Wood Vase Holder DIY

April 27, 2016 by Jessica Leave a Comment

I love sewing, crocheting, and all, but you all know how I like to create with all kinds of things so today I’m sharing this wood vase holder diy. A few weeks ago I saw something kind of like this but it was made from metal. I really liked how it looked but also figured I could make something with that same concept but for a lot less money. I was right! I made this out of wood and since I had almost all the supplies already it didn’t cost anywhere near the amount of the metal one. I liked how simple this was to make using minimal tools.

You can see two different types of vases I had on hand that fit in it. It’s a generous size but you could always change the sizes of the wood pieces to suit a specific vase you want whether it be smaller, larger, wider, or not so wide. Here is your supply list to create your own wood vase holder diy:

2 pieces of 3/4 x 36 poplar square for the legs and top joining pieces
Wood for the base (I used a 1×8 scrap piece I had. just make sure it is at least 3/4″ thick and 5.5″ wide)
Four 3/4″ x 1/2″ corner braces with screws
Sandpaper
Wood glue
Clamps
Pre-stain wood conditioner
Paint brush
Wood stain
Polycrylic finish
Lint free cloth
Ruler
Saw (I used a chop saw but also used a hand saw to cut off the ends of two smaller pieces I cut too long)
Drill and bit that the screws you use will need

First make your wood cuts. From the two pieces of poplar cut the following lengths: four that are 12″ long, two that are 5.5″ long, and two that are 4″ long. From your wood for your base cut a 5.5″ x 5.5″ piece. Sand all of the pieces, especially focusing on any rough spots.

Next, grab your corner braces and prepare to put them on.

Take your 12″ pieces of poplar and screw on each brace so that the top is 4″ from the bottom. Repeat for all four pieces.

Now take a leg with the brace and place on the corner of the base. Screw in place. Repeat for all four sides making sure that the legs are in the correct place on each end.

It was a little difficult to get the last leg on, so if you leave the leg screws a little loose on the base you can turn them to make more room for your drill if necessary. Then go back and tighten them once they are all in place. You might also find it best not to screw the screws in too tightly as it can make the legs warp a little bit at the top.

Now take the smaller pieces and place them on the appropriate sides. I put a little bit of wood glue on the ends of the piece and then clamped them in place one at a time. I would put one in place and go about my day and the next time I got in the car I would switch and do another piece. The wood glue holds these in place super good so no need for screws or nails on these unless you want to do that.

Some people skip doing this but I like to use a pre-stain wood conditioner. It helps the wood soak up the stain more evenly. I applied it with a paint brush and then wiped off the extra with an old t-shirt. (Make sure to wash your brush after.)

After the conditioner has set for the amount allotted on the can, apply your stain of choice. I used this Early American color stain. I applied one coat using a paint brush, let it sit for fifteen minutes, and then wiped off any excess. (Make sure to wash your brush after.)

Once the stain is completely dry you can apply a polycrylic finish. I applied one coat with a paint brush. (Make sure to wash your brush after.) This will protect the wood from any water that might spill onto it.

Let it dry and then it’s ready to hold a vase full of flowers. A great mother’s day gift idea since that is very soon ;). Make sure to share your happy together projects on social media using #happytogetherbyjess and tag me too Have fun creating! -jess

Vintage Tin Recipe Box DIY

February 21, 2016 by Jessica 2 Comments

Any vintage tin collectors out there? I admit I love to snag them up when I see them at thrift or antique stores with the hope to make them into a candle, a planter for succulents, or something like that. But the other day I decided this one should turn into a recipe box! So here is a vintage tin recipe box diy in case you might be interested in making one as well.

{Having a hard time finding a cool old tin? Search around online at Etsy for some great choices of vintage tins.} I would suggest using a size tin that is similar to that of a regular recipe box. That way it’s easy to find ready made recipe cards and such to fit into it. If not, you can always make your own like I did. Start by gathering your tin, a strong glue (I used e600 which is a super strong kind), and a metal label holder with bards. I found these label holders in the scrapbook section but also saw some in the wood section at a local craft store.

Put glue on the label holder just on the bottom and side edges.

Place it on the tin where you would like it to be. I ended up using a clamp and clothespin for extra help holding it in place while it dried.

Cut the prongs off of the bards and glue them in the holes of the label maker.

To create the front label I simply cut a small piece of cardstock that would fit and used small letter rubber stamps to create the word “recipes”.

You can find these stamp sets at craft stores and even in the dollar section at Target. I love having them on hand as they add a little extra character to different projects.

Now my tin was a little too small for the pre-made recipe cards I found at a store. I could have tried to find a customizable type online and printed them, but I simply used 3×5 note cards as they fit perfectly. I found these stickers in the clearance section at Hobby Lobby. They fold over to create a tab on top of the cards.

I used my stamps again to create the words on the tabs. You can make as many different sections as you like.

This vintage tin recipe box diy is a simple project and takes very little time to create. I think it came out really cute and think it would be a cute little house warming gift too. Share if you make one #happytogetherbyjess

-jess

Easy Bow Pillow DIY

January 15, 2016 by Jessica 4 Comments

I set myself a goal that this year I would share a very easy sewing diy once a month. I have a list of all kinds of things, but if there is something you would like to see leave me a comment and let me know For this month, I am sharing a very easy Bow Pillow DIY. I saw one in Target the other day and thought it was cute and wanted to replicate it. It uses very little fabric and it only took me fifteen minutes to make (and that includes me taking the pictures!).

Supplies:

One fabric fat quarter (18″ x 22″)
One piece of fabric that equals 4.5″ x 20″
Stuffing
Scissors
Iron
Sewing machine/thread/etc

Notes: *I used all 1/4′ seams when sewing. *Remember to back stitch.

Directions:
1. Start by folding your fat quarter in half (the 22″ should be the width and the 18″ the height) right sides facing.

2. Sew around all open edges except leaving a few inches open in the center of the long side. Turn pillow right side out and iron. Then fill it with the amount of stuffing desired. The more you put in, the firmer the pillow will be.

3. Turn in side edges at the opening and sew closed. You can use a sewing machine to do this and if you do I suggest adjusting your needle to be as far to the left as possible so you can squeeze the edges under there enough to sew. Another option is to hand sew it shut.

4. Take your 4.5″ x 20″ piece and turn each long side in 1/4″ towards the wrong side. Then turn in another 1/4″ and press.

5. Sew side seams in place.

6. Turn both ends in 1/4″ two times as well. Sew in place.

7. Sew ends on top of each other to create a sleeve to go onto the pillow. Make sure fabric is right side up.

8. Finish by sliding fabric sleeve to middle of pillow. You can tack it in place by hand sewing it on the back if you like.
I bet you could do this in boy fabrics and make it look like a bow tie pillow as well. I also think this would be a great project to do with a child (or adult) learning to sew since it’s simple and sews up quickly. Share your bow pillow diy creation with us if you create one
Happy Sewing!
jess

DIY Pie Pan Package and Personalized Picture Frames

December 14, 2015 by Jessica 2 Comments

This post is sponsored by Cricut. See further down for full disclosure.

I find it really fun to create gifts and was looking forward to participating in a Secret DIY Santa Gift Exchange that is being hosted by Cricut. For each person who signed up, we were given the name of another blogger to come up with a special diy just for them that involved using our Cricut Explore machine. I created a gift package from a pie pan, personalized picture frames for the fridge, and a gift card holder for my giftee, Mariah of Giggles Galore.

I was thrilled when I saw her name because I know her blog and love it. I mean really, look at a few of these recent diy’s she’s shared on her blog lately.

Rustic + Glam Hot Cocoa Bar Cart; DIY Distressed Wooden Chalkboard; Chocolate Spider Cookies

Mariah shares a ton of stuff from recipes to parties and as she says on her blog she’s “an event stylist, creative consultant, blogger, social butterfly and multi-tasking mom.” Make sure to visit her blog to see a lot more creative goodness.

Winter Wonderland Party by Giggles Galore

Winter Onederland

Now for how to make your own pie pan package. It’s really simple to do and takes barely any time at all. You will need:

Pie Pan
Spray Paint (optional)
Cardstock (I used the Candy Shop pad)
Cricut Explore and Accessories
Glue (I used tacky glue, but hot glue would work too)

If you like, spray paint your pie pan. Just remember that you can’t put food in that isn’t packaged if you do paint.

Create a circle in Design Space that is the same size as the pie pan top. Make sure it is a cut file. Add any other design of choice on top that is in the written choice. You can find this specific file I created (for a 8 3/4″ pan size) here.

Use your Explore to cut and draw this file.

When it’s all done it will look like this.

The second part of this gift are these personalized picture frames. I found the refrigerator magnet frames at Target and knew they would be cute with some extra additions added to them.

To make your own you will need:

Frames
Vinyl (I used the Vinyl Sampler in Brights )
Cricut Explore and Accessories
Transfer Tape

You can find the three designs I used here: “you’re like, really pretty.”, confetti, and leaves. I simply used images in the Design Space library. That’s one of the great things about using these machines. I might not be able to create an image from scratch, but I can usually find pieces of what I want and put them together with what is already available. Once you have your design ready, use your Cricut to cut it out. I added the square cut around each design after I did the first one to make it easy to see what you needed. You can just peel off the unneeded area like above,

or you can cut out the area and then peel it. Whichever is easier for you. If anything has a hard time not staying put, use your tools to help hold things in place.

Next get your transfer tape.

Cut out a piece that is large enough to cover the area of the design. Peel off the backing and place the sticky side on top of the design. Rub over it with tool or something like an old gift card to make sure it really sticks to the transfer tape.

Grab a picture frame.

Place the transfer tape with vinyl right side up. Then place the frame on the side facing down that doesn’t have the magnet.

Rub over it again to help ensure it stays put when pulling off the paper.

Slowly pull off the paper and if anything doesn’t stick, just lay that area down flat again and rub over it again. If that doesn’t work, gently use the hook tool to help it unstick from the transfer tape onto the frame.

And I just had to add one more little thing so a little gift card to Target. I also created this little gift card holder using the Candy Shop card stock and this template. Then I glued the green to the blue for each side and then sewed both sides together leaving the one end open. It was such fun creating for a fellow craft blogger. I hope that this inspires you to create something special this month for a friend or family member.

I parterned with Cricut for this post and received compensation for doing so. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting businesses that support Happy Together.

Little Hearts Crochet Pattern

February 15, 2015 by Jessica 4 Comments

Any one else have yarn scraps galore? I do and I am trying to use them up, so I decided to create a little hearts crochet pattern to help in that process. I used all types of yarn and ,as you can see, that effects the size of the heart.

These are really easy to crank out and can be used to make garlands, use as present toppers, make hair accessories with, and the list goes on. So why not just sit down one day and make a bunch to have on hand for when needed? I do that with various projects and it always comes in handy when I need a quick little gift for something.

To make your own little hearts you will need:

Yarn (the thinner the yarn the smaller the heart)
Crochet Hook (the smaller the hook the smaller the heart; I used a size F)
Yarn Needle
Scissors
Printable Pattern here if needed

Terms: ch= chain; sl st = slip stitch; sc= single crochet; dc= double crochet; hdc= half double crochet

Here are the main pattern instructions all together and then below I match them up with the pictures for anyone who would like to see it step by step.

Ch. 4, sl st in 1st ch. to form ring
7 sc’s in ring, sl st in 1st sc
ch. 3, 2 dc’s in same stitch as sl st from step 2
hdc in next sc.
sc in next sc
sc, ch 3, and sc in next sc
sc in next sc
hdc in next sc
2 dc in next sc., ch. 3, sl st in same sc as the dc’s
Fasten off and weave loose ends

Tip: You can tighten the center of the heart by pulling on the beginning yarn strand if desired. I recommend doing any time after you have done the 7 sc’s in the ring. That way you have enough room to make those stitches first.

1. Ch 4