Heat Transfer Pillows

Today is the last day to enter the awesome giveaway from Silhouette -- and to celebrate I'm going to be showing you one last project I did with their fantastic product.  

I've been wanting some Christmas-y (yes....Christmas....I know kind of early, but I couldn't help myself!) pillows for out on our bench in the entry way.  Usually, I have these pillows there:

But I LOVE decorating the house for the different seasons and some pillows seemed like they were just the thing to add to our entryway. 

I had some pillows left over from our last house that weren't really being used, so I decided to use them as my Christmas pillows.  I found a remnant piece of fabric at Joanne's for $2.50-ish.  It was a lovely grey piece of fabric and it had enough for my two pillows I was recovering. And then I this packet of red buttons at an Antique store I visited this weekend for $2.00.  That means these two pillows only cost me $4.50 -- I'll take it!!

I took my heat transfer material from Silhouette and cut out some white, bare, branches.  I decided it was WAY too much work to trace out some branches I found and then cut around everything; so I ended up drawing out my own branches and cutting them with my scissors.  They were supposed to look kind of like these branches I found online:

After my pillows were sewed together; I ironed the heat transfer on.  (You can see my exact instructions for ironing the heat transfer on here).  

Once the branches were on the pillows, it was time to put the buttons on.

I know I probably should have sewed these buttons on  -- but that's really a LOT of sewing, so I decided to glue them on.  I placed them all out on the fabric first; then I went to town gluing those little buttons down.

Then I put the pillows back into the cases and sewed the bottom edge.  

And now my entry is kind of ready for Christmas!  Don't worry -- I'll put these away until I get all the Christmas decor out. :)

Don't forget -- you can still enter the Silhouette Product giveaway here -- or you can order your own products with the special code just for Hand Me Down House readers until 11/13/2010:  MEDOWN

 

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Silhouette Heat Transfer Napkins

So I've been just dying to use my new Silhouette products -- and I was SO excited that I couldn't decide what to use first!  :)  I finally settled on trying out their White Heat Transfer Material.   

I've been busy decking our house out in fall and Thanksgiving decor and I figured there couldn't be a better use of my new goodies from Silhouette than to use them for just that.   And at the top of my list was some cute cloth napkins.

I found these napkins at Kohl's last weekend while they were having a sale:

I decided I wanted to have a white silhouette of a birdie on my napkins -- even though I'm not a lover of real birds -- I still like the non-threatening-so-far-from-real-bird silhouettes. :)

I found this one somewhere online:

I printed out my bird silhouette on regular paper and cut it out.  Then I traced the shape of the bird onto my Smooth Heat Transfer Material from Silhouette.

Once I had it traced out I grabbed my scissors and cut out my silhouette that was on the heat transfer material.

Ooh -- it's SO close to getting on my napkins! :)  I peeled the clear plastic backing off of the heat transfer material and placed the back of the heat transfer onto my napkins.

Then I put a dishtowel over the top and ironed it on for 45 seconds on the cotton setting.  

Believe me -- this kind of ironing is actually fun. :)

That's it -- I repeated this for all my napkins -- and I was done!  

What do you think?

Don't worry -- we don't actually eat like this -- but it's fun to see in case we did!  And I'm sure the utensils and dishes aren't in their "proper" place either :)

Isn't this stuff just awesome??  And the best part is  you can win your own here!

And don't forget if you want to buy your own or buy different colors of the heat transfer material;  Silhouette has an awesome promotion just for The Hand Me Down House readers until November 13th:

**Silhouette is also offering 25% off on all their accessories with the code: MEDOWN

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Things Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

No-Sew Painted Drapes (and a teaser)

So today I wanted to show you a "non-sewer" solution to drapes.  I'm really not a sewer.  I REALLY want to be -- but I'm too nervous to get my machine out and use it.  I recently had to bring my little sewing machine in for repairs because apparently I have a "death grip" on my fabric when I feed it through.  Oops.  

Anyhow, since I've had it repaired I just can't bring myself to get it out again.  I had every intention of sewing the drapes for our guest room, but in the end, my fear won.  I have no problem using a saw, air nailer or power tools -- but my sewing machine is just one of those things I haven't learned yet.  Someday, my bloggy friends.....someday.  :)

So enough about my "non-sewer" ranting, right!?!  :)  The point was I found what I think is a REALLY cute way to get around sewing drapes.

I started out by measuring my window so I knew how much fabric I needed.   My windows aren't ginormous like some of the new-house windows out there, so I didn't need too much fabric.

Next I went out and picked up my materials:

Two Flat Twin Bed Sheets: $7.19 each

Fabric Paint: $2.49

Stencil: $2.99

Stencil Brushes: $.99

TOTAL: $13.66

You'll also need drapery hardware too. I used a leftover rod from our our old house.....one instance where my pack-rat instincts came in handy. :)

I washed and ironed my sheets and laid them out on our kitchen island.  I taped the edges of the sheet to the island so that they didn't move and slide around while I was stenciling.  I decided to stencil a line of this pattern across each panel.  

I used the "top" of each sheet as the bottom of my drape since it's usually a little bit more decorative.  I started about a foot and half up with the stencil -- but I think I would've liked it better if the pattern was a little closer to the ground.

I taped down the stencil and stippled the white paint onto the sheet.  When you pull the stencil up, it should look like this:

 From there I just continued to do a pattern across the fabric until I reached the end.  I let it dry, and then I went back and did a stencil in between all of the first ones.  I tilted the stencil to be diagonal -- so it will look like this:

 Once you're done with all the "in between" stencils, you'll have a pattern like this:

Now it's time for the top of the drape.  I folded the top six inches over the back of the drape and ironed it so there is a crease.  I then took hem tape along the edge to hold the "seam" in place.  Then you can slide the drapery hardware into the little pocket you created.

Sorry for the not so great pictures -- the foot of our guest bed is not too far from the window and it makes it kinda difficult to get a good shot. :)

BUT, I have to say for a new sew drape -- I'm pretty happy with the result.

And now for the teaser..... 

Did you see that fantastic honey-comb shade?!?!  I'm SO in love with it -- seriously.   It's a new Redi Shade.  And it is FANTASTIC!  Next time I have to get shades -- Redi Shade is my first stop (no, they are not paying me say that -- I'm completely serious).

So, be sure to come back tomorrow and I'll tell you all about the shade and maybe.........we'll just have give one away too. :)

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Check out the Deal of the Day on Groupon!

"Built-In" Shelves

I'm linking this up to Sandra's Buildher's Party today: (you should join in the fun too!!)

On Monday you all got to see my "new" bathroom (thank you all for your beyond-sweet comments -- I love reading them!!).

And as I promised, today I'm going to show you how I did my built in shelves and bench.  

I initially was just going to do some shelves, but then I decided a bench might be kind of cool, too.  And I don't know about you, but I am constantly seeking out new storage solutions and trying to find the best and most organized ways to store all the things we keep around the house.  That's why I knew I wanted to add storage underneath the bench too.  At first I thought a place for baskets would be the best solution but I've been getting a little to "baskety" lately with my decor, so I opted for a hinged bench seat -- which, as it turns out, I L-O-V-E.

So here we are at the pre-shelf stage.  You'll notice that I had already removed the trim that was in my little shelf "nook." 

I then measured my space:  

The width of the area was the length I needed to cut the boards I used for the top of the shelves. 

The depth of the shelves is entirely up to you.  I used a 1x12 board, so my shelves are a foot deep.  

Knowing that my shelves will be 12" deep, I cut a 1x2 board to be 12", which will be the shelf "brace."  

Above you can see my "braces" that I used for the shelves.  The walls are primed at this point....and because I wanted to save some time, I splurged for primed MDF for my braces -- just makes life easier. :)  You'll want to make sure each board is level with it's "partner" as well.  I used my the hubby's trusty air nailer and nailed them to the walls:

Next it was time to add my shelf tops.  I'm going to warn you; our "nook" is not completely square, so the back is slighly narrower than the front of the area, so you will see there are gaps -- don't worry, we'll get them all filled in. :)

Can you see those gaps on the sides I was talking about?  Annoying -- but it's any easy fix, and I'll guess that most houses have some area that isn't completely "square" -- so it's good to know these tricks.  I nailed the tops to the braces as well.

Next step is to add my 3" trim.  I chose 3" trim because I needed to make sure that the trim covered the braces AND the top of the board.  So, if my board is 1" (actually it's 3/4") and I used a 2" brace, I was going to need a 3" piece of trim or bigger.

I attached the trim with my air nailer as well -- can you see the nail holes to prove it?  Now it's time to paint!  I taped off my shelf area at the end of my shelves -- I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do a "built in" look, so you decide where you want the white to start and end.

Here's what the underneath of your shelves should look like:

 Alright, now it's time to fill in those gaps!  I used some silicone caulk in bright white that we had around the house.  Then I put my dad-taught caulking skills to work.  Although my dad's the pro at this, I think I did a pretty good job.  I ran a bead of caulk along the gap and then took a damp paper towel and lightly wiped away the excess.  I ran the paper towel across a few times in order to get all the extra caulk out and make sure my seal was smooth.  I think it's better to go over it a few times than to gouge out a bunch of caulk and have to start over. I did this to all my shelves so they look like this:

Much better, right?!?  Now that the shelves are done, here's the low down on that upholstered bench.  For my bench I used 1x3" boards for the "legs", or supports for the seat.  I decided to make my bench  26" high, so I cut eight 26" long pieces.  And as you can see in the picture below, I placed the boards in an "L" shaped in the corners so that they hold up the seat of the bench.  I used the nailer to attach these to the walls and to each other on the front.  I also laid a piece of 1x3" board across the bottom so that I had a place to attach my hinges. (Sorry no pictures of that!!)

I then cut a 1" thick piece of plywood to fit on the top.  You want it to rest on all the posts, so measure carefully.  I attached 2" foam to the top and then I covered it with my fabric.  I found my foam and fabric at a fabric overstock outlet -- which is totally the way to go if you have one near you.  

Then I used just basic hinges and attached the bottom of the board for the seat to the top of the 1x3" board I laid across the top.

I glued a white-painted piece of plywood behind the two boards on the front to make the "face" of my bench.  You can also see above that I cut the original trim and butted it up to the bench I made.

So the tools and materials you will need for this project are as follows:

Air Nailer and 1 1/2" nails
White Silicone Caulk
Miter Saw
Upholstry Stapler
Tape Measure

1 x 2" board for shelf braces
1 x 12" board for shelf tops
1 x 3" board for "legs" of bench and back hing support
Plywood for bench top and bench face

3" Decorative Trim
Hinges
Fabric
Foam for bench
Paint and Primer

For a cost breakdown, go here.

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming