DIY Ribbon Holder Tutorial

I have a lot of trims and I mean a lot! As a designer I like to see everything I have to work with when I am creating new garments and projects.  I usually start out with fabric selection, but it's the trims and ribbons that really bring a garment together.  I wanted to create some easy, inexpensive ribbon holders so that I can have all my trims displayed out in my studio when I'm working.  Also, I love looking at all these pretties, they make me so excited to get creative!

You can create these holders for your sewing trim or even use them for your gift wrapping ribbons.  All of these supplies (aside from the craft paint) were found at our local hardware store.  They only cost a few dollars each, so you can make as many as your heart desires!  My hubby helped me by drilling the holes, so you may need to enlist the help of a drilling aficionado.

Want to make your own?  Ok, let's get started.......

Supplies:

1 piece square corner trim

1 dowel rod cut 13" long

1 wooden knob

Craft paint

Paint Brush

Drill

Wood glue (optional)

Directions:

Drill a hole in the center of your square trim that is the same size as your dowel rod.  If you can make it the slightest bit smaller then you can avoid having to glue it in place.  But if it seems loose at all add some wood glue and allow it to dry.  What size dowel rod should you use?  Well, that's kind of up to you depending on what trims you are trying to store.

I found these wooden knobs and had my husband drill a hole in the bottom of them.  Make sure you don't go through the entire knob, just about 3/4 of the way through.

Make sure your knob fits well on top and that your dowel rod is secured in place.

Grab your craft paint and paint each of the holders.  I'm really into this Martha Stewart Craft Paint lately, so I choice a pretty blue in a high gloss finish, but any craft paint will work just fine.

Allow all of your pieces to dry.  I like to tear open these paper bags from Trader Joe's and place them under my craft projects since they are nice and thick and will protect my cutting mat from the paint. 

Slide your ribbons onto the dowel rod, place your knob on top and now you've got beautiful ribbon storage!

This project is so quick, easy and inexpensive and I'm in love with my three ribbon holders!  It feels so great to be organized.  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I'd love to know if you make any of these easy organizers.  

Have a great day!

Easy $1.00 Mirror Makeover

There are so many decorating projects I would love to tackle around our house, but there just isn't a lot of time (or extra money) to get those done.  So many of the projects will have to wait, but I figure I can do a little something here and there to make myself feel a little better in our home.

We have had this mirror since before we even moved into this house.  I absolutely love the shape of it, but it really doesn't pop on our beige family room wall.  When my mom was visiting I was telling her how I wanted to do 'this and that' to our family room like bringing in some blue into our palette of beige, sage and cranberry.  I recently changed out the curtains, which have some blue in them and my mom suggested that I paint the mirror to bring out the blue from the curtains.

I head to our local Joann's a picked up a small tube of Martha Stewart Craft Paint in a Satin finish.  I thought about spray painting the mirror, but I really couldn't find anything that was just the right color.  When I saw Martha Stewart had a color called 'Blueberry', I knew that would be just right.  This paint is usually $1.99 at my Joann's, but I had a coupon, so it was only .99 cents!

Instagram Photo ~ thecottagemama

I taped off the interior of the mirror with painters tape.  Got out our art brushes and began painting.  I'm kind of glad I decided to paint the mirror rather than spraying it.  I had forgotten how soothing painting can be and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process.  It took me about 1 hour to paint the mirror and I let it dry overnight.  I thought the craft paint covered surprisingly well.  I wasn't quite sure how it would do since I didn't prime the mirror at all.  The next day, after the paint was dry, I removed the painter's tape and hung the mirror on the wall.

The mirror seems to have a new life again.  A once nice, somewhat drab mirror, now pops off the wall in this deep blueberry tone.  The great thing about working with timeless shapes is that you can always incorporate them into your decor.  In our next house, the blue might not work, but then I can just paint it again!  And for .99 cents, that is no problem!

This mirror makes me (and my wallet) really happy because my favorite kind of makeovers are the ones where you take something you already own and make it new again.  

Hmmmm......what can I paint next?  

DIY Craft: No-Sew Fabric Covered Box Tutorial

This past weekend I was out and about running errands on my own.  And I'm sure most of you mom's know.......I sort of felt like I was on a mini-vacation. Anyway, I stopped off at one of my favorite local thrift stores and, come to find out, the entire store was 50% off.  50% off at a thrift store?  Yes, I couldn't believe it either.  I picked up a bunch of things that I just couldn't go home without and this little metal box for 50 cents was one of them.

Here is what the box looked like when I brought it home:

Not very exciting, but it was just begging to be given new life.  So I decided to get out my craft supplies and turn it into something a little more eye-catching.  This is an easy, inexpensive craft project that can be done with mostly items you have around the house.  Granted, if you don't craft a lot you may have to buy some essentials (like spray adhesive), but you'll be able to use this things for projects in the future.

Fabric Covered Box Tutorial

by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama

Supplies:

Box ~ any size (mine was able to fit large notecards inside)

Spray Paint

Spray Adhesive

Glue Gun

Fabric (a fat quarter should be more than enough)

Trim

Scissors

Instructions:

I grabbed a can of spray paint that I happened to have around for this project.  You want to make sure you spray the inside of the box really well since that will not be covered.  Let the inside dry and then flip the box over and spray the bottom.  The rest of the box will be covered by fabric and trim so no need to worry about it's appearance.

Cut the piece of fabric for the top of the box about 1/2" larger than the box top.  Then cut small slits on the diagonal in each of the corners which will enable you to wrap the fabric around the box (like you are wrapping a gift) after you use your spray adhesive.  You are just wrapping the fabric down over about a 1/2" over the edge so that you don't see any raw edges.  The raw edge will eventually be concealed by your ribbon trim.

Measure and cut out the strip of fabric to go around the box.  You want the fabric to go all the way around the box and overlap by about an inch.  Cut the fabric wider than necessary so you can press under the top and bottom with your iron.  Press the fabric so that it is just the right size to fit your box.  Also press under the one side that will overlap in the back of the box so it looks neat and tidy.

The next part is easy.  Take your box and fabric outside and spray liberally with spray adhesive.  Place fabric on the box and smooth out any bumps.  For the top, press the over-hang pieces down a tiny bit over the sides, but remember this will be covered by trim so it doesn't have to be perfect. Spray adhesive around the main part of the box and wrap your fabric strip around the box, overlapping the strip in the back.  

Next, get out your glue gun and glue any trims that you have onto your box.  You can use anything you would like to embellish this box.  I simply used trims that were already in my stash to make this an even more budget friendly project.  I used one piece of ribbon around the top and then I layered some rickrack and ribbon around the bottom.  This is your chance to get creative!

You can use this box for just about anything.  I think it would be fun to make some of these for different holidays too.  How about one for Christmas?  It could also be an adorable recipe card box, a place to store crafting or sewing supplies, or even a pretty container for flowers........

I simply placed two of my really small ball jars (minus the lids) inside the box and filled them with water to hold the flowers.  These flowers were already growing in our yard and I love being able to use things that we already have.  

So that's it!  A super-simple craft project taking an ordinary thrift-store metal box and making it into something beautiful, special and one-of-a-kind!

Inexpensive Wall Art ~ Decorating with Paper

I love when I find a great print that can bring an entire room together.  Usually I'm looking for it in the form of fabric, but when I can't find exactly what I want, sometimes I have to turn to other sources ~ like paper.

Several months back I was shopping at my local Home Goods store and as I was going to check out this fabulous wrapping paper caught my eye.  You know how much I love patterned fabric so it was no surprise that I was drawn into this bold wrapping paper.  I needed some wrapping paper for a wedding shower gift, so I picked it up and it said $3.99 and I said 'sold!'.  Well, I wasn't even paying much attention, but when I got it home I noticed that is was Vera Bradley wrapping paper.  No wonder I liked it, I love her designs!

I used this wrapping paper to wrap of the wedding shower gift and then had quite a bit leftover.  I noticed that it actually picked up quite a few different colors that I have going on around our house, especially in the family room.  So I pulled two frames off the wall that were needing an update, cut the wrapping paper to size and framed them. 

Instant wall art ~ how great is that?  And inexpensive, to boot!

Here is a little corner of our family room with the two framed pieces of wrapping paper.  In addition to wrapping paper, think about framing fabric, wall paper or sheet music as well.  It's an easy update that can really bring a room together.  And if you get tired of it, no biggie, just change it out and move on to something new that you love.

Above is a picture of our bedroom, where I simply framed two squares of fabric to tie the room together.  Another easy, inexpensive wall art project.  Definitely a great bang for your buck!