Home Maid Simple

Tag: upcycled

  • DIY Tomato Cage Ghost

    DIY Tomato Cage Ghost

    Halloween is coming, and the spooky decor is starting to show up on porches. Make this DIY Tomato Cage Ghost with three simple items – 2 you may already have on hand! This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated when you click on and make a purchase. 

    Do you love my DIY Tomato Cage Ghost Witch?  I truly thought I was being original when I came up with this idea. Then a fellow blogger posted some Halloween projects, and what is included – none other than tomato cage ghosts!  Well, I was still going to be original because I put mine together a bit differently than the others I looked at.

     
    It’s really quite simple to make your own Tomato Cage Ghost. We headed out and bought a tomato cage for $1.99, and a foam head form (hobby lobby) for $5.99. I already had a pile of white fabric in my stash, and a metal hanger in our closet. So this project cost me a total of about $8. Not too shabby for a lasting Halloween decoration. 
     
     
    You’ll start your ghost by attaching the foam head to the prongs on the tomato cage. My original idea actually used a foam ball, but the cost was similar, and we thought a head shape might give it a more ghostly look.  
     
    Now you’re ready to cut and attach the fabric.  You’ll want to cut one piece approximately 3 1/2 feet by 3 feet.  Once you have that main piece, the rest you can cut into 2-3″ strips, and varying lengths. The strips you will now attach to the middle rung on the tomato cage. 
     
     
     
     
     Fill the rung tightly, and try to tie the knots from both sides, so they overlap more diversely. Mine ended up facing the same way at first, which made for a less chaotic and looking ghost.
     
    Time to attach the hanger! This will help create “arms” for your ghost. Twist the hanging end so it stick straight up, and then maneuver it into the middle of the foam head. Like so….
     
     
    You’re ready for the finishing touch. Remember the large piece of white fabric we set aside? Drape it over the head of your ghost. I used some black thread to tie it on around the bottom of the head. I wrapped it a couple times for a strong hold. The thread is thin enough that it’s not all that noticeable and gives your ghost a little more shape. 
     
    Use a permanent marker, or paint, to add some long spooky eyes and voila!  Prince L has had a blast running up to the ghost trying to knock it down, while saying “Ooooo ooooo”
     
     
     
    The ghost is just how it started out though. Shortly after placing our ghost on the porch for all to see, I thought it needed a little extra…and thus the Ghost Witch was born. Can you think of anything more scary than a dead witch come back as a ghost?  
     
     
     


  • A Potpourri of Repurposing and Organizing Ideas {Guest Post}

    A Potpourri of Repurposing and Organizing Ideas {Guest Post}

    He who was seated on the throne said, “ Behold, I am *making all things new!”
    Revelation 21:5
    **Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindness; for they have been ever of old.
    Psalm 25:6

    I’m delighted to be offering this Guest Post on Adelina’s blog, as she is in the midst of moving this
    week!  I have moved MANY times and I know how stressful it can be –  My offering for today will be a
    potpourri of ‘do-over’ ideas for you –  ;-}

    I have learned through the years to ‘make Beauty from Ashes,’ so to speak, and I thought I’d share
    just some of my many Repurposed Items and ‘creative storage’ ideas.  Perhaps some of these may be
    helpful to those of you who are on tight budgets or in tight spaces – as I know all too well… I have
    been ‘repurposing’ items all my life – long before it became ‘fashionable’ to do so and I enjoy reusing
    ‘usable’ items, often making them more beautiful.

    So – there are times when I just have to acknowledge my Dutch Heritage…  Being very frugal,
    resourceful and drinking coffee all day are a few things I do that come from my ‘Dutch genes.’
    *smile*  Therefore, I have many empty coffee cans for which I continue to find ‘good use’ –

    My first project today is a ‘repurposed’ coffee can – decorated with scraps – and turned into a Gift
    Container for some yummy Christmas Cookies or candies.

    To cover the can, I stamped ‘sheet music’ in brown on parchment paper, inking the edges and then
    stamping snowy flourishes in silver in various places. (These don’t show up in the photos – sorry.)  I
    used the (www.PaperCraftingWorld.com) Bell .svg file – a scrap of red, one of ‘marbleized’ silver, two
    of plain silver and a snippet of silver ribbon to make the ‘Silver Bells,’ which I adhered to the red
    grosgrain ribbon wrapped around the can.

    I made a Recipe Card/Gift Tag for the top with a Circle Card file (I don’t know from whence I got it…)
    – topped it with a Scalloped Circle ‘wreath’ I made from the same file.  I punched ‘notes’ from silver
    scraps, placing them on the wreath.  I used the flourishes that were cut from the Bells under a red
    flower plucked from a red hydrangea stem, enhanced with a red, flower-gem center and silver
    ‘Scribbles’ paint.

    Another enjoyable passion of mine is ‘burning candles’ – for their relaxing scent, as I ‘burn mine at
    both ends!’  Therefore, I have several of these empty glass jars at any given time…

    These harvest-themed .svg files are from
    The pumpkins were cut with my Cricut/SCAL2
    and then embossed on my Cuttlebug. The
    pumpkin atop is for the recipe and a note –

                                                      

    These Christmas .svg files are from
    After cutting the pieces with my
    Cricut/SCAL2, I embossed them in my
    Cuttlebug and then adhered them to the jar.
    Both jars are ready for holiday Goodies!

    I’ve found many ways to reuse baking sheets – These are old ones that I spray painted, used
    discontinued wallpaper for the backgrounds and then .svg files as decorative elements, further
    decorated with gems, flowers (from the Dollar Store) and magnets for memos.

    I also use some cookie sheets and pizza trays that I picked up at the Dollar Store while working on
    scrapbooking pages or other projects.  Arrange elements on them with magnets until you have the
    whole page designed and decided upon.  Then you can secure them to the pages with adhesives.

    I have turned simple lunch sacks into
    Mini-Albums to keep memories –
    turning this – into these –  They include
    many pages for photos and pockets
    for memorabilia –

    As far as organizing my crafty supplies, I’ve repurposed things for this, also.  Here are just a few of
    my ‘bright ideas.’

    I got the box at Michaels, cut my
    ‘business/blog name’ on my Cricut
    and adhered it to the front of the lid.
    For the dividers, I cut pizza and cereal
    boxes to fit, covered them with cream
    parchment paper and punched tabs.
    Some days it’s filled with cards I’ve
    made, some days it’s not – Time to
    make more!

    I covered empty soup cans with the
    corresponding color to my Timeless Twine
    spools.  I put my baker’s twine in a Sugar Jar,
    of the ‘restaurant style,’ that I picked up at
    the Dollar Store.

    I made a cutting board lap desk from a
    postal box covered with Kraft paper.
    It’s lightweight, portable and I’ve found
    it to be quite handy for years.

    I saw a post recently about using knobs attached to wooden dowel pieces with Velcro added to hold pieces of felt to use for ink blending…  I looked around and decided to attach the felted ‘furniture leg pads’ that I
    had in a drawer to wine corks and lids that I’d been saving – FREE!  I also use makeup sponges for blending
    inks –

    Another idea for corks and lids:  glue them together and glue on the little foam shapes to make simple stamping fun – for you or for children!

    Jars and food containers can also be reused as ‘serviceable,’ too – I use many of them to hold laces, ribbons, chipboard shapes, buttons, pins, any decorative elements –

    I use all manner of food containers for
    various crafting implements –  Here are
    vegetable containers in which my felt
    marking pens fit perfectly and stack
    nicely on the ‘box shelf’ which is their
    home –

    I keep track of all of the Punches I have in a $1  Kraft-page journal book I got at Michaels – I punch on cream paper and adhere in this book for a quick reference as to what I have while ‘projecting.’

    I will leave you with another ‘make-over-magic’ project I made this week – turning a lowly, plain Dollar
    Store mini clipboard into a sunny gift for one of my Dear Friends…!  The .svg file is from
    www.PaperCraftingWorld.com    I used Mod Podge to adhere all of the papers and gems and protect
    and preserve it while in use – The mini-pads come in several colors and I look forward to making a
    rainbow of these to have for quick gifts –

    I hope that some of this has been helpful to you!  I’d love to have you come by MY blog
    (http://aneleganttouch-lynden.blogspot.com) and see what I ‘cook up’ each week – adding ‘An
    Elegant Touch…’ to all that I do!  If you have some great repurposing or organizational ideas, I’d love
    to hear them, too –  Have a Lovely Day wherever you are and Thank You from Adelina and me for
    stopping by and sharing part of your day with us!  *smile*

    About the author

    My PhotoI am a mature, educated, creative woman – a Mother of two grown children – a Gramama of two precious grandchildren – a proud Blue Star Mother of a Marine Captain – a daughter of the King of Kings – a woman looking for her place in the world in the winter of her life…sharing what I do and who I am – with You – adding  ‘An Elegant Touch…’ to all that I do…


    Lynden Blossom

    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
    Thank You Lynden for sharing these wonderful tips and tricks with us! Your papercrafting is a delight to see, and I hope I can use some of these ideas around my new home!
  • How to Upcycle Receiving Blankets into a Quilt

    How to Upcycle Receiving Blankets into a Quilt

    Don’t throw those old receiving blankets out just yet. So your kid outgrew these special blankets, but now you can turn them into an heirloom to grow with your kid. Upcycle receiving blanket into a quilt that your child will love to snuggle with. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated when you click on and purchase through them. 
    Upcycle receiving blankets into a quilt. It becomes an heirloom your child will love forever. After having 3 girls, I started accumulating pink receiving blankets. My kids grew out of them very quickly, and with Rosalina we mainly used them as burp rags instead.  For quite some time now they’ve been sitting in a closet, taking up precious space. 
     
    I was thrilled when I saw Heather from Handmade Haven had turned her receiving blankets into a baby quilt! A novel idea, I thought, and then they still sat around my house, just no longer in a closet. I finally decided the receiving blankets had to be taken care of before they were all lost.  It was time to do a little upcycling!
     

    Upcycle Receiving Blankets into a Toddler’s Quilt

    To start out, cut up your receiving blankets.  This can be done easily by folding them in half, and then cutting 2-inch strips.

    Online Quilting Class

    Next, cut through the fold so each 2-inch strip is now 2, 2-inch strips. 
     
    Now you have fun designing your quilt! Don’t worry if some pieces are longer than others you can either trim them down now or after they are sewn together. 
    If you desired you could cut your strips down further to make separate blocks, but let’s face it, I’ve got 3 kids running around, I could only keep those scissors out safely for so long.
     
    Once you’ve got your quilt designed, it’s time to start sewing! Make sure you have plenty of bobbin thread and spool thread.  Using a 1/2 inch seam start at one side of the quilt and begin sewing the strips together.
     
    Once you have it sewn, trim any edges, and dangling thread.  Iron out the seams so they lay flat going the same direction.
     
    Cut out the quilt backing – make it about 3 inches larger than your finished top.
     
    Roll out the quilt batting, and then take your new quilt top and lay it on top.  Cut the batting so it is the same size as the quilt.
     
    Lay out your quilt back, wrong side up. Lay the quilt top and batting on top with the quilt side facing up.  A simple cotton fabric works best for the backing since this is all sewn on the machine.
     
    Fold the backing over so it touches the edge of your quilt top, and then again a second time over the quilt top’s edge. Iron the edge down, then pin all three layers.
     
    Using a coordinating thread color, sew around the edge to finish your quilt. If you use fleece, remember it’s bulky, and it will “shed” into your machine. Take the time between edges to clean out your bobbin case.
     
    TIP: Most machines come with a cleaning brush, but if yours is missing like mine, a soft paint brush does the trick as well.
     
    You can make your quilt any size, I chose toddler bed size, but if you have more receiving blankets than me, you could make it bigger! 


  • Upcycled Card Table

    Upcycled Card Table

    Due to my design impasse yesterday, I found another outlet for creativity.  My card table.  It was ugly, but I wanted to be able to use it wthout having to throw on a table cloth.  The mind sparked, and I grabbed the rolls of contact paper my sister in law gave me last summer (I knew they’d come in handy someday!)
    

    Before
    As you can tell, we’ve used our card table for some painting. 
    After

    I am just loving this new table top!  It was so easy too! I originally thought what I had was wall paper, but it wasn’t, it was contact paper.  You need to clean and dry the surface first, or it won’t stick. Measure and cut your paper to the desired length.  I had to use two sheets to cover the whole table, but they blended nicely.  I cut mine about 2inches longer than the table’s top so I could wrap it around the edges.  Peel off the backing and stick! The directions suggest using a straight edge to push any bubbles out and to get it all to stick.  I just used my hand and it worked nicely.  And Voila! this is my new craft and puzzle table!