Tag: DIY

Wool Blanket Christmas Tree Skirt DIY

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Well, here I am, four days out from Christmas, and writing a blog on the easy Christmas sewing project I mentioned in my last post.  Guess that pretty much tells you things didn’t go as quickly as I thought they would.  

There’s been an old, soft, wool army blanket floating around here since forever.  It’s actually two pieces of wool blankets sewn together.  It’s been used under our tree many times and has been packed away with the Christmas stuff for the last 30+ years.  One Christmas, when my kids were young, I said I was going to make a real tree skirt out of it someday, and it’s kind of been a running joke every year when we pull it out. Well, this is the year, I did it!

I love fabric and textures, but sewing has never really been my thing, I don’t know why.  Not having a concrete plan for this project, I decided to approach it like I did most others, use what I have on hand, and visualize as I go. 

I was able to fold and cut a 60” circle out of the darkest end of the blanket.  There’s all kinds of easy instructions for folding fabric to cut large circles on the internet. 

I traced the corner of a cup to cut a small hole in the center of the circle.

My first idea was to cut small holly pieces from the leftover end of the blanket and stitch them along the outer edge of the circle. But then, with such a big circle, I thought a larger pattern would look much better. 

I drew a large holly leaf pattern about 20”L and 12”W, then cut eight holly pieces out of newspaper to arrange on the circle and give them a look.  Sorry, the picture is a little fuzzy, but I liked the design. 

Then, there was a hitch. I laid the holly pattern every which way and there was not enough leftover blanket to get the eight pieces out of.  I could have made the pattern smaller, but I liked the big holly.

Just playing around, I cut the holly pattern in half lengthwise. Using two colors on the holly could add more interest.  Half of the leaf could be cut from the leftover blanket, and something else could be used for the other half.  

After two days of trying to find something to use, it finally dawned on me that I had the perfect thing all along, a faded pair of green army fatigues.  As a saver of buttons, I always have a bag of old clothes waiting to have their buttons removed before they’re tossed, and that’s where I found them.  The legs alone offered enough material and I could use the buttons too.

I didn’t have interfacing for the green cotton material.  With plenty of the dark wool left, I cut eight pieces of that and adhered it to the back of the green cotton with a spray adhesive. I trimmed a few edges where they didn’t match neatly.

The design was laid out on the floor again and the pieces arranged where I wanted them.  A slit opening was cut up through the center of one of the holly pieces. The pieces were adhered to the circle with spray adhesive.   After the adhesive was dry, each piece of holly was surrounded with a six strand, dark brown blanket stitch.  This step took me over a week to complete, there’s a lot of stitches.  I’m sure my lack of experience in this area and only working evenings, slowed the process too.

More was needed, so I chose yo-yos. I cut eight 4” circles from the scrap green cotton material.  After stitching them closed, they were painted with red fabric paint, giving them a deep rich red color.  The buttons from the fatigues were sewn in the center of each yo-yo, then the yo-yos were sewn to the circle between the holly.  I love the little yo-yos.

A zig-zag stitch was run around the outer edge of the skirt, and a strip of wool cut to fold over the raw edge of the small inner circle.  My daughter, she’s a quilter, peeked in on me as I was pinning the wool strip into place, and offered me her binding clips to use.  They’re the neatest little things.  I stitched some knots to attach the strip, then ran a blanket stitch along the edge of it on both sides.

I found some tie strips in a craft drawer.  I don’t know what they were off of, and they didn’t match, but that’s okay.  They were stitched into place on the backside of the circle, along the edge of the slit opening.

And, finally, done.  After all this time it feels pretty good to have this one particular project completed. I’m very happy with it. 

I moved presents from under the tree to get a picture, then replaced them, covering my new creation.  It’s a little wrinkly now, but it can make it’s grand debut Christmas morning after everyone has opened their gifts and Santa’s surprises.

Merry Christmas everyone, and many wishes for a bright, shiny New Year!

Wine Bottle Apothecary Jar DIY Tutorial

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The amount of stuff in my garage is crazy!  Something’s got to give. I used three bottles in this current project and sent about 50 to the recycle bin. No more, I’m not keeping any more unless it’s something really unique.  After all, wine bottles are not that hard to come by.  A few boxes of wire and salvaged pieces were given the boot.  But, I couldn’t part with more than a baggie full when it came to sorting through my lamp parts, small bits and pieces, and odds and ends.  They make up the brainstorming center of one of my favorite creative spaces. I could spend many happy hours playing and creating with all those wonderful little pieces.  They’ve been used in so many of my projects, including this one.  

So, here we go.  A bottle cutter or wet saw will be needed. I used the Creator’s Bottle Cutter, but have had great success with the Ephrem’s Bottle Cutter too.  Both are easy to use and have instructions included. The Ephrem’s Bottle Cutter is less expensive and needs to be attached to a board before using.

Place the bottle in the cutter.  With even pressure while turning, score the cut line on the bottle.  Rotate the score line about ¼” over a candle flame for about a minute.  Holding the bottle at the top and bottom, plunge it into a bucket of ice water to easily snap apart.  Sand the cut edges with 150 grit emery cloth to smooth and remove the sharp edges.  

I don’t often share pictures of my messy places, but here’s that brainstorming center I mentioned a little earlier.  I know, it’s a little out of hand, huh?  But, it’s so much fun having a lot of options when in a creative mood. 

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I had parted out a pair of bent candlesticks my sister found for me at a garage sale.  They were a steal at fifty cents each and chock full of some beautiful heavy glass donuts. I was able to use the top and base also. The rod was cut out, and my husband used a die grinder to remove some excess solder. A die grinder isn’t hard to use, I just don’t like the noise or the flying sparks it makes.

I liked the idea of using a glass donut on each jar to make them look like they belonged together if they were displayed as a set. I stacked and played around with pieces to fit the donuts and the jar openings until I was happy with what I had.  When making pieces like this, I like to take pictures of them laid out in the order they were stacked so I can remember how they go back together after the painting process.

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Clean the metal pieces and buff them with #0000 steel wool before painting.  Prime and paint.  I used an Oil Rubbed Bronze finish.

I was able to use a short piece of threaded rod for the two larger lids and they screwed together really slick.  E6000 was used to glue the small lid together.  It was stacked and glued in small steps, letting the glue dry in between steps, so it would stay straight. When using glue, scratch away a small area of paint on both surfaces where glue will touch.

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I noticed a flat bottomed glass globe while I was working.  What the heck, why not put a lid on it too? 

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After priming I used a Silver Hammered Metal finish on this one.  When dry, I sprayed a light coat of Silver Looking Glass Paint, and then buffed it lightly with #0000 steel wool after the paint was thoroughly dry.  It was glued together. Don’t forget to scrape paint away where the glue will touch.  Sometimes glues can soften or eat through paint and not adhere properly. 

All I have for now.  Thank You so much for visiting my blog. Please feel free to share my posts with your friends, re-purposing helps keep things out of our landfills. 

I’ve started working on some Fall Sunflower decor to share soon; hope you come back to join me.

20200827_120241 (1)Take Care and Stay Healthy!

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

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Hi All!  I know, it’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?  No worries though, nothing major happened after my last post; I just got busy with glass work, wrapped up with the grand kids and their activities, and just got out of the swing of things, I guess.  You really have to give a lot of credit to those that do blog regularly, it’s a lot of work.  I don’t know how they manage it.  I love sharing on my blog, but think I may have to be content with only posting occasionally. I want it to stay fun and not something I feel I have to do. 

Anyway, with that out of the way, I’d like to know how everyone is doing? This virus business has sure created a strange and crazy time over the last three months. I hope everyone and your families have been staying safe and doing well.  

Like many, we are still staying home, social distancing, making essential trips only, and doing curbside pick-ups.  We’ve opted to stay put at home this summer, and not plan any weekend road trips or junk jaunts.  That plan is what prompted me back to my blog.  I was looking around my garage the other day, taking stock of what projects I might work on over the summer, when I realized I already had plans for many of the treasures I have gathered.  I took that as a sign to get refocused and get stuff done. Not sure what I’ll be starting with yet, but I’m anxious to get going.

With no tutorial to share today, I thought I’d just do a big pictorial of pieces made for the vintage market last year, and some of my glass work and what’s been keeping me busy since last fall.  Hope they arouse some inspiration …  

I’ll start with one of my market favorites.  Remember the painted window screen poppies? 

A piece of aged and painted mirror was glued into the bottom of a 25 cent garage sale find before wiring poppies to the front.  Isn’t it the cutest?  I love the colors.

My daughter had some beautiful pieces of scrap lumber from putting in new windows.  They were the perfect length to put together a big mudroom shelf with Chicken Wire Brackets. 

A large vintage, embossed Fluer de lis glass tile was rescued from an old medicine cabinet, surrounded with leaded glass and inserted in an empty window pane. 

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Wooden cabinet doors were up-cycled with glass inserts and hung on open backed, vintage style wall curios constructed with scrap and pallet lumber.

Pretty textured glass, an old cabinet door, and a piece of door molding came together nicely for a decorative shelf.

In my glass world –

Oh!  And last, but not least, are these two.  They own me heart and soul, brighten my days, but can really keep me hoppin’.

kids

That’s it, all I have for now.  Thank You for hanging in there with me and continuing to follow my blog.  Please stay happy and healthy.  I’ll be back …

Quirky Coconut Suet Feeders DIY Tutorial

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I knew I’d be making suet feeders someday after buying our curious grand kids a coconut to sample over a year ago.

I’d never made a coconut feeder, but thought it would be a lot of fun to play around with some scraps from my salvage stash and make something quirky to hang in our front yard tree.

The shells were already dried and had holes, so once I gathered some old springs and wire pieces they went together pretty quick.

I had planned on shaping wire into hangers, but found two wire pieces that had been cut from the top of old lamp shades and popped them into the holes instead.  

Wanting to provide some sort of a perch, I cut the small end off a bed spring, and wired it in with the wire arms of the hanger. 

For suet, I melted a pound of lard (use lard/shortening or fat that will stay solid at room temp) in a saucepan over low heat.  After the lard was melted, I removed it from the heat and stirred in 2 C birdseed, a handful of raisins, ½ C breadcrumbs, and ½ C unsalted peanuts.  Let it cool.

To ready the shells for suet, the outside hole openings were covered with tape, and for a little added measure, the inside holes were plugged with peanut butter. 

Wadded newspaper was used to keep the shell halves level in a shallow pan. 

Fill the shells with cooled suet and let them sit until the suet solidifies.

A super easy hanger was made by attaching a 2” metal ring to a 5” spring, and some bling on a jump ring to catch a little bird’s eye.  

Bring on the birds!

 

 

Recycled Tin Can Wreath DIY Tutorial

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This rusty, country style wreath may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it looks right at home in my rural garden, so I’m sharing it just for fun!

While going through old garden magazines last year, I caught just a glimpse of the side of a tin can wreath hanging in the picture of a garden, so of course I felt the need to make one. I threw a bunch of dog food cans in a tub of water to soak outside for a few weeks and start the rusting process.

After dumping the cans to dry, I creased them in the center with the side of my foot, and drilled a ½” hole through them.

I used twenty eight, 22 oz. cans for my wreath, and a 5 ft. length of heavy fencing wire. Cans are heavy, my wreath still sagged a bit, but the fencing wire helped it hold a circular shape. 

A small loop was bent in one end of the wire to hold the cans as they were threaded on.  I did a pattern of three as I threaded .. two with the crease one way, them flipped the third, but they can be put on any way you want. 

 

After all the cans were threaded on, the wire was cut close to the end, a hook was shaped to go into the loop, and squeezed tight.

That’s it, easy peasy.  

My wreath has been hanging in the garage for the last year, out of sight, out of mind, until now.   An awesome find of a big bird nest, dislodged from one of our pines during a recent thunderstorm, prompted me to adorn my wreath with Mother Nature and hang it in the garden.  A step out to the gravel road provided a few stones for makeshift eggs; a little surprise for my four year old granddaughter when she sneaks a peek … she’ll be delighted!

can wreath 2

 

 

 

Rustic Garden Wreath DIY Tutorial

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I love the look of rustic art in the garden, don’t you? Being a collector of lots of glass things, wire scraps, rusty junk, and all kinds of tidbits, I’m excited when I can gather some of my pieces that all work together, and make something eye pleasing for mine.

With salvaged art, there’s no rules, right or wrong, that’s the fun of it. Just do what works best for you.

Duplicating the items I used is not feasible, I know, but, I wanted to share some tips and tricks I used in hopes of spurring inspiration for fellow creatives. 

I asked my husband to save a pile of heavy springs when they showed up as salvage last fall.  I’ve walked past them 100’s of times and always had the same thought; I’m gonna make a wreath out of one of those someday.  I knew there was a metal flower collecting dust in the garage that would look great on one, I just never got going on it. 

 

Recently, I was breaking down some bottles for other projects when the idea of glass leaves popped into my head… that was it, now it was time to make a wreath.

Tackling the heavy spring was the first step. It was about 30 inches long and wouldn’t hold a circular shape on it’s own.  A length of heavy fencing wire was shaped into a circle and inserted inside the spring for support. The ends of the fencing wire were hooked together and squeezed tight to secure.

The funky ends were cut off of the spring.  With the help of a screwdriver, a scrap piece of wire was wedged into the first end rings of the spring so they could be held open for wiring the ends together flush.

 

The barbed wire stem was cut from the flower,  For added interest, a short, chunky spring was wired into the center of the flower.  A long wire was used for this step so it could go through the flower and be used to wire the flower on later.

 

Pieces of a Captain Morgan bottle were used for leaves.  I smoothed the edges of the glass with a glass grinder, but a piece of emery cloth, or a Dremel tool with a diamond grinding bit will work too.

Arrange the leaves and flower on the wreath, covering the wired spring ends.  After deciding placement, wire the leaves on first with a thin pliable wire, then the flower, covering the wired ends of the leaves. 

Take advantage of any small curves in the glass leaves to help hold the wrapped wires tightly.  As an added precaution I glued chunks of glass, or washers, near my wires to prevent any slipping.  Washers can also be glued between the spring and flower/leaf arrangement to tighten or brace an area.

The ends of my heavy wire leaf shapes were difficult to bend.  I opted to attach a thin wire on one end of them, then thread it through under the flower and between other wires.  Secure the wire to the other end of the leaf shape. Arrange and tighten until snug.

Before finishing up, I decided to add another glass leaf, used E6000 to add a couple interesting rusty bits, and tuck in one of my salvaged art blooms.

    

I do believe, this is just what that little corner of my garden needed!

 

 

 

 

Salvaged Art Blooms DIY Tutorial

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A new glassical idea …

Sometimes a project will lay untouched because its lacking that little something more, and I can’t find just the right thing.  That was the case with a garden wreath I had started over a month ago. But, finally after sifting through old jewelry and my basket of rusty stuff, I discovered a way to make some cute little blooms that would work beautifully in many instances.

It all started with a handful of small Christmas bells….

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Curious to see what one would look like, and thinking it might resemble petals, I bent back the top .. and there was that big beautiful center just waiting to be filled with something pretty.

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Pearls and glass beads were glued in with E6000.

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After the glue was dry, the petals were rolled back slightly and shaped with round pointed pliers. 

A wire stem was inserted through the small metal loop on the bottom the bell, and squeezed tight.  Some loops were brittle from rust, which made them fragile. I pre-shaped my wires before inserting them to avoid any unnecessary pressure, or twisting, on the loop.

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A rusty star shape was glued to the bottom of the large mauve bead, and chosen for my project.  It’s done now and will be ready to share with you in a few days.pink bead bell

 

The pearl flowers have really grabbed my attention. I adore them, and already have something special in mind for them. 🙂

pearl bells

These little blooms have me looking at all my little scrap bits and pieces a little differently now as I sort through them ..  there’s a lot of possibilities out there.  

baubles

Have a wonderful day, I’ll be back soon!

 

Little Upcycled Bucket DIY Tutorial

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Well, I’d say its about time I found my way back to my blog!  Its been a year, way too long!

Such a long break was never planned.  Initially, my sister, who was newly retired last year, and I, began going to a lot of flea markets and sales last spring. I think we’re guilty of having had so much fun hanging out, and shopping for awesome stuff, that we didn’t leave much time for creating.  Before I knew it, it was time to start working on fused glass Christmas ornaments. which kept me busy until after the first of the year, and then it was time to make inventory for a June vintage market event.  Anyway, I’m back, and ready to get back in the groove of making things!

Several new pieces were made for the market we participated in.  I’ll post some pictures of them later, but first, I’d like to begin by sharing a favorite … an upcycled, little, bent galvanized bucket that was almost headed to the scrap yard.  I’ve just fallen in love with it, and it was so easy.  All it took was two sample sized colors of exterior water based paint, hide glue or crackle medium, J-B Weld, a small metal flower, one button, and a fan (opt).  I’m impatient, the fan speeds up drying times.

Just a little note about crackle mediums before we get started.  They are readily available in just about all home improvement and craft stores, and easy to use.  Hide glue is my choice for crackling.  You can find it in hardware stores for around $9.  Always painting something, I usually have some mixed and ready to use.

For a crackle medium, mix 1/2 C hide glue with 1/3 C of very hot water, stirring well.  Store unused medium in an airtight container.  As a rule, the thinner the crackle medium, the thinner the cracks.  If bigger cracks are wanted, use less hot water.  Regardless, the mixture will be watery thin, and splatter easily.  Make sure your floor and work area are protected well.  Crackling is a lot of fun, but can be touchy.  It doesn’t like to be re-brushed as you put it on, single strokes are needed. If you’ve never tried it before, you may want to play around with it on scrap wood first to get the feel for it, or catch a video on YouTube.

After giving the bucket a good wash, it was wiped down with a little rubbing alcohol to remove any oils left on it’s surface.  I began with a base coat of red, let dry.

Next, the crackle glue.  Let the crackle glue dry until it is still slightly sticky to the touch, approximately 45 minutes, sooner with a fan.  Top with light blue paint, let dry completely.

Sprigs of metal flowers are something I keep my eye out for at garage sales and flea markets.  Their flowers and leaves are easily snipped off to incorporate in crafting projects.

Lightly burnish the metal flower with steel wool before painting.  I used the light blue as a base color, and the red as the top coat, with crackle in between.

J-B Weld is a two part epoxy, and a wonderful product.  Please read and follow the manufacturer’s directions on the package.  Per directions, the surfaces to be glued must be free of paint.

After deciding the placement of the flower, I scratched a small circle of paint off of the bucket, and also made sure the bottom of the flower was paint free.  I used a wooden skewer to stir a small amount of epoxy together on wax paper, and let it rest about five minutes to set up a little.

With the bucket on it’s side, I laid a small mound of epoxy over the cleared area, then sit the flower on, propping it in place to dry for 24 hours.

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After the epoxy was completely dry, a metal button was added to the center of the flower with a small dab of E6000.  I finished with a spray of clear sealer, which is optional.

What do you think?  I had garden art in mind as it was being made, but now, I think it would be cuter than the dickens lined with a red and white checkered napkin and holding tableware at a barbecue!

Hope we are all blessed with sunshine and beautiful weather for the upcoming holiday.  Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!

 

 

 

Garden Cloche DIY Tutorial

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I’m sure I’m not the only one using tomato cages, or garden fencing, to protect plants and new sprouts in the garden and yard.  Rather they’re protecting from animals, grand kids, or an inattentive mower, they can sometimes stay put most of the summer. That’s what made me think of a large garden cloche; if you’re going to look at it for months, why not make it more attractive? And, no one else will have one like it … that’s always a bonus, right?

My garden cloche design got a jump start when I stumbled upon a pair of wire planter baskets at a local thrift shop for a dollar. The wire spacing on them was similar to a discarded air conditioner guard I had tucked away at home.

I quickly realized I could not bend and shape the steel AC guard to match the 14″dia. of the planter basket with just my hands. After searching around, I finally found an old milk can of that size to roll, wrap, and shape it around. I used bolt cutters to cut the length of guard needed, then connected the ends together by wrapping the entire length of the seam with thin wire, crisscrossing the wire at the intersections, for a smooth seam and firm connection.  Cut the wires from bottom ring, leaving prongs to push into the ground.

  

Cut and remove the crossbars from the bottom of the basket. Once I cut them in the center, they just snapped off.

Spray both of the wire pieces black with an exterior paint recommended for metal. Let dry completely.

    

I gathered some odd lamp pieces and a short piece of threaded rod to stack and build a large finial to adorn the top of the upturned basket. One lamp piece (the base piece) will need to fit nicely inside the basket below where the crossbars were.

Spray paint the base lamp pieces black, let dry.

  

Beginning with the painted base pieces on the threaded rod, stack and build the lamp pieces. Leaving room for a small finial, use tape to mark where the threaded rod will need to be cut. Remove the rod to cut, restack the pieces, add a dab of E6000 to the tip of the rod, and twist the small finial on to tighten your pieces together firmly.

  

 

  

 

    

Cut back all but 6 or 7 of the wires on the top ring of the AC guard, these will be used to bend over the wire ring of the basket and hold it in place. Touch up the cut wires with black spray paint. Attach the basket to the top and its ready for the garden.

   

Kind of gives the garden a little majestic touch, don’t you think?