Super Cute Pillow

http://decorate.tipjunkie.com/how-to-make-the-layla-pillow-inspired-by-crate-and-barrel/

First step? Pick up some felt at Hobby Lobby. Spent $4 on a yard of it (and could have gotten away with a half yard, I have a ton left over). Then I cut it in a 17x17 inch square.

Then I traced out some circles so I could cut them out. The sizes I used? A quarter, the lid to vitamin C supplements, and a half dollar.

Then cut out the sixty bazillion circles.

The description to the pillow says that the edges are singed for texture and depth. So I did the same thing. Used a candle to slightly singe the edges. Warning! These can burn fast, don't hold it too close.

The singed one is on the top, the non singed one is on the bottom. Can you see a difference?

Then I laid out my circles to get my layout. I handsewed my circles, which took FOREVER. But I do have a certain 7 month old who decided this week that I can't put her down, so I could only sew for a few minutes at a time, or after she went to bed.

Then after it's all finished (don't judge my ugly backside), I sewed the front and back together. Don't forget to leave an opening so you can flip and stuff it.

And then you flip it, stuff it, and sew up the hole.

And VOILA!

And it's fabulous and you love it and think I must be awesome to be able to handsew all of those circles and make them look perfect, right?

Well, I won't lie. Some of my circles looked like this awesome circle.

And some circles, you'd swear that I was drunk while I sewed them.

• Keep the felt moving while you're singing the edges. If not, you're not going to end up with a circle. You're going to end up with a blobby thing when the flame melts away the fabric instead of singeing it. See photo above. Oops.
• I normally just leave a 5 inch opening in the pillow. But since felt doesn't have a lot of stretch, I'd leave a bigger one. You don't want your fabric to stretch out while you're flipping it.
• The reason I handsewed it is because I wanted the stitches to be more visible. I couldn't get the stitches with my machine to show up, no matter what stitch length/tension I put it on. But you may have more luck than I did.
• Don't forget to clip your corners before you flip it. I use a chopstick to get the corners nice and pointy.

Kitchen Ideas

So I guess the good thing about living in a fixer upper is that I get to try a lot of new things. I saw this kitchen remodel and I think this will be one of my next projects.

http://decorate.tipjunkie.com/how-to-transform-your-kitchen-paint-kitchen/

laundry room

So I have a laundry room with tons of possibilities. So I am working on putting together different ideas to figure out what will work best I found this on http://ana-white.com/2011/01/saushas-washerdryer-pedestals.html


A few weeks Ana from Ana-White (formerly Knock-Off Wood) contacted me and asked me what i thought about her drawing up some plans for my washer/dryer pedestal. How could i not be excited?!? Her site is awesome and being featured on there is very cool and quite an honor :)



If you haven’t visited Ana-White then you need too, right away! Especially if your in the mood to build something with your bare hands! She has tons of cute furniture plans that she puts on her site for everyone to use for free. You can find all sorts of plans there – beds, dressers, tv consoles, kids play stuff, islands – seriously everything and anything you could think of. She is awesome – go visit her and then build something :)

Anyways, she drew up the plans for my washer/dryer pedestal and posted all the directions for building, material lists, measurements – all the things that i get emails about all the time that readers want to know about :)

Go and check Ana out!!
Dimensions: One of the best parts of DIY is that you can get exactly what you want, fit to your space. The dimensions above are based off Sausha’s washer dryer pedestal, and are designed to fit a standard laundry basket. Note that standard washer and dryer pedestals are approximately 13″ tall – so this one is a tad taller. If you have the space and are concerned about the laundry system wobbling off, just make the platform larger. Built to suit the needs of your space and your requirements.
MATERIALS AND TOOLS
Shopping List:
2 – sheet of 3/4″ MDF or Plywood
5 – 2×4 @ 8 feet long
1 – 4×4 post @ 4 feet long (you can also use 2x4s laminated together – just add another 2×4 to your list)
1 – stick of base cap moulding like this @ 6 feet long
4 – Angle Brackets like these
3″ screws
2″ Screws
Glue
Finish Nails
Wood Filler
Sandpaper
Tools:
measuring tape
square
pencil
hammer
safety glasses
hearing protection
drill
circular saw
compound miter saw
nailer
sander
level
countersink drill bit
CUT LIST
Cut List:
10 – 2×4 @ 25″ (Joists)
4 – 2×4 @ 60″ (Sides of Floor)
2 – 3/4″ Plywood or MDF @ 28″ x 60″ (Decking)
4 – 4×4 Posts (or 8 2x4s) @ 11″ (Posts)
moulding cut to fit
STEP 1

Floors
You are basically going to build two mini floors for this project. The top floor need to be built as shown above. The bottom floor you can skip the center joists – unless you plan on storing gold in those laundry baskets. Use glue and 3″ screws. I do apologize for making the joists 25″ long instead of 24″ (would have conserved more lumber) but this length is necessary for the application. 2x4s are cheap too.
STEP 2

Decking
Every floor needs decking, so screw the plywood to the top of the 2x4s.
STEP 3

Corner Angles
This step is just because I have an old school washer and dryer that stomps out of the laundry room whenever I overloaded it. But the angles are cheap and will make your life easier. Screw down with 2″ screws.
STEP 4

Attach Legs
Attach the legs to the top (the floor with the most supports) and screw down. If you can, add a few screws toenailed in as well.
STEP 5

Bottom Floor
Now the bottom floor will be much easier to attach. Just screw down (and glue).
STEP 6

Trim
I’m not going to give measurements here because the trim needs to match the legs exactly. You will need to miter the trim around the legs. Attach with glue and finish nails.
FINISHING INSTRUCTIONS
Finish Used:
Sausha trimmed everything out with another layer of MDF. If you are good with a table saw this can really give you that finished look. Otherwise, I recommend patience, and a whole tub of wood filler. More details on Sausha’s finish here. Thanks Sausha!
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I dared not tackle this project, because there is no right reason for me to part with my Sam's Club top loader washer and still-going-but-a-tad-noisy-dryer. Yes, they do date back to the last century, but here's where my old school laundry system schools any new washer and dryer - you can fix it. But . . . . that's about it, and I knew if I started on a Washer and Dryer Pedestal plan, I'd be thinking in terms of platinum, red or that new teal color . . . and that's just not sensible for us right now. Hmmmm . . . do they have pink out yet? Gotta stop thinking that way!
So my friend, and ubberly-talented-I-want-to-be-her-when-I-grow-up Sausha offered to let us hack her amazing Washer and Dryer Pedestal.

Easter Egg Wreath

So I am not one that goes crazy on holiday decorations but I also don't want to look like a scrooge. So I have been thinking of ways to look festive and yet simplify my life. I found this adorable wreath that would add easter spirit and be easy. Look how cute this wreath is:

http://thesweetsurvival.blogspot.com/


Yarn Egg Wreath


I think it was about holiday time when I started seeing cool yarn ball holiday wreaths. They were so adorable. I was thinking I would love to make something for Easter with yarn. I have zero Easter decor so I decided to get a head start. I thought that if the yarn ball wreaths were cute why not make a yarn EGG wreath. You know some projects you do you have a good feeling about at the start. This was not one for me. The wreath didn't really come together for me until the end. I decided to make the wreath with two different sized eggs and four different colors of yarn.

You will need
14" round foam
4 different colors of yarn
4 bags of large size cheap plastic eggs by the dozen
2 bags of small size cheap plastic eggs by the dozen.
Lots of hot glue




I also decided to make the wreath with two different types of yarn eggs. First is your typical yarn ball wrapped hap-hazardly with yarn of choice. Did you know eggs are much harder to wrap than balls? Those plastic guys are slippery. I used hot glue to get it started. I also made a more modern (if that is possible using yarn) egg simply wrapping a single layer of yarn from top to bottom. For this type of egg you start at the top with a little hot glue and glue the end down. Then wrap around adding hot glue here and there to keep the yarn in place.





I secured the eggs as I made them to the foam wreath alternating size, color, and type. In the end I wish I would have gone for a smaller foam circle. As it looks great on the door it is too big to hang on the mirror which is where I wanted it to go. But isn't is super springy and fun and quirky! It has motivated me to work on the rest of the Easter stuff.