Here is a fun idea for using scrabble tiles to make a bathroom sign that will make your guests chuckle!
A while ago, I found this jar of scrabble tiles at an antique store. I could probably find scrabble tiles for a cheaper price in an old board game box at a thrift store but this cool old jar reminded me of my mom’s canned peaches…so I bought it.
For this craft you will need:
- scrabble tiles
- blank canvas
- craft paint and paint brush
- hot glue gun
- glass stones or other decorative items
I used a 12×12 blank artist canvas from the dollar store. Nothing but the best! Tee hee.
It would be sensible to paint your canvas right away so that it’s got time to dry.
“Copenhagen Blue” craft paint, my brush, canvas, hot glue gun and glue are all dollar store supplies. I was really tempted to leave mine white so I didn’t paint it right away. But later I changed my mind. This meant that I needed to slide all the tiles off and paint it before I could glue it on.
Now for the fun part!
Spread out your tiles and see what sort of bathroom words you can find.
Pee, poo, aim and flush are my best toilet words. Shower, wash, bathe (or bath), soap, bubbles, shampoo, tub etc. for the bathtub words. Brush, floss, gargle, spit for the dental hygiene words.
After you have found the letters to your favorite words you need to make them line up with other words on your canvas or board. This can be a bit frustrating.
I tried some random craft supplies before I settled on the bright glass stones and blue paint.
Since I hadn’t painted it yet I needed to carefully remove the tiles and set them aside while I painted my canvas blue. It dries very quickly.
Then I recreated the words in the right order and using a hot glue gun, glue each peice into place.
And there you have the final product! I thought the blue represented water and the glass stones were bubbles.
…
How to Spray Paint Deck Chair Cushions
Have you had nasty stains on your deck chair cushions. Leaving them out in the rain is part of the problem, or people spilling their dinner, sticky fingers and the kids sitting on the chair immediately after applying spray on sunscreen…. Grrrr
So you could just buy new cushions but that is gonna cost ya! As a bit of a cheapskate I would like to get another 2 or 3 years out of these ones.
My solution is to spray paint…I tried 2 brands and let me tell you about how it turned out.
I’m comparing these 2 spray paints.
Rustoleum Painter’s Touch-Satin-Lagoon
and
Tulip Color Shot Outdoor Upholstery Spray-Peacock
The truth is the reason I tried 2 spray paints is not simply to experiment with different paints. I didn’t buy enough and ran out of my first bottle and couldn’t find another store that sells it. Fortunately, I found almost the identical color with another brand so I could finish the project.
So let’s get started!
So here is the beige cushions that I have started out with. We bought this loveseat from Canadian Tire 4 or 5 years ago…so it has really lasted well so far. In the back corner you can see the water damage….this is the good side.
This year somebody left a big ugly greasy sunscreen mark. Hello summer!
If you chose a spray paint closer to your current cushion colour you might get away with just purchasing one bottle of spray paint but since my cushion is beige and I’m turning it so dark I need several coats. Definitely get 2 bottles.
To start with I bought one can of Tulip Color Shot Outdoor Upholstery Spray- in Peacock blue from Hobby Lobby.
I love to spray paint things but this one is not even. This paint is supposed to make the fabric still feel flexible and nice to touch. But in my opinion, the way that it sprays is ineffective and wasteful.
This brand does not spray wide so you will get lines like the photo above. This is what the cushion looked like when my hubby came home and saw it. He wasn’t loving this idea. Pretty much it looked like I ruined it and now I’m all out of spray paint. One can covered the one side of the cushion and part of the second side.
I’m an hour drive away from Hobby Lobby so trying not to panic… I let it dry for several days while I searched to find a local store that sells it. No one near me sells it!
After checking 4 big stores I tried the little hardware store near to me. It has a great selection of spray paint. I took in my empty bottle and found a near perfect match with Rustoleum Painter’s Touch-Satin-Lagoon.
This spray paint has a wide even spray. It took a quick coat from this spray paint and it was nearly done. What a relief! An even and vibrant turquoise. After the paint dried it looked even better. It did need a little bit more coverage so it got another light coat of paint.
I would definitely recommend Rustoleum Painter’s Touch-Satin (Colour: Lagoon).
Looks fantastic right!?! Make sure you follow the instructions on your spray paint to see how long it would take to dry. I would make sure you have this project done several days before you have a backyard dinner party. You’ll want to make sure its fully dried. I have had no problems with the paint coming off on the pillows or anyone’s clothes. It’s really set and permanent.
Gus approves of the new colour but lovely daughter M feels its not as soft to sit on. True enough, but I don’t mind how it feels. It’s a great solution to the stains and you can stretch the life of your current cushions for a few more years. Plus you could choose from a wide variety of colours and tape off sections to make your own designs.
Have fun adding color to your yard with spray paint…Lets see if I have some other ideas for adding color to things….
Upcycled Frame with Toy Cars
Ready for a super easy craft? You might have all of the supplies at home. If you don’t you can easily pick them up at your local thrift store.
To make an upcycled toy car photo frame you will need:
- toy cars
- picture frame
- spray paint
- hot glue gun and several glue sticks
I wandered through a newly renovated Goodwill and that’s when I this idea hit me. Find a flat frame and glue something to it! Yeah! The frame I chose was really out of date with its flowers “Love” on the top. I thought it would be the perfect size to fit a parking lot of cars.
Then I went to bulk toy area and looked at the bags of cars! I chose 2 bags of cars for $3.00 each.
I brought everything home and admired it all….then located some left over spray paint in my painting stash. You don’t need much-so a bottle of spray paint left over from another project is perfect. I had a bright red Rustolium Painter’s Touch called “apple red”.
Take the backing and glass off of the frame and wipe it down with a damp cloth.
Shake up your can of spray paint and lay down some cardboard or news paper. Always spray paint outdoors on a day where there is barely any breeze.
Follow the instructions on your paint as to when to do a second coat. The pattern on this frame wanted multiple coats. It is black on the sides and back so I just spray painted the front. It wasn’t perfectly covered with 2 coats but since we are covering it with cars I didn’t bother with a third coat.
Allow it to fully dry before you begin the next step. I let it dry overnight. You can use that time to wipe down your model cars if they are dusty or sticky.
Now the fun part!
Arrange all the cars around the frame. I used 26 cars in total and would you believe my goodwill bags had 27. If your frame was narrower you could have them hood to bumper around the perimeter of the frame…like a traffic jam. This wide frame was a perfect for my parking lot.
Watch for variety in color as you place the cars around the frame.
Next, you are ready to glue the toy cars onto the frame. Place a dot of hot glue on each wheel. These will be part of the car making contact with the frame.
Put the car back in its place and press firmly. After attaching the toy cars and trucks all around the frame check each one again to make sure that they are secure.
Since this frame will be sitting on a shelf I made sure that the bottom of the cars lined up closely on the bottom with no overhang. Otherwise it could be wobbly. Also, I should mention, that the frame is actually really heavy with 26 cars on it. Put it in a place where it won’t get knocked and fall on a toddler.
That is all there is to this project! Have fun!
Scrabble Tiles Gift Idea for Kids
I have a sick kiddo at home (head cold, sneezy, wheezy) and she wants to use my craft supplies to make a gift for daddy’s desk at work. So here is what she came up with a love letter in Scrabble Tiles to Daddy and an old photo of herself.
Where can you get Scrabble tiles? From the board game of course silly! Or from a thrift store or online.
The other day I found myself parked next to an antique store I didn’t know existed. So I went in and found a gazillion things I would love to have and upcycle. The store was AMAZING! One of the items that I bought was a cool old mason jar filled with scrabble tiles.
My sick little darling sorted out the letters into piles while I went rummaging for supplies.
You will need:
- scrabble tiles
- a piece of wood, picture frame or canvas
- white glue-for the photo (or to make it temporary use “sticky tack”)
- hot glue gun-for the tiles
- hanging hook (optional)
I have scraps of wood and often will stain or varnish a few extra pieces in case I want to make a wooden plaque in a hurry. We chose out of scrap options a piece approximately 9 1/2 by 5 1/2. It was already stained with “Forest” Behr Semi-Transparent stain-which has a subtle green tinge to it.
Another option would be to use a blank canvas from the dollar store. You could paint with inexpensive craft paint in his favorite color or leave it white.
First she wrote out this…awe Mommy is at the top of the list!
I love that she is not bothered that 3 of her M’s are upside down W’s. When you see the letters are crooked its tempting to want to straighten them out but resist! It’s a child’s gift and adds character to the final product.
Arrange the letters and photo to your liking. Hot glue your scrabble letters to the wooden board.
Have your child put a thin coat of glue on the back of the photo. Or if you want to be able to take the photo off later and replace it you could use sticky tack instead!
Would you look at those gorgeous eyes! This gift will melt his heart!
Crafts Using Burlap and Buttons – Easy Project that Looks Great!
Upcycle Denim – Decorative Baskets made from Jeans
I’ve been working on another denim upcycle. If you have some blue jeans to cut up for an upcycle, you can turn it into a basket for your desk or craft area.
You will need:
- old jeans (I used kids jeans for a narrow basket)
- scissors
- trim
- sewing machine (or needle and thread)
First of all, I cut the jeans off around 7 inches from the bottom. I don’t mind the rough bottoms as long as the jeans are clean before you start. I think the frayed bottoms look good too!
Turn the piece inside out. Sew straight across the bottom 1/2 inch or 1 cm from the cut edge. You could hand sew this if you don’t have a sewing machine.
Now flatten the bottom and pin 1 inch (2.5 cms) from each corner. This will make your basket more boxy at the bottom and easier to stand up.
Stitch across the line.
Cut off the triangles on the outside of your last stitch.
Turn the basket inside out.
The square corners that you just created will help it to stand up. You can roll over the edge once or twice.
So you can stop there and fill up your baskets with small toys, pens, sewing items, nail polish etc….or…add some garnishes.
I pinned a bow on one but decided to add more color…. I added a felt flower left over from coffee cup warmers (see the link below).
Then I thought of some trim…maybe with some pompoms. The kind sold in the drapery part of the fabric store. Yes!
The solid white and pink trims cost approx. $2 per yard but the colourful larger trim was $8.99 per yard. Ouch! Fortunately it was on sale for 50% off so I got a yard.
Turn the basket inside out to pin the trim in place.
Before sewing, turn the basket right side out again to check out how it will look.
Here is my colorful pompoms too. They make me so happy!
Take it slow while you are sewing on the trim. The pompoms keep trying to get in the way.
There you have it!
I used children’s jeans so that the basket would be small to hold a bunch of nail polish, sewing supplies, Lego or pens. If you use adult jeans and the area higher on the pant leg you could use it to hold magazines Fill the bin with craft supplies, bigger toys, or whatever things need gathering up to keep your place tidy!
Below I have put some more upcycle projects that I posted in the past year. Have a look!
Make a Driftwood Sign – Home
I’m trying to be patient for spring to come but its just early March and it snowed all day….sigh.
Fortunately, I am hoarding craft supplies…including driftwood from trips to the shores last year. So let’s put it together for another rustic, nature craft.
Gather your supplies.
You will need:
- Driftwood
- Wood Slice or Stones
- Wood Scrap
- Wood Stain
- Rag and Gloves
- Eye Hooks
- Twine
Start by finding a scrap piece of lumber that will match the size of your driftwood. Lay out your pieces of driftwood to arrange them and make sure they fit! My board is 9 x 18 inches (23 x 46 cms) and its a pretty good match for my driftwood pieces.
As always, I used my little pot of Miniwax Jacobean stain. I love this dark shade.
Apply with a rag or brush in the directions of the grain. Allow the wood to dry according to the instructions. My stain can says to wait 8 hours before applying a clear polyurethane. I didn’t add a clear coat because I like the mat finish.
Here I am playing with the driftwood while the stain dries. I’m so impatient.
Now that its dry you should decide on how your going to hang the sign up.
Hang it like a picture?
Or like a sign with screw eyes and a bit of twine or jute rope? I’ve used the above options on several projects.
Now the stain is dry and I can pull it all together. I found some blue glass stones? Hmmmm. Tempting to use them but I wanted to have this look natural.
I also like the wood slice for the “O”. That is natural.
But after deliberations, I settled on small pebbles in the shape of a heart.
You can use your hot glue gun to attach the pieces to the wood. I might put this on the craft sale table at work so I used E6000 glue which is a very stinky permanent adhesive glue that will not pop off like hot glue can when it gets moved. Crack a window or work in your garage…it’s pretty strong smelling stuff.
And that is all there is to it!
Here are some other similar projects I have posted you might like….
Yarn Wrapped Sticks – Easy Spring Craft
Want to add some spring colours to your home? Why not try wrapping yarn around some sticks?
Part of my inspiration:
Have you heard of yarn bombing? If you haven’t you really should google it. It’s hilariously amazing! People are knitting or crocheting a sort of non permanent graffiti. You might find a park bench, bike, phone booth or a tree that is literally wearing a perfectly fitting, bright coloured sweater! Sometimes the crafter that does it wants to make a point and sometimes it just adding color to something grey and sterile like a light post.
https://algarveblog.net/2014/05/05/yarn-bombing-in-portimao/
Here is just one cheery photo so you can see what I mean!
Anyhoo the photos people have posted make me so happy but I can’t knit or crochet ask my friends Lana and Gen who just attempted to teach me how-they were patient but it didn’t take I’m afraid. Someday I will give it another try but for now here is my happy alternative.
It’s so easy and cheerful you are going to love this craft idea!
You will need:
- sticks
- yarn
- hot glue (optional)
- scissors
- vase
If you love your hot glue gun (as much as I do) start by adding a dab of glue to secure the end of the yarn.
If you don’t want to use hot glue then just tie a loop around the end of the stick and tuck the tail in-as you wind the yarn around the stick.
I really love the yarn that transitions the colours as you go. Its very smooth looking and only need to deal with the end at the beginning and the end.
If you don’t have yarn on hand that transitions you can use several colors and just change them as you get an inch down the branch.
When you are done just snip the stray ends.
When you get to a split in the twig’s branches continue down one side and then go back to complete the other stems.
Using drift wood is even easier to manage.
This took my 11 year old daughter and I an hour to do all of the sticks in the vase. We both enjoyed doing this. It was kind of an easy, soothing craft. It made a great mother daughter moment to stop and talk about things on our minds.
The results are very cheery decorative sticks with springtime colors that will go on a shelf or mantle.
Have a look at the other crafts linked below. I seem to enjoy the stick/twig projects. Mostly because they are free-out of the garden and something always need trimming.
Happy crafting!
Rose Gold Spray Painted Stone Heart Gift Idea
Rose Gold Spray Painted Stone Heart Gift Idea!
Love is in the air this week! We had a family wedding yesterday and it’s inspired another heart gift.
You may recall from previous posts that I have stack of cut wood scraps that I keep making into little plaques. Well, here is another one. This is so easy we could almost turn it into a kids gift if we used craft metallic paints instead of spray paint and white glue instead of the glue gun.
You will need:
- Krylon Foil Metalic Copper Spray Paint
- Pebbles
- Scrap of wood approx. 6 x 8 inches
- Dark wood stain and Rag
- Hot glue gun
- Picture hanger or eye screws and rope (optional)
I picked up this pink gold Krylon paint from Hobby Lobby for $5.99. Rose Gold is such a pretty color. I love shoes and purses and cell phone covers in this color.
Spray paint the stones with pink metallic paint, allow to dry for 30 minutes and then check to make sure the sides are covered. Reapply to areas if needed.
While the pebble are drying, grab a rag and your dark wood stain. I used Minwax Jacobean. If you have walnut on hand it will have a similar impact.
Before you go further you should consider if you want to hang this on a wall or just lean it on a shelf. If you decide to hang it you should put the hangers on now.
This option requires hammering tiny little nails into the back of the wood. Then it can hang on a nail.
For a rustic looking alternative you could screw eye hooks into the top and hang it up by a rope.
Lay out your pebbles in a heart shape and get your glue gun.
Using your hot glue gun, secure each pebble in place in a heart shape. That is all there is to it!
Scroll down to see some of my other wood and pebble art projects….
Burlap and Ribbons Heart Decorations
Love is in the air this week! There is a family wedding soon so its time for a beautiful, rustic, heart shaped craft with ribbons and lace!
This pretty little decoration uses up scraps of fabric and trims you already have.
You will need:
- scraps of fabric (I used a piece of drop cloth-it looks like linen)
- paper and pencil
- burlap
- ribbon
- lace
- pretty little buttons
- stuffing
- sewing machine
- scissors and pins
- wire and pliers to hang it up (use string or ribbon if you don’t have wire)
Use a piece of paper to decide what size of heart you would like. Cut the paper into a square. Fold it in half and draw a half heart. Open the page and pin it to your fabric.
Lay out the ribbons and trims on your heart shaped fabric. My beige fabric looks like linen but its a scrap of a drop cloth from tote bags I have made in the past.
Using a sewing machine, sew each piece of trim, lace or ribbon into place.
The trims look really nice crisscrossing each other. Try different random pieces. Burlap adds rustic texture to the project.
Add buttons and bows to the project. Remember not to place them too close to the edge because you need to sew around the edges.
Add 2 tiny loops of ribbon to the top edge and sew a few stiches to keep them in place.
Pin the two heart shaped pieces of fabric together with right sides facing inwards. Sew around the edge leaving a 1 1/2 inch gap opening so you can later turn it inside out.
At the top of the heart snip a tiny cut and a few snips around the rounded parts of the top of the heart. Do not cut through the stitched areas.
Open the gap and pull the fabric through the hole to turn it inside out.
Add stuffing.
Fold over the edges at the opening, pin in place and hand sew the opening closed.
I love wire crafts so I had lots of left overs! For this project I used 14 gauge wire from the hardware store. Use big pliers to cut the wire approx. 8 inches long. Fold the wire in half. (if you don’t want to use wire just use ribbon or twine to hang it)
Using round plyers twist the ends into a bit of a spiral.
Hook the ribbon loop around the curled ends of the wire.
These turned out so pretty!
In the past year I’ve done a few heart shaped gifts and projects. Have a look below!
Make a Jewelry Display Stand- Easy Diy
How to Make an Wooden Jewelry Display
Here is an inexpensive solution for storing or displaying your jewelry. Make this wooden bracelet stand for either home or your craft sale display table or booth. As I have mentioned many times before…at the office where I work we have a craft table. Loads of my blog crafts or my daughter’s crafts end up on this table. When my eldest daughter and I were into making memory wire bracelets we needed a way to display them. They turned out great! Here is a link to that post!
If you have a few minutes and a few dollars you can make this fast and easy. Not surprisingly, I had all the supplies on hand from left over scraps from older projects. So this didn’t cost me a penny! (Fun fact…Canada doesn’t use pennies anymore..does that mean we can’t use the old cliches? Penny for your thoughts etc.)
You will need:
- a board 5 1/2 inches by 10 inches (approx. size you can use a scrap that is close to this)
- 3/4 inch dowel (cut to 10 inches long)
- 1 inch dowel (cut a piece 10 inches and another 13 inches long)
- sandpaper
- 1 1/2 deck screw
- drill (to pre-drill the holes)
- 3/4 inch drill bit
- wood stain and rag (optional)
- sheet of cork for the base (optional)
Choose which side of the board is going to be facing upwards. Smooth the splintered ends with sand paper.
On the bottom side, measure the centre of the wood length-wise and width-wise.
Mark an X in the centre.
I predrilled the screw in a bit and set it aside for a moment.
Now we need to get the big drill bit out and drill the holes in the dowel that will be vertical.
This piece of dowel was an old curtain rod. I just used a handsaw to cut this down to 10 inches long
Drill the first hole about an inch from the top. I started by using a small drill bit to start the hole and then switched to the large drill bit to do the rest. Test it out to see if your dowel will slide in. If its snug twist it a bit. If it doesn’t go in drill the hole again moving the drill bit in and out to shave a bit more off the edges. Remember to sand off the slivery bits the drilling causes.
Drill the second hole about 4 or 5 inches from the top one. Before you drill you could use a bracelet to see if that looks like the right distance to have the next dowel added.
Now you can put it all together or you could stain it first while its all apart.
For some reason I put it together first and stained it after.
Oh! I should mention that I predrilled a hole in the bottom of the dowel so it would drill easily to the base.
Using a drill or a screwdriver attach the base to the upright dowel. Easy as pie!
You could leave it plain or stain the wood. I used Minwax stain “Jacobean” to finish mine.
Once the project is all together and the stain is dry you may want to put cork on the bottom side so it slides nicely on your furniture.
Have fun creating something new with your scraps of wood and dowel. Below are a few of my other projects using scrap wood.
Thanks for stopping by!
