A Tisket, A Tasket, I Made a Lamp Out of a Basket

Yep that's right, I made a hanging lamp out of a basket. For the past six months or so, one corner of our living room has been without a lamp. It's really bothered me. It's where I always sit on the couch and I miss not being able to read, thumb through a magazine and most recently knit, because there's not enough light. Unfortunately times are tight right now and going out and buying a new lamp isn't in the budget. So I got thinking. Years ago we had three hanging lights from Ikea that had rectangular paper shades, but they don't really go with our decor anymore. However I could use the cord. So I ran out to the garage and found one. While I was out there I found a cool, very old, cage for a light bulb. I'm pretty sure that's not what it's called. I have no clue what the proper title for it would be.

Anyhoo, I grabbed that too and headed back inside. Now you know me, I get soo excited about a project I forget to take pictures while I'm putting it together. I'm working on that, I really am!! Once back in the house I took a basket from the living room that had those decorative wicker balls in it and started cutting a small circle out of the bottom. You see where I'm going with this?  : )

I pulled the cord through, put the light bulb in and put on "the cage". One of you 

must know what it's called. Please let me know! 

Isn't it cute? I know it could be bigger, but right now it does the job.  

And look how pretty at night! Miss A and I love all the 

light flecks it casts on the walls and ceiling. 

I'm really enjoying having a lamp by my side of the couch again. Last week I started knitting an infinity scarf. Now I'll be able to knit at night again and might have it finished by Christmas. Ha, ha. I'm not the fastest or most skilled knitter, but I try. That's what counts, right? I'll show you once it's done. 

Have you made a light fixture out of something odd? Please, do share! 

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Funky Junk Interiors

The DIY Show Off

Inspired by Charm

Homemaker on a Dime

Thrifty Decor Chick

The DIY Sweet Home Project

Savvy Southern Style

{Primp}

DIY by Design

At The Picket Fence

Blanket Makeover - Sort Of

Hi There. Hope you all had a happy Halloween and your kiddies got lots of treats. We had lots of fun trick-or-treating with some of our friends. Miss A was a fairy, again. There was also a Lalaloopsy, zombie pirate, Luigi, and the Stay Puft marshmallow man in our gang. His costume actually had a tiny fan in the back that kept him puffed up. It was hilarious!

Sorry the picture's soo tiny. Of course I forgot my camera, this pic was taken with my friend's iPhone. Anyway, everyone had lots of fun until we all got too cold. Notice Miss A has mitts on. Yeah, they're snow gloves and her fingers still got cold. She also ended up with her coat on. But hey, can't complain, there could've been a foot of snow on the ground. Check out the green grass behind them - snow free! 

Now onto my blanket makeover of sorts. Years ago I found a gorgeous quilted silk throw blanket on clearance at Home Sense and had to get it. I loved it! Then Miss A came along and let's just say when she was a baby she ate like a puppy. And we all know what usually happens when puppies eat too much, too fast. Well my blanket got washed and dried and washed and dried. Eventually the seams started coming undone and it didnt' look soo pretty anymore. I never had the heart to get rid of it and kept it for the last five years, knowing that some day I would find a way to repurpose it. About a month or so ago that day finally came. A light bulb went off and I got the idea to turn it into a throw pillow for our bed. 

That once lovely blanket turned from this, 

to this! 

Isn't it nice? I'm really pleased with it. I made an envelope cushion cover and used a pillow from a sleeping bag to fill it. Then I got out my scissors and hot glue gun and made rosette after rosette. I really, really like rosettes! Don't be surprised if my next post has something to do with them too.  ; )
After they were all made I had a tough time deciding how to place them on the pillow. I tried a zillion different ways, before I came to this. Instead of stitching them on I just used my hot glue gun to attach them. This pillow is only for looks, so I'm not too worried about it getting washed. Although, I'm pretty sure hot glue doesn't wash off easily. Never tested that, but I have a feeling. Anyhoo, once they were all glued on I added the pearls to the centers and viola! I had everything I needed to make this pillow, so the cost of this project was $0. LOVE that!

Here's a few close-ups for your viewing pleasure.

What about you, have you made a pillow out of something that your couldn't bare to part with? Maybe an old sweater, t-shirt or baby blanket? Do share. Thanks for stopping by!

Click here to enter my giveaway!! 

Sharing With:

{Primp}

The Shabby Creek Cottage

At The Picket Fence

French County Cottage

Delightful Order

Serenity Now

2805

Funky Junk Interiors

The DIY Show Off

Inspired by Charm

Homemaker on a Dime

Thrifty Decor Chick

Savvy Southern Style

DIY by Design

Halloween Wreath

Just a quick post today to show off my Halloween wreath I made over the weekend. It was super easy, super quick and super cheap. Just how I like it! First I started with a piece of pipe insulation. Yep, the stuff you put around your pipes so they don't freeze. We have quite a bit around our house. When Miss A was learning how to walk Mr. CC, being the worry wart that he is, put the stuff on a few of the corners of our walls. You know, just in case she walked into them. I have to admit, they have saved a few bumps and bruises over the years. Anyway, I took one, cut off about 8 to 10 inches, wrapped it into a wreath shape and taped it together. Like this.

Of course I forgot to take pictures of the actual assembly of the wreath, so you get the pic I pinned. Easy, huh? After that I took the 6 ft. garland I got at the Dollarama and wrapped it around. To secure the garland to the wreath I used a dollop of hot glue on each end. At the top I left about three inches exposed. That part I wrapped with some cute Halloween ribbon, added a bow and some extra to hang it with. Last year I bought a "Happy Halloween" sign for the door, I hot glued it to the bottom of the wreath. Now it's all one piece. Here's how she turned out.

This is how it looks at night with the porch light on. It's soo sparkly!! 

How do ya like my $2 wreath? The only things I bought were the garland and ribbon, both a buck each. I think it's soo cute and love the little black bats against the purple. Saturday the girls and I put up our Halloween decorations. We don't have very many, so it didn't take long. Have you started decorating for Halloween?

Here in Canada Thanksgiving is this weekend. We don't do a turkey. Me being American, I do Thanksgiving in November. Some years we go to friend's or family for turkey dinner. But I find it's not as big a holiday here as it is in the States and not as many people celebrate it. Don't know why? Personally, it's my favorite holiday. It's all about be thankful, good food, good company and none of the pressure or greed of presents. That's my kind of holiday!!

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A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

Thrifty Decor Chick

Centsational Girl 

The DIY Show Off

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Homemaker on a Dime

Savvy Southern Style

Debbiedoos

DIY by Design

Delightful Order

At The Picket Fence

The Shabby Nest

Serenity Now

Simple Solution

Hey there ladies & possibly gentlemen.  = )  Today I have a quick post for ya. This one was spurred by my annoyance at the jumbled mess that was living in a drawer in the bathroom. Do any of you have a drawer that looks like this???

Terrible, isn't it? Just looking at it nearly gives me hives. I am all about organization in my house and this was completely unacceptable. Every time someone pulled out one headband, several more came along for the ride. Not to mention you can't really see what's in there. Argh, it was buggin' me!! So I put on my thinking cap. How could I organize these and not spend a dime?? Think, think, think...

Ahh haa , I got it! Old pop bottles! I'm sure you're thinking, old pop bottles? What could she be thinking? Well , I'll show you. Take the label off two bottles, then cut the top off. After that try and wedge them into the drawer horizontally. You may have to trim a little more off the top. Only cut off a teeny tiny bit. If you cut off too much your bottle will just slide right to the bottom. You don't want it to sit at the bottom, so please trim carefully . Don't say I didn't warn you.   : )

Are you ready for the after?!?! It's kind of exciting! 

Tada!!

Are you as impressed as I am? It's gorgeously organized!! 

Here's a side by side for you, just to see how much better it really looks. 

What do you think? Are you going to try this? Please, let me know if you do. I am soo happy with how it turned out. No more mess and it's much easier to get a headband out now. Toodles!  = ) 

Sharing With:

Savvy Southern Style

Delightful Order

DIY by Design

The Gunny Sack

At The Picket Fence

Mine for the Making

Serenity Now

  

After the Storm...

Summer in Calgary and thunderstorms go hand in hand. We can have a beautiful , warm sunny day and by the evening, we're paying for it in the form of a thunderstorm. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE them, but they sure do give the plants a beating. Earlier this month our peonies that run along about 25 ft of our driveway were in full bloom. The weather had been rainy when they first opened and I never got a chance to get out and take pictures of them. Two days after they bloomed, we had a MASSIVE hail storm and they were completely destroyed. It was pretty sad actually. Half of them were laying down on the driveway, petals all over the place. What ones weren't completely beaten up, were bruised and tattered looking. So my idea of doing a post about our gorgeous flowers was washed down the sewer drain that day.

This happened last week, minutes after I'd finished the first coat of paint on the shelf I was painting for the sunroom. Before this was taken it was warm and sunny. The storm took about 40 minutes to pass over and after that it was warm and sunny again. Crazy!! 

Not only do our flowers get beaten up, but our weeping birch out front does too. After every storm you can look outside and see a sea of twigs and small branches blanketing the lawn. Most times I just go about picking them up and throwing them with the rest of the kindling for our fire pit. Today however, I looked out there and got an idea. Bring some inside and put 'em in a vase. Hmm... would that look ok? Let's find out.  : )  

I started with a vase I recently picked up at a thrift store for a couple bucks. This was just 

a little experiment to see if I liked the look enough to follow through. Me likey so far! 

Then I grabbed some twigs from the yard, got out some floral foam and dried moss. 

First I cut a piece of the floral foam and pushed it into the bottom of the vase. Then I started shoving 

the twigs into the foam, it holds really well. As I went along I began adding the moss. 

Here's a shot of the moss. I love the texture of it all! You'll notice the plant next to it 

magically disappears in the reveal picture. It just wasn't doing it for me. 

Ta da!! 

Ms. A declared that it was beautiful when I set it on the table. She's was also making sure I was taking pictures for my blog while I was putting it together.  : )  Such a cutie. Anyway, what do you think? I'm liking it for the now. We'll see how long it stays there. I just wanted something with a bit of height for the corner. There had been a couple of antique crates stacked there with a tall plant on top. Ever since I moved them and put this side table there it's felt empty in that corner. So the twigs will stay until I start moving things around, again. 

Have you made anything from twigs for your space? If so, please share. I'd love to see it!

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Funky Junk Interiors 

From a Paper Towel to a Butterfly

* I don't know what's up with this post, but it's experiencing technical difficulties. There are big gaps in between the pictures and text. I've tried to edit and repost twice and it's still doing it. I'm hoping it'll correct itself.  Sorry!  : ) *

Happy Monday! Last week I came across the cutest kids craft while I was browsing Pinterest. If you still haven't joined Pinterest do it right after you finish reading this post! Anyhoo, as soon as I saw this

cutesy little craft I thought, I must do this! Thanks to Make It & Love It for the great idea!

Here's how you make them. 

1. Fill as many bowls as you like with a bit of water and add a few drops of food coloring.

We did one red (pink), one yellow, one green and one purple. 

2. Fold paper towels into to small squares. 

3. Dip each corner into whatever colors you like. 

4. Squeeze excess water into sink and lay out to dry. 

Once the paper towels have dried you'll need pipe cleaners for the body and antenna. Take two pieces if you used choose-a-size like I did, or one for regular size, then gather in the middle and wrap a pipe cleaner around and curl the ends for the antennas. It's that easy!

Here's how they turned out.  

Of course Ms. A, loving all things butterfly, had to have them in her window immediately.

This was a great craft to do with the kids. Ms. A is 5 and her friend, who's close to 3, both had lots of fun making them, and were both able to do the dipping themselves. We'll definitely do this again. Next time though I'd encourage them to just dip a tiny bit of the corner into the dye so it makes more of a polka dot effect than all over color. Give this a try. Your kids will love it!

Linking to:
Young House Love - Pinterest Challenge
Bower Power - Pinterest Challenge

Rosettes & a Dollar Store Pillow

A while back my little girl, Ms. A, and I were at the Dollarama. She came across this rather ugly (in my opinion) pillow that she just had to have. After it being on her bed since before Valentine's, she was finally ready for  me to pretty it up. She likes everything on her bed to match and this wasn't. So I got out the matching fabric to her comforter and got to work.

the before

I started by tracing around the heart, leaving about 1/2 inch boarder. Then I folded the fabric in half and cut out the heart. Tada! Two hearts. After that I ironed the material and got to the sewing part.

Once I was done with the machine part of the sewing, I had to stitch the rest together. You can see where I did on the left side. I'm not soo good at that! After it was done I thought it looked at little blah still. So I decided to try something I've been wanting to do for a while now, rosettes! They're soo cute!! For those I cut 2 inch wide strips of material and began hot gluing.

Start at the center and work your way around while you're twisting the material. Make sure to tack it down with a little dot of glue every now and then. After a few times around you'll have something that looks like this. 

Continue twisting and wrapping. If you run out of material and want to keep going, just grab another strip and start were the last one ended. Once you've achieved the size you want wrap the last bit behind and glue. Then carefully trim any excess fabric from around it.

Make as many as you want. Then you could either hot glue them to your pillow like I did, or you could put a large dollop of glue on the back and hold a small safety pin in it until it dries. Now you have a pin you can put where ever you want! A couple months ago I made another pillow for Ms. A's bed and made a different kind of flower that pins on. You'll see.  : )

There's the other pillow (on the left) I made with a different kind of flower.  Cute huh?!?

This flower was just as easy to make. It does involve A LOT more cutting though! Maybe I'll do a post how to make that one too. Let me know if you'd like one.

So how do you like my pillows? I'm really pleased with how the rosettes turned out. They've been on my list for a while now and that won't be last time I make them.  : )  Hmm..... where else could I put some?

Linking to:

Fabric, Bows & More, The Picket Fence, The Shabby Nest
Somewhat Simple, Delightful Order, Patches of Pink
Be Different Act Normal, Along For The Ride,
French Country Cottage, A Beach Cottage,
The Lettered Cottage