Circle Scarf

I love circle scarves!  I have been wanting to make my own for a while.  I saw that 

American Apparel has some really cool ones but, for $37--no way.   I knew I could make it for much cheaper.  A few months ago I found yellow knit fabric at Walmart of all places for $1.50 a yard on clearance.  Yep this was my chance.  I bought the whole bolt.  

 

 

You can wrap it up.  Amy this smile is for you!

 Or wear it long.  (My husband was trying to make me laugh.)

Do you want to make your own?  It's easy!  I followed this awesome and easy tutorial over on Come on Ilene.  All you need is 2 yards of fabric cut into individual yards.  Like Ilene, I agree knit is ideal because it usually comes with a wider width than other materials.  This gives your scarf lots of body.  You only have to sew 2 seams!  There is no need to finish the edges because knit doesn't fray.  

I know what you are thinking and no it doesn't get much easier than that!

I even made one for my mini that wanted one to match her favorite shirt.

 

While I was at it I sewed a green one to match my new green earrings.  I have a few others in the works just because they are too easy not to make more.

 -Julia

Headband and Bow Organizer

Five girls (including me)= A LOT of hair things.

Do any of you have a drawer like this full of headbands and other various hair things?  Well each of my girls has one.  It stresses me out every time I open the drawer.  I have tried many different types of organizational things but, they all end up back in this drawer.   A while back I came up with an idea that has helped us solve both our headband and clip dilemma.

 I have an old shutter obsession.  I have collected few over the years and have used them for various things around my house.  I realized one day that I could put my shutters to use with our hair things.  

The slats are PERFECT for displaying and holding headbands all I needed to do was add something at the bottom to display hair clips and bows.

Would you like to learn how you can make your own????

First you need to find some wood shutters.  My husband and I have found them at the Habitat Re-store.  I bought this shutter for $1 last month. 

So here is where I will strongly encourage you to check out your local Re-store before doing ANY home improvement projects.  You will find so many deals it will blow your mind!  If your local one doesn't have anything useful check out any neighboring towns to see if they have anything you would need.  We always stop at the Re-store when we travel.  We have saved hundreds of dollars on paint, light fixtures, wood, old windows, furniture, knobs, doors, drywall, insulation, solid oak molding, chairs---you name it we have found it there!  You just might have to look around a bit.

 Okay there I am off my soap box.:)

Now back to the project:

 Now after you have your shutters you are most likely going to have to scrub them up.  You will have to scrub them a lot.  I actually ended up taking mine inside to finish scrubbing with some hot water and a wire scrub brush.

  Then cut off 14" off of each end of the shutter.

 Here is what they looked like after cutting them.  I didn't sand them at this point because I planned to sand them after I painted. 

 Now pick your spray paint colors.  I did 3 different colors for our different rooms. I have spray painted a lot over the years.  I have a preference of spray paint and that is Valspar which you can find at Lowes.  It is a little more expensive but, it sprays on so nicely and I have to apply fewer coats.  Krylon is also a nice brand but, in my experience I always have to apply an extra coat compared to Valspar.  

For this project I did a total of 3 layers of paint (4 with the Krylon brand).  Always allow each layer of paint to dry before applying another coat.

 

Here they are after my paint was done drying.

 Now on to sanding.  I like to rough up my paint a bit.  I don't have a certain technique that I use.  I just sand by hand until I get the look and the texture I want for each project. Since the base of the shutters is black I just sanded lightly until I reached that layer.  I wanted the black to pop through.  Definitely sand until you get the look you want.

 A closer look at my sanding.

 Then I picked my ribbon color.  I used a 7/8" thick grosgrain ribbon.  I would recommend using a sturdy ribbon so it can hold all of your bows and clips.

I cut 5 pieces of  ribbon to be 14" long.  I wanted to end up with about a foot of hanging ribbon.  I then singed or sealed the end of the ribbon by burning the tip of it with a lighter.  Then I thread it through the bottom slat.

 Then apply your adhesive-I used hot glue.  After applying the glue press the glue side to the under side of the long piece of ribbon.  Repeat that 5 times or as many ribbons you have to attach.

 Then I threaded a large yarn needle with the grosgrain ribbon.  This will be used to thread through the top holes of the shutter.   My shutters already had holes drilled in the top and the bottom so it made it easy thread the ribbon through.  The ribbon on top will be used to hang your shutter once you are done.  So measure your desired length---mine was about a foot long (I trimmed a little off once I got it on my wall so it didn't hang so low).  Make sure you tie knots to secure the ribbon like pictured below.

 There you have it!  Doesn't that look nice and organized?  I love how it displays everything in plain sight--easy to find.

Now as I give my sigh of relief that all our hair things are nicely and neatly organized I  realize I space for a few more headbands.  I think I will get to making a few more for my girly girls....

-Julia

Reclaimed Headboard

So, for some time now I have been trying to figure out what to do for a headboard for our bed.  We faced a couple of challenges due to the fact that we live in an older home where the "master bedroom" is quite small.  So, we had to find something that fit the space and didn't overwhelm the room.  My other condition was that I really wanted something that had a lot of character.  Like a lot of things around my house, I wanted something that was a little different and quirky but, beautiful at the same time.

Between Cameron and I we have had a lot of different ideas and we had almost purchase several different headboards at different times.  I am finding that the older I get that I am quite picky about what I want in my house.  

Okay now fast forward to a year ago.  To make a LONG  story short Cameron came across a gold mine of reclaimed lumber through WYDOT.  You know those huge snow fences you see along the freeways in areas that get a tremendous amount of snow?  Well they tear those down every few years and all of the lumber they use to make them is left in piles off the freeway.  The lumber is weathered and beaten and beautiful--perfect for creating some one of a kind projects.  Anyways,  Cameron had a couple of connections and got us a TON of reclaimed lumber ---  FOR FREE!

I am not good at making this long story short.:)  So, last year when he brought the lumber home we started to create different things for around the house.  We had toyed with the idea of making a headboard but, weren't quite sure how to go about it.  The other day while cruising the Design Sponge blog I saw THIS beautiful headboard.  The heavens opened and I think the design angels sang for me.  This was it--this was the headboard we had been waiting for.

We didn't waste much time.  Last Saturday, my very handy hubby and I set to work on creating our own.  You can tell by the snow on the ground that the weather was not ideal but, we didn't let it stop us!  We followed the tutorial pretty close but, had to make a few adjustments to fit our space.

Getting it all laid out and measured.

The hubs hard at work cutting lumber into smaller puzzle like pieces.

Fitting all of the pieces together.

The back side.  We did end up adding some support to the middle but, I failed to take a picture of that.

All the pieces put together.  Now there are no photos of the next steps because that was all my job.  Just imagine A LOT of scrubbing and washing of the wood.  Years of snow and dirt needed to be cleaned off.  I also lightly sanded it to get any hanging splinters.  I didn't want to take away from any of the texture it had.

The finished product.  I am in love!  I know it's not for everyone but, it definitely screams us. I am also in love with the fact that Cameron made it himself.  Now I need to get to work on hanging some things on the wall. 

A small touch to make it our own.  -Sigh and a pitter-patter for my new headboard and my husband who put it all together.-

-Julia