Checkbook Cover Tutorial

I finally got fed up with my flimsy plastic checkbook cover that my bank gave me.  So decided to make my own!

What you'll need:

• 1 piece of outer fabric, 1 piece of inner fabric, 2 pieces of fusible interfacing each piece cut to 8" x 14"
• Sewing Machine
• Iron
• A junky checkbook cover you want to replace!

1)  Fuse your interfacing to the wrong sides of the fabric, following instructions on the package
2)  Placing right sides together, sew 1/4" from the edge of the fabric leaving a couple inch gap on one of the short ends (for turning)

3)  Clip the corners

4) Turn inside out and push out the corners (I use the back of a skewer to push the corners out, but any stick-like object would work i.e. pen, chopstick, twig)

5)  Using your iron press all of the seams and make sure to press in the few inches that you left open to turn right side out.  You should end up having a long rectangle like this:

6)  Sew 1/8" from the edge on both of the short ends of the checkbook cover

7)  Using a checkbook fold over fabric to the desired height and pin in place (can you tell I don't like measuring?).  Do this on both ends of your fabric

8)  Sew 1/4" around the entire outside edge of your cover

9)  Fold in half and press seam with your iron.  Insert your checkbook and you're finished!

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Pretty easy, huh?  And way better than the plastic one!

Magazine Bowl Tutorial

I got a lot of request for a tutorial on how to do create magazine bowls.  So without further ado, here's the tutorial!

What you'll need:

• A stack of magazines
• Hot glue gun
• Mod Podge
• Paintbrush
• A great tv show or movie to sit in front of while you mindlessly fold ridiculous amounts of paper!

And now for the fun part!
1) You will need to rip or cut out a bunch of magazine pages.
2)  Take a magazine page and fold it in half (with the image you like on the outside).

 

3)  Open it back up and fold the ends in to the center crease on both sides.

4)  Fold the long end back to the center crease one more time.

5)  Fold now along the crease so you have one strip like this:

6)  Now do this about a million more times until you have a stack of strips.

7)  Put a dab of hot glue on the end of your first strip and start rolling it up, when you get to the end put a dab of glue to hold it down.  I also usually put a dab of hot glue about half way through each strip just to secure it in place.

8)  On your next strip put a line of glue on one of the short ends.

9) Fit the strip with glue into the end of the last strip.

10)  Continue adding strips until you get your roll to the desired size of the base of your bowl. 

 

 11)  On your next strip start angling your strip upwards as you glue it down (your basically now spiraling your strips upward to your desired height).

12) Keep adding strips until it is as tall as you want your bowl to be.  Then at the top I add one more strip to the top to make sure that the top is even and not crooked.

13)  With your paintbrush apply a coat of Mod Podge.

14)  Allow the first coat of Mod Podge to dry and then add a second and you're done! (The inside of the small bowl looks a little off because the coat of modpodge hadn't dried on that one yet)

Hope everyone enjoys making their own magazine bowls.  I would love to see pictures of how yours turn out!!!

Magazine Bowls

My big sister, Steph, gave me this great bowl that she made for my birthday this year.  My husband almost immediately after my sister left the house staked his claim on it because he loved it!  I loved it too and it didn't matter so much because it was in a shared space for a long time.

 But then we got new, bigger, nightstands and he officially stole it and put it on his nightstand.  So what's a girl to do?  Make another one!  Or two...or three!

This was super easy, but time consuming.  It's a lot of paper folding and then paper rolling but I think they are great and a good way to use those extra magazines you've got sitting around!  Be warned though, if you start this project, it is slightly addicting.  I have made three and have the paper folded for a fourth already!  I have posted the full tutorial here.

 

I'm trying out for 1 Month 2 Win it...wish me luck!

Chalkboard Box

I've really been loving everything made with chalkboard paint that I have been seeing all over the place.

So I decided to jump on the bandwagon and bought some chalkboard spray paint and decided to make something myself (Why I decided I needed to put corks in it I'm not sure...they just looked kinda cool sitting there next to my box).


I decided to take this thrift store box that I got for fifty cents and give it a makeover.

First, I ripped out the fuzzy lining.  Ahh it's already starting to look better!

Then I put on three coats of Krylon chalkboard spray paint.  I let it dry overnight and then had my very own chalkboard box.

Dollar Store Frame Spruce Up!

Okay, I may be starting to get addicted to spray painting now.  I had this gold dollar store frame that I liked the pattern on, but I'm not really a gold person.  And this is the only gold thing in my house, unless you count the brass fireplace cover, that will soon be getting a makeover itself.

I have a can of grey gloss spray paint from my bowl re-vamp that I thought I would use on this frame too!

Here it is on my shelf with a picture of my sister, mom, grandma and me in it!

p.s. Don't you love the octopus print on the wall?!?

Thrift Store Bowl Re-Vamp

I found this bowl for $1.50 at a local thrift store.  I loved the shape! I did not love the brassy finish.

I was headed to Fred Meyer's to pick up a few things so decided to check out their spray paint section.  They had a pretty good selection to choose from.  And best of all, they were all on sale!  So what color to choose?  If you knew me in real life, you probably wouldn't even have to think about the answer.  Why grey of course!

 

So with an inexpensive thrift store bowl and a can of Krylon gloss spray paint I transformed my brassy bowl into something more modern and much more my style:

 

Braided Headband

I guess I'm really into hair accessories lately since this is my second hair accessory tutorial in just a few weeks.  I got a braided headband about a year ago from Urban Outfitters, and it seemed like something I could make myself.  So I went ahead and tried!

What you'll need:

• Three strips of fabric, I did mine about 16 inches long, but ended up having a pretty long piece of elastic, so if I were to do it again, I'd use around 20 inches strip of fabric
• Elastic (1/8 of an inch of 1/4 of an inch; I didn't have any this size so took a half inch elastic and cut it down the middle)
• Bobby pins or clip of some sort to hold ends together
• Sewing machine or needle and thread
• Scissors

1)  Clip your three strips of fabric together at the top with your bobby pin (or clip).
2)  Braid your fabric together until you reach the end of the strips.

3)  Once you've reached the end of your fabric sew the ends together using your sewing machine or needle and thread.  Trim any excess fabric.

4)  Place your braided fabric on your head and then measure how long a piece of elastic you will need.
5)  Cut your elastic about a half inch shorter than what you measured (this makes sure that headband will stay on and not be too big).
6)  Sew one end of the elastic to the end of the fabric braid.
7)  Now sew the other end of the elastic to the other end of the fabric braid.

Now you've got your headband!