Monday Made It

I love getting crafty.  It's just, there aren't 30 hours in a day, so my craftiness suffers.  I did squeeze in some fun projects this month (like sprucing up the look of this blog.  LOVE!)

First up, my Monday Made It for school.  A Make Up Poster.  In my March Five on the Fifth post, I shared the strategy Tammy at Forever in First has her kiddos use to resolve issues.  I thought we needed a nice poster for our make up spot.  Here you go.  Feel free to download.  It's an 11x17.  I'm a big fan of having these printed at Office Max on card stock for only $1.50.

On to the home Monday Made Its.
I'm a straight line sewer.  I can sew anything as long as it only needs to be sewn in a straight line.
I'm also a Pottery Barn fan.
I'm also a money fan.
Those last two don't go very well together, but I have found a way around it.  I love Pottery Barn pillows, but the price?  Not so much.

Their napkins aren't too expensive, and they're just the right size to make 18 inch pillow covers.  I make envelope covers for two reasons:
1.  You can reuse the pillow over and over.
2.  It's easier.

Napkin, meet pillow.
Images from Pottery Barn.
Here's how it goes:
3 napkins per pillow (mine were on clearance!)

Cut two of them down to 14 inches (don't worry about finishing that side, you'll just hide it)

Layer right sides together and pin.

Sew those straight lines.

Turn inside out.

Boom! Pillow cover.

I've also used plain fabric on the back because it's cheaper.  This is usually decided by whether or not the pattern I want is on clearance.  However, you have to cut it and finish one side.  More work, less money.  Some days it's worth it, some days it isn't.

I also had two projects I've been wanting to try out collide.  I've read about stuffing placemats (Thrifty Decor Chick.  Love her.)  I've read about using Citra Solv for fabric transfers.  And then I saw a cute placemat at Pottery Barn.  For $2.59.  The checkout lady and I both did a double take on that one.

Found a super fab graphic over at The Graphics Fairy.
Reversed it and printed it on my printer (it's got to be a laser jet, people, or it doesn't work).

I got my supplies all set up.

Citra Solved it using one of my girl's paintbrushes.  

Burnished it (that's a fancy craft word for rubbed on it with the back of a spoon) for about 2-3 minutes, removed my paper, and . . . .

Then I turned the placemat into a pillow.  I opened it up some.  Stuffed the heck out of it.  One whole bag of stuffing.  Who would believe?

Stitched that corner back up.  Nobody will notice.  Look how nice they look together.

See that nice lampshade in the background with no lamp?  There was a terrible, tragic glass lamp accident when my new couches were delivered.  I wish I could say it was the delivery guys' fault. Note to self: Before moving a couch, make sure the cord to your giant glass lamp is not wrapped around the leg.  Never a dull moment.

Now, go hit up your Pottery Barn's table linens department, and start jazzing up your couch!

I also read this totally freaky article on the chemicals in microwave popcorn bags.  I'm not a super hyperventilating we're all going to die kind of person, but this article did make me never want to eat microwave popcorn again.  I don't eat it often, but my kids do.

I had seen pins on Pinterest before about DIY microwave popcorn and decided to give it a try.  I'm super embarrassed about how easy and cheap it was. Dump kernals into a bag, fold, microwave for about 90 seconds, you've got a snack.  Even ignoring the cancer causing chemicals, I'd still think it was worth it to do this.  Observe:



Whew!  That's a whole lot of craftiness packed into one post.  Can't wait for summer!!!  Head on over to 4th Grade Frolics to see what everyone else has done.