How to: dishwasher magnet

So, I don't like doing dishes. There I said it. However, they won't do themselves, so I needed to figure out a way to know when I needed to do them. Keith has a weird schedule this semester, and some notes I am already in bed by the time he gets in. He usually is the one to start the dishwasher and because we have such a small place and the dishwasher is right next to where we watch tv, he always starts it at night so it won't be loud while we are talking or catching up on our stories. Well, this is very nice of him but because I am usually in bed, I never know if the dishes are clean or dirty to load or unload it. So, today I decided to make us a little tool to help us out. The fantastic clean/dirty dishwasher magnet.

Here's how! 

This is what you need: a hot glue gun, scrabble letters spelling out clean & dirty (our game was missing pieces so I didn't feel too bad pulling out these letters), self sticking magnets and I got a wood base that I painted gray.

First step- position the words how you want them. Remember, they have to be facing opposite ways.

I marked where I wanted the word to end on the wood base for when I started gluing the letters.

Hot glue the letters

Make sure they line up with the line you drew

Continue until you have one word done. Turn over the wood base and start on the second word. I found it was easiest to work backwards.

After gluing letters, get off all the stringy hot glue.

Once dried, flip it over and peel of the sticker on the self-sticking magnet. I attached one on each corner.

 

It holds like a champ .

This is a pretty easy thing to make and it's so useful. I am not sure why I haven't made it before!

Happy crafting!

D.I.Y. Wire Wrapped Ring

March is National Craft Month! Did you know that? Megan shared the news to me this morning in a text message. So, I stopped procrastinating and put together a post that I hope you enjoy.

Keith and I visited the Art Institute in Chicago for my birthday. I fawned over ancient Greek pottery, became absorbed in Monet's paintings and devoured a delicious chai tea while overlooking their modern wing. It was the best. And this happened:

What.a.babe.

While, I was walking through an exhibit about Greek and Egypt and came across these two tiny wire wrapped ring of gold. I got really excited and pointed them out to Keith because I have been making these wire wrapped rings for a few years now and it was fun to see such early examples of them. So, I decided to try and make a tutorial on how to make them on this blog. It seems really complex, but it's not, I promise and soon you will be whipping them out in under three minutes.

 Okay, you ready? Let's go.

 You need:

• A bead
• Wiring, usually I get 18 gauge
• A mandrel (this you might need to order online)
• pliers (any craft store has)
• cuter (any craft store has)
• wire straightener (most craft store have this)

Cut a length of about two to three feet of wire. For a good rule of thumb if you are doing a full wrap, go three feet, only half or smaller go two. I usually just measure with arm spans. Once cut, straighten wire, by holding on end and running the straightener through the wire around three times. Try to get out all the kinks and this will make it a bit stronger too.





Move the bead to the center of the wire, and fold the wire gently to make a small indentation around the wire. Like so:

Place the bead on the mandrel. Make sure you place it on the size that you want to make it, then if you are wire wrapping only half, add half a size. If you are doing a full wrap, add one size. Once the bead is on the right notch on the mandrel, pull both sides of the
wire to the back end.

Wrap the wires around the back end so they cross over, like so.

Take one side of the wire and place over the bead, the other side goes under.

Take one of the ends and start to wrap around just the bead.

Once you have a good three or four loops around the bead, start with the other side of the wire and do the same amount.

Remove from the mandrel, and it should look like this.

Pick one side and start wrapping the wire around the base in small tight coils. You should be able to do this with your hand, but some gauges might need some pliers help. I always take the loose wire and wrap by going through the hole to the outside, like so:

Once you get one side, repeat with the second and try to make them even.

Clip off the extra wire and use your pliers to push the rough edges down so they will not hurt you when you wear them. Repeat on both sides.

There you have it!

I hope you enjoy making these. I love working with metal, so I find these rings easy and fun to make, and weirdly calming to make as well. I am sorry for the format of this post, I was trying out new things and I wasn't getting what I wanted, however I thought it looked okay. I promise I will figure out how to blog better one of these days. Until then, happy crafting!

How to: fabric button bracelet

You guys! Today we hit our 1000th blog view!!! How exciting! and what's more excited then that? TOMORROW, Megan is coming to visit me. So that means the two lovely ladies of this blog will be together again! (even if just for a weekend) I am so excited. A weekend of crafts and fun catching up. I cannot wait.

I have been really missing crafting and creating lately. I used to make so much jewelry, but lately I have found it hard to get started and really uninspired. But! This week I finally had a great idea for a different type of bracelet. I kind of loved how it turned out. I plan on making more and in bright colors. But I thought I would share this easy bracelet with you all. So, let's get started.

I know you are asking, "Oh man, Jenn that is cool. How can I make it?"
Well, it's easy!!!

You need:

• A fabric button kit, large size
• a chain bracelet blank 
• Strong glue
• fabric (not pictured)
• pliers (not pictured)

Use your pliers to remove the part of the button that is sticking out. I found it easiest to squeeze the inside part and pull out the loop from the top. Repeat with all 6 buttons in your button kit.

Cut the fabric you want to size given to you on the button kit box. My template was located on the back of the box. It will usually say where it is in the kit.

Then take the fabric and place it pattern down in the plastic mold. Place the rounded top of the button down next. Let the fabric bunch, and between the fabric bunches and the rounded part of the button lay the bottom of the button down.

Then push down hard.

Continue to you get all your buttons done. I did 6 since my bracelet had 12 blanks, so two blanks per button.

Then glue on each button. Again, 2 blanks per button.

Let it dry face down. It took a few hours.

Finished product!

Sorry, I am trying to figure out my camera. My photos are too dark, but I hope you get what I was trying to show.

Happy crafting!

Back with some burlap

I apologize for the lack of posts from me over the last two weeks, however I have been pretty busy. This happened:

I will post more with the bits and pieces later, and about our awesome honeymoon in Disneyworld, that was so much fun I never wanted to leave and tried to convince Keith and my best friend to become costumed characters down there with me so we could stay there forever.

Anyway, when I got married, I wanted to add some Jenn details (as seen in my last wedding post). So Keith and I found some awesome cobalt blue burlap at Hobby Lobby. One of our colors was that exact blue! So I bought 10 yards of it, with a gift card I received, and we decided to wait to figure out what to do with it. (Note, this is NOT the best course of action, however it was our only real impulse buy for the wedding) We decided to use the burlap under our vases and table numbers at the reception. Then came the problem of how to cut it with the least amount of frayed ends.

So here is a tutorial on how to cut burlap that worked for us: 

 Get your burlap and a nice, sharp pair of scissors. My mom used to be a seamstress, these are her babies. Usually, use a cutting board, however I was too busy watching tv while doing this, so I did it on the floor.

 First step, find a string at the measure you want it. Mine were about 16 inches wide. Pull on that single string with even force, but nothing too hard or you will break the string in half.

Keep going, you might need to use your other hand to guide the string out. But at the end, you want a void, where the string was and that needs to go all the way through. Do you see the void where I removed the string? It should look like that.

 Then cut the burlap in the void where the string is no longer. MAKE SURE you only cut in that line or you will get more fray then you want.

There you have it a clean cut. It wasn't hard, just time consuming when you have to do 19.

And here is the finished product! I think they turned out pretty darn nice. :)

Okay, so I hope this tutorial helps with your burlap needs.