DIY Kitchen Art

So I was dying to put up something fun on our white kitchen walls. To kill some dead space when we first moved in, I threw up our coffee clock and my calendar on some nails that were left by the previous tenants. While I was wondering around on Pinterest, I stumbled upon this cute giraffe DIY art. Then I realized that I could do the same thing, but make it kitchen-themed! Hooray! To be honest, I didn't really read her tutorial. All I read was "silhouette" and I took it from there!

So I Googled "kitchen silhouettes" and found some free clipart that I downloaded. I decided to stick with the things we love most--coffee and wine. I enlarged the images in Publisher, and printed out just the outline (to save ink). Then I went to Wal-Mart and bought 4 cheap 8X10 frames and scrap book paper.

I taped my silhouette cut outs onto the patterned scrapbook paper I wanted to use, and cut out the shape. Then I taped the cutout to my backing paper (the silver is foil paper) and threw it in the frame! Simple! The hardest part was hanging them. I hate measuring and figuring it all out. So I sorta randomly hung one and then made Michael do the rest :) He's not the biggest of fan of them--he finds them "kinda plain". But, I like that their simplicity.

I'm sorry for the poor quality photos, I had to use my phone. The camera cord is somewhere in the abyss of my basement... It was impossible to not get reflections in the glass, or the foil paper!

Diaper Cake

These are the two diaper cakes I made. The top one is the first one I ever made for my friend, the second one is the last (as of right now) and was made for Mike's sister. The top one was made with Huggies Little Snuggler and Little Mover diapers. The second one is made me with Huggies Pure and Natural diapers, simply because I wanted all white and that was the closest I could get.

You will need...

• Diapers--I believe I bought four jumbo packs for each cake. This number can vary depending on how many layers you want. Always err on the side of more, because you can give the mommy-to-be the leftovers. I got two different sizes, but having all the same size is OK too!
• Clear hair rubber bands
• Regular rubber bands--Multi-size pack
• Empty baby bottles--Two minimum
• Ribbons and bows
• Cardboard circle--You can buy cake platters at Hobby Lobby, or use a cardboard box. The first cake I used a box I had and wrapped tissue paper over it. The second one I bought the cake platter to use.
• Double-sided Scotch tape
• Any goodies you want to include--Mine all came from Target

The first step is to roll each diaper up and secure them with a clear rubber band. 

Next, you need to place the rolled diapers around the bottle and secure them with a plain rubber band. This is your inner-most ring of diapers. Once there are five or six diapers around the bottle (depending on the size, this number may vary slightly), You can put another plain rubber band around the first ring, and add diapers into it for the second ring. Repeat for the third ring, and be sure to use an appropriate sized rubber band. I was surprised at how many rolled diapers I could get into the biggest size that came in my bag. I didn't have any snap on me, and I was really worried about that!

To make the top layer, you stick the second bottle into the first (upside down) and add the diaper rings. If you know the mom's favorite candy, you can fill the bottles as a surprise. 

The first cake I made was a three-tiered, so I have a three-ringed layer on the bottom, two-ringed in the middle and one-ring on the top. The top layer was added so the giraffe blanket thingy would drape over and look right. I didn't use a third bottle, but the second bottle in the cake stuck up a bit to help keep the top layer in place. The layers are just set on top of each other, using the bottles to keep them from sliding off.

The outermost layers will be secured by a plain, ugly colored rubber band, but that's OK, because you place pretty ribbons over them. The bows in both of my cakes are children's hair clips. Otherwise I chose some rattles, small food jars, Nuks, teethers and lotion to spruce my cakes. It's not shown in the photo, but the second cake I made I ended up filling the jars on the outside with some candy. The rattles, etc are just stuck into the diapers--no adhesives used. To secure the ribbons around the layers of cake I used double-sided tape. 

Sorry there were no step-by-step pictures! Any future projects I'll be sure to take pictures as I go, but I'm just archiving the ones I've already done. If you have any questions, just ask in the comments! 

DIY Record Bowls

 So after making the mail organizer from cheap records (click here for details), I had a lot of leftovers. After thinking of what I can do with them, I decided to make some bowls. Here's how I did it...

I used:

• A baking sheet
• Tin Foil
• Records (duh)
• Stainless steel mixing bowls--3 different sizes: in my set of four, I used the small, medium, and second largest
• Work gloves, oven mits or an old T-shirt to transfer the hot record into bowls

I lined a baking sheet with tin foil, and set the oven for 250 degrees. Once the oven was pre-heated, I placed the record on top of the foil-lined pan and stuck it in the oven to "cook" for two minutes. When I pulled it out, I used an old T-shirt to transfer the now soft record into a stainless steel mixing bowl. It ruffled itself inside the mixing bowl, and then I used another smaller mixing bowl (the next size down) to flatten the bottom of the record by putting it inside the record that was inside the bigger bowl. Once it's cooled off a bit (about 30 seconds to a minute) I took it out of the mixing bowl and was done! Super easy!

If the ruffles are too uneven for your taste, you can plop it back into the oven for another two minutes. It softens the record flat again so you can reform it.

I found placing the record inside the bowl gave me the best results. I also tried draping it over the top of an upside down mixing bowl, but didn't have the greatest luck that way. I think it'd be fun to use some smaller square dishes, but I didn't have any, so that's a bummer!

Since I didn't need five record bowls, I gave them away to friends who were a little too excited about them. I was surprised by the Facebook reaction I got to them. Before giving them away, I personalized them like I did the mail organizer. Here's one I gave to my work BFF, Molly. 

I used a picture of her kid, I mean dog, Eddie. Using Publisher, I changed the shape of the picture to a 5" circle and printed it out. I used Mod Podge to glue the picture inside over the existing label. 

As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask in the comments!

Hanging Mail Organizer From Records

I found this idea on Pinterest. You can see the original blog post here. I pretty much followed it to a T, except I only used two rivets, mainly because I hate the rivet tool! It takes a lot of arm muscle, which I do not have. I also personalized the record labels. Since this was a gift for my step dad, I used Publisher to print out the names of his past bands and current one. (He and my mom have been playing in a band since I can remember. They play rock music like Metallica, KISS, AC/DC plus newer stuff like Weezer, STP and Foo Fighters. Mom plays bass, step dad plays guitar and sings.)

I'm so sorry I don't have a video or photos to show you these steps. It is easy and difficult at the same time... If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask in the comments!

 Items you'll need:

• Records--I got mine from the $.25 bin at our local music store. Make sure you have extras in case you screw up like me. :)
• Rivets and rivet tool--I got mine from Menards, the cheapest ones they had
• Drill bit (and drill) to match the size of your rivets. I believe I used 3/8" but it really doesn't matter (as long as it's not like a 3" rivet, that'd be ridiculous).
• Old T-shirt
• Aligator clamps
• Iron
• If you personalize the record labels like I did, you'll need Mod Podge or glue. I used Mod Podge to help protect the paper from being torn.

To shape the record, I put it in an old T-shirt and then ran my iron (set to the hottest temperature) over the bottom half for quite a while. Once the entire bottom half is flexible, I wrapped it up and over a paper towel cardboard tube. It's important to make sure the record is heated through the center where the label is so you can begin your bend there. That's where you place the cardboard tube, and then you just flop the bottom half over that and hold in place until cooled.

I bent it while it was still inside the T-shirt because I did not have work gloves, and didn't feel like burning my hands. I found this worked fine, but if you have work gloves, by all means you can take the record out of the shirt before bending it over the tube.

To avoid rippling in the record, I tried to hold it as still as possible and only touching the parts that wrap around the tube. Try to make this as smooth and level as possible because you string the records together by adding rivets to the back of the first record and the lip on the second. If there's rippling on the lip that you bent, it may crack when you put the rivet in. (Which I learned the hard way, so please learn from my mistake.)

Also, when you bend the record up to form the lip, it's best to line the top of the lip the center of the label (where the hole is). I found this to be the best way to measure.

Once all the records were shaped and cooled, I began drilling the holes. It really helps to have clamps to hold the two records in place while you drill. I did not have clamps and I wanted to cry. But, as you can see below, it can be done! If you want to be really picky you can use white out or something to line the rivets up evenly on all your records. I just eyeballed it.

As I said above, you place the back of one record to the bent part of the second (as shown in picture above). Once the holes are drilled, the rivets secure the two records together. I pieced together the chain of records one at a time. So I drilled, then put the rivets in. Then I drilled the next record on and put the rivets in.

I added the personalizations at the very end, but if you're not adding those, then you're done! Read no further! I did not add a hanger to the back of it, because you can hang it by a nail through the the top record's hole.

To make my labels, I scanned my step dad and mom's bands' CD booklets into my computer, and used Paint to trim them off--which was a pain in the A. If you've ever used Paint for an actual project you'll understand.

I put their band name into 5.2" circles so they were a tad bit bigger than the original label. I put Mod Podge down on the existing label, and placed my printout on top and smoothed it out. Once it was in place, I added some Mod Podge around the edges to prevent peeling. And then I was done. Thank God, because this was a hard project for me! Worth it, though, since he loved it!

Lyrics Necklace

My first Pinterest project I did, was this necklace. I changed it up a bit from the original post, which you can see here. Unfortunately I only have an after picture. I got all my supplies from Hobby Lobby.

Supplies I used:
paper
printer
Mod Podge
paint brush (a foam brush may be better)
30" chain (I chose gun metal color for chain, clasp and jump rings)
clasp
jump rings
beads
lighter (the long candle ones)
needle nose pliers
chain cutter

Instead of using book pages like the original tutorial, I printed out lyrics in different fonts to some of my favorite songs by my favorite band, Alkaline Trio, along with their heart skull symbol. The original tutorial used foam board, and I really wish that I had, too. I used regular computer paper. It works, and it's still pretty (I think), but the charms are so light that they flip backward a lot when I wear it. I think that if they were heavier (like foam board) they'd stay put better. I have been thinking about adding weight to the backs of them. Maybe smaller buttons or something?

So, after printing out the lyrics I wanted, I cut out five circles and covered them in Mod Podge. A lot of Mod Podge (both front and back). Be patient, wait about 20 minutes in between coats. I think I did like three layers of it. Also, if you use a regular paint brush be careful not to leave lines from the bristles. That's why I think a foam brush would be better. I used a damp paper towel to help clear any lines I saw. I'd recommend Viva Towels, because they're unquilted so they won't leave more lines. After about five to seven minutes of drying you can start to tell if it will be liney, so that's how long I recommend waiting to see if lines form.

Once they're dried, I burned the edges with a long lighter. I did this step over the kitchen sink, and had the water running from the faucet the whole time. I held the charm with piers in one hand, and ran the lighter over the edges with the other. I blew out the flame when it was singed to my liking. It wasn't as scary as I anticipated. I also tested Mod Podge's flammability on a plain piece of paper first. No scary moments happened, so hopefully you have good luck as well! Like I said, keep the faucet running just in case!

Once they're all burned, I painted some more Mod Podge on them all again to protect them, and keep the burned edges from just falling off. I added another couple of coats. The ashes can blur into the words, though so be careful. Paint inward out.

Next was the hard part (for me anyway): putting the necklace together. First I attached the clasp to the chains, one strand being shorter than the other so that the two strands wouldn't be on top of each other. I don't know if there's a better way to do this, but I just put it on in front of a mirror, held my fingers to the length I thought was best, took it off, cut the chain and voila! There are mannequins you can buy to help fit and make necklaces, but since I'm not a serious jewelry maker, so I didn't have one!

Those darn jump rings are tricky. When I do other jewelry I like to use the keychain-looking jump rings, but because these charms were so fragile, I used the normal ones. I put the charms on first, eyeballing it to where it would look good. Trying it on many times and then placing the charms on. I used two links of chain to attach the white beads over top of the charm.

It's a time-consuming project, but I love my necklace! I get compliments on it whenever I wear it. :) I hope all my steps make sense, but if you have any questions please ask them in the comments and I'll be happy to answer!