Category Archives: DIY and Upcycling

Limited Closet Space

I love heritage homes. The character and custom look of an older home is almost impossible to capture in the newer homes that being built today. The amount of oak and natural woodwork simply can not be afforded by the average home owner. There are so many wonderful aspects of owning an older home, but with the character and beauty come many obstacles as well. Our home was built in 1921 and is approximately 2300 square feet. Our basement is not yet finished and although we still have ample living space, it seems as though adequate storage is a constant battle. Both of the upstairs bedrooms were remodelled at sometime prior to us purchasing our home and they both have the luxury of walk-in closets. However, the rest of the house is limited in closet space and I am always thinking of creative ways to use our space more efficiently. Such was the case with my 2012 closet make over. Tim works shift work and I have always found it more convenient to use the closet in the spare room, so that I can try to avoid going in and out of our bedroom while he is sleeping.

Spare Bedroom Closet:

Below is the spare room closet which I use in addition to one of the small closets in the master bedroom (for dresses).  The closet  is 33″ wide, 9’6″ tall and quite deep at 33″.  The space was being used really poorly, so I decided to embark on my first “build” project without the help of my husband! The original closet had one bar going across the closet at about 70″ or so with one shelf sitting on top.  All the rest was empty, unused space (other than the pile of junk I had piled up on the floor under the hanging clothes.)  Too bad I forgot to take the true “before” picture.  It was like one of those closets from a sitcom or cartoon in which the contents of the closet falls out every time you open the door!  Anyways,  I researched closet make overs and had an idea of what I wanted to do, but had to work up the courage to get started.  I am a project queen, but my husband is always asking how and why “my projects” always become “his projects”. I was so fed up with relying on him to make the cuts and use the wall plugs, etc, that I decided that I would learn to do these things myself.  What better place to start than a closet, where all of my mistakes and  slip-ups can be hidden behind closed doors.  I must admit that there was some frustration along the way and my husband notes that he has never heard of it taking so long to mount a few boards, but I literally had to learn everything.  I had used many tools before, but my husband would always get the drill bit I needed, find the proper screws, use the wall plugs if needed, etc.  I was determined to complete this project without him and at a minimal expense.

First Step:

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Clean out the closet.

Getting Started:

  • I had to remove the single bar as the height would not work with my new plan.
  • I had to patch, prime and paint the closet. It was in pretty rough shape and had probably not been painting in decades. I kept it white, but the fresh paint made it look a hundred times better!
  • I then installed “cleats” (I actually know what those are now!!) to support the three shelves and the double hanging bars.
  • My husband was going to help set me up to use the table saw for the shelves,  but he was busy and I was on a mission, so I just measured them out and used the electric jigsaw to cut them.  They may not be perfect, but they seem fine to me – and I did the cuts all by myself!!  Besides, at that height, who will ever see them?
  • I also wanted to incorporate vertical storage up the front sides of the closet to make use of the empty space there.  Old closets are often very deep and there ends up being “dead” space at either the front or back that is often rendered useless. I figured out a way to make this space work for me. I purchased pegboard at the Re-store for $5 and cut, primed and painted it white to blend in with the rest of the closet. I had never used pegboard before and fortunately I was smart enough to figure out that it couldn’t sit flush against the wall or you wouldn’t be able to insert the pegs into the board. I used scrap wood to build a simple wooden frame on the back. (I even mitred the corners.) I then screwed the peg board securely to the wall with long screws, through the wood frame. This provided about a 1/2 to 3/4″ gap between the wall and the back of the peg board, so that the pegs would insert properly.
  • I went to the dollar store and purchased several little nylon fabric covered bins (or some kind of fabric similar to nylon). They had cute little handles at the ends and you could tell they were constructed from heavy cardboard (beneath the fabric). I used my We R Memories Hole Punch/Eyelet Setter to punch two holes in the backside of each basket and then set eyelets around the rims to avoid damaging the baskets with the pegs.  The eyelets also gave the basket a nice “finished” look.We R Memories Punch and Eyelet Setter
  • I then “stacked” these vertically along the front of the closet.
The fabric tubs line both sides of the finished closet.
You can see the eyelet I installed in the back of the basket.
  • I also wanted to use the inside of the door to maximize the space.  One of the things I wanted to include was jewellery storage of some kind.  I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to use, but knew I hit the jackpot when I came across an old wooden spoon rack at the thrift store  for $2.50.   I simply painted it and drape my necklaces over the little rungs originally intended for spoons. It ended up being the most exciting part of the make-over!
  • BEFORE: Old Spoon Rack
    An old wooden spoon rack is now a necklace holder.
  • I added some additional pegs for bracelets and an antique cheese grater serves as storage for my earrings.
verticle peg-board storage

I purchased this antique cheese grater for $3 at The Old House Revival Company (one of my favourite stores) and repurposed it for earring storage.

  • I followed Anna White’s tutorial for making a simple book shelf from a pallet. I love pallet projects as you can generally pick these up for free. I made a few of these and use them for vertical shoe storage. They only hold a few pairs, but take up much less floor space. I made the cuts following her simple instructions and just stained the pallet shelf for a nice finished look.
  • The three shelves above the two hanging bars are quite high and very accessible without a stool. I can reach the bottom shelf, but the other two are too high for me. I use these shelves for off-season shoes and purses. (And no this is not an optical illusion, this closet really is this high.)high shelves
  • I just added my final addition to the closet last weekend. I was keeping my scarves in one of my black baskets, but really wanted to hang them instead. I installed an old towel bar that was being stored in the basement and slid on some old curtain rings that have little clips on the bottom. My scarves now hang beautifully and don’t get creased.

IMG_9063

I have to tell you, this closet is jam-packed! The “new” closet offers double the hanging space, triple the shelf storage, the little baskets hold my socks, underwear, workout gear, and tank tops. In addition, I managed to accommodate more efficient shoe storage, jewellery organization and most recently a great place to hang my scarves. I loved this project not only because the result was great, but because it truly was my very own build. If you look closely there are a few “boo-boo’s”, but you really have to seek them out to find them.  Happy organizing!

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Thrift Shoppin’

The other day when I was trying to find a match for my wreath fabric, it just so happened that both fabric stores were in the vicinity of two major thrift shops. I love a great deal and while some get their fix at the mall, for me it’s Kijiji and thrift shops. I was already out and the bonus was that I had no family with me, so I was able to make the pit stops and check-out what the local thrift stores had in stock.  Between the two stores, I spent $35, but I am so impressed with what I got that I just had to share.

Keys to Thrift Shopping

I try to go every few weeks or so, as stock is constantly changing. I often have a list of specific things I am looking for, but when I don’t I am always looking for items that are well made, sturdy and have a nice shape or design element.  Generally, I peruse the following:

  • furniture (I rarely find good deals, but always look. I find that many of the items are over priced based on their condition and quality).
  • glass wear ~ I can often find things like vases, decorative “jars” with lids, pedestals, etc.
  • wooden accessories ~ salt and pepper mills, spoon racks, serving trays, fruit bowls, etc.
  • wrought iron

Saturday’s Thrift Shop Finds:

This was purchased at my first stop for $25. I got three great wrought iron pieces. The top left piece is a stand for a plant pot and the two below are wall mount plant holders. All of the pieces are well made and very sturdy.  I also picked up a great molded picture frame. I will be painting this out at some point, but don’t have a specific plan for it. Just loved the size and shape. I got a set of three matching pedestals of varying heights and a glass bowl. I love setting a nice table with a tiered look, so these pedestals will come in handy. I think they might actually be candle holders, but they are completely flat on top, so they can serve a variety of uses. I already have a plan for the little “welcome” sign. I love the shape of the wood and it will save me some time and energy.

When I stopped at the second thrift shop, I picked up the following items.

The first little collection is a set of things I bought for school. I am in the midst of creating a Boston Pizza center in my classroom. I plan to convert my play kitchen into a pizza center and went thrift shopping specifically to find wooden serving trays or dishes. The larger wooden tray is actually some kind of “lazy Susan” gizmo. It actually has a base that rotates. I am not sure, but regardless of what it is/was, I will be removing the base and converting this into a “medium” pizza for my center. The little set next to it “killed two birds with one stone” so to speak. The handle can be removed from the middle and the wooden base will become my “small” pizza. The salt and pepper shakers will be used on the table in the “pizza restaurant”.  The second photo shows a large wicker tray. I was specifically looking for something to sit under our fig tree pot. It has a very large pot and it is difficult to find a base that is big enough. This tray is huge and I am not exactly sure how it will look, but for a few bucks I thought it was worth a try.

Macklemore’s Thrift Shop ~ A Parody

When I was planning this post, it made me think about when this song came out. I loved this song when it was first released and my kids seemed surprised that I let them listen to it.  I knew there was some offensive “language”, but I had heard worse. It wasn’t until weeks later when I was singing in the car, that my daughter rolled her eyes and asked….”What are you singing?” I replied, “What come on sing-a-long….”this is TEAM awesome”!  She proceeded to explain to me that the song did not say TEAM awesome, but something far less appropriate. Oh. I shouldn’t actually be too surprised by my lyrical mishap as I am actually quite notorious for this. In fact, it wasn’t more than a few years ago that I learned that there was a song called “Dude Dresses Like a Lady”. Now just imagine my surprise when I thought back to my youth and how I had loved to sing along while “Do the Lucky Lady!” played on the car radio. Ugh. I really should just stick to listening to my pod casts and not even try to be “hip”.  I thought you might enjoy this Macklemore Parody.  (Not squeaky clean, but not too bad.)

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Simple Rag Wreath

Sorry for the late post, but my day off was Monday this week which meant I had to work 4 days in a row.  I am so used to a mid-week break that those 4 days in row seem really long. I stayed up late (on Fridays that means past 9) and started a project I “pinned” a few years ago.  I have wanted to make one of these wreaths ever since I saw this rag wreath. I absolutely love this!!!

rag wreathI am pretty confident when I say that mine won’t look nearly as beautiful as this one, but I am so going to try!

Rag Wreath Tutorial:

Anyone who knows me knows that I am “head over heals” in love with white.  (Some day I will have a white living room sofa!)  There are many rag wreath images and tutorials on the web, but most use Christmas prints.  I really wanted a more elegant look and the example above was exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, some of the tutorials are a bit vague and so you have to do a bit of piece work, taking instructions from several sites to figure out exactly what you need and how to proceed.  Although a bit time-consuming, it is very easy (at least so far).

Materials for Rag Wreath:

  • fabric (still sorting this out as I ran out and am heading out to buy more today – so far I have used 1.6 meters. I am so glad I am a Fabricland member.)
  • wire or plastic wreath ring (I got mine at Michael’s for about $4 with a coupon. They only had one size, so mine is 18″.)
  • scissors
  • embellishments (ribbon, burlap, flowers, beads, etc.)

Rag Wreath Preparation:

I took my fabric and cut little slits every 1 1/2″ along one edge of each piece. You can make the “rag” pieces as narrow/wide as you wish.  Some tutorials suggested 1″, but I felt that I wanted my pieces a bit wider, so I measured and slit at 1 1/2″ all the way along. Using the slit as a starting point, tear the fabric the entire length.  You will end up with long strips, all 1 1/2″ wide.  Again, I saw many suggestions for length ranging from 5 to 12″.  I measured my longest piece of fabric and picked a number that was divisible.  The length does not have to be perfect, so all of my strips are cut between 7″ and 8″.  I want my finished rag wreath to be very “full” looking, so I figure longer and wider is better.

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Rag Wreath Assembly:

Begin to tie the strips of fabric on to the wire wreath. I am not really sure if there is a “best” way to do this or not. One site suggested not going section by section, but rather wire by wire (there are four wire rings).  I did a bit of both.  My base fabric is an off white muslin and most of my wreath will be made with this solid off white. I originally purchased 1 meter of the solid fabric, but ran out with the outside ring and part of the third ring left to complete.  I will buy another meter and probably end up with extra.  I bought .2 of the other two cream printed fabrics and had about .2 of a meter of the beige gingham on hand.  I wanted the prints to be randomly distributed throughout the wreath.

Based on my research, I knew this could be a bit time-consuming, so I set up for the job. I built our first fire of the season, got myself a glass of wine (and set it out of spilling distance), parked on the floor in front of the TV and started tying. I started by tying rags on the inside ring.

tie on strips

It was at this point that my husband asked me…”exactly what is the look you are going for here?”

I was a bit concerned that the printed fabrics would run out if I did not at least count out the sections. I ended up randomly placing all of the strips from two of the printed fabrics first. I then went back and filled in the space with my solid fabric and the third print. I tied my strips very close together so that each section was filled tightly with fabric over the wire.


I am really liking the look so far, but can’t wait to complete the rags, poof it up and begin to embellish. I am not exactly sure how I am going to “pretty” it up once all the rags are on, but I did purchase burlap to make some flowers. I am hoping to finish it up and post part two Sunday or Monday. Stay tuned!

Tip:
Halloweeen Rag Wreath

Halloweeen Rag Wreath

I found tacky tinsel wreaths at the dollar store the other day. Toss the tinsel and you have yourself a great frame for a beautiful rag wreath. I actually bought one for $2 as I thought I might make another one of these wreaths for a gift or another holiday theme. I have seen Valentine’s, Halloween, Christmas and fall rag wreaths that all look great.  You could actually have one for each season! Cheaper way to go if you are interested in making one.

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Eden’s T-shirt Bag

My daughter made a cute little t-shirt bag at Girl Guides and wanted to make another over the weekend. This is actually her project, but it is a good one, so I thought I’d share.  Eden did all of the cutting, sewing and photography, but I will briefly explain what she did.

Repurposed T-shirt Bag

  1. Lay-out an old t-shirt.
  2. Cut off the sleeves just inside the seam.
  3. Cut off the seam along the neckline and the higher portion on the back to match up the front and back.
  4. Turn the t-shirt inside out.
  5. Sew along the bottom of the bag.  She decided to make a small bag (much to my dismay) and cut off the bottom half of the t-shirt.
  6. Flip the bag, so that the right sides are showing and voilà!  A cute little t-shirt bag.
Cut off sleeves.
Cut off neckline.
Flip inside out and sew along the bottom.
Flip it back and your bag is done.

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Feature Wall Reveal

Okay,  I am officially bagged. Great way to start the week, but at least it’s a short one.  I worked my tail off all weekend and got the feature wall done and my Play Kitchen about 80% complete.  Two big projects almost done.  Yay!

So, the “surprise” feature wall passed the hubby test and I am pleased with the outcome as well.  Many hours of work, but looks good.  I’m going to leave it as is for now, but I am tossing around a few ideas for pictures.  I will have to play with it as I don’t want to make it look too “busy” and ruin the effect. Of course, having spent the last two days at the bottom of my stairwell, I can now see that the wall and stairs need fresh paint as well.  Ugh!

Feature Wall Reveal

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Feature Wall Project

We have a very tall narrow wall at the base of our stairs and I have always hated it.  There was one medium-sized picture hanging there, but it needed something more.  I have always planned to do something different and was constantly on the lookout for a large print or something that would be more of a focal point. For about the last two years, I have been contemplating creating some kind of a feature wall.  I have scoured the internet and could never really find anything that I loved enough to commit to.  One idea that kept creeping into my mind was to make a grid with random blocks of colour. I have made several murals/feature walls in the past and I am not going to try to “snow” you, they are lots of work. So, making a decision to do a project like this is a big commitment.  Projects like this can take anywhere from 6 to 30 hours.  My daughters mural took me about 30 hours to complete. I was not 100% sold on my plan, so I decided to refrain from consulting my husband as I knew I would have trouble convincing him when I wasn’t totally sure myself. He generally likes the finished product, but often doesn’t share my “vision” at the beginning of a project.  So, here is a picture of the project before painting.  You can see I had already done a bit of prep on the dings.  My husband was in bed all day, as he was working a night shift.  This is how the wall looked when he went to bed.

Before

Here is a picture of the wall BEFORE painting it.

Grid Feature Wall

    1. Patch any wall dings. Our wall had several as it is a very high traffic area.
    2. Sand and prime patched areas.
    3. Measure your wall and decide on the size of the squares for your grid. The width of my wall was 39″, so I decided to make 13″ squares.
    4. Using a ruler, pencil, level and tape, measure and tape out the grid.  This part takes lots of planning and problem solving.  You want to make sure that you are taping strategically, so that you will be left with some full size 13″ squares.  You must place the tape in such a way that the width of the tape is sitting inside the grid line of every second square.  I know this seems very confusing, but basically you have to account for the width of the tape.  If you look at the photo below, you will see how the top left and right squares are 13″.  As you look down the grid, you will notice that the left and right squares on the first, third, fifth and seventh rows are all 13″.  Those squares on the even rows are only 11″ because the tape is sitting inside those squares.  All of the center squares are also only 11″ wide as the tape is sitting inside those squares as well.  I have pink “post-it notes” on a few of the squares showing that they are smaller.
    5. When painting, you must paint the full size squares first (two coats) and then peel the tape away from the completed squares. Only remove the sections of tape that are impinging on the full 13″ size of a square. The most time consuming part of a project like this is that you are constantly changing colours and washing brushes. I use the tape to complete as many of the squares as possible, but I have a pretty steady hand and am able to “cut” some of the edges without adding tape.  I am always very cautious when applying tape over recently painted areas.  I have experienced the horror of peeling off fresh paint and try to avoid that at all costs.
Measure and tape

Measure the wall and decide on size of squares. Tape.

This is a photo of what the wall looked like when my husband woke up. Luckily he got up late and was rushed to get showered and out the door for work. He said nothing. I am not sure if I will finish it today or not, but I will post as soon as it is finished.

Make a plan.

Paint only the 13″ squares.

Things to Consider:

  • Make a plan. I actually drew my grid on tag board and used my paint colours to decide on colour placement. Don’t do trial and error on the wall. It is way too much work.
  • I used paint that was left over from different areas of our home, so it cost me very little. I only bought two small sample containers that were on clearance at Home Depot for a $1 each.  I often buy the small samples for projects like this because they are often under $5.  When you are using many colours, it can get very expensive, so samples can come in very handy if you only need a small amount of paint.

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Last Chance: Cheap Shelf Salvage

Have you ever bought one of those cheap melamine style shelving units with the cardboard back.  The back usually lasts until you put something inside that presses up against the backing ever so slightly.  The result is that the finishing nails pop off like you karate kicked the back off.  I hate it when that happens.  As soon as the back pops off, a predictable string of events is set into motion. You know how that works, first the back pops off and then the unit gradually begins to tilt and sit off kilter like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We had originally bought this for the bathroom in our former house and it worked fine. However, it did not work so well for storing our board games.  You know push in the game, push-off the back.  I got tired of the “look” and was actually afraid it might tip because it would literally “sway” when you opened it. I decided to do something about it.

We are in the midst of a very long basement reno and have lots of old wood from the tear apart in the basement.  Much of it will need to go to the dump eventually, but I am so into salvage and re-purposing, I have been trying to reuse as much of it as I can.  I found this old piece of thin plywood in the pile and thought I could use it to replace the existing cardboard backing.

Here is the original white “cardboard” type backing and you can see how it popped off the back. Ugh!
The back is almost completely off and the shelf is on tilt. You can see how the doors are not sitting even at all.

Steps to Replacing the Back

  • Measured the old back and cut the plywood to size
  • Found some fabric in my stash to cover the interior and edges of the board
  • Screwed the back on, through the fabric, in all four corners
  • Pulled the fabric tightly across the back to get out the creases, folded it over the back to create a nice fabric covered edge, and stapled it in place
Here is the sheet of thin (1/4″) plywood that I repurposed for this project.
I had bought this for a project many years ago and never got to it, so I thought I would just use it to cover the very worn plywood.

After Shots:

The print is a gingham in a light beige and off white, so it is does not provide much impact. There are glass doors on the cabinet and once filled, the fabric backing won’t really be that noticeable.  Mostly, the heavier backing helps to give the unit more stability and the fabric backing gives it a clean fresh look. I think we’ll move it up to the kid’s bathroom for some extra storage. (I keep adding and changing things upstairs in hopes that they might actually stop using the main floor bathroom, but it is yet to work.  The extra storage is not so much a necessity, but more so another ploy to get my daughter showering and pampering herself upstairs instead of in our space.  Wish me luck!)

You can see that with the doors clothes, it is hardly noticeable.
Finished cupboard with new backing.
Close up of backing.

 

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Repurposing Clothes Pins

Clothes pins have been around for what seems like forever, but with all of the “life hacks” trending on the web, people are now able to share their creative uses for a simple clothes pin. As a teacher, I have used clothes pins in my classroom for organizing children into groups, securing stacks of paper, learning games and much more.  The possibilities are really endless.  A few bloggers have already researched and collected many great clothes pin ideas. Check-out the list of more than 40 uses for the traditional wooden clothes pin or perhaps you’ll find some unexpected uses for them at Real Simple.  You may also want to check out this link on Pinterest for some great ideas.

Simple Steps for Enhancing a Clothes Pin:

  • Cut out long strips of scrapbooking paper (1 cm X about 8 cm)
  • Glue the strips onto the clothes pin with Modge Podge.
  • Let dry.
  • Trim the excess paper from the edges.
  • Distress the edges.  (I like to gently sand the edges to reveal the white paper below the printed surface.  Sometimes I leave the white edges and other times I will use a bit of ink to age it slightly.)
  • Modge Podge the surface and let dry completely.
  • Embellish with buttons, paper flowers, etc.

You can leave the clothes pins in their natural wooden state or you can play with stain or paint if you’d like to change the base colour.  I have even tried adding fabric to them and that works well too.  Below are a few fridge magnets that I made.  These can be done within a few minutes, but you do have to allow for drying time.  These would also make a great little gifts for a teacher, thank you, thinking of you or hostess..  There are so many awesome ideas for how to use clothes pins for both organization and to enhance your decor, so if you can learn how to dress them up, the options are endless.  Simple, cheap and functional.  I wonder if anyone actually uses clothes pins to hang clothes on the line in anymore?  I am so glad they haven’t yet become obsolete!

I embellished one of the clothes pins as an example of what you might do.
You can see that my pieces are the proper width, but the length is random and will be trimmed later.
Flip the clothes pin over and us an exacto knife to trim the extra paper.
Printed papers can be gently sanded to reveal the white paper below the surface for a distressed look.
Here are the finihshed clothes pins without any embellishments.

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Upcycled Sweater Project

Last spring, when purging some of the clothes that I was no longer wearing, I decided to keep a few old sweaters in hopes of some day trying a sweater upcycle project. I decided to try my hand at homemade mittens and a hat.  The sweater I used for the project was a thinner knit and great to practise with.  The finished product turned out well, but will be more suitable for fall/spring weather than the nasty winter temperatures we have to endure here.  The mittens and hat are light weight and would not be very effective in keeping out the bitter cold.  Overall, I am pleased with the finished product and they were super easy to make.  What a great way to re-use some of those sweaters that are no longer in style.  I don’t own very many wool sweaters, as I find them too itchy against my skin, but I will be on the look out for nice old wool sweaters at the thrift store!

Upcycled Sweater Mittens and a Hat

  • Trace around your hands (or an old hat)Trace Around Your Hand
  • Sew with right sides together.
  • Cut along the outside of the sewn edge.

Tips:

  • Go big and then gradually make smaller as needed.
  • Use the existing seam along the bottom if possible.  (I used the finished edge along the bottom of the sweater  for the mittens, but had to use the middle of the sweater for the hat.  It worked fine, but is definitely more work because you have to finish the seam along the bottom of the hat.

Homemade Mitten/Hat Tutorial:

If you would like to check-out the instructions I used, visit A Beautiful Mess for both the mitten and hat tutorials.

Here is the set I made.  I added a few stitches to the backs of the mittens to dress them up a bit.  The entire project did not take me longer than about 45 minutes. Imagine all the cute little hats and mittens you could make for yourself and your family! I can’t wait to make a warm wooly pair.

The original sweater.
Trace Your Hands
Trace an Old Hat
Here are the finished mittens and hat.

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Upcycled Decor Screen Part 2

A few weeks ago, I made new fabric panels for the screen in our living room. The new fabric looked good, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the overall look. The frame of the screen was a reddish-brown and the new fabric really seemed to pull-out the red tones in it and I didn’t care for the look.  I decided to give it a light sanding and spray paint it heirloom white.  Here are the before and after shots of the completed project.  Be sure to click the first photo to enlarge it and view the others as a slideshow.

BERORE: Original Screen
New panels really brought the red out in the frame. This photo doesn’t really demonstrate this very well and the dark colour actually appears to look pretty good – not so much when you are up close.
The completed screen.
The completed screen.

We are cooking our turkey today and my dad will be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner this evening. This week I am featuring some of our favourite turkey left-over recipes.  Be sure to check it out and see what’s cookin’ at the Roys this week.

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