haha its how I feel some days!!

haha its how I feel some days!!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Thread Wall Tutorial

Thread Wall Tutorial


Is your thread hidden in every crack and crevice and stuck in drawers? I have alot of thread that's true, but keeping it organized was something I desperately needed to do once the thread seemed to multiply. So I looked and looked and all I could find in the beginning was those cheap little thread stands you get at the craft store,  that worked for a little while but it seemed my thread was multiplying in numbers so something else was needed, then I happened to find this site on the Internet (can't remember the name of it) that a clever girl named Mandy had done using peg board and dowels and Voila!! Here it is!!! Handy and organized and no more hunting for that color you know you have somewhere!!


Supplies needed:
1/4 in pre-cut Peg Board
you can find peg board pre-cut at your local home center
1/4 dowels
picture frame moulding for trim - has a lip on it to overlap the peg board
glue- I used Elmer's all purpose glue
small hand saw
sandpaper
Spray Paint- in your color choice

Map out how you want your thread to go, I used some spare empty spools to do this, to get the proper spacing and to decide where to put the serger thread and larger spools. I had originally measured for rulers down the center but the thread is still growing so I left the center undone for now in case I needed some growing room.

I measured the dowels to be cut in 3 inch increments, leaving enough space for the glue end and sanded on one end. I sanded one end of the dowel so that the rough end would be the glue end into the peg board and the smooth end would be the end where the spool was loaded for a splinter free effect!
Once you have mapped out and glued all the dowels in place take your new thread wall out side careful not to hit the dowels and damage all that hard work! Lay it down on some newspaper and get your spray paint can ready, I used white spray paint because the peg board was already white on one side and I wanted a uniform look, now spray paint that thread wall and be careful not to spray to close as you'll get runs in the paint, I did this on a nice hot day and the paint dried in a couple of hours.

Once dry take your thread wall and hang it (I used dry wall screws and then painted the tops white) in its designated spot on the wall (get someone to help center it and make sure its level), get your trim and measure, cut ( I cut the trim on a 45 degree angle for a true picture frame effect), paint ( I used some paint left over from a previous project and a simple dollar store paint brush) and hang it overlapping the peg board.

Finished and organized! Notice the thread is color coded so that you can find the right color in no time!!


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Trinket Box turned Pincushion


Well here it goes, Ive never re-purposed anything other than milk jugs so this should be interesting!! There's this pin I saw on pinterest about a re-purposed jewelry box into a pincushion and I thought... I can do that!! So I went on a treasure hunt at the local goodwill and found this cut little trinket box for $1.01!! Although the top is quite nice too I have no idea what to do with it so I'm saving it for another pin idea!!

Trinket Box To be RE-purposed!!


















This is a side view of the flower detail and the nice little lip on the top of the box. Also there's a nice little under lip great for gluing to!! This little trinket box even has cute little feet that it sits up on.!!


















You'll probably want to wash your box to make sure there's nothing on it that will prevent the paint from sticking, so I washed it and dried it first. Then on to the fun stuff! Paint!! I picked a pretty Kiwi just because the one I found on pinterest was lime green and this kiwi paint is Soy Paint I found at Jo-Ann for $1.99 and a little brush I already had - free!


















Items needed for pincushion: fabric in your color choice, mine is from a cake layer I got at a local fabric store and the batting and some fluffy fiber fill or you could re-purpose an old pillow stuffing for this too! I filled the cavity with the fiber and then layered the batting over top for a smooth finish to the fabric topper. Then I used a low heat glue gun to glue everything into place and Voila!!















So here's my re-purposed trinket box made pincushion ready to be pinned!! No pun intended pinterest!! Don't you just love the fringey border?? It adds that little froo froo needed to the hard edges!















This is a side view of the body and the fringe detail and the height of the pincushion for pinning!
So ladies now you have a mini tutorial on how to make your own "one of a kind" pincushion!!