Ombre Painted Basket DIY: Faded Beachy Ocean Blue Paint

Written by: Leah Laxton

I love the way this tissue basket cover turned out.  The blue turned out to be a beautiful bold ombre look.  I bought this basket at a thrift store for $1 and then went to hobby lobby with my coupons to get the ocean blue paint that I had in mind.  Check out the before and after.

At first I thought a sponge would be easiest to get in the cracks...what was I thinking?! Definitely use a paint brush, it was so much faster and did the job very well.  

Tip: Cover the largest amount of space with an original color. For the top of this basket I used the original blue and I did not have to judge how much paint I should mix together to make the color.

I knew I wanted to paint a basket and this was a good test run.  I will be doing another basket paint job in the future as I come across the perfect basket while thrifting.

Isn't it just a fun pop of color?

A few options for my next painted basket will be the "dipped" look where you paint it to look like you dipped the bottom in paint. Another ombre effect, or maybe solid stripes.   

Have any ideas?

  

Leather Coasters Thrift Find!!

After I got my thrift fix for the week, I came across these brand new in the container set of 7 leather coasters for $2!  Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware have had similar leather coasters.   They say "Bronko Nagurski Trophy Presented By ACN" so it is probably vintage football replicas.  Almost too pretty to even use.

What do you think will happen after you use them?  Age well or become ugly...its soft leather and would definitely soak up liquids.

Scalloped Burlap Stenciled Placemats: Beach Table Settings

Written by: Leah Laxton
I've been wanting to use my crab stencil again, which you can get my free stencil here.  I found these burlap placemats at Habitat for .25 cents and I knew I could make them beachy.  

Lately all you see at antique malls are those old burlap coffee sacks and each of them are different, yet similar.  I created the vertical stripes like some I've seen on the old burlap sacks. The boring rectangle shape bothered me and I love scalloped edges so that was my first choice. I used two paint containers and a sharpee on the backside of the mat to outline my scallops.

Next step was to use my crab stencil and then measure the middle of the mat so I could tape down my vintage sac lines.  I used a sponge brush for this project and lightly did the paint so it looks aged and not solid.  

Next, I had to set a table with my latest project!  I used all of my moms stuff to set the table. Pewter plates, red ship bowls, antique silverware, candlesticks, and the cute little vine.

It's cute! Kind of a cross between beach cottage and French.

Let me know if you use the crab stencil on anything. I would love to see what you do with it.

Leather and Metal Bracelets DIY: Hearts and Bows

Written by Leah Laxton
After learning how to make my leather ring, I've decided to make more use of my turquoise leather cord.  I really wanted to make a bracelet, but the hardest thing to create is a clasp, until I figured out how to easily make this "hook" type clasp or using an old button.  

All you need is some leather cord in any color you choose, wire, and pliers.  The cute plain metal heart is so easy to make and would be perfect for Valentines day (would be super easy for a guy to make as a gift).  The one with the diamond vintage-like pendant, I had bought it a long time ago because it was on sale at Michaels and I knew that one day I would use it, I was right!  I made the polka dot bow bracelet by taking a sharpee, but you could definitely  make other patterns, monogram, name, chevron, and etc.

 

These did not take long at all!  I will be making more, somehow I want to do a leather with some lace bracelet or something.  If you make any leather jewelry please let me know and post a link back.

Bonus:

Guy DIY!   All guys probably think, "What should I get my girlfriend for Valentines day?"  I think making something for them is super cute and to make this metal heart bracelet it is so easy!  But hey, don't wait around for a special holiday to give gifts either....

Easy Leather Ring Tutorial: Leather Cord Ring DIY

Written by Leah Laxton
As I was browsing Hobby Lobby with a gift card I got....I came across the jewelry making isle and saw LEATHER! I immediately got excited because beading and other jewelry making just isn't for me, but the leather was calling my name. I found a leather diy ring off of this blog and added a few more tips.

All you need is leather cord, wire, pliers, and a candlestick.  You can get the leather cord in many other colors from a craft store, mine was like $3 from Hobby Lobby. I used solder electrical wire I already had and I found a candlestick that my own ring fit around loosely.  

Just wrap the wire a few times, I made two rings, one had three wraps and the other had 2 wraps.  Then I cut about two feet of leather cord and started weaving in and out.

What you need to make sure you do is weave the end of the wire to the other "spring" so it is closed in and won't unravel.  

I had made one attempt and then had to try again, but it is no big deal to unwind everything.  You just have to try to keep that circular shape and push the leather together as you go along and make sure it is tight and voila! A super cute leather ring...or two...

I was even thinking about taking a sharpee and creating dots or stripes on the leather for a nice pattern.  I am working on other leather projects right now!   What do you think? Let me know if you make one yourself, I would love to see it!

Glam Monogram Cardboard iPhone Speaker DIY

Written by Leah Laxton
This is a super easy project and you can use almost anything to make your own personal iPhone speaker. You can use a toilet paper roll, a pringles can, tissue box, or in my case, a piece of cardboard from frozen food packaging.  

I had a piece of scrapbook paper, wine corks for the feet, jewels, and the monogram I made myself.  You can make your own monogram in microsoft word through my video tutorial here.  It works great!

I am starting to work on the toilet paper speaker version so I can keep one at my desk and one in the bathroom.

What do you think?

Girls Sneakers Bedazzled $5

Written by Leah Laxton
I have been bedazzling everything lately because I have a big box of these diamonds and they make everything more glamorous, so why not?!  I got these girls sneakers from Walmart for $5 and this gift was a present for Christmas.  I wanted the shoe laces to be fun too, so I got a hounds-tooth pattern.  

It took me around 30 minutes to do everything and I made sure there was a lot of glue everywhere so these would last a decent amount of time.  I bent the shoe and put glue where some of the diamonds lifted up.

These were just easy to make and cheap and what little girl doesn't love sparkles?!

What else could I bedazzle?