DIY Coat Rack!

Our home is older and just plain sucks with the lack of closets and other places to put things and keep things organized. With 2 kids we definitely need more closet space for coats, hats and anything you can imagine.  I saw some really cute inspiration pieces on Pinterest and decided to make my own wall mounted coat rack to put behind the door in the kids room. The door opens in to a corner type cubby so I figured it would be the perfect pace to make a useful space.  Now that the coat rack is finished, I'm not sure if I want to put it behind the door b/c it is SO cute! lol It was actually pretty easy over all, I took some basic pics as I went for guidance if you feel inspired to make your own. After making this I really want to make a mini fabric covered hook thing for the front door to hang keys and all. Especially since we don't have an entry way, I think it would be cute to hang under the light switches.

I chose damask fabric (big surprise). Which doesn't exactly match either of the kids themes but I figured it's the colors I needed and it'll look cute and "eclectic" if anything. lol The room is mainly turquoise. The wood is a espresso so I thought the two would pop on the walls. Brayden's wall still needs to be painted. His wall will have the turquoise with white and darker turquoise horizontal stripes. It'll be cute when it's finished. Just finding a time to paint so his room can air out has been harder than we anticipated. 

I started with a long piece of wood. You can do different shapes, widths ext. to fit what you're looking for. I needed something about 20-24 inches wide that was narrower and wanted 4 knobs. I drew on my wood (since I was covering it) to figure out the spacing for the hooks. We did the 6" standard spacing b/w knobs and 2.5" extra space on the sides.  

You'll also need:

- saw to cut the wood to length

- sandpaper to soften the edges

- dill with bits to pre-drill screw holes

- fabric in desired print to fit wood size you selected 

- modge podge or spray ahdesive (i prefer modge podge b/c i have more control over it vs a spray)

- screw driver

- # knobs or hooks to fit the look you're going for (I did 2 girly and 2 boyish knobs)

- Optional* construction staple gun. ( i found it was easier to wrap and finish off the ends with the stapler and secure the fabric after it was glued around the edges on the back to make sure it wasn't going anywhere)

- mountable triangle hooks for the back to hang it on the wall. ( i still need to do this part)

- exacto knife or blade

Pre-drill the holes for the knobs or screw holes for your hooks so you won't ruin your fabric when you attach them.  

Next, cut fabric to the size needed, allowing extra to wrap around to the back and to be able to fold over the edges.  I then spread a thin layer of modge podge on the front of the coat rack and laid out my fabric. If you're using a pattern fabric it can be a little tricky to make sure the pattern is straight. That's why i only use a thin coat of the glue so its just sticky and you can pull the fabric up and reposition it as needed.  

Follow the same procedure of glueing and laying the fabric over the edges and on to the back.  For the ends, I messed around with folding the fabric to get the look I desired. I then used the staple gun to tack it down since glue would of been a pain. I also took the staple gun and did a few staples close to the edge, down the wood to make sure the fabric wouldn't go anywhere.  Make sure when u wrap the fabric you don't cover the holes on the BACK if you're using knobs so u can feed the screw through. 

After everything was glues and tacked in to place I used my exacto knife to poke thru the fabric where I pre-drilled my screw holes. This way I could feed the screws through the back to the front to screw the knobs on.  

All that is left to do is put your mounting hooks on. Depending on what you are hanging on here you could still use wall anchor screws or just nails to hang it when you're done.  Mount your triangle hooks toward the ends of your rack  on the back. Make sure you put them far enough down so that you don't see them when the rack is hanging on the wall.  I still need to do this part so I don't have pictures but hopefully you get the point.  

You can embellish and decorate your rack any way you like at this point! Enjoy! 

DIY:Crayon Roll!

I have been trying to find simple projects to get better at sewing with. I saw this cute idea on Pinterest for a roll up crayon holder and figured it would be something good and relatively easy to try. I think it was a success despite some imperfections and Brayden likes sliding the crayons in and out!  For the tutorial you can check out the Skip to My Lou Blog. It's fairly easy for newbies. I found some cute polka dot fabric on clearance so it only cost me about 3-4 dollars and I have enough materials to make at least 4 of these.  It's great to throw in your bag when taking coloring books and crayons on the go.  You don't have to worry about crayon boxes opening or ripping and it barely takes up and space!

Home made Laundry Detergent!

I've been seeing all these recipes for home made products and have been wanting to give a few a try. I figured for a few dollars if it didn't work out great it's no biggie. A few girls I talk to have been trying out this recipe with success so I figured I would give it a try.  I spent about $10 on all the supplies and it makes a LOT of batches. It's really easy and SUPER cheap, less than $1 for 2 gallons, so why not! Each load uses about 1/2 cup of detergent, which should equal about 64 loads of laundry. 

Ingredients: 
1/3 bar Ivory Soap 
1/2 cup Washing Soda  (if you get Arm and Hammer make sure it's washing soda and NOT baking soda)
1/2 cup Borax
1 utitlity bucket for mixing and cooling
2 gallons of water

First using a box cheese grater grate 1/3 of one bar of soap and set aside

In a large pot mix together 6 cups of water and gated soap. Heat on medium mixing until the soap is melted. 

Once the soap is melted add the Borax and Washing soda. Continue to heat and mix until they are dissolved.  

Pour soap mixture in to your utility bucket. Be CAREFUL the mixture will be HOT! 

Add an additional 4 cups of hot water to the bucket and mix together.  

Add another gallon and 6 cups (of 22 cups total) of room temperature water to the bucket and mix thoroughly.

All that's left to do is let the detergent sit over night.  As it sits it will start to turn in to a runny gel form. Use a funnel to pour it in to whatever container you would like to use to store it. I am reusing an existing laundry detergent bottle. Use about 1/2 cup per load of laundry! Enjoy! 

DIY St Patricks Day Bunting!

I am seriously lacking in the amount of St Patrick's Day decor I have for the house.  I have NOTHING! :( So I decided to make my own bunting with my new sewing machine. The first one turned out "meh" b/c I used the wrong type of bias tape, so i modified the bias tape to make it look better the second time around. I think it turned out pretty cute!  Even if Brayden is only 1/16 Irish (mommy is part Irish and daddy is none) he can still celebrate! 

Making the dishwasher fun!

I got bored one day and had some credit i needed to use on Shutterfly so I decided to make a dishwasher magnet to let you know when the dishes are clean or dirty. Obviously I know if it's been ran or not but I thought it would be cute to use pictures of Brayden. Here's how it turned out! Brayden loves looking at his picture and likes to help flip it over!

Homemade salt dough Thanksgiving Turkeys!

For Thanksgiving I wanted to make some cute crafts!  I came across another site that had the recipe to make the dough for Christmas ornaments but I decided to make turkeys out of hand prints!  It's super easy and a lot of fun. I think Brayden is a little young to fully enjoy it but we had a good time!

What you'll also need:
A cute kid with adorable hands :)
A small piece of card stock
toothpicks

* Trace Childs hand on to cardstock and cut it out. (believe me this will make it 10x easier than trying to trace a fidgety childs hand 6 times lol)

* Cut toothpicks in half

Recipe: Yields 6-8 handprints depending on desired thickness and hand size
2 cups of flour
1/2 cup salt
3/4 cup water






Directions:
* Preheat oven to 300 degrees
* Mix all ingredients in a mixer using a dough hook for 3 minutes, or for 10 minutes by hand.
* Roll out dough to desired thickness and lay hand print template on the dough. Using the knife trace/cut out the shape of the hand and repeat to get the number of turkeys you desire
* Place turkeys on a making sheet. Make sure it is a non stick pan and/or use baking spray to prevent sticking
* Take 2 cut toothpicks and push the pointed side in the to the bottom of the turkey hand to make legs. Be careful to go straight in the the middle so the toothpick does not stick out either side.
* Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until dough looks browned.  Thicker dough may take much longer. Just keep checking it every few minutes.
* After removing from the oven they may not feel hard right away but will harden as they cool.
* After they are completely cooled you can paint and decorate them.  Acrylic paint works best if you choose to paint them. 

Brayden's 1st Birthday Party!

The Saturday after Brayden's birthday we had his party! It was a hit! It was packed with 40+ people (including kids) but Brayden had a great time!   It was nice to see all the little details come together and everyone enjoy themselves.  Brayden was absolutely spoiled, as usual!

12 kids = LOUD! lol 

 Presents Time! 

 Apparently he couldn't contain his excitement! lol 

 Cake Time! 

 Yup he cried when everyone sang him happy birthday! Awww 

Some of the Details :) 

Monkey Ears for all the kids! 

 Dessert Table! 

 Cupcakes with DIY toppers!

Monkey Cake mommy made! 

 Vanilla Chocolate Animal Pops!

 Candy and Marshmellows Rolling in Sprinkles!

Personalized Sippy Cup Favors with Animal cookies

 Balloon Birthday Wreath!

 0-12 Month Photo Banner! 

 Bunting! 

 Birthday Hat and High Chair Bunting!