Good morning :) Internet issues here... I'm stressed! wasted an hour of my time fixing what windows was suppose to update...
I should have finished this tutorial last night, but I didn't remember that it was not done til about 1 am :D

Anyways today I'm going to show you how to make faux Jute baskets, they are so cute!!

I drink a lot of coffee, more coffee than anyone should have in a day. Of course I go though alot of it, therefore with that comes a lot of coffee cans. I started saving them to put the lil ones crayons and pencils and whatever crafting supplies that need a container, I mean why buy it when you already have it right?
Well as practical as that was, I cant say it looked to cute sitting on her desk. First I covered them in fabric... they were cute but none of them really went with anything around the house.
I have these adorable Ikea baskets. I love them, they are made of rattan and I wanted something that looked organic and natural so that it would blend with the decor I'm trying to go with.

When I was younger I use to make Hemp bead necklaces and I use to love working with the rope. I could make anything with that rope, I even made purses with it. Well I figured, why not cover the cans in hemp?
Well I got on Amazon and started looking at the hemp ropes and none of them were the size that I wanted, then Amazon recommended Jute. I had no idea what jute was until I saw it. Now I am in love! I swear if I would cover everything I could with jute if hubby let me. Anyways enough rambling and lets get to work ;)

Materials:

Jute ( I got mine at Amazon, I covered these cans and I still have one whole roll left and I only spent $ 5 on both rolls)

Glue Gun/ Glue sticks 

Cans (any kind )

*Please read all directions before starting project*

1. Gather materials, remove can label.

2. Starting at the top of the can, start coiling while adding glue.Pull the rope tight as you coil it. You don't want it all lose and weird ( your thumbs might be sore after this). The top part requires you to add glue as you would normally, but on the sides you can bead it. Little drops spaced out so your glue can last longer.

3. Keep going around the can. Make sure that the layers of rope are as close as possible, as I added rope, while the glue is still hot I pushed the rope tight into the layer above it with a pencil eraser or you can just use your finger nail if you can stand the heat.

4. Keep going until the sides are completely covered. Its up to you if you want to do the bottom of the can and that's basically it. Now you have yourself an adorable container. It takes a bit of your time. I watched a movie while doing this. The time you spend doing this is worth it. I have these in our bathrooms and one in my kitchen. I can put anything in them. I've used all my coffee can and now I get to enjoy coffee while knowing that I can recycle the can after :)

I loved making these. Its very calming and tedious at the same time..lol Have fun!!

9:36 AM

We have a real issue in this house with stuffed animals, I'm sure anyone with kids can relate. They are seriously everywhere! I've been thinking for a long time in what to make so I can keep these little monsters somehow contained. I looked at the DIY cages, those bags that hold them that look like bean bags. I had an issue with all of them.

One I don't want to spend the money buying anything. I mean I figured I could somehow make something out of an item that I am no longer using.

Two. I am a beginner when it comes to sewing and my machine is also for beginners. I did not want to try to attempt that 5 pannel bean bag. It was exhausting just reading the directions.

It was sometime last week that I was cleaning. I looked in the Lil One's closet and wanted to scream. There were stuffed animals all over the floor, toys all over the floor and clothes I swear I just folded the day before.
Yeah, she's a messy girl. Considering she use to have a playroom and since we've moved, her toys now have to share a walk in closet with her clothes. She has no room for anything. Now this is after we donated more than half her big toys that she's grown out of.

Anyways back to the point. I decided I needed to make something right then to fix the problem. I looked in my fabric stash ( all donated by friends or old clothes/curtains/sheets/blankets that we no longer use) and found a strip of fleece that one of my girls donated to me ( thanks woman!). Yeah it looks like its for a boy, but seriously who cares. The Lil one did but I explained to her that it was a quick solution and I would replace it with "prettier" fabric when I found the right one.

Materials
1. Any fabric. Handles(6 of these) Body measures 46x32
2. Coordinating thread
3. Sewing machine
4. Fabric scissors

*Please read all directions before starting project.

1.Laid my fabric out, It came from a friend like this so I just eye balled it and measured it after I cut out the part that I wanted for the straps. Decide how big of a bag you want. Mine measured 46x32.

2. Take the smaller part or the fabric that you cut off and cut it into 3 long straps then cut those in half. Turn those wrong side out and Pin. Do this to all 6 of them.

3. Sew along the long part of the fabric. Make sure that the front of your fabric is on the inside. Then sew ONE end close.

4.Turn them right side out and they should look like so.

5. Take the "bag" part and turn it inside out, then sew the sides.

6. Take the top of your bag and pin it to an inch seam allowance, decide where you need the straps, pin all 6 straps to both sides of the bag, 3 on each side. Then sew the top of the bag all the way down.

7. When that is done go back to your straps and sew the top parts of it to the straps to the bag. Do this with each strap it will reinforce it.

8. Turn it inside out and tie it to wherever you need it, tie straps in a bow then your done!. Simple quick storage solution.

*This pic will show you exactly how big the bag is and how may stuffed animals it should fit, yes it's almost as big as she is.

9:17 AM

Wanted to make hubby a catch all bowl so he can stop taking up all my bar space. Hmm whats the cheapest and best way I can do it with recycled products? Paper Mache :) You can find the tutorial here at The Lulu Bird. I used a different glue recipe though. 1 c of Flour, 5 c of water. Heat in a pot and stir till it has the consistency of glue. Here's a pic, keep in mind I had at least 3 glasses of wine before I took this picture and I was on the phone with a girlfriend :)

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Again, still trying to decide how to paint it, but I'll make a post when I do. Oh yeah, I did 3 layers of glue and paper.

10:13 PM

This has got to be the most useful thing ever. If you can recall I covered those tin cans with fabric, well when I made those fabric boxes. Considering how many I thought I needed it was just exhausting thinking about doing all that sewing. I love to sew, I love doing it for fun, I dont want it to feel like a dam job and that what it would have felt like If I sewed as many as I wanted. Let me get to the point. I found an easier way to do it ( thank god!) The tutorial is at In My Own Style. Keep in mind if you have been saving your cardboard boxes you can make your own boxes. I personally wanted to make the boxes for storage for my pantry. I shaped the boxes to what I wanted to store and now its so much more organized in there.

These are one of my own while making it. I use bobby pins to keep the edges down. It dries within 3 minutes. Of course I also did not use white glue, I used Modge Podge :)

10:00 PM

I loved doing this, and it was so easy.  I simply saved my tin cans from whatever ( soup, veggies, coffee) peeled off the paper, ran it though the dishwasher. Ordered me some Modge Podge from amazon, which is so much cheaper than any craft store ( especially with Primes free shipping) used and old make up brush to apply the modge podge to the DRY tin can. Cut some fabric to fit the cans before hand, applied those to the modge podge covered cans then Viola! Storage space to put any writing utensil, makeup or whatever can fit in the can.

These are currently sitting on our Little Ones desk holding her makers,crayons and pencils. For an in detailed tutorial visit Simplicity in the South. Remember the less you throw away the smaller your family's foot print is :)

8:15 PM

I do most of my crafting at night when I tuck the little one in, and every once in a while I have a bit of wine while crafting. I'm pretty sure I had more than a glass the night I tried to make this...

Yeah it looks normal now, but wait until you compare it to the tutorial..lol

Made it for the hubby to keep his car cleaner, yeah I know it super girly fabric but he dint mind. The fabric was sale and he loves saving money. I'm also pretty sure it's sitting in his car empty and unused. The next time I go in there and find it empty I intend on taking it back and just using it myself :) The fabric and interface is left over from the grab and go traveler. I think the only thing I did different was the little top stitch on top so now it looks nothing like the bucket in the tutorial. It's a different interface than what the tutorial asked for but I'm all about using what I have. When I pinned this and decided to make it that night I had no intentions on going to the store and spending more money on interface. I think it still turned out quite well considering I spent no money on it. 

The tutorial can be found at Art gallery Graphics. Enjoy :)

7:31 PM

I needed some storage for our bathroom and I refuse to spend $15 dollars a pop for a bin, well at least not when I could just easily make it. Keep in mind this is only my second or third sewing project, therefore I am learning, my point is don't judge me monkey :P

This project cost me nothing. I used an old sheet of ours for fabric and an amazon box.

The tutorial is for the smaller box on the right. I doubled the measurements and added pockets for my second box. The tutorial is from Crazy Mom Quilts.

4:41 PM