I gave my sister and mother these fabulous photo coasters for their birthdays last month and my sister jokingly said “you should write a guest post on Tidy Tangle about how to make them”. So here I am “guest” posting. I might add that I have been studying my little heart out and working hard with my web development business and spending one more minute at the computer to blog is less than appealing so I apologize for my silence, but it’s been a necessary evil to keep my sanity. Part of the battle of learning to juggle it all is dropping a ball from time to time so you don’t drop all of them and run for shelter! But thanks to my sister for keeping the dream alive and providing some wonderful posts! (more…)
Mother’s Day Gift – Photo Coasters
Side view of the coaster
Felt pads on bottom
Set of five coasters
Sew Your Own Throw Pillows
As a follow-up to my throw pillow challenge, I have finally recovered my chocolate brown velvet Ikea throw pillows. I bought these down throw pillows for a mere $15 each five years ago. In a house with five boys, there is no denying that chocolate brown upholstery is practical, but it’s not necessarily ideal. I’ve been on the hunt for years for something lighter and brighter to recover them with, but it’s been a challenge to find something I love that’s affordable too.
I really liked all the samples I received from Premier Prints and was in the process of deciding on one of their prints when I stumbled upon something else that caught my eye, and my heart, on clearance at Hancock’s; light blue raw silk, normally $47 a yard on sale for $5 a yard! I wasted no time in having two yards of this stuff cut and for a mere $10, I now have four new throw pillows on my couch!
I’m doing a brief tutorial here on how to make your own throw pillows because I want to show people just how simple they are to make. Honestly, I got my start in sewing making a couple throw pillows on my mother-in-law’s sewing machine. There is nothing more simple to sew than basic squares and rectangles and to this day, I don’t sew anything that doesn’t consist of only 90 degree angles! A basic throw pillow can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Ideally, I would have added zippered closures to these pillows so that I could take off the covers and have them cleaned occasionally; but at a mere $2.5o per pillow, I figured it’s not worth the extra effort. So, I kept it simple.
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Rainy Day Activities
Some fun rainy day activities made with household ingredients
Okay, so I mentioned in a recent post that I recently discovered Pinterest. I was a skeptic at first, and ignored several people’s recommendations to try it, but soon gave in and am glad I did. I’m amazed at the wealth of ideas and resources for grabs in one convenient place, and how easy it is to “pin” ideas of your own.
Today we are being affected by Tropical Storm Lee, and the entire day here has been a deluge. We are grateful for the rain, as we just came out of our driest month in history, and it gave me a great opportunity to try some of the ideas I’ve pinned to my Things to Try board with the kids. I’ve tried five or six different ideas posted to this board and have had mixed, though mostly positive, results. So, I thought I’d mention a few of the successes here.
One benefit I’ve already gained from the ideas I’ve found on Pinterest is that I’ve learned a list of essential rainy day ingredients to have on hand, listed here:
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Fireworks Shirts
Here is a fun, manageable t-shirt project. It’s sort of a Monet-like twist on fireworks, but I think the spirit of it came through pretty well. You can find the tutorial for this project here.
Yearly Postcard Journal
I follow a lot of blogs, so here’s another idea that I love. I actually have made one myself, but didn’t have the time to sit down and do the whole year’s worth of stamping. So I did the first 4 months. (more…)
Cardboard Guitars
A friend of mine shared a website with me and I’m in love with a lot of the ideas on this blog. There is one that I’m featuring simply because my little girl has been super excited about instruments as of late. (more…)
Turn diaper boxes into storage
I absolutely LOVE this idea. Diaper boxes are so sturdy and have great dimensions for holding all sorts of things.
Here’s the blog post on how to turn diaper boxes into storage: http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2011/02/lets-make-something-together-lined.html
Fence Decor
No, you are not seeing things–that is in fact a picket fence hanging on my wall. And, believe it or not, I have some surprisingly useful ideas for it in my house, and maybe even yours! Allow me to explain.
Sheet to Shower Curtain
The boys’ shower curtain tore recently and I’ve had my eye out for a new one. But, I have the worst luck finding shower curtains that I like at a reasonable price. So, when I saw this sheet set at Target for $13, I knew I’d found a solution. The logic there may not be obvious, but a flat sheet can be turned into a shower curtain in no time flat (no pun intended). It can even be done without a sewing machine! When I get around to this exciting challenge, I’ll be sure to take some notes for you, in case you’re curious!
