Rice Heat Cold Packs Tutorial

I have made rice heat packs many times over the years, I always have a few kept in the freezer at home as they get used often by myself.  I suffer from headaches and I find a soothing cold pack against my head really helps.  They are also good heated in the microwave as a heat pack for stomach cramps.

The skull design ones are some I have recently made, I made these smaller in a square shape instead of rectangles.  It doesn't really matter what the shape is as long as they do there job.

These are very simple to make, just 2 pieces of cotton cloth, place together pattern side touching each other, sew around all 4 sides, leaving a small gap on one side.  Turn the fabric the right way around, then fill 3/5 full of rice and then secure the hole by sewing it closed.  They are ready to be used, either by placing in the freezer or heating in the microwave.  Here is a link to 'Tipnut'  a really good tutorial: http://tipnut.com/make-your-own-microwave-heating-pad/


Below are some I made and posted about 6 years ago. http://www.karimascrafts.com/2011/02/hot-and-cold-packs.html?m=0

Candle Cozies

I have been upcycling again recently.  I still have quite a lot of felted fabric from old woolly jumpers.  I have used some of the fabric for previous projects but still had some spare sleeves.  So I thought I would make some candle cozies from them. These were the perfect size to fit the glass candle jars I had at home.  No need for any tutorial to be honest as very simple.  Once the jumpers have already been felted you simply just cut them to size, deciding if you wish to have a turn on the design.  I actually used the same sleeve for different designs of fitting them to the candle if you look closely. One of the cozies I actually cut a felt flower out and hand stitched it to the sleeve for decoration.

I have been selling these on my craft table events.

You may recognise some of the pink felt sleeves from the jumper that was used for a project my now 9 year old daughter made a while ago, an owl felt cushion. This is the link to the owl tutorial: http://www.karimascrafts.com/2015/06/owl-cushion-tutorial.html

Filing Cabinet Makeover

If you follow my daughter's blog http://www.slhcrafts.com/ then you will know she now has her own Craft Studio so we are in the middle of getting it all ready and furnished. One of the projects that I have done is transform an old dull filing cabinet into a bright arty design.

This was actually quite straight forward but gave a beautiful transformation.

Requirements:

Metal Paint, brushes
Sticky Backed Plastic.

Instructions:

Step 1: Clean the cabinet and prepare with primer if required. (I just cleaned)
Step 2: Paint the parts that you wish to paint, I did everything except the drawers. Allow to dry.
Step 3: Measure the size of the drawers and cut the roll as required. Place over the drawer carefully smoothing out gradually to avoid air bubbles.

You now have a transformed filing cabinet.

Lemon Vinegar Cleaner Recipe

I have wanted to make a cleaner for what seams like forever but never got around to making one until now. I have just started a new healthy regime which involves drinking natural lemon juice daily so this means I have a large supply of lemon skins going to waste! I knew this was the perfect opportunity to make my cleaner with all those peels going spare!

There are so many recipes online on how to make these cleaners, including using orange peels as an alternative too!  Here is how I made my recipe:

Requirements:

• Lemon Peels (cut up)
• Large glass Jar with lid (I used an old olives jar)
• White Vinegar
• Spray Bottle (I used an old empty spray bottle I already had)

Instructions:

Step 1: Cut up the lemon peels and place them into a large jar.
Step 2: Fill the jar with white vinegar.
Step 3: Keep adding your peels to the jar daily or whenever you get more peels.
Step 4: Allow the lemon peels to steep in the jar for 2 weeks, keep swishing the lemons and vinegar in the jar.
Step 5: After a few weeks strain the liquid into another container (making sure any skin and pulp is removed). Dilute the liquid with water 50/50.
Step 6: Place the diluted liquid into a spray bottle - it is now ready to use!

Some people like to use the liquid neat to clean glass and other things, some prefer it diluted 50/50 and others prefer to dilute it with 2/3 water. It really depends on what you are wanting to clean.  Some people also like to add bicarbonate to their mixture.  

Here is an online link I found that shows some really good tutorials on making a variety of different citrus cleaners: http://www.theyummylife.com/Natural_Citrus_Vinegar_Cleaners

DIY Istinja Bottles - Great Ideas

I saw some bottle top waterers for sale and immediately thought - WOW these would be great for Istinja Bottles. You could use them permanently in the bathroom on standard bottles or you could even place one in your purse and use as emergency Istinja cleaner with a normal bottle of water!

I had a standard large watering style can but this can be difficult for young children. These work great for young children and my 6 year old loves the idea as no more spills now!

The photo below shows what it is exactly that I used to make these bottles.  Bottle Top Waterers which are available on Ebay and Amazon too!

Easy Hot Chocolate Drink - Great Ideas

Easy Hot Chocolate Drink - Using an empty Chocolate Spread Jar! Whenever I have an empty chocolate spread jar at home, I add some milk from the fridge and pop the jar into the microwave for a few minutes. I take the jar out and stir the milk and melted chocolate together to make a delicious instant hot chocolate!

The bonus is that the Jar is also easy to clean out ready for the recycling bin too! It's been a while since I shared some good idea posts on my blog, I might have to think of a few others for this year too.

Linking up with:

Net Curtain design with Ribbon - Great Ideas

I added Matching Ribbon to the bottom of some Net Curtains. I have some peach coloured curtains in my bedroom and for privacy I also have a net curtain up at the window. I didn't want to buy anything to expensive but also felt the plain curtain was 'well too plain'.

I managed to find some ribbon which was very similar in colour to the curtains and bought 2 metres which was enough to cover the bottom edge.  The window now looks really nice with the matching net! A very simple and cheap solution to decorate the room!

There is no need for a tutorial on this as it is very straight forward. I simply ironed the ribbon to make a hem and placed the ribbon over the edge of the net curtain and straight stitched across with the sewing machine - very easy!

Entryway Storage Bench using a TV/Video Cabinet! - Great Ideas

I made my own entryway storage bench using an old TV/Video Cabinet! This was one of my thrift / charity shop buys!

All I had to do was take off the cabinet doors and make some fabric covers for some ordinary cardboard boxes! The padded cushion can be used as a padded seat to sit on when putting your shoes on. This was actually a lid from a large storage box! As you can see this was a really easy project and I am pleased with the results!.

Spray Painted Keyboard Tutorial - Great Ideas

 

I Spray Painted my Keyboard! I saw an amazing transformation of a keyboard by another blogger who hand painted each key and did an amazing job!

I didn't have the patience for hand painting, however I do like to indulge in spray painting! So I used a can of Gold coloured spray paint that I already had in the house from other projects and got to work.

Instructions:

• Take a photograph of the keyboard so that you know what each key is.
• Unscrew the top of the keyboard off carefully and place onto newspaper.
• Give one coat of paint and allow to dry. Do another coat if needed.
• Once dry using a permanent marker by hand write down on the keys the correct markings using the photograph.
• Then screw the top back to the bottom of the keyboard case.
• You now have a unique keyboard!

Here is the link and photograph of the keyboard that gave me the inspiration: doodlecraft.blogspot.co.uk

 Here is another one she painted as a project:
painted-keyboard-guest-post

Notes: Not sure if all keyboards can be took apart as easily - you need to make sure you know how to put it back together. I managed by myself but if I had struggled I would have asked my husband to help as he is a Computer Technician and taking them apart is his speciality!

DIY - Personalized Picture Frame Gift

I made this picture frame as a gift for a friend of my daughter's. This is one of the most easiest gifts to make, yet looks great! This is a great personalized gift idea!

I bought a frame which had 5 spaces for photographs as the name I wanted 'EMILY' had 5 letters. I then measured the spaces and found some letter designs that I really liked and printed these off to fit into each space. I simply placed the printed letters into the frame and was finished! How quick and easy was that!

If you wanted to be more artistic and put in more effort you could use fabric letters or paint the letters yourself.  I hope this provides some inspiration for you.

Upcycling Plastic Pots - Bangles

Today's Post is an upcycling project that I did with my children.  Using Plastic Pots we made some bangles.

I used a fresh cream pot but any plastic pots for example yoghurt pots could be used for this kind of project. We wanted these to be gold because we wanted some gold bangles to go with a dressing up costume that we had made.

Instructions:

Step 1: Using Scissors I made a cut in the plastic so that I could insert the scissors in to start cutting all the way around the pot.
Step 2: Insert the scissors to make another cut underneath the first one and again cut all the way around the pot so that you now have a plastic strip (bracelet shape). Depending on how tall the pots are and how wide you want the bracelets repeat the first 2 steps to make more plastic strips.  I cut out 3 bangles.
Step 3: Decorate the bangles, we had some gold tape which we attached to the plastic strips. However you could try other alternative ways to decorate these for example: wrap around ribbon, lace, wool - Painted - Stickers - Glue other craft materials to them. Whatever you have handy.


I have used yoghurt pots in the past for craft projects, below is another upcycling project tutorial I have blogged about previously: http://www.karimascrafts.com/2011/05/upcycling-plastic-pots-tutorial.html

Scarves Storage Ideas - Great Ideas

If you have plenty of scarves at home and are wanting some ideas on how you can store them, then here are 2 ways that I am sharing with you today.

 

The First is a Trouser Hanger, these are ideal to store many of your scarves and can be hung either in the wardrobe or on a coat hanger or even over the top of a door as the photograph shows.

 

The Second is using an over the door hanger, these also can hold many scarves and are great to place over any door in the house.  I actually have one of these placed on the passage door near the front door. This makes it easy to just grab a scarf before leaving the house!

There are of course many other ways to store your scarves, simply doing a google search will show you some other great and weird ways! Below are some other ideas:

Folded neatly into drawers
Using Shower Hooks on a hanger
Rolled and placed in baskets

Below is another idea if you don't have that many scarves - Rolled onto a tube!

 

Dress to Bag Mini Tutorial

 

 I made a tote bag recently for myself which I thought would share with you.  Anyone who knows me, knows this is the bag I always carry with me lol!

 

I made this from fabric that I already had at home including the main part of the bag coming from an old denim dress that belonged to me. I made this bag just the right size to hold an A4 Binder inside and also the pocket large enough to hold my A5 Diary/Planner inside. The 2 small pockets hold my mini umbrella and my phone!  This is not a full tutorial as I didn't take many photographs, so thought I would just share with you a brief mini tutorial. 

 

I cut out two large rectangles of fabric. One piece the denim dress and the other piece of fabric to use as lining.
I cut out the front part of the dress including the pockets to use a large inside pocket for the bag. I had to stitch up beside the buttons to make it all one piece of fabric.
I used fabric to make a Binding over the top of the pocket. I used the same fabric to make the tote bag strap and the binding for the top rim of the bag. I actually added some Elastic inside the rim so that the bag closes a little to keep my things a bit more secure.
I used strips of Ribbon to go from the front to the back of the bag for design purposes.
I hand sewed some decorative buttons I had to the front of the bag.
I hand sewed a flower hair accessory that I had to the front of the bag.
I had a pretty keychain that was broken which I also attached to the front of the bag for decoration.

I so love this bag and it is great to keep my A4 Binder in when I attend my Arabic/Islamic Classes. And I always like to have my Diary/Planner with me so this is kept in its own pocket inside the bag for easy access! I have plenty of space to keep my money purse and other things too!

If you are interested in making one of these yourself there are plenty of free tutorials online - just search for tote bag tutorials and find one that you feel is easy for you to follow. I have included a few here if you wish to look at that them:

20-minute-tote-bag
how-to-make-a-simple-reversible-totebag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a9Yt1gmutQ

DIY - Painted Jars Tutorial

DIY - Painted Jars - These are one of the easiest and cheapest things to make.

Instructions:

1) Find an empty Jar and remove any labels and clean it out thoroughly.
2) Find some suitable paint - (I actually used children's paint for this project!)
3) Place Jar onto some newspapers/paper so that paint doesn't make a mess.
4) Paint all around the outside of the jar. (You could also paint inside of the jar to deepen the colour!)
5) Leave to dry and if needed add extra coats. I had to do about 3 coats for this project as the paint wasn't very thick.
6) Optional - Decorate with ribbons/beads/permanent marker designs etc.

This is so easy, you don't really need a tutorial for this, but at least with a tutorial you can see for yourself how easy it really is!

I have this jar placed in my bathroom.

Tic Tac Box Uses - Great Ideas

Tic Tac Boxes - These small containers can be used for many things - I have given an example of just some of the uses in the photograph above.

Most times these are used for small craft pieces, but they are also used for some bizarre things - not sure if they would really work for all the things that the internet say they do - but I thought I would share with you some ideas I have heard about!

The photograph below is a cereal box I made for a Barbie Doll!

Here is a list of some uses I found online for Tic Tac Boxes:

Small sweets (candy)
Medicine (keep away from children)
Paperclips
Rubber bands
Plasters (Band aid)
Hijab Pins
Small crafts (beads etc)
Ribbon
Safety Pins
Earphones
Toothpicks
Small sewing kit
Sugar (carry size)
Cocoa /coffee powder (carry size)
Salt/Pepper (carry size)
Garden Seeds
Rattle (fill with pebbles)
Money
Q-Tips cut in half
Spices
Ketchup!

If you re-use these boxes then please do share with me what you use them for.

Home Organization Centre

Many of you might already know that - I LOVE TO BE ORGANIZED! I run my house like I would a business - I have charts for most things and keep a diary/organizer with me at all times! Today I am sharing with you my Organizational Centre which is kept on one of my Kitchen Walls.

I haven't really shown photographs before of my charts/organizing, because quite honestly I love my photographs to be perfect - and my organizational centre involves lots of handwriting squiggles that are quite messy and a bit embarrassing. Also I have my children's names and personal information on here so I didn't want to share that kind of information. I have though smudged out any personal info on the photograph, for eg. my children's names, so that is why some things are blank!

However I have now decided to step out of my comfort zone and share with you my photographs - because after all I am a mum with young children and many of my followers are also mums - so I think a lot of my readers understand that things are not kept perfect in a home with little ones!

I design and laminate my own charts so that they are suitable for my family's needs.  I will share with you how the Main Organization Centre works in my home with 3 young children.

I have an Appointments Wipeboard which I use to write down any dates/appointments we have that week - I also note some important future dates underneath that. I try to complete this every Sunday night or whenever I can! I have a Pinboard next to that, with each of my children's names written at the top. Any important letters (ie school) or invitations etc are pinned underneath their names. Then I have a few laminated charts underneath these, below I have explained what these charts are:

SHOPPING LIST: Whatever food I need to buy that week is written on this chart - I update this as soon as I know I have run out of something or know I need something soon for example. The children sometimes add to this too!

FAMILY MESSAGES: The whole family use this to leave important messages for each other. I have each child's name on the board and we just write down the message underneath the names of who the message is for. For example: Child 1 might leave message for Child 2 saying they have borrowed one of their books, or Child 2 might leave a message for their dad saying his brother telephoned.

WEEKLY MENU: This is to write down what we have planned to eat for the whole week - so then I can plan what I need to buy for shopping.

TO DO LIST: I write things on here that I need to do, for example: Ring Doctors to make appointment, pay for childs school trip etc.

MEDICINE/ILLNESS RECORD: Whenever one or more of my children are poorly, I record what their temperature is and at what time they were given any medicine and what kind of medicine   I designed this chart with columns: TIME, TEMPERATURE, MEDICINE GIVEN

QURAN/SURAH/DUA CHART: This is for the children to write down which one they are learning that week.

CALENDAR2013: I have a laminated calendar so that when writing down any appointment etc I can check dates etc.

I also keep a diary/organizer binder with me at all times, so I can write things down during the day if I am outside the house. Anything important can then be written or attached to the organizational centre when I return home. I also log different things in my organizer, that are not kept on my Kitchen Wall.  I might do a post at a later date about my binder inshallah. Below is a photograph of the front cover:

I also have a reward/chore chart centre just for the children - which is kept on the Kitchen Door. I will try to do a future post on that too inshallah: Below is a photograph of that:

DIY Magazine Holder - Great Ideas

Magazine Holders are so easy to make with cardboard boxes from either detergent boxes or cereal boxes. Just cut the shape you want and decorate as you wish.

The photograph above shows a box decorated with some sticky backed plastic. The photograph below hasn't been decorated, it has just been cut out from a cereal box.

I love such simple ideas and also love ways to recycle / upcycle things that would normally be disposed of!