Lampshade Makeover

What do an iron and a lampshade have in common? One very wonderful makeover project!

I bought this lampshade on clearance at Target with the purpose of giving it a makeover. Though it is cute, it is just not quite cute with the decor of my home so it needed a change. Using my iron, I set it on full steam and steamed around the shade. The steam and heat loosen and lift the glue making it possible to separate the fabric from the pieces needing to be reused.

 Here is the first part of the metal frame. In this particular shade there is a bottom frame as well rather than being all in one piece.

 Now that the shade is separated from the frame, it is time to separate the fabric from the shade.

 Using the steam once again iron over your fabric. Begin to lift the fabric from the shade.

Once you have separated the two, you now have a shade ready to be recovered. Lay out your shade face down on top of your fabric to use as a pattern. Cut around your shade leaving enough (but not too much) fabric to be wrapped around the edges of the frame. 

Then with spray adhesive or fabric glue brush on the glue on the wrong side or your fabric. Once your fabric is in place, use your hot glue gun to glue the top part of your frame in place. Once that is done it is now time to glue your bottom frame. After your frame is in place you will need to glue the edges of your frame. Go around the frame with your hot glue gun and wrap the fabric around the frame. 

Now time to "fun" it up with fringe! Don't let that glue gun cool because you will need it yet again to give your new lamp shade some sassy style. Remember the adorable play kitchen remodel? This stylish lamp coordinates with the bottom part of the ruffle. Oh the ear piercing squeals my girls let out, yes they love their new set up as much as I do.

 P.S. The lamp base was a garage sale find that used to be green. It got a fresh coat of black paint along with a new "hat" and I have to say this very inexpensive makeover turned out swell.


Pin It Now!

Play Kitchen Remodel

When my oldest daughter was two she received a wooden play kitchen for Christmas from her grandparents. She was so little she could barely see over the top of the kitchen. Eight years and four more kids later this wooden play kitchen is sill played with and well loved. So well loved that the paint on the burners was chipped and needed refreshing. Why stop there I thought? Why not do a kitchen remodel? That is exactly what I did and boy am I glad I took the time. The adorable factor was kicked way up! It is amazing what a little paint and fabric can do. Now many more fantastic "meals" can be created by my five darling little chefs!

For the knobs I added scrapbook stickers and then sprayed them with Mod Podge sealer.

 I simply hot glued the ruffle onto the kitchen door. I also used my nifty hot glue gun to add the embellishments.  I just love an upgraded kitchen don't you? Simply adorable and perfectly simple to do.

Pin It Now!

Hoopla Jars

 Allow me to define what is contained in this little jar of fun...
Hoopla: excitement; bustling excitement or activity; commotion; hullabaloo; to-do. 

Synonyms: action, activity, bustle, buzz, stir, thrill, elation...

What is all the hoopla about you ask? In each jar there is a scroll. On each scroll there is a surprise. Each surprise is bustling with excitement... hoopla in a jar!  

Family night is a regular occurrence in our home. To add to the fun and memory making aspect of it all I came up with Hoopla Jars. On each scroll, in each jar contains a different thing to do as a family. From Hide and Seek to going out for ice cream, indoor family camp out, game night, movie night or even family craft night, in each jar there is sure to be hoopla... excitement. For my scrolls I came up with poems or riddles that lead up to the fun activity spelled out at the end of the scroll.

You can simply roll your scrolls, but I found using a wooden dowel (1/4") made it a lot faster and easier. 

 Here is an example of how I wrote out the fun activity in rhyme.

 Binder clips hold the scroll in place...

So a ribbon may be easily tied to hold it closed.

I used baby food jars and just spray painted the lids. Even if you don't have a baby, to buy several jars it will only be a few dollars. The numbers are scrapbook stickers.
We are taking turns choosing a jar. My girls get to choose the number jar they want to open. For us family night is on  Thursday nights, so needless to say the anticipation of opening a Hoopla Jar lasts all week! You could also roll dice to see which jar you will open or just open them in numerical order. After all the jars have been opened, mix up the scrolls and replace them in the jars or take family suggestions for new fun ideas. Hoopla Jars most definitely will be full of lasting memories!

Pin It Now!

Photo Flip Books

Kids and photo lovers will just flip over theses Photo Flip Books! Every child I have ever met all around the world, LOVES to look at pictures of themselves and people they love. These little books can either be something a child holds onto or is placed on a bag. How about Grandma? Maybe she needs a little Grandma brag book she can attach to her knitting bag or her gym bag because not all Grandmas knit. :) What a great gift for the mom who has a diaper bag! These little books make for a fun addition to a Library book bag as well. More ideas: Play purse, ballet bag, backpack, karate bag, sleep over bag, swim lesson bag and so on.

 How to create these fun Photo Flip Books:

Edit the photos of your choice.
I created my collages using Picasa 3. In collage settings you need to create a custom ratio for 2.5 x 3.5 (wallet size). Even if you are using a single picture, create it in collage so it can be set at wallet size. Add the text you desire. You can go with a theme or as I did, spell out the child's name in an acronym.
B- beautiful    E- energetic    T- thoughtful    H- happy    Beth
Have your photos printed. I used Costco wallet size prints.
Supplies needed:

Card stock scrapbook paper (one paper per photo)

Stickers (I used scrapbook stickers)

Scrapbook sticky tape tabs (to attach photo to card stock)

Glue stick

Hole punch

Book rings

Books will need to be laminated. You can pay to have them done at Staples. If you do then make sure to tell them NOT to cut too close to the card stock paper edge. You want a good seal.Or you can laminate them yourself.

 Attach each photo to it's own card stock. Then glue the two pieces of card stock together.

For these cards I chose to spell out the child's name front and back. On one side I have a cover page with the child's name. On the reverse or back side of that page is the last letter of the child's name. This is the case if you are spelling out the name two times. The other option is to spell out the name on the front and then on the back side add photos with fun or special sayings.

Again, just to be extra clear... on one side the name is spelled from cover page to last letter in the name. On the reverse is last letter of the name to the cover page. So that once the cards are on the ring both ends have a cover page. This is only if you choose to spell out the name twice.

The second way is to spell out the name on one side and on its reverse side, photos with the words of your choice.

Hint: If you want to make a photo book for someone, but you don't have photos of them, but you are Facebook friends you can thief the pictures. If using an Apple device such as iPhone, iPad or iTouch you can click on the photo and select save. If working from another device, click on the photo and select download.

For these three photo books I used some of the same photos for the reverse side of the name side. Two last helpful tips: Make sure all your photos are going the same direction, for the front photo as well as the back photo. You can see example of that in some of the above pictures.  That way you have one top for the hole. I punched the hole once the card was laminated.

If you make these fun Photo Flip Books I would love to see what you create! Send me an email thecreatedhome@gmail.com

Pin It Now!

Mod Podge Peg Hook

 Mod Podge + ribbon = a little something extra!
This peg hook couldn't be easier. Paint the hook the color of your choosing and then Mod Podge on the ribbon you choose. First paint the Mod Podge onto the wood, stick the ribbon on and paint the Mod Podge over the whole peg hook in nice even strokes.
I suggest spraying or painting the peg hook with a sealant if used for wet towels. 

Pin It Now!

A Little Something Painted

I confess I love painting! I love taking an object and seeing what I come up with. Here are a few things I have painted for my girls' rooms.  (The frames can be found at Jo Ann Fabric. They are scrapbook size.)

 These book ends were in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby. They were a black, white and pink zebra pattern. I really liked the $1.36 clearance price, but they were not the color or theme I wanted. Paint! Lovely, wonderful paint... oh how I love thee!

Okay I know... I really NEED to get pictures in them! I am not even going to tell you just how long they have sat empty.

 This was also in the clearance section and formerly matched the book ends.

From this... to these...

So keep your eye out!  Something inexpensive slathered with a bit of paint, can turn  into exactly what you desire!

Pin It Now!