Rope Toy Up-Cycle {using old clothes}

Today I spent some time up-cycling my daughters old clothes into rope toys for our puppy. Having a child means having a ton of extra clothes at the end of every season – well…if they have grandparents that tend to buy them 20 extra pairs of everything. lol. I hate getting rid of so much stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I love donating to our Goodwill, but lately it seems like I’m there a LOT.

Our puppy Doc is getting bored with his old toys and is chewing on everything. These cute rope toys are going to remedy that {I hope}.

What I used:

Children's clothing

Scissors

Really, that’s all you need :)

I love using my daughter’s clothes. When you mix cute little girly patterns with cute little girly colors, they always turn out so pretty.

 

In particular, I love lacy skirts and shirts. The lace works well for tying the ends and gives the rope that extra something.

To start, you’ll want to cut your strips. I like mine between 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Depending on your fabric (and the size of your pup) you might want to go a bit wider.

Make sure they are all the same length.

You’ll find that your fabric with a pattern might roll in a way that make the pattern not show. This can be annoying, but I just keep flipping it back out.

Tie your beginning point. Braid. Tie your ending point. DONE!

Don’t worry about cutting your strips perfect, or braiding perfect. They come out cute no matter what.

 

Cute? The pup likes them :) And speaking of pup, the little guy is getting big.

He's a big mama's boy. But shhh....it's a secret :)

Hope everyone’s week is great!

xoxox

Jessica

Linking to these parties:
{Primp} - The Shabby Creek Cottage

The $5 Goodwill Chair Makeover

I bought this chair at Goodwill for $5. It was a bit banged up and worn when I got it. Paint was fading and the bottom legs were chewed up. But it was solid and sturdy.

Here's the before….

When I was doing this one, I didn’t know what look I was going for. I just started painting and then sanding. I tend to go into a lot of my projects this way. lol. But it works for me and I do what works ;)

When I was done sanding, I used my stencils and painted the number 24. Once that dried it got a little sanding too.

I used a spray clear top coat for protection. It dries fast and is easy to apply. Oddly enough, I was attacked by wasps while doing this part. Ugh…I can’t remember the last time I was stung by a bee, but it HURT!

Now to go get some bee spray and get rid of those monsters so I can finish my other projects!

Linking to these parties:
C.R.A.F.T. - The Girl Creative - Sumo's Sweet Stuff - Funky Junk Interiors
Elizabeth & Co. - A Bowl Full Of Lemons - Coastal Charm - Primitive & Proper
The Shabby Creek Cottage

DIY Bed Skirt Pillow

If you are in need of some decorative pillows such as this but don’t want to spend a ton of money on them…keep reading….

I spent a total of $1.25 on this pillow.

What makes this pillow so cheap? A bed skirt :)

What you’ll need:

One bed skirt you aren't using {any size}

Something to fill the inside (I bought a regular pillow @ Wal-Mart for $2.50 and used the stuffing)

Sewing Machine

Thread

Scissors

First, you’ll need to cut the middle out of the bed skirt. This is the part that you’ll be using for the pillow fabric.

For the actual pillow…I sort of followed this tutorial by Midwestern Girl DIY.

It was a little time consuming but the pillow is so darling I think it was time well spent.

I also used a bed skirt for a stuffed animal organizer you can check out here.

That’s all :)

Linking to these parties:
Crafty Scrappy Happy - Show and Tell Friday - Feathered Nest Friday - The Shabby Nest

Thrift Find Round-Up

Yesterday I spent most of the day hitting garage sales and flea markets with my mom and daughter. Thanks to my handy-dandy iPhone we were able to take craigslist with us to find all the good sales. I don't know how I ever lived without that thing...serious.

Of all the sales we hit, I purchased the bulk of my stuff from one garage sale. And to be honest, we almost didn't stop because it looked like pure junk...and not "good" junk either. But it turned out to be a gold mine for "good" junk. Check it out...

Over the holidays this past year I accumulated a couple of scentsy warmers. I am kinda on the fence about whether I like them or not but oddly enough I found some cheap blocks at the same garage sale that had the junk and pretty much had to buy them.







I couldn't believe this antique fan was going for $12.00. Kinda had to have that too...

 Isn't it adorable?

 



And this storage bin for $2.00....can't let that go to waste! I'm not sure what I'll do with it but I'll do something....

 



These pizza boards came from one of the flea market vendors I hit up. A buck a piece. I'm going to make signs or chalkboards out of them.







Oh and did you notice the cute little table? I just got this a week ago and am pretty much in love with it. When I moved into my current place, I was using a little bistro like deck set as a table. My place doesn't really have a designated dining space but with a family it's hard not to have a real table and chair set.


So the idea was to get a table that is small enough for our space but could expand for company. I had a vision of an old table and mismatched chairs that I will paint to match.

The problem is, I am really liking the old wood finish on this piece.

And because I have great family...I inherited two high back chairs to go with the table. I can't wait to see how these all look together when I'm done with them.



 



And last but not least on the puppy diaries....SLEEP SLEEP and more SLEEP for this little guy. Other than that...it's PEE PEE and more PEE followed by making his older brother mad!

Happy Sunday everyone :)

Slap-Happy DIY Wooden Sign

Do you know what it’s like to be slap-happy?

No?

Me neither! Bahahahahah ;)

But I’m pretty sure everyone has an idea of what it is.  And after you see just how cheap this project is…I think you’ll be slap-happy too!

What I used:

Wood (Menards - $.69 a piece!)

Stencils (Menards - $3.99 a pack…reusable)

Paint Brush (Menards – $.99 a piece)

Paint (I already had)

Sharpie Marker (I already had)

I about fell over when I stumbled on these $.69 wood planks.  Sixty-Nine Cents??!!

I purchased this yellow Behr paint when I first started on this blogging journey…months ago. I used it on my laminate shelving project (you can read about it here).

Using my stencils and a sharpie marker, I made the outline. {Notice my daughters cute sign she designed herself}.

Once I had the outline in place, I colored it in with a larger sharpie marker.

 

It actually looks pretty cool. Nothing else needed…but I’ve been thinking about sanding it to see how it comes out. What do you think?

I was hesitant to post this as I made the sign just for laughs. But it’s been turning all kinds of heads at our house. So I thought….what the heck…here it is!

Here’s the end product of my daughter’s hard work. Cute right?? She’s pretty talented :) It’s going in her bedroom.

Oh and guess who joined our family yesterday?? Mr. Doc himself. He's a german wirehair pointer and SUCH a sweet little guy. I’m already super attached :) He makes us all a little slap-happy ;)

And as I come to a close on this post,

I’ll leave you with one question….

Are you slap-happy?

;)

Linking to:
My Romantic Home - French Country Cottage - The Shabby Nest - Someday Crafts - Whipperberry
I Heart Nap Time - Its So Very Cheri