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Essential Oil Bath Bombs – Giveaway 4/36

Posted by Carolyn on May 10, 2016 1 Comment

I’m not a huge bath person.  Wait, I should take that back.  I love taking baths in a big, deep tub where I can just float around and relax.  Unfortunately we have a super tiny (well, probably normal sized) tub, and I don’t find that very relaxing.  I decided to try making some bath bombs to up the relaxation game in my bathroom.

These are so great.  The moment you drop them in the water, they just go berserk, fizzing all over the place.  My girls love them in their baths, and I love how they are both moisturizing because of the oils, and add a calming scent to the whole bathroom.

I found quite a few different recipes around the internets, and settled on a combination of a few.  Most recipes have the same basic ingredients, just different ratios or other things thrown in for fun.

Here’s what I came up with:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup carrier oil (almond oil, fractionated coconut oil, olive oil)
  • 1/2 cup corn starch
  • 1 cup baking soda
  • 1 cup citric acid
  • 10-12 drops of essential oil (I love to add relaxing oils to the bath, so I used about 10 drops of Release this time.  I think you could do pretty much anything and it would be great.)

Mix all ingredients together in a glass bowl.  You can use a spoon, but you might as well just use your hands and get the benefit of the oils while you mix it all up.  It should feel like wet sand, and hold together if you squeeze it in your hand.  You can add more baking soda if it’s too wet, or more oil if it’s too dry.

There are silicone molds you can use, but I don’t have one, and didn’t want to spend the money on one, so I just used my mini-muffin tin.  I just pressed the mixture into the cups.  The more firmly you press the mixture in, the better it will solidify.

Let it dry for at least 24 hours, pop them out, and store in an airtight container, glass is always best.

Please let me know if you have any questions!  I’d be happy to suggest some other oils, or help you get started with essential oils if you don’t know where to begin!

Head over to my Instagram account for a giveaway of some of this sugar scrub!  This part three of my 36 Things for 36 Years project.  I’m giving away 36 things this year, and this week will be a whole week of oily giveaways! Details on how to enter here!

Also, make sure you enter my other Essential Oil Giveaways this week!  Essential Oil Sugar Scrub can be found here!

 

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Posted in: 36 Things For 36 Years, created., DIY, gave thanks., giveaway | Tagged: 36 Things for 36 Years, DIY, essential oils, giveaway, young living

Wood Burned Ornaments – GIVEAWAY and Tips by Katrina Henry

Posted by Carolyn on November 18, 2015 20 Comments
Wood Burned Ornaments - GIVEAWAY and Tips by Katrina Henry

andthenthey wood burned 04Already to the third day of the 5 Days of Christmas!   If you haven’t already entered for the first two giveaways, make sure you go check those out (here and here). The giveaways don’t close until this Sunday night, so you still have plenty of time!

For today, I asked my best friend, Katrina, to contribute her talents.  She’s always been an artist and an inspiration, but lately she’s been hitting it out of the park with her daily sketches on Instagram.  Guys, she’s amazing.  Go check her out and like her photos and follow her. 

Also, you should encourage her to start selling her art.  Don’t you think she’d be really successful?  Seriously.

So, now that you’ve gone to her Instagram and are completely impressed, read her tips for using a wood burning tool, and enter to win one of her ornaments!

andthenthey wood burned 08I’ve been making my own Christmas gifts for friends and family members for as long as I can remember. So when Carolyn asked me to participate in her week of Christmas DIY Projects and Giveaways, I was super excited! No hesitation.

Last year, I made monogrammed ornaments by painting initials on sliced wood circles from branches in my back yard. This time around, I tried my hand at wood burning on wood circles using Carolyn’s cool wood burning tool.

andthenthey wood burned 07I have to admit that it took me a few tries to get the hang of it and feel comfortable. I assumed I would like the fine point tip, since I prefer drawing with a fine tip pen. But it took much more effort than I expected to make a smooth line and I ended up making mistakes as I was going back over the lines to add detail.

Here’s what worked for me:

  • Test out the different tips on a piece of scrap wood (in the same type of wood, if possible) to determine which works best for the project. I preferred the slanted tip.
  • ​Draw the design in pencil on the wood circle.andthenthey wood burned 02
  • Use my non dominant hand to turn the wood so that I didn’t have to draw with the wood burning tool as much. I still drew with the tool, but felt like I had better control when I also used my left hand to guide the wood circle.
  • Pay attention to the angle of the tool. It was very easy for me to touch the side of the hot tip unintentionally. You can see in the photo with the “Joy” and “H” ornaments that I made some dark burns outside of my intended design. Not the end of the world, but definitely not the look I was going for. 😉andthenthey wood burned 01
  • Trace over the outline first with the wood burning tool, then go back over to fill in, add detail and shading.andthenthey wood burned 03
  • Keep the design simple and don’t sweat the imperfections. That’s part of what makes it look authentic and unique.
  • Attach a screw eye to the top (I used a 3/4″) or drill a hole straight through the ornament. I used baker’s twine, but you can use any ribbon, string or twine to hang your ornament.

andthenthey wood burned 06I hope those pointers help if you decide to give wood burning a try. Or you could win an ornament of your choice by following us on Instagram and commenting on this post. If you win, you can choose from the designs featured, or request a custom word or initial that is meaningful to you. I’m excited to play around more, now that I have the hang of using a wood burning tool! 🙂

Giveaway time!  We’re giving away a wood burned ornament.  Five ways to enter to win this fun, handmade Christmas decoration.

To enter to win the Gift Bag, do any or all of the following:

  1. Answer this question in the comment section of my blog: When do you usually start getting ready for Christmas?  How do you prepare?
  2. Follow me on Instagram (carolynfwilliams), then comment on this blog post telling me you’re following me on Instagram.
  3. Comment again telling me you’re following Megan’s shop on Instagram (alwayscreateco).
  4. Comment again telling me you’re following Katrina on Instagram (katrinalhenry).
  5. Subscribe to Megan’s channel on YouTube.

*** ENTER by SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd 9pm Pacific Time – All five winners (one for each day this week) will be announced on Andthenthey.com on Monday, the 23rd ***

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Posted in: CaroMade, created., decorating, DIY, giveaway, gratitude, holidays | Tagged: Christmas, create, creating, DIY, DIY gifts, giveaway, holiday, holidays, katrina, tutorial, wood burning

Drawstring Gift Bag – GIVEAWAY and TUTORIAL

Posted by Carolyn on November 17, 2015 6 Comments
Drawstring Gift Bag - GIVEAWAY and TUTORIAL

andthenthey gift bag tutorial 01I love wrapping gifts, but I’m so, so bad at it.  The ends are always crumpled and there’s way more tape than there should be.  I also hate all the trash that we throw away on Christmas morning.  But, I love how reusable gift wrapping is getting more popular!

I thought I’d make a few gift bags for our family, and show you my process.

But first, a story.  I have no idea if my parents know this, but my brother and I were expert gift-peekers.  We would shake our presents, lift up the paper, do whatever we could to figure them out.  There was one year that I remember, in particular.  We would take a knife to slice the tape, carefully unwrap the gift, wrap it back up, then put a new piece of tape exactly over the sliced tape.  I think we knew everything we were getting before Christmas was here.  That was the year we got new ski pants.  I know, it’s odd.  Why did we want to ruin the surprise?  Now, I would never do that.  Why am I telling you this story?  Well, because if you have someone like me in your house, these gift bags won’t do much good.  You must make these bags with a healthy dose of trust, because they are easy to open, peek in, or completely unwrap.  That’s the disclaimer for this tutorial.

Well… let’s get started, shall we?

For these gift bags, you don’t need a specific cut of fabric.  You can really use any dimension, but in this tutorial I used a fat quarter.  I like the size bag a fat quarter makes.andthenthey gift bag tutorial 02 Start by ironing down about a half inch on the top of the bag.  You should note, at this point, that I don’t use actual measurements to make this bag.  It’s all estimated and eyeballed.  This is partly because the amount of material you use will determine how you construct your gift bag.  Also, it doesn’t have to be perfect since it will be all scrunched up in the end.  andthenthey gift bag tutorial 03 Fold down again, this time a few inches.  You can see this in the below photo.  If you look to the left of my hand, you’ll see the first fold, then how I folded again on top.  Does that make sense?  I hope so.

Also, in the below photo, you can see two blue marks on the right side of the fabric.  These are the guidelines for where I’ll put the buttonhole.  The reason I’m doing buttonholes is because it finishes the edges of the holes where we’ll put the ribbon.  It adds to the finished look.andthenthey gift bag tutorial 04 Unfold the fabric, and put your buttonholes in.  (My sewing machine manual had instructions on making a buttonhole, and I’m not sure if the directions would be similar for different machines, so if you don’t know how to make a buttonhole, you should search for your specific machine.)  You want to make sure you just put the holes in the top layer of fabric, so be very sure that you unfold your fabric before you start sewing the holes.andthenthey gift bag tutorial 05Refold your fabric and sew along the bottom edge, all along the top.  Now, you’re going to finish the channel for the ribbon.  Start above the buttonhole, and sew all the way across the top to make the channel.  For me, I had a narrow ribbon, so I sewed my second line a couple inches above the bottom line.   andthenthey gift bag tutorial 06For these gift bags, I love making it as finished looking as possible, so I like to do a French seam on the inside.  French seams are really fun, and I actually use them a lot when I make clothes, too.

Here’s how to do it.  Fold your bag in half, wrong sides together.  (the photo below is crooked, with the top of the bag on the left side of the photo.)  You can see below how I sewed around the bottom and the side opposite the fold.  I did about a 1/4 inch seam, but trimmed it to about 1/8 inch.andthenthey gift bag tutorial 07 Here you can see the trimmed seams.  I also trimmed the corners, so when it’s turned inside out in the next step they weren’t too bulky.andthenthey gift bag tutorial 08Turn your bag inside out, and sew around the seams you just sewed, again with a 1/4 inch seam.  You’ll want to make sure the first seam is nestled inside this seam.   andthenthey gift bag tutorial 09 Look how pretty and professional!  No frayed edges!  No sloppy lines!  I love it!andthenthey gift bag tutorial 10 Now, all you have to do is string your ribbon.  Cut your ribbon so it’s about 4 times as long as your bag is wide.  I’ve ready about fancy ribbon threading tools, but I’ve always done just fine with the safety pin method.  Attach a safety pin to one end, stick it in one of the holes, and work your way around until the pin comes out the other hole, pulling the ribbon with it.andthenthey gift bag tutorial 11Magic! andthenthey gift bag tutorial 12Now all you have to do is make a bunch of these!  They are quick and easy, so get sewing and you’ll have a stash in no time!  They are so fun and cheerful!  Make them for hostess gifts (stick a bottle of wine in one as a bonus), birthday presents, or any other occasion.

andthenthey gift bag tutorial 13Want to win this bag?  Here’s how:

Giveaway time!  I’m giving away this festive gift bag.  Five ways to enter to win this fun, handmade (read: not perfect) Christmas decoration.  You’ll be getting to know the other two sponsors, Megan and Katrina, this week, so you can start following them today!

To enter to win the Gift Bag, do the following:

  1. Answer this question in the comment section of my blog: Were you on the naughty list or the nice list when you were a kid?  Did you ever peek at your presents?  Do you think my parents knew I was such a stealthy sneak?
  2. Follow me on Instagram (carolynfwilliams), then comment on this blog post telling me you’re following me on Instagram.
  3. Comment again telling me you’re following Megan’s shop on Instagram (alwayscreateco).
  4. Comment again telling me you’re following Katrina on Instagram (katrinalhenry).
  5. Subscribe to Megan’s channel on YouTube.

*** ENTER by SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd 9pm Pacific Time – All five winners (one for each day this week) will be announced on Andthenthey.com on Monday, the 23rd ***

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Posted in: CaroMade, created., decorating, DIY, holidays, sewing, sewing | Tagged: Christmas, create, creating, DIY, DIY gifts, gift bag, giveaway, holidays, sewing, tutorial

Quilted Christmas Table Runner – GIVEAWAY

Posted by Carolyn on November 16, 2015 16 Comments
Quilted Christmas Table Runner - GIVEAWAY

As part of the 5 Days of Christmas Giveaways, I knew I wanted to make a table runner.  I love quilting and sewing and Christmas and tables, so it was an obvious choice.andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 01This project is perfect for someone who’s new to sewing.  If you’ve been wanting to make a quilt, this is a great place to start.  It has all the elements of quilt-making, but on a much smaller scale.  That means that you can learn the methods without the overwhelming amount of fabric or work.  It’s also very forgiving – the way I did the crooked strips mean that you don’t have to worry about having things line up, or even about sewing a straight line.

Materials needed:

  • 4 fat quarters
  • 1/2 yard fabric for binding
  • 1/2 yard fabric for backing
  • Batting – I bought a crib size and cut it to fit the runners
  • Thread
  • Rotary cutter – scissors would work, but the rotary makes it much easier
  • Ironandthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 13Disclaimer:  This is my first sewing tutorial, so I’m sorry if something’s unclear.  Please let me know if you have questions, or if something needs to be clarified! andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 02 I started with four fat quarters and cut them into strips.  I didn’t measure anything because I was going for the uneven, crooked stripey look.  I did some wide strips, and some narrow strips, but most were in between.  I probably should have ironed my material, but this wasn’t about perfection, so I didn’t.andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 03Above, you can see the first two strips ready to be sewn.  If you were doing a quilt where you wanted straight lines, and lined up angles, you would just put the two pieces together (right sides facing), and sew along one edge.  To get the crooked look, I just placed my strips together (right sides facing), but didn’t line up the edges. andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 04When you sew the strips together, follow one edge.  I like to use a 1/4 inch seam, so I just line the edge of the fabric up with the edge of the sewing machine foot, and that’s a little over 1/4 inch. andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 05 After you sew a new strip on, go ahead and trim off the extra seam allowances, making both pieces of fabric have about a 1/4 inch seam.  You can see in the photo above how the red fabric won’t be trimmed much, but the green fabric will have quite a bit trimmed off, especially near the top.  andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 06 Above, you can see one of the strips that I made really crooked.  Can you see how that top fabric is placed at quite an angle from the one I sewed it to?  That meant that I trimmed of quite a bit of the bottom fabric, but it created a really crooked line.  Just keep adding strips until you run out, and it should be fairly large.

I don’t have a photo of this, but after I sewed all the strips together, I ironed the quilt top.  I pressed all the seam allowances in one direction and got rid of all the creases.  I also cut the whole thing in half, to make two long, narrow table runners.  I think this would look great if you kept it wide, too!  Totally your choice!

andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 07 Now, on to the quilting!  I cut out some fabric for the backing.  It wasn’t long enough, so I had to sew two pieces together.  Lay your backing fabric (design side down) on a large work area.  For big quilts, I do this on the floor, but for this project, my dining room table worked just fine.  Smooth it out and place your quilt batting on top.  Then, put your quilt top on top, sandwiching the batting between the backing and top.  Smooth it all out, check to make sure it’s all lined up, and stick some pins in it.  Next, roll it up from both sides, to the middle.  It’s helpful to clamp these rolls, just to keep everything snug in place.  I found that it wasn’t as necessary for this project, since it’s so small, but you might still find it helpful.andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 08The purpose of quilting is to hold the three layers all together.  I have yet to get too fancy with my quilting.  I usually just do straight or wavy lines, and I like how that turns out.  For this quilt, I didn’t really want to see the lines, so I used a technique called stitch in the ditch.  Basically, this means that you will sew right over the seams.  The quilting lines are almost hidden in the seams.  I used red thread, so it stands out more than if I had really been trying to match, and hide the quilting lines. andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 09Keep quilting until it’s all sewn together!  To bind it, use this tutorial. I started writing a tutorial for binding, but realized that this one is way, way better.  It’s what I used to learn, and I look back at it every time I make a quilt.  The only thing I do differently is how I finish it.  I usually attach it first to the back of the quilt, then use my machine on the front with it folded over.  This means that the front of the binding has a line of sewing on it, but I like that look – especially on this quilt with the red stitching on the white binding.  It’s also much more secure, and since most of my quilts have been for kids and babies, that’s important.  My quilts get washed a lot and need to hold up.  andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 11 Please let me know if you have any questions!  I’m happy to help!  Let me know if you end up making one of these – I’d love to see it!andthenthey Quilted Christmas Table Runner 10Giveaway time!  I’m giving away one of the table runners I’ve made here (the backing fabric is different than the one pictured, so that will be a fun surprise!).  Five ways to enter to win this fun, handmade (read: not perfect) Christmas decoration.  You’ll be getting to know the other two sponsors, Megan and Katrina, this week, so you can start following them today!

To enter to win the Table Runner, do the following:

  1. Answer this question in the comment section of my blog: What is your favorite Christmas decoration?  Does it have a story?  Is it an heirloom or something you bought more recently?
  2. Follow me on Instagram (carolynfwilliams), then comment on this blog post telling me you’re following me on Instagram.
  3. Comment again telling me you’re following Megan’s shop on Instagram (alwayscreateco).
  4. Comment again telling me you’re following Katrina on Instagram (katrinalhenry).
  5. Subscribe to Megan’s channel on YouTube.

*** ENTER by SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22nd 9pm Pacific Time – All five winners (one for each day this week) will be announced on Andthenthey.com on Monday, the 23rd ***

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Posted in: CaroMade, created., decorating, DIY, giveaway, holidays, sewing, sewing | Tagged: Christmas, create, creating, DIY, giveaway, holidays, sewing

Autumn Decor, 2015

Posted by Carolyn on September 25, 2015 1 Comment

Today was the day.  While the kids were at school, I came home to clean the living room and decorate for Autumn.  How pleasant this task was without little feet underfoot.  Plus, I get the added bonus of surprising them with all the new Autumn decor when they come home!andthenthey autumn decor1This year the mantel is a little more Halloween-y than in the past.  I put our vintage Halloween postcards right in the center, and added some more spooky things.  I love this sphere my grandpa made out of obsidian that looks like a magical eyeball crystal ball or something.  It’s even spookier with my ghostly reflection in this photo… andthenthey autumn decor2 andthenthey autumn decor3I can’t remember if I ever shared a photo of the fireplace all painted.  I ended up painting the inside a charcoal color, and the outside just a plain white, whatever we had in the shed.  I love how it brightens up the room. andthenthey autumn decor4This next decoration cracks me up.  I think my mother-in-law gave this to the girls last Autumn, but I couldn’t find the dowel for hanging it.  It probably became a sword or a wand and had to be taken away.  Anyway, the girls have been playing with this branch and I thought it would a perfectly spooky flagpole.  I doubt it will last long, but it’s funny for now.  Just watch out as you walk into our garage… andthenthey autumn decor5  Here’s our front porch decorations.  The broom is actually my mother-in-law’s; she won it in a raffle and I picked it up for her.  I’m sure she’ll agree that it looks really good on our porch, right?!?  We’ve been collecting the mini pumpkins each time we go out to the farm.   andthenthey autumn decor9andthenthey autumn decor6I’ve also meant to post about our new bench!  Jesse built it and I stained it!  Isn’t it amazing?  We used reclaimed lumber from my dad’s old deck.  I love the nicks and dings and nail holes. andthenthey autumn decor7 I’m so proud of Jesse, following in his woodworking grandfather’s footsteps.  We bought a Kreg Jig for this project and it made the whole thing so easy and perfect.  Now Jesse is inspired and motivated to make all sorts of things.  I love that this is a new hobby for him because he’s really good at it, and I get awesome things out of it!  andthenthey autumn decor8And of course, I needed to get the fairies some new Autumn decor.

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Posted in: created., decorating, DIY, holidays | Tagged: autumn, autumn mantel, creating, decor, decorating, DIY, mantel

Piano Bench Upgrade

Posted by Carolyn on September 18, 2015 Leave a Comment

AndThenThey Piano Bench 3When we bought our piano four years ago, it came with a bench.  The bench was covered in a fabric that I’ve always meant to change.  It was a cute little Parisian scene, but not quite our style.

AndThenThey Piano Bench 2When I bought the fabric for Harriet’s backpack, I ended up with a ton left over.  I mentioned to my mom that I really liked the fabric, and that it would be good on our chairs if it wasn’t so white/ we didn’t have such small, messy kids.  She suggested using it for the bench.  Great idea!

AndThenThey Piano Bench 1Last Thursday, I decided to start the project while the girls were eating lunch.  I took the bench apart and pulled out all the staples.  Then I cut out my new fabric by just tracing around the old fabric (hey, Janice, if you want the old fabric back, let me know!).

AndThenThey Piano Bench 5During Harriet’s nap, I stapled it all together and put it back together, and now it’s done.  I’d say the project took about an hour, start to finish.  I thought about doing a tutorial, but realized the internet is full of this exact tutorial, it it was pretty must just common sense.

AndThenThey Piano Bench 4I love how it turned out – cheerful and bright.

AndThenThey Piano Bench 6I also love this photobomb – cheerful and bright.

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Posted in: created., decorating, DIY | Tagged: decor, decorating, DIY, home, sewing, update, updates

Quilted Infinity Scarf Tutorial

Posted by Carolyn on October 16, 2014 1 Comment

I’m starting a new series of projects that have been on my Pinterest boards for far too long.  I’m going to actually start creating the things I pin, and posting them on here.  I know, it’s crazy.  Without further ado, I give you the quilted infinity scarf tutorial!

Quilted Infinity Scarf Tutorial - AndthentheyInfinity scarves seem to be all the rage these days.  I didn’t have an infinity scarf, so I thought I’d try making one.  I like to wear scarves because, as a teacher, I have to be pretty modest.  A scarf is a great way to cover up when a shirt is just a little bit too low-cut.

mThis is a great project, because all you need is two fat quarters, some leftover batting, and some embroidery floss.  I’ve seen some tutorials around the web – here’s my take on it.  It took me about an hour to complete, so it’s pretty simple!


Start with two fat quarters, cut them into 6 inch strips.  Mine ended up being about 6 x 21 inches.

I used two fabrics from Joel Dewberry’s Birch Farm line – “Barn Owl” and “Horse Blanket.”  I bought my fabric at Piece by Piece, but if you don’t live locally, I think you can get it at Southernfabric. I wanted  mostly neutrals, and the pop of light blue is perfect for my capsule wardrobe.

aSew the short ends of each fabric together to create two long, skinny strips.

Cut your batting to be 5 inches wide by the length of your strips.  I made mine a little longer than the strips, just to make sure I had enough.  Mine was 5 x 63 inches.  Now you have three long strips to work with.

bPut the batting on the wrong side of one of your strips, as sew together using a basting stitch (which you will later remove, it will just hold everything in place until you quilt it).

cPut the other piece of fabric so the two fabrics are facing, and the batting is on top.

dSew along the long edges, leaving about 9 inches open on one side.  Leave the ends open, but trim them so all three layers are the same length, and line up.  Turn right side out.

eThis is where I got stuck.  This next step totally baffled me.  What you need to do is stick one end through the tube of fabric and pop it out the other end.  I’ll try to explain this so it makes sense.  Reach in the opening on the side and grab one of the open ends.  Pull it through to the other end, and pull it all the way through so both ends are lined up.  I hope the next three photos help make this more clear.

fghThe last photo above shows one of the ends inside the other.  Go ahead and sew this closed.

iWhen you turn it back right side out, you’ll have a full circle – infinity!

jTo close up the hole, you can either just hand stitch it closed, or edge stitch the entire scarf.  I like the look of edge stitching, so I did that with white thread.

k1To quilt the infinity scarf, you have more options!  You can machine quilt it, or hand quilt.  I’ve been liking quilts with big stitches, so I went that route.  I just took some embroidery floss and quilted an easy line right down the middle.  I used all 6 strands of the floss because I wanted it to look thick.  I didn’t pay much attention to keeping my stitches even, but I did try to keep it in a straight line.

kThere you have it! A quilted infinity scarf!  Let me know if you make one – I would love to see photos!  I think I’ll be raiding my fabric stash to make more of these!

nl

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Posted in: created., DIY, sewing, sewing | Tagged: DIY, fashion, sewing, tutorial

How to Create a Secret Message For When it Rains

Posted by Carolyn on July 29, 2014 3 Comments

And Then They - How to Create a Secret Message for When it Rains - AndthentheyThis is my favorite project ever.  Probably because I love rain so much, and it is the middle of summer, and there is no rain in the forecast at all.

It was actually really easy, and pretty fun!  And the results were exactly as cool as I expected!

Here’s a quick little rundown with instructions so you can do this yourself!

First pick what you want the message to say.  I wanted to use a quotation about rain – that celebrated rain.  I also wanted it short enough that it would fit well on my front porch, and wouldn’t be too labor intensive to make the template.  I picked “Let the rain kiss you,” the opening line of a Langston Hughes poem, “April Rain Song.”

Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain.

Exactly how I feel about rain.  Perfect.

Next, I found an old cardboard box, opened it up, and drew the letters on.  I used a ruler to make sure all the letters were the same height, but just did it freehand.  If you wanted to have it more precise, you could certainly print out your quote and copy it onto your cardboard.

IMG_1561Next, I used an x-acto knife and a cutting mat to cut out the letters. IMG_1564 IMG_1568 We found the Rust-Oleum NeverWet at our local hardware store.  It is kind of spendy, but we found it on sale.  I think it was about $15.  Considering it was the entire cost of this project, it wasn’t that bad.IMG_2595The directions say to clean your surface of dirt and debris.  We took it a step further, and Jesse pressure washed the whole front walk.  The cleaner the surface, the better, I figure!

I used painter’s tape to tape the template onto our front porch landing.  I also used the tape to fill in the letters R, A, and O.  There were a couple places where the cardboard was lifting up a little, so I made little tape bubbles and pressed everything down nice and firm. IMG_2597The directions also say that it holds up better if it doesn’t get much foot traffic, so I placed the template to the left of the landing, since people tend to hug the right hand side as they go up the steps.  I don’t think it will get a whole lot of foot traffic where I placed it. IMG_2599Next, I just followed the directions that came with the NeverWet.  There is a base coat of which I did two coats.  Then I did four super light coats of the top coat.

It says that it can leave a light white, frosted appearance, and you can kind of see that.  You really have to be looking for it, though.  The photo below shows what it looks like when it’s dry.  What do you think?  Can you tell where the letters are?  Maybe a little, but not enough to bother me!IMG_2635You are supposed to let it cure for 12 hours, but I waited almost a whole day.  Since there is no rain coming anytime soon, I had to manufacture it.  I just poured some water on it to see what it did.  It was pretty amazing!  The water just rolled right off the letters!  And the letters feel totally dry.  Super fun! IMG_2638 IMG_2639I love it!  I want to do this all over the place!  I will be sure to post updates during the winter months when it will surely be wet all the time.  Here’s hoping it holds up!  Let me know if you do this yourself!  I’d love to see more of these!

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Posted in: created., DIY | Tagged: create, created, DIY, langston hughes, neverwet, poem, project, rain

Chalkboard Car Table For Alma

Posted by andthenthey on January 6, 2014 1 Comment

Chalkboard Table for Cars - And Then TheyOne of the things we did for Alma’s second birthday was make her a fun chalkboard table for her cars.

This project actually started last summer and went through a few different changes along the way.  It started with this crazy dirt-and-rock-filled-brick-planter in our sunroom:

Before andthentheyThis planter has been annoying me since we moved in 3 years ago.  I’ve never known what to do with it.  Since our bunny lives in the sunroom, I couldn’t just plant some plants in it – he would eat them.  For a while he liked to dig in the box, but that ended up making a huge mess.  The dirt in the planter is a really fine dust that coats the whole room when dug up.  Add a curious toddler and the sunroom was never clean.

My mom actually suggested that we do something with the planter.  I think I had just given up at this point.  Her first idea was to dig out all the dirt and fill it with something more fun (and less dirty) to play with.  When she came over and started digging, she realized how horrible the dirt was after inhaling the super-fine dust.  We started brainstorming again.  The next idea was to cover it with a board and paint a scene on it for Alma’s cars.  You know those old carpets that have the town and roads on them?  That idea, but in paint.  After agreeing that this was the perfect idea, I thought it would be even cooler to just use chalkboard paint.  I wanted the girls to be able to create their own towns, or whatever, not just be stuck with the town I painted for them.  Imagination and creativity are always encouraged here!

Jesse and my mom went and bought all the supplies, and Jesse quickly built the board using plywood and quarter-round strips.  We countersunk the nails, and filled the holes with spackle so everything would be smooth.  Then the board sat on the planter for a couple months.

Finally, I decided Alma’s birthday was the perfect reason to finish this project, so I sanded everything down and started priming the board.

Priming andthentheyI used two coats of primer, then sanded it all down again.  I wanted to make sure the wood was really sealed because the chalkboard paint is expensive and I didn’t want to waste it by having it soak into the wood.  Also, the directions say to prime and sand bare wood.

Then came 3 or 4 thin coats of the chalkboard paint.  I can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure I did 4.  I wanted smooth, even coverage, so I did really nice, thin coats.  Below you see what it looked like halfway through the second coat.

Painting andthenthey

Then back out to the sunroom to cure for a few days.  I already liked how it looked so much!  No more dirt!

Installed andthenthey

I followed the directions on the can to prepare the chalkboard by rubbing the side of a piece of chalk all over the whole thing and wiping off with a dry cloth.  Our original idea was to attach the whole thing to the wall, but I sort of love how I can tip it up and brush the chalk dust into the dirt.  We might need to attach it if Alma or Harriet start lifting it up all the time, but it’s pretty heavy and I don’t think they know it opens.

Happy Birthday andthentheyI’m not sure who will like it more, me, or Alma.  I had a lot of fun writing a birthday message, and drawing a little road for her new cars.  I’m excited to work on my chalkboard-writing skills.

Playing andthentheyAlma definitely does love it, though!  She seems to like the drawing part more than the car part these days, but I’m sure she’ll appreciate that it is a fun, versatile toy out in the sunroom.  I also have a ton of the paint leftover, so I’m already thinking about what else could use some creativity.  Chalkboard all the things!  Uh oh….

ps – I am linking up with a link party on I Heart Nap Time!

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Posted in: gave thanks. | Tagged: birthday, cars, chalkboard, chalkboard art, chalkboard paint, DIY, DIY chalkboard, DIY gifts, DIY kids, DIY project, kids, Parenting, parents, project, toys
If God said, ‘Rumi pay homage to everything that has helped you enter my arms,’ there would not be one experience of my life, not one thought, not one feeling, nor any act, I would not bow to. -Rumi

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