Freebie Lettered Pillow Cover Templates

I like to change the color scheme in my living room now and then and the first thing I do when the mood strikes is sew new pillow covers.  The inspiration of my color change- my Tolix chair.   I was also inspired by antique grain sac pillows.  My modernized pillows have the same comfortable, homey feel. To my surprise, they have pillows similar to my homemade version at Pottery Barn but I think making it yourself will add more personality to your space. I found a great quote on-line and the definition of the word JOY from my iMac dictionary and used Microsoft PowerPoint to design the image. I was amazed at how easy it was to make these.  For you it’s going to be even easier because I have included  free printable templates. All you have to do is print them out on transfer paper and iron them on.

What you need:

• Canvas fabric.  I used the softer cotton canvas, not the heavy duty ones. They tend to be too stiff. Here’s a great link on how to sew easy envelope back pillow covers.
• T-shirt transfer paper.  Go to your local craft store. They usually come in ten 8 1/2 x 11 sheets in a 10 pack.

Click on the image above or below for the free printable template. Transfer paper requires that you print your image in the mirror setting.

If you want to place a letter in the center (see picture above), simply print another sheet of transfer paper with just the letter.  The font above is Zapfino and the size 150. Size of the letter will depend on your pillow size.  Cut out the image leaving about 1/8 inch border. I cut out each section or sentence (see picture above).  The goal is minimize the amount of blank transfer paper on your pillow.   Place the cut image on the pillow face down and play around with the placement prior to ironing.

Once you’ve got everything where you want it, iron one section at a time. Follow ironing direction for your transfer paper.

And voila!  I’m now thinking I should have made the ‘S’ a tad smaller but that’s okay.  My six year old thought this was the coolest project -seeing the words print out backwards then seeing the final image on the pillow facing correctly.  His exact words: “That’s amazing!”

Apothecary Terrarium

I’ve been wanting to make a terrarium with the kids for a long time now. Since it was such a beautiful, sunny day out today, it was the perfect time for us to be outdoors gathering supplies.  Most everything you need for a simple moss terrarium can be found in your yard.  For the container we used my all purpose apothecary.  I place seasonal items in it-shells in the summer, ornaments for Christmas, faux fruits. I don’t want the vessel to stain so it will only be a terrarium temporarily.   You can also use mason jars or other glass containers you have on hand.

Here’s what we gathered:
Glass container
Small stones (1/2″- 1″  round-found on our walk)
Moss (found in our front garden)
Potting soil
Terrarium charcoal (I didn’t use this but you can)
If your kids are helping with this project, Play Doh (for small houses etc.)

There are lots of different ways to make a terrarium. Here’s a simple way to put one together:

• When you gather the moss, keep approx. 1/2″ of the soil beneath it intact-they’re surprisingly easy to uproot by scooping out with a hand shovel.  Clean the debris off of the moss and set aside.
• Let’s assemble. Lay 2″ of stones at the very bottom of the container.
• Now add just enough terrarium charcoal to cover the stones. The charcoal is supposed to keep odors at bay.  Since I’m only keeping this terrarium around for a month or so, I’ve opted to go without.
• You’re ready to add potting soil.  Remember, I’m keeping some of the moss soil intact so I only added approx. 1″ of potting soil. For moss terrariums, a small amount of soil will suffice.  They can thrive on very  little.
• Place the moss on top of the potting soil.
• Add some imagination.  The kids used their Play Doh to make small houses, caves etc.  This part kept the kids busy for a while.  They kinda went overboard towards the end but this was their project so I let them use their imagination to make what they called their “little village”. Last I checked dinosaurs have taken residency.
• spritz with water to dampen.

Established terrariums can go for weeks on a spritz or two of water because as water evaporates, the moisture remains inside the container as condensation.  If your terrarium starts to fog up, remove the lid to let the moisture escape.

If you’d rather purchase a completed terrarium, visit Etsy!  You can even purchase DIY kits from Warm Country Meadows.

DIY Kit from Warm Country Meadows

Look at these adorable terrarium miniatures. These are just a few of what Shelly offers. Visit her shop, Serenity Mosaics, for more!

Red Mini Mushrooms

Mini Birdhouse

Gnome Homes

Mini Rustic Directions

Command Central

I’m a parent of 2 and work full time so you can say I’m busy. With my son in Kindergarten this year it seems like what I thought was busy before was nothing. With one in preschool and one in Kinder my husband and I have to constantly check the calendar for upcoming events.  Both my kids also bring home notes, homework etc… which we have to stay on top of.  This is nothing new. Any parent knows what I’m talking about, right? I promise this is not a venting session. Hang in there!  I’ve shared with you the Cozi calendar which is a tremendous help but I’ve dropped the ball and have forgotten to glance at my online calendar first thing in the morning.  This had to happen on my son’s picture day when I sent him off in sweats and a t-shirt (what? it was PE day and he needs to be comfortable!).  So, not only do I need a calendar on my computer and next to my computer it seems I also need to print our full week’s schedule out! Please tell me I’m not the only forgetful mom who needs major reinforcements!!  So, I got my creative juices flowing and came up with a command central, if you will. Okay, this idea is also not  new but I never saw the need for one until now.   So, here’s what my command central is-an old art frame repurposed into a fancy schmancy message board.  This is where I post the week’s schedule and any important paperwork that  needs to be completed and submitted for the week. DH and I have been good at not bogging down the board with paperwork. If there are too many reminders on the board, some will eventually get ignored.   My pea-sized brain doesn’t fit too much, remember?

I know, I know. Cork boards are so 70′s!  This is why I opted for the rich, dark brown tiles because it look a bit more modern (humor me).  I painted the old frame an antique white and love the contrast between the two.  I got lucky since 2 cork squares fit in the frame perfectly without having to cut them to size.  I covered the back with heavy duty 4-ply poster board and taped it in place. So, you ask,  why do I own such a hideous picture? I didn’t buy it for the “art”, but for the fabulous frame.  I knew I would do something with it one day.  If you find a handsome frame in a color you’re not too fond of at a yard sale, snatch it up and paint it!

With the little ones around, I opted for the giant push pins-easy to see if it just so happens to fall on the floor.

I also love these Cube Clips by Staples for hanging rather than pinning things up.

Easy To Make Ornament Wreath

I saw ornament wreaths for sale at a local store and thought they looked so fun.   I wanted a wreath ornament to match our stockings but couldn’t find any so I figured I can make them myself and for the fraction of the price.  I’ve seen some on the web for over $100! This project was $30. If you have left over round ornaments, use them and save your $$.   You’ll get plenty of positive comments and people are very impressed that it’s homemade.  Don’t tell them how easy it was to make .  BTW-these make great gifts too!

All you need is a wire hanger, pliers, glue gun, wide ribbon and round ornaments in different sizes-I like to use shatterproof ornaments.    My wire hanger was approx. 11 inches in diameter and I used 56 ornaments in varying sizes.

Untwist wire hanger and shape into a circle.  Cut off the squiggly end with your pliers. This makes it easier to string the ornaments through if the opening in the cap is not very wide.  Keep the hook end. This is what you will use to hang the wreath.

Before you string the ornaments through, glue the ornament caps in place.  As you string ornaments on, shape the wreath by shifting them in place. You’ll notice that the ornaments fit better if you alternate them left to right.

Once you’ve filled the hanger, bend the cut side of the wire with pliers as shown above. You want this to be a small narrow hook.

Hook the bent end on to the neck of the hanger.  To cover the bare top and hook, use fresh cut juniper or other greenery in your garden.  Lastly tie the ribbon around the greenery to keep then in place.  If you’re making this for someone, use faux greenery and glue on with a glue gun. Make a bow and glue in place to further hide the hook and to complete.

My 3 year old loved this project so it’s fun for the entire family.    Enjoy!

Christmas Card Holder

It’s December 1st  so Christmas cards will soon be making their way to your home.  We get quite a bit of cards so I’m trying to find a way to display them all since most are photo cards of family and friends.   There are some great X-mas card displays out there-homemade and store bought.

If you have time, the following look easy enough to make. Click on the image for a tutorial.

Pottery Barn offers a few very stylish card holders

Place cards around a dooway, window or on a bannister with Hang-Ups By Design.  Doesn’t have much charm but it gets the job done.

Cupcake Obsession

My son’s 6th birthday party was coming up and I usually buy cakes from Costco (big, cheap, fast) but this year, I tried my hand at cupcake decorating. I picked up this cute cupcake book, “Hello, Cupcake!”   Great book for starters out there-no special equipment or expensive tools neccesary!  I told my son to pick out any cupcake in the book and I would make them for his party.  He picks out the Shark Attack on page 81- perfect for his shark themed party. Looks easy enough. I plan this for weeks-bought blue cupcake liners online since they’re hard to find anywhere else, got my twinkies (4 boxes of them!) and even found the elusive Famous Chocolate Wafers by Nabisco at the local Giant grocer.    So the day of the party, I try to make the shark cupcakes but I couldn’t get them to look presentable.  2 hours before the party and all I had were 10 shark cupcakes and only 5 looked good enough to share.  Did I mention I had to make 24. I really should have practiced before hand! No time to panic, I had to think fast! I ran to the nearest bakery and picked up a half sheet of chocolate cake with white frosting.  I scrape off the small amount of white flowers and some frosting from the top to make room for my blue frosting. I then added 3 of the best looking sharks on top.  As you can see, it doesn’t look bad.  My kids liked it so much my 3 year old daughter insisted I make her a special cupcake from the book.  I made her cute little Westies. These to me were so much easier so I made 10 of them for the little girls at the party.   Not too shabby.  Although, I clearly need the practice.

Here are some inspired cupcake sites I found. Click on the photo to link to the blog.

Hello Cupcake Blog

Cupcake Bake Shop by Chocylit

Cupcakes Take The Cake

Cupcake Activist

Cupcake Journal

Cane chair makeover

How to make korker bows

My daughter had a full head of hair at birth. At 3 months, she was already wearing hair clips. My sister bought her a few boutique hair clips which ended up getting lost. I went to the same boutique and picked up a couple of bows and walked them up to the counter thinking I would be out $10 or less. Boy, was I wrong!  I was in complete shock when the lady behind the counter told me the total was $20. For 2 clips!! This is when I decided to make my own.    One of my faves are korker bows.  They’re cute on pigtails and also as a present topper for a deserving litte girl.  Everyone always gets a kick out of the 2-in-one present topper/hair clip.    Enjoy the how to.  Hope you have as much fun making hair clips as I do.

What you will need:

• 5/16 sized dowel (or 3/8 for minis)
• 3/8 sized ribbon- 2 -38 in. long peices
• clothes pins ( I use mini clothes pins. You can get a bagful at Michael’s for around a dollar)
• needle &  thread
• glue gun
• barrette or alligator clip

1.   Most store bought dowels are 36 in.  Cut in half.  You will have 2 dowels (18 in. long). 

2.   Clip the end of the ribbon to one end of the dowel with a clothespin and tightly wrap the ribbon around the dowel.  Secure the end with the clothespin

3.  Line your oven with foil or parchment paper.

4.  Place the ribbon-wrapped dowels directly on the foil or parchment and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.

5.  Let the dowel and ribbon cool before unraveling the ribbon.  

6.  Cut korkers 3” in length.

7.  To prevent fraying, use a lighter. Run the blue flame quickly over each end of the cut strips of corker.

 8.   To attach the strips, stack and arrange them so they are full all around.  Knot one end of your thread and sew the center of the stack starting from the bottom to top. Do this a few times and tightly secure the thread then dab with glue.

Glue to a barrette or a clip using a glue gun.

Easter Egg Wreath

Here’s a great easter project that will cost you less than $10.

What you need:

• Glue (glue gun works best)
• Cardboard
• Bag of plastic eggs
• Bag of wood grass shavings
• Ribbon (optional)

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• Cut out a circle from your cardboard box approx 12” in diameter.   Cut out the center leaving a 2 1/2 inch      border.  Your cardboard will look like a donut.
• Take your plastic eggs and glue them to the cardboard. Try to get the eggs as close together as possible.  There will be spaces between  the eggs and that’s okay.
• To make your wreath look fuller, you will have to glue some eggs to each other along the outside and inside of the wreath. 
• Fill spaces between the eggs & where cardboard is showing with grass.  Apply glue first then press grass into place.

• If you want to use ribbon, wrap loosely around the wreath and glue in place. 

Templates for baby

Check out these great baby item templates from Martha Sewart’s site. Awfully cute and very good things! Click on the image for the how-to and template.