Golden Horse Containers

I have seen several posts on line on taking plastic children's toys and repurposing them. I spray painted the plastic toy horses gold. Next, I took two glass containers and painted each lid gold. The bottom version I painted a gold circle around the container and placed matches inside the vessel. I cut an emery board to fit inside the lid and glued it inside the lid. Taking a glue gun, I glued the horses hooves to each lid. Saved myself $25-35 and kept items out of the landfill.

Crepe Paper Spring Flowers

On this first day of Spring, I needed some flowers. Nothing in the stores just yet so I made some flowers out of paint and crepe paper. I used white crepe paper and painted a portion of the paper using yellow acrylic paint. Once that was dry, I folded the paper in half and wrapped it around some curly willow branches. I attached the paper using white floral tape. Next, I cut out petals using white paper and curling the edges with scissors - attaching each with the white floral tape. That's it! Looks like branches with forced flowers.

Rethinking a Clothing Remodel

I saw an ad for straight leg blue jeans with grommets at the ankle and thought, "I can do that." I have the grommets. I have the ribbon. And I have a pair of straight leg jeans like the version shown in the link.

But, why?

Just because I can recreate a trend doesn't mean I should. Metal tends to attract heat and get even hotter in summer months. Washing metal objects on fabric becomes a noisy situation when it comes to drying. (clunk, clunk, clunk) And the metal pieces can wear away the enamel inside your dryer. Creating this look limits how I wear the jeans, choices for where I wear the outfit and shoes.

The only reason I found to make the alteration was - it was cute.

Going to hold off on the alteration right now. Cuteness is not an overriding factor.

Glass Cotton Swab Holder with Lid

This is a very easy D.I.Y. Take a jarred candle with a lid. Remove the wax by heating the outside of the jar with a hair dryer and wiping the wax out with a rag. Once the jar is clean, attach a drawer knob onto the jar's lid using glue. Insert cotton swabs.

Marble Contact Paper Box

I loved how the previous box project turned out so I made a similar one using marble adhesive paper. This time, I attached the adhesive to the entire box and added a gold hued handle. A huge savings and a great look compared to the inspiration piece.

Glammed Up Box with Hounds Tooth Contact Paper

Love houndstooth pattern and decided to cover a box lid with the adhesive. I added a handle to the top of the box. The bottom of the box is solid black to contrast with the patterned top.

Easy Artisan Bread

This is the easiest bread I have ever made. And it doesn't use any sugar!

Start by mixing 3 cups of all purpose flour, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of yeast together in a bowl. Add 1-1/2 cups of warm water to the mixture. Stir the ingredients and cover the bowl. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for 8 hours. You can let the mixture sit for up to 24 hours. Once you have waited at least 8 hours, turn the out on a lightly floured surface and form a ball. Now let the ball rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and place a 6 qt. high sided pan into the oven to pre-heat as well. Something like a dutch oven is ideal. Once the oven reaches 450 degrees, transfer the dough ball into the dutch oven and cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake the dough for 30 minutes, then uncover the bread and continue to bake for an additional 12 minutes. Done! Bread, anyone?

Hot Glue Jewelry

Want to make jewelry but don't have any findings, wire, cording or jump rings. You can if you have a glue gun and some beads.

Take a string and place it around your finger or wrist. Take the length of the string and lay it out on a piece of glass. Use a hot glue gun and form a rectangle a half inch wide and the length of your string. Fill in the empty space with designs.

Once the glue has cooled, peel your work off the glass and create one last glue attachment to bring both ends together. Leave the piece as is or glue beads and rhinestones to your jewelry.

Adding Grommets to a Sweater

Seems easy enough. Take a pullover sweater. Cut it down the center. Sew ribbon on either side of the cut yarn. Insert grommets on each side of the piece next to the ribbon. Lace the new creation with a contrasting color ribbon. NOT!

This turned out as an epic fail. The sweater didn't fit as I expected after the alteration. Although, I did learn how to install grommets. From that lesson I have another project in the works.

Just goes to show that not all ideas work on the first try. Some projects need more thought and more practice. Watch for another fabric revamp this week.

Updating Ikea Nightstand with Marble Adhesive Paper and Black Chalkboard Paint

This Ikea Tarva night stand started its life as an unfinished piece of pine. I painted it silver. Yes, silver. The color didn't thrill me. What to do? I had left over black chalkboard paint which is essentially flat black paint. Paint the whole object or part - that was my dilemma. I fell in serious like with some marble adhesive paper from Lowe's. It was Duck brand and available locally. I left the inside cubby and a bit of trim with the silver paint job. Then I cut a section of adhesive marble paper to fit the top of the table, a.k.a. nightstand. To finish the project, I found a screw that fit into a brass finial top, again from Lowe's, and used that as the drawer pull.