DIY Area Rug (on the cheap)

Pin It Now!

Hello.
Here is a super easy project that anyone can do that is pretty amazing if you find yourself needing an area rug, instead of spending $50 to $100 or perhaps more.  Head down to SCRAP (if you live in Portland) and dig through their rug samples to create your own rug.  The samples vary from day to day and you may not always find enough rug samples that are the same size, which is key, but if you are patient and keep checking, I guarantee everything will work out for you one fateful day. 

You first need to pick out however many squares of rug samples you will need.  For this particular project I needed six.  I actually could have done it with four, but six looks nice to me.  I made one of these rugs a few years ago and I still use it to this day in my living room.  For that particular rug I used 12 samples because the samples were smaller.

Now that you have your samples, take them home and lay them out how you want them.  You will then flip them over to the backside and duct tape them together like so:

After you tape them together, you will want to make a giant X through the whole backside with the tape to stabilize the pieces when you flip it over to the right side.  I actually didn't do that on this one because there were only six pieces and these rugs have a rubber backing so they are not going to slide around.

You then flip your rug over.  You may need some help if it's a big rug because you don't want the pieces to come undone.  And just like that you are finished:

Finished product in the light of day.

Now you can enjoy your one-of-a-kind rug that you created and it didn't cost you an arm and a leg.  This particular rug cost around $12, pretty sweet.

Happy New Year!!!

Candle Jars

Pin It Now!

Okay.  So a few posts ago I put up the link to Stitch Therapy's candle jars.  I tried my hand at a couple and are giving them out as gifts for X-mas this year.
I really love projects that use old lace and I think I am going to try making some more textile oriented projects.

Crafty Ornament Making

Pin It Now!

So I got the idea for this ornament from Crafty Chica, who posted a video about a week ago.  Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfiX93bTmxY

I had a couple ladies over yesterday to make these fine ornaments.  I did SCRAPify them a bit, however.  We used reused images, cardboard tubes or mason jar sealing rings and reclaimed tinsel from Goodwill.
Here are the outcomes:

Mine are made with vintage card images and lots of jewels!

Donna made hers with things she had just received from her Grandmother who passed away.  She is going to give them to her mother.  What a great way to share a memory.

Jane ended up making shrinky dink ornaments for the kids that she is a nanny to.  Here are here delightful outcomes:

Adorable.

 Here are a few action shots and closeups.

Jane being silly.

Jane hard at work.

Donna's first ornament.

Donna's awesome ornament!

Free Box the Magazine: Free Box Gift

Pin It Now!

 So I posted Keri's sugar dispenser candles on my Free Box the Magazine blog since she got the sugar shakers out of a free box. It's totally cool. Click on the link to see the photos ~

Free Box the Magazine: Free Box Gift: So my friend Keri found 20 sugar dispensers in a free box. She grabbed them all up and made candles out of them with recycled wax she got a...

Holiday Party 2011

Pin It Now!

This is the second year I have hosted a holiday party that corresponds with Peacock Lane's car free night.  I live just a few blocks from Peacock Lane and so it just makes sense to combine the two events together.  Plus I have two octaves worth of bells that I provide to all the partygoers when we make our way over to the lights just to add to the festivities.  Everyone loves it.  If you stop ringing your bell and just listen, it sounds so cool.  I imagine a lot of angels got their wings last night.

For those of you that don't know, Peacock Lane is located in Portland, Oregon and every house on the street is required to participate with decorating their house with x.mas lights.  Seriously, I think it's in the contract when you buy a house on that street.  Here is a link with more information if you want to check it out.
http://www.peacocklane.net/
Oh, and you might notice that Peacock Lane has its own song, which I printed out, but have yet to figure out the melody.

So I spent half of the day cooking and cleaning and preparing for the party.  I made a raw pumpkin pie, which is so good!  A raw cheesecake, which is equally delicious and some raw cacao macadamia nut truffles, which were yummy as well.
I had put out a couple other things like watermelon radish sprinkled with pink Himalayan salt.  I went to People's Coop earlier that day where they had a sample of the watermelon radish and it was so good that I bought three and served two of them up.
Here is a photo of myself with the spread courtesy of Brandon Alleman whose help was invaluable for making the party a success.  One photo is with flash and the other with mood lighting.  I am still trying to figure out my new camera:

One of the guests of the party was my good friend and ex-roommate, Cory McMahon.  She brought me my x.mas gift, which I opened early upon coaxing.  It is a beautiful vintage beaded choker, which she repaired so that it could be worn again.  I love it.  I was just thinking earlier that evening that I needed a choker to make the outfit complete.

You may remember that last year Cory made me an amazing rosary style necklace, which I love.  It's great to have such crafty friends.

My friend Keri Piehl made me a super cool candle and I will share the photos of that in the next post.

~Happy Holidays~

Chicago 2011

Pin It Now!

So I went to Chicago last week to see Brandon's old turf.  He's from Aurora, Illinois, which is a suburb, but his sister, Angie, and some friends live in Chicago.  I had a full day to check out Chicago and then the rest of my time I spend with Brandon's family in Aurora, which was very relaxing.

Before I went I looked up some Chicago oddities.  There was one that I was hoping to come across:  the Puppet Bike.  It seemed like it was going to be hard because they are never in a set location.  But sure enough we were checking out Macy's holiday windows on State Street and there was the Puppet Bike.  I was so excited.  It was pretty awesome.  I mean how could you not love some very cute puppets dancing to some groovy tunes all via bicycle.  Naturally I had to support that and Angie got a great shot.  Here you go:

You can tell from my maniacal smile that I was extremely happy.  If you are interested in the Puppet Bike, here is the website:
http://puppetbike.com/

Another thing I was curious to check out since I had heard about it a couple times in the Intro to Religion class taught at PSU was Our Lady of the Underpass.  If you don't know what Our Lady of the Underpass is, it was a salt stain underneath the freeway that someone saw Mary with the baby Jesus.  It turned out that freeway underpass was the freeway ramp to Angie's house, so we got to see that the first night I was there.
So the Lady has faded and I think there was some graffiti that destroyed it at one point, but the memory is still there.  Here is a photo I found off the internet during Her heyday:

I love that photo.

Here is the photo that Angie took of myself and Brandon:

Brandon just looks cold.

So a trip to Chicago just wouldn't be complete without seeing The Bean at Millennium Park.  It's just too cool.

So it was a pretty fun trip and I can't wait to do it again, maybe in warmer weather.

Latest in Decorated Light Switch Plates

Pin It Now!

Hello.
I am just sharing the latest decorated light switch plates.  I made them with special people in mind for holiday gifts.  I hope everyone's crafting is going well this holiday season!

Tilt

Pin It Now!

Okay.  So I have a ton of old Mylar balloons in my attic because I was going to make a dress out of Mylar, but now I am not so sure.  Since I have invested in so much Mylar I just throw it into projects here and there, like the Mylar garland.
This summer I came up with an icon garbage collection.  So far I have only made one, which I have entitled Tilt, but I have been collecting all sorts of cool car smashed aluminum cans ever since I came up with the idea.

I was first struck with the idea after seeing this smashed Tilt beer can up against the curb just glimmering in the sun like a beacon calling to me.  It struck me that this would be perfect amongst a background of Mylar.  I then found some scrap wood out on someone's curb for free and it was on.

I kept this piece really simple, just focusing on the can.  I think I shall get more intricate in the future, but this was a good starting place for me.
Right now I am too focused on making holiday gifts to work more on this project, but I plan on making more in the new year.