I picked up an old wooden toy plane at a thrift store. It was $2. I walked around the store carrying it the entire time, debating on whether to buy it or not. I decided not to, and put it back. A day or two later, I went back for it. Not surprisingly it was still there. I mean, it was missing the wheels and it’s rudder. The propeller was lose and had some permanent marker on it. And the whole thing was Read more

*Tutorial by Catherine @ CathGrace for the Glitter/Shine/Metallic challenge of season 14*

(the head on the left is not mine, it’s my daughter’s, which is why her color is different)

*Tutorial by Amelia @ The Night Garden for her win of the Upcycle challenge of season 14*

I’m so glad to be here with you this week, sharing this tutorial for my
card catalog display-top coffee table!

Materials you’ll need for this project:
Read more

*Tutorial by Catherine @ CathGrace for her win of the Upcycle challenge of season 14*

*Tutorial by Christy @ Inklings & Yarns for her win of the For the Boys challenge of season 14*

First, I want to thank everyone who voted for my “Castle Fit for
Little Kings” in round two. I had such a good time making this, and
hope the following tutorial brings you (and your little ones) lots of
fun! Be sure to visit my blog, www.inklingsandyarns.com
for more great projects! Now let’s build sew ourselves a
castle!

Step 1: Measure your Read more

*Tutorial by Kim @ Maiden D’Shade for her win of the On the Wall challenge of season 14*

I wanted this shelf to be as wide as the TV that hangs above it. The TV measures 63.5 inches wide so I decided the shelf would look nice at 63 inches wide plus trim. I needed a plank for the top, a plank below the top (to get the layered look) and a plank for the vertical board. In order to get the right shelf depth for the brackets, I needed a 10 inch deep plank. I picked up two 1x10x8 pine planks and one 1x8x8 pine plank and three 6×8 pine shelf brackets and some trim.

I marked each plank where they needed to be cut. The top board needed to be 63 inches wide. The board below that 61.25 inches and that vertical board 59.5 inches. Basically I wanted the bottom board to be 1.75 inches shorter than the top board and the vertical board 1.75 inches shorter than the bottom board so when stacked and centered, they tiered 3/4 of an inch on each side.

I cut them with a miter saw because I didn’t have another option. The 10 inch planks were too deep for a single pass cut so I flipped them over to finish the cut. Once the boards were cut, it was time to attach them together.

1. Spread a bead of wood glue on the vertical board (1×10) along the edge where when flipped up…
2. it lines up with the side of the underneath plank (1×8).
3. Drill a pilot hole for your wood screw through the vertical plank into the underneath plank. The bit should be slightly smaller than your screw. Then use a recess bit over the pilot hole. You want the screw recessed because this board will be on the wall and you’ll want it to hang flush with the wall.
4. Screw the planks together with 2 inch wood screws. I put in four (somewhat evenly spaced) along the length of the vertical board.

Next is preparing the brackets for the curtain rod.

1. Mark where you want the center of the hole to be. I marked it this way: from the corner I measured one inch across the top and then two inches down.
2. Tape two brackets together.
3. Drill a pilot hole, making sure you at least get partially through the bracket underneath. If you don’t have a vice or good clamps, find a brave soul willing to hold them while you drill (I got my husband for this part). Separate the two brackets, then complete the pilot hole on the bottom bracket. Then for the third bracket, line it up with and tape it to one of the brackets with the drilled pilot hole and put the drill through the pilot hole and drill the partial pilot hole in the third bracket. Then complete the pilot hole as before once you separate the brackets.
4. Using a wood boring drill bit and the pilot hole as your guide, drill holes into each bracket. One at a time. I used a 3/4 inch bit because the curtain rod I used has a 5/8 inch diameter.

Next you attach the brackets to the basic shelf.

1. Remove the hardware that they come with.
2. Drill 2 pilot holes on the vertical plank and one pilot hole on the underneath plank going through to the bracket. Do this for all 3 with the recessed bit.
3. Apply glue to the brackets and attach to the shelf with wood screws.

Next is adding the top plank (1×10).

1. To the underneath plank, apply wood glue on the top.
2. Line up the top plank so that it’s straight and centered. Clamp it to the underneath plank.
3. Drill two pilot holes at each end from under the bottom plank partway into the top plank. Use a recessed bit here as well.
4. Screw in 1-1/4 inch wood screws.
5. Fill in the recesses with wood filler.

Let the wood filler and glue dry. I sanded down the wood filler and added some more in a few spots. Once that dried again, I sanded it down again. I allowed the wood glue to dry for a couple hours.

Now comes the trim. For the bottom plank I used cove molding. For the top plank I used a molding that would provide a “lip” so that things on the shelf won’t slide off. I used liquid nails to attach the trim because I do not have a brad nailer. It’s on the list of tools to buy. I had to clamp it down because the trim would pop up a bit. After clamping it, I let it dry over night. I’m a novice miter cutter but wood filler is my best friend in these situations After the wood filler dried, I sanded it and the shelf was ready to paint!

I decided on black since the TV is big and black. Once the paint was dry, I slid in the curtain rod through the holes in the brackets. Then using black zip ties, I hung the baskets.

And here it is! Still clutter free!

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. Thank you so much for voting for me and thanks also to Missy for hosting this fun competition!

*Be sure to check back in on Monday for the premier of Season 14.  The stuff the crafters put together for this season is awesome.  You won’t want to miss it.*

Hi there! Thanks to Missy for having me here today, I’m super excited to be sharing a post on So You Think You’re Crafty as I’ve been so inspired by the many crafty and creative bloggers that I’ve discovered here.

My name is Claire and I blog over at Claireabellemakes about crafting, baking and my home city of Cambridge in the UK. This year I learnt to crochet and I am a sucker for any crafts that involve a glue gun. I love to share DIYs and recipes and I make and sell handmade accessories on Etsy.

I am sharing with you a quick and easy recipe for Peppermint Candy Cane Bark to use up all those candy canes that didn’t get eaten over the holiday season.

Ingredients

• 400g White chocolate (2 x large bars)
• ½ cup crushed candy canes (around 5 full size canes)
• Peppermint essence (optional)

Directions

• Place candy canes into a bag and hammer until crushed. Alternatively, you can place them into a food processor and pulse.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water on medium heat.
• Mix the crushed candy canes and chocolate together and add peppermint flavour if desired.
• Pour mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour until hard.
• Break into pieces and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe today. Thanks for having me Missy!

Claire x

*Hey everybody! Season 14 of So You Think You’re Crafty is going to be fantastic. However, it won’t be starting until the New Year – we decided to let the crafters have a little break and family time too  . But I have a great schedule of guest posts and shop spotlights lined up from now until then. Have a great New Year!  I’ll see you on Monday with season 14.*

·   12
inch foam wreath
·   Glue
gun and glue
·   2
6-foot feather boas

I did my
shopping at Jo-Ann’s and they had many different colors of boas to choose from.
I chose pink to go with my daughter’s bedroom décor. When using a 12 inch foam
wreath, you will need 2 6-foot boas.  With
your heated glue gun, place a small sized dot and push one end of the boa into
place. Start by wrapping the feathers around the foam. I think it’s a good idea
after a couple of wraps around the wreath, to place a glue dot to hold the
feathers into place. Add your second boa using the same technique. And that’s
it!! Can you believe it was that simple?

 

 

 

 

How fun is this wreath! One way to hang your new feather beauty is by adding a piece of ribbon and hanging into place (that’s what I did!). I’m already thinking about making a white for my formal dining room!

Thank you so much for sticking around and I’d love for you to stop by and say ‘HI’ over at my blog!

*Hey everybody! Season 14 of So You Think You’re Crafty is going to be fantastic. However, it won’t be starting until the New Year – we decided to let the crafters have a little break and family time too  . But I have a great schedule of guest posts and shop spotlights lined up from now until then. Have a great New Year!  I’ll see you on Monday with season 14.*

Hi there, I’m Sarah, today’s grateful and excited guest poster.

I’ve been admiring the crafty talents on this blog for a while now, so I am humbled to be writing a guest post here, my first one ever!  Thank you for letting me hang out here today.

I blog over at My Project Bag to keep the food, furnishing and fiber projects under control and hopefully meet a few friends along the way.  Here are some of the projects I’ve been working on lately.

Today, I want to share with you this idea for what I call ”surprise window shades”:

Because the shades button up, you can put whatever fun flip side you’d like as a surprise when the shade is open.  The surprise on this shade is of course the last line from that cute children’s story.

The idea started with these button-up window shade instrucations from Martha Stewart.  Hers show plain fabric on the front and striped fabric on the back.  That’s plenty cute, but I wanted some extra fun for my toddler’s room.

I decorated each side before sewing everything together according to the instructions. The base fabric is linen, although I think duck cloth would be better.

I stenciled the letters onto the base fabric with fabric ink.  I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the stencil in vinyl, but there are certainly ready-made stencils for letters that would work fine.  I drew a line in disappearing ink to help line up the letters.

The moon was drawn by hand (with the help of a compass) onto fusible interfacing. Next I fused the interfacing to the fabric, cut along the line, and stitched around the shape with an applique machine stitch.

Once the sides were ready, I put them face together (making sure the words were facing opposite directions).  I then pinned both layers together to some shade darkening fabric as a lining.  That allows the shades to keep as much light out as possible so my son can sleep.  There is no lining in the original instructions, but the three layers work just fine.

Then I was ready for the instructions.  The one part I had trouble understanding from the instructions was how to insert the loops.  Here is a picture of how it worked.

Some other ideas for a surprise might be putting a night scene on the front and a daytime scene on the back.  The shade could tell a joke with the punchline on the back.  The surprise can also be on the front: a cute little monster with his head peaking up behind a wall when the shade is up could be revealed when the shade is down.

Hope you have fun with it!  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the project.

Thanks again, Missy, for letting me share here, and happy crafty New Year to all!