A Valentine Box for a little boy-- LEGO style

I have two little boys, and it's always a challenge around Valentines Day to come up with a good idea for a Valentines Day card box that isn't too girly.  Last year, I failed miserably.  Their boxes were full on decked out in hearts and glitter and doilies -- they had fun so it was just fine.  This year, I wanted them to love their boxes and not be embarrassed when looking back at pictures 20 years from now.

I was at Joann's looking for inspiration, when I came across a piece of Lego scrapbook paper.  Light bulb: make their Valentine boxes into actual Legos!    Problem solved!

Here's how to do it!

At this point, you could wrap the box in plain paper if you like (to smooth it all out, and make it easier to paint later.)  I didn't, but sort of wish I had.

 Spray your boxes with a can of bright red spray paint!  You can still see some of the old box design through the spray paint (which is why I wish I would have wrapped them first.)  BUT, they are kid Valentine boxes that will be used once, so I am okay with it.  :)

Allow to dry, and before you know it, you will have a super fun Valentines Day box for your little guy (or gal!)

How to refinish furniture in a vintage style

My daughter was in need of a new dresser.  The changing table just wasn't accommodating her clothes anymore.  It was time.  I have never refinished furniture before, and wanted to give it a shot.  So, I decided to shop around for a cheap dresser on Craigslist.  After a LONG time searching, we finally found the perfect piece.  A $60 dresser in need of some love.  I of course never got a proper "before" picture, but here is one about half hour into the sanding process.  You can get the gist.  

 

It was black and pretty scratched, but I liked the upright shape and the fact that it was solid wood!  We began by sanding the whole piece down.  We used a medium to fine grit sand paper and it did the trick.  We only had to sand it once -- mainly to remove some of the paint, buff out a few scratches, and rough it up enough to make the new paint really stick.

I don't really have any pictures of the next few steps.  Once you are in the groove, it's hard to remember to stop and take a picture of each step!  I got some Kilz2 Primer in white.  A little can provided plenty for this piece.  I tried using a roller but hated that the texture wasn't perfectly smooth, so I ended up going with a brush.

I let the primer dry overnight and the next day started applying the many, many, many coats of paint this dresser required.  I decided to paint it white, and went with Martha Stewart's "Glass of Milk" in semi gloss.  Three long and grueling coats later, the dresser was finished!  I sanded a couple times in between coats in places I noticed the paint wasn't going on perfectly smooth.

At this point I had a perfectly white, shiny dresser.  In order to antique the dresser, I got out a few pieces of sand paper and distressed the entire piece.  Distressing is actually MUCH more enjoyable than the first sanding.  Next, I picked up a can of walnut stain, and some Valspar mixing glaze from the store.  The stain and glaze will give your furniture an old antique look.  It makes it look "dirty" and...well...old.  I mixed the glaze and stain together in a plastic cup -- about three parts glaze to one part stain.  You don't actually need the glaze to do this step.  The glaze just allows you to work with the stain a little longer before it dries.  Using an old brush, apply the glaze to your piece in sections.  

After staining a section, use an old towel or shirt and wipe it off.  The longer you leave it on, the more stain/glaze will be left behind.  I found that about 7 minutes was good for my liking.  If you choose to not use the glaze, you can simply paint the stain on and wipe it off immediately.  Lynsee told me that trick!  Either way works great!

 Here's a dresser drawer pre glaze:

  

 And here's another drawer after the glaze has been applied and wiped off.

   

After staining the piece, allow it to dry.  Our dresser was dry to the touch after letting it sit overnight.  However, before setting anything on top of the fresh paint, you should really let it completely dry for a few days. 

 

 I found some knobs I really like at Hobby Lobby.  Cute knobs really do provide the perfect finishing touch.  All the knobs are a little different, but have the same shape.  I am so happy with the finished product!  Have you ever refinished any furniture before?  Do you have any tips and tricks to share?

Lynsee is actually much better at this than I am.  Over Christmas she was a refinishing queen.  Maybe if you ask nicely she will post some pictures of some of her new stuff.  She's done some really beautiful things!

How to hem jeans using the original hem..the best way!!

This little technique has saved me hundreds of dollars!  I'm not even kidding.  My alterations place charges $25 for a jean hem using the original hem.  Ouch!  I'm only 5'2 so you can imagine the dent this can make in my wallet.  I have tried the whole fold the jean over and stitch as close to the seam trick and, to be honest, I hate it!  While inspecting a friend's jeans who had just had them altered, I figured out the trick.  This may look daunting, but, believe me, it's not.  It's really quite simple once you get the hang of it.  The five most important tools needed to accomplish this task are:

a seam ripper

a ruler of some sort to measure.  My favorite, by far, is the sewing guage.  A must!

 Jean thread.  I get my thread from JoAnn's.  The only thread I ever buy from there is Gutermann's.  They have three different colors of Jean thread.  I have all three and I wish they had even more of a selection.  Oh I wish they had really light blue.  A pair of scissors and, lastly, you will need to pull out that trusted sewing machine!

Measuring is the MOST important part of this project.  Please, please make sure you measure right.  You will need to try on your jeans with the tallest shoes you will wear them with.  Fold them up where you want them and remove them to do the pencil marking.  With this sort of hemming, you will cut your jeans off at exactly the length you wish them to be.  If you are unsure, always go a bit longer.  Once you cut, you cannot add more length.  Be careful!!  The best way to mark your jeans is to figure out, in inches, the amount you would like cuttoff.  I then measure all of the way around from the bottom of the jeans.

This is how it looks once you have marked completely around the jeans.  I do not draw a line, but you can if you want.

Pick up your scissors and make a tiny slit right on one of your markings.

This is about how big I make my slit.

Slide your scissors into the slit and cut around the jeans, kind of like dot to dot, but slit to slit.

Once you've completed cutting around the jeans, pick up the cut off part and cut down the jean, I usually do this by the seam.  Cut down until you are about a half inch away from the top of the original hem, as pictured.

I then cut all of the way around the jean, 1/2 inch away from the top of the hem.

This is how the hem now looks and it's almost ready to reattach.

Before we can reattach, we must rip out the original stitching.  Do this by sliding your seam ripper under the stitch and sliding it up and out until the thread snaps. 

This is how the hem will now look after all of the stitches have been removed.  This can kind of be a bugger sometimes.  Especially on the two, thick seams on the sides.  The above picture is of the piece right side out.

You now need to flip the hem inside out, as pictured.

Take your jeans and the orginal hem and lay the jeans on your lap.

I then cut two slits on either side of the thick seam.  Just slit it and stop at the top of the fold.  The reason I do this is because when I fold the jeans over again, as I will show you in the next picture, I don't want to have to stitch through that thick area of the jean.

Open up your hem, as pictured above.  Unfold it one time and leave the second fold that is under my thumb in the picture.

Now take your hem and fold the cut side over to match up to the bottom of the other fold.

You will then take your jeans and lay it on top of the piece you just folded over, matching it up at the crease of the bottom of the hem.  I really hope this makes sense.

This is the jean layed on top of the fold and then you will fold the piece that is under my thumb over the top of the jean.  This sandwiches the jean in the middle of the hem.  Pin this is place.

Do this all of the way around the leg, making sure you have the right seams matched up at the sides.

This is how it will look from the outside.

And this is how it looks from the inside.

Once you have pinned completely around, you are ready to sew into place.

I have to have my machine on the highest tension and make sure you have an extremely thick needle or it will not be able to make it through the thick seams.  I usually begin right before the thickest piece.  Begin stitching and make sure you back stitch before you continue on.  As you stitch through the very thick seam, go very slowly.  I have to go stitch by stitch.  I cannot just press on my pedal, but I tap one stitch at a time, just through that really thick part.

Make sure that you are stitching close to the edge of the hem.  I line my jeans up with the inside edge of the first, slender tab on my foot, as pictured above.  This places the stitches in the perfect position.  Just play around with it until you figure it out.  Remember, if you mess up on this part, you can always take it out and start over.  You will probably have to too.  I did, but once I had done it once or twice, I can do it no problem!

Stitch completely around the leg, back stitching at the end, and this is the end result.

A professional hem that you did all on your own!

Please excuse the ugly cushion.  I really do plan on recovering them in the future.  Please let me know if something doesn't make sense.  This is very hard to explain.  Easy to do, but hard to explain.

Tutorial -- A Cheerful Flower Topiary

I love ranuculous (the flower I used for this topiary). When I saw some on clearance at JoAnn's a couple months ago, I immediately purchased a handful of stems and stashed them in my craft closet. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to make a pretty floral topiary. And that's just what I did this week!

Do you want to make one too? I'll show you how!

Supplies:
*One foam ball of desired diameter.
*Flowers. Any kind that you love. I think smaller flowers would probably work best. I used 8 bunches, 15 flowers per bunch. I wish I would have had 9 bunches (I'll explain later.)
*A stick in your desired length. I cut mine from a tree in my yard.
*A pot.
*Floral foam.
*Old newspaper, magazines, or some kind of paper.
*Crafting moss.
*Glue gun.

I actually had all of these supplies on hand, except for the moss and the flowers.

To begin, grab your foam ball, your flowers, and maybe your glue gun. I pulled the flowers off their stems, put on a little dab of hot glue, and stuck the flower into the ball. Your flowers might have long enough stems to simply poke them into the ball without using glue.
I bunched the flowers close together so that you couldn't see any foam ball peeking though. P.S. My ball is red because in another life it served as part of the Pizza Planet sign for my twin boys 4th birthday party. The red color actually came in handy though since my topiary is red -- any parts of the ball that might have showed automatically blended right in.

This is how far I got with the flowers. Not quite enough. But, I didn't fret. You can't tell at all once the topiary is finished.
Next, head on outside and find a good stick to use as your stem/trunk. I just cut a branch off my front yard tree. You can cut it however long you like. Allow enough length for the stick to sit low in your pot (mine touched the bottom), and still be tall enough.

Next, burrow a hole a few inches deep into your foam ball. I just spun my stick around for a while (it's messy, maybe do it outside.) You could also use a Dremel. ACTUALLY, it might be smart to make the hole first -- that way you won't smash your flowers. See, always a work in progress! Then, insert the stick. Apply a whole lot of hot glue on the stick, in the hole and around the stick for extra reinforcement. Then, hold it in place until it dries. It won't take too long.
Don't mind the next couple pictures. I finished this craft up at night and the light wasn't superb. I used a terra cotta pot from Home Depot.

It was about $1.50. I previously used it when I grew my wheat grass. I grabbed one and some cream spray paint and got to work. Once dry, I took it back outside to distress. I was out of sand paper so I decided to actually "rough up" the pot. I rolled it down the street. I rubbed it on the sidewalk. I must have looked insane to any neighbors that saw me. I loved the way it turned out -- with some green paint from the previous spray job, and the terra cotta peeking out underneath. You can see some of the distressing in the picture below. I think I actually want to rough it up more because I like the effect so much. It was just so dark when I was outside doing it that I couldn't really tell how it looked.

Once your pot is ready, grab some floral foam (that super messy green stuff), and use a kitchen knife to cut some pieces you can use to wedge in your stick. I just sandwiched it between two. Grab that glue gun and glue the the foam to the pot and the stick to the foam.
Then, stuff some newspaper, or magazine pages into the space left in your pot to even out the surface.
Cover the magazine/floral foam jumble with crafting moss. I found mine at JoAnn's as well. It was less than $5.00 for the package. It was located next to the wreaths. I pulled off some larger pieces and, in puzzle fashion, arranged them around the pot. Once they were all in place, I used my hot glue gun and secured them.
All finished! And how easy was that? Let your creative juices flow. This topiary can be customized to any decor scheme, depending on the color, type of flower, and style of pot you choose. Go have fun and make a little craft! This could probably be completed in less than two hours.

Pretty Pleated Flower tutorial

I have been inspired by the many cute hair accessories I see all around me and I wanted one for myself.  This is definitely not your little girl's hair bow!  This is for you!  I love this and try to wear it whenever possible.  This tutorial will include a tutorial for the entire green, ribbon flower and a tutorial for finishing off the gold rosette.  I will link to my good friend, Shannon, for the tutorial on the actual rosette.

Here are the supplies used, but you can get creative and use whatever you wish!  By no means, is this the only way to do this flower.  This is just how I did it.  Also, my estimations for the length of the ribbons are a bit longer than what was actually needed.  I just cut my ribbon at these lengths and removed the excess if there was any.

Supplies:

3 yds of 7/8 inch ribbon (Green)

7 inches of 3/4 inch Faux pearls on lace (cream lace)

one medium sized magenta bead

1 yd of 5/8 inch Gold ribbon (gold rose)

1 yd of 3/8 inch ribbon (black polka dot)

1 yd of 7/8 inch sheer ribbon (black)

white thread

needle

2 in diameter felt circle

extra felt

Thread your needle and make a knot at the end.  Begin by making a running stitch along the bottom of your 7/8 inch ribbon.  Space your stitches pretty far apart.  I did mine about 1/4-1/2 inch apart.  This creates more of an accordion style gather, rather than little puckers.

Continue your running stitch until the end of your ribbon.  When you come to the end, slide your ribbon down the thread towards the knot at the beginning, gathering your ribbon.  Does that make sense?  Hopefully!

 

Gather this pretty tightly. Not so tight that you can't slide the ribbon down any further, but pretty tight. You need a little wiggle room!

Once your ribbon is gathered, you need to attempt to flatten it out so that the bottom of the ribbon, where the thread is, is straight.  The ribbon tends to want to twist.  You will need to place your pleats where you want them onto your 2 inch diameter circle of felt.  Take your felt and while placing your pleats on your ribbon, stitch them to the outer edge of your felt.  Continue this completely around your felt until you end up back at the beginning. 

Once you have completed one circle all of the way around, you need to adjust your ribbon down a bit and begin a second layer.     

See how I place my pleats right where I wanted them and then stitched them into place?  Hold them in place with your thumb and stitch...simple, right?

Just keep attaching your ribbon in a spiral until you come to the very middle of your felt.  Don't make the spiral obvious though.  It looks better if you can't tell where you started the next layer.

Once you've reached the middle, just kind of adjust your pleats and stitch wherever it looks good.  Don't be too worried about it because the lace will cover this part up.

You have now completed your first pleated flower and you can knot off your thread!

Here comes the second part of the big pleated flower!  Thread your needle again and knot the end.  Pick up your lace piece and create a running stitch along the edge of your lace.  This one can be a normal stitch length because you want this one to pucker and not pleat.  With my lace, the holes were too big for the knot at the end of my thread so I had to thread it through the middle first and then make my way towards the edge.

Once you come to the end of your lace, gather the same way you did the bigger flower until it comes into a cute little circle, as pictured above. 

Once you have formed your little circle, stitch it to the center of your bigger, pleated flower.

Pick out a bead that you just love and stitch it to the center of your flower.  Tada!  You're done.  This is even pretty by itself so you can quit now if you're tired.  Believe me, I was tempted!

For the next flower you're going to head on over to Shannon's tutorial to make a ribbon rosette.  I picked her tutorial because I wanted to stitch my rosette.  You can also use hot glue, but with living here in AZ, I could easily end up with a hot mess on my head.  I don't trust hot glue lasting in this heat!  Especially when I've been know to leave hair accessories in my VERY hot car.

Make your rosette and set it aside.

Thread your needle again and knot it off.  Pick up your 3/8 inch ribbon and create a 1/4 inch running stitch.  We want the pleated look again.  Continue until you reach the end.

Once you have reached the end slide the ribbon down the thread to gather.  Gather tightly so it appears like an accordion, as pictured above.  Flatten out your accordion ribbon and stitch to the back of your rosette.

This is how the back of your rosette will look.  Stitch the accordion ribbon all of the way around the edge of your rosette.

This is how your rosette will look from the front will appear.  Pretty.  Knot of your thread.

I'm so tired of saying this, but it must be said, thread your needle and knot the end.  Pick up your shear 7/8 inch ribbon and make a running stitch along the edge.  We want this one puckered so don't take as long of stitches.  Continue to the end of your ribbon and slide it down the thread to gather.  Once gathered, stitch this to the back of your rosette so the edges of your sheer ribbon peak out of the polka dot.

Isn't it pretty?

Place the smaller rosette on top of the bigger flower wherever you think it looks best and stitch it into place.

I then cut out a piece of felt that would cover all of my ugly work on the back of my piece and stitched around the edges.  Once that is done, cut out a 1x1.5 inch tab.  Stitch this to the bigger felt piece.  This tab will allow you to either slide the flower onto a headband or onto a clip.  There you have it!  Please let us know if you have any quesitons or if anything seems unclear.