Wishlist! Projects & More Projects!

This is an updated list, since I have a few projects that I'd like to attempt in the not-too-distant future.  In doing so, there are a few things I need to save up in order to complete the projects.  If you are able to help me collect any of the items below that would be great!  Here is a short list of things I'm looking for.  I figured it doesn't hurt to ask since a lot of it is stuff you might be throwing out.  I'll keep this list fluid and add/delete as needed.  Thank you, in advance, for any help you might be.

• vinyl tablecloths.  both flannel-backed and non-flanned-backed are fine. 
• flat-bottomed glass gems/gems/stones
• clay pots and drain trays (can also be plastic)
• rocks, river stones (Smooth is what I'm going for.)
• old, used metal bowls of various sizes
• golf balls
• hubcaps
• empty soda bottles, water bottles, Gatorade bottles, Powerade bottles, etc.  I'm looking for sizes 16oz-24oz.; I will take the caps, too, if have them.
• clothespins
• ribbon scraps of any kind
• fabric scraps.  Do you have small, random pieces of various fabrics you want to get rid of?  (any size, pattern, texture) I can use them.  
• Wooden blocks, Jenga games.  Any sizes, shapes, colors.
• EMPTY child-proof prescription bottles, empty film canisters, plastic Easter eggs THANK YOU, I have collected what I need with these items for now.

handprint

I'm simply posting this to share a project we'll be making with some friends of mine.

Community Group Banner

This is a quick project I put together for the first night of our Community Group tonight.  I have seen these burlap banners all over the place, and I've always wanted to make a personalized one, but I never knew what to make.  I saw how easy this is to do while at a Pinterest party earlier this year and a lady was painting/stamping lettering on her own project.

All I did was get a yard of burlap (super cheap!), a pack of $3 letter stencils at Walmart, paint, and paintbrushes.  I used some twine and hot glue to assemble.  You will also want something like scrap paper or newspaper to put under the burlap when you're painting, since the paint will go through to the surface underneath.  I forgot about that until I was about 3 triangles into the painting process.

Our church's name is Anchor church and this year our small group ministry has changed names from Home Groups to Community Groups.  With these two bits of information in mind, I wanted to incorporate both ideas into the banner.  I toyed with many different wording ideas, but they were all way too long.  My banner would go across the whole house if I used any of them.  Then, this idea struck me...so here's what we had for our first meeting tonight...

I absolutely love how it came out!  Seeing how easy it was to make, I see myself doing this again for other events, holidays, rainy days, you name it!  This is such an easy project to make and personalize to suit your needs.

Busy Bags-Button Snake

I've decided to keep the idea of Busy Bags in mind.  Someday when my house is organized, all my laundry is washed and put away, my books are all on bookshelves...then, I might organize a Busy Bag Swap.  Until then, I'll putter with different ideas now and then.  

The first item I decided to make is a Button Snake.  It was simple, which is exactly what I was looking for.

All you need: ribbon, large button, felt, needle, thread, scissors


I got the buttons for $1.97 at Walmart in the sewing section.

Sew a button to one end of the ribbon.

Cut a slit in a piece of square felt.

Sew it to the end of ribbon opposite the newly sewn button.  You can see I thread the ribbon slightly through the slit and sewed it down.

Cut square pieces of felt.  This doesn't have to be exact.

I didn't measure, but I'd guess my squares are about 2in. x 2in.  Cut a slit in each square that's big enough for your button to fit through.

The slit can be tight as it will loosen upon using.

It's easy to make a slit by folding your square in half and making a small cut, just like you would making paper snowflakes.

Voila!  There you have it.

The entire thing took less than ten minutes.

My 18 month old son LOVES it!  He doesn't quite have the hang of it yet, but he's very close.  He liked seeing the button peeking through the felt slit.  He also likes to thread all the squares on the ribbon and just slide them back and forth from one end to the other.  This will be useful at restaurants, the grocery store shopping cart, church, car rides, etc.

DIY Scarf Hanger

I decided that my little drawer for scarves would do no longer for a couple of reasons.  The first being the drawer wasn’t big enough and my scarves usually ended up on the closet floor.  Second, I wanted to do something “crafty” to solve my problem.  And third, I was at BigLots with my little guy and ran across an extremely cheap way to do it.  Yes, I have one hundred one other things I could have done this afternoon, but I MUST get this project done.  Now. 

I will say I only have maybe fifteen scarves, tops, so I didn’t have a whole huge stash to deal with.  I also wanted some type of hanging device so I could easily see what my choices were on the mornings I needed a scarf to wear. 

All I ended up doing was buying a curtain rod for $1.25 and hammering it into my husband’s closet.  He has the bigger of our closets with enough room to hang the rod, so it worked perfectly.  He also had a 2x4 already on the wall for nails to hang his belts, so it worked even better!  You could easily nail this right into a wall as long as it's not a paper-thin wall like those of our childhood bedrooms. Like I said, it was a quick and cheap project to complete.  Not much explanation.  A picture (or 5) is worth a thousand words. 

 

They did not have a link to the exact curtain rod I purchased on the BigLots website (and I forgot to take a picture of it) but this same kind of thing can be purchased at Walmart.