Creating A Simpler Life Blog

DIY Poliwrath Pokemon Costume

9/1/2017

Every year at work we have a departmental costume contest. This means we have to have a theme that is better than all the other department themes and that we all have to participate. Our department happens to have over 30 people so it is often hard to come up with really good ideas. A few years ago our theme was superhero's (Which of course there are plenty of!) so I made myself the mother from the Incredibles - Check out DIY Incredibles Costume here!

That was my favorite costume to date, especially because I always make an accompanying costume for my husband for any parties we go to.

The Poliwrath costume that this post is about would be another favorite but I didn't wear it, it was actually the costume I made for my husband. I made myself a Butterfree costume and that post will be coming soon (see below).

As much as I like the Butterfree costume, I kind of wish I had made myself into Poliwhirl (the happy version of Poliwrath) because it would have been so much easier! You will see what I mean when you read the DIY Butterfree Pokemon Costume coming soon!

Poliwrath Costume Instructions:

Supplies:

Blue sweatshirt (affiliate link)
White boxing gloves (affiliate link)
Clear plastic craft ornament (affiliate link)
Blue craft paint
White craft paint
Black paint pen
A piece of white material (felt, or anything else)
Scissors
*Needle and Thread (or glue)
*Drill (or glue)

*I wanted to reuse the sweatshirt after Halloween so I sewed everything on so they could be easily removed and the sweatshirt would have no damage. If you don't care then you can simply use a craft glue such as Aleene's (affiliate link).

How to:

A square of white material. This is simply a white cotton rag used for cleaning (unused of course).

I used a large dinner plate to trace a circle on the cloth.

Then I very lightly sketched in a 'swirl.'

I used a black paint marker to draw in the swirl and make the line a little thicker.

Cut it out....

And sew it onto the front of the sweatshirt!

I don't know why I didn't take pictures of how I made the eyes!

Heres what to do:

Drill a few small holes around the edges of each half of the ornaments (I did 6 on each). This is to sew the ornament onto the hood of the sweatshirt. You can use glue if you don't care about the sweatshirt.
Paint/draw a black oval on the inside of each half of a clear ornament.
When the black is dry, paint the entire inside of the each half with white.
On the outside of the eye, use blue paint to make the eye lid.
Sew (or glue) the eyes onto the hood.

A quick shoutout to my husband for being such a good sport! xoxo

Check out our other Halloween ideas here :-)
Have a safe and happy Halloween!
Sincerely,

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Giant Wedding Dream Catcher

8/30/2017

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My daughter is getting married and we are so excited to welcome her fiancé into our family. They have plans to get married down by the beach and hopefully the weather will be beautiful that day because my daughters father-in-law to be is making a birch arbor for them to be married under with this giant wedding dream catcher hanging at the back of it behind them. This is why the dream catcher had to be big. Really big. When all was said and done this beauty measured in at 3 feet wide and 5 feet tall! Wow!

But of course none of that mattered to me as long as my little girl is happy. I made another simpler, and smaller, model that uses feathers to be hung behind their seats at the reception. Read more about DIY Giant Dreamcatcher with Feathers!

Supplies Needed:

Hula Hoop (Great way to repurpose an old one!)
Masking tape
3 skeins of cotton Lily Sugar n' Cream Yarn. I used Ecru.
4.5 mm crochet hook (to crochet center)
6.5 mm crochet hook for wrapping hoop with yarn
Yarn needle
Scissors
Small sea shell or other trinket for center (optional)
Feathers (see affiliate links below)
Lace and pom-poms (see affiliate links below)

Video "How-To"
(crochet directions and more pictures below):

I repurposed an old hula hoop from our garage that would probably have ended up being thrown out!

We wrapped the hula hoop with masking tape to keep the bright yellow color from showing through.

Crochet the center. General directions below.

Hoop Crochet Center Directions:
I really don't have directions per-say, I can just give you an idea of what I did. A couple of pointers ahead of time:
- All stitches are into spaces, not into other stitches. This is important for spacing later on.
- When you are finishing up your final loops to connect, make sure you have an even number. It helps to have an even number so you can connect the loops equally around the hoop later on.
- For this reason, every row must be crocheted separately from every other row. You cannot do this pattern in the round.
- To get to the center of each loop to start the next round I would slip stitch up the side of the first hoop in the level. When all is said and done you can't even see these extra stitches. The directions for this are in row 6 below.

Chain 25 and connect to create loop.
Row1: Chain 4, and dc into center of circle. Chain 2 and dc into center of circle. Repeat until you have a total of 16 loops around the circle in total. Note that your last chain 2 will connect with slip stitch to your original chain 4. You will have to manipulate the stitches to be evenly spaced around the 25 chain circle.
Row 2: Chain 1 and do 2 sc in next space (again, not in the stitches), chain 2, then 2 sc in next space, etc. around. Slip stitch to connect.
Row 3: Chain 6, and dc into next space, chain 4, dc into next space, etc. all the way around. Slip stitch to connect.
Row 4: Repeat directions for row 2 around. Make sure you have an even number of spaces around at this point. If you do not, you need to go back and work it so that you do.
Row 5: chain 10, slip stitch into space, and continue all the way around and slip stitch to connect.
Row 6: Now you have to work your way to the center of the loop by slip stitching in the first 5 chains to get to the center of the loop, then sc into loop center and chain 15, then sc in the center of the next loop etc., repeat around until you reconnect to the start of your first loop.
Row 7: Repeat row 6, but you will slip stitch 7 times to get to the approximate center, then sc into center and chain 20, then sc into center of next loop and continue same around.
You can continue this pattern increasing your stitches each row until the center stretches nice and tight to fit into your hoop. You can also vary it a little by connecting with dc instead, or doing two sc in a loop as well. Note that cotton yarn tends to stretch quite a lot. If you are using a different yarn the stretch will vary. Either way, the center should look way too small to fit the hoop when you are done, but trust me it will stretch! It may take some trial and error to get it right the first time (it did for me!).

Then I wrapped the hoop with a yarn. I used a double strand (so two skeins at once). It was more like macrame because I wrapped from front to back, then from back to front, etc. see the video below.

Completed wrapped hoop.

A closeup of what the hoop edge ended up looking like.

Next I connected the crochet center to the hoop. I simply used a piece of cut string, and tied each loop by alternating. In other words I did the top, then the bottom. Then one side, and the opposite side. This is what kept the distances correct. At the end I simply used a yarn needle to side the hanging strings under the yarn of the hoop and snipped off any extra.

See how to connect the crochet center to the hoop on my other Giant Dream Catcher with feathers Instructions!

Completed dream catcher hoop part....now to add the lace and feathers!

Crochet a chain 0f about 75 stitches using doubled up yarn.

Tie the chain to the hoop so you now have a way to hang it!

I gathered my supplies and cut strips of lace approximately 38" long.

I hung the dream catcher in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room to make it easier to work.

Fold a cut strip of lace in half and loop the folded portion over the dream catcher. Pull the ends through the loop gently.

Do not tighten until you are sure it is positioned where you want it. I do approximately four of each type of lace at a time so that they are evenly distributed.

Then tighten and switch to the next type of lace and do four more. I continue to do this until it is pretty full. NOTE: I save the pom pom for the absolute very end as a filler.

This is what it looked like at the end, however my daughter and I both felt that it needed some more on the sides.

Here is the finished product! Note, that is a small seashell hanging in the center. I just have to find a way to make it balance a little better.

Dream catcher used for the ceremony!

And the feather dream catcher was used behind their sweetheart table at the reception!

Check out my other Giant Dream Catcher made with Feathers!

Thanks for visiting!
Check out our other crochet patterns and ideas on our website or on our Pinterest boards and our DIY Shower & Weddings!
Have a wonderful day:-)
Sincerely,

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Five 'Must-Have' Essential Oils

8/20/2017

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I believe in using natural ingredients in my daily life and that is why I strive to use essential oils whenever possible. However, I don't have a lot of different kinds of oils (Of course this is because I like to keep things as simple as possible!). So I have a basic go-to assortment of what I call my Five 'Must-Have' Essential Oils because they cover just about everything I need to use them for on a daily basis. So whether you use essential oils already, are new to them, or if you're considering getting started, then these are the five oils I personally need on a daily basis!

Tea Trea
Lavender
Eucalyptus
Peppermint
Lemon

Feel free to download and print our FREE instruction card about the Five "Must-Have" Essential Oils and their uses! It can be found below the video:-)

DOWNLOAD A PRINTABLE COPY OF THE PNG FILE ABOVE!

Thank you for visiting!
Check out our Essential Oil Pinterest Board for more uses and ideas!
Sincerely,

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DIY Giant Crochet Dreamcatcher

8/18/2017

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This post is dedicated to two special people: my daughter since I am making it for her wedding day and my friend Patty who recently said "I want to make one for my kids room." I will be posting another giant dreamcatcher soon, however the difference is that the center is crocheted a little different and there are no feathers so the bottom part is much simpler to make!

Second Giant Dreamcatcher DIY How To coming soon! See...no feathers so the bottom is simpler! It was also made with a repurposed hula hoop!!

Supplies Needed:

Sprinkler hose - I used 3/4" but you could also use 1/2". It is the least expensive here at Lowes. It is 100 psi 3/4" polyethylene tubing. NOTE: you can also use a hula hoop (see the dreamcatcher my daughter is standing next to above!).However, if you do use a hula hoop know that the tube is much thinner (and it will use less yarn to cover) but it can lost it's round shape due to lack of strength so you will need to be careful in how it is hung.
Sprinkler hose coupler (connector) - not needed if you use a hula hoop.
Two 2.5 ounce skeins of cotton yarn in your color of choice.
A large crochet hook
A 4.5 mm crochet hook
Scissors
Yarn needle
Seashell or other center hanging decoration
Multiple laces and ribbons
Feathers
Needle and thread

Directions:
Make the hoop and wrap it with yarn.

Sprinkler hose - 50 feet!!!

Cut the length you want to create the diameter you choose and connect ends with a coupler. We use a heat gun to make it easier to connect.

This one is about 2 feet 4 inches interior diameter. I also made one that is 3 feet 6 inches in diameter!

To wrap the tube I use two skeins and a large crochet hook. This makes the process go a lot faster!

Attach both skeins together to the hook (doubled up).

Wrapping the tube is more like doing macrame than crocheting. You will be going from back to front then though the loop, and then front to back and through the loop, etc. After doing it a few times it will seem natural. This picture shows from the back.

This pictures shows from the front.

Try to keep the yarn nice and neat and not overlapping each other.

After going completely around, you will cut off the end and pull the last threads tightly through the loop.

Then take the ends and tie them together in a knot.

Completed wrapped hoop!

Crochet the center:
HINT: always do an even number of loops.

Chain 25 and connect to create a loop.
Chain 8 and double crochet into center. Repeat 7 more times for a total of 8 loops around the center and connect to the base of your original loop.
Slip stitch up the side of the original loop until you get to the center of it, then do a single crochet into the center and chain 15, single crochet into the center of the next loop, etc. all the way around until you connect to the base of the original loop.
Slip stitch up the side of the loop to the center, single crochet into the center of the loop and chain 20, single crochet into the center of the next loop and chain 20, etc. all the way around until you connect to the original loop again.
You will continue this pattern increasing by 5 chains each round until it is approximately half the size of the hoop (see picture below). It will look way too small but it is NOT!

Completed center! I had 5 loop levels when I was done.

Cut eight pieces of string to tie the crocheted center to the hoop.

Weave a piece of string through the macrame edge on the hoop (otherwise it will not look right) and then tie down and knot one of the crocheted loops in place.

Then tie the opposite side the same way.

Then do the next pair of opposite sides...

Until all 8 loops are tied on! Be sure to keep the spacing about equal too.

Then use the yarn needle to weave all the hanging pieces of yarn. Note I also crocheted a simple chain of about 70 and created a loop at the top to hang it from.

Add the fringe and feathers:
Supplies (some are affiliate links):

Natural Vintage Lace
Ivory Cotton Lace
White Gold Dipped Feathers
White Goose Feathers
Natural Beads
Small scissors
Gorilla Glue
Needle
Thread

P.S. Sorry if some of the pictures are a little blurry - it is kinda hard to be working and snapping pictures at the same time!

Hang the dream catcher in a location where you can easily work on it.

Cut lengths of lace approximately 4' long each and loop them over the dreamcatcher as shown in the picture. Do about 8 or more of them in equal intervals from the left side to the right side.

Cut 4' lengths of cotton yarn and loop onto the dream catcher in equal intervals from left to right between the cotton lace.

You will have to lengths of string hanging side by side. You will be attaching two feathers to each one in an alternating pattern so they are not all the same length.

Thread the needle with ivory string and have your beads ready!

Push the needle through the end of the feather.

Push a bead up the yarn above where you want the feather to be. Lay the feather on the yarn exactly where you want it to be and begin wrapping the the threaded needle around and around the end of the feather.

When finished wrapping push the needle through the wrapped portion and snip off the end.

Add a drop of glue on the threaded part and pull the bead all the way down into place.

Snip off the excess end of the feather.

Do two feathers per string at different intervals and also cut off excess string at the bottoms. Also remember to use a gold dipped feather every once in a while!

Continue adding feathers and lace until it is as full as you want it! Notice how the feathers and lace go up on the sides? You can also trim the lace to length when you are done.

And here is the finished product hanging at the peak of the tent for my daughters bridal shower! We will also be using it for her upcoming wedding.

Here is a link to the other Giant Dreamcatcher instructions shown above!

The Giant Dream Catcher used for my daughters wedding ceremony!

This dreamcatcher used as the backdrop to their sweetheart table at the reception!

Thanks for visiting :-)
Follow me for more fun projects and ideas and check out our other DIY Shower & Wedding Ideas!
Sincerely,

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Fun Bridal Shower Games

8/14/2017

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My daughter did not want to spend any of her time opening presents during her recent bridal shower. Instead she wanted all gifts to be unwrapped so they could be set up on tables and viewed by everyone. This created a slight problem because bridal shower games were basically created so that guests are not too bored during the "present opening." I loved the idea of my daughter not opening the presents because I personally find that part of showers excruciating, but I still wanted there to be some fun games to play. Actually I needed guests to play some games because I intended to do a small auction during the party (I got that brilliant and fun idea from my sisters recent bridal shower and I loved it!).

This is the front of my daughters invitation.

And this is the back where we ask for unwrapped gifts!

The auction I made had about 20 gifts to give away so we gave everyone about 20 tickets as soon as they arrived. We did this simply by putting the 20 tickets in the mason jar mugs everyone would get to drink from but you could easily just hand them out which is what they did at my sisters shower. This was not enough tickets though and that is why games were necessary! Winners could earn more tickets! More tickets = more chances to win a prize gift.

NOTE: nobody would go home empty handed even if they did not win one of the auction prizes because guests could keep their mason jar mug and they also received a mini dream catcher favor - See how the mini dream catcher favors are made here!)

Mugs with about 20 tickets for the auction inside! Labels are for guests to write their names on.

Affiliate Links through Amazon.com:

Libby Mason Jar Mugs
Craft Gift Tags shown on the mugs (Twine included!)
Crochet tablecloth
Pink Auction Tickets

A picture of the auction table. The gift prizes are displayed for all to see and guests can put their tickets in the brown paper gift bags behind. We had the bride to be pull the tickets during desert time!

Affiliate Links:

So basically since we needed to give out more tickets I came up with these two simple fun games (Thank you to Pinterest for the general ideas!).

The first game is a matching game of famous 'love quotes' from movies. There is a free MS Word document download below. We had a mix of ages at my daughters shower so the movies I used spread over a long period of time. Feel free to change them as you see fit and enjoy!

Here are the two games we played. They were distributed to guests to work on during lunch.

The second game is a multiple choice 'test' about the bride and grooms lives. again, there isI have a free download for you below (MS Word document) where you can cut and paste in your own questions and answers. Don't forget to put the brides name and the date of the shower at the top too!

Both games were given out during lunch time for the guests to collaboratively work on. Toward the end of the lunch I gave out the answers and guests graded their own answers. They were rewarded an extra ticket for every correct answer! It's all in fun so nobody checked for honesty or not, because well, who really cares?

During desert the bride pulled a ticket for each prize gift and they were distributed to the winners to take home! So simple!

Everyone had great things to say about the games and the way the shower was run. The bride to be had quality time to be with all the guests during the shower and I have had many people share with me how wonderful and relaxed everything was. In my eyes that spells S.U.C.C.E.S.S.!! But most importantly, my daughter was truly happy and enjoyed herself immensely. What more could a mother ask for?

Movie "love" Quotes game download

how well do you know the bride and groom game download

Thanks for visiting!
Check out my other FREE downloads here, our DIY Shower & Wedding Ideas here, and
follow me on social media for more great ideas :-)
Sincerely,

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DIY: Dream Catcher Shower Favors

8/2/2017

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My new thing lately is making dream catchers. My daughter decided that she wanted a giant dream catcher for her wedding day and that was the beginning of my 'dream catcher' research! That led to the absolute first, and largest dream catcher I have made to date (post coming soon)! Since then I have made many more out of many different types of materials but my absolute favorite are all the dream catchers made out of what would normally be thrown out as garbage (or recycled depending upon where you live). I came up with this idea out of a need to make a lot of similar dream catchers as favors for my daughters bridal shower, and I think I need to pat myself on my back because, well, I absolutely love the way they came out! But you be the judge :-)

Completed Dimensions of Dream Catchers: Approximately 2" wide x 7" long (including loop to hang it)

FREE PRINTABLE (and editable) LABELS BELOW!

P.S. I know this is a lot of pictures so I am sorry ahead of time!

Supplies Needed:
(see pictures, links, and prices at very bottom of post for affiliate link supplies)

Faux suede cord in Black and Coffee (affiliate links)
Waxed Cotton string in White andIvory (affiliate links)
Brown Pheasant Feathers or Black and White Guinea Feathers (affiliate links)
Dark Brown wooden Beads (affiliate links) NOTE: we had to drill the holes larger
Large yarn needle
Grilla Glue (crazy glue)
Off white sewing thread
Small sewing needle
Small Scissors
Brown craft paper 8.5" x 11" (affiliate link)
Hole puncher
Twine (affiliate link)
Repurpose the plastic rings from bottles (an inch or larger) - Milk jugs, gatorades, vitamin water, etc. work great! Sometimes they can be tough to remove, but they are worth it and work perfectly!

Video "How-TO" (pictorial directions below):

FREE PRINTABLE TAG LABELS:
The two sides are separate so you can choose to just do one side, for example, just the "Dream saying" side. They are also MS Word documents so that you can edit as needed as far as the date and the name for the bridal shower side. Definitely do a trial on white paper if you are printing both sides so that you can tweak the positioning as needed. These were my final prints so they should be good but you never know.

Pictorial Directions :

The plastic ring from a gatorade bottle! They also are on milk containers and many other plastic bottles!

Add a bot of gorilla glue...

And attach the end of the cut piece of cotton string for the center of the dream catcher (about 1.5 feet long max).

Then begin to wrap the ring with the faux leather piece - also about 1 - 2 feet long. Be sure to leave a long piece at the beginning to use to hang it.

Wrapping in progress...

Wrapping done! Now you wrap the center string around the top pieces, pull it through to knot it and add a dab of glue to hold it.

Done! the center piece will now be threaded on the yarn needle.

Check out this simple picture for how to weave the center part http://www.craftsforkids.com/projects/dream_catchers.htm

Start weaving the dream catcher center.

When done with the center make a small knot on the back.

Add a dab of glue and let it dry.

After the glue is fully dry (I wait overnight), then clip off the end.

Cut a pice for the feathers to hang from.

Tie it in place - more like looping it in place really.

Choose feathers that will look good together.

Get a needle and thread ready.

Add a dab of glue to help hold the feather in place.

Place the feather on the front of the faux leather.

And begin wrapping it in place with the needle and thread. Nothing is sewn - I simply wrap the thread around and around and then run the needle through the wrapped portion before clipping it at the end. Then I add a drop of glue to make it permanent.

Do the same thing for the second feather. Be sure to add a dab of glue after the thread is done too!

I made two different colors and still can't decide which one I like best! But they aren't done yet...

Add a drop of glue, slip on the bead (we had to drill holes larger first), and tie a nice little knot at the top! After snipping the ends even there is now a nice little loop for hanging just about anywhere!

Print out the tag on the brown craft paper and cut them out. Notice that I printed on both sides! This is not necessary though. I also use a paper cutter for nice neat cuts but scissors will work too.

Puch a hole in each tag and cut lengths of twine (approximately 6" each).

Loop the twine through the punched holes.

Dream without fear, love without limits.

Then loop the tag onto the dreamcatcher!

I have to say that everyone loved these and my daughter was so excited over them! So not only are they repurposing plastic, but they are something nice that are small enough to be hung anywhere!

Thank you for visiting! Please check out all my other DIY Shower & Wedding projects and follow me on social media for more crafty things!
Sincerely,

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Tandem Bike Redo for Wedding!

7/29/2017

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My brother and sister-in-law have had this old 1970's Vista duo tandem bike in their garage for several years now. I always thought it was the coolest thing to ride a tandem bike, especially as a kid because brings up good memories of when my cousin Lynn and I used to ride her families tandem around town. So when my in-laws recently said their's was going in the garbage if we didn't want it I jumped on the offer....but not for me.

My daughter is getting married in September and she and her fiancé live on Fire Island. If you know anything about living on Fire Island it's that there are NO cars driven around (other than for emergencies). You get around by walking or biking so what could be more perfect than having a "just married" tandem bike for them to ride around together on?

My brother and sister-in-law agreed that this would make an awesome gift to for the 'married couple to be' and so we set to work! And of course it is far better than simply throwing it out ;-)

With little bit of time, some MONEY, and a lot of love we finished it up just in time for my daughter's bridal shower. Let us know what you think!

BEFORE....

and...AFTER!!!

Check out our video of how we did it!

We did have to purchase a few items to make it work, mostly from Amazon, but a few from Target, Michaels, Lowes, and The Vicious Cycle (the local bike shop that used to be Sally's) as well. Kudos to The Vicious Cycle by the way, who must have parts saved from the beginning of time! They actually had handlebars for the second seat that worked perfectly (we couldn't get rid of the rust on the originals)!

Other parts we purchased:

Bike Seats (Amazon affiliate link)
Matching handlebar grips (Amazon affiliate link)
Toto Basket (Amazon affiliate link)
Flowers were from Michaels
The bell and new tires were from Target
Paints were from Lowes

I also added a tin can wedding thingy to the back so when they ride it back to the house after the wedding ceremony by the beach it will be absolutely perfect!

And here are the newlyweds on the bike! They rode it from the beach ceremony to the back yard reception a few blocks away. It was perfect :-) Thank you to Samantha Brancato for the beautiful photo.

Thanks for visiting.
I really hope you enjoyed this post. I have to say that this was one of my absolute all time favorite projects! Not only did I get to spend time with my husband, but we worked with his brother as well. Best of all the gift was for my beautiful bride-to-be daughter and her fiancé. What could be better? Doing wonderful things for our loved ones is what life is all about!
Don't you agree?
See more DIY Shower & Wedding projects here!
Sincerely,

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Vermont Wood Stove Refurbish

6/28/2017

7 Comments

Well, we have our mini homestead land. Our next big project will be to put a road in, but in the meantime we are preparing to build a garage with a livable loft to live in and use until we build our main house. Part of the plans and preparation for the garage construction is the materials. We really don't want to buy everything brand new. First of all, new costs money and doesn't necessarily mean that the product is better. Secondly, there are tons of materials and supplies out there that are used and still in perfect working order! No reason to fill the dumps with good stuff. We are happy to refurbish, reuse, and repurpose if it helps save the Earth, but even more importantly, saves us money!

This Vermont casting stove was being discarded by our new neighbor. Yup, it was going in the garbage! So the little window was cracked and it needed a good cleaning. "No biggie, we can fix that!" said my husband. And guess what? He did!

I didn't even tell you the best part yet: the stove came with 12 feet of stove pipe too! Livable garage loft, we are ready for you!

My husband simply went online, did a little research as far as what stove it is exactly - The Vermont Castings Resolute from 1979 - and purchased new glass for the door windows and a gasket kit. He purchased all the parts from Mountain View Hearth Products in Montana. He had to call them up and talk to them to make sure he was getting the right parts and they were super helpful. We highly recommend them if you need any stove parts!

Took some time for him to take it all apart, clean it, and put it back together but now it is like brand new! Total cost: less than $200. Savings: THOUSANDS!

A few other items we have collected for FREE so far:

2 interior doors with frames
Interior door knobs
1 small electric water heater

Still on the lookout for:

Kitchen cabinets, sink, etc.
Bathroom shower and sink

One of our favorite places to visit is Restore in Ronkonkoma. It is run by Habitat for Humanity and all proceeds go to building homes for people in need. They get donations of used or leftover building materials, supplies, flooring, cabinets, even furniture and appliances!

We never know what we will find when we visit but it is super fun to go! So if you have something to get rid of, or are looking for something particular, consider checking them out. It is worth it! Think of it like a thrift store for building and home needs!

Thanks for visiting!
Check out our other ways to save money and our future homestead plans!
Sincerely,

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DIY Hanging Bottle Opener

6/26/2017

1 Comment

This was a coordinated effort between myself and my husband so we could surprise the Dad's in our family at our annual Father's Day barbecue!

This DIY hanging bottle opener was the perfect gift. It was pretty simple to make and we learned a few lessons along the way, but overall we are really happy with how they all turned out!

Supplies Needed:

Some scrap 1" x 4"wood cut approximately 16" long
Sandpaper
Stain (after making one painted, we recommend using stain only)
Bottle openers (affiliate link)
Pint mason jars
Hose clamp (about 3" diameter - measure jar!)
Screws (3 small)
Paper with printed out sayings and pictures (download a pdf of the ones I used here).
Chalk
Pencil
Paint Pens
Clear Spray Finish

Directions:

Sand wood lightly
Stain and let dry thoroughly
Print out saying and picture to fit in 4 x 8 area
Chalk the back side of the picture, then place it on the wood and trace the outline with pencil. See How to Rustic Sign Lettering Post here!
Paint the letters and pictures with black paint pen
Clear spray finish the entire piece
Screw on the bottle opener (affiliate link) near the top
Screw on the clamp and then add the jar and tighten. See Hanging Mason Jar Rack Post here!
Unit is best affixed securely to the wall, but you can drill holes and use some rope to hang it.

A link to download the pdf for all of the pictures seen above can be found below and at the bottom of the post!

link to beer sign printable

Thanks for visiting!
Check out all my other DIY ideas here on this site or on myPinterest Board!
Please follow me on social media as well :-)
Sincerely,

link to beer opener printables

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DIY Wooden Building Window Toppers

6/13/2017

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Once upon a time my mom spotted something similar to these at a craft fair. Of course she came to me and asked if I would be able to make something like that for her for Mothers Day. And... of course I said yes! That was several years ago and since then I have made many different 'building' window frame toppers (pictures below) and have had many inquiries into how exactly I make them. I will tell you this, they take time but when it comes to making them with love for my mom, well I can't put a price tag on that!

In case you're not sure what a window topper is, it is a wooden design that is about 3/4" wide and sits on top of the window frame as a decoration. It could also go on top of a door frame and look just as good!

***Great way to repurpose old pine shelving!

Supplies Needed:

Wood: One of my favorite things about this project? I don't buy any wood! To date all the wood has been repurposed from old 1" x 8" pine shelving. That really works out to .75" thick x 7.5" high)which to this day still amazes me how the lumber industry gets away with this). It is important to know the actual size so that any sketches you make are accurate!
Pencil (and a design)
Ruler
Scroll Saw
Sandpaper
Craft paints in various colors (affiliate link)
Paint brushes (affiliate link)
Artist Drawing Pens in Bold and Medium (affiliate link)
Scrap Book Stickers and other miniature accessories as needed (optional)
Paper and Printer for signs
Double stick foam mounting tape
And a little Creativity!!

Check out this video of my latest building (2/6/18) on YouTube:

Pictorial HOW TO of
Barber Shop & Ice Cream Parlor:

Sketch the design onto the wood.

Use a scroll saw to cut along the outer line.

Two buildings completely cut.

Sand the edges a little bit.

Paint the back and sides of the building in the base color. The base color will be the main color of the building.

After the back dries, turn them over and paint the base color in the sketched areas. It doesn't have to be perfect!

After the base color dries, use a ruler and drawing pens to draw in the sketched lines. Now you want to try to be perfect!

Paint in some of the trim colors next.

Then add the black lines....

Add in a few other colors...and I think you are getting the idea now!

And then do the final edging lines!

Next you use some markers with different tip sizes to add details like shading, etc. The 'shine' on the window is simply some white paint.

I made some signs using MS Word and made sure they were the exact size I wanted. I used a template for 4x6 because the signs are printed on photo paper that usually comes free when we buy our printer ink!

Cut them out one at a time.

I use double sided tape to adhere each sign to a little piece of cardboard so they are sturdier/stiffer.

Cardboard is 'stuck' to back of sign.

Add a few pieces of double sided foam tape so when you put it on the building it has a little 'pop' to it.

Then carefully place it on the building where you want it!

Some signs just get double sided tape and are placed directly onto the building. I put the tape on before I cut them out so that there is no overhang.