Holding the World in a Paper Cup

Showing posts with label mama reworks it. Show all posts

Friday, January 15, 2016

Clouds

Now this is a project that I am super happy with. I took empty bottles of varying sizes and stuck pillow filling to them with spray glue. I got the throw pillows cheap at a thrift store and ripped them open. It wasn't a fun project really because the stuffing sticks to your hands as you go and you end up with a mess but the end result is very realistic! These are hanging in Bo's room. I just love them.

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Friday, November 13, 2015

Mama Made It

I found the coolest log on the beach. It isn't driftwood. It's still pretty solid. A beaver's been after it and shaped it like a pencil on the end. It was too long so I used the skill saw to shorten it. Then I used a paddle bit to carve out a place to insert these shortened dowels. I secured them with screws that have two sharp ends (I know. I'm so smart. I know what to call those kinds of screws.) I even measured it out 16 inches and secured it into studs. Finally, a place to put our coats in the winter! Except! Chief! Yep. Now we have Chief and Chief likes to take whatever you put on the coat rack and rip it down, and drag it across the floor where he also likes to keep his dog hair and sling it up into the air and catch it with his mouth. It probably goes without saying that he's my favorite animal.

I just love that little bastard.

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Monday, August 17, 2015

Flashback!

After I made Bo some legwarmers from an old sweater we had a little photo session to show them off. Really the legwarmers had an uncomfortably thick seam and weren't stretchy enough. They didn't get a lot of wear. But what we did get from that project was all these sweet photos. So many in fact that I never took the time to narrow them down. I think I knew it'd be impossible.

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Saturday, August 15, 2015

Baby's Baby Carrier

So I took one PLACEMAT and one pair of Charley's old TIGHTS

and made....

A BABY'S BABY CARRIER!

BOOM!

I feel so accomplished when I make stuff like this from things you wouldn't normally put together.

I spent a long time looking at very complicated sewing patterns on Pinterest and finally thought...THIS IS BULL. I wasn't going take the time to throw together a pattern based on someone's photos online! So I thought....I'll just figure something out on my own. And I did! And it worked!

It feels good when ideas work.

It's reversible too!

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Saturday, December 6, 2014

Stroller to Beach Wagon

We were in dire need of a beach wagon. Seriously. You should have seen our family work our way down the beach holding all our gear. Fishing rods, a small cooler, toys, towels, beach blanket, umbrella, snacks, diapers, milk, waters, and when she got tired, the baby too. Man it was a mess. And we'd walk for miles too, by miles I mean a few city blocks, until Charley found the perfect spot.

After doing some research I found that jogging strollers are the only type of stroller that will work on the beach. And we just happened to have a hand me down jogging stroller! So I stripped it of most of the fabric and a few metal parts.

I left the existing lower basket intact because it was perfect for what we needed. Then I added a collapsible laundry basket with zip ties so we can still fold the stroller up.

And for the record this spot is not a good spot for the baby.

I mean I knew that, but I still let her ride a few minutes while I pushed really, really, slowly.

She has no safety belt and what's worse are those dangerous spokes.

I just needed to put that out there for safety's sake.

It rides so smooth.

Going to the beach is no longer a hassle.

I'm pretty proud of our no cost beach wagon.

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Friday, October 4, 2013

A Shorter Short

Here's another pair of pants turned shorts.

These are my favorites.

The trim was from my fabric bin.

So zero dollars spent!

Too bad Charley's already grown out of them.

Can I keep up with them for another 7-8 years for Bo?

I dunno.

Knowing what to do with all Charley's clothes has been a struggle for me. The age difference is so great, I don't know if I can keep hanging on to hand me downs. My recent method is to only hang on to the favorites and to let the rest go. But now that I've typed that out, that's CRAZY MAN!! I can't let good clothes go! Not when I have another daughter that needs her parts covered!! But. I. don't. have. any. space. None. Sooooo, somebody tell me what to do.

I can't keep them can I?

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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

DIY Moss Terrarium

A BIRTHDAY GIFT

I'd been hanging onto these glasses for a while....maybe a coupleathreeormoreyears. Yeah.

I found them at a thrift store and immediately thought of Sunny.

But I didn't want to just give her two random glasses.

A bottle of Brandy would have been a good match up but hard liquor is not really her thing.

Finally I thought of something good.

Little terrariums!

Moss is one of my all time favorite things ON EARTH.

I really love moss.

And I figured so does everybody else. 'Cause WHY wouldn't you?

So, Charley and I took a walk in the backyard and found us a good patch.

We added a little dirt to the bottom of the glasses and shaved off a thin layer of moss.

Layered it on top and just added water!

That's it. Keep it moist and it should last!

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Monday, January 7, 2013

No Sew/No Knit DIY SCARF!

There are FIVE November birthdays in my family!!

That's too many.

So while I was trying to make some Christmas presents, I was also trying to put together some thoughtful, yet inexpensive, birthday gifts.

Here's an idea I'd seen on another blog and been wanting to try for a while.

T-shirt to Scarf

Take one plain t-shirt, preferably without side seams, and cut off the bottom hem.

Throw the bottom hem away.

Then cut strips out of the shirt horizontally (they'll still be connected/looped).

When you get them all cut out, stretch them out.

They'll curl up just like you see below! It's really neat.

Once you get your loops all together, tie an extra strip around all of them to connect!

Tuck the ends of your tie under and you've got yourself an incredibly cute scarf!!

Mom LOVED it!

Isn't she pretty?

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Saturday, January 5, 2013

Adventure Box: Gift Idea

When Charley and her cousin get together, they tend to play with NON-toys. You know, old metal pots, wooden spoons, ropes, buckets, boxes, rotten logs, boat paddles, a rusty boat trailer... you get the idea. So, this Christmas I thought I'd get our little nephew something that really suited him.

I bought a good tool box and filled it with adventurous goodies.

And yes, I know I gunked up the glue job, but I was lucky to get out of this mess with all of my fingerprints. The vintage mailbox stickers I used had lost their stick which made the process a slippery mess. The report from the Georgia In-laws is that Jordan doesn't care about the imperfections in the least. In fact, I've been told that when a letter falls off (sorry about that) he just gets the glue and glues it back on. I can just see him making it his mission. Sweet.

Surprises in every cubbie

I imagined him taking water samples from mud puddles with his turkey baster.

Things I included...two different types of rope, zip ties, clip-on light, lock and key, cable/bike style lock, fake knife, masking tape, bungy cords, large clamps, aluminum foil, and a squirt bottle.

If you plan on putting together your own adventure box, please be aware that not all of these items are suitable for all ages. Obviously. I felt ok (though still a little bit nervous) about giving Jordan these things because I know he's heavily supervised and his Mom and Dad are cool with it.

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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

DIY Reversible Record Bowls

Melted Vinyl

For Christmas I made my nephew some record bowls.

Want to try it?

Just put each record in the oven (by itself) on top of a tin can.

After about 10 minutes of 200°, pull the warmed record out of the oven and use your hands to mold it into shape. It'd be nice to have about 3 hands for this step, but you make do.

I made A LOT of bowls, so I came up with the idea to make them reversible.

Of course all you do in order to achieve this, is just glue them together using the super strong glue of your choice. Careful that you don't get any ooze through the hole of the record.

I picked out two of the best ones and wrapped them up...

because who needs THIS many record bowls?

And because he's 16 and probably doesn't need ANY bowls, we gave him a little something extra...

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Monday, December 31, 2012

Menu Board DIY Gift Idea

About two weeks before Thanksgiving, I went nutso making Christmas presents for the family.

I knew if I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on shipping,

I'd need to bring as many gifts to Alabama with me as possible.

Here's one I made for my step-brother and sister-in-law.

I used a frame I had on hand and just started painting it with no plan in mind.

This was my first experience with crackle paint and I think it turned out nicely.

I had a piece of glass cut to fit and backed it with some polka dotted fabric.

Then I used a permanent marker to write in the days of the week.

I attached a dry erase marker onto the board itself using some type of L bracket I had on hand.

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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Teacher Gift Idea

Kid Designed Pen and Journal

Take one pen and take the top off.
Obviously, not all pens work this way.
I got a 12 pack at Dollar General for $2.00.

Cut 2-3 paper strips to fit down inside the pen and have your kids design them.
It's better to use something like card stock, otherwise the paper shifts under the crayons
and the kids have a hard time getting their designs just right.