DIY TeePee Storage

I'm getting ready to move into a house about half the size of my current place, so I have been scrolling through Pinterest like a mad woman!

I found a few different ways to store that excess toilet paper you get once you purchase it, but none that fit my criteria - simple, easy, using materials I already have, and more importantly - FREE!

I came across one that Stella made, and it's perfect!! She used materials she already had, and it's colorful!

So I gathered up my skewers, some tissue paper, and some yarn instead of ribbon (which I decided to braid).

First, I measured the stick against the toilet paper roll, and cut the pointy part off, since I can just picture the horror of sharp stick in the hands of a 4 year old!

Then, I measured the length of yarn I would need, and added a bit more since I would be braiding it and making a loop. Repeat twice for the 2 other braid strands. Then, I tied them all to the skewers and braided them. Once I got to the end, I made a loop and tied a few knots to ensure it would stay together with the weight of the TP.

Ta da!

{Daily Random Fact: Until coffee gained popularity, beer was the breakfast beverage of choice in most urban areas in the United States}

DIY Door Stop

I never thought I would be needing one of these home decor items, but there I was - browsing images, instead of doing paperwork. 

This, like most of my searches, started out with "DIY" because if I can't make it for myself, it really makes me question the necessity of the item in question.

My door automatically closes, so I use my garbage can to keep it propped open. It occurred to me today, as I was vacuuming and moving my garbage can around, how much easier (and potentially cleaner) it would be to just have something that's actually made to hold a door open, keep the door open for me! Insert Google.

I found a few cute door stops, but nothing that was truly my style. I found a cute dinosaur stop that could have totally worked, and inspired me to raid the playroom, in search of an unused toy!

Luckily for me, we have a dozen Mr. Potato Heads and parts!

So I gathered my supplies - Mr. Potato head with all his parts (minus a hat), a hot glue gun, and some sand to make the door stop stay in place.

I started off by ensuring that the entire bottom of the potato was covered by the feet. Then I added a very generous layer of hot glue on top of the opening, to ensure that the sand will not seep out of the potato.

Next, I got my little helper to fill in the potato with sand.

Once the potato was about 3/4 full, we close the back (or lid.. I'm not sure what the appropriate term for Mr. Potato's butt cover is!), and then hot glued it shut, to prevent any sandy spillage.

Using the hot glue, of course, led to wanting to branch out to doing more hot glue crafts. 

Squirrel!

Ta-da!

Now you've got yourself a man you can depend on, and rely on to hold the door open for you.

There are so many jokes I could make right now, but I am just going to revel in the fact that I have upcycled something in my home to turn it into something useful and fun to look at!

Much love for the potato man!

And if you're interested in learning more about potatoes, or the potato famine, Mary Kate can teach you all about it! 

(NSFW)

{Daily Random Fact: Potatoes have more potassium than a banana, more vitamin C than an orange, and more fiber than an apple.}

Dirty 30

I'm not 30.. yet. 

Most of my friends, however, are the big 3-0. 

Thank goodness it's not me, amiright?! 

I have gone back and forth on whether or not 30 is a big deal.
It's just a number, I won't feel any different, and I have already reached a lot of adult milestones.
So today, I'm being ok with no longer being 20-something. I am now - almost - a 30 year old. 

Moving on..

Two years ago, some important people in my life turned 30. I went all DIY on their butts and made a fun trivia game. As we waited at the restaurant for dinner, we played this riddle filled game I prepared for our friends. The answers were things that turned 30 years old that year -
like the Dodge Caravan. (I never got around to posting about it, but I swear it happened!) 

So this year, I decided to be even more crafty for this person's gifts AND write a post about it!
BAM!

I made him a few things, and since we don't live in the same city, I wanted it to be special. I had the great idea of mailing him a package every week.
At the end of this post, you will read about why that was better in theory, than in practice.

First gift: I sent him a book. Nothing overly special about that, but I put a few post-it notes on some funny pages, which means that I actually had to read a lot of the pages and I'm not much of a reader.
Reaction: He was impressed that I had actually opened the book and had done that. Go me!

Second gift: I sent him a plate warmer, that I made, using a tile that I found at the local thrift store. I wrote out a bunch of lyrics, from different songs that we like, which is actually far more challenging when a certain person doesn't appreciate country music the way I do!

(This was my outline, that was improved with the creative input of my 3 year old.) 

Reaction: He thought it was sweet (that's what I took from the "aww") and mentioned that he actually needed a plate warmer.
Call me butter 'cause I'm on a roll!

Third gift: I sent him a book safe I made, using a book I found at the same thrift store.

I cut out an inside section (which was more difficult than I anticipated) and then glued the pages together. I didn't glue the hollowed out part to the bottom.. but I'm not really sure why.
Design choice? Let's go with that.

I added some chocolate because, well, it's delicious. 

Reaction: A smile, a chuckle, and a "yum".
Another win!

I saved the best for last.

I made (in collaboration with a friend) a Lego candy dispenser.

 When you pull on the candy piece, some yummy candy comes out the bottom!

We looked at a few tutorials, and went with the materials I had on hand. As it turns out, I had a lot of egyptian themed Lego, so that's ultimately where it ended up, even though it was not part of the original design. 

To send it, I bubble wrapped it as much as I possibly could - and then some - to avoid taking it apart and writing instructions on how to put it back together.
As it turned out, instructions were needed.
It arrived in a few pieces, so I walked him through the remodeling over live chat.
Reaction: He called it "interactive" and "sweet" (heehee, I'm a sucker for puns!).

He enjoyed all the gifts, but the original intention was lost on him.
I wanted to send him a gift a week, so he would have a present a week to open, as this is a big deal of a birthday. But of course, there were bumps.
The first issue is that I sent the first gift, during the first week of August, so it didn't arrive until the following week. Therefore, I had to send the second one the next day, in order to keep "on schedule".
The second issue was getting him to open the gifts as they arrived.
He claimed that because it was not his birthday, he shouldn't open the gifts right away. I spent 3 days trying to convince him - without giving it away - that he should open the gift anyway.
When the second gift arrived, I had more of a reason to get him to open the first gift - which he ended up doing.
Of course, the third one arrived and he still refused to open anymore of them, and believe me, I bugged him about it for many days!
On the day of his birthday, he opened the first three via video chat.
The last bump in the road was that he hadn't checked his mail on the day of his birthday when the Lego candy dispenser was delivered. Go team!

So next year, a new plan will have to be put into effect, and it will involved much less bubble wrap!
But I call it a win because there were presents and Lego.

Happy 30th birthday!

{Daily Random Fact: All Lego made in the last 54 years fit with each other. Despite alterations in design and purpose, all varieties of Lego are part of one universal system and the individual pieces remain compatible with the existing pieces.}

Menu Board

I am absolutely awful at meal planning and grocery shopping. 

Seriously. I'm pretty sure that my toddler would do a better job at putting together dinners than I would!

I want to change! That's the first step, right?! 

So when I saw Sarah's menu board, I knew I had to make it! 

It fits my crafting criteria - quick to make, simple, and upcycled!  

All of the materials I used were going to be thrown out.

I used old file folders for the food cards and little boxes for the extras. 

Sarah wrote the ingredients on the back of all the cards, but I managed to only get a few written out since most ingredients are based on whatever is on sale so the meal is more of a guide than a recipe. 

Once everything was glued to the board with hot glue, I nailed in the little piece that holds it on the wall.

(As a photography graduate, I am embarrassed to say that I don't know what that piece is called!)

And in hindsight, I really should have nailed the hanger thing onto the board before bulking up the front of the frame - oops!

Grammatical shortcomings aside, I think it looks pretty cute in my hallway beside my favorite frame. 

When I have used it, it's really useful and takes away a lot of my dinner stress! I have been super busy lately with dog related business, so I have neglected the planner in me. 

All in all, this project cost me $0 so I consider that a craft win!

{Daily Random Fact: The tallest species of trees in the world include the Coast Redwood, Giant Sequoia, Coast Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce and Australian Mountain Ash.}

Bart Puzzle Frame

Mel and Karam love the Simpsons. 

They have a lot of paraphernalia, so I wanted to do something different.

I have a few mosaic puzzles, 2 of which are related to The Simpsons, and the others are Winnie the Pooh themed. 

I used an old cabinet door at the frame. 

So I decided to use mod podge to glue the puzzle to itself, using sheets of paper to keep it from sticking to the puzzle holder. 

Once it was dry, I measured it and cut each piece the same size.

I used a variety of the puzzle, but kept his eyes to be able to tell that it's Bart.

(I didn't take a lot of pictures because it was a little time consuming and I put it down a lot.)

Mel and Karam loved it, and that's the important part! 

{Daily Random Fact: Wombats are unique in that they poop out cubic or squared shaped feces.}

B is for Brayden

Recently, my coworker went on maternity leave so I made her this frame for her baby boy.

It's no secret that I love buttons! And my mom, at our last girls' night, gave me a few small boxes of different coloured buttons. I knew these were the ones I had to use for this frame because they are all the same so it looks more uniform. 

I did add 2 stars that were from my stash, but they fit pretty nicely!

Basically, I just layed out the buttons, and started hot gluing them to the glass. 

That's it!

Oh the many places you can go with buttons!

{ Daily Random Fact: The name for "piggy banks" comes from the use of family money jars in the Middle Ages made from a type of clay called pygg }

Chunky Infinity Scarf

Better late than never, right?

I was recently commissioned to make a black scarf.

One of my besties asked me to make her a black scarf but didn't give me anything else she specifically wanted, so I took this opportunity to try this chunky infinity scarf...

I used my knitting machine, of course, and black yarn of 2 different weights. 

I haven't yet tried making patterns with my machine, so this was an easy way to add a little bit of character to the scarf. 

I will be giving it to her in May when I see her for her wedding. 

While I doubt she will be using it in the next 6 months, I can't justify spending more money on the shipping than the item! 

{Daily Random Fact: According to history, the first scarf was made in Ancient Rome and it was called Sudarium from the Latin word "sweat cloth".}