Turn an Ikea bookcase into a bench

April 14, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / 6 Comments

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.

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.

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

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?

Dollar Store Puzzle Coaster DIY

April 7, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / Leave a comment

Hello Everyone!

have you ever been to the dollar store and you see something really cute and you just know that you can do an awesome DIY with it? Well that is what happened to me with these puzzles I found at the Dollar Store.

They were just so cute I knew I needed to make something with them and I thought they were the perfect size for coasters.

Easy DIY, so here I goes:

Materials:

~ Puzzles

~ glues (I used Tacky glue and Mod Podge)

~ Exacto knife or scissors

~ Backing (I used some leftover fleece, but felt or cork would work)

~ Cardboard or poster board (optional)

Instructions:

~ First you have to assemble the puzzles. This is a really fun part!

~ Once they are all put together I spread a layer of Mod Podge on the front. I wanted a glossy look so I used Gloss A helpful hint is when you are gluing the back layers on to put something heavy on the coaster so that it will dry flat.

~ After that has dried then spread a layer of tacky glue to the back and adhere it to the fleece (or what ever you choose)

~ before you do the above step you might want to make the coasters a little more durable. So for the 2nd set I put a layer of cardboard, but I found that almost too thick. Poster board would be a happy medium. But they still work perfectly without any additional layers (my first set didn’t have anything extra and they work great)

~Once you are done with the fleece then cut it out.

And you are done! Ready to enjoy your new coasters.

Have you found something at the Dollar Store that you just needed to DIY? I would love to see what you came up with!

2016 Crochet Temperature Blanket

March 24, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / 5 Comments

Hello Everyone!

This week I wanted to tell you about my year long project. I am making a crochet temperature blanket! For those of you that don’t know what that is I will tell you.

I take the high temperature for my city and I crochet a row. I am using Caron Simply Soft Yarn (you can pick it up at Michaels, Joanns or online). It feels great and with no lot tracking it is easy to pick up more yarn as needed because it is impossible to judge how much I will need of each color for the year.

I created a chart that is in 10 degree increments and correlated that to a color and that is what I use for the row for that day (I did find examples online and used them as a guide line, but ultimately I used colors that work in my house). For example, I use the Sunshine color when the temperatures are between 70-79 degrees Fahrenheit.

I wanted it lap blanket sized so I crocheted 120 chain stitches (I added stitch markers every 10 stitches to help with my counting and I wanted to make sure the blanket stays close to rectangle by the end) Then I am just crochet using a single crochet stitch, one row for each day. I figured that this will help my practice my single stitch and it will keep the blanket from getting too big. As it is by the time I am done with the blanket and the boarder it will be over 44,000 stitches! So far I am behind (I am still working on February) but I am working hard to catch up and I will keep you updated on my progress. (I may end up finishing the blanket in 2020….) And that is is it, I just keep going until 2016 is done.

Are you working on any year long projects? I would love to see what you are working on!

This post does not contain affiliate links.

Vintage Button Magnets

January 14, 2016 / TakeTimetoCreate / 6 Comments

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!)

~ 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.

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

~ Glue the back of the button and add the magnet

~ 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.

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!

Christmas Mason Jars

December 23, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / Leave a comment

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas!

Do you remember the Fall Mason Jars I made a while back? Here is the link incase you missed it: Fall Mason Jars

Well I updated them for Christmas just by making a new flowery top.

Here is how I did it;

Materials:

~Flowers

~Mason Jar lid

~Hot Glue

~Ribbon

Instructions:

~ Remove the old lid and save it for next year

~ Take a new lid and glue on flowers. For Christmas I used Poinsettias that I found at the Dollar Store

Glue ribbon around the edge

Fill with Candy and you are done. I didn’t use any window clings this time because I thought the red and green candies were enough.

I am loving how easy it is to make these jars and how easy it is to store just the lids. And my boys love the candy in the jars Smile

Easy DIY Scarf Holder

December 4, 2015December 3, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / 2 Comments

I know I am way late to the scarf train, but now that I am aboard I am all about scarfs! I love how you can take a basic outfit and dress it up with a simple scarf, and they make your wardrobe so much more versatile!

Well now that I have accumulated a fair number of scarfs I ran in to the problem of where to store them. I wanted the in a location that I could see them so I didn’t forget about them in the morning. Also I wanted the scarfs to hang so they didn’t get too wrinkly (less ironing, which is always a good thing)

So we can up with the solution of finding a way to hang them on the back of the closet door. Please excuse any mess you see in my closet, organization is an ongoing problem in there.

This is a fast and easy way to hang your scarfs

Materials:

~ Dowel Rod

~ Adhesive hooks (I used 3M Command hooks)

~ Level (for hanging)

~ Duck Tape (Used this great purple Prism color)

Instructions:

~ cut your dowel to length. I wanted 2 rows, so I just cut them the length I needed. We had a saw at home, but the home improvement store can cut it for you if needed.

~ I was worried about the wood snagging my scarfs so I decided to wrap it in Duck tape. It also has the added benefit of being purple and sparkly.

~ Attach your hooks to your door, or where ever you want your scarf holder. (My fabulous husband was nice enough to help me hang it up and make sure it was level)

~ Add the dowel rods

~ Add your scarfs and you are done!

It was that easy!

Gallery Wall

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / 2 Comments

Today I thought I would take a moment and show you my gallery walls that are in my house. I love to have photos of my family and our favorite vacation spots on our walls in our house. Since we don’t have a ton of wall space we needed to be creative in how we display our pictures. So we set up two gallery walls. One in a 3 x 3 grid and looks a little modern with our black and white pictures. The other is a little more free flow. I will show you both and how we put them together.

Black and White Grid

This was a fun way to show our favorite vacation spots. We love to travel and we have tons of pictures from our travels, so what better way to show where we have been than with a gallery wall. The frames are 12 x 12 black frames I got at Aaron Brothers, but I think you can get them pretty much anywhere, including online. I had our photos printed at Walmart in black and white in and 8×10 size. I added a blurred boarder around the edges. When I got the photos I glued them on to a 12 x12 piece of card stock and framed the photo. We then hung them in a 3 x 3 grid pattern. Very easy to do and it is a nice way to show case you travel photos.

Here is a close up of the photos

If you want to see how we painted our couch you can see this blog post.

Gallery Wall

The other wall was a little bit less defined. Going up our stairs we thought it would be fun to show our family pictures and other things that mean a lot us. First we laid it out on the floor (and yes that is Starlight “helping”). I am so sorry for the blurry pictures, these are just terrible…

Anyway we laid out that pattern and when we found a pleasing layout we took papers in the sizes of the frames and laid it out on the actual wall so we could get a good idea of placement. Once we were happy we pounded in nails and hung up everything.

On this wall we have our family pictures, a favorite saying (Live well, laugh often, love much) a letter S that I put buttons on (the how to blog post is here) and a beautiful hand pained tile we got in the Bahamas. And we have prints with what our names mean. It is a wonderful grouping of things we love.

What do you think of our gallery? How do you hang pictures in your home?

DIY Magic Towel Wall Art

November 12, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / 2 Comments

I am loving the magic towels. The images are so fun and colorful. The Batman ones really stood out for me so I decided that I needed some wall hanging for our Fandom Basement.

Our basement is where we celebrate all fandoms! You can go back to this post and see how I made the Tardis Door. Oh and do you like my hand painted Deathly Hallows symbol and Captain America shield? Just a few details to the Fandom Basement. We love just about all the fandoms…

This wall art is easy and fairly inexpensive.

Here is what I did for this wall art.

Materials:

~ Magic Towels (I got mine at the dollar store)

~ Iron

~ Foam board (I got mine at the dollar store)

~ Craft Glue (I used Aleene’s)

~ Ruler or straight edge for a cutting guide

~ Exacto knife or rotary blade.

~ Ribbon

~ Ticky Tac, or some way to hang it.

Instructions

~ I washed my towels first. Once they are thoroughly cleaned I ironed them nice and flat. Then they were good to go!

~ I stacked them on top of each other so that when I I cut the towels they were the same size. I used a ruler for a guide to make sure it was straight.

~ Once it was all cut I spread craft glue on the foam board. Then I placed the towel on the board

~ After the towel was secured to the foam board I trimmed the edges so that it looked good.

~ After it was cut out I trimmed the top edge with ribbon. This was a good way to hide the frayed edges.

~Then I noticed that the white foam edges that were showing did not look very good, but I was out of ribbon so I did the next best thing and colored the edges with a Sharpie.

~ Before hanging up let it dry completely. I would place books on top so that it stays flat. I did not do this step and my art curled a little bit and so I had to flatten it after it was dry.

~Then hang it up. I used Ticky Tac, but you can use just about anything you want.

Not bad for just a few dollars. These would looks great in a kids room or bathroom and when they get tired of it it is easy to change out.

This time I mounted it on foam board, but next time I am going to try and frame the towel, or stretch it on a 12×12 canvas. So many options, I just hope I have enough wall space.

That is it! What do you make with your towels? I would love to see the art you create.

I am tired

November 6, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / 1 Comment

I will give you all fair warning that this post will contain swear words. What a way to start this blog post. So if you don’t want to read those naughty words then stop right now. If you don’t have a problem then let’s continue on.

I am tired of the BS

I don’t mean for this to be a complaining post, I did want to share what I was going through and how I handled it.

Like I said, I am tired. What I mean by that is, I am tired of all the bullshit that is going around. Whether it is from family, friend, coworkers, customers, or vendors I am tired of all the bs. I hear a lot of complaints without solutions, whining without anyone doing anything about it. People just like to carry their bs around and spread it all over the place, and I am tired of it. I don’t mean to be a “complain-a-saurus” so I am surrounding myself with people who are not spreading the BS, but people who are trying to make the world a better place.

I have been calling people out on their bs, which might not leave me with many friends, but that is ok.

By now you are probably wondering what this is all about, and how does it relate to creating and crafting. Well, I will tell you. I was talking about how tired I am of the BS to my husband and he jokingly suggested that I stitch that up some way and display it. I thought that was a fantastic idea! So I decided to make a cross stitch pattern with my new saying. I have never made a pattern before and I have to say it was a lot of fun. I know it is not perfect, but it is my first try. If you have any suggestions on making patterns I would love the help.

I decided this was not complaining it is taking a problem and making something from it.

For this pattern I just used an Open Office grid template and made a grid in the spreadsheets and put and X where I wanted a stitch. Pretty easy to create. I am not sure I will actually make in the colors I picked, but it was fun to play around with the colors.

I am attaching a pdf of the patterns on the blog so that you can print one up and make a cute decoration with the saying “I am tired of the bullshit”. I made 3 versions, so make the one you like best and be sure to share it with us when you are done. I am planning on making one as soon as I am done with some other projects.

Thank you for listening to my rant. I love my readers, you guys are the best and I truly appreciate you. I will try not to do this too much. But I am glad that even with my frustration I was able to create something new.And while I was making the pattern I couldn’t stop laughing. I giggled and laughed the entire time, and to me that is the best part of the whole experience.

And that is what this is all about, taking a deep breath, and creating something new.

tired of the BS

tired of the Bull

tired of the bullshit

Wake Up And Be Awesome

October 29, 2015 / TakeTimetoCreate / Leave a comment

Wake up and be awesome is my motto. Everyday you have a choice of what you want to be and awesome is my answer. It is not always easy, but I do try.

So what better way to show my love for awesomeness than to make a wall hanging? It is fun to look at first thing in the morning and they day is always better when you start off with a smile.

Materials:

~old painting that you are willing to cover up. I found mine at Goodwill

~ paint (I am using acrylic paint that I found at the craft store)

~ Alphabet stickers, I was looking for big stickers and I found mine at Target near the poster board section

~ Rhinestone (of course I need rhinestones! I think this is a prerequisite for all my crafts Smile )

~ Glue to glue on the rhinestones (I am using Aleene’s Jewel-it glue)

~ Foam paint brush

Instructions:

~ Take your old painting and wipe clean. A damp paper towel should do the trick. I found this painting at Goodwill. It is not an actual painting but a print on canvas. The style doesn’t match my décor but the colors do. So I thought it would be perfect for this project.

~ Gather your supplies

~ I cut out the letters and laid them out to make sure everything fit.

~ Stick the letters on the canvas. Really press them down to make sure no paint seeps under the letter

~ Start painting. Cover the entire canvas. Take your time and make sure it is all covered and looks good.

~ Before the paint completely dries take the letters off and throw them away. Check for sections where the paint might have seeped under the letter and clean it up. I used a Q-tip to make the letters look crisp.

I am not sure how anyone gets anything done without a little cat help. Smile It seems like every time I start a project Starlight has to be in the middle of it. But she makes it more fun.

~ Then I started adding rhinestones. I think everything is better with a little sparkle. I just added a few to the left edge of the each letter in the word Awesome. I think it added just the right amount of sparkle.

~Hang it on you wall (mine is in our bedroom) and get ready to wake up and be Awesome!

Take Time to Create

Taking a few minutes in our busy lives to create new and wonderful things

Home

Turn an Ikea bookcase into a bench

Dollar Store Puzzle Coaster DIY

2016 Crochet Temperature Blanket

Vintage Button Magnets

Christmas Mason Jars

Easy DIY Scarf Holder

Gallery Wall

DIY Magic Towel Wall Art

I am tired

Wake Up And Be Awesome