Magazine Organizers

I decided to do this because my husband has a TON of magazines that are always flopping over on our bookshelf and it drives me nuts!

Some of the Culprits:

Okay, but what really excites me about this little project is that it was completely FREE for me to do! Yes, FREE! Read on...

The Pinspiration:

http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/2009/11/tool-time-tuesdaymore-like-recycle.html
http://pinterest.com/pin/133137732703676828/

The Instructions:

1. Cut cereal box (I used a costco-sized Goldfish box!) You can use a ruler if you want to be very accurate. I also cut mine differently because I don't like the magazines showing on the sides! Sorry, forgot to take a picture until I'd started putting the scrapbooking paper on!

2. Cover box in cute scrapbooking paper, using either a glue stick or double sided tape.

3. Fill with magazines- DONE!

My Creation:

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Cost: FREE!!! Nothing's better than free... except maybe getting paid for nothing! But seriously, I already had the cereal boxes and I have a few huge stacks of scrapbooking paper already on hand (if you don't, you should get some because there are SO many crafts that utilize scrapbook paper- don't forget to bring a 40-50% off coupon if you're getting it from Michael's or JoAnn's!).

Difficulty: (1-5 pins, 5 being the most difficult)

No kidding, this was so easy to do!

Speaking of cheap, check out these awesome faux canvases I ordered from Walmart (sorry they're kind of washed out):

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Aren't they awesome!? I've been dying to order canvases of my boys when they were newborns and with the great prices on faux canvases, I finally did it! Love 'em.

Mod Podge Canvas Art

Okay, let me begin this post by saying that I have suddenly become OBSESSED with turquoise! I believe it started with this... and so now I'm onto an entire deal with redecorating my living room... er... area. Okay, so I must confess we are currently living with my parents... I know, twenty-somethings with two kids living with their parents! Lame. But I console myself with the thought that it's a smart decision since we're both recent college grads, my husband just got his first job out of college, and I am currently working on my masters... and Pinning away of course! Anyway... how this relates to my post is that we are living in what used to be my parent's family room. It's HUGE! So we have made it into a studio apartment of sorts, we have an area for an office, a living area, and our bed (the boys have their own room). Okay, still off topic. Well, the point is, I want to revamp our whole "studio". I just ordered this AMAZING bedding:

You have to know that I am totally obsessed with animal prints. When I moved into my first apartment my mom bought me a cheetah print bedding set and I seriously thought I was the coolest person alive. Okay, but now I'm grown up, and more importantly married to a guy who would never over his dead body allow me to buy a bedding set screaming, "I was shot on someone's African safari!!" He's more of the modern, simplistic, clean cut type. So, when I saw this set I knew that I had finally found something that would please both of us. You don't even want to see the fugly bedding set we currently have (okay, but now that I used the word fugly I know you probably do want to see it, so I'll save that for another post :O)!). Okay, seriously, back on track... so I am redoing our living area in brown and turquoise, and thought some nice new wall art was in order, especially considering that our previous wall art was this:

I know, I had great taste when I picked this out right? What I especially can't believe is that I payed a grand total of SIXTY BUCKS for these things (seriously, the price tags were still on back). Luckily I now know the ways of Pinterest and have the tools to reconcile for the serious lack of chic in my past- oh, and don't worry, I will DEFINITELY be re-vamping that old "art" (I'm thinking maybe some spray paint and mirrors in the centers?).

So... back to the project at hand:

The Pinspiration:

http://pinterest.com/pin/91479436150683136/

Background Information: Do NOT use the spray-on mod podge (what was I thinking!? learn from my mistakes), and be sure to cut down your paper a bit!

The Instructions:
1. Spray paint (or use regular paint) the edges of canvas. I did three canvases brown and three blue.

2. Mod podge scrapbooking paper to canvas (SERIOUSLY, DEFINITELY follow the pin to the original instructions, because I didn't follow the instructions and... well, let's just say it could have been better!).

3. Hang on wall- DONE!

My Creation: Now that I see the picture I realized that these are totally crooked... and that this project did not turn out as great as I thought it would when I saw it on Pinterest... *shrug* you win some, you lose some, right?

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Cost: $16.50: Breakdown- $12 for a set of (7) 12 x 12 canvases- I know, way cheap! I actually had a 40% off coupon for Michael's (which you can seriously get almost every week if you sign up for flyers/emails or get the newspaper ads). Plus, this means I have one canvas left over for a future project! $4.50 for Mod Podge from Walmart. I had the spray paint from other projects.

Difficulty: (1-5 pins, 5 being more difficult)

Okay, so maybe the three pins is just me being a baby, but mod podge and I do NOT have a good relationship after this project!


Also, coming to a couch near me, something using these fabrics!:

 

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Stay tuned!!

Framed Monogram

The Pin that Inspired:

http://pinterest.com/pin/91479436150685476/

Background Information: I purchased the frame for this at a local thrift store. The instructions are going through what I had to do with the specific "art" I bought for the frame (gorgeous, huh?)!

The Instructions:

1. Remove any paper backing from frame.

2. Using a flat head screwdriver, push back the staples holding in the canvas.

3. Remove the canvas (or picture) from the frame.

4. Spray paint frame. I left some of the wood showing because I liked the old faded look! If you want to spray paint the letter you can do it at this time as well (Mine was already white which I liked so I just kept it that way!). Another cool idea would be to decoupage cute scrapbook paper onto the letter.

5. Spray paint canvas if desired.

     -or-

5. Mount letter and frame to wall.

6. Glue letter to canvas using a hot glue gun.

7. Replace canvas (with letter mounted) in the frame. Push staples back down using a flat head screwdriver.

8. Hang on wall- DONE!

My Creation:

    

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Cost: : $7: Breakdown- $3 for the frame (included canvas), $4 for the wood letter. I also used the paint for another craft, got it from Walmart for about $3 per can.

Difficulty: (1-5 pins, 5 being more difficult)

Valentine's Mailboxes

The Pin that Inspired: 

http://pinterest.com/pin/91479436150682427/

Background Information:

The mailboxes can be found at your local Target in the dollar section (yes, they really are only $1!!!!!). When I went to pick some up I could only find ONE, but I needed more, so I asked an associate. Turns out they had TONS more in back and in various colors (pink, red, white, turquoise). I purchased my candlesticks at a local thrift store. 

The Instructions:

1. Spray paint old candlesticks.

2. Print off and cut out letters.

            -or-

2. Print off outlines of letters and cut them out, then trace them upside down onto the back of some cute paper and cut out.

3. Glue letters onto mailboxes using a glue stick.

4. Using a glue gun, glue mailboxes to candlesticks, and DONE!

My Creation:

While at Target I also found a pretty sturdy wood "Be Mine" sign for only $2.50, HAD to have it for my Valentine's display!

Cost: $3 per mailbox; $1 for the mailbox itself, $2 for the thrift store candlesticks. I already had the printed paper and used the spray paint for multiple projects (it was $3 a can at Walmart).

Difficulty: (1-5 pins, 5 being more difficult)

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Monogrammed Pump Soaps

The Pin that Inspired:

http://pinterest.com/pin/102386591498106034/

The Instructions:

1. Download template.

2. Print template onto transparencies.

           -or-

2. Print template onto regular paper, then take to a copy shop where they will copy onto transparencies. (This is what I did as I could only find transparencies in sets of about 50 for $50, and I probably will never go through that many! I had to call around to find a local copy shop that carried transparencies and would make copies onto them for you!)

3. Remove label from soap bottle. (I recommend getting the Equate brand of soap, the labels come off MUCH easier than Softsoap!!)

4. Cut out monogram.

5. Roll up and push into bottle, using soap stick to unroll and push up against the front of the bottle. (I also ended up using an old pen that was out of ink because it was longer and allowed me to manipulate the transparency more!)

6. Wrap a bow around it, and DONE!

My Creation:

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Cost: $1.14 each! $.98 per soap, $2.50 for the transparency. My local copy shop carried transparencies that were 16x22 inches, luckily I was making a bunch of these for gifts, so I was able to print 16 monograms for $2.50!

Difficulty: (1-5 pins, 5 being most difficult)

Monogrammed Bar Soaps

The pin that inspired:

http://pinterest.com/pin/117586240240477704/

The instructions:

1. Shave logo off of bar soap using the side of a vegetable peeler.

2. Print off the letter of choice in an appropriate size (this took me multiple tries!).

3. Cut out the BLACK part of the letter.

4. Use the resulting pattern as a stencil for your monogram.

5. Trace monogram onto soap using pencil.

6. Using a flat head screwdriver, shave away at the soap surrounding the monogram, make sure to leave the letter raised. Be VERY careful!

7. When complete, use a lightly dampened Q-tip to smooth away the surfaces.

8. Cut off the ends of the soap box.

9. Cut a cute piece of paper to wrap around soap box.

10. Glue paper to soap box.

11. Tie with a bow- DONE!

My creation:

The first soap I made turned out kind of horrible (expect it!). The second time around I was able to refine my skill and ended up with this:

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Also keep in mind that the type of soap you use makes all the difference! The first try I used an off-brand which was brittle, making shaving away the soap difficult. The second time I used Irish Spring which was nice and soft and waxy, making the "carving" much easier!

Cost: About $1 (for the bar of soap).

Difficulty: (1-5 pins, 5 being most difficult)