Guest posting at Nature's Heirloom!

Today, I'm posting over at Nature's Heirloom and sharing a easy, quick-sew project to celebrate the arrival of Nikki's little one!

Come on over and check it out!

Pallet advice needed!

A friend of mine recently got some new furniture. When the company delivered it, they left the pallet. My husband offered to take it off his hands and use it for firewood.

Firewood, people!! He wanted to use a perfectly good pallet for firewood. I mean, being the refashionista that I am, of course that awesome piece of perfectly good wood isn't going to get chopped up and used as firewood.

Psh, men. They're so...practical.

With my obsession with wanting to find and use an old door for a headboard over the past few weeks, my mind immediately went to that, but that idea was nixed right away when my hubby informed me that it'd be too small for our king-size bed. I was pretty bummed about that, and yes, I'm still obsessed with finding a door. Several of you told me that you have a few old doors in your possession - I'm so jealous! If you're ever in the Memphis area and happen to have a door with you, feel free to drop by. I'll gladly take it off your hands.

Even though I wouldn't be able to use the pallet as a headboard, I was able to find a lot of other inspirational uses thanks to my favorite addiction, Pinterest, which is always there to give me constant eye candy during break time, time I should be spending cleaning the house, and each night when I should be sleeping instead.

via Tonjeo

via Bella

via Ashley

 

via Shannyn

Sooo many beautiful uses for something that I used to just overlook. While shopping at Sam's Club this past weekend, I walked past several pallets with fruits and vegetables stacked on them, and all I could think about is what I could turn those pallets into. And then the good Lord saw the crazy thoughts going through my head and decided it might be a pretty good idea to send a pallet my way before I started dumpster diving in the Sam's Club back alley. 

Good call, good call.

So this is what I'm thinking of doing with my new pallet. I want to put these in my craft room when I give it a much needed face lift soon.

What do you think? I really love the idea and, as someone who has NEVER tried to make furniture of any kind before, this seems like a relatively safe first project. These shelves look pretty simple to make, but I know nothing about this furniture thing. I was thinking about possibly painting them white and maybe distressing them some, which is yet another process I know nothing about.

I need your help!! If I mess this project up, the fine people of Sam's Club are going to find me rummaging through their dumpsters for more pallets in the very near future.

Some bright baby bedding

My friend that I made The Hospital Survival Kit for was so sweet to ask me to make her baby bedding. I made Connor's bedding (the only time I ever attempted baby bedding) so she somehow decided from that that I was qualified enough to make bedding for her daughter :)

We made a trip to Hancock Fabrics and she picked out some very colorful fabric that I definitely couldn't have pulled off. She has a great eye for decorating and I love how it all turned out!

She has purchased a plain white bumper from IKEA a few months ago, so I covered it with this striped fabric on one side, and orange on the other. The stripes incorporate all of the colors in the room and really bring everything together.

The ties are navy blue, which I stitched together with orange thread to match the back fabric (you can't really see it well in the picture below, but it looks really cute close up!)

For the dust ruffle, she chose a lime green fabric (which matches the lime green in the striped bumper fabric.) I followed THIS tutorial on Sew 4 Home to make the ruffle, and it was SO easy. I actually used the same tute to make Connor's Steeler's baby bedding (which I still haven't gotten around to showing you!)

The pink fitted sheet was store-bought. I actually made a fitted crib sheet for Connor's room using THIS tutorial, but found that it's more trouble than it's worth. Crib sheets are relatively inexpensive and unless you need a specific color or pattern that can't be found elsewhere, I suggest you just buy a fitted sheet at the store.

I also made a duvet cover with matching fabric but I didn't take any pictures because by that time, I was so ready to be done with the project that I didn't want to see striped fabric ever again. Does that happen to anyone else?

But then, I got to see the adorable baby that I made all the bedding for and it was totally worth it.

It's easy to forget how small they are, isn't it?

Linking up!

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design

Mailbox from a cardboard box tutorial

You can make a lot of cool things from trash. And who doesn't have a lot of junk sitting around?

My husband always gives me weird looks when I confiscate boxes and used babyfood jars, but I always see the potential for what they could be. I'm not a hoarder, I swear!

Well...not yet anyway.

Half the clothes I make for my daughter are made out of an old shirt that my husband grew out of or a hand-me-down from a friend or family member (see my Button Down Rehab series for proof). I get such a feeling of accomplishment from making something new out of something old (and it doesn't hurt that the projects are practically free either).

So when I saw this old garbage bag box, I didn't see trash. I saw a new toy for my daughter. 

Supplies to make a play mailbox and play mail:

• Box (preferably a large, sturdy one with flap in the front like the one above)
• Can of blue spray paint
• Contact paper or vinyl
• Assorted felt
• Fabric paint
• Sewing machine and thread
• Scissors
• Pinking shears
• Glue gun
• X-Acto knife and cutting mat (if you're cutting out the wording by hand)

To Make Your Mailbox

1. Find a box.

Preferably a larger one with thicker cardboard and a flap already cut in it, like the bulk-size trashbag box I used below (I got it from Sam's Club). Regular cereal boxes and the like won't work as well because they're too flimsy, that's why I like using the bulk cardboard boxes for projects like these.

I was also lucky that my box already had the front flap cut out of it. If your box doesn't have this flap, grap a box cutter or X-Acto knife and (carefully!) cut a flap in the front to look like a mailbox.

2. Coat your box with spray paint.

All I did was plop my box down outside on some cardboard and coat it generously with blue spray paint (the cheap-o kind) until the entire box was covered. Be careful you don't spray the box too close or the paint will drip.

3. Trace and cut out your letters.

I used the words "U.S. Mail" on the sides of my box and "Letters" on the front. If you have a craft cutter, you can always cut out your wording using adhesive vinyl or contact paper (which is what I used) and then stick on your box. If you don't, just type up your wording, print out, then trace your wording onto the back of your contact paper and cut out carefully with an X-Acto knife.

After your letters are cut out, peel off the backing and stick them to your box.

To Make the Play Mail

Step 1: Trace your mail shape.

Gather several assorted colors of felt for your mail. You'll need 2 pieces of felt in each color (one for the top and one for the bottom.)

You can either find an object to trace for your play mail or make a template yourself out of cardboard. Trace 1 shape each on 1 of each color of felt (you'll be placing one piece of felt on top of the other in a minute, so you only need your shape on one).

(Those are my daughter's little fingers helping me trace. It's nice when she can help with the projects that aren't dangerous :)

Step 2: Sew your 2 sides together and cut out.

 

Using a straight stitch and coordinating thread, place the one piece of felt you drew your mail shape on on top of the other piece of felt and pin if you want. Stitch around the perimeter of your shape, backstitching at the end.

Carefully cut out your mail about 1/4 inch outside of your stitched lines.

Step 3: Add address lines.

 

Using your fabric paint, squeeze several lines on your mail roughly where your name and address lines would be. Let dry according to the bottle's instructions.

Step 4: Make your stamps.

Using pinking shears, cut out 1-inch squares from white felt.

Use fabric paint to decorate your stamps to make them a little more fun :)

Using a glue gun, attach your stamps to your pieces of mail.

And you're done!

My daughter loves getting the mail with Daddy, so now she has her own little mailbox that's just her size.

Linking up!

Show and Tell Wednesday at Blue Cricket Design