Faux flower lamp makeover
When the craft store had a “Grab Bag” sale — $2 for a huge bagful of random craft supplies — I may have let out a little shriek. Two of the bags were overflowing with fake flowers, and I’d been meaning to pick some up for this project. It was crafting kismet!
I’d had this project in the back of my mind for a while now. The idea was to take a bunch of (really ugly) fake flowers and attach them to a lampshade and then to spray the whole thing one solid colour. I had no idea if it would work or not, but I had to try. There aren’t too many good uses for fake flowers in modern decor, so I still haven’t figured out why they’re so expensive most of the time.
I went home with two of the $2 grab bags, bursting with fake flowers, and a can of pale pink spray paint. We had a couple of old lamps I was ready to upgrade, so I grabbed the smallest one and removed the shade.
Continue reading in my weekly DIY column, My Handmade Home …
Easy bento lunches (without buying those crazy-expensive boxes)
A dinosaur-shaped sandwich surrounded by star-shaped pieces of cheese. A container of yogurt dressed up with a few sprinkles. A toothpick skewering little chunks of apples, strawberries and grapes.
There’s something about tiny portions of all different foods that makes lunch SO VERY EXCITING for a little kid.
Bento lunches started in Japan as “visually-appealing meals packed into boxes,” and they’re all the rage in the school cafeteria. You can buy fancy space-age metal or plastic bento boxes with containers that fit neatly inside like puzzle pieces.
Of course, you don’t need to shell out $30 for a real bento box. Personally, I think that’s just asking for OCD frustration — I’d hulk out when my kids inevitably lost one of the irreplaceable little containers and the box was no longer a complete set.
http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1
 |
| Read the full story |
Ridiculous but amazing: sew a cosy for your cleaning wipes
Yes, this is quite possibly the most hilarious, unnecessary thing I have ever created, but it’s also one of my favourites.
Step 2: Hem the bottom.
Step 3: Fold down the top (towards the inside) and pin where it reaches the top of the container. Hem the top.
Step 4: Wrap the cosy around the container (right side touching the label) and pin along the side — nice and tight, so your cosy fits like a snug pair of skinnies. Sew up the side, and you’re done.
Ridiculous. Amazing. Kind of practical?
This project is all of those things. You’re welcome.
Now what else needs a slipcover? Hmm, maybe the coffee maker? It’s pretty fug.
How to have a very merry (chill) birthday
In my experience, the most planned-out special days often end up being the ones where things go wrong and you’re left feeling disappointed.
That’s totally why my birthday yesterday — the big 3-2 — was really great. No big plans. No expectations.
How to have your very own casual but awesome birthday (even though your husband is working for most of the day and the actual celebration was days earlier):
Step 1: Wake up to adorable decorations stuck up with masking tape, painstakingly done by your husband at 2:30 a.m. after his shift the night before.
https://instagram.com/p/6Ui_aCNIZx
Step 2: Put your kids in camp for the morning. Bye, Felicia!
https://instagram.com/p/4yxZ9CNIWm
Step 3: Go on a shopping date with your husband to buy your own birthday gift. Bonus points if it’s a totally amazing sewing machine to replace the plastic $120 Singer Simple you’ve been using since 2003.
https://instagram.com/p/6VRtG5NIZL
Step 4: Eat your favourite guilty pleasure of McDonalds breakfast and a giant fountain Diet Coke. Mmmmm. Don’t tell me what’s in sausage patties, because they’re my everything.
Step 5: Spend a lovely afternoon hanging out with your awesome friend and her kids, getting ice cream cones and then drinking Diet Cokes at McDonald’s while your kids run wild in the playplace for hours.
Step 6: Take your kids to Zumba with you and park them in the back of the room. Dance your heart out with your friends. The only downside will be regretting all of the sh-t you ate earlier in the day, and feeling like french fry salt is seeping out of your pores.
https://instagram.com/p/6A4P4BtIfz
Step 7: Put your kids to bed, put on a comfy-but-ugly nightie, hide from the humidity in your nice cool basement, watch the Backstreet Boys documentary, and talk on the phone with your mom.
Step 8: Go to bed at a reasonable hour because you’re a totally responsible adult. Re-read some of one of your favourite books, turn out the lights, and go to sleep thinking about how crazy-lucky you really are.
xo
On summertime + blogging
I’ve been at this game for six and half years now, holy, and the blog has certainly gone through highs and lows.
I posted like a madwoman — sometimes three times a day! — during my first pregnancy, and haven’t been able to meet that pace since. Something about having two kids or working entirely from home? Or having a husband who is always working? Excuses, you know.
Most of the time, I feel guilty when I’m too busy with paid writing (a.k.a. my jobz) to write blog posts.
But summertime is different.
Summertime seems to be when a lot of blogs let their editorial calendars slideeeee like a nice greasy blob of sunscreen you’re rubbing on your arms.
Oh, we’re on Instagram all of the time, of course, because who can live without Instie (#notme #nofilter)? But the blogs themselves? Crickets, except for the real keeners (I admire you).
I like that I’m feeling less pressure lately, and it’s inspiring me to get organized. I launched a new look for the blog last week — you should check it out, if you’re reading this in Bloglovin’ — and I’m starting to get ready for the unofficial relaunch of the blogging community, otherwise known as Our Kids Will Be Back in School and Normal Life Will Resume.
https://instagram.com/p/6DCI88kzU_
I’m jotting down ideas for posts, reading through unposted drafts, digging through that picture-packed “To Blog” folder on my desktop, and getting kind of excited.
I’ve been good about sharing my weekly parenting column and weekly DIY column here (Hi, shameless self-promotion, good to see you again). But I need to make organic blogging more of a priority again, and push myself to do more of the short, casual posts that used to be a staple around here.
I mean, who could forget the days when I chronicled the random one-sided conversations I held with the baby while I did laundry? I know you want more of that, right?
xo
As featured on …
Heather's Handmade Life 