Wrapped Feather Pen Turtorial

I promised nature (camping friendly) crafts in a previous post, so here is a tutorial for an awesome, easy craft, inspired by of course a pinterest post! 

So here's what you need:

1) Feathers! Go outside and find some! They are free! Plus it's so much more rewarding to find them yourself rather than buying :)

2) A pen (this is a great craft for all those pens from hotels, work events, etc. that everyone has in their junk drawers!)

3) Embroidery floss

4) Scotch tape

5) Scissors 

For all of you wondering what is going in that background of this pic it is my legs in my awesome new graphic leggings! :) I did this craft while watching the newest episode of Mistresses (guilty pleasure lol). This is the perfect craft for in front of the tv! 

Ok, let's get started!

1) Tape your feather to the top of your pen like so:

2) Now pick your first (or only color) of embroidery floss and tie an end around the top of your pen. 

3) Begin wrapping! I left the lose end of my floss on and just held it down to the pen and wrapped around it.

4) To switch colors simply tie the ends of the first and second color together and continue wrapping, wrapping over any lose ends. 

5) When you have finished wrapping tie off the floss with a double knot and trim off extra (I tried to keep my knots at the back of the pen relative to my feather)

And Voila! 

Way cuter than the original standard issue hotel pen! And it cost only pennies!!

Enjoy! 

-Liz :) 

Telephone Table Update

Hi again,

Here's an update on the telephone table I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Telephone Table Upcycle.

So the other day I began the upcycling process which begins of course with disassembling! I love this first step where you get rid of all the old worn down fabric and finish and begin to see the real potential!

So with my telephone table I first unscrewed the seat, then removed the two shelfs. After the seat was off a got a glimpse at what this table looked like in a past life. Check out the cool bright baby blue paint:

Maybe this color will make a reappearance??

After the seat was removed, I decided to remove the old fabric and batting (if these are in good condition I like just upholster over, to save time and materials, but in this case the fabric was kind of smelly so it had to go!). After a good struggle removing upholstery tacks with a screwdriver I managed to remove all the old fabric and got another surprise! Check out what was used for the base of the seat:

It's a piece of old laminate countertop! 

Close-up of the glittery countertop

It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but the top of the board that was used to make the seat is covered in old gold glittery laminate! So it looks like someone already beat me to the punch and this table has been repurposed before, using a piece of countertop for the seat! Kind of cool to see how this table has evolved through the years! And what's the next step in its evolution? Well, I have some ideas but I'm not revealing anything yet, you'll just have to wait and see :)

-Liz

Roadtrip Repurposing

Hey all,

Well I am back from my road trip, on which I wasn't able to post as much as I would have liked due to lack of internet and lack of time (seeing all the sights!) but, I still have some camping/trip related posts I meant to share so we are just going to pretend I am still on the road!

One thing I wanted to share was a few awesomely inspiring repurposes I saw at different stops along the way!

First up is this awesome planter idea:

I saw this chair outside a shop in a small town in Northern, WI. What a creative way to reuse an old rocking chair! Just cut a hole in the upholstery of the seat (burlap in this case), remove the padding and replace with dirt! Then plant!

Next up is this creative way to display vintage dinnerware:

Yes, this is what you think it is! This wooden fence was bedazzled with vintage glass serving dishes, teacups and bell jar lids! Scroll down for close-ups :)

A little better lighting :)

This flower display was on about 4 gates total throughout the property.  Vintage glass chip-and-dip trays make up the petals, leaf shaped plates for the leaves of course, and a glass bud holder makes up the center of the flower! 

Check out these panels made up of vintage bell jar lids!

Glass trays fit perfectly between the fence posts and glass teacups add another touch of sparkle at the bottom of the fence!

Teacup close-up

These bench was also made to incorporate the vintage wares, with rectangular plates making up the back! 

So Pretty!

I found this gorgeous glass dinnerware-embellished fence at one of our campgrounds in the tiny town of Salem, SD. I first saw the bench on the night we arrived and later found the repurposing mother-load on a nearby fence, such a unique and cute idea!! And check out the awesome glow through the glass at sunset:

So cool!

Last but not least is probably one of the most famous, and largest repurposing projects in the country:

The Mitchell Corn Palace!

Close-up of the corn on the marquee

The Corn Palace!!! hahaha. Probably not a practical repurposing project for the home, but turning cobs of corn into giant murals definitely takes some creativity!! The corn palace was one of the highlights of South Dakota and is definitely worth a stop if you are headed out west. The "palace" is actually the towns arena so it isn't as grand as I expected lol. But there are more murals inside as well as some cool displays showing the history of the palace and how they make it! And best of all its totally free!! Can't beat that!

So, always remember to keep an eye out for inspiration! You just might find it in the most random places :)


-Liz

Camground Antiquing!!

Hey!

The road trip continues as we make our way back east from South Dakota up through Minnesota. Still about 150 miles from our stop over point tonight outside of Minneapolis! So with nothing but time and open road ahead of me I thought now is as good a time as any to blog!

Last night we stayed in the quaint (tiny!) town of Salem, SD at the only campground in town called Camp America (a great place to stay if you find yourself passing through Salem, SD, and im not just saying that because its the only one!). This morning my mom and I ventured over to the camp office in search of bottled water and snacks and to our surprise we walked right into an antique shop! It turns out the two women who own the campground are also antiquers and their campground office doubles as their shop! Quite a good shop at that, while small it is jam packed with a wide assortment of items from industrial to vintage pictures and art glass! And great prices! Here are some of the things I picked up:

First is an old children's coloring book with gorgeous lithographs of young girls with small animals like bunnies and ducklings!

Next is a set of vintage colored dominoes

The next picture shows a vintage wind up alarm clock by the lux clock company (I have been looking for one of these!) And a round tin tray with a white flower design 

The last picture is of an old fold out yardstick (possible pic frame?), a domed glass reflector (still thinking of uses for this) and two old Kodak tin film canisters (I'm thinking salt and pepper shakers!) 

-Liz :)  

Road Trip!

Broadcasting live from the open road! I'm currently on a family road trip through the Midwest from Iowa to South Dakota to Minnesota back up to Northern Wisconsin! So look forward to some camping crafts and road trip finds!

Telephone Table Upcycle!

This post is to introduce my latest potential project! I am at home for the month (Yayyyyy Wisconsin!!) and just the other day I went to the local Salvation Army (at which the prices are SOOO much more reasonable than in Florida!) and picked up this adorable telephone table for just 10$!

Cute detail on the back!

This one is kind of unique because of the two shelves, I have never seen one like this before. Its almost more like a sideways school desk, the top shelf even has a cut out for your pencil! 

For anyone who doesn't know what a telephone table is it pretty much just that, a table with a chair/bench attached that the telephone was placed on back in the day! They are definitely finding their way back to popularity for design and repurposing because of their compact size and shear cuteness! So needless to say I have been dying to get my hands on one of these to repurpose, and when I saw this one for only 10$ it was a no brainer!!

So with a little TLC and some DIY I'm going to bring this telephone table back to life! Stay tuned!


-Liz :)



P.S. My Mom also got this awesome ladder back chair in that same trip for only 5$!

Washi Tape Frame Tutorial

Hey Everyone!

This craft is one I made for my BFF's 25th birthday that was just this past weekend!! I really wanted to make her something that looked great and didn't "break the bank"! So I tried searching some other blogs as well as Pinterest but nothing was really jumping out at me, so I defaulted to my classic "I need inspiration move" and went to Michaels and began to wander! After contemplating some friendship bracelets in the bead aisle I continued my wander and found myself staring at the cheap unfinished wooden frames that Michaels carries. I hadn't given her any pictures in awhile so it seemed like a good idea, on the condition that I could make it look great! So I picked one up and started brainstorming what I could do with it. Obviously I thought of paint, but I'm no Picasso so I gave that idea up, then I thought tile but that can be pricey not to mention time-consuming. All this time I was aimless walking through the store and ended up in the opposite side in the scrapbooking aisle, thats when I saw the answer; tape!! Yes, the famous washi tape (well "craft tape" in my case) and I decided it was about time I hop on the bandwagon and try it out for this project! Especially when I saw these awesome two packs that Recollections sells:

I love how they sell these in coordinating packs, with two sizes and complimentary patterns! Perfect for striping!

So here's what I came up with!:

What You Need:

1. Crafting tape

2. Blank Frame

3. Xacto knife

4. Chipboard letters or letter stencils 

Steps:

1. First disassemble your frame by taking out the glass and backing like so:

2. Now, start taping!!! I started with the larger of my two tapes and lined this up with the top of the frame. I made sure my piece of tape was long enough to wrap around the sides and a little onto the back. I think wrapping the sides makes it look more finished. 

3. Now keep taping! Alternating between the two kinds of tape being careful to line up the edges! Once You get to the opening of the frame just extend your tape right over it like this:

4. After you have striped the whole frame, flip it over and using a Xacto knife cut out the opening as well as any excess on the bottom of the frame. 

5. Next I used a straight edge (a level) and evened out the tape edges on the back of the frame:

Much Neater!

Here's what your frame will look like at this point:

6. At this point you could be finished! Or you could add any decorations you wish! I decided to personalize it a little and added cut out text. Simply take some chipboard letters (mine were adhesive on the back, which held them in place nicely) or letter stencils and using an Xacto knife cut out around the letters, removing the tape and exposing the frame.

Here's what the lettering looks like:

7. Put the glass back in, add your favorite photo and display!

My BFF and I on our High School Graduation! Talk about a blast from the past! 

There you have it! An easy, mess-free way to make a $1 crafting frame from Michaels look store bought! 

Extras

- Try cutting out other designs or shapes besides letter

- Paint the frame first so your cut out is a different color

- Make a collection of these in different colors to display family/friends photos on your mantel or bookcase! 

- Glam it up with other decorations like faux flowers, rhinestones, etc. 

-Liz :)

Last Minute 4th of July Crafts!

Here's a few ideas for super easy last minute crafts you can do to get into the 4th of July spirit!!

1.Firework Fans -Martha Stewart

Credit: Martha Stewart.com

Check out Martha's instructions here! I think these would be so cute as decorations, party favors, etc.! Maybe you could even make garland by string a bunch of them together! 

2. Free Printables

Credit: HGTV.com

 1. Straw medallions and matchbook covers - Twig and Thistle 

 2. Patriotic Medallions - Tatertots and Jello

 3. For Kids - Spoonful

 4. Party Decorations - Catch My Party 

 5. Cupcake Wrappers and Toppers - HGTV

3. Decorating Ideas

Credit: bhg.com

Better Homes and Gardens has a great slideshow of 21 easy decorating ideas to make your home sing in red, white and blue just in time for your holiday BBQ!

I hope some of these quick ideas come in handy!

-Liz 

Sewing Machine Con't.

Hi all!

This is a continuation of a previous post (Wait That's A What?) lol. Where I introduced my newest "flip" project, an old sewing machine circa 1940s that I found at a local thrift store! As promised here is an update!

Yesterday the sewing machine (sans sewing machine now) got a fresh coat of paint! Here's a before and after:

BEFORE:                                                                         AFTER:

From dark chocolate brown to a lighter golden brown! (and notice the door pulls got a good polishing too!)

Close-up!

We also added some hooks to store our keys, since this piece serves as an entry table right next to the front door :)

If you are anything like my boyfriend and I key storage is a must!! Shaves about 5 mins off the morning routine previously spent scavenging for lost keys :) 

Well, thats it for now but stayed tuned cuz there is more in store for this ex-sewing cabinet :)

-Liz :)