Crafts
DIY Leather Belt Tray
A leather belt tray is today’s project and I am a teensy bit in love with it. I had a stack of western-style leather belts in my closet. The leather belts originally came from my dad’s closet and I’m presuming he wore them once or twice. Then the leather belts hung in my closet and I didn’t wear them at all. I was just waiting over a year for inspiration to strike on how to reuse those leather belts and when it did, HOLY MOLY was it good. Creating a leather belt tray is the easiest, most satisfying project. Anyone can do it. You just need a leather belt or two, a wood tray, scissors or…
DIY Rustic Wood Hearts
I’m titling this post “DIY Rustic Wood Hearts” because it’s really hard to DIY perfect wood hearts by hand. At least it is for this girl! Rustic sounds so much more purposeful than almost any other descriptive adjective I could use. I was in the mood to create something as a subtle nod to Valentine’s Day without throwing up red and pink glittered hearts all over my house. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I don’t do cutesy decor very well. I love looking at those playful, festive decor pictures online, but that style doesn’t translate well in real life for me. So how could I create something for Valentine’s Day that suits my…
5 Easy Leather Decorating and Craft Ideas
I dug deep into my brain to round up some of my favorite, easy leather decorating and craft ideas for you today. I’ve been blogging for so long that I sometimes forget all the cool stuff I’ve made over the years. Yes, I am totally biased by what I make. I either love the thing with every fiber of my being or it is dead to me and never sees the light of day. Well, that’s not true. Sometimes I write a “what not to do” blog post so you can learn from my mistakes. There have been so many mistakes over the years it is a miracle I ever finish…
Piano Wire Pumpkin
I can’t wait to show you my newest creation – a piano wire pumpkin! I made it with all the usual suspects: piano wire, a saw blade, a damper poker, copper wire, and leather. This project was like those cooking shows where you are given a random assortment of ingredients and you have to come up with an amazing dish to wow the judges’ taste buds. In my case, I found this unrelated group of items in my house and garage and knew they could be combined to make something festive for fall like a piano wire pumpkin! Because why not? We have piano wire because we took apart an…
Antique Nail Caddy Fall Centerpiece
My husband thinks an antique nail caddy should be used for…wait for it…holding nails and screws. I think an antique nail caddy should be used as a fall centerpiece. It’s not as if there’s a right or wrong choice here, but my choice is more right. Right? Glad we agree. The first step in creating an antique nail caddy fall centerpiece is to find yourself an antique nail caddy. I found ours in our garage full of, you guessed it, nails and screws. The antique nail caddy was left here by the previous owner. In a roundabout way, he left us all the nails and screws that were in the…
Add New Ribbon on an Old Picture Frame
I recently saved an old picture frame by adding new ribbon to it. It was one of those highly satisfying, but unexpectedly annoying projects. By that I mean my expectation was this craft project would take five minutes. In reality, the train veered off the track on this project, went down an embankment, and an hour later the train was dented and crushed, but I saved the cargo and called the project good. Gee. Dramatic much? I realize sharing my experience in this way might dissuade instead of motivate you to try to add new ribbon on an old picture frame. That’s not my intent. My intent is to encourage…
3 Projects to Try While I Take a Blog Break
Since this week is Cinco de Mayo, National Candied Orange Peel Day, International No Diet Day, National Hoagie Day, No Socks Day, and Mother’s Day, I thought it would be a good time to take a week-long blog break. As you can tell, I’m going to be QUITE busy. Normally, I’d say I was taking time off blogging to spend more time with my family. Hahahahahahahaha. That’s super funny now that we’ve been living under a Covid-19 quarantine order for close to two months. All we’ve had is family time and I have no complaints about that! This week my goal is to recharge from a creative perspective. I’m also…
Over-the-Door Basketball Hoop with Wood Backboard
I love my kids. I don’t love all the kid stuff. It is rarely aesthetically pleasing, but I can fix that – this one time. My son has an over-the-door basketball hoop that is fun to use, but not super easy on the eyes. For the record, I have no one but myself to blame for this eyesore. I’m the one who purchased the over-the-door basketball hoop for him. The things we do for our kids. Here’s how we took an over-the-door basketball hoop and gave it the full court press a makeover with a wood backboard. It’s a total SLAM DUNK! Here is the step-by-step tutorial. Wood Backboard Step 1:…
Grain Sifter Easter Bunny Wreath
Whimsical is not an adjective I would use to describe myself or my decorating style. Nevertheless, I gave it a shot with this Grain Sifter Easter Bunny Wreath. I figured isolating at home during a pandemic would be a good time to give whimsical a whirl. I’ve got to say, I can see the allure. This isolation creation is brought to you by items I already had on hand: a metal grain sifter, embroidery thread, hot glue, pale pink ribbon and plastic Easter eggs. I had the grain sifter because I dug it out of a dumpster when we lived in Ireland. By the way, a dumpster is called a…
Vintage Handkerchief Art
I own a whole stack of vintage handkerchiefs. These handkerchiefs belonged to my grandpa, my aunt, my grandma and my mom. Have I ever used these handkerchiefs? Nope. Snot going to happen. I mean NOT. Not going to happen. Not because it’s not a good idea. It is. It’s more that some of these handkerchiefs are no longer practical for everyday use due to how delicate they’ve become. But back in the day, did my relatives use these gorgeous handkerchiefs? You bet they did! Handkerchiefs were meant to be used before Kleenex took over the world. No shade to Kleenex or Puffs. I love those ones with lotion. How DO…
