Tag: create (page 7 of 7)

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

Hello Everyone!

As many of you already know I was working a project for a Mental Health Awareness charity auction. We were all repurposing and painting old windows. Here you can see my post about creating a shabby chic message board. Today I am going to walk you through how I made this chalkboard with an old window.

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

 

Materials:

~Old window. This window had pealing paint and a crack in the Plexiglas, so it was perfect for this project.

~ Cleaning supplies and sandpaper

~ Paint, brushes, and tape for the frame

~ Primer, chalkboard paint, and brushes for the chalkboard part.

 

Instructions;

~ The first step is to prep the window. Not the most fun, but it is necessary for a successful project. I sanded all the edges until they were smooth and ready to paint. This took a while because the window was so rough.

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

~ Then you paint the frame. I did tape off the Plexiglas because I am not the neatest painter. I used Artist’s Loft in Metallic Cobalt Blue, I love the iridescent quality of the blue paint.

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

~ Paint away. Kitty help is essential to the success of any craft project Smile Starlight is my favorite kind of help, lol.

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

I did 2 coats of the blue

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard.

~ After the frame had dried for a day I taped off the frame part and prepped the Plexiglas. First I lightly sanded the glass so that the paint would adhere. Then I put a coat of primer on according to the directions. I used Kilz primer.

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

~ Once the primer was dry I painted 4 coats of chalkboard paint on according to the directions. I used Rustoleum Chalkboard paint. Once it was dry and cured for 3 days I conditioned the chalkboard according to the directions.

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

~ Once it was completely dry and conditioned I took a stencil and painted a design in the corners and added some flowers and that is it. A new chalkboard for an old window

Repurpose an old window into a Chalkboard

Have you painted and or repurposed an old window? How did it turn out? I would love to see pictures!

Re-purpose an old window into a shabby chic message board

If you follow my Instagram (taketimetocreate) then I am sure you have already seen the reveal of this repurposed window. For those of you who don’t follow me there here the shabby chic message board!

repurpose window to shabby chic message board

I have to say I do love the way it turned out! This all started when my friend asked me to paint a window for a silent auction for mental health awareness. At first I wasn’t too interested, not because I didn’t believe in the cause (because this is one cause I totally support) it was because I wasn’t sure I had a design that would work. Most everyone else did a more traditional painted window with flowers on the glass and things like that. Well of course I didn’t follow the crowd. So I did my own thing and hopefully it will bring in a lot of money for the charity!

Here is how I did the repurposing.

Materials:
~ old window (for this to work you for magnets you will need one with a metal screen)
~ sandpaper, tape, cleaning supplies
~ paint and brush
~ cork
~ flowers, magnets, tacks, and clothes pins
~ ribbon and burlap

Instructions:
~ The first thing you will need to do is sand down all the rough edges and smooth it out. Once you like the feel of the window then give it a good cleaning.

window

~ Now you are ready to paint. I taped around the edges to help cut down on how much paint went on the screen, and this seemed to help.
Paint a couple coats until you get it to how you like it. I used this white acrylic paint that I had on hand.

white acrylic paint

~ Cut your cork down to size and glue it on to the screen. I just glued the edges with a metal glue and that seems to hold it pretty well.

add cork to window

~Then I went to work decorating the edge. Shabby chic is all about layers so that is what I did. I put down a layer of burlap, the layered on a layer of crochet ribbon that I had in my stash.

add ribbon and burlap

That looked good, but I felt like it was missing something, so I added a ribbon on top and flowers in the corners.

add more ribbon

Then I added ribbon to the bottom of the screen and to the bottom of the window. Once that was done it was time to add the flower decorations.

~ For the flowers add a magnet the back of some and tack to the others. For the clothes pins I just added ribbon to a plain clothes pin I got from the dollar store.

glue magnets to flowers

And that is it. This is a very fun project that is easy to do and I loved using what I had on hand. I can’t wait for the auction and hopefully they will make a lot of money for their cause!

repurpose window to shabby chic message board

Monogram Wood Burn Coasters

Hello Everyone!

Before I get into my DIY I just wanted to let you know that there will be some updates coming to the blog. The design will be getting an overhaul. All the same content will be here, hopefully it will be easier to find and navigate to.

I am excited for the updates, and I will keep you posted on the progress.

 

Last week I told you guys about my cousin getting married (I made a clutch to go with my shoes. You can see that post here) The wedding was beautiful! I am so happy for them.

I wanted to give them something special for their wedding so I decided to try out my wood burning tool. (I have had it for a while, just never used it)

I thought coasters would be good for the newly weds,  and a monogram of their last name would be perfect.

monogram wood burn coaster

Materials:

~ wood ( You can use scraps you have around, or pick some up at a store. I found mine at Michaels)

~ Wood burn tool

~ graphite paper

~ print out of what you want to wood burn (I just created my monogram in word and printed it on my computer)

~ Stain (I used a pre stain because of the nature of the soft wood I was using, then I used a natural stain, and finished with a clear coat)

~sandpaper and foam paint brushed

~ Felt or cork for the back

Instructions:

First you lightly sand the wood to make sure it is nice and smooth.

Then you transfer the design onto the wood. I traced the design with a pencil using graphite paper. This worked really well.

monogram wood burn coaster

Then I stared to outline the monogram with the wood burn tool.

 monogram wood burn coaster

This was my first attempt at making something with the wood burn tool and I learned to go at a steady pace with even pressure. 

 monogram wood burn coaster

Also be very careful, the tool is HOT. I even have the band aid to prove how hot the tool can get Smile

monogram wood burn coaster

Once it was completed and I was happy with the design I pretreated the wood with a Pre-Stain. Then I followed up with a natural stain and finished with a clear coat. Follow the directions on the stain to get the best results.

monogram wood burn coaster

Then I put self adhesive felt on the back, and then I was done!

monogram wood burn coaster

This was such a fun project!  It did take a little while to get the hand of wood burning, but now that I get it I have a ton of other projects that I have in mind! These are perfect gifts for everyone!

monogram wood burn coaster

monogram wood burn coaster

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

Hello Everyone!

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

I just had to make this clutch all because of this fantastic pair of shoes! (I think all great stories start with shoes)

 

Anyway, here is the story, my cousin is getting married on Sat (YAY) I am so happy for him. (His bride-to-be is wonderful and I think they will be very happy together. )

And since I have these great shoes that I never get to wear (they are a little impractical for work, haha) I decided to wear them to the wedding. Buuuut, I didn’t have a clutch to match. So I decided to make one.

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

Aren’t these shoes great?

Anyway here is how to make this DIY Rhinestone Clutch.

Material:

~ Fabric (I am using a faux leather that I had in my craft room, but any fabric that is slightly stiff will work. I did not line it, but you can if your fabric is not stiff enough)

~ zipper (I am using a plastic zipper that I had laying around, it is not the perfect red, but I think it works)

~ Sewing Machine, or needle and thread

~ Rhinestone and glue (I used Aleene’s jewel it glue)

~ Decoration for zipper if desired

 

Instructions:

~ First cut your clutch. I cut 2 pieces that were 10 inches x 6 inches. (this was big enough to put my lipstick, phone, gum, and blotting papers in)

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

~ Once your fabric is cut them measure your zipper. If it is too long then measure how long you want it, then place a few stitches there. Once it is secure then cut off the excess.

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

~ Next is place the fabric on the zipper and sew the fabric on the zipper. I held it together with tape since I didn’t want puncture holes in it from needles.

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

~ Do this step to both sides of the zipper

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

 

~ Turn your work so that right sides are together and stitch around the edges. Make sure you leave the zipper open so you can get your hand in to turn your work right side out.

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

~Once you have stitched all 3 sides turn your work right side out and there you have a really cute new clutch!

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

~ Ok by now you all know me well enough that you know I can leave anything that plain. I just knew it needed rhinestones. So I placed dots of glue in a swirl type pattern all over the clutch. Then I decided that wasn’t quite enough Smile so I added to wonderful broach that my mom gave me, with a little ribbon, I thought it was the perfect accent to the clutch.

 

 

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

There you have it. What do you think? Pretty easy right. Now on the the wedding celebration on Sat.

DIY Rhinestone Clutch

Turn an Ikea bookcase into a bench

Hello Everyone!

Isn’t Ikea one of the most wonderful places on Earth? I mean they have everything, all in one place!

Well a little while ago I was looking for the perfect bench to put in my kitchen, near the door. I couldn’t find anything that I liked, but I did see people on Pinterest turning an Ikea bookcase into a bench.

Turn an Ikea bookcase into a bench

It is very simple to do.

Materials:

~ bookcase the is strong enough to handle the weight when tipped on its side. I used the Ikea Expedit, but I don’t think they have that anymore. But check around they might have a suitable alternative.

~ Plywood for the top

~ Foam cushion

~ Fabric

~ Staple gun

Instructions:

~ First assemble the bookcase. They might take awhile and you might need help. If you want to raise the height now is the time to add legs to the bench. I didn’t want them, but you may want something different

~ For the cushion, cut the plywood the size of the bench top

~ Then  you make a sandwich of fabric on the bottom, ( I used a strip to help me keep it all in line. The fabric possibilities are endless) then the foam and lastly the plywood. Then stretch and staple all around.

Turn an Ikea bookcase into a benchTurn an Ikea bookcase into a bench

Turn an Ikea bookcase into a bench

I used this same technique when we redid the entry closet. You can see that transformation: here

Turn an Ikea bookcase into a bench

And that is it. A very easy way to transform a room and increase your storage.

Is there any Ikea transformations that you have done in your house?

Vintage Button Magnets

So as you all probably know by now I love buttons. I made this letter S a few years ago and I still love it. Buttons are so much fun to go through and sort and reminisce about. I think they are one of my favorite crafting item.

So I made another craft with buttons. This time I made button magnets.

In addition to the crafting I decided to reopen my Etsy store and sell some of the things I make here on this blog. Stop by and check it out: TakeTimeToCreate.

Here is how you can make your own button magnets

Materials:

~ Buttons (so many buttons!!! And this is only a small portion of what my mom gave me! She is the best!)

Box of buttons     Buttons

~ Magnets

~ Glue (I am using my trusty E-6000)

~ Clippers or something to cut the shank off

 

Instructions

~ prep the buttons. You might need to clean them a bit or snip off the shank. Be careful because pieces of plastic might go flying.

Cut off the shank

~ Stack the buttons to create a different looks. Glue the stacks as necessary.

layer the buttons     layer the buttons

~ Glue the back of the button and add the magnet

Glue on the back of buttonAdd magnet to backAdd magnet to Button

~ Wait for them to dry and then put them up on your fridge. You can see I use them to hold pictures of Cole. I love his monster and dino magnets he made when he was little. So cute! Sigh he is not so little anymore.

Stay tuned for DIYs on how I made the little canvas magnets and the bottle glass magnets.

Display button magnet     Display button magnet

Here are some of the completed magnet sets that I have on Etsy just to give you an idea of what you can do with magnets and buttons. These make great house warming gifts!

Button magnets     Button magnets

Button magnets     Button magnets

Make Yarn Out of an Old T-shirt

Hello Everyone!

I hope your years is getting off to a great start. I am pretty excited because I have started on a project that I have been wanting to get started on for a long time. I got this huge stack of old t-shirts that had the wrong logo on them (this pic is only part of what I got). And since the shirts can’t be sold my friend gave them to me to make into yarn. This is not a new technique, but it is new to me and I am pretty excited in how it turned out. It is a perfect activity to do while I am watching TV. I am only part way through the stack, but eventually I will be done and then I am going to make rugs out of the yarn. Great way to upcycle old t-shirts and make something new.

stack of shirts

I didn’t connect the balls of yarn to make one big ball because I am not sure if I am going to braid the rug or crochet it. (if I crochet the rug I will need to combine the yarn, if I braid it then I will need to sew together the strips.) Either way when I do the rug I will be sure to do a  tutorial for you guys.

Here is how you turn in old t-shirt into yarn.

Materials

~Old T-shirt (make sure it is washed, if it is new this will take the sizing out and if it is from a thrift store it will make sure it is clean)

~ Scissors

~ ruler if you want, I didn’t use one but a ruler might make it easier to cut the strips.

Instructions

~ Lay the clean shirt on a flat surface. As you can see from the pics I am working on the floor, but that is just my preference. Make sure the shirt is flat and as smooth as possible.

~Cut the top off right under the sleeves. (I am keeping this top part, not sure what I am going to do with them but I just can’t throw it away) Then Cut off the bottom hem. (I threw that part away)

 

Cut top and bottom off

top cut offbottom cut off

~ Then you want to cut the remaining shirt into strips. I cut mine about 1-1.5” wide.

***This is Important! Make sure you don’t cut all the way to the top! You will need this uncut area to make the yarn into one continuous length.

cut into strips

angeled cuts to make 

(This is what the top looks like with the uncut areas. You will cut it at an angle to make the strips, starting at the right end)

~ For this part refer to the pics, and please let me know if you have any questions.

To make the yarn cut off starting at the last strip and make an angle cut to the edge. Then cut the rest of the strips in an angle until you get to the end. I place the shirt on my arm and make the cuts on there, that just helps me keep track of were I need to go next.

 

cutting t shirt yarnwhere to cut for t shirt yarn

~ Once you have cut the entire shirt you should have on long length of T-shirt Yarn. Then gently stretch the yarn and then wrap it into a ball. I made individual balls because I am not sure if I want to combine them into one length or not, but this way I am keeping it all nice and neat until I am ready to use it.

stretch yarnwrap yarn

I know this may seem a little confusing, but I am here if you have any questions. Have any of you made t-shirt yarn before? I would love to some tips and tricks to make it better and or easier.

DIY Mickey Messenger Bag

When we went to Disneyland I decided that I “needed”  a new bag to hold my wallet and essentials. I didn’t want it too big, just big enough to carry what I needed for the day. Of course I decided that I needed this bag the day before we left. And of course I wanted to use a product that I have never used before. Nothing can go wrong with this scenario, right?? wrong! All kinds of things happened and and few tries later I ended up with a new bag. It only took me 3 times as long, but it did get done Smile 

DIY Disney Mickey messenger Bag

 

I will give you the instructions on how you should do it  and I will even tell you what not to do, haha!

Materials:

~ messenger bag

~ stencil of what you want to create

~ Graphite paper

~ rhinestones

~ fabric paint

~ E-6000 glue

~ Silver Sharpie

 

Instructions:

1. Pick out the messenger bag you want to decorate. I found this black on at Hobby Lobby, and I used a coupon so it wasn’t too expensive. Much cheaper than anything I would find at Disney in their stores Smile . It worked very well, except with all the decoration the flap was a little heavy and when I snapped it the flap would fold weird. So I just never snapped the flap and let it hang, and that worked out just fine.

 

messenager bag     messenager bag

2. Print out what you what to put on your bag, I found a Mickey head silhouette and the quote. I downloaded a free Disney font and typed the quote in a word processing program and printed it at home. (here is the first problem I had. Instead of the stencil I cut out the Mickey shaped with  glitter iron on transfer paper. then I tried to iron it onto the bag.  It didn’t iron on well and was pealing up. I decided to try again, so I picked off the first one and made a new Mickey head and ironed it on again. Once again it did not work. So I picked off what I could and went on to plan B.  I am going to have to figure out what I did wrong. Do you guys have any thought or suggestions?)

3. Place your stencil and quote on the bag.

lay out stencil and quote

 

4. Cut out some graphite, big enough to put under the quote. Trace the quote onto the bag and the graphite paper will transfer the quote onto the bag. The graphite paper I had was hard to read, but manageable

Graphite paper     Lay out quote

5. Trace the words with a silver Sharpie. I traced it about 3 times. A fabric marker would work as well.

trace quote with sharpie

6. I used Stickles in 2 colors to fill in the stencil. This is another example of a project not working as well as I thought. Stickles are not really good for fabric. We all know this, but if you remember I was doing this the night before we left so I had to use what I had on hand and that was Stickles. I put 2 coats of Stickles on then put a coat of E-6000 glue over the top to seal it in. It worked ok and held up for the week, but I think it would have been better with fabric paint.

lay out stencil

7. Once your Mickey is on and your quote is good to go then add Rhinestones all over. Originally I planned on the bag with no rhinestones, but it was a little too plain for my tastes and I added the sparkle.

 

posing with the bag

That is it. It held up all week with only a few rhinestones falling off, but that is not bad considering all the problems I had along the way.

What ideas do you have for a bag?

What problems have you had with your crafting projects and how did you fix them?

Steampunk Disney Magic Band

We went to Walt Disney World in January so we got to try out the new Magic Bands. This was my first time using them, and overall I was impressed. But I couldn’t just leave it plain, oh no! I needed to decorate it!

I decided on a Steampunk tribute to Beauty and the Beast.

Update 4.4.2017: I just uploaded a video to You Tube describing this in more detail. Check it out: Steampunk Magic Band You Tube Video

Here is the finished Magic Band! I have to say, I really love how it turned out!

20150611_070832

Finished Magic Band

IMG_4536

Top of finished magic band

I think it turned out pretty cool. Unfortunately there are no pictures of me during the creation processes, but I do have the finished product. I wore it every day for a week and it held up great. I was gentle with it, but not overly so. I only had 1 piece fall off and I just replace it that night. I brought with me a small bottle of E6000 and some spare pieces for just such an occasion.

Material needed

  1. E6000
  2. Steampunk pieces ( I found mine in the jewelry section at Michael’s)
  3. Watch face (I found mine on Etsy)
  4. Rhinestones (again, Michael’s to the rescue).
  5. Nail polish and top coat
  6. Empty water bottle to hold Magic Band while you are working

Here is what I did to decorate the Magic Band

  1. I cut the band down to size so it fit me.
  2. I put the band around a water bottle so that I could work on it.
  3. I painted the band with nail polish in 2 colors. I can’t remember what the colors were but one was a Sally Hansen and the other was an OPI. I used several coats to get the color I wanted. The inside part is a different color from the outside edge.
  4. Then I put a few layers of top coat of nail polish on.
  5. Then I started gluing on the pieces with E6000. I started with a few pieces and then started adding a few more. I wanted a layered look that had a lot going on, but not too much…
  6. I went over the top of the rhinestones with top coat so that they would stay down. This did take away from the shine, but they stuck better.
  7. As you decorate make sure you don’t cover your Mickey head, it won’t work if you do (believe me, originally I did have something covering the Mickey and it didn’t work so I had to take my repair kit out and fix it…)
  8. I added a watch face to my Magic Band. I wore it on my left wrist, right where I wear my watch and I didn’t want to have to wear both, so I added a watch to my Magic Band. It worked great! The watch stayed on perfectly and worked the whole time!

I think that is everything I did. Let me know if you have questions and I will be happy to answer. I would love to see your versions of your Magic Bands!

Here are a few more pictures from all different angles. I wore it with the Mickey facing out and the watch face on the inside so I could see it.

IMG_4529

Side of the magic band that faces inside, with the watch facing me

IMG_4537

IMG_4533

IMG_4530

IMG_4527

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