unique. An old thrift store shade is covered in vintage Monopoly money in a feather or scale pattern. All those beautiful pastel colors you have come to love in this classic game. Pale pink, mustard yellow, soft blue and mint green. This collection of play money is from 1935. They have a lovely aged appearance, but are quite durable and are still in great condition all $5739 of it."

Very clever - I may have to borrow this idea for myself.

Handmade for Home: Scrap Map

I am a big fan of using your leftover fabric scraps for anything you can and when I found this I got so excited. Fabric scraps for a map of the US! Scrap map!

Wouldn't this be charming in the living room, or even a playroom/childrens room?

Handmade for Home: Upcycled Crayon Holder

OK, this is one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" ideas. It's genius. It's for kids crayon/marker organization but you could make it work for many things.

It'll cost you some empty cans from your pantry (ie: fruit, veggie or soup), a scrap of wood and some spray or acrylic paint. And a little time to assemble the whole thing. That's it.

Go here for the simple step-by-step instructions and get to work on making your own!

Seriously, I'm making it THIS week. My kids art table is in desperate need of organization - I am ON it...

Handmade for Home: DIY Glass Bubble Chandelier

I wish I could claim this creation as my own, but alas, I cannot. Instead it belongs to the incredibly creative and zen Rachel Meeks of Small Notebook (one of my favorite lifestyle blogs out there). She gathered up the necessary supplies, spending just $70 and with a little time following instructions from designer Jean Pelle she created an incredible, unique light fixture. WOW, right?!

Head on over to Small Notebook for a more detailed look at the steps to make a light like this one. DIY really is the most fulfilling way to go :)

DIY: Tea Towel to Pillow Cover

I've had this tea towel from Australia for years. I think (although I'm not certain) that I inherited it from my very dear late grandmother. I have a LARGE collection of tea towels that I use everyday, most of them vintage, so it's no surprise that this one finally started to rip.

But I was in love with the colors and more importantly, the fact that it said 'Melbourne' on it. When I was 12 I visited Melbourne with my immediate family to visit our large extended family. Just seeing the word 'Melbourne' brings back such sweet, happy memories of that trip and my family.

So...

I turned my special tea towel into a pillow cover backed with some blue and white seersucker fabric. It came together in 30 minutes. Even if you aren't a seamstress, you yes YOU can sew a pillow cover. Trust me on this.

Now it sits happily on our couch. I'm sure that it is enjoying its new life there much more than sopping up water and mess in the kitchen.

Handmade for Home: Magnetic Art Board

I originally posted this project on my personal blog, when I made it with my dad over a year ago. This magnetic art board is something that gets used by my two oldest kids everyday; I felt it was worth posting over here at D by D since it really is a simply DIY project.

When my dad came to visit, he asked me if I had any projects brewing that I'd like his help on. I had decided awhile ago that I wanted to create a large magnetic board for my kids to hang their artwork on...and his visit coincided perfectly with figuring out how to execute my idea! For this project we used one sheet of 4'x 3' industrial sheet metal, 2 long 1x2's cut to size, foam weatherstripping to seal all of the rough edges, paint, some fabric and glue to decoupage.

Here's my dad in my garage, the master builder ready to go with our creation. It was such fun working on this project with him.

Me getting ready to saw boards for the frame

Now, we're getting somewhere! The completed "built" frame...just in need of some color


After my dad flew back home to Virginia, I moved the project upstairs to my studio, painted the inside of the frame light blue and then started decoupaging a patchwork of my favorite fabrics to the frame. I did this over the course of two evenings - it was a perfect, quiet evening project.

And finally...TA DA! All finished! This board now lives in the playroom and gets used nearly every day. The kids love it and I love how it turned out. Finally a pretty place for all of their treasures to get displayed. I also love that it is a project that me and my dad worked on together.

Handmade for Home: Scrap Fabric Garland

This was something I made for the banister in my home. I created this garland from many many colorful pieces of 8-10" scraps from my overflowing bin, tying them around a single long piece of twine.

It makes a colorful addition to our banister after the holidays.