T-shirt Up-cycle

We've got stacks of old, stained, holey t-shirts around here that I can't bring myself to throw away. A couple have been cut up into cleaning rags, but come on, how many cleaning rags do you need?

My solution...

I cut those puppies into long strips and turned them into "yarn," then taught myself how to crochet a rag rug. Seriously.

It's not even close to being perfect, but I made it myself, and I love it! It fits great in front of the sink or stove in the kitchen. 

I've been wanting to make a rag rug for awhile now, but the idea of sewing coils and coils of braided fabric together makes me want to scream. Plus, I prefer rectangular rugs, so I learned to crochet instead!

I used YouTube to learn a simple single crochet stitch, and went to town with it. Each color is a whole t-shirt (between 2x and 4x sizes) cut into strips, so my pile is 7 shirts shorter!

 I was inspired by this rug made by Cassandra from Flight of the Pook out of bed sheets:

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and this awesome denim rug from Alison King made from 100 lbs. of up-cycled jeans. Holy moly. I Love it!

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Maybe I'll use denim for the next rug. For now, keep your eye out for more t-shirt up-cycle projects to come!

Squeeky Door Tip and Back to Work

There are a lot of changes going on around here this week, so things are a bit topsy-turvy. First off, I've got a new job, so after 17 months of raisin' babies at home, I'm going back to work. I'm excited and sad all at the same time. I'm sad to be leaving my little man, but I'm excited to get back into the world, and also to take a lot of the pressure off of my husband (who has been working AND going to school full time). I'll be able to spend most of the day with the wee one, then when my hubby gets home from school we will swap places, and I'll go to work and he'll take care of dinner and bed time. I'll be sad to leave, but I'm so glad that he will get time to bond with his Daddy. They're awfully cute together, don't you think?

I'll admit, I am a little nervous about the breastfeeding/sleeping situation though. Wee One nurses before and after his naps and bed time still, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

The second bit of news is this fuzzy girl:

No, that's not a slipper, it's a Lionhead Rabbit playing shy. We've been talking about getting a pet, and a visit to the Tractor Supply Store sealed the deal. She's a sweet little girl who absolutely adores my husband. Naturally he had zero interest in a bunny and required convincing to bring her home, yet Cassidy follows him around the house and cuddles with him for hours.

Lastly, is just a little tip I wanted to share. Our doors are squeaky here, and sometimes they wake up the wee one. WD-40 would fix the problem right up, but I can never find it when I need it, and it seems too expensive to go buying another can I'm just going to lose anyway. The solution? Cooking spray. Spray a very small amount of cooking spray down each hinge (both inside and outside), open and close the door a few times to distribute the oil, and problem solved! Just be sure to wipe off any excess before it drips down.  Ahhhh, quiet doors on the cheap.

No-Cost Dryer Balls

Edit: In case you're wondering 'What the heck are dryer balls, and why would I want them?', here's why:
Dryer balls bounce around inside the dryer and move your laundry around so that more air can circulate around the clothes, which makes them dry faster. Faster drying means less waiting around in your underwear for those pants to dry, and of course less money you have to shell out to the energy company. Some dryer
balls also make your clothes smell nice. If you wanted you could add a drop or two of essential oil to one of the middle layers of the ball (while you're still making it) and the scent would release over time. Dryer balls are also supposed to make your clothes softer. I have noticed my husband's t-shirts are much softer, and all my laundry is definitely fluffier!

Do you use dryer balls? I've been wanting to try them out, but until recently I was under the impression that dryer balls had to be made of either rubber or wool. I started making a dryer ball out of wool yarn, but it took up so much yarn and it felt like a waste, so I came up with these up-cycled sock dryer balls.

Everyone has lone socks hanging around their house, so why not make them earn their keep?

For the core you can ball fabric scraps together tightly, or tie a knot in the toe of a sock.

Wrap as much fabric scraps as you have around the core as tightly as you can, then put into the toe of your first sock.

Push the core all the way down, stretching the sock, then twist tightly around one full turn- I know my twist is loose here. Do what I say, not what I do. ;)

Flip the remaining sock up around the ball, pull the sock tight, and it will look like this. At this point the sock is 2-ply. Clear as mud, right?  Repeat the twist, pull the sock over, twist, etc. until you reach the top of the sock.

Fold/stretch the top of the sock over like a little hat, and insert into the next sock, "hat" down so it stays put.

You'll know you're done adding socks when it's about the size of a baseball/fist. To finish, pull the top layer tight and sew a quick whip stitch around the edge to keep it together. All done! Throw them in the dryer with your next load, and watch your clothes dry in less time.

You lookin' at me?

Tips:

*Notice I put the ugly hospital socks in the inside and the more decorated frog sock on the outside.

*You could use pretty much any fabric for these. If you had an old t-shirt you could cut it into strips and wrap it into a good size ball then use one sock on the outside to finish. Use what you have!

*Keep it tight. A loose ball won't bounce around and do the job like a hard one will.

* Don't worry about the lumps and bumps. They will actually help the ball to bounce around more erratically, thereby creating more movement and more efficiency.

I read that 4 dryer balls are optimal to save energy, so that's how many I made. I tested them out, and they work awesome! Usually I run a 60 minute dryer cycle with my ancient dryer, and I was able to decrease the time down to 45 minutes with a load of towels. Awesome, right? I tested them with king size sheets also, and I didn't have to pull out and re-arrange the sheets toward the end to get them completely dry. Do your sheets do that? Get all wrapped up around themselves so the inside layers are damp and the outside dry? No longer a problem.

Cost: Nada.

Savings: No idea!

If you use a laundromat that gives you 7 mins of dryer time per quarter then you could save $1 with every two dryer loads. That would add up quick at my house. I'd love to hear if you try this out.

Kindle and Case

What do all electronic books need? An accompanying home to protect it from crushing textbooks, pens, and whatever else floats around that bag of his. Enter part 2 of my husband's Annivers-itines Day gift.

From the outside it looks like any other boring money management book that lost its dust cover (or is it called a dust jacket?)

But on the inside- a secret kindle case!

It does a great job protecting the kindle, and I'm thinking that the chances of someone knowing it's a kindle and stealing it are slim. An added bonus is that in order to carry around his fake book, he has to carry around a real book! Hahaha I'm sure these electronic books are the best thing since sliced bread, but I just don't like the idea of them at all. I guess I'm just old fashioned. :) He likes it, irony and all.

Handmade Gift #2 ABC Blocks

Months ago I found pre-cut wooden blocks at Goodwill, and of course I snatched them right up. $3.99 minus 30% off special, plus an additional 10% off as a student discount = a great deal.

After a coat of primer, some acrylic paint, and some sharpie permanent markers, this is what we have.

We already celebrated Christmas at my house, and I'm pleased to say that he likes them! That is, he likes to knock them over after I stack them.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Since our homemade laundry detergent was such a success, I figured I'd give homemade dishwasher detergent a shot. It didn't hurt that the store-bought, expensive brand was doing a crappy job cleaning in our new dishwasher.

The recipe I found in blog land was
1/2 c. Borax
1/2 c. Washing Soda
1/4 c. citric acid

I read that in a pinch you can substitute non-sugar lemon drink mix for the citric acid, so I tried it. Naturally, at the store I was in a hurry, so I grabbed the first lemon drink mix I came across, which happens to have sugar in it. Woops!

I gave it a shot anyway, doubling the amount of lemon drink mix to compensate for the smaller amount of citric acid in the mix, and the Borax and washing soda I already had on hand for my laundry detergent.

I used:

1/2 c. Borax

1/2 c. Washing Soda

1/2 c. lemonade drink mix

Did it work? You better believe it! My glasses and dishes actually came out sparkling! Usually they are cloudy and several dishes need to be re-washed by hand. Not this time! I'm very pleased with the results.

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Mini Caramel Apples & a Feature

Warning: The following post may make you smack your head in a why-didn't-I-think-of-that moment, then run to the store against your will to copy this idea. Please use caution while proceeding.

I have a confession. I'm in love. I'm in love with this idea, and with Christy's blog From Glitter To Gumdrops. Mini caramel apples? Of course! I like caramel apples, but I won't eat them because they're too difficult/messy to eat on top of being too much sugar for a whole apple. Enter these single-serve caramel apples, and I'm in heaven! If you love apples, guess what? She has a whole WEEK of apple recipes! The recipe for Kristen's Toffee Apple Dip looks awesome.

In case apples aren't your thing, she also has a ton of great handmade gift ideas. I'm seeing a set of these face plates in my future!

Edit: I'm having trouble with mushy/broken off pretzel rods within minutes after inserting them, so traditional sticks might be necessary. : (

Nylon Hose Barbed Tee in 1/4"x 1/4" x 3/8"...

is sadly missing from the hardware shelf. In fact, I can't find one online either. This makes me sad. Very, very sad. Nearly sad enough to cry. In fact it isn't the first not so sad thing to make me cry lately. Maybe my 17 month menstrual hiatus is reaching its conclusion (that's also enough to make me want to cry). That may be too much info for many of you, but oh well. It's completely natural, and I'm a bit on the over-sharing,"crunchy" side anyway. Sigh. I needed that specific size barbed tee for the construction of my DIY diaper sprayer. Perhaps I can find a 1/4"x 1/4" x 1/4" MIP, then get a 1/4" to 3/8" MIP thingy? I don't know if I'm using that terminology correctly, but it makes sense to me at this moment. The search continues...



P.S. I need a nap.

Project: Used Washer & Dryer

I'm slowly plugging along on my 10 in 10 tasks list, and the other day I tackled hooking up the used washer and dryer we bought from the Habitat Restore. (Side note: if you've never been to a habitat for humanity ReStore, then go NOW! It's like the G-Dub of hardware, building supplies, furniture, and appliances.)

The washer was hooked up with the only hitch being that the hot and cold water valves are backwards. I can handle that. I'll switch them at some point.  It was the dryer that gave me trouble. Did you know that all electric dryer plugs are not created equal? In fact, electric dryers aren't even sold with cords anymore. Whaaaat?

Yeah, you heard me correctly. Apparently new builds (1999 and later) have a 4-pronged outlet, whereas prior to that, buildings had these 3 pronged outlets. Bummer.

As it turns out, it's not such a big deal. A little google here, a little hardware store there, and I replaced the old cord pictured above, with this cord.

I followed the instructions here to remove the old plug cords and bonding jumper, then reconnect the 4 new cords. It was very simple to do, but to be honest, plugging it in once it was all done scared the crap out of me, so my wonderful husband plugged it in, and pretended to be electracuted saved the day.

This is the back panel with the new wires all connected. Normally the cord would be fed through the bottom, but my grounding wire (green one) wouldn't reach the grounding screw if I did that, so I had to improvise.

Yay, new cord installation complete! Laundry may commence!

Oh, that is-until I realized that the dryer wasn't doing a very good job of drying.

 Haroomph!

Today, while imagining pitching the dryer out the window, I discovered a small puddle of water coming from under the dryer. Umm...that's not good.  Upon further investigation, I found this stuffed in the outside vent:

A plastic bag?! Hello! Can you say fire hazard?! Ugh!

I'm grateful that I noticed the puddle and never left the dryer running when I wasn't home.

Now everything is reconnected, the fire hazards are removed, and it is drying like a champ!

Night Stand Update

Oh, hi! I'm still here, just a-pluggin' along. Apartment hunting, packing, playing, and painting our bedroom furniture. Nothing in our bedroom looks like it goes together. I'm not a fan of bedroom sets, or matchy-matchy things, but similar color schemes would be nice. Here's what we're working with as far as night stands go.

After sanding.

Not at all exciting, but they were free, so who am I to complain? They came from the graduate student housing at the university I worked at for a summer. For whatever reason they were replacing the perfectly good furniture, so I inherited whatever would fit in my tiny car, aka two of these sturdy little night stands.

primed twice

In my quest for a deal on "Whoops" paint I came across light blue tinted primer. I like the color, so I thought I would just prime them and leave them, but in my research (doesn't that make me sound all informed?) I found that it could feel chalky, and look dull, so on to plan B. I decided to give them a light blue wash similar to the primer color. Unfortunately my budget for decorating is pretty much zero, and I didn't have said paint. Crap.

Then, it occurred to me that once upon a time I was a painter. I have tons of oil and acrylics for painting on canvas! Why can't I just use that paint? So I did. I mixed white and aqua marine acrylic paints with about a cup or two of water, and came up with a light blue wash.

The sun washed out the color a bit, amplify this color by 20% and there you have it.

Umm...ok, so not quite as light as I had intended. They came out a bit brighter than anticipated, but turns out I love it! I couldn't stop looking at them. I kept peeking out the window at them while they dried, and breaking out into a huge grin. 

I knew that my husband wouldn't be quite as thrilled as I was, so I added a little more white paint and water when I painted the second one, and did a thinner wash.

I would have loved to buy pretty new pulls, but like I said, my budget is zero. Instead I dry-brushed primer on them, then spray painted the original pulls black. I actually like how the black and blue look together, and the dry brushing gave them a little texture, so they look kind of like wrought iron. Nice!

I lightly distressed the edges a little here and there.

My husband thought I was crazy for "ruining" my brand new paint job. It's going to get "ruined" during the move anyway, I'm just helping it look more intentional. :) Lastly I sprayed a clear coat on the tops, drawer fronts and pulls. This color isn't for everyone, but for an apartment-dweller surrounded in white, I think it's awesome!

One more  photo...

My little monkey boy, who can climb up the back of the couch and onto the ledge in 3 second flat.

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Magnetic Spice Jars

Well hello there! You still read this ol' thing? I thought you all forgot I existed. Oh...you did? Ah well, I'm still here, just busy busy. My sister is putting the house up for sale, and since we rent from her, that means we have to clean clean clean, and don't forget to declutter. As a result of all of this cleaning, I can't find a single thing. Sigh. On a positive note though, I've been more productive out of necessity, trying to maintain the clean, so here I sit on a Tuesday afternoon, and all of the weekly chores are already done! Yay me! You know what that means? I get to post here, AND maybe even paint something. Sweet! Before I go crazily painting all of our furniture, here's a little something I did for my husband for Father's Day.

Magnetic spice jars

He's been looking for a spice rack, but I thought these were so much cooler, plus, I got to use up some of the empty baby food jars we have, and be crafty. Yay! All I did was spray paint the lids black so they all matched, then glued the neodymium magnets to the lid. I ordered my magnets online, but they were much smaller than I anticipated(so I had to use 2-3 on each lid), and with the inflated cost of shipping (Magnets were like $3, shipping was $16), I would have been better off just buying the 4-packs they sell in the Walmart craft section for $3 something each.

I used superglue to attach the magnets, created labels using this Celtic knot design that I stretched:

Typed in all the spice names, printed on clear address labels I already had, and voila!

The finished product. For now they are on the fridge, but you're supposed to keep them in a dark cool place, so eventually I plan on mounting a cookie sheet to the inside of a cupboard door, and keeping them there. My total cost was about $20, which was the cost of the magnets. Everything else I had on hand. My only advice with these is to not tighten the lids much. They are pretty hard to open if you tighten them as much as you think you should.  Oops, the baby's awake. So much for painting furniture! Happy Tuesday everyone.