DIY: Rugs, Mats, and Towels

We have a 2nd bathroom in this apartment that we sadly had to live without at our last place. The only thing wrong with it is having to decorate a SECOND bathroom on a very limited budget. I've come across a few cute, cheap, and green ways to get a bath mat.

This first one is from Michelle Kaufmann. They have provided a wonderful tutorial but it can also be found on You Tube. It is recycled towels tied to some gridded matting. I love the thickness of it. Plus, I want some new colored towels and this is a great way to use up some of the ones I already have. If you don't have any towels to spare, hotels throw away old towels and rags if they have a stain on it that they can't get rid of. You could try getting the hotel to donate them to you or buy them for a fraction of the cost.

I found this on Martha Stewart for the craft of the day. Isn't cute! It looks like it would be pretty complicated but the instructions seem simple enough. I think it would be a cute little mat in front of the bathroom sink or something.

I just came across this adorable canvas rug made from a drop cloth.....yes...a DROP CLOTH.... from The Fine House. It looks so cute in the kitchen with the table and chairs over it. You could make it whatever color and style you wanted. This would have to be my next project if I didn't have a million already in line!

A little while ago I came across this Tic-Tac-Toe Beach Towel from Martha Stewart. Living in Idaho doesn't give me very many opportunities to get to the beach but it made me think of a tic-tac-toe picnic blanket! So simple and easy. You could go one step further and do a checkers blanket with bean bag pieces.

To finish off the towels....I have yet to make my little guy a hooded towel. I have all the supplies but sadly he has to use a plain old rectangle towel at bath times. Ahhh poor guy. I have come across some excellent tutorials for hooded bath towels. You can make the one from the picture above from the tutorial provided by Little Birdie Secrets. Also, Break It Down, Sewing and Design has made a cute lined hooded towel. One thing that is missing from both towels is ribbon. Adding some ribbon to the edges or to the non fuzzy part (whatever that is called) of the towel really spruces up the towel.

Sorry STILL!!!

Well we are finally settled in our new apartment but my craft area isn't put together yet. Unfortunately, it has to be the last room I do. I will work as hard as I can to get some stuff together!

In the mean time....I would love to have some coauthors for this blog. If there is anyone who knows me in person and would love to share their creations on here, please leave me a comment. I just don't have enought time to post as much as I would like to so please let me know if you would like to help! It is a great way to encourge you to get some projects and ideas that you've had finally done. There is a few of you that I've already talked too about it that SHOULD give me a yes...cough cough.....MB!!!

Baby Gifts

I've been working as fast as I can to get some baby gifts done before I left this area. I have some great friends that I wanted to give gifts too. I hope that they like them.

I love making hair bow holders, especially when I already have all of the supplies in my stash. I think it is a great gift for little girls. Check out my other one that I made for my neice, Allie.

This is a baby girl wipe container. I just used my hot glue gun and attached padding. I then sewed two pieces of scrap fabric together and then hot glued it to the outside of the case. I then got some good ribbon (the thicker the ribbon the better it looks) and glued it around the edges. The back looks the same except it doesn't have the padding. To get more specific instructions go to Make Your Own Baby Stuff.

This is the baby boy wipe container. I did it the same way except I used a dark blue fabric on the bottom instead of having the same polka dot fabric.

This is my first attemp to make a "W" pillow for little baby William. I used one of the patterns that I got but I'm not very happy with how it turned out. I will have to keep working on it and see if I can improve with the pattern.

I had a bunch of diapers that I tried to use up with Alex but wasn't able too. So the next best thing to do with them is make a diaper cake as a gift. I also have a container of wipes and a bottle stuffed inside.

Sorry

Sorry about the lack of posting. We are getting ready to move in a couple of weeks so I haven't had much time to do much of anything but get ready for that. I have a lot of projects backed up so hopefully I will be able to go into a crafting frenzy once I'm settled. Here are a few I'm thinking about:

1. a patchwork cover for my boppy using the leftover fabric from the quilt my mom made Alex (I still have the ugly cover from Walmart on my boppy)

(current boppy...isn't it ugly?...but wouldn't it look cute with these fabrics?)

2. covering my wooden blocks like Making a Home but not girly...

I might even make them into streets and cars and signs...wouldn't that be fun!

3. a partial quilted jean baby outdoor quilt (the bottom will be made out of jean fabric but the top is out of adorable fabric)

4. magnetic key hanger/random stuff holder thing (I'm not sure how to explain)

5. For my bedroom I want to do these fabric wall hangings from Make It and Love it in Maroon and Navy Blue for sure and I'm not sure what the third color will be. My bedroom needs some decor BADLY! I thought this is a cheap, easy and cute way to add to the room.

6. Of course some decor for my new living room/ kitchen/ bedroom/ bathroom/ and everywhere in between. Red is the key color I'm using but I use different shades or different combinations in each room. My kitchen is bright red with black and white and my living room is maroon with green and my bathroom is red with dark brown, tan and white.

Be sure to check out some of the blogs that I follow. They have some GREAT ideas.

Some of my favorite HEALTHY whole wheat food

My husband and I have switched over to just eating whole grain food. We do have exceptions in our diet but for the most part we just eat exclusively whole grain. At first the switch was very difficult because white flour tastes SOOO good! We had to retrain our taste buds and dig deep for the best tasting products. I've come to really love eating whole wheat. I get full so much sooner and I have a lot more energy throughout my day. Unfortunately, not all whole wheat products are worth eating. Even with us being used to the whole grains, some food just doesn't taste good. I would like to share with you some of the things that I've found that are by far the best whole grain products (and in my price range) that I can get at my local supermarket.

First, noodles! These are a few that I've seen in several different supermarkets. I absolutely love the Hodgson Mill Lasagna noodles. In my lasagna, I can't even taste that they are whole wheat. They also help my lasagna stay together easier. I do have to say though that I don't like Hodgson Mill's linguine noodles. I don't know why but they have such a strong bitter taste to me. I have yet to find a spaghetti that I absolutely love. The Barilla kind is pretty good but it could use some improving.

This is my favorite brown rice. I've tried other kinds and it tastes like you are eating something that should be fed to cows. I have a rice cooker so it makes cooking brown rice easy. You can cook rice in a pan but after much learning I've discovered you need to add a lot of water. I try to double the water. So if my rice goes up and inch in my pan I put another inch of water. I usually just do it by looking at it. I'm sure there is a much better way to get it good but I haven't discovered it yet. This works for me.

These tortillas are the cheapest ones and by far the best tasting ones. The Mission brand ones are disgusting! I find these ones frequently sold out from the store so make sure you stock up and freeze them. Don't settle for the other brands!

Oroweat is one of my new favorite brands. They are a little more expensive then other brands but worth it. The english muffins are soooo fresh tasting EVERY time I've got them. They make great little sandwiches and snacks. I could eat a whole bag easily!

Another Oroweat product that I just discovered is there Sandwich Thins. They are thin buns! It is about time someone came out with this! I have a lot of favorite foods that you eat on a bun and I've always felt guilty when I eat them because I have yet to found a good whole wheat hamburger bun AND they still contain A LOT of extra carbs. These are perfect. They taste wonderful too!

This is the whole wheat flour that I use because it is cheaper then other kinds and to me it tastes better than some other brands that I've had. It also has whole wheat pastry flour that works great as a thickener instead of white flour or cornstarch.

I am a strong believer in healthy eating and switching to whole grains has really helped Mike and I to loose weight and feel so much better every day.

Red, Black, White Kitchen

Here is the start of my kitchen decorations that I posted little awhile ago for my Frugal Red Kitchen. I finally got the rest of the kitchen done~ WAHOO! I added some smaller prints above my sink after I got really tired of looking at a white wall. Since I couldn't find any more fruit/vegetables that I thought was worth looking at, like the ones above, I decided to go for flowers.

I then worked on the shelves you see below. They used to be this brown shelf with the heart shape in the middle. Not exactly fitting with what I am doing with my kitchen. I decided I'm NOT such a fan of spray paint. I think I need to learn a little more before I attempt to use it again.

I started out by covering the hearts with cardboard which ended up cracking when I added the spray paint. I tried to paint over it but that obviously didn't work. I then took plaster and covered the cardboard, sanded it all and then tried again to repaint it. It worked that time and now I have my beautiful black shelves!

I found all of the decorations on the shelves at thrift stores or on clearance somewhere. The awesome beads are actually Styrofoam from the Craft Warehouse. I am planning on doing some more to the items pictured above. I don't feel like they are the right color of red. I will probably paint the apples and add some paper to the candles.

Both of these shelves feel a little bare to me but I'm not quite sure what else they need. Flowers maybe? Please give me some suggestions on what you think I should add.

How to Yard Sale

Everyone who is new at being a buyer or seller at yard sales should check out the Nesting Place for her input on How to Yard Sale.  Even if you are a pro at yard sells, she gave some great advice.  

Hallway Remodel

Since we've lived here, I've had a bookshelf in my upstairs hallway that seemed to just get cluttered with everything that needed to go downstairs.   When my mom gave me the tile for Christmas and then a few months later got me the wooden box from Real Deals, I figured out the perfect place to put them.  

The two books are from Barnes & Noble from several years ago.  They were one of their speciality collections around Christmas time.  I wish I had more!  I decided to use the same colors that I am doing my living room in to help incorporate the colors throughout my home.

We got this at our local Farmer's Market and found the frame at Walmart.  Translated in Chinese it means; Obedience, Diligence, and Service (I'm not sure if it is in that order).  At least we hope it means that because we would never know!

Seat Belt Covers

Alex has needed the use of these covers for a long time.  No matter what we do, the seat belt always rubs his neck pretty good or gives him red marks when we loosen up the straps.  I feel bad for the little guy.  I figured I could make them myself but then I came across a great tutorial from Make It and Love It which helped me to move myself to actually get them done.  Since I had some left over fabric from the wedding gift that matched my car seat, I didn't have any excuse anymore.  

  

I did a few things different then the tutorial did.  Instead of using Bias Tape I just sewed the two pieces together and then flipped it out and then sewed the opening closed.  Also, instead of filling the entire thing with batting I just used a 2 inch strip of fleece in the middle.  I felt that my batting made it to big.  I also used Velcro that you iron on.  It is MUCH easier and I think it looks better. 

  

Table Runner and Place Mats

This is the wedding gift that I made for my best friend from my high school. She is getting married in a few weeks and her colors are green and brown so I decided to make them some home decor. I don't know if these are her exact colors but I thought they looked good together.

The table runner is almost 6 1/2 feet long. I had a pattern for both, the table runner and place mats, but I remembered right off the bat why I gave up sewing cloths after trying to figure out patterns. I pretty much got the dimensions from the pattern and then just looked at the picture to fill in the rest. The pattern did have me use fleece for the batting which I loved. It gave the runner and mats a thick look instead of looking poofy. I might use fleece more often now! I think they turned out pretty good but like any of my projects there are A LOT of "oh wells" and "maybe they won't notice" areas. Congratulations Sarah and Hal!

I definatly want to do at least a table runner for myself. I've learned from the mistakes that I've made. I now know how to do it better.