Shabby-Chic Earring Holder & Display Tutorial

I don't know about you, but I have lots of earrings that I never wear because I just don't think of it. If they're not in front of my face, I totally forget they exist. So I wanted to create something to hold my earrings so that I would remember to wear them every now and then.

To stick to the shabby-chic theme, I made a tutorial that is pretty shabby as well... 

...mmk, I didn't mean to it just happened that way.

So I hope you'll be able to follow along if you attempt to make one of these with me. Luckily, it's not supposed to look absolutely perfect it will probably turn out pretty good. Ready?

What you need:



a plain wood frame (mine used to have canvas on it)
a piece of burlap a few inches larger than your frame
quilt batting
fabric
staple gun & lots of staples
glue gun & lots of glue sticks

How to make it:

Cut pieces of quilt batting the length of each side of your frame and three times the width. Fold them in thirds and lay them on top of your frame.

Next cut wider strips (that can wrap around the frame) the length of each side and cut the sides at an angle so they will wrap around without causing extra bulk.

Wrap these pieces around your folded up ones, gluing them on as you go with hot glue. When you're done your frame should look like this: 

Next you need to cut pieces of fabric to wrap around the frame. I just laid the frame on top to get an idea for the size... like I said, it's a shabby tutorial!

You might want to make them a little longer than the pieces of quilt batting so that you can fold, tuck or glue the fabric at the corners to make them look nice. When you cut your pieces they should be this sort of shape:

Wrap the fabric around the batting and staple it in place. I did the inside edge of the frame first.

Then the outside. Make sure your fabric is sitting nicely, then pull it somewhat tight (not too tight - don't rip it!) and staple it down.

Don't be afraid to use a lot of staples! I did the two short sides first, then the long ones. When you're putting on your last two sides, take extra care with the corners so they look nice. I folded the fabric over so there weren't any rough edges and I used glue here and there to keep things in place.

For the last part, I found it easiest to work on my kitchen counter so I could lean the frame against the wall. First line up your burlap so you have lots of overlap on all sides. Then use your staple gun to attach the burlap inside the frame (not on the back). Staple all along on side, trying to keep the staples in a fairly straight line and very close together. Make sure you put a staple right in each corner.

If you started with one long side, like I did, do the other long side next. Pull the burlap fairly tight, but be careful because it rips fairly easily. Staple all along the inside of the frame the same way.

Now stand it on its short side. Pull the burlap fairly tight and staple all along the edge again. Then flip and repeat. In the end the back should look like this:

And the front:

Now all you need to do is trim the excess fabric away. I also glued the rough edges of the burlap down with hot glue to make it a little extra sturdy. Just be careful not to burn your fingers on this step, the glue comes through the burlap!

Now all you need to do is hang your earrings!

Kid Friendly Bathroom

Over the last few months, Mason has taken an interest in teaching Gavin good hygiene habits and making him aware of their importance. Mason works with kids who may not have been taught these things early on, so he's come to recognize how important it is to share this awareness from an early age. Gavin already knows plenty about hygiene, but I wanted to take it to the next level and start making it his responsibility. Here are a few changes I made to our bathrooms that help him keep himself clean...

We have two bathrooms, and we use each for different things. So we need two stools so that he can reach the sink.

In the bathroom that he uses to go potty, there is some fun hand soap just for him because he doesn't normally like to use it. Now it is foamy, orange & has Elmo on the bottle - a little more enticing, no?

The other bathroom is where we keep brushes, combs, toothbrushes, facecloths, etc. So I made sure that Gavin has all these things in his reach. I used a decorative bowl I had laying around and put in his toothbrush, toothpaste, a facecloth, & a brush. 

Since the only mirror in our bathroom is on a medicine cabinet high on the wall, I bought a small mirror that sits on the counter at his level so he can see what he is doing. 

I also have a bunch of clean facecloths under the sink in a basket so he can easily get a fresh one & I can restock his bowl every day. 

I considered having somewhere to put laundry in the bathroom as well, but we have two separate laundry baskets (one for towels, one for clothes) just steps away so I decided against adding another.

Play Time Test Log

As a parent I have found two problems that I have when it comes to finding new & exciting ways to play with Gavin:

1. Unless you point out new things or different things, he just wants to play cars.

2. I get lazy or overwhelmed by all the ideas for play that I see online and rarely just go pick one and do it. 

So to beat those things I decided to put together a fun binder of activities that we can do together. It took some prep time - going through a lot of sites I have pinned over the last few months and picking out ideas that I want to try - but was worth it.

The basic idea of the binder is to log the fun activities we've tried. Before we try the activity, I make a page about it with supplies, instructions, etc. There is space for a photo, a blank area for Gavin's comments and a box to be checked off when we've completed it. 

At first the book will be a way for us to try lots of new stuff, but as time goes by and we try many of them we'll be able to look through and find things that were fun so we can do them again. The photo will serve as a visual prompt for Gavin so he can remember what the activity was, and all the necessary information will be there for us to do it all over. Hopefully I'll keep adding new activities and we'll be able to find some favourites to do over again. 

I designed a cover page to slip in the front pocket of the binder and dividers for all the different categories I could think up. I printed them on kraft card stock (because I love the look of kraft) and used sticky tabs for the dividers. 

If anyone is interested in the templates for the dividers, just send me an email and I'll send you the files. :)

A Quiet Medicine Cabinet

One evening while I was brushing my teeth, I was staring into the open medicine cabinet and I caught my eyes unconsciously reading over the labels on the bottles. Instead of being in the moment, relaxing my mind before bed, or thinking of something useful, my mind was absently eating up all the words on the labels. 

Everything looked chaotic & busy, with flashy colours and letters. 

So I picked up the bottle of contact solution and peeled off the label. It came off easily and left no sticky residue behind. Then I did it to every other container with a label that would peel off. 

I already know how to apply deoderant and I'll never have any clue what any of those strange ingredients are anyways, so the labels are of no use to me anyways. Now when I open my medicine cabinet, I'm not mindlessly consuming clever brand names, slogans, logos, and warnings. I just see what I need to see, quiet shelves of different coloured and shaped bottles. 

DIY Pencil Cup - Fabric Covered Can Tutorial

I recently got a little photo shelf for above my desk. It has made a world of difference since I have a pretty tiny desk. I wanted some containers to put pens, scissors, etc. in on the shelf, but I didn't really want to spend $8-15 on the ones I like in stores. I had covered a few old tin cans in scrapbook paper for Gavin's art table, which gave me the idea to use fabric to cover some for myself. It's pretty easy and looks a little nicer than just paper, in my opinion. I know you could probably figure it out on your own, but I decided to walk you through it anyways. :)

What you need:


an empty tin can (lid & label removed, washed & dried)
fabric
scissors
iron & ironing board
glue gun


How to make it:


Lay your tin can on fabric and roll it long, starting at the end, to roughly measure the amount of fabric you need to cover the tin can. It should have half to one inch extra on all sides. It doesn't need to be perfectly straight (see mine)!

Fold the edge you want to be on top over about half an inch and iron it flat. Make sure the fold it straight.

Place the fabric around your can, with the fold going over the top edge of the can. Check if your fabric is too long (mine was, between the blue arrows is all overlap, there should only be a little) and if it is too wide (sticking down past the bottom, which it should be). You can mark it or just eyeball it, but take note of the excess fabric.

Now trim off the overlap along the side (the amount between the blue arrows above). There should only be about half an inch overlap. Keep one of these side edges nice and straight because it will show.

Now iron the bottom edge up so that it will sit right at the bottom of the can.

All along the top, where the fabric folds over, cut out little triangles so that the fabric will sit nicely along the curve of the can.

And now get gluing! I couldn't take photos of myself gluing, so I'll have to walk you through this part...

I started by putting the top edge in place and then gluing along the edge of the fabric that will be covered, so it stayed in place. Next I glued along the bottom edge, making sure not to  wrinkle the fabric or pull the top part down. When I had almost glued all the way along the bottom I stopped (with about 1 inch left) and went to the top. You can lift a couple of the little flaps at a time and put some hot glue inside the top edge of the can and then stick the flaps down. Do this all the way around, leaving one or two flaps unattached. Now finish up the bottom and do the vertical edge of the fabric. Try your best not to use too much glue or it will ooze out. Finally, glue the last inner flaps down.

Now fill it up and you're done! The seam where the fabric meets is pretty sloppy on mine, so it faces the wall. As long as it stays put, no one will ever know. :)

Dishwasher Magnet: A Quick Tutorial

This tutorial is a bit of a funny one, you'll see why at the end. But first, I'll introduce you to the project. Sometimes in my house, the dishwasher gets run twice because someone didn't know the other had started it. And other times the dishes are dirty, but don't look it so we end up quizzing each other about if they are clean or not. I saw this idea somewhere a long time ago, but I have no idea where. Anyways, it's a helpful one! It's a magnet for the dishwasher. When you start the wash cycle, just turn it "clean" side up and when you empty it, turn it "dirty" side up.


What you need:


White paper or cardstock
Printer
Clean/Dirty image (below)
Adhesive magnet
Transparent contact paper
Scissors


How to make it:


Start by printing off this image, whatever size you want your magnet to be. Mine is about 3 inches by 3 inches.

Now cut it out.

Then grab a piece of adhesive magnet just a little larger than the image you cut out and peel off the backing

Stick the image onto the magnet.

Then grab a piece of transparent contact paper about the same size as the magnet and peel the backing off.

Starting at one end, start stick the contact paper on top of the image, smoothing as you go to prevent any bubbles.

Trim around the image! I left a really tiny border so the contact paper and magnet are sticking together, which will help hold it together better.

Now you can go stick it on your dishwasher! Or, in my case, try to and find out that the dishwasher isn't magnetic. Ugh! 

Oh well, hopefully the idea is useful for somebody else. :)

Organize: Sewing Patterns

Lately I've had the urge to organize my home/life. I would say there are two causes: 


1. It's spring and it seems to be a natural urge to "spring clean"
2. I have so many papers to write that my mind is trying to find something else to think about.


I used to have all my sewing patterns tossed sloppily in a plastic tote in the closet. Once I started using patterns from the internet or sewing books (where I had to trace the pieces onto pattern paper), it really got sloppy. And then one day I realized... duh! File them!


Here is where I store my patterns now:

Now there is a spot for everything:

Even my little file case, in the closet! 

It makes things so much more simple. :)