Paper Mache Book

My husband installs hardwood floors.  He has a number of things he needs to have handy while he works.

Pencils, utility knife, stain pens, markers, keys, phone, wallet, loose change, etc.

At night, he used to come home and empty the pockets of his work pants and set the items on the night stand.  I always got after him for it.  Especially on the weekends, when he didn't wake up and put all those things BACK in his pockets.

As part of our bedroom update, I decided I would make a place for all the pocket odds and ends.

I found a paper mache book box at JoAnn.  I painted the "pages" gold and mod podged some fabric on the "cover."

Now instead of looking like Home Depot's most valuable marking pencil customers - we look like readers of lovely, classic, books.  It makes me happy.  And he's probably happy not to have me nagging him anymore.  Win, win.

The "Bapron" (Baby Apron)

If you have young girls and you haven't checked out Craftiness is Not Optional, you really should.  I just discovered her blog and I'm happy that I'll soon have a reason to make all those sweet toddler girl dresses (I have this thing about spending a lot of time sewing a dress before a baby is old enough to stand up and show it off...)

I was making some things for a recent baby shower and found The Bapron on Jess's blog.  It seemed like a quick and easy addition to my gift since I was making doubles of everything (ah! twins!).  I was sad to see that the free pattern was archived and I couldn't get it without paying.  I really try not to pay for things if I can help it.  Jess was quick to send me a Bapron file so I could use it.  How sweet, don't you think?

I whipped up two of these in no time.  It would be even faster if you bought your bias tape already made.

I was also lucky enough to have a model on hand.

I love how they dip down to cover her lap.  It also goes around her waist to keep her little hands from getting under and lifting it up in her face right as I bring a spoonful of food to her mouth.

I vowed to make 5 or 6 for my daughter.  But I haven't yet (sniff).  Little Chloe could really use one of these when she soggies and mangles her biter biscuits.  I was thinking it would be good to make one in each of the colors of food she eats so stains would just blend in.

Painted Rug

Painted rugs have been showing up all over the place in the crafty blog world.  I first saw it here.  I was really glad I did too.  I had just bought the same rug (in the darker color) at IKEA a few days before.  I wasn't really excited about it, but it was the closest thing I could get to the color I wanted at the small price I was willing to pay.

I liked the color of the rug, and didn't really want to cover it up like the tutorial did.  I just wanted to make it a little more exciting.  I liked the chevron stripes she used and thought I'd give them a shot.

Items Used

From the store:

Blank stencils (mine were 9"x18", so I taped two together)

Acrylic paint in the desired green color

From home:

Painter's tape

Textile medium

Kitchen sponge

I followed pretty much the same steps as she did over at House of Smiths, skipping the all over paint job.  I also just mixed the textile medium with my acrylic paint for my paint.  I didn't want a solid stripe either, so I just blotted the chevron stripes on with a sponge. Easy peasy.

My only problem now, is that the rug is very rough.  It catches lint and fuzz all over it.  I'm not sure what kind of a clear coat I can use to help make it a bit smoother.  My 7 month-old army crawled over to it today and was not happy when she got there.

Car Wall Art

My son's entire bedroom theme came from the fact that I saw some car fabric at the store and thought it would make a cute blanket.  I tied him a quick blanket for Christmas using this fabric (I think it's Debbie Mumm).  

Once he moved to a "big-boy" bed, we used the blanket as a bedspread.  The car theme propelled from there.  

I scanned in a piece of the fabric into my computer and blew up three of my favorite vehicles to the desired size.

I cut pieces out of felt to create cars/trucks that looked similar to the ones in the fabric.  I stretched some white fabric over cardboard and glued the felt pieces onto it.  I framed it and ended up with this.

I actually made this over a year ago.  I was worried that the felt would fade, but it still looks great.  It was a cheap way to make wall art that matched the theme perfectly.  I also like that it has some texture to it.