Simply DIY 2

I've been reading a lot about the store Anthropologie and decided to stop and see what the rave is all about.  It is a pretty neat store with lots of knick-knacks for the home and it has clothes as well.  I really didn't have anything in mind to purchase when I went in the store, but I came out with this pretty little  thing . There is a door knob on our linen closet upstairs that keeps falling off.  I planned on fixing it, but when I saw the door knob at Anthropologie, I figured I'd just replace it.  We plan to paint the upstairs hallway and stairway a lighter yellow and I already have two teal plates lined up to hang in the hallway.  So when I saw the knob, it was a no brainer. Here's the door before: I just pulled off the knob and unscrewed the rest from behind the door.  I'm not sure what this part is called, but it's what the knob was falling off from  attached to.   It was quite simple to put the new knob o...

I'm going to start this post off with a tribute to my Grama (one of the best cooks I know) that passed away last week: “If God had intended us to follow recipes, He wouldn't have given us grandmothers.”  ―  Linda Henley I was blessed for 28 years to know her and she will be missed dearly.  She was a fantastic cook and an even better Gram.  On that note, as my mother and I were taking a trip down memory lane and rooting through some random stuff in my Gram's home, we came across some old mementos.  My mom found the memorial prayer funeral cards for her grandmother (my great-grandmother) and I found some old "vintage" McCormick extracts.  I told my mom that I could frame them and make them fancy.   So this is what I did: I went to Ikea and bought two frames, one brown and one white. For the funeral cards, I looked through my scrapbook paper and found appropriate coordinating colors for the cards and frame.  I cut them to the size ...

Once I found out how easy it is to make bottle cap magnets, I made some for all of my family and friends for Christmas and birthday presents.  They can easily be personalized and everyone needs magnets! Tools: 1 inch circle punch    Materials: Scrapbook paper (or whatever you want to put in the bottle cap) Elmer's clear glue Resin (I use Envirotex Lite purchased at Michael's) Little magnets (also purchased at Michael's) Bottle caps (my mom has been searching for and finding bottle caps for me at Michael's and a craft store called Pat Catan's.  You can also collect bottle caps and spray paint them) Some sort of super glue (I used FutureGlue Gel) First, take your punch and paper.  Align the paper with the hole to punch out exactly what you want to put in the bottle cap. After you've punched your circles, take the clear glue and put an itsy dot inside the magnet, place the paper circle in and press. Once those are drie...

So, when you have a puppy that likes to chew, this happens: The pile of stuffing shown is actually the smallest amount that Stout has managed to pull out.  This is just the first pile that I took a picture of before cleaning it up.   So, I decided to play upholsterer and try to sew up the couch.  I went to JoAnn's and purchased some foam on sale, grabbed my scissors, thread, needle, sharpie, pencil, and paper.  And here's how it went: First, I needed to cut the foam to the size of the "hole" in the arm of the couch. Before I cut, I took one more look at the damage: I took the piece of paper, placed it on the arm of the couch and pressed down in the shape of the "hole."  After I got a pretty good impression, I took the pencil and traced it. Once I traced it, I cut the paper and put it on the foam.  Then I traced that on the foam with the sharpie and cut out two pieces (I needed two to make it as thick as the original stuf...

Since we moved in last May, I've been trying to find something to go above our headboard in our bedroom.  When we first moved it, I hung a small watercolor of lily pads that my grandmother painted, but that found a new home in our guest bedroom months ago.  Since then, it's been boring and bland: I've been looking for ideas and haven't found any that I felt was "the one" for the bedroom.  But then one day, with a coupon in hand, I went to visit Michael's craft store.  It's been a while since I've browsed there, plus I needed to find a candle for my Gram.  So off I went with my friend in search of a candle, when I saw THE PERFECT solution to my headboard problem: The frame + the print came together.  They were naturistic and earthy, the right size, and the perfect colors for our room.  And at...wait for it...$6.99 EACH (plus my teacher's 15% discount) I couldn't pass them up.  I purchased them and off I went to hang them u...