DIY: Starting a New Rug Project

I have been screen printing for about 6 years now, and as you can imagine I have six years of mess up clothing that I can't really sell, but I don't want to throw away because I paid for the supplies!

Well I have seen a few tee shirt rugs that I really like, and I originally wanted to make a shaggy tee shirt rug. But After wanting more of a rug that is flexible enough to throw in the wash machine (pet lovers), I realized I wanted to Crochet a rug.

I am just at the beginning stages but I cut my fabric in a continuous strip, and then just simply tie together the next strip of fabric. Right now I am rotating back and forth, cutting, then crocheting, and back to cutting, because I don't have a lot of patience and I Like to switch it up.

I love crocheting, because my mom taught me a simple stitch when I was about ten, and I have made so many blankets, and its fun to do in front of the tube, when you are watching a movie, or show, but want to sort of relax too! (and keep warm because the fabric/yarn covers your lap!)

Here is what I have so far. This is 3.5 days worth of crocheting. I do realize this is going to take me a while to get to 7 or 8 feet length. But its a fun project to do a little everyday.

Here is what you need:

1. Old Clothing, messed up experiment clothing, pants, shirts, you can probably buy some super large cheap fun colored tees at the thrift store (which i might have to do, if i run out of my own clothing)

2. Scissors

3. Large Crochet needle

4. Instructions for a basic Chain Stitch and Single Crochet Stitch, here are simple ones from The Knit Witch on youtube

5. A comfy place on the couch :)

I guess Miss Fifi wanted me to take a break so that she could take a nap on the new rug :)

Knit Witch Video

Win this AMAZING GIVEAWAY package from PLAID!

Plaid Crafts sent me this amazing package to host a giveaway prize for our readers! Yes, So generous, and fabulous. Check out these amazing items, To win, all you have to do is make a comment on THIS post, make sure there is a way for me to contact you, email. And I will pick a random winner in 1 week!

You will win:
4 bottles Martha Stewart Paints
1 bottle Fabric Stiffener
1 bottle of Mod Podge
1 package of Fair Isle stencils

What can you do with these amazing items?
1. Hand paint your own DIY shoes! inspiration here
2. Make Fabric Wallpaper! inspiration here: apartment therapy
3. Stencil Notecards, stationary and more
4. Mod podge a paper lantern: inspiration here
5. Mod podge and paint a mirror: inspiration here
6. Stencil a tray and tealights! inspiration here
7. Add more ideas in comments below!

Happy National Craft Month!

Website: http://www.plaidonline.com
Blog for inspiration: http://paintmeplaid.com
Follow Plaid on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/PlaidCrafts
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DIY Moroccan Lantern Chandelier

I love moroccan lanterns, and wanted to make a custom chandelier for our dining room

With the help of my dad who is an amazing electrician, he hooked up all the lighting for my moroccan lanterns!

1. Made a wooden box so that we could hang the lanterns and have the wires secured above the box into the ceiling. There was a chandelier already there so the electrical box was already in place.

i painted the box to match the ceiling

2. from Home depot I bought an ornate metal sheet (used mostly for radiator covers). I painted this black to match my lanterns

3. I used screw hooks to hang the lanterns

4. chain from home depot (and black wire)

5. Lanterns were purchased from World market, Ebay (see below post how i painted the glass on the largest lantern) and The smaller lanterns which was the best price + shipping from Yellow Sun Decor

6. painted the metal parts of the lanterns black to match eachother

7. My dad is a retired electrician, so don't mess with the lighting unless you know someone or hire an electrician :)

8. Voila! Now we just need our dining table (ordered on the way!)

Even if you dont want to wire them for lighting, they make an awesome statement piece, hang them in a bright room, so the sun can shine through the lanterns, and they all have places for tealights!

DIY: Changing the Colors of a Moroccan Lantern

I love Moroccan Lanterns! I am going to make a collage of them hanging from my ceiling, but when I was researching larger ones, for my center piece, they were all pretty expensive, and I wasn't fond of the Amber color that was integrated into the lanterns.

So I found a low priced lantern on EBay, and decided to experiment! I bought glass paints in a couple different colors Here on EBAY

First a couple of tips:

• You can take out the glass pieces - be careful edges are sharp, I did cut myself

• Soak them in hot water, after a while, you can scrub the painted side off with a magic eraser sponge or SOS pad, or kitchen sink brush.

• When Painted make sure you really get good coverage with the paint, when you use a brush the paint becomes uneven, and doesn't look really good. But if you pour the paint on and kind of move to the edges with the tip of the bottle, it covers well.

• takes a bit to dry, looks cloudy at first but will dry transparent

Voila! You have the colors that match your own home decor!

BEFORE:

PAINTING:
The piece on the left, i scraped up all the paint to get that blue color in the picture, i experimented to see what blue over yellow looked like and it was a pretty Teal color but looked to similar to the other sides that were already teal. 

AFTER:

Another smaller lantern i painted purple:

DIY Project FIFI

Our New addition to our family (Phoebe aka Fifi) Loves to use our couches as scratching posts, so I have been looking and looking for a neat looking scratching post, and well they are not so pretty.

So I wanted to make a natural one, but didn't want to spend a ton of $ because, all of my other cardboard scratching posts, and door hanging scratching pad, furniture protector tape, has ALL failed.

I saw birch firewood at Home depot. I actually made a corner base from a corner of a cardboard box (which the bottom part sticks under the foot of the sofa), and staple gunned the logs to the cardboard. I also cut the cardboard along the sides of the logs so that it wouldn't stick out. The other logs to the right, are just the extra firewood from the package and i lined them up on the side of the sofa.

Voila! now i just have to get her to use it! and it was cheaper than all my other efforts at Petsmart!

Enjoy

DIY T-Shirt Scarves - How to Make Your Own

How to make a T-Shirt Scarf: Inspired by April from Project Runway

1. Short Fringe Scarf. Take the top of the shirt, cut off sleeves and neck

2. Cut Wider strips this time, stop about an inch from the top, and cut off more of the sleeve if you'd like it smaller.

3. Finished Product! Short Fringe Scarf!

1. Medium Fringe Scarf. Cut the T-shirt below the sleeves

2. Use the top half, cut off sleeves and neck, and cut the bottom at a curve.

3. Cut Strips about 1 inch wide, and stopping 1 inch from top.

4. Finished Product! Medium Fringe Scarf. This has been wrapped twice for this look, and washed so the strips would roll.

1. The Rolled Long Tube Scarf. Cut the T-Shirt under the arms straight across

2. Cut Strips across the shirt stopping about 2 inches from the edge.

3. After you have cut all the strips, Take and stretch out each strip, to roll the edge and make longer.

4. Finished Product! Long Tube Scarf

1. Large Fringe Scarf. Take The Bottom half of shirt, flip it upside down, so that the bottom edge is at the top. Cut strips across, stop about 1 inch from top. 

2. Finished Product! Large Fring Scarf. So cute! This has been wrapped twice around for a fuller look. 

Don't want to make one? You Can Buy it from my Shop already made!

Shop T-Shirt Scarves on AD LOVE

DIY Chic Bird and Branch Mobile

I made an awesome mobile for my best friends new babys room. and it turned out awesome, i wanted to keep it for my own apartment, and I don't have any babies. its perfectly chic, for anyone, any age. Here are the instructions and where i purchased the supplies.

I purchase the birds online here, and drilled small holes into them for hanging. Either you can find a branch in nature, or if you would like to buy one, check out Save On Crafts.

Next, i placed them in the order i liked

Then, Painted the birds and twig branch black

Finally, attached string through the holes and to the branch

Grow Your Own Microgreens: No Yard Required!

Jen From Indie Fixx was a guest blogger over on Craftzine. And I Had to share her article since, I was Just researching how to do this for my - no yard, Chicago Apartment :)

Read how you can grow your own microgreens on a sunny window sill.

So exciting! Thanks Jen for the Tips!

Kitty Cuddle Friend

I saw this great "Cuddle Kitty Pal" at Petsmart, that was Microwaveable. Anyway, i thought it was too cute, but didnt buy it, then i came home and thought, my kitten might really like this after his surgery, Since i use a rice sock for my neck when its hurting or sore. I made a seperate insert for the rice, incase it ever breaks.

Microwave this soft cat toy for 30 seconds, and it becomes a source of warmth and comfort for kitty. Plush toy is stuffed with rice, which radiates warmth like a heating pad long after it's been heated. An ideal source of warmth and comfort for naptime, older cats, or cats that are stressed. Tail also provides an appropriate chewing outlet.

Heres the petsmart version: