Capri Sun Zipper Pouch

Posted on January 3, 2012 by admin

Yup jumping on the drink pouch upcycle to a bag bandwagon! Oh wait, you mean to tell me I am over a year late to this party! Oh well, my oldest son asked for one! He came home one day saying that he had to take all of the Capri Sun Drink pouches to school so they could be recycled and made into bags. I then explained to him that we could do that but to get a bag we would have to buy the bag and I told him that if he saved his Capri Sun pouch and brought it home to me I could make him one, he thought that was the best!

Fast forward four months and I had a stack of pouches but had not made a bag, my son had a birthday coming up so I thought perfect time to get busy! I used Allison at House of Hepworth tutorial on Capri Sun Pouch Bags as a starting point. I made mine different than hers but Allison had great tips included how to wash the pouches. Side note – if you do not know Allison over at House of Hepworth, stop right now and go to her blog, you can come back and thank me! She is just AWESOME!!!

Onto my Capri Sun Zipper Pouch, mine is very simple just three pouches sewn together, a second set of three sewn together. Then I sewed the zipper at the top of each three pouch then sewed the sides and bottom together. It is the perfect size for pencils!

Quick and easy! My son loves his Capri Sun Pouch! I have a second zipper to make a second one for my younger son, we will see when I get to that! (Yes, my name is Karie and I am a procrastinator!) Haha my secret is out!! Shhh, you won’t tell anyone, right?

I am linking to these great link parties!! Check them out and come party!!

DIY Green Carpet Shampooing

Posted on January 1, 2012 by admin

I am going to let you on a dirty secret here at the HoB, we have awful, dirty, disgusting carpet! I HATE it!! But it is no where in the budget to get it replaced, a long-term goal for sure, but not right now. It is also not in the budget to have my carpets cleaned professional. Plus I am not real keen on the idea of all those chemicals. Enter the Hubs! He found this great green carpet cleaner recipe on Pinterest! Here is a link to the original site.

So here is what we did:

First a picture to show you just how bad my carpets are! Second we sprinkled on Arm & Hammer Carpet Cleaner. I do think straight Baking Soda would work just as well.

Third, let the baking soda sit on the carpet for ten minutes and then vacuum. While waiting to vacuum we mixed 2 cups warm water, 1 TBSP white vinegar and 1 TBSP Dish Soap, I used my Seventh Generation green dish soap, I think any would work as long as it is clear. Fourth, after vacuuming the baking soda, blot (we ended up scrubbing more than blotting) the stain with a clean white towel.

Fifth, clean the carpet with cold water and clean towels. Then let dry and run vacuum back over area. CLEAN carpet!!!

Here is a side by side! There is much improvement! I still can’t believe I put my awful ugly carpet up here for all to see but at least you can see the slightly better cleaner one now!!

I am sharing at these great link parties!! Check them out!!

Thanksgiving Stenciled Pillow

Posted on November 18, 2011 by admin

I have heard about Freezer Paper Stenciling on many other blogs. I was not exactly sure what that was till I watched Cheri from I am Momma Hear Me Roar. Cheri has an excellent video tutorial that answered all my questions. After watching her video I felt like I was ready to try freezer stenciling, I was just not sure what I was going to try it on. Then while picking up the glass vases for my Thanksgiving Mantel at the Dollar Store I found a dark brown place mat. This was one of the place mats that has double fabric and stitched around the sides.

Somewhere when I first starting look at craft blogs I saw where someone took a place mat, opened up a side added stuffing and sewed shut to make a pillow. I wish I knew where I saw this but this was before pinterest. I probably bookmarked somewhere but I cannot find it anywhere.

So when I found my place mat I knew I wanted to try Freezer Stenciling on the place mat and then I wanted to open and add some stuffing to make a pillow.

I printed out Happy Thanksgiving in block letters and traced onto my freezer paper and then cut out with an Exacto Knife. Then I ironed on the freezer paper, painted the letters to match the colors on my Thanksgiving Subway Art that is sitting on my mantel.

The top picture is the place mat I started with! Can you believe the bottom is the pillow and it cost me a $1.00!! I love DIYing!!!

I also found these place mats on clearance so I grabbed them to make some more pillows.

In all I made 4 pillows for $8.50!!! Love a good deal and a little DIYing!! I am thankful for all the creative inspiration out there!!

Holy Halloween, Batman!!!

Posted on October 30, 2011 by admin

For Halloween my boys decided to be Batman and Robin. I then found Dahlhart Lane’s Batman and Robin Costumes from T-Shirts on Pinterest! I knew that is what I wanted to make the boys! I love making Halloween Costumes, I think they are so much cuter than store bought.

Now I have no tutorial for you. I did buy my shirts at Hobby Lobby and I used pajamas that currently fit my boys as a pattern. I am a very novice sewer and jersey knit was not easy to work with but I was able to get through the project. I did find a tutorial for the capes at Southern Institute, they are made from t-shirts as well and super simple.

Do you do homemade Halloween Costumes or store bought?

Happy Halloween!!

Fall Paper Flower

Posted on September 5, 2011 by admin

Happy Labor Day!!

So on my continued quest to decorate the half-wall between the livingroom and the playroom I decided to attempt these paper flowers I found here.

I think the end result worked and the best is the end price $0!! I used all materials I had on hand!! Love that!! And I used DOUBLE SIDED TAPE!! I love double sided tape, it is the greatest!!!

Now for the tutorial!

Items needed:

Paper of your choosing (I used cardstock but I think regular weight scrapbook paper would work better)

Paper cutter or scissors

Double Sided Tape

Circle Punches (I used a 3 inch, 2 inch and a 1.5 inch)

Straw

1. I picked 5 solid fall colors and cut two – 1 inch by 11 inch piece of each color. I used the pinky shear blade on my paper cutter but a straight edge will work too!

2. Stack the five strips and staple in the middle (you will have to fold over the one side to fit into a standard stapler) and repeat on the second stack.

3. Take one stapled stack and put a piece of double sided tape at the top end of the first strip.

4. Fold over the piece of paper with the tape to the center and push down.

5. Move to the next piece and repeat, move around to all the the strips, repeat on the second stack of paper.

6. Take the two halves and place double sided tape on one side and push onto the other half to create an entire flower.

7. Fluffy the flower as needed and if needed put double sided tape between “petals” to have a more uniform shape.

8. For the stem I wrapped a straw in green paper taping the paper when I started and ended.

9. Wrap the top of the stem in double sided tape and stick between two of the petals and push together so the stem will hold to the flower.

10. For the center I punched a 3 inch circle and tripped with craft scissors, then punched a 2 inch circle and stuck onto the 3 inch circle with double sided tape. I continued with a 1.5 inch punch and topped with a B printed on vellum from my computer and cutout.

11. I put the entire center onto the flower with double sided tape and DONE!

12. Enjoy your work! – I plan on adding this to the fall half-wall! (I am putting my flower in my painted mason jar!)

I am linking to these great parties!!!

Have a great Monday!!

Painted Mason Jars – COST $0

Posted on August 31, 2011 by admin

I love Mason Jars! They work for all kinds of things, they are cheap and I think just charming! My favorite thing is to use the mason jars that spaghetti sauce comes in, at least the Classico Sauce I buy has awesome jars!

So I wanted to use a couple mason jars in my fall decor but I wanted them to look different than just clear so I painted the inside of two jars. I used paint leftover from painting my kitchen (the rustic muted yellow) and from painting the boys’ room (the milk chocolate brown).

So simple just pour some paint into the clean and dry jar, move the jar around coating all sides, tip over the paint can and allow the extra paint to drip out. Set on a piece of cardboard upside down and allow paint to drip out. Move the jars every few hours and the next day jars should be dry. DONE! How easy and cheap was that!!!! I consider this a ZERO cost project as I buy this sauce all the time and just save the jars and the paint was leftover!

Now to how I am going to use these babies! I have big ideas to decorate this flat surface on the half-wall between our livingroom and playroom. As you can see when it is not decorated it is used as a pile station!

This drives me nuts!!! And yes I am not afraid to show you all of the reality of our house!! It is by no means perfect! It is a lived in house for sure!!! So I started thinking that at Christmas I put decorations and thus no piles show up, so I though I just need to keep it decorated with the seasons/holidays. I am working on different Fall Decor for the area and then will transition it to Halloween and so on! I am super excited about the finished project and will keep you posted!!

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