Clean Space

I had a whole day at home today, and after taking down and putting away all my Christmas decorations, I tackled an eyesore in my kitchen.  We have 2 phone lines here.  A British landline and a Vonage line that has a US number so our friends and family can call us.  Add in our BT Hub for internet and an ipod docking station, and you end up with a mess!  All the cords are atrocious!  My husband wanted me to find a shelf that we could put everything on and hide the cords underneath. I looked everywhere and couldn't find one.  I didn't want to make a shelf from scratch, so when my youngest daughter finally killed the cheapo shelf she was using as a dresser, I decided to get out the circular saw.  Man, I love to use power tools. My sister would probably roll her eyes about now and say something like, "Leave it to the boys," but I think it is fun.  So here is the space that was driving me crazy.

What a mess, huh?!

We bought these shelves from Lowes over 6 years ago. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Which is what we needed at time, since we weren't making a ton of money and had 2 kids! Over the years, I have had to add many screws to put the drawers back together or the sides.  When this one broke, I was done with it.  But instead of trashing it, I thought the top part had potential.

So I used the saw to cut off the sides and then reattached the bottom underneath the first drawer. This went fairly smoothly.  I had to rip off the back of the top drawer though to fit the cords in through the back.  In the end, I ended up with a nice clean space that stores it all. It may be a bit higher than I would have wanted, but it was definitely the cheapest and easiest solution. 

Voila! SO much cleaner!

Bum Bag

Getting ready to go to Paris in a few days, and I needed a travel purse that would be close to me, leave my hands free, and not stolen from easily.  Fanny packs were the way to go back in the day. (They call them "bum bags" here in the UK.)  I'm not a big fan until I saw a waist purse online. It was really cute with ruffles!  I fell in love, but when it came to $50 with shipping, I held back.  Then my sister came up with an even better idea--keep the ruffles, but lose the waist band, just making loops in the back so your belt can fit through! So I ran down to the craft store and bought a zipper for $1 and looked through my fabric. I settled on this animal print and went to work. 

I started by cutting three lengths all the same size for my ruffles.  Then cut the main part of the bag, plus a liner the same size.  Finally, the loops on the back were cut. I don't have any idea on the dimensions and next time I make one, I will do better because I learned a lot from this one. 

I don't even really know how to explain how I made it, because I just went to work.  I should have put the belt loops and ruffles on before I attatched the liner, but I didn't because I knew I might need to make some cuts before I got it to be the right size.  I might try to make a smaller one next time, but this has plenty of room for passport, wallet, phone, and even lotion, chapstick, and hand sanitizer!

Here you can see my ruffles taking shape on the purse. I'm getting ready to sew the final one on.

The completed purse

I think it looks so chic!

My view from above.

Voila!

Button Wreaths

Another craft from Martha Stewart. Found in the kids section. My two-year-old could even make these!  You just cut some craft wire to about 9 inches and string on buttons.  Add some ribbon, and voila! a cute Christmas wreath ornament!  I have them hanging on my cabinet pulls in my kitchen right now and they look so festive. 

Easy Christmas Trees

We have been finding so many fun crafts on Martha Stewart's website. If you haven't ever perused it, I highly reccommend it!  Apparently these Christmas trees made out of magazines have been around for years, but I have never made them.  They were so easy and turned out really well.  Fun to do while watching tv, too! 
You fold down the corner of each page, fold it in again, then turn up the bottom.  It does take a while because you do every single page.  (There's a video on Martha's website if this is confusing.)

I then spray painted mine silver, added some spray adhesive, then dumped on the glitter.  I did a few in different sizes. I think they turned out really well.

Cloth Balls

So this is so easy.  Just get a styrofoam ball, cut fabric into about 2-3 inch squares, then shove them into the ball with a pencil.  Some people glue them in, but they seem to stick just fine shoved in good.  Then I string a pretty ribbon to it and hang.  I did this one pink and green for my girls room. I hung it in their window and they were so happy.  (Final picture will be posted later. Here are some during the process.)

Here's the final product!

Wall Vinyl

New house equals new palettes!  I put this in my entryway hall.  I think it turned out nicely. And thanks to a neighbor who suggested using the sun at the top to tie in my other circular things (like the starburst mirror below).  I do love making things with my Cricut. It is so fun and easy!

Starburst Mirror

I haven't had time to make anything lately, because we moved!  But with moving, you always have the adventure of figuring out where everything will go.  I had this wall that you see here, and I knew exactly what I wanted to make.  When I saw how to make one of these starburst mirrors (that are oh so popular right now) for about $5, I couldn't resist trying my hand at it.  It only took a few hours to make. I followed directions and received inspiration from here.  I paid $2.99 for the mirror (it's actually a candle holder but works amazingly well) and then a few bucks for the spray paint. The starburst part is made out of a cereal box, if you can believe it! I am still amazed at how quick it was to make, and I think it just fits so well on that wall!!