Spool Bracelets - Part 2

Finally getting around to posting the rest of the spool bracelets!! :) These are super easy & only limited to your creativity (and supplies)!! ;) If you need (the super easy) directions, just click on the category "spools" or "jewelery" on the right!

Washer Necklace

I've seen these on a few other blogs, but wanted to try them myself!! They are super simple, super cheap, & (if you're prepared), super quick!!

What you need:
* metal washers (found at Home Depot/Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc.):

* scrapbook paper
* glue that will hold metal (ie. Gorilla Glue, hot glue, etc.)
* clear nail polish, Mod Podge, or any other clear top coat
* necklace chain, rope, ribbon, or whatever you want your necklace to be made of
* any embellishments you wish to add

For my 2 necklaces, I used scrapbook paper. First, I traced the washers on the wrong side of the paper, then cut the circles out. Apply the adhesive of your choice, (I used Gorilla Glue because that's what I had!), then attach the paper circle & allow to dry. After glue has dried, apply a top coat, (I used clear nail polish because I couldn't find my Mod Podge & it worked great!!), making sure to go over the edge a bit to seal off the paper! Once the top coat has dried, you can attach another washer, or add embellishments!! The final step is to add the chain or necklace of your choice! For the brown necklace, I used a chain that I had, with a small piece of chain to attach my lock & key:

For the other necklace, I used a "ready made necklace", that was black velvet, that I just looped around the washer! That's it - super easy, super cheap, & super quick!

You can also use nail polish to "paint" the washer for a cool effect:

I haven't done anything with it yet, but I thought the metallic blue was so cool, so I had to try it out!! :) - And it's a bad picture, so it doesn't really do it justice!! :(

Iron-Ons

Looking for an easy shirt make-over?? Well, here it is!! (Easy & cheap - even better!!) ;) I went to Big Lots the other day & found these:

Iron-on letters, that came with 2 skulls . . . for only $1!!! I also found white letters, but forgot to take a picture before I cut them apart! :( The directions are on the package, but all you do is cut the letters out, arrange them on the shirt & iron!! Super easy!!

Using plain t-shirts, (the red ones were only $1.99!!), I let the kids decide what they wanted to put on them. The boys each got a skull - Hunter, who loves Indiana Jones, wanted "Mutt" (Indy's son in the last movie), under his skull, and Noah wanted "Rock On" under his! :) I already had the "girly" skull for Madelyn's shirt, so she decided to add "Glam" under it! They turned out pretty cute!!

Spool Bracelets

While looking through my ribbon today, (planning to make a hair bow), I found some empty spools & started to clean them out. Well, to carry them easier, I put them on my wrist - - then the my creative juices started flowing!! ;) Why not turn them into bracelets??!! I grabbed all my materials & went to work! My daughter wanted a pink & black one, so we used some sheer black ribbon, a silk flower & a cool button accent for the top!

First, I took the spool of ribbon apart. (Sorry for all the different colors of ribbon shown - I hope you can get the idea!!) ;)

Then, I put a dab of hot glue on the spool & tacked down one end of the ribbon - at an angle.

After that, I just wrapped the ribbon around, (putting little dabs of glue under the ribbon, on the inside of the bracelet, as I wrapped it), until I came back to the starting place! Then I added one last bit of glue to finish it off. Well, my daughter tried it on & it was WAY too big! So, I just cut it open & over-lapped it a bit, glued it together & made it work! :)

I added a small circle of light cardboard (cut from the pieces I removed from the spool) to the back of the flower, just to make it sturdier.

I attached the final piece, tied some extra ribbon on the sides, (put a small line of Fray Check along the edges of the tied ribbon), & ta-da . . . . one cute bracelet!!! :)

I'll post the other bracelets as soon as I give them away as gifts!! Stay tuned!! :)

Shower CURTAINS

I found 2 pink fabric shower curtains, on clearance of course, and turned them into bedroom curtains!! In my daughter's first room, we used them separately as panels. They had silver grommets on them & I just tied them to the curtain rod, using ribbon! Then I added a few accessories, (pom-pom garland & XL diamond rings), and ta-da. . . . .curtains!! :)

Not the best picture, but you can get the idea!! ;)

When we moved, (and since I'm always changing things), I sewed the panels together - just a simple stitch down the center - and cut off & hemmed the bottom half, making a valance! I added a little more ribbon, but kept the other accessories!
2 different styles, only paid about $3 for each curtain, spent a little on ribbon & used some I had!! Super cheap & easy!!

Pirate Art

Since my boys have a "Pirate" bedroom, I wanted a treasure map for their room. Well, after looking everywhere & online, the only ones I could find were way too pricey for me! So, I decided to make my own!! :)

First, you need brown Kraft paper, (found in the mailing section @ Target/Wal-Mart - only a few dollars a roll!!) Tear off a large piece & then tear the edges. Take the whole piece & crumple it up - that's the fun part!! :) Smooth it out & add your design! I just drew a map, free-hand, with pencil, then painted it using craft paint.
After the map was dried, I used a brown ink pad to distress the edges & then lightly went over the entire map.

It's not as fancy as the ones I saw online, but I thought it turned out cute!! ;)

Lovin The Cricut!!

I know that the Cricut has been out for a long time, and there are even bigger & fancier Cricuts than the one I have (well, I should say, that my mom has, since I'm using hers!!) - however... I just love it!! I just wanted to show you my spin on the whole vinyl lettering craze!! I've never priced it, so I have no clue how much it can run, but I guarantee that my way is cheaper!! ;) It's all about Contact paper!! You can do just about anything with it & it's pretty cheap! I have a big roll of black Contact paper that was given to me, and I'm thinking that it was purchased at Teaching Tools or Lakeshore (or some other teacher supply store)! I also purchased a roll of white from Target & spent around $4. Here are a few things I've done with the Cricut & Contact paper:

Made my own "vinyl lettering" in the kids' rooms! I made a sword stencil, freehand, and then cut 2 out of Contact paper!! The crowns were from a Cricut cartridge! I have little jewels on the crowns, but they're too small, so I'm going to replace them with ones you can actually see!! :) (And there will be more stuff added to the top of her plant shelf!) ;)