Category Archives: Projects

Upcycled Play Kitchen: Part 3 ~ The Final Chapter

Yay! It is finally done. I have to say, that this play kitchen project seemed to drag on for way to long and I found it very hard to get the job done. Obviously, I didn’t really have a reason to make it in the first place and have no plans for what I am going to do with the now finished project. The play kitchen was really all about stepping-up to the challenge because it was something I had wanted to do for a very long time, regardless of the fact that my little girl will be 12 in less than a month. I have seen so many cute little play kitchen upcycles and I just had to try one out. In the end, I am not sure how much the project cost me out-of-pocket, but I do know that I spent many hours on it. I can’t say that I will be doing another one of these “just for fun” projects again, any time soon. I am pleased with the final project, but did have a few bumps along the way. I am not going to provide much of a tutorial here, but will add a few captions here and there where necessary.  If you are interested in checking-out some of the steps and tutorials that led up to this reveal, you can check-out some of the previous posts. (Remember to click on the images if you wish to enlarge them.)

Upcycled Play Kitchen: Part 1

Upcycled Play Kitchen: Part 2

Ruffled Apron Tutorial

Upcycled Chalkboard/Frame

Before Pictures:

The play kitchen was made from two old furniture pieces: our old T.V. stand and an old stereo cabinet. Both were old and dated, but in otherwise good condition.

This is a shot of our old TV cabinet, before the upcycle.
BEFORE: Stereo Cabinet

Upcycled Play Kitchen Reveal:

Stove/sink
Faux tiled backsplash
Top view of sink/stove unit.
There is one shelf behind the curtain, below the sink/stove top.
I added a little ruffle to the top of the shelf above the fridge just to add a bit of colour and pull the two pieces together. (Clearly, I should have dusted the fridge a bit!)
I used a recycled metal bowl for the sink, garage sale taps/faucet ($5), painted wooden circles for the elements and antique stove knobs. The “elements” were thin wooden circles that I bought from Michael’s. I primed and painted them and then speckled them with white paint using a toothbrush.
Here is the coordinating ruffle apron.
This sign could be used to announce the menu or say who’s kitchen it is: “Cindy’s Kitchen”.
The menu stand is from the dollar store and was just spray painted black.
Upcycled Play Kitchen: The interior of the fridge. These hinges were a bit pricey, but I wanted them to be good quality.
AFTER: Upcycled Play Kitchen

I must say that I feel a little sad that this will never be used in our home. Eden is far too old to play with this and yet I still have so many ideas for what you could do to make this absolutely amazing. I even considered taking it to school, but I don’t think it would withstand the 45 five-year olds that grace my classroom each day. I think I’ll stick with the commercial set that is already there. So, the future of this little project is still up in the air, but at least it is now off my “things to do” list. I am sure it will find a good home with a little girl to enjoy it!

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Upcycled Picture Frame/Chalkboard

You know how I love a good deal. Well, I have used the same technique to upcycle both picture frames and dollar store slates. Basically, you are taking a somewhat inferior product and kicking it up a notch.

Upcycled Frame:

For this particular project, I used a dollar store slate, paint, homemade chalkboard paint, Modge Podge and some scrapbooking paper.

  1. First, tape off the slate portion. Give it a very gentle sanding and then add a fresh coat of homemade chalkboard paint. (I often find that the dollar store ones are not very user-friendly and the surface does work well with chalk, so I give it a coat of my own paint.)
  2. Once the chalkboard paint is dry, remove the tape and paint out the back and edges of the slate with a colour of your choice. (If this is being mounted on a wall, you can omit this step and leave the plain wood.)
  3. Cut a piece of coordinating scrapbook paper, that is slightly bigger than the size of the frame.
  4. Add a very thin coat of Modge Podge to the frame. You want the coat to be thin, but be sure to cover all of the frame so that the paper sticks well.
  5. Lay the scrapbooking paper over the frame and firmly press the paper to get out all of the air bubbles.
  6. Once completely dry, carefully cut away the excess paper from both the inside and outside of the frame by running a utility knife along the edge of the frame.
  7. I like to sand the edges where the paper and wood frame meet. This tends to expose the “white” surface of the paper below the print on it. I like the distressed look of the exposed white.
  8. You can add a coat of Modge Podge over top for protection, if desired.
  9. You must prepare the chalkboard surface by completely covering it with chalk and then erasing it. (I usually hold my chalk on the side to prime the surface.)
Back of frame prior to painting.
Painted back.
BEFORE: Cheap Wooden Slate
AFTER: Modge Podged Edge
Dollar store stand that was originally silver, but I spray painted black.

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Bathroom Make-over

A couple of years ago, I decided to make the upstairs bathroom a little more fun and kid friendly. We only have two bedrooms upstairs and so that bathroom is primarily used by Eden and Shay. When we moved in, the upstairs bathroom had recently been tiled and modernized, but not at all what we would have chosen. We were not going to invest in a renovation, but thought that we could change the look with paint and a few minor changes. The biggest issue was that everyone was so thrilled with the main floor bathroom renovation, that the upstairs bathroom was rarely getting used and it was driving me crazy. Eden and I went shopping together as I thought that including her in the design would help entice her into using the upstairs bathroom. I did not want to sink much money into this, so it was to be done on a limited budget.  The tiles had to stay, but were a neutral beige colour that we were able to work with.  We started by picking out a new shower curtain and then built the palette from there.

Upstairs Bathroom Before:

Unfortunately, I don’t have any great BEFORE pictures. These were taken with the project already underway, but in all honesty it didn’t look much better than this.  There was a vent/fan in the middle of the wall, a towel bar below and a plain white waffle type fabric shower curtain.  The bathroom is very small and the vanity that was in there was poorly installed, so water ran down behind it and between the tub and sink all the time.  It was pretty yucky!! Here are the only pictures I have. You can see that the bathroom was very dark and certainly not very fun!

This photo demonstrates a more accurate account of the colour prior to the make-over.
BEFORE: Old Vanity without Tile
This shows more of the tile, but the colour is better in the other photo.

Upstairs Bathroom Make-Over:

It truly is quite amazing to see what a coat of paint and little creativity can do!!  My daughter picked out a colourful curtain (that I loved as well) and this became the inspiration for the room.  My husband installed a pedestal sink which worked much better in the space.  The vent/fan is still there, but doesn’t seem so bad against the blue walls.  I had the shelf above the toilet in the basement, so just had to give it some fresh paint.  I found some cute little square-shaped glass jars at the dollar store that fit nicely on the shelf. I bought a cheap canvas at Jysk and made a simple piece of art for the room. I found some great ideas on Pinterest and modified them to suit the space. You can check-out my previous posts for further instructions on how to do the subway art chore sign, toothpaste holders and the faux tiled backsplash. In a nut shell, the backsplash was done by taping off squares, adding a plaster layer, painting the “tiles”, removing the tape and then urethaning them. The tiles turned out great and have been very durable. I also made a little “wash your hands” sign for the window sill.

We kept the original mirror, but the look is totally different with the faux tiles.
AFTER: Faux Tiled Backsplash
DIY Subway Art
I also made a little chalkboard sign for the bathroom.
You can see the subway art chore sign near the window.
DIY acrylic painting. Who can’t make a circle?

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Mason Jar Toothbrush Holder

In December 2011, I re-did the kid’s upstairs bathroom and one of the projects I did was based on an idea I had found on Pinterest. Tim mounted cheap pipe clamps onto the wall that were sized to hold some dollar store glasses that I had purchased. I personalized each cup with my kids’ names using a white paint pen from Michael’s. The glasses can be slid out for cleaning and have held up well. I have had to touch up their names once or twice in the last two years, but otherwise it has worked wonderfully!

AFTER: Faux Tiled Backsplash

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Better Late Than Never

sock monkey costumeI was really hoping to surprise my 9 year old son, Shay, with a sock monkey for Christmas. I had made Eden a sock monkey the Halloween before last to go with her sock monkey costume and he had wanted one ever since. I was so swamped prior to Christmas, I just didn’t get it done. Of course, he wasn’t really expecting it, so he wasn’t disappointed. He ended up spending the day with a friend yesterday, so I surprised him with a sock monkey when he got home.

Making a Sock Monkey

The great thing about making your own is that you can make it any colour or design you wish. Shay certainly likes the Winnipeg Jets, but he was already a die-hard Boston Bruins fan before the Jets returned. His room is a Winnipeg Jets room, but I think deep down, his heart still belongs to the Bruins. When I was considering making his sock monkey, I thought I would surprise him with a monkey in the Bruins’ colours. I searched high and low for a badge or pair of socks that had their logo, but came up empty. Instead, I just opted for their colours. To be honest, finding yellow and black socks wasn’t all that easy either. I think that is why I never got it done before Christmas. It took several shopping trips to find socks of the right colour. In the end, this is what I came up with.

Pair of work socks.
Pair of yellow and black socks (this sock is actually inside-out in this photo).

I bought a package of socks at the dollar store for $3. It contained two pairs of mens “work” type socks. They were black and charcoal grey with a burgundy stripe. The socks were a bit more stretchy than a traditional wool work socks, but they worked fine. I used this pair to create the monkey’s body/head, legs, face and arms.  I had to make the arms and legs a bit shorter due to the burgundy stripe. I cut them off above the stripe as I didn’t want burgundy in the final product. I used the yellow and black sock to make the tail and ears, as well as a sweater and a hat for the monkey. I didn’t use the striped yellow and black socks for the entire money because the socks were smaller, more like a kid’s size.

I then followed this awesome tutorial on Craftbits (by Shellie Wilson). I used the same tutorial when making Eden’s monkey last year. I follow Shellie’s directions pretty closely, but tend to skip the pinning in most projects. It is not so much that it isn’t necessary as it is that I am too lazy to do it. Like Shellie, I use button eyes and stitch on the mouth.

The Final Touches:

In order to make him a Boston Bruins sock monkey, I had to add a bit of colour to him. So, I used the yellow and black socks to make a little sweater, hat and the tail. The hat was simply made by using the toe end of the sock with a few inches of the black to turn over into a bit of a cuff (not sure if that is the right word on a hat or not??). I didn’t even hem the bottom edge of the hat. We’ll see how it holds up, I may end up having to finish the edge if it begins to unravel. The sweater was made from the top part of the sock, above the heel. I did finish the bottom of the tube by hemming it slightly. I basically just pulled the little tube over the monkey’s body and called it a sweater! I did find that the tail was a bit of a problem, so I did a button-hole stitch and then cut a slit for the tail to slide through. This seemed to work fine. His arms are actually sitting over the top of the tube sweater as opposed to making arm holes.sock monkey

Shay was thrilled, but had trouble figuring out a name for him. He ended up googling the name of the Boston Bruins mascot and named him “Blade” in his honour. Meet the monkeys! (Remember to click the images to enlarge the photos.)

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Repurposing Christmas Crackers

Christmas crackersChristmas crackers

I am not sure if your family purchases Christmas Crackers for the holiday season or not, but my sister in-law always has a cracker for everyone at our family Christmas dinner. It is a tradition. I am not sure where she purchases them, but I think she might get them at Costco. They are always quite elegant looking and the prizes are pretty good. This year we got a key chain, an egg timer, a set of mini dominos and a heart pendant necklace. Aside from the fun and the prizes, I also have a tradition of my own. For me the prize is much more about the packaging than the actual contents of the cracker. I always collect all of the little embellishments and take them home for use in other projects. I thought I would share a couple of repurposing ideas for those cute little cracker decorations.

Repurposing Christmas Crackers:

Here are a few shots of some of my salvaged loot from the past three years. You can see that some of the piles are already quite depleted.

Each end of the cracker is usually tied with one or two pieces of ribbon. A wire with little balls on it is twisted around to make a pretty little decoration. The ribbon pieces are quite small and their uses are definitely limited, but I absolutely love those fancy little wires.

  1. I have used the small ribbons and wires to add a bit of extra charm to small gifts in much the same way as they are used on the original crackers.
  2. The wires and bows can also be used to add some pizzaz to a scrapbooking layout.Christmas cracker upcycle

It may be too late, but if you have some crackers hanging around that still haven’t been used or maybe you are saving them for New Year’s, don’t forget to gather all those odds and ends and add them to your stash for future use.

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Simple Christmas Centre Piece

Christmas centre piece

Christmas centre pieceYou can’t get much simpler (or cheaper) than this arrangement. I thought I might like a nice arrangement for my table during the holidays, but now that it’s done, it may sit on the little table outside on my front porch….haven’t decided.

Materials:

  • glass vase (bought for a couple bucks at the thrift store)
  • silver ribbon with the wire edges for creating a nice shape
  • white curly ribbon
  • 5 to 7 cheap tacky plastic candy canes from the dollar store ( I think they came two or three in a pack) ~ as a rule of thumb, you should always use an odd number when making an arrangement (I am pretty sure about this “rule” because I learned it in 4H when I was 10, so it must be true. However, you can see I broke the rule. I had 6 and they are so tacky that I don’t want to leave the odd ball hanging around, so I stuck it in to make an even six – yikes!!)
  • 3 springs of berries (wire stem that is pliable for easy manipulation ~ got these on clearance for 99 cents each)
  • wire garland (As you know….I love wire garland and use it on all of my gifts. You can see the twisted swirls of silver holly garland in the arrangement)
  • hot glue/gun
  • glass beads (dollar store) to help with the stability of the candy canes (optional)

Building the Arrangement:

I basically started with the candy canes and added from there. I started by putting a little dab of hot glue on the glass jar and tilted the first candy cane to rest against the edge on the gob of glue. The glue is inside the rim and can’t be seen. I decided to glue three candy canes around the rim, each spaced about 1/3 of the circle apart. I am not sure if I will keep the arrangement or dismantle it at the end of the holidays, but hot glue peels off quite easily, so I wasn’t concerned about the vase.  I then took the second set of three candy canes and secured them together with the silver bow (and a few dabs of hot glue). These were more upright and straddled the first set of candy canes nicely to sit more in the middle of the arrangement. I then added the glass beads to help hold the candy cane based in place.

I then began to “fill” the arrangement. I curled several lengths of plain white ribbon and used it as filler, spilling over the top of the glass jar. I didn’t secure any of the ribbon, just poked it in here and there and hooked it around some of the candy canes. I then carefully pulled the tiny sprigs of the wire berries to give them more dimension and a bit of a whimsical look. Finally, I added a few lengths of the wire garland, randomly twisted throughout the arrangement.

*I was thinking that if this were made for outside, you could probably add a bit of water to the jar and the ice would act as the base to hold everything in place, instead of using glass beads.

All in all, this was mostly made up of odds and ends I already had on hand. The candy canes were 2 or 3 dollars and the berries another 3. Not bad for under $10!

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DIY Pom-Poms

I found this tutorial for a DIY jersey pom-pom posted on Pinterest a few months back. I just love the shabby chic feel and the colour is incredible….one of my favourites. Unfortunately, I don’t have anywhere to use a ball of this shade. I decided to make a few out of an old white t-shirt that was in the “to donate” tub. I figured that if I stuck with white, I could add them to my Christmas tree and it would flow nicely with the “theme” of the tree. The original post on Skip to My Lou is very thorough.

pom poms

Follow the link to visit Skip to My Lou and check-out the full tutorial.

DIY Pom-Poms:

Materials Needed

  •  old white t-shirt cut into 1/2 inch strips (I just tore mine)
  • needle
  • thread
  • wax linen thread (I just used embroidery thread because I had it on hand and it worked fine)
  • 3 X 5 cardboard
  • ribbon or fabric strips

Directions:

  1. Run each strip of fabric through your fist to stretch the material. This will actually cause the strip to curl around itself and form a hollow string/tube.
  2. Wrap each string around the cardboard lengthwise. Keep layering one string on top of the other until you have used what you deem to be enough. I am not sure how to gauge this for you as it will depend on the size of your t-shirt and length of your strips. I used an XL t-shirt and ended up with 5 pom-poms. (Make sure to cut the strips horizontally across the body of the t-shirt – you need to cut off any seams as it will break the natural curl of the strip.)
  3. Slide the thread under the pile of strips and tie off one side, securing it as tightly as possible.
  4. Carefully remove the cardboard and then gather the side that is not tied and tie it together with the side you have already secured. You want the entire bunch to be tied as tightly as possible. The wax thread would make this easier as it wouldn’t slip, but I managed without it.
  5. You then begin to cut the loops in half at both ends.
  6. After each end is cut, fluff the material out to make a ball. Trim down any ends that seem too long, fluffing as you go and creating a nice spherical shape.
  7. Add a string to hang it from your tree and a ribbon to spruce it up a bit.  (You could add a safety-pin instead of a string and make pin to dress-up a scarf or add a hair-clip, so that it could be pinned on a pony tail. It would also look cute on a hat!)
I used some Christmas scripted fabric and tore it in strips for my ribbon.
Here are my ribbon strips.
My pom pom is plain white and i just added a bow tied from the scripted ribbon.
Here is a shot of the pom pom on our tree.

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Gift Wrapping Tips: Post 4 Pull Tab Cans

This is one of my favourite gift wrapping ideas. I am not sure where the original idea came from, but I found it on the internet a long time ago. This idea involves the constant collection of pull-tab cans. Whenever we purchase canned food that comes with a pull tab (such as Eagle Brand Milk or individual Ravioli tins), we don’t use the tab to open it. Simply turn the can upside down and use a can opener to open the can and save the tab for a special gift! (Don’t forget to save both the base and the tin….simply wash and store for the perfect occasion.)

Turn can upside down and open with a can opener.
Here’s a shot of the tab top and the cut off bottom.
Fill the tin with the gift (from the open bottom). Hot glue the bottom back on the base.
Hot glue the felt on the base of the tin to cover the glue used to put the tin bottom back on.
Choose some items to embellish your gift. I have red paper covered wire, red ribbon, red raffia, bells, buttons and some white curly ribbon.

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Homemade Gifts: Snowman Kit

Sorry, late start today! I left work yesterday, stopped and picked up a few gifts and then met the family at the Christmas tree lot for 5. I remember how Christmas tree shopping used to be an all day affair. We (I) would look over the trees at the first lot and when I couldn’t find the perfect tree, we would move on to the next lot and then another one after that. After several lots (and hours), I would decide that I liked the tree we saw at the first lot. It was a true test of Tim’s patience, but we always got a beautiful tree. Over the years, I have learned to let a few things go. Shopping for the “perfect” tree is one of them. I can still be a bit indecisive and it can take some time to make a final decision, but rarely do we go to more than one lot. We have found this little gem that always has beautiful trees that are well priced. I seriously should have won some kind of an award last night! We (mostly me) picked out the tree in warp speed. I hate to say it, but being warm far out weighs getting the perfect tree. We have been in a severe temperature cold snap over the past few weeks (or at least it seems that long) and I hate the cold. We zoomed up those tree isles, pointed out the one we liked and then left Tim out in the cold to tie it on the roof of the van. (I love that man!) I think we were at the lot about 10 minutes. I was so impressed with our efficiency that I decided to do a bit of shopping before heading home.  The family headed home and got the tree in the stand to begin thawing and I knocked off about a dozen gifts on my list. (It was a gift in itself to miss the actual “standing” of the tree. For Tim and I it is a bit like putting up wall paper. Somehow we tend to lose the spirit of Christmas during this task. I was happy that Shay took over the task of holding the tree while his dad secured it in the stand.) The stores were amazingly quiet and I wanted to avoid weekend shopping at all costs. I am not done, but feel so much better and have lots that I can wrap over the weekend. Hence the late start….I was totally exhausted after a very busy week and was out cold by 9:30 and slept in until after 8. By that time, I had to wait my turn to get on the computer.

Homemade Snowman Kit:

Last year, I made up a few snowman kits to give as “hostess gifts” and to a few families with young children.  I picked up the “felt” hats at the dollar store during the Halloween season, with this project in mind. The hats are cheaply made, but perfect to leave outdoors on your snowman. I think these were $2 each. I used some of the wire ribbon that I had bought on clearance at Michael’s and added a little “branch” embellishment to the hat.

Hat
Embellished Hat

I also picked up a few Old Navy fleece blankets that were being cleared out for $4 each. You could purchase the fleece at a fabric store, but I loved the colours and design of the Old Navy blankets and they were very reasonably priced. I cut the blankets into strips and slit the ends to make a fringe.

Old Navy Blankets
old Navy Blanket Scarves

For the other elements, I used a combination of odds and ends. I found a little plastic set of face pieces that were meant to be added to a pumpkin at Halloween. There were googly eyes, funny noses and silly smiles. On their own, these were a bit cheap and tacky looking, but I added them to some of the other items to make a cute little kit with several options.  I had found some small fruit ornaments on clearance at Michael’s and used some oversized buttons from my collection. I then bagged-up the items, labelled them and made a little sign for the hat that said “Just Add Snow”.

You can see a little fabric bag sitting in the hat….this was a little sachet of spices for making homemade apple cider. Just an extra little something to add.

I actually don’t have a photo with all of the little baggies inside the hat, but everything was just set into the hat and delivered without any wrapping. These were fun to make and cost very little, but it does take some insight to shop around for just the right items to put in your snowman kit. You could always include a fresh carrot for the nose. This doesn’t have to be given during the Christmas season, it could be given as a birthday gift for someone on your list with a winter birthday! Watch for those ornaments and embellishments that clear-out just before and after Christmas and plan ahead for next year. Have fun!

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