I saw an idea for a DIY denim rug a couple weeks ago! And I knew it was going to be perfect for me, because I had so many freecycled pairs of jeans, that I knew were waiting for their moment! And it finally came! Unfortunately it didn’t use up as many pairs, as I was hoping (only 1 1/2 or 3 pant legs )
Here is what you are going to need:
- Old jeans
- Scissors
- Fabric
- Sewing Machine
Then simply follow my easy instructions and enjoy!
I hope this was nice and easy, let me know how your rug turns out!
Today I am going to share something that every crocheter needs to try at least once in their lives – crocheting with fabric! It’s easy, fast, but the prep is extremely time consuming!
I am going to share how to make a set of coasters using this technique. I hope you remember my newly freecycled coffee table! Well, even though I got it for free, I didn’t want to ruin it by putting mugs with hot tea and coffee directly on the surface, so I started cutting!
Here is what you’ll need:
1-2 large T-shirts that you don’t wear anymore (husband’s will do!)
A pair of scissors
A large crochet hook, preferably number 3 or higher!
A LOT OF PATIENCE!
Start by laying the T-shirt out flat,
You are going to start cutting the shirt from the bottom up! The trick is to move in a spiral, that way the “yarn” of fabric won’t break! Another great tip is to cut the strip about 0.8″ (1 cm) wide, that way you are not going too thin and fabric rips, neither is it too thick and hard to crochet with!
I cut up 2 shirts, and that was more than enough to make a set of 6 coasters! Here is a picture where you can see the giant ball of fabric yarn that I had made:
All you do next is simply crochet a circle and make it as wide as you want! So start with ch 5, then 10 sc into the circle, then 2 sc into every 1 sc of the previous row, keep going, adding sc where you feel like they are needed, so that the coaster looks flat and round!
And…
Enjoy!
Have a great weekend everyone, stay tuned for more DIY posts!
Hey everyone, I hope you all had an amazing week and a Happy Easter I know a lot of my friends and readers in Europe will be celebrating later this spring, so get ready for the Easter Bunny to hop overseas!
Today’s blog post is about furniture, and since some of you know my minor (*COUGH* yeah, right) obsession with Freecycle.org, the post is going to be about “not so new”, but beautiful, vintage and FREE furniture!
I finally got tired of not having a coffee table in our living room, and wrote a Wanted post on Freecycle, and here is what I got:
The lady who gave it to me was so nice, she even delivered it to my apartment building! I am serious! I was shocked too! Trust me! Most of the time it’s your responsibility to go and pick something up off of freecycle, but this time I guess I got lucky! It’s a wooden table, definitely vintage! I looked under it, and it said Massachusets! I am such a sucker for vintage furniture! It’s so beautiful and elegant, that Ikea and Target simply become a blasphemy!
I’ve acquired another piece of furniture this week – a night stand/end table, thanks to my mother-in-law! Since our bed is so high, very few nightstands work with it! I have been looking for a tall nightstand for months, because that corner between the bed and wall started to feel more and more empty with every day that went by. So Sandra, dropped off this beauty last Tuesday, and it fit right in!
I love it, don’t you? I immediately took Sam’s old green lamp out of storage, and placed it on the table:
Now it reminds me of a short story by a Russian writer Alexander Green, called the Green Lamp, which I am planning on translating and posting on here this week! I love Russian literature, makes me feel nostalgic, but at the same time appreciate my background and culture!
An oldie, but a definitely goodie is my console table, which has been recently featured in my “Early Stages of Hoarding” post, and is another great freecycle find, that I got from a woman, who said her husband was a hoarder (Oh-oh!)
Some other items that I have freecycled include (but are not limited to )
- books
- clothes
- vintage
- kitchen appliances
- arts and crafts supplies,
and the list goes on!
It really is a great source, but don’t forget that it’s not all about getting, it’s all about GIVING!
Today we are going to frame a doily and hang it up on the wall, so it looks like this:
I saw this idea in one of my sewing books. And immediately decided to bring it to life. Of course it took me about a month and a half to find the right frame, but in the end, here it is, my $3 wall art!
You are going to start off by getting all supplies ready! All you really need is a frame and a doily, plus some construction paper if you want to change up the background. Now don’t worry if you can’t crochet, there are plenty of doilies you can purchase for cheap at a thrift store. I chose to make mine, because, well I can, and it gave me more options!
As you can see, I ended up with a different doily than what I framed at first. I had a last minute change of heart. The doily I originally made didn’t look as good!
And there you have it, our quick and easy DIY! It’s always good to add something new to the walls, don’t you think?
Have a wonderful week everyone!
Z
Всем привет!
Сегодня мы оформим салфетку в рамку и повесим на стену как картину! В этом нет ничего сложного, зато смотрится красиво.
Идею я подсмотрела в одной из книг по шитью, и немедленно решила воплотить ее в жизнь! Но мне потребовалось почти полтора месяца, чтобы найти подходящую рамку. В итоге, вся переделка обошлась мне в $3!
Для начала нам нужно приготовить все необходимое! Вам понадобится рамка, салфетка и картон/цветная бумага если вы хотите сменить цвет фона. Если вы не умеете вязать крючком – ничего страшного, сейчас практически любую салфетку можно купить в секонд-хенде! Я, конечно же, связала свою, потому что умею, ну и потому что так намного больше вариантов!
Как вы, наверное, заметили по фотографиям, изначально я связала другую салфетку. Но она не так хорошо смотрелась в рамке.
Салфетку просто надо вставить в рамку, и повесить на стену! Вот и все, наша переделка закончена! Новые настенные панно никогда не помешают!
I am so glad I am done with all of the product reviews and can finally return to my ordinary or extraordinary posts (whichever you prefer).
This DIY is so easy, you can do it at 11 o’clock at night (that’s exactly what I did!) and it will still turn out great!
You are going to need:
- Small canvas (I’ve had it for the past 2 or 3 years in my craft storage box) which are usually pretty cheap!
- Lace fabric (Mine came from a freecycled XL OldNavy top)
- some ribbon (Came from the same top as the lace) if you are planning to hang your piece, otherwise, because the canvas that i used was a square it could be used as a stand alone piece on a shelf!
- staples or nails or glue, or whatever you can think of to hold it all together! I went with push pin boards!
Here we go:
1. Get your supplies ready!
2. Lay the canvas on top of the lace to determine how big of a fabric piece you’ll need!
3. Fold the lace nicely around the canvas (you don’t want it looking messy!) and pin it down! Hint: when you are pinning down the lace, add the ribbon into the fold, so it’s all pinned together.
I love IKEA, I mean who doesn’t. I also love thrifting for furniture, but it often seems to be more of a miss than a hit, but then there is Craigslist. A place where you can find everything and more, but think twice before going to pick it up!
I have been dying to get a ladder shelf for the apartment! Renting isn’t always the best way to go, sometimes it’s the only way and you have no choice. All you can do is sit there and imagine what the room would look like, if I could actually paint the walls, or add some curtains, without having to pay for every single screw after I move out! Yes, that’s my life, at least for a while!
Back to the ladder shelf though. I was going to get one at Target, it was on sale, I even cashed in my ShopKicks for a $25 gift card (if you don’t have ShopKick app on your phone you must get one immediately! The easiest way to get free gift cards! Trust me!) and then they were going to charge me $40 for shipping! That’s when I clicked cancel and closed the tab!
When I was almost ready to give up, I stumbled across a Craigslist ad, that was almost a week old, but offered a $30 ladder shelf from HOM store! And oh lucky me, it was still available! Sunday Sam and I drove out to Minnetonka, I got some cash out of the ATM (yes, I am one of those people, who don’t carry cash!) and well, we returned home with this:
I think it was well worth $30, and some day, I might just play with it and turn it into a DIY project!
Love it? Hate it? What do you think?
And if you want to, leave me links to your Craigslist finds in the comments below!
I always find myself in the candle aisle when fall comes around. I don’t know if it’s the fall blues, or the fact that I always want my apartment smelling like fresh baked goods, fireplace, cinnamon, and other holiday goodness, but today I wanted to share some thoughts on the Bath and Body Works candles that can be found either in store, or on line at http://www.bathandbodyworks.com!
I received this miniature candle in my BloggerVoxBox a couple weeks ago:
As you know Influenster.com is a website that sends you free products to try if you qualify, so I received this candle absolutely free of charge, but it only retails for $3.50, which I think is a really good price for this brand, and you know that when you buy Bath and Body works it’s going to smell great, unlike some weird candles found in random places
Here is what the manufacturer tells us about the candle: Highly fragranced candle exclusively developed and tested by our team of Home Fragrance experts, including the world’s best master perfumers. Made using the highest concentration of fragrance oils, an exclusive blend of vegetable wax and lead-free wicks for optimal performance
My candle came in “Black Pepper Bergamot” scent. I knew I loved Bergamot, but in my Earl Gray tea. The candle turned out to be smelling great. It was a rather masculine scent, my husband enjoyed it, and it worked well in my kitchen.
The only thing that I disliked about this product is the fact that the candle burned out leaving a pretty thick layer of wax on the bottom. It felt like a giant waste. And you know how I hate being wasteful!
So give this product a shot if you’d like, I do recommend it as a small decorative scented motive!
Have a great Friday everyone!
Is anyone going thrifting?
Today, on my way home from work I spotted something near our recycling container, and what do you know, it was one of those storage shelves, that are so nice to have in the kitchen, except I didn’t have one, well now I do
So after a thorough Clorox wipe down, this beauty found it’s new home next to my stove!
Of course there was a catch There often is with free/thrifted stuff – the shelf was missing a small piece on one of the bottom “legs”, so I took the other 3 off, to make it stable:
And I finally have a rack for all of my pots and pans, potatoes and onions, oils and spices
I know for some dumpster diving/finding stuff on the side of the curb is extreme, but have you ever tried it? Have you ever found anything good? And don’t forget to check out the “Things I Find In The Garbage” blog by clicking on the link above!
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