DIY No Sew Curtains

Hey everyone! Today I'm going to show you my new curtains that I made from an extra flat sheet I had. I know there are many tutorials on how to do this but I was able to fasten something without having to buy a curtain rod (peaked your interest I hope!). I'm a strong believer in the magic of window treatments and how they can transform a room! Even though my new curtains aren't absolutely perfect, they definitely give the room personality and make it feel more homey! Okay, lets get started!

Materials:
- Flat sheet
- Thumbtacks
- Ribbon

I never usually use flat sheets since I have a duvet cover, to this is great for a bedroom since the curtain will match the fitted sheet used on your bed!


Steps:

1. Fold your flat sheet based on the shape of your window. I folded mine the "long" way. Measure out the length of your window and how long you want your curtain to fall. You can use measuring tape, but I just held up the curtains to see how it would look (ask a friend for help!). You could also use a safety pins to mark the point where you'll fold the sheet again so that it'll fall at the right length. I had mine fall a little less than a foot from the bottom of the window. How plain/ugly are these windows?

2. Next use your thumbtacks and thumbtack them to the top of the frame of your window. I realize you probably don't want to make too many homes especially if you're a tenant like me but thumbtack holes are really small! I used three thumbtacks, with one additional one in the middle. You could double up on each spot for extra strength but use your best judgement!






3. Now tie a ribbon around the middle (middle to bottom) of your curtain. My room is pretty much black, white and purple so I went with a theme-matching ribbon pattern!






Awesome! Here's how my sheet/curtain turned out!

What I've learned:

- Iron your sheet first.
- Safety pins can also be used to tuck in the top sides of your sheet that's folded behind your curtain.
- Once you push that thumbtack into the wall, don't take it out! It'll be loose and probably won't


You can always change up the color of your curtains to make the fitted sheet you use on your bed. The best thing about this is that you can reuse your flat sheet if you ever need it! I hope you guys enjoyed this post and try it out for yourself!


Alison :)

DIY Wall Decal (Tree)

Hey there! I've recently decided to do something with my plain walls by adding a tree wall decal! I really wanted one of these but shoot! they are so expensive (the large sized ones I wanted were about $75 and up!). My DIY wall decal only cost $7.99 (not including the options wall hooks), so I hope you guys like this and try something like it to add a little something to your walls!



Materials:
- Artists tape or Painters tape (just make sure it has a low adhesive level)
- Scissors
- Wall hooks

You can use different colored tape if you want, I just happened to like keeping everything in black. If you don't like the tree decal, you can use this method and materials to make whatever you like!



Steps:

1. Pick a blank wall that you know needs some pizzazz! Take two long strips of your Artists tape and outline the trunk of your tree. I started mine above the floor molding and stopped it at about the middle of the wall in terms of height.

2. Now from the trunk, make a bunch of branches. The larger branches are the same as the trunk but for smaller branches I decided to rip strips of tape in half to make skinnier branches. (Ignore the random bits of tape on the walls please!)

3. Once you finished making your branches, start making a ton of leaves. I found two ways to make leaves. Either cut two halves and put them together or tape two long strips together and cut a whole leaf from that. I used both techniques! Your leaves should all be a little different so don't worry about it if some are smaller than the others.

 4. Great, once you've made a bunch of leaves, start placing them on your wall. I did 3-5 leaves at the end of each branch so just use your best judgement! (I decided to add an extra branch too! >.<)

5. I wanted to add a few wall hooks and camouflage them in the tree branches. Strategically place your wall hooks under the tape that would be your branches or leaves!

6. This is also an optional step. I just wanted to a add a little bit more detail to my tree so I added some bark, which is just skinny strips of tape!

Here's the finished wall decal!

What I've learned:

- For a softer look, rip the tape instead of cutting it with scissors. A lot of my leaves have ripped edges!
- If you don't like how something is turning out, change it! This tape is super easy to remove, and I basically have a whole roll of tape left over so you'll have plenty of materials.
- The tape doesn't really stick too well to itself so when you're done, go back and trim some of the edges.

I seriously love love love this and I'm so glad I thought twice about buying an expensive wall decal! I hope you get to try this on one of your walls, you could do something completely different! I'm considering adding some woodland creatures, maybe a bird or a squirrel to run around my room...?

Come back for more craft ideas!


Alison

Chocolate Candy Gift

Hi everyone! I made this for one of my best friends birthday yesterday! If you have a friend that loves chocolate, this is a really cute/funny gift you can put together for them very easily. Added bonus: If you're hanging out with them and are craving chocolate... you know they have some (yes that was part of my plan all along)! Hope you try this out!

Materials:
- Shadow box
- Chocolate bar
- Paper
- Marker
- Adhesive or pins


Steps:

1. I started off by writing "In case of Emergency Break Glass" on two strips of paper. Then take out your shadow box. I got mine for $10 and it came with a fuzzy background, a Velcro strip and four pins.

2. I used the four pins to secure the "message" to the fuzzy background. You could use something different, like glue or maybe double sided tape depending on the texture of your background.

3. Now put that Velcro strip on the back of a chocolate bar. Careful! Don't press it too hard and break the chocolate!

4. Attach your chocolate bar to the fuzzy backing and put it into your shadow box frame. And you're finished! Hopefully your friend likes this gift idea!

What I've learned:

- Sentimental gifts are great! My friend really liked this! ^.^
- Check to see what kind of background you have in your shadow box. Look at color and (especially) texture to see what kind of adhesive you need.
- Pick a chocolate or candy that you know your friend likes to personalize it.

This is a simple project that I think is a great gift idea for the right friend. I saw this on Pinterest a while back and immediately made a mental note. Let's hope there aren't any chocolate emergencies anytime soon, but at least your friend will be prepared!

Yummers,

Alison :)

"It's A Boy" Card

Hey everybody! Recently a family friend had a baby boy and I decided to make her an "It's a Boy" Card, instead of buying one. You can change up this tutorial for any occasion by changing up the colors and patterns and get super creative with whatever ideas come to mind! I used some stuff I had in the house already. I hope you like this post and get creative with it!


Materials:
- Paper (I used two different patterned sheets and one plain one.)
- Yarn or ribbon
- Scissors
- Double sided tape or glue
- Sharpie
- Pen

I really want to emphasize using materials you already have! Notice the yarn I use is the same as the yarn in my Crochet Flowers and Knitted Headband posts!


Steps:

1. Cut out the initial shape of your card. I cut out two sheets (two different polka dots), where one fit inside the other. One side will be the outside of the card, and the other would be the inside, so pick your colors!



2. Next, double tape those sheets together. I like having a little bit of the inside pattern showing so I trimmed the front side of the card about a half an inch! I also cut out a little strip of the inside pattern and double taped it to the cover.

3. I then tied a small bow, made of yarn over the piece that I had just added to the front of the card. Then I added a drop of glue to keep the bow in place!

4. Since the yarn can be seen on the other side (it should be on the inside of the card), I added a little "tag" with a cute, "baby appropriate" picture. Some other ideas I thought of were a rattle, duck, or pacifier. I also double sided taped a blank piece of paper (cut to fit the shape of the card) for the area where I wanted to write something. This is totally optional! I just felt like there was too much polka dots!

I added "It's a Boy!" to the cover, and here's how it turned out!

What I've learned:

- When you're writing out the cover or trying to draw a picture for your "tag" make sure you practice a little on scrap paper or do it in pencil first!
- Try and plan out your steps but sometime you have to improvise! (ex. too much polka dot... cover it with plain paper!)



I hope you guys liked this post, and try it the next time make a card! Most of these ideas could be used for any card. Don't forget to make an envelope for it too (check out a previous post for ideas! DIY Envelope)! Let me know how your cards turn out!

Keep it crafty,


Alison ;)

Sailors Knot Bracelet

Ahoy matey! Today I'm going to be posting a Sailors Knot Bracelet DIY for you to "sea" (get it?)! Okay, enough jokes... It took me awhile to figure out how to tie this knot so I hope this blog post will help any of you out there. I want to tell you that I tried to buy a metal clasp at the craft store but since they didn't have any big enough I just improvised something... I love this nautical bracelet and I hope you guys like it too! ^.^


 
Materials:
- Rope/cord
- Shears
- Small piece of fabric
- Super glue

I actually got my rope from the handles of a shopping bag from a store! If you have ways to repurpose, why not?





Steps:

1. I'm going to be showing you how to make the knot first. Start off with a piece of your rope and make a loop, so that the end that's further away from you is going over the other. Next take another piece of rope and lay it over the end further from you, and put it under the end of the first rope. Kind of confusing, but I hope the picutres help!

2. Now this will get even trickier. Lay the loop over the second strand. Then, take the end of the second strand closest to you and weave it over, under and over again through the original loop.

3. Great! If you pull the ends, you'll have your sailor's knot! You can leave it like this based on the size of your wrist and how you want your bracelet to look. I decided that it was too small so I did the same knot but with 4 pieces of rope instead of 2.

4. I meantioned that I couldn't find those metal clasps I wanted so I decided to secure it by trimming the ends of the rope and glueing them to a piece of fabric. Just use a little bit of super glue and wrap the fabric piece around the ends of your rope.

Once that's glued, you are done!


What I've learned:

- Be resourceful if you can!
- If the knot is pulled tight, the bracelet will feel looser. I like wearing it with the knot looser, so it fits perfectly to my wrist. When you put it on, have the knot tight and loosen it after you get it on your wrist!


I seriously love this bracelet! I've seen other people with similar things like making headbands with a Sailor's knot. You could try that too if you enjoyed this tutorial!

Anchors away,

Alison :)