Decorating Cans with Scrapbooking Embellishments

I recently made a few updates to my craft supply containers and thought I'd share, as a follow up to my Decorating Mason Jars post.

I had saved some leftover cans with pull-top lids from the recycling. I love these types of cans because I don't have to use a can opener and (best of all) it means I can REUSE them and not worry about jagged edges around the top lip. I

We also finished a tin of cocoa and although the "tins" are cardboard, they also have clean edges and they wash out well enough to be reused for craft storage purposes.

Now, I am not into scrap booking - I don't have the money, space or patience for that kind of hobby. But I do love paper crafts and some of the cute things made for scrap booking... such as this adhesive turquoise scrap booking edging found on a trip to the dollar store.

I spray painted the cans white and used some leftover wall paint for the cocoa tin (Benjamin Moore's Waterfall).
The scrap booking edging was very easy to apply to the two small cans. Then I used the white non-stick backing from it to decorate the cocoa tin, which was a tad trickier; I stuck it down with Mod Podge.

While I had the paintbrush out to paint the cocoa tin, I also grabbed a few glass items I had lying around. I did a coat on the inside, then a coat of Mod Podge to seal it.

I also recently bought a big paper cutter which I used to make some craft supply labels. Note particularly fancy, but I love it.

So those are my recent, though meager, craft attempts. Lately we have been spending a LOT of time planning our kitchen renovations, which hasn't left much time for anything else!

Happy crafting!

Cheap Dog Toy

Here's something I whipped up for Molly last week when she was driving me nuts (I was super busy and she was clearly bored). She loves new toys but, unfortunately, dog toys are so EXPENSIVE which I think is ridiculous, because she rips them to shreds and then tires of them a few days later. What a waste!
 

This is my upcycled version, using one of her favourite tennis balls and an old sock that lost its elasticity during the winter. I slipped the ball into the sock and nestled it into the hell of the sock. Then I tied two knots either side to keep the ball in place. It bounces when we throw it, it's a great tug-o-war toy and I have the other sock to slip the tennis ball into when she finally rips this one apart.

It's similar to the sweater sleeve + soda bottle toy I made a while ago (which she still adores). Any old clothing that the thrift store refuses or throws into land fill could be reused this way.

Basically, she loves old clothing tied around something hard. I could just shove any of her preexisting hard chew toys into a sock and wait a few days for her to fish it out.

What else could I shove into a sock/ sweater sleeve? I'd love your opinions/ feedback!!!

Bunting Wrapping Idea

My MIL is coming to visit next weekend and to save on postage in May for Mother's Day, I have her pressie all ready to give her.

I am a big fan of bunting at the moment and this was the best I could come up with in 5 minutes :)

Happy crafting!

Pillow Case Box

I ditched school work today in favour of some crafting :)

Here is my creation; A fabric box made using an old pillow case and some cardboard!

I started with a plain white pillow case from the thrift store. We live in a tourist town, so lots of plain white hotel linens end up at the thrift store. Woo-hoo!

I trimmed off the band at the open end of the pillow case and later used it as a handle on the box.

I then sat the pillow case on the counter to create a flat base. I rolled down the top part so that I could see the corners. It's exactly how I made the tiny fabric box in this post.

I then marked straight lines across the corners...

Difficult to see the pencil marks, but they're there!

Then I sewed along the pencil lines.

The triangular flaps were long enough to sew together, so I did :)

Here you can see the box standing up, but it has no support.

Inside of the box...

(note: this is a great time to attach a handle to the box. The band I cut off at the beginning worked well - but I forgot to take photos of this step! I also should have ironed it, but didn't realize how crinkled the finished box would look.)

To give it some support, I used some cardboard I had lying around.

I made a box shape using the cardboard...

 

... Then stretched the pillow case around it...

... Then shoved the base to the bottom and hid all the rough edges.

I glued the excess pillow case (the raw edge from taking off the band) back up inside the box. I then glued the base of the box around the bottom edge to keep everything in place.

Here it is looking tidy-ish:

Ta-da!

The bottom of the box:

Inside the box:

I saw some similar boxes at Home Hardware for $7 each, but this one took me 25 minutes to make and cost me $1.50.

And because it is plain white, it's a blank canvas to decorate. Flowers, accent fabrics, labels... the possibilities are endless. How would you decorate it?

Happy crafting!

Shamrock Accessories

Apologies for the long delay between posts - I am officially back at school, doing my Master of Education degree (part-time and externally) but still working full time. All spare "crafting" time has simply disappeared from my schedule... a small compromise for a better education, I suppose.

But, given that I still work with children in a creative environment, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do something for St Patrick's Day.

Here are my 5-minute Shamrock Accessories :)

I used:
Green string
A tiny scrap of fabric
A safety pin
A headband
My glue gun

I wrapped the yarn around two fingers to form two diagonally opposite leaves then tied them in the middle.

I repeated the same to create the other two leaves and bound them to the other leaves.

The loose ends were tied together.

I wish I had photos to demonstrate, but my fingers were (literally) tied up.

I used hot glue to attach a safety pin to the back and covered it with a tiny scrap of fabric so the glue had something to attach to.

For the headband, I just tied the loose ends around the band. No glue necessary.

And there you have my St Paddy's Day accessories. I wore the headband and attached the pin to my green sweater. It took me a total of 5 minutes and fully intend to use them again next year :)

Happy crafting!

No-measuring Fabric Boxes

I am sure I am not the first to figure this out, but after lots of experimentation at my sewing machine today, I have an awesome box pattern to show you. It involves only 4 seams and a hem. I have used this pattern before, actually, when I made my sewing machine cover.

Actually, I don't know if I can call it a pattern. There are no measurements involved. I read a blog post lately where someone said they 'eyeballed it', so I guess that's what I did today too.

And before I start, I need to mention that I am terrible at sewing. But, because every cloud has a silver lining, I am awesome with a quick unpick. And I am not going to let my faults stop me from sharing this with you.

First of all, you need to make a little pillow-case like sack. If you can do this without instructions, skip to step 3. Or, just grab a pillow case!

1. Grab a strip of fabric. Cut the long edges with pinking shears and roll and iron the short edges.

2. Fold in half lengthways and sew up the side seams. Hem the top edge.

 3. Not sure how to describe step 3, so I'll let the picture do the talking. With the bag still inside out, sit it like this:

 4. Next, you are going to sew over the corners you created (the red lines in the picture below). This is the 'eyeballing' part that I mentioned before.

5. Once you have sewn the corners, flip the box inside out to make sure they are in the right place.

Looking at the bottom, you can see the 4 seams that you have created:

6. If you're satisfied with it, then go ahead and chop off the corners.

 And viola! You have a box!

I also used this method to make a little denim box using the leg of some old jeans. And I am sure there are other ways to use this very simple method. I was wondering if a pillow case would be the correct size to make a crate liner? Or if I could jazz up an old cardboard box by actually measuring it... Time will tell!!!

Happy crafting!

Sewn Storage

I have been messing around with my sewing machine quite a lot today. It took me ages to achieve something, but I had a few scraps of fabric and a very full recycling bag.

These are my creations:

Right now my creations are all taking up residence in the bathroom, but it's a temporary home. Still not sure where/how I should use them.

But for now, I am off to bed. I will have tutorials up tomorrow :)