Fleece Blanket

A friend gave me a piece of fleece she’d gotten for a song.  I’d never made a fleece blanket and took this as the perfect opportunity!

1.  Decide on the size.
2.  Decide on the fringe length.
3. Cut a square out of each corner using the chosen fringe length:  I chose 4 inch fringe, so the square I cut out of each corner was 4″ square
4. Cut all sides in approximately 1″ strips to the chosen fringe length 
5. Cut a very small hole at the blanket edge of each fringe. 
6. Pull the strip through the small hole:  I alternated taking the fringe up from each    side of the blanket, thus allowing the fringe to fall evenly no matter which side of the blanket you want next to you.  If you want the fringe to fall the same way all the way around, pull the fringe up through the same way all the way around.
   

   Pull strip through small hole

   

7. Enjoy!  
8.  

   I gave the blanket back to the friend who gave me the fabric.  She loves it!

9. I also made a very small one, and a pillow, from the remaining scrap.  My grandnephew loves it for his little stuffed critters.                                         

 

 

Wine Cork Christmas Wreath: Take 2

Start with the simple wreath. (It’s nice on it’s own, but now to add texture!)

Here’s the second take on a Wine Cork Wreath.  I’ve seen them with various things added, making them not necessarily Christmas.  A ribbon, little grape clusters, etc.  For Christmas, adding holly berries and leaves by tucking them in the spaces would add a festive look.  I like both the simple one, with the corks in circles around the base, and I like this more textured one.

Now I need to start drinking–I need more corks!

Step 1. Purchase a styrofoam form. I cut mine in half so it would lie flat           

Step 2. Spray paint a color of your choice so that the white of the form doesn’t show thru very much. I only had gold spray paint, so used that.

Step 3.  Glue gun corks row by row, varying corks as is visually pleasing to you.

4.  Add corks randomly, alternating directions and corks of various colors.

I may add holly berries and leaves at Christmas time.  I like simple, so a simple ribbon to hang, or simply leaning against a hearth wall is probably what I’ll do.

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Ski Headboard

Ever since moving to our home in the mountains a couple years ago I have wanted to make a ski headboard for one of our bedrooms.  It took me a while, and I’d do several things differently (isn’t that often the case any project you do for the first time?!), but overall I am very happy with the result.

Here’s what I did.  First I collected skis.  My sources were a thrift shop ($5/pair), a friend (free!!), and Craig’s List ($5 to 10/pair).  For this queen sized bed I used 12 pairs.  Since skis vary in width, it could have been more or less.

Next, I removed the bindings. This turned out to take a LOT of arm and hand strength–those bindings are not made to be removed!  A few plates and screws resisted, and I didn’t mind the look of the leaving a few in.  Since the skis are definitely used I kind of liked the detail of some stickers, some screws, etc, still remaining.

Then I cleaned the skis as thoroughly as I could.  I didn’t try to remove stains, scratches, etc, simply wanted all of the dirt and debris gone.

I thought at first I’d want to leave the pairs together, as seen in my first layout.

First iteration!

 

My first plan was to drill two holes at the bottom of each ski and then use heavy duty screws, nuts, and bolts to fasten them to a baseboard.  That was a big fail!  I drilled 2 holes and they took over 30 minutes, were not completely even, and a local handyman shop said it would take them just a long, at a cost of about $400.  No, thank you!

I created a layout I liked and went with my next plan.

I thought I’d stagger the heights, but didn’t really like it.

My final layout.

My next plan was to use an existing baseboard and glue the skis to the board.  I used Gorilla Glue.  It is amazing, BUT it expands a LOT! I knew it would expand 3X, but it seemed to me it expanded even more.  As a result, some leakage occurred.  I cut that part off.  Next time I would put very thin squiggles over a larger area.  This held great, BUT because the skis are so long, any movement tended to break the glue bond.  So I decided to use another support.  Again, I used a Gorilla product.  I used the strongest Gorilla tape and taped around the entire base, using several strips.

Taping partly done. That Gorilla tape is great!

Next I added several layers of indoor/outdoor polyurethane.  After the second coat I let the headboard dry at least 24 hours, and lightly sanded.  I did 5 coats in all.

To make the whole thing more stable I added 1/4×1″ trim board in two locations near the top of the headboard.  I used ACE Mounting Tape as the cost was about half the brand names, and it worked great.  I spray painted the trim pieces the same color as the wall behind where the headboard would be.

Needed additional support near the top.

The ACE brand tape was cheaper and worked great.

 

Another view, a bit closer, better to see the variations of the skis.  I loved the variety of skis.  One pair had been a rental pair, another had been from a ski team member, some were engraved, one pair was from a dear friend of mine.

Overall, I’m pleased.  Now on to my next project.  Maybe a snowboard bench?? 🙂

 

 

 

Hotel Card Key Trays

I’ve collected hotel key cards from various travels and wanted to preserve them somehow.  I first tried an epoxy kit from a craft store with some of the more usual keys.  The kit is one where you mix the two parts and then follow the directions to have the epoxy set and harden.  What a disaster!  The epoxy was full of bubbles despite care application, and it never set, resulting in a sticky mess.  I decided to go a simpler, more sure way.  I simply glued the cards down, allowed to dry, and applied several coats of a multi-use glossy polyurethane.  I’m very happy with the results.

Wood tray that originally was the packaging for a dried fruit assortment.

A few of the hotels where my son has stayed.

Favorite travels and hotels!

Chalk Paint Re-do

I’m looking for the perfect dressers, but in the meantime have serviceable ones that simply looked cheap.  They are the right size, but I didn’t want to go through the time of prepping for regular paint.  Chalk paint to the rescue!  I used the brand sold at Ace Hardware, and it worked great.

Wanted: Napkin Rings!

I love using cloth napkins, and making things interesting with napkins rings.  But I do NOT like to spend a lot of money!  I found these HUGE buttons at Joanne’s on clearance at 50c apiece and bought up several, thinking I’d do an art piece from them.  Then thought they’d be perfect for napkin rings!

SUPPLIES:  Buttons (duh!)

                      Elastic (I used ruched black elastic)

                      Scissors

I cut each yard into 6″ pieces, threaded through the button holes, and did a simple square not in the back, allowing for very small ends of the knot, and a resulting space for the napkin of about 1″ round.  Since it’s elastic, it allows for napkins to be easily slipped in and adjusted.  The napkin is also easy to slide out of the button napkin ring, so they should stand up to use!

Super simple, and I’m happy with them.

Wine Cork Christmas Wreath

                                                       I’ve seen Christmas wreaths made out of wine corks on Pinterest and think they are very fun!

I’m happy with how mine turned out, and plan to hang it with a simple ribbon.

Step 1. Purchase a styrofoam form. I cut mine in half so it would lie flat           

Step 2. Spray paint a color of your choice so that the white of the form doesn’t show thru very much. I only had gold spray paint, so used that.

Step 3.  Glue gun corks row by row, varying corks as is visually pleasing to you.

I plan to do another one, larger, and likely yet another one that starts with the same result, then adds corks randomly layered on top.

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Wine Cork Christmas Tree

Truly easy peasy!

 

I’ve seen Christmas trees made out of wine corks on Pinterest and think they are very fun!

I’m happy with how mine turned out.  Wish I had taken a couple of pics along the way, but this is all there was to it:

Step 1. Choose the base size, hot glue side of each cork to next one

Step 2. Add a row with one less that the one below

Step 3.  Add rows as seen, sometimes adding one cork, then lowering, all the way to top.

I used a cork with stars on it as the top, but love the one I have seen (Pinterest) that used a champagne cork with a star.  It is bigger, so really shines, haha.  If I am lucky enough to drink some champagne soon I’ll swap mine out.

I alternated top and bottom of the corks so that there was a color variation I found pleasing.

I liked the ones that had the base as I did it, as it stands up on its own.  Others I’ve seen have a tree trunk of corks, and I think I will try that with a smaller tree.

Working with flowers

Using a new cutting tool–a template and specialty scissors

 

Study in Grey. Or is it Gray!?