Refrigerator Magnets: Fabric and Glass

I really don't like having clutter on the refrigerator,

but somethings are just too cute not to display.

 Still It drives me nuts to have clusters of random old magnets that fall off the fridge when you close the door. (You know the kind I'm talking about, the flimsy business card ones that won't hold up even one small piece of paper. ugh!)

To fix this I thought it would be fun to make cute magnets that are nice and strong.

And coordinate with my kitchen!! :)

I thought two kinds of coordinating magnets would do for now. So I'll show you how to make glass and cloth magnets.

Supplies:

- Strong magnets
-Craft glass discs 

- Some fun fabric

- glue, I use Goop
- Mod Podge, and sponge brush
- Button cover kit from Dritz
- Scissors

First cut out your fabric. For the button covers use the circle pattern they provide (but go a little bigger) and for the glass cut it to be just inside the glass circle.

For the glass magnets, start by Mod Podging the flat-er side and putting the fabric on it wrong side out. Then put another layer of Mod Podge on.

To make the fabric covered buttons just follow the instructions on the back of the box, or use this step by step picture guide.

To make the fabric buttons into magnets you will have to remove the metal tab, I used pliers and just yanked it out. Be careful not to undo the button though.

Next glue on the magnets. (For the glass one wait until the Mod Podge is completely dry before you do any gluing). I use Goop because most glues will become hot from the magnetic reaction, melt and come apart, but Goop wont.

There.... now we add our little ones treasured works of art. And with strong magnets they wont fall off when you close the refrigerator door! So cute too!!

Organizing Boxes

Organization is the key to a simple life. 
I love to organize, I get a wired thrill from it.

I know it’s silly but I just get a kick out of staking things in order or sorting by size! For anyone who feels the same this project is sure to make you smile. 


I made some boxes to organize some of my craft items (ribbon, extra fabric, stamps, etc.).

Supplies:

~ Left over card board from random boxes

(I had some really good thick stuff from something we had shipped,

the thicker the better.)

~Exacto knife or something to cut the cardboard with

(I wouldn’t recommend using scissors)

~ Two 2/5th yard cuts cotton fabric in two different colors

~ Ribbon, if you don’t have a sewing machine,

if you do you can use the scrap fabric.

~ Hot glue and gun

~ Paint most kind or color will work

(I used some left over from a dresses I painted)

First you will want to cut out the cardboard. I wanted four 12”x13”x13” boxes so I cut: 8- 12”x13” squares for the front and back, 8- 13”x13” squares for the sides, and 4- 11 1/2” x 12 1/2” for the bottoms.

(this is only 4 of the squares- the ones I used first)

Then I took two sides (the 13”x13” pieces) and glued it to a bottom piece so the sides are sitting on top of the bottom.

Next I glued a back piece on and set the front piece aside. I did this three more times for all the rest of the boxes.

Then I cut the fabric into four 14”x15” squares and pressed them flat.

Then I painted one side of all the front pieces. And the inside and out of the glued together boxes.

Next I hot glued the fabric to the front square (on the non painted side). I did this one side at a time, wrapping the fabric around the edge to the painted side then gluing it down. Then I did the opposite side stretching the fabric tight, wrapping it and gluing. I repeated this with all the front pieces.

If you are using ribbon you can skip the next two steps. To make the handle I cut a 9” by 1 1/2” strip two in each color. I folded it in half and each end down 1/4th inch and pressed it.

Then I folded it right sides together and stitched it leaving the folded ends open. Turn that right side out, press it, and there’s your handle.

To attach the handle I measured 4 inches in the center of the box and marked it. (I wanted my handle to be 4 inches long.) Then I cut a slit with the exacto knife a little more then one inch long to put the handle into.

Getting the handle into the slit was tricky after a bunch of other attempts I used my ruler to push the handle through the slit then I pulled it through to the other side.

Then I hot glued the handle down on the other side.

Lastly I glued the front fabric covered square onto the rest.

Now I have somewhere nice to store my extra craft items! Ahhhhhhh organizing and it sure dose feel good to use materials I was going to just throw away.

It doesn’t look like garbage now. :)

   

Onesie Repurpose: Part 2 The Skirt

So this is the second half of my last post where I made the onesie (found here). Now I'm making a Skirt and Hair Flower.

For this half I used the rest of the cotton flannel, the tulle, and 1/6 of a yard of white cotton. You will also need some elastic, mine was 1/2 inch thick.

I started with about 34" x 8" piece of cotton flannel, and I sewed the ends together so I had a long circle.

Next I folded down the top an inch, pressed it, folded it another inch and pressed it again to make the waistband. Then I stitched it, leaving about a one inch gap in the stitching for the elastic to go in. For the hem I double folded it up a 1/2 inch.

To make the lining I took the white cotton and cut it so it was the same length (34") and width, minus the waistband (5"), as the flannel piece. Then I folded down the top and the bottom 1/2 inch just once. For the tulle, I cut a piece 3" by double the length of the lining fabric (68"). Next I gathered the tulle and sewed it to the lining 1 inch above the bottom. Then I stitched the ends together making a long circle.

To attach the lining to the skirt I placed the lining on the flannel wrong sides together and sewed over the top of the existing stitch for the waistband.

(Make sure to leave the hole on the waistband for the elastic open. I forgot and had to back-stitch and unpick it to get the elastic in. Oops)

To thread the elastic through the waistband I used a safety pin, this just makes it easier for me. Then I stitched the elastic together and sewed up the hole.

A tiny cute skirt- maybe I'll make one of these for myself :)

I wanted to have something to put in her hair (or rather on her head) so I used one of the great tutorials from my favorite craft site Make it and Love it found here (at the bottom).

I added the beads and a safety pin on the back to attach it to a headband like in this tutorial!

Onesie Repurpose: Part 1 The Onesie

I hate throwing away good clothes because it has a stain. So I like to re-purpose (a nicer way to say re-use) them as much as I can. I had a bunch of scraps and some old clothes so I put them all together to make a new cute outfit.

The pieces I used where an old stained onesie, a too big shirt, some tulle, and about 1/4 yard of cotton flannel.

I cut the ruffles off the shirt, and a rectangle from the arm big enough to cover the stain and the writing on the front of the onesie.

These are all the pieces that I cut from the old shirt. The ones on the right for the front and on the left for the bum.

Then I cut some of the patterns from the flannel piece, just a few some flowers and leaves.

Next I took the flowers and sewed them onto the rectangle piece.

Then I sewed it onto the onesie along with two of the ruffles.

To make the bum cute I put the other ruffles on the back placing them to get smaller as you go down in an inverted pyramid shape. I sewed it starting at the bottom one.

On the top one I sewed it so the stitching was on the underside of the ruffle.

This is what the bum looked like when I was done.

Closet Extenders

We never seem to have enough closet space!

And my little one has too many cute dresses. So I decided to make more room in her closet by adding another bar for clothes.


Little girl dresses aren't that long so you can fit two levels of hanging clothes in a standard size closet (this would work for adult shirts as well).

Because Everyone could use more closet space!

I'm sharing this fix with you!!!

Supplies:

-A dowel rod about an inch and a half thick

-Grosgrain ribbon (I used less then one spool)

- Sewing machine or hand sewing items

-Scissors 

To get started I measured how long I wanted my next bar to hang and added 6 inches to that length for the over lap. Then I measured and cut two strands of ribbon.

Next I wrapped the end of the ribbon around the current closet poll leaving 3 inches of over lap and marked the circumference of the poll with a pin. (Make sure the pin is close to the poll to keep the ribbon from sliding around once the weight of the clothes is included.) I did this with the other ribbon also, then at the other end of both ribbons, measuring around my dowel rod and pinning.

Then I folded the end of the ribbon under an inch and sewed it in place with several stitches.

I Sewed both ends starting at the first pin and making sure it still fit. (Getting it on the rod is a little tricky, I used a pin to pull it over the edge.) 

Fit it around each edge of both rods and you have your new bar for clothes! Yeah! I think I could even fit some more cute little dresses. Better get sewing :)

With all the cute little dresses on it.