DIY Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Small Things Are Big Things

April 17, 2013 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Hankie Pankie Wreath

One of my good friends came over with yarn and wreath forms and I supplied the vintage hankies. A vintage hankie wreath!

Beauty was born.

In my humble opinion.

You’ll need:

Wreath forms

Yarn (one bundle)

About 2 feet of lace (it’s hidden, so you can use leftover yarn or string)

Hankies (or fabric scraps)

Optional – Hot glue (or tape or tacky glue)

1. Wrap the heck out of the wreath with the yarn. But on a good show or have friends over to chat, because this takes forever and is pretty boring.

You can secure the ends with hot glue or just wrap the end in the next layers or tape the end or tacky glue or tie in a knot. Just get that yarn on the wreath. If you have a straw wreath leave the plastic covering on so you don’t have straw sticking out (though that could be cute too).

2. Lay the lace behind the wreath. Layer the hankies and wrap the lace over every 2-ish layers and around the wreath. Hankies should be floppy. Tie off and hide lace ends under hankies. Fluff the hankies as desired.

3. DONE!

I put mine up on St Patty’s Day with white hankies then added some Spring colors for Easter… I may add some brights for Summer.

I just took down our Easter decorations, but I’m keeping up the Spring stuff. It isn’t much different, but for some reason this has me perplexed. First world problem. Do you leave up Easter? Or have totally separate stuff for Spring? Or take it all down and go plain till the next holiday? Inquiring minds want to know.

Me!!

The left picture is Easter the right is Spring. I just took down the Happy Easter sign and Easter eggs, then hung the Hankie Pankie Wreath and switched sides with the burlap wreath.

My favorite is the hankie hoop behind the wreath!

Sigh. Crafts are fun and theraputic.

Don’t forget to enter the big $500 and $250 gift card giveaway!

January 2, 2013 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Bankers Boxes as Toy Storage

It’s that time of year again! Time to purge and organize all the crap sweet gifts from family and friends!

We have an entry table that doubles as toy storage. It’s part of the expedit series from IKEA and I love it because it deceptively holds a lot of stuff without being obnoxious. We had the plastic bins which were super pricey and fell apart after a month. (UG) Then we got the baskets (seen below) and while I think they are very pretty, they are $17 each!! Then I discovered standard .99 cent bankers boxes fit perfectly. AND they don’t go up to the top so you are able to fill it up with more oddly shaped items. But they are boxes, so it looks like you still have some unpacking to do. Nothing a little paper can’t fix…

You’ll need: Bankers box, 12×12 pretty paper, spray adhesive, razor blade, glue, craft letters (optional)

1. Spray the heck out of the front of the box with the spray adhesive and adhere the paper to the front. Standard 12×12 scrapbooking paper just fits the width of the box and overlaps a bit on one end of the length. Since I lined my paper to the bottom I had to cut a few inches off the top. OPTION: fold the excess paper over and glue.

2. From the inside, cut lines (as seen below) on the paper inside the handle. You can use scissors but a sharp razor blade works best!

3. Fold and glue inside the box.

4. Finish by labeling each box with the child’s name or with the contents of the box. I did a bin for each child, one for blocks, and one labeled “lost & found” for all the crap items left at our place after parties and playdates.

This is so versatile! Cover the front of any cheapie box and make it look rad. For more narrow shelving turn the box sideways. You can even use fabric! I think all the boxes covered in the same fabric would be great! Or even using coordinating scrapbook paper and no letters for a neat art piece effect. I plan on doing something like that since this table is basically in our living room and eventually moving these boxes to the play room.

As you can see, my children are doing a great job of keeping organized with their “new” bins…

November 4, 2012 by: Kara Noel Lawson

It’s Time for the Holiday Bake Craft Sew Along

I am over at According to Kelly guest posting today for the Holiday-Inspired Bake Craft Sew Along.

But, I get to help start the holiday season off with a bang, & treat you to an absolutely amazing giveaway as part of our crafty series.

We are giving away a fabulous Prize Package worth more than $700!

One lucky winner will receive…

Silhouette Portrait: this is Silhouette’s newest electronic cutting tool for personal use. Like a home printer, it plugs into your PC or Mac® with a simple USB cable. However, instead of printing it uses a small blade to cut paper, cardstock, vinyl, fabric and more up to 8″ wide and 10 feet long. The machine also has the ability to register and cut printed materials.
DecoArt Glass Paints & Stencils: non-toxic and enviromently-friendly, DecoArt has one of the widest selection of paints and finishes for arts, crafts, and home decorating, which includes over 25 brands of paint and finishes.
$100 Michael’s Gift Card

Simply wait for RaffleCopter to load and enter there!

Be sure to check out all the fabulous craft projects shared this month for this Holiday-Inspired Bake Craft Sew series going on all month long. & Don’t forget head on over to Skip to my Lou & A Southern Fairytale for more chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

October 10, 2012 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Halloween Bat Garland

I love bunting, banners and garlands. You can put them anywhere and everywhere. Really!

This year I added a bat garland to my mantel. It’s easy to do…

You’ll need:

~Felt in black, green, purple, and orange

~bat silhouette about 8” long printed on paper (I just pulled one off the net and sized it in Word)

~fabric scissors

~pins

~sewing machine

~contrasting thread black, green, purple and orange

1. Pin the bat silhouette to 2-3 layers of felt and cut. 2. Decide on a color pattern then lay out your bats in order. I did, black – purple – black – orange – black – green. Repeat twice. Then add black – purple – black

3. Chain stitch from beginning to end connecting the bats by overlapping the ends of the bat wings.

4. Switch to another color thread and make another pass along the bat garland. Repeat with each color.

Tip: get creative with the stitch by making rolling patterns.

5. Hang on the mantle or in a window or doorway or staircase or… you get the idea!

If you don’t want to sew, just hot glue those suckers together by overlapping the ends of the wings. If paper and paint is more your style then go ahead and watch this video from a few years ago. This is great to do with kids! I had my kids paint on a full sheet of black paper, then I cut out the bats.

Happy crafting!

October 3, 2012 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Spray Paint to Spooky

It’s October.

What the what!?!?!?

I can’t believe the year is almost over. Craaaaaaaaazzy.

At least it’s time to do some fun holiday decorating. Over the next two weeks I’ll be giving you some easy peasy Fall/Halloween crafts.

Easily make décor for Fall/Halloween with spray paint.

You’ll Need:

~Vase
~Spray paint… I used black but choose orange, brown or yellow for a more fall-ish feel.
~Drop cloth
~Skewer
~Fabric strip
~Flowers

1. Place items on drop cloth and spray paint. Tip: place the vase upside-down on a heavy duty skewer to get all the sides and top at once. Then stick the skewer into a potted plant to dry.

2. Let dry and add fabric strip (if you like) and flowers to finish.

Get creative and use this technique with taper candle holders, old wine bottles or thrifted glass figurines! Or branches. I had just pruned some bushes in the yard and I painted the heck out of the leafless branches. They look great on the mantel!

(I made everything you seen on the mantle. Check back for the rest of the crafts!)

February 21, 2012 by: Kara Noel Lawson

How to Make a Fabric Strip Banner

I learned how to make this simple fabric strip banner at a Pinterest Party around Christmas time.
I LOVE it!
Making this banner is so darn EASY, I’ve made one for every holiday since. And I find that making them is quite therapeutic.
Seriously.
I’ve still got a bit of the baby blues and I think the cure just may be making these banners, eating chocolate, and HGTV.
Seriously.
Some of the great things about this craft…
You can start and stop this craft without much thought. It’s easy to watch TV, supervise kiddos and plan dinner all while you are knotting away at the banner. You can even use fabric scraps you already have! So it’s totally a green project. Basically if you do this craft you will end world hunger… OK… not that last one.

You’ll need:
~1 yard of fabric total
~1.5 yards of twine
~cutting mat, cutting ruler & rotary cutter (optional)

1. Cut fabric into 1”x9” strips. Layering the fabric and using a rotary cutter makes this step super easy!
90-ish strips makes perfect for a doorway or single window. 140-ish is perfect for a mantel or double window.

2. Start about a foot from the end of the twine.
Make a loop behind the twine. (center of the fabric at the top of the loop)

3. Pull the tails around the twine and through the loop. (Be sure to wear a polka dot band aide for extra flare)

4. Pull tight to form the knot.

5. Slide the knots together.

6. Hang and enjoy!!

Fun tip:
This is a PERFECT project to do with a group of friends because you can work on the banner while chatting and eating. It’s also a bit cheaper because you need multiple different color fabrics. (In the Valentines banner I used 5 and in the St Patty’s day banner I used 6… but I think 3 or 4 colors will look great too.) Just buy one yard of fabric for each person coming, and divide it up equally. I try to get fabric at about $5 a yard (with a coupon or on sale) so it makes it easy for collecting $$ too!

July 1, 2011 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Festive Ribbon Flag

I saw this craft in Family Fun magazine, fell in love and made it (with some modifications). I think it would be perfect for the front door, sliding glass door or where ever!

You’ll need:

7/8-inch wide grosgrain ribbon in red, white, and blue

12-inch-long strip of wood (I used a paint stirrer)

1/8 yard of white fabric OR lace OR silver pom-poms

13 pennies OR 13 buttons

Hot glue gun (or tacky glue)

Lighter

Scissors

Instructions (copied word for word from the Family Fun site with my additions in bold and underlined)

1. Cut four red and three white 14-inch-long strips, and three red and three white 24-inch-long strips.

2. Cut seven blue 10-1/2-inch-long strips.

3. Run lighter lightly across one end of the the blue ribbon to keep from fraying.

4. Use tacky glue or hot glue to adhere the blue ribbons to the shorter red and white lengths, overlapping the ends a half inch with the burned blue end on the top.

5. Glue all 13 ribbons to a 12-inch-long strip of wood, such as a ruler or paint stirrer, then cover the wood with blue ribbon. Be sure to match up the overlapping blue line so it runs straight across.

Tip: I found the a 12 inch piece of wood was just a bit too short even as I overlapped the 13 ribbons. I used a 5 gallon paint stirrer. It’s thicker and leaves about 6” on either side of the width of the flag. I might cut it down eventually but the extra weight and length makes secure mounting!

6. Trim the bottom ribbon ends evenly and run the lighter across to keep from fraying.

7. For the circle of stars, glue 13 silver pom-poms to the field of blue. Nothing against pom-poms but I was looking for less of a kiddo decoration. I happened to have exactly 13 little white flowers left over from my 4th of July wreath making. (Was that God ordained or what??) Again here is the tutorial I used for the twisted flowers. I also think squares (or a wad) of vintage lace would be really cute! Very Betsy Ross-ish, right?

8. Glue a button to the back of each end for weight. I thought pennies were a lil’ more appropriate for this craft. (And cheaper!!!) Don’t you agree?

One more VERY EASY craft coming tomorrow. It’s cute and little and drool-worthy!

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Cy update:

The nurse called today about the test results. She said levels of certain things were a little high or a little low but not to worry over the weekend. I’m super happy about that! Prayer works!!

But I also think, REALLY??? So we were stuck in the hospital for 3 days for nothing?? Doctors appointment on Wednesday should tell more.