Filing Cabinet Makeover

Hi, above is a filing cabinet which was originally an all grey metal filing cabinet that was very old and battered.  I bought this second hand for £5 which was a great bargain.

I wanted this to go in our home office, which is all pine coloured.  So I bought a role of sticky back plastic which had a wooden theme on it. This was only about £2 so a great bargain too!  I placed this plastic over the cabinet drawers and all around the sides, I didn't bother doing the back as this is not seen.

I was really pleased with the final look - it now looks new and blends in lovely with the office. It's a shame I didn't take a photo of the cabinet before I updated it, but I am sure you can imagine a plain metal cabinet.

Toddler Outfit made from towels

This post is about a project I made for my youngest when she was a toddler, she is 4 now, so it wasn't that long ago.

For a while, I had wanted to make her a bloomer set, also known as a ruffle pants set. I had seen a couple of tutorials online which seemed easy to follow, I was just in the need of the right fabric.

Then I saw a pack of kitchen towels which were made from a lovely bright fabric, and I immediately thought the fabric would be great for this project.

To make the top, I simply copied a similar top that she already had that fit her nicely and added a border to it.  Again for the trousers I made the basic trousers by copying a pair she already had and then I followed an online tutorial to add the ruffles.  Here is a link to a tutorial which shows you how to add ruffles to trousers: Sewing Dork Blogspot

Adding ruffles to trousers is a great way to make trousers last a bit longer by elongating them.

Below is a photograph of my youngest as a toddler wearing the outfit.

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Upcycling a dress into Hair Accessories

Above is a photograph of some hair accessories I made using an old blue and white gingham dress.
My eldest daughter wears blue gingham for school so wanted some hair accessories to match. The photograph below shows the dress which I used to make these accessories.

This dress had a stain on the front and was now to small so I decided to cut the dress up and re-use the fabric. As you can see the dress is in strips of fabric, luckily large enough to make headbands. I have posted about headbands previously, if you want a tutorial, here is a link to my 10 minute headband tutorial post.  Below is a photograph of one of the headbands.

I also had quite a lot of fabric scraps, so I decided to make some good use of them too.  I decided to make a flower hairband. I didn't follow any pattern, I just made it up as I went along.  I cut out 16 triangles, and sewed 2 together, making 8 triangles remaining.  I sewed 4 triangles together in a cross shape, so having 2 crosses. Then I placed one cross onto the top of the other and sewed them together. Then I placed a button over the top to hide the joins and stitching.  I then attached (sewed) a hairband to the underneath of the flower.  Below is a photograph of my eldest wearing the flower hairband.

She loves wearing this hairband because it is unique, she knows none of her friends will have the same one!

This upcycling project is great for any of your unwanted fabrics, either because of being too small or has a stain on the front. If I had took this dress to the charity shop, they probably wouldn't even have put it on display, because it had a stain on. Now this dress has a new lease of life!

T-Shirt Designing

The photograph above is my attempt to make something creative with a nautical theme. I wanted to design something that could be given to a child (boy or girl) for a present.  I was asked to make some things that could be sold for a nautical charity.

I already had some spare plain t-shirts, especially blue ones which were left over from my daughter's crafty birthday party. I thought I would try to use them up instead of them gathering dust. I hand drew an outline of a boat on A4 paper, then went over it with a marker. Once the marker had dried, I placed this inside the t-shirt so I could see the outline. (I always place some card between the front and back of the t-shirts so the fabric pen/paint doesn't go through to the other side) Then I traced over the outline onto the t-shirt using fabric pens. Then I coloured in the boat with fabric pens too. Once finished a simple iron over the picture and the t-shirt is finished. Very quick and simple.

I am now looking for other ideas for things to make. Does anybody have any ideas?  I am looking at ideas that won't cost very much and won't take up much time.  As I said I am not profiting from this, so looking for something with a quick turnaround and not costly. One option would be the 10 Minute Headband that might be a good seller for the girls. However it would be nice to have a choice for the boys!

Aprons made for family

Above is a photograph of my sister and her husband wearing the aprons that I made for them.

I think it can be hard to find a design that men can wear, and when they do barbecues they do need an apron!  Making a football (soccer) themed apron seemed an appropriate choice as most men like the game, especially UK men! I made his personalised to add that personalised touch. The football pocket was made from the spare fabric I had left over when I made my son's football themed room. Here is a link to that project: Football Room

My sisters apron was one that was upcycled from a dress. If you read my blog often you will know that I love making aprons from dresses.  Here is a link for a dress to apron tutorial: apron from dress tutorial

I have been busy lately making some curtains for my sister to put in the nursery room. She wanted them made with a blackout lining so to help her baby sleep. My sister and her family are here in the UK for a short visit so she wanted to take the curtains back home with her. I have a post on my other BLOG where I have some photos of her baby daughter meeting her extended family for the first time! What has everybody been upto lately, please share with me.

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Storage Bin/Seat Makeover

Above is a photograph of the plastic storage bin/seat that I recently did a makeover on.

Unfortunately I didn't take a photograph of the the bin before I updated it.  The body of the bin originally had an old fashioned sticky back plastic on it. This bin has been in the family for many years, maybe even as old as me, because I remember sitting on it when I was young. This belonged to my grandmother who had no space for it, so gave it to me.

I thought this would be really handy in the girls' room. They keep all their bags in this and it is great as it doubles as a seat!

To transform this I cut out some spare fabric (pink of course!). I glued the fabric to the bin using general household glue.  Then I made a new cover for the lid.  The lid already had a cover but it was really worn and dated.  I used the original cover to make a pattern for the new cover.  The new cover was made from a cushion cover that my daughter already had but didn't use.  I also cut out a circle of foam to place between the cover and the lid to make the seat more comfy!

The photo above shows the white plastic lid with the fitted cushion cover I made beside it.

This photo shows you the inside of the bin where my daughters now keep their collection of bags.

This bin would have probably been thrown out because it was so dated, but with a little love it now looks brand new!

Linking to: http://www.tipjunkie.com/

Upcycling Plastic Pots Tutorial

Above is a photograph of a recent upcycling project.  This was an empty Yoghurt Pot, now being used as a container to keep loose hair accessories.

Below is a photograph of the original empty pot. You could use any empty plastic pot, I have seen similar ice-cream and candyfloss pots.

Tutorial:
Wash the container out and dry.
Measure the width and depth of the pot and cut out the appropriate size from the Sticky Back Plastic.
Then apply to the pot.

This was an easy and quick project.  I have seen many people re-use empty pots for various reasons, but I think this one is a cute idea, and my girls love anything 'pink'. This pot has a handle on so it makes it easy to carry about too!

Have you upcycled any empty pots?  Please share with me your projects if you have.