DIY – Page 21 – Making A Life

Making Tracks

May 27, 2014spaleksicLeave a comment

Both kids were playing with the train table TOGETHER last week without fighting, so I thought I would share it. I can’t take full credit for this one though, because apparently Santa and his elves made it. On Christmas morning this train table materialized in the living room, and according to Sasha Santa and his elves built it for him the night before. Why should I to correct him?

Lucky for me I work for a furniture company, and there are often table tops up for grabs. My husband has other thoughts about how lucky we are to get free furniture, because we have quite a collection. For example this table top used to be our dining room table years ago, and I have been saving it just in case it might come in handy. The size (30″x48″) was perfect for a train table. Maple veneer might be a little fancy for a train table, but it has been in operation for 6 months, and still looks like new especially considering that a number of the pieces have been torn off, and glued again. Being that we have to see the train table everyday (our playroom is open to the kitchen) I wanted something relatively inoffensive looking and we had the top and the legs so FREE is good too.

It took a little time to plan out the tracks to get all of the pieces onto the table. Once we were happy with the layout, my husband and I hot glued all of the pieces in place. Most of the buildings we had already, but we added a couple of new (used) pieces. For anyone that is familiar with Thomas & friends wooden railway you know that the pieces are stupid expensive, but I will tell you that most of the pieces came from a Chapters Indigo 50% off sale a couple of years ago, some are from IKEA and the rest came from a local used Thomas store.

It took us a couple of hours to put this together, but we have saved tons of time that we used to spend building tracks and picking up trains. Forget the store-bought train tables, grab an old table and a glue gun and get busy.

Keep crafting, creating and playing.

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READ

May 24, 2014spaleksic2 Comments

Recently I hurt my back, and I was very limited in what I could do. I couldn’t make any crafts but I could catch up on my reading. I added my Goodreads info on the right side of this blog, so if you are a reader please join me on Goodreads and we can share book ratings and recommendations.

While we have a lot of books, but we also use the library weekly. I love that I can get books, movies and E-books for FREE from the library. I have even gone so far as requesting that the library order newly released books, which they do for FREE. I love the library, and encourage you to use your local library if you don’t already. I also belong to two book clubs in Victoria so if you are interested in joining, please leave me a comment.

We read to our kids daily and both have large collections of books, so I though that these over-size scrabble tile letters might be a good addition to Logan’s bookshelf.

These can be made any size you wish. I made these from 7 1/4″ x 7 1/4″ x 3/4″ pine.

Materials:

Pine board (as knot free as you can get) 7 1/4″ x 3/4″ by the length you need depending on number of letters
Jig Saw
Printer/Computer
Black paint
Paint brush
Painter’s Tape
Pencil
Stain, or Tung Oil
Sandpaper

Instructions:

1. Cut the wood into squares 7 1/4″ x 7 1/4″

2. Sand the squares on all sides (going with the grain) using 120-220 grit sandpaper

3. Print out the letters and number using a computer & printer. I used Century Gothic font with a size of 500 for the letters, and 150 for the numbers.

4. Cut out the letters and numbers

5. Tape the letters on to the wood with painter’s tape

6. Trace the letters with a pencil

7. Using black acrylic craft paint, paint in the letters and numbers.

8. Once dry the paint is dry (24 hours) finish with stain, tung oil, or leave natural

Keep reading, crafting & creating.

I just got my own blog website, find me at http://www.makingalife.me or sign-up for email updates below.

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Wino Wednesday

May 14, 2014May 14, 2014spaleksic1 Comment

I LOVE wine, who is with me? Yesterday I posted how to make a pillow from a dress shirt, today I am going to reuse the sleeves. Have you ever been caught drinking wine from a paper bag? Me neither but if I am going to go that route I think I will class it up a little bit with these shirt sleeve wine bags. But in all seriousness, I wouldn’t mind getting a bottle of wine in a reusable bag such as these. Who am I kidding if you are giving out wine I am taking it in any form.

Should you have an extra shirt that you don’t need the sleeves for try making one of these wine bottle covers.

Step 1. With a wine bottle, full or empty your choice, measure the length of the desired wine bag. Yes that’s right, use a wine bottle as a measuring device. Forget the measure twice cut once rule just this one time.

Step 2. Cut off the sleeves so that the bottle will fit.

Step 3. Turn the sleeve inside out

Step 4. Pin the edge you just cut

Step 5. Sew the edge closed.

Step 6. Put the bottle in the bag, close up the buttons. You could make it fancy by tying a ribbon.

Keep crafting, creating and drinking?

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Seriously Don’t We Have Enough Pillows

May 13, 2014May 13, 2014spaleksic1 Comment

I had my sewing machine out last night, and no good can come of that. I have no idea why I think it’s such a big deal to get out a sewing machine, but once I have it out I must make those projects that I have been planning that require it. A while ago I saw a picture of a pillow made of a man’s dress shirt. My thoughts after seeing the picture were a little morbid, I though what a great idea for someone who has just lost their husband, partner, or loved one. It doesn’t have to be quite so morbid though, maybe it would be useful if you are in a long distance relationship, or have a partner that travels a lot, or maybe I have totally lost my mind. Or for the environmentalist, what a great way to recycle clothing. I will leave the judgement up to you. My husband’s comment was “Seriously don’t we have enough pillows”. He does have a point I couldn’t argue with, but seriously what’s one more? In case you can’t figure out which one is the dress shirt pillow in the picture above, it’s the beige one. It is a little boring, but everything can’t be flashy.

On the bright side, this was the fastest easiest pillow I have ever made. And FREE, who doesn’t love free.

Step 1. Start with a men’s button dress shirt, I asked my husband nicely and he gave me an old stained one. That’s true love, isn’t it.

Step 2. Iron the shirt (if you are lazy, just iron from the arm pits down)

Step 3. You do need a pillow form, or an old pillow you want to recover. Put the pillow into the shirt and check the size. For the one that I made I used a FJADRAR 20″x20″ pillow from IKEA. The instructions below are based on the 20″ pillow form and a men’s medium dress shirt.

Step 3. Lay the shirt on a flat surface and using a straight edge mark a line from arm pit to arm pit, you can use chalk to make a line, or pencil/pen lightly. If you want to get super fancy, you can mark the cut lines to make sure the button’s are symmetrical. Cut along the line you marked.

Step 4. Trim the bottom of the shirt to be parallel with the line you just cut. All you want to do is square up the bottom edge, usually the bottom edge of dress shirts is not straight.

Step 5. With all of the button’s fastened, turn the piece of the shirt you cut off inside out. Pin the 2 open edges. Sew the edges closed.

Step 6. Open the button’s. Stuff with the pillow and fluff it up.

So now what do we do with the rest of the shirt? Great question, I will show you how to make something with the sleeves tomorrow. Crack out the wine, you are going to need it.

Keep sewing, crafting & creating.

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A Sweet Bite Of Summer

May 12, 2014May 11, 2015spaleksic2 Comments

Summer is on the way and so is the end of another school year for the kiddies. I am always on the look out for teacher gift ideas that I can make. I have been thinking of making this craft for a while, since I saw watermelon wrapping paper posted on Pinterest. I typically don’t make cards or packaging, because it seems like a waste especially because wrapping paper ends up in the recycling bin so quickly. But I loved the idea of the watermelon potato print, and figured that I could adopt if for a tea towel print, which I can give to Sasha’s teacher for a year-end present. It is also a super easy craft that school age kids can help with.

Here are the instructions:

Step 1. Wash the tea towels (or not, I am lazy and didn’t but it is a good idea)

Step 2. Iron the tea towels (even if you didn’t wash them)

Step 3. Cover the surface that you are working on so that the paint doesn’t ruin your table.

Step 4. Cut a potato into 4 pieces, length wise is best. The goal is a watermelon looking shape.

Step 5. Mix Acrylic Craft paint with Textile Medium. Textile medium is a product that when mixed with acrylic craft paint help the paint from fading when washed. Some fading will happen, but I have bleached T-shirts and other tea towels that have been printed with the paint textile medium mix without an issue. Follow the instructions on the textile medium when mixing.

Step 6. Using a paint brush paint the potato section in the colour of your choice. I used a red and a pink on some of the towels for a little variety.

Step 7. With a little pressure stamp the painted potato on the tea towel, and repeat Step 6 & 7 until the desired pattern is reached.

Step 8. Using a green paint mixed with textile medium and a brush, paint a rind on every watermelon.

Step 9. Using black paint, dab on the seeds using a brush.

Step 10. Let dry.

Step 11. Iron once dry to set the paint.

Keep crafting, creating and giving.

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Crochet 101 – Easter Bunnies

April 18, 2014April 10, 2020spaleksic1 Comment

In February I took a beginners crochet class just to try something new. There were only three of us in the class and by far I was the worst student. I think I was struggling because I also knit, and although the finished product looks similar the technique is quite different. Or maybe it just takes me a little longer to learn either way with a little practice I was crocheting.

These are the first 3 things that I made. The green square (if you can call it that) was my first crocheted masterpiece (kidding of course), the grey square with white edging my second attempt, and the two-tone grey scarf with blue stripe was the third. I have since progressed a little further and am working on a blanket. It is going to take forever and cost a small fortune, but I am committed anyway. I will post pictures of my blanket progress in future blog posts.

Crochet Bunnies

If you are new to crochet like I am or a crochet veteran, these little bunnies are quick and fun.

Step 1. Crochet a square, mine were 8″x8″ square.

Step 2. Using an embroidery thread in a matching colour, sew a triangle.

Step 3. Pull the threads to gather a square to form the bunnies head

Step 4. Stuff the head

Step 5. Sew up the head and down the back of the bunny

Step 6. Stuff the bunnies body

Step 7. Close the bunnies bum by running a stitch around the edge and pulling tight

Step 8. Sew on a tail, eyes, nose and tie a ribbon around the bunnies neck.

Happy Easter.

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Snakes & Ladders

April 8, 2014May 9, 2014spaleksic1 Comment

It rains in Victoria a lot, I am not complaining. I would rather rain than snow, but it is a little hard for me to take the kids out to play in the rain. So we play inside, and this is one of the games that I made to keep my five-year old occupied. Snakes & Ladders is such a simple game to play which introduces numbers up to 100 and counting.

I got the idea from an episode of Steven & Chris and following their instructions I made this giant playing board. http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/life/diy-snakes-and-ladders

I have copied their instructions below and changed their instructions a little bit based on my experience making the game. I had issues opening the PDF’s needed to print the transfer papers on their site so I made my own.

1. Start by purchasing some white iron on transfer paper for white t-shirts from an office supply store and a drop cloth from the hardware store (paint department). Don’t purchase the generic brand transfer paper, the quality isn’t great and it peals off when playing/walking on the game. Go for a quality brand, and one meant for canvas bags if you can find it.

2. Next, download snakes and ladders to print file with the game board pieces and print them on your transfer paper; you will need 25 sheets.

3. Trim off the excess colour/squares from the transfer paper using a straight edge and exacto type knife. Lay the transfer papers out face down. (download our snakes & ladders template to help you keep organized) I wrote on the back of each one so that I could tell the order when they were face down. Layout all of the sheets and measure how large you should cut/hem the drop cloth.

4. Hem the drop cloth. You might want to layout the transfer papers on the drop cloth at this point to make sure that everything fits. Measure the center of the drop cloth and start with the transfer paper with numbers 56/55/45/46.

5. Working from the center out iron on your transfer sheets as per their instructions. This process may take two to three minutes per page, but is absolutely worth it!

6. Let cool, and peel back the iron on paper to reveal your game pieces.

7. We purchased snakes from the dollar store and created ladders using dowel and twine (also from the dollar store), but use your imagination here — this is meant to be fun. We use trains or cars as the pieces you play with.

Keep playing, creating and counting.

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Shower Curtain Pillows

April 4, 2014May 9, 2014spaleksic1 Comment

I am outraged at the price of fabric these days. I don’t know if it’s worse here because I live on an island where most things are more expensive, or if fabric is expensive everywhere. Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy sheets, curtains or clothes for their fabric content, sounds ridiculous but it’s so true. These pillow covers were made from a fabric shower curtain which was on sale for $0.97, got to love IKEA. The other benefit of sewing pillow covers from shower curtains is that they come with button holes. I have no idea how to sew button holes with a sewing machine, but it seems complicated. This fabric had a letter pattern on it which I thought would be great for the play room, and with easily removable machine washable covers at less than $0.48 each how could I go wrong?

To make these pillows I laid out the shower curtain, and placed the pillow forms on top, centering the button holes so that I had an even number per pillow, and wasn’t cutting through the middle of one. I cut the shower curtain on either side of the pillowform leaving enough width for the seams on the side. I wrapped the fabric around the pillow over lapping the short ends by a couple of inches and cut it, this is where the buttons will be sewn on, leave enough length to hem the short end. You should now have a long rectangle piece of fabric with button holes at one end. The fabric should be a little wider than the pillowform and about 2.5 times longer than the pillowform. Hem the short edge. Lay out the rectangle right side up, fold the button-hole end towards the center (right sides together), fold the other end over the button-hole end (you shouldn’t be able to see the button holes, measure the folds to fit the pillowform. Sew up the 2 sides. Turn inside out and check the fit, the button holes should be on the outside flap. Sew on the buttons to line up with the button holes, and stuff with the pillowform. Using a shower curtain to make a removable pillow cover is so much easier than sewing in a zipper and just as easy as making an envelope style cover.

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Spring is in the air

April 4, 2014May 5, 2015spaleksic2 Comments

The cherry blossoms and daffodils are in bloom in Victoria. Winter is over and spring is in the air. My apologies to those of you that are still in the depths of winter, rest assured that spring is coming soon, and if you want to beat Mother Nature a trip to Victoria might help your winter blues. With spring comes babies, and itty bitty baby booties. I have been knitting hats for the babies that have recently come into this world, but Spring demanded a change in the welcome gifts. Shoes for babies might not be practical but they are cute, and I just couldn’t help myself. I now have a small stock of shoes to be given as shower/baby gifts. For the three moms that I gave these shoes to this week, please send me your feedback. Do these shoes stay on? Are they easy to put on?

I used standard stock felt from a craft/fabric store but not the felt from the dollar store it’s too thin. There are some great patterned felts out there which make super cute baby shoes. I added a felt sticker to the front of each shoe and stitched it on to jazz up the toes. If you are interested in making some felt baby booties follow this link for the pattern and great instructions.

Lego Party

March 24, 2014March 28, 2014spaleksic1 Comment

This will be the last post about Sasha turning 5 I promise, but birthdays bring out the crafter in me so I thought I would share. We rented the gym of the local rec center for Sasha’s party for the second year in a row, it comes with a bouncy castle, ride on toys, and sports equipment. But the very best part is that I don’t have to clean up after the party. Sasha chose a Lego theme which was fine by me and quite easy to decorate for. My husband and I have an agreement about throwing parties; he is always happily in charge of the menu, cooking and drinks. I take care of invites, decorations, presents, and dessert. This arrangement is also the way that all holidays operate and it works perfectly for us.

Every year I have made Sasha a birthday shirt to wear to his party, this year he requested dark green one which I found at Joe fresh for $1.94 and stamped FIVE on it, piece of cake. Unfortunately for me I had to walk through the women’s section to get to the kids clothes so while the green t-shirt was a deal the final bill wasn’t $1.94. Sasha and I made old school paper invitations to give to the kids in his class designed to look like Lego blocks. We hung a felt Happy Birthday bunting over the table of treats which I whipped up. Using Lego that we had on hand and a picture easel I made the 5 sign which Sasha now has proudly on display on his bed side table. The coloured boxes contained Slinky’s which I tried to decorate to replicate Lego blocks for the take home gifts for the older kids. I love a bargain as much as I love making crafts and the Slinky’s were a steal at $0.75 each at Target. The kids also took home candy Lego which Sasha and I packaged with a little thank you note. I went to a couple of stores before I found Lego candy so hit up the Bulk Barn if you are on the hunt. I also used the Lego candy to decorate the cupcakes along with a Lego/Five flag made from paper straws and printed images. I made 3 1/2 dozen cupcakes for the 30+ people at the party. The cupcakes are on a board which I made from 2 pieces of laminate flooring glued together and wrapped in aluminum foil. I used the same cupcake platter last year because it’s a great way to serve the cupcakes, all of the kids can just grab one, or two or three cupcakes from the center of the table. Sasha and Logan both had a great time, and I imagine all of the other little people did too. Until next year.