Crafts

It’s really strange but some of my most creative ideas come to me right as I’m falling asleep or randomly in the middle of the night.  This is one of those ideas – making a DIY placemat clutch purse!

I have NO idea why I thought of this.  Maybe it’s because I go out to the clubs all the time and am in constant need of cute clutch purses.  (Um . . . no.)  

Maybe it’s because I’m totally in tune with the fashion trends.  (Womp womp.)  

Maybe it’s because my brain is strange.  (Ding Ding Ding – we have a winner!)

Regardless of the reasoning behind the clutch, I’m pleasantly surprised with how cute it turned out!  Bonus was that it really did not take long to make!  

Supplies Needed for a DIY Placemat Clutch Purse

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• Placemat
• Large sewing needle
• Embroidery floss
• Velcro
• Buttons or other embellishments
• Iron
• Fabric glue or hot glue

How to Make a Placemat Purse

First, determine how wide you want your clutch to be.  I thought that it would be too wide if I simply folded the placemat in half.  I turned the placemat to be vertical on the table and then folded the left and right sides inward about one inch.  I pinned those and ironed them down.  

Once the sides were ironed, I folded the placemat in half, horizontally, with the ironed sides facing in. Then I began to sew those seams shut along the edges.  

I sewed about two-thirds of the way up.  Once I reached that point, I only sewed the bottom layer of the placemat.  The top layer was left untouched.  (I hope this description makes sense. . . )

Next I folded the top layer of the placemat over, facing outward, and ironed it. I then sewed it down, using my embroidery floss again.  

Then I glued Velcro to both of the flaps. I think I was a little aggressive in my Velcro application. I definitely did not need to use that huge strip on the bottom flap . . . I think those little Velcro dots would have been sufficient. What can I say? I love Velcro?  

Finally, I sewed on some cute little buttons for a fun dose of the blingety bling.  

Cute, right?!  

I kind of need to go out so I can use this. . . .it’s not exactly practical for the playground with my kiddos.  

So what do you think? Would you try and pass off a DIY placemat clutch as a purse?

– Bre

I love the look of embellished grapevine wreaths on front doors, but I could never use them because my front door is dark stained wood and the wreath just blended right in with the door. (This is even more of a problem since I refinished my door last summer.)

On a recent trip to Michaels, however, I decided to go out on a limb and purchase a grapevine wreath anyway. (I like to live dangerously, people!) And of course, when I got it home, I immediately knew that it wasn’t going to work without some tweaking. Duh. So I got a little crazy and decided to PAINT it.

What tha’ what?

And now I have a chalk painted grapevine wreath adorning my front door. And part of me really likes it, and the other part isn’t so sure about it. (Maybe when it is no longer -31 with windchill I will have the luxury of standing outside my front door and really studying the wreath to decide if I like it. But for now, it will stay there because I have nothing else to replace it with.)  

[Read more…] about Chalk Painted Grapevine Wreath {A Wreath for All Seasons}

Whew! It’s time for another Monthly DIY Challenge! Can you believe it? I sure can’t! (In case you’re new here, some blogger friends and I team up to share projects with a common theme on the second Wednesday of each month. You can check out all of the projects, which are linked at the bottom of this post!)

This month we had to use plumbing pieces.  [Insert LOUD, annoying, negative buzzer sound here.]  

I am NOT a fan of plumbing pieces. They scare me. They took me outside of my comfort zone (aka any aisle in Michaels). I was a TOTAL fish out of water** on this one, folks. Literally, I was wandering the aisles of the home improvement store looking at all of this plumbing stuff, just praying that NOBODY would ask me if I needed help. I didn’t want to be like “Oh yeah, I’m just browsing.” ‘Cause who browses for plumbing pieces?! Awkward.

Luckily there were no helpful sales associates at the store that day, so I sucked it up and did the best I could on my own.  I found some cool looking copper pipe straps and used them in a piece of DIY art for my kitchen.

[Read more…] about Plumbing Pieces Kitchen Art

Thank you to DecoArt for sponsoring this post.  The project and opinions are my own.

I looooove jewelry.  Any kind.  Expensive or inexpensive;  subtle or over the top – it really doesn’t matter to me.  As long as it adds some interest to my outfit, I’m all about it.  Needless to say,  I had a blast making (and wearing) these easy DIY painted leather bracelets, which only required a few supplies and a little bit of time!

[Read more…] about Easy DIY Painted Leather Bracelets

I think I’ve mentioned before that I have hoarder-like tendencies from time to time.  Recently, I began stashing away glass jars that previously held things like salsa, spaghetti sauce, and alfredo sauce.  I had them all lined up near my craft desk, just waiting to be used.

Then one day, I finally decided I had to use them or recycle them.  So I got to experimenting and figured out a way to make them glitter-tastic with a homemade glitter glaze.  After they dried, I dolled them up a bit, and now they look like this!  

It was super easy, so let me show you how to do it, too.

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy to learn more.

Remove labels from jars

First up, I had to get those super-sticky labels off the jars. I started by soaking them in water to loosen the adhesive as much as possible. Then I switched to Goo Gone to get the rest of the stickiness off.

Once the labels were off, I thoroughly washed the jars with soap and water.

Mix Mod Podge and glitter

Next, I mixed up a concoction of Mod Podge and gold glitter acrylic paint.  I did not measure how much I used, but there was much more Mod Podge than there was glitter paint.  

For what it’s worth, I used glossy Mod Podge, but I don’t really think the finish matters.

Pour the glitter mix into the jars

After that, I poured some of the Mod Podge/Glitter Paint mixture into each jar and swirled it around until the entire jar was coated.

Next, I turned the jars upside down so that the excess Mod Podge/Glitter mixture could drain.

Once all of the excess had run off, I turned the jars over and let them dry for approximately 18 hours.  (I’m glad that bottle of wine made it into this photo.  Classy.)

Pro tip I learned since this article was originally written so long ago: use a hairdryer on low heat and speed to expedite the drying process. You can make this project MUCH faster that way!

Once dry, they looked so pretty and glittery!

I just loved them and decided they’d make a perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece. So I embellished them a bit by adding some twine at the top (this also helped to hide expiration dates that were printed on the exterior of some of the jars), putting some faux flowers in each jar, and using clothespins to affix paper letters spelling “GATHER.”

The best part of using clothespins to attach the letters is that I can easily remove them to use the jars in a different way at Christmas! How beautiful will they be with battery-operated tea lights inside?

I just love them and can’t wait to see them on my Thanksgiving table. I also love that I transformed some old containers into something beautiful for hardly any money at all!

Oh yeah, and I also love how my husband has the BEST time rearranging the jars so that they spell other things.  Can I just say that he is super awesome?  
– Bre

Need some mouse ears for a Halloween costume or a trip to Disney? Learn how to make no-sew DIY Mickey Mouse ears in this tutorial!

I cannot believe this, but my daughter does not want to be Elsa from Frozen for Halloween.  I am quite certain she’s the exception to the rule for the 4 year old girl demographic.  Instead, she decided to be Minnie Mouse after her little brother decided he wanted to be Mickey Mouse.

I am one happy mama.  A cute, coordinated costume for the two of them, and I didn’t even have to beg or bribe?  It’s a miracle!

Anyway, I went to buy their costumes at my favorite big box store that shall remain nameless, and found that the costumes were: (1) expensive; and (2) junky.  Like full of holes junky.  

So, I decided that with hardly any effort at all, I could make them decent Mickey and Minnie costumes.  (Luckily they’re young and won’t really know if their costumes are the laughingstock of the neighborhood.)

In case I fail miserably, I decided to start this costume-making process early.  But I’m happy to say that I’ve gotten the ears down, and can show you how to make your own DIY Mickey Mouse ears and DIY Minne Mouse ears in 10 minutes or less!

Supplies Needed to Make DIY Mickey Mouse Ears or DIY Minnie Mouse Ears

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You hardly need any supplies to make these DIY mouse ears, which is a total bonus.

• Black Headband
• Stiffened Felt (in black) (I got this at Michaels in the same aisle as craft felt.  It is about $2.00 per sheet, but it’s thicker and sturdier.)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Soup Can
• Scrap Paper
• Polka Dotted Ribbon (if you’re making Minnie Mouse ears)
• Silver or White Sharpie
• Fabric Scissors

How To Make DIY Mickey Mouse Ears or DIY Minnie Mouse Ears

Now that you have your supplies, let’s make the cutest DIY mouse ears around!

First, get a soup can and trace two circles about 1/4″ apart from one another on a sheet of construction paper.  

Chicken soup, tomato soup, Italian wedding soup . . . pick your favorite flavor! 🙂

Next, connect the two circles with two concave lines.

Then cut out your template.

After that, trace the template onto stiffened felt using a metallic Sharpie. You’ll need to use a metallic or white Sharpie so that you can actually see the mouse ears outline.  

Repeat the tracing process, and then cut out both sets of ears.

With your headband nearby, place hot glue in the middle portion of the ears.

Then, press that hot glued part of the felt onto the underside of the headband, and fold the circles upwards toward each other.

Put glue all over the inside of the circles and press them together to close them up.

Note that while I used fabric glue to do this, hot glue will work just fine!

Now you’re finished if you want DIY Mickey Mouse ears!

If you want Minnie Mouse ears, make a bow out of polka dotted ribbon and glue that to the middle of the headband.

SUPER easy! And fast! And inexpensive! And . . . your kids will love them just like mine love theirs!

I am pretty proud of myself for figuring this out and for deciding to DIY their costumes this year.  I just hope it doesn’t backfire . . . I guess we’ll see come October 31!

How to Make Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse Ears

Yield: 1

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Active Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated Cost: $2

Make your own DIY Mickey Mouse ears or Minnie Mouse ears! Perfect for Halloween or child dress up.

5.0 Stars (29 Reviews)

Print

Materials

• Black Headbands
• Black Stiffened Felt
• Fabric Glue
• Polka Dot Ribbon
• Sharpie
• Soup Can
• Paper

Tools

• Sharp Fabric Scissors
• Hot Glue Gun

Instructions

1. Using the soup can, trace two circles about 1/4″ apart from one another on a sheet of construction paper.  
2. Connect the two circles with two concave lines. Cut out the template.
3. Trace the template onto stiffened felt using a metallic Sharpie so that you can see the outline. 
4. Place some hot glue in the middle portion of the ears. Affix that portion of the ears to the bottom side of the headband, folding upwards.
5. Place hot glue or fabric glue all over the inside of one of the circles, and press the circles together to close them up.
6. If making Minnie Mouse ears, create a bow with polka dot ribbon and hot glue to the headband.

Have you ever DIY’d a Halloween costume?  How did it turn out for you?