Category Archives: DIY and Upcycling

Easy Piggy Bank Dollar Store Upcycle

Quick, cheap and easy ~ can’t beat this simple DIY project!  My son used to have a tin piggy bank from the “Cars” movie in his room.  We recently “upgraded” (ha! ha!) to a Winnipeg Jets one (same tin piggy bank from Dollarama).  The great part about these piggy banks is that they can not be opened without a can opener.  When we went to transfer Shay’s money to his new piggy bank, he was amazed to learn he had saved $142!  On the contrary, my daughter’s piggy bank contains nothing and the little stopper from the bottom sits on the shelf beside her empty bank.  We are trying to teach the kids the principle of saving 10% and tithing 10%, but our daughter spends money as fast as she gets it.  Unfortunately, the tins don’t fit with her decor at all.

Original $1.25 Piggy Bank Tin

Purchase one of the piggy bank tins from the dollar store.

Jets piggy bank

Upcycled Piggy Bank

  1. Cut a piece of 12″ X 12″ scrapbooking paper to match the child’s decor.  You will need the whole 12″ (plus a bit) to go around the tin and just over 5 1/2″ to cover the entire height.  I measured carefully between the two silver lips at the top and bottom of the tin to ensure proper coverage.
  2. Secure the paper to the tin a little at a time being careful to place it evenly around the outside, tight up against the lip. I have a tape gun that I use for scrapbooking, but you could use any kind of adhesive to do this.
  3. You will notice that there is a small gap where the 12″ length does not quite make it around the tin.  Instead of patching, I chose a 1″ strip of coordinating paper and covered the gap with a slight overlap on both sides of the strip, to sit just over the edges of the larger base paper.
  4. Embellishments ~ I added a little strip of ribbon, a 3D flower sticker and lettering that I had on hand.  All of this is optional, but I found it needed a little something to finish it off.

Upcycled Piggy bank

Project Summary

This project took me about 20 minutes to complete from start to finish.  The tin was $1.25 and I had all of the other materials on hand.  This is a simple Dollarama upgrade that anyone could do and you don’t need any special tools.  Have fun designing your own piggy bank to fit your child’s room decor!

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Hockey Stick Coat Rack

My husband and I surprised our son with a homemade hockey stick coat rack and shelf on his 8th birthday (a Winnipeg Jets themed party). I had planned this months in advance and collected old sticks from various rinks, garage sales and Kijiji.  The furniture was very inexpensive to make as most of the sticks were free (or very cheap) and I picked up a pail of old pucks from a garage sale for 50 cents each.

Materials Needed:

  • 3 hockey sticks
  • 3 pucks
  • 3 coat hooks/screws
  • 9 ~ 2″ screws
  • drill

Step One:  Measuring

Line the hockey sticks up side by side with the blades tips touching.  Stand the three sticks up and carefully measure from the blade (floor) up 12″ and mark all three sticks on the shaft.  (Sticks will be standing vertically with a slight angle to rest against the wall and the measurement will go from the floor and extend 12″ up the shaft.)  This will be where the bottom puck support will be attached in the middle of the three sticks.  If it is easier, you can lay the sticks down for the other measurements, but be sure blades are lined up.  The top puck support will be about 24″ from the tops of the sticks.  I wanted mine to have a staggered, less uniform look, so my three sticks were all different heights.  Just be sure to mark the spot where the puck will be drilled in on all three hockey sticks.  The final puck will go midway between the bottom and top puck supports.

puck support

Pucks lay flat b/w the sticks

Step Two:  Attaching the Pucks

Use the 2″ screws to attach the sticks to the puck supports.  You will be screwing through the thickest part of the shaft, with the blade facing you.  Use the marks as a guide.  Begin by attaching all three pucks (at the pre-measured levels) onto one stick.  The puck will be drilled to the back of the shaft at the three different heights.  Once the first one is done, you will want to make sure that the other two sticks are evenly spaced around the pucks (at approximately 1/3 intervals).  Secure all three sticks to the pucks in the middle.

Tip:  

  • You may wish to pre-drill holes in the puck just to get the screws started more easily.

Step Three:  Attach the Coat Hooks

Attach one coat hook on the front of each hockey stick shaft.  Again, ours were purposely staggered at different heights.

Staggered tops
Finished coat/hat rack
Hockey Stick Coat Rack
Summary:

This project was simple to do and inexpensive to make.  It is sturdy and makes a great addition to any hockey themed room.

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To Save or Not to Save….Deck Storage Box

This pine deck box was a freebie from a friend.  It has served as outdoor toy storage on our front porch for 5 years and was very weathered with broken hinges and all.  I was tempted to get rid of it as it just didn’t seem to be worth the work, but in the end we decided to salvage and repair it, as we still need a place for outdoor toys.

The Old Box

Unfortunately, the before shot is once again more of a mid way shot because I forgot to take one. The box was very beaten up as you can still see by the lid. The sides had already been sanded at this point.
old box

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Rejuvenated Deck Box

Basically we gave it a rough sand, darker stain and a few coats of urethane that we had on hand. My husband bought some new hinges that will actually hold the lid up when it is lifted. Hopefully this will help prevent the slamming of the lid and the wear and tear on the new hinges.  You can see the new look is much more rustic.  I really didn’t care about the dings and markings ~ they just add character.  Click the images to enlarge the photos.

Toss or Treasure? The Story of A Cheap Chair

I have had this old folding chair and desk set for years.  I can’t remember if it was a freebie or just a really cheap second-hand purchase, but the desk has made its rounds and has served as several different purposes over the years.  The chair was in my scrapbooking room, but I hated it and contemplated tossing it due to the large and ugly rip in the back.  I actually put duct taped on it. Can you believe it?  Anyway, I have been doing my summer purge and was about to toss it when it hit me ~ this would have to be the easiest re-upholstering project ever!

Cheap Folding Chair Upcycle

I am in the midst of tweaking my son’s room and because the matching desk is currently located in his room, I thought I would fix-up the chair to match.  This task was super easy (aside from having to find a staple gun that would load and fire 1/4″ staples) ~ thanks Chris!

I had the fabric from a previous project and it is perfect fit for my son’s room.  The back and seat of the chair unscrew and I just stapled the new fabric right over top of the old seat.  I removed the torn top piece because I knew it wouldn’t sit smoothly otherwise.  Check it out! Simple, $0 and looks way better don’t ya think?

Before and After Shots

Before

Ugly black folding chair.

torn back

Duct tape? Really?

finished chair

The finished chair.

Clean or Dirty?

At our house, the kids unload the dishwasher…or at least they are supposed to.  Originally it was set up that one kid would “fill” and the other would “empty” for any given week. However, what seems to have happened is that they both “empty” and whoever gets there first unloads the top rack which is of course, much easier than putting all of the cutlery from the bottom rack away.  It seems Tim and I are often on “fill”.  Ugh!

Clean or Dirty

The biggest problem with this little system they’ve concocted is that both racks are often not unloaded at the same time.  The result is that we are always in limbo not knowing if the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty.  Obviously the system itself needs some work, but in the mean time, I made this cute little sign to help solve our dilemma.  I saw this idea online and just had to make my own.

original idea Steps to Making the Magnet

Step 1: I found a thin but sturdy piece of card board and cut it to 4 1/2″ X 2″ piece.

thin cardboard

Step 2: I cut a piece of scrapbooking paper equal in size to the cardboard.
paper
Step 3: I glued the paper on the cardboard. I also added little stickers spelling “DISHES” vertically down the left side.

Step 4: I trimmed any excess paper and gave it a bit of a sand to rough up the edges. I then added white ink to the edges to hide the cardboard backing.

Step 5: Put one coat of Modge Podge over top and edges. Let dry.

backing

Step 6: I used my paper trimmer as a guide to be sure I set the letter tiles on straight. I hot glued the outside tiles first and they also helped to guide my placement.

Step 7:  Hot glue magnets on the back and paint, if desired.  (I did paint mine after this shot.)

add magnets

The Final Project:

The project was easy to do and didn’t take long to complete (with the exception of dry times). As soon as the dishwasher is turned on, the sign should be switched to “CLEAN” and then flipped upside down once the entire dishwasher has been emptied.

on the dishwasher

finished project

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Save That Shirt!

Don’t you hate it when you buy your kids new clothes and they seem to outgrow them before the end of the season?  Well, check-out this post and learn how to re-use and upcycle old tops.

Vintage Jets T-shirt

My son has a Winnipeg Jets themed room and I am always looking for new and creative ways to pull his room together.  I was so disappointed when he outgrew this cute vintage style shirt, so I hung on to it thinking I might be able to use it in some way.

jets shirt

Jets T-shirt Becomes Cushion Cover

This project literally took me 10 minutes.  I simply flipped the shirt inside out and stitched a line across the top to close off the neck hole. I did it in white so you could see it.

stitched top

I flipped the shirt back (not inside out) and put a small throw cushion inside (I already had this at home). I then folded the extra length at the bottom of the shirt inside and pinched the bottoms together. I didn’t care if the stitching showed for this project and decided to do a zigzag stitch to make it a bit more decorative. This is not sewn well and I even ran out of thread part way through the bottom stitching. On another day I might have ripped it out and did again, but not today! This will do just fine. Obviously, the pillow cannot be removed without taking the stitching out. I think I will just toss the whole thing in the wash, when needed.

bottom seam

Finally, I took the arms and loosely tied them on the back of the pillow. I then added a bit of stitching (hidden under the top sleeve), to permanently keep them tied together.

tied arms

IMG_7913

IMG_7912

Pinterest Project: DIY Key Rack

I am all about de-cluttering and am always looking for great ideas to keep the house neat and tidy.

Key Rack Project Suppliesblocks

  • blocks
  • board or something for backing
  • dowelling to hang keys on (or you can use hooks)
  • wood glue and/or screws
  • hook or something for the back to hang the finished product
  • paint and sand paper
  • drill

I had found some old wooden alphabet blocks at a garage sale and bought the whole box for $2.  I had all of the other supplies for this project at home.

Key Holder Project Steps:

  1. Pick-out the K, E, Y and S, and proceeded to clean and dry them thoroughly.
  2. Back board:  I found an old pallet board (free) and drilled four holes equal in diameter to the dowelling (maybe a smidge bigger) below where each block would sit.  I did not drill completely through to the back as I wanted to be able to glue them in place.
  3. Sanded the board down slightly, and then primed and painted it.  I very sloppily added a few layers of paint (green, blue and white). Be sure to let the layers dry in between. I then gently sanded the edges of the board to distress it.
  4. I painted the blocks and pegs white. Once the blocks were dry , I gently sanded them to reveal some of the original colour.
  5. Glued the pegs in place.
  6. Glued the blocks in place.  Later, once the glue was dry, I screwed them in securely from the back.
  7. I then added a hook for hanging the board on the wall.
DIY key rack

My finished key holder.

Here is another variation of the project.

variation of project

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DIY Pinterest Project: Cell Phone Holder

I got this cute idea off of Pinterest and just had to try it.  Basically you take an old lotion or shampoo bottle and upcycle it into a little holder for your cell phone or iPod, so that your counters aren’t cluttered with technology.

Cell Phone Holder

You cut the lotion bottle, so that the back is taller than the front and then cut out a hole for the plug to go through.  You then give the surface a rough sand (so the Mod Podge will stick) and then cover the surface in podge.  You cut a piece of fabric and apply it snuggly over the podge. Trim off the extra fabric and then apply another layer of Mod Podge.  The complete tutorial can be found here.

My Finished Project

Cell Phone Holder

Basically, this was a pretty easy project, but in the end a bit of a “fail”.  I did not actually try to fit my cell phone inside the container prior to doing all the work.  Duh!  The bottle I used was not large enough and so I ended up with a “mini” version of the original.  I hate it when that happens.  Although my phone does fit in (snuggly), it is a bit awkward because of the lack of clearance between the plug and the top of the phone.  I would totally do this project again, but be sure to pick a bottle that is large enough and test it before going to too much trouble.  We use our holder all the time, but for used batteries that need to be taken to recycling.  I have a recycling container at work that I take them to when our little caddy is full.  (Unfortunately, we would need to have a caddy on every plug-in the house to accommodate all the phones and iPods ~ one just wouldn’t cut it any more).

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Coffee Table Upcyle

Most women love the mall and shopping for clothes, but for me, nothing gives me a thrill like a cheap Kijiji purchase.  I scour the site looking for great finds, and then toss and turn all night, unable to sleep as my creative juices begin to flow. I often already know exactly what I am going to do when I purchase something old and used, but not always.  I saw this idea else where and just had to do it.

Grungy Old Coffee Table

french provincial style coffee table Clearly this table is not old and grungy. This is similar to the style of mine ~ French Provincial. I just love the curve of the legs.  However, mine was only $15 and is pictured below.

DSCN1424Not a great before shot, but you get the idea.  (You will often notice my before shots are more like midway shots, as I often get started and then say, “Oh no!  I forgot to take a picture ~oops!”  You can see I had the table propped up and was in the middle of sanding when I remembered to take a picture.

Upcycled Coffee Table, Turned Bench

The first thing I did was sand, TSP, rinse, prime and then paint the table.  What colour you ask?  You guessed it, my all time favourite colour ~ white!

To upholster the top, I took a piece of plywood and cut it to fit just inside the outside edge of the table top.  I then covered it with a 3″ foam piece that was cut to fit the board exactly.  I added some batting over top and stretched it over the top and sides, so that I could staple it on the underside of the board.  I then did the same with my fabric.  Once the “board” was upholstered, I centered it carefully on the table top and screwed it on from the bottom of the table.  This was a pretty easy project, and it is easy to find a complete tutorial on the web.

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Side-Tracked: DIY Cedar Chair Upgrade

Okay, on my summer camp “to do” list this project looked like this:

  • put cedar chairs together

Despite the simplicity of those four words on my list, this ended up being a much bigger project and consumed much of my time and energy this week.  The result is great, but the reality is this project meant that I did not get to some of the other items on my list.

The Story of the Cedar Chairs

I bought these chairs for my husband about 10 years ago, I am guessing??  We had them at our cottage and although we liked them, they seemed to be like some kind of a wild amusement park for the spiders at the lake.  Every single time you went to sit and relax on the deck at the cottage, you would first half to remove the tangle of webs that were in every nook and cranny of the structure.  Of course, having done this, I was never quite as relaxed knowing that the likelihood of a spider looming about was in the 90th percentile.  Needless to say, they were not used much, but all the same were badly weathered.  When we sold our cottage, the pieces sat in a pile in our basement.  I had often requested that my husband put them back together, but the chairs are quite large and he felt we had no place to put them.  So, this week, I have been on a mission to purge our home of anything and everything that is not being used and those chairs were #1.  There was no way I was asking or telling my husband of my plans, so I waited until he went to work and set-out to put the chairs back together ~ without instructions I might add.

chair pieces

The Assembly

First off, it took a lot of brain power for me to figure out the pile of boards. Luckily I had a bit of a visual memory of how these looked when assembled (from about 6 years ago), but no instructions to follow.  ratchet My first task was to sort the boards.  I knew that somewhere in the pile there were the makings of two chairs, so I set to work to make to identical piles and then proceeded to try to visualize how this all might come together.  I even found the little bucket of screws and washers without too much effort.  I quickly I discovered I needed one of those tools that slips over the nut or screw head and magically tightens them without too much effort ~ a ratchet. The problem is that I soon figured out that I also needed a second one for the other end of the bolt and could only find one.  I found some make shift plumbing angle iron type thing and struggled away to get the sides of one chair assembled.  This took lots of time and muscle to manage the less than perfect tool selection and falling pieces.  I came out with a few scratches and bruises and not too much accomplished.  The worst part was that as I looked at the poor old partially assembled chairs I realized they needed a lot more than re-assembling.

cedar chair

Reality Check

I still didn’t know if we were actually going to have a spot to put the chairs or if they would end up on Kijiji, but the truth was they weren’t in good enough condition for either.  So what began as a little project soon became a major one.  I took the back supports off and began the process of sanding the sides and support boards.  Once sanded, I removed all of the dust and proceeded to stain them a dark brown colour.  The difference between the redish warn cedar colour and the deep brown was dramatic, to say the least.  In order to make them withstand the outdoor conditions, I then had to apply 2 coats of urethane to protect the newly stained pieces.  This was very time-consuming and also meant that my garage was no longer available for other projects that might disturb the dust on my turn of the century wooden garage floors ~ can you believe that??

dark stain

The Finished Look

I am really pleased with the finished look and I must say my husband was impressed as well.  He even helped me in the final stages of the project.  We have them out on the front porch and I think they will be keepers after all.  I was never really crazy about the bright green with the red cedar, but I have to say that the dark wood looks much better with the green fabric seats.  The chairs are super comfortable and provide the extra seating I was hoping for on the front porch.  The kids will be excited to have some extra seating around the porch swing on the other side of the porch as well!

finished chairs

finished chairs

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