Blanket with an iphone Pocket

A fun activity to do with the kids on a snowy day is the fleece tie blanket. You get a warm, durable blanket to take with you to all of those soccer and football games and the satisfaction of knowing you made it with the kids.

Items needed:

• ·         Sharp scissors
• ·         2 pieces of fleece that are the same length & width (I used  1 ½ yards of each)
• ·         Additional 12” x 12” square of coordinating fleece for pocket and more if you want to embellish your blanket
• ·         Coordinating thread
• ·         pins
• ·         10” zipper- in a coordinating color to your  1 ½ yard of fleece

One of the many great things about fleece is you do not need a finished seam. All edges of the fabric are raw and will remain that way. This is a great time saver when doing crafts with the kids.

Starting with one of the 1 ½ yards of fabric pin the zipper face down and in the closed position 5” from the top and centered from left to right. Carefully sew around all four sides of the zipper and do not sew over the used portion of the zipper teeth. A special zipper foot that is narrower on your sewing machine, makes this easier to achieve. Once the zipper is installed, flip the fabric over and feel with your fingers the center teeth part of the zipper, take your scissors and cut a neat line down the center exposing the zipper & zipper pull. Be certain to keep your cut line within the sewn rectangle you just made. Do not cut through any of your stitching.

Center the 12” x 12” fleece square on the wrong side of one of your larger 1 ½ yard pieces of fleece  over  and 1” above your zipper. Pin the square in place making sure both pieces of fabric are smooth. Sew a ½” seam all the way around the 12” square. Your pocket is now complete.

If you want to embellish the unused 1 ½ yard fleece blanket now is the time to do that before you connect the front and back pieces together. I cut a “W” out and stitched it to the center. You could easily cut out your kids’ names or an animal shape.

Lay both pieces of the 1 ½ yards of fleece on top of one another good sides out. You want the pocket to be on the inside of the blanket with the zipper showing on the outside.  Trim any excess fleece so that the two pieces are exactly the same size. With both pieces lined up cut 3” deep cuts approximately 1” apart all the way around the perimeter (they don’t need to be perfect. )  Be certain to cut through both pieces of fleece at the same time. At each of the four corners I cut out a square of fleece and toss it. Once all your cuts are complete, it’s time to enlist the kids’ help.  Have them double knot a top piece of fringe to the corresponding bottom piece of fringe all the way around the blanket.  At the 4 corners I tie a left bottom piece of fringe to a top right piece of fringe and a bottom right to the top left (criss-crossing them over each other.)

Now your kids have one more blanket they can use around the house to create a tent! Yeah!!!!  And you have a handy blanket to store snacks, money and your phone in at the next game.

If you have a craft emergency or home improvement questions you want answered e-mail me at Paschnoor@yahoo.com.

Laus Deo,

Paula Schnoor-Comes

A Modern Twist on the Old

I have always had a love for furniture. I could spend hours at the furniture store checking out every last piece. My favorite by far though is reviving old furniture into a newer more updated look. With some spray paint or stain and the right upholstery fabric you can revive any piece of furniture. I bought this cherry settee sanded it lightly and spray painted it gold. Went to my favorite craft store…. Hobby Lobby, and found some fun pink and gold zebra print upholstery fabric, padding and upholstery tacks to finish off the look.

When upholstering, start stapling from the center edge of your fabric in both directions and work your way out, pulling the fabric taut as you go. You can use regular polyester or cotton fabrics for a simple chair seat cushion but for a larger more used piece of furniture I recommend using a true upholstery fabric for lasting durability.

So if you have an old piece of furniture you are contemplating putting out to pasture try reviving it!

If you have a home improvement question you want answered, feel free to contact me.

  

Cherry settee condition when I bought it.

After I spray painted it with Rustoleum gold paint.

During the reupholstering process. 

Voila!  Finished product for my daughter Ava's room.

 I don 't know which I love more, the instant gratification of spray (chalk) painting furniture or reupholstering furniture and seeing the awesome, clean finished product. Either way I am blessed to get to do both!

Laus Deo,

Paula Schnoor-Comes

Paschnoor@yahoo.com

Washi think of my stand?

I am on a continual search for interesting ways to organize my office and craft items. Recently I needed a way to display and store my Washi Tape and ribbon. After a quick scan at the Hardware store I decided the best and least expensive way was to use galvanized pipe. It is easy to assemble, has a great industrial look, and it takes spray paint like a dream.

Items Needed to make a Washi Tape stand:

3 -Pieces of 6" long by 1/2" diameter threaded pipe

1 - Floor flange that fits a 1/2" diameter

2 - End caps 1/2" each

1- T with all three ends to fit 1/2" diameter

1 - Can of spray paint- Rustoleum is my favorite

You will find all of these parts in the plumbing department. There are several bins of parts which can make finding the correct part overwhelming. A helpful hint is to stay with the same color coded packages when shopping. For instance all the 1/2" diameter parts have a magenta color block on the packaging. All the 1" diameter parts have a green color block on the packaging and so on.

Assemble your Washi Tape holder like shown in the picture below. Tighten everything (except the two end caps) by hand as tight as possible. You don't need to tighten with a wrench unless you want to.  I like to keep the end caps loose on the structure prior to painting so that I can spray paint the threads a bit. Give it two coats of paint and let dry overnight. Your Washi Tape stand is then ready to use.

If you have crafting questions feel free to e-mail me at Paschnoor@yahoo.com.

Laus Deo,

Paula Schnoor-Comes

Valentines Hand Print Tin

I try to recycle and find new uses for various things we end up with around the house.  For instance we have a plethora of candy tins from Valentine’s day, Christmas and Easter. I recently kept a heart shaped candy tin my husband gave me in hopes that I would find a new use for it. Three months later, I did! I used Plaster of Paris and mixed it with water in a bowl until it was a cake batter consistency and all the lumps were out. I poured it evenly into the candy tin and tapped it on the counter to bring all the air bubbles to the surface. I let it set for 5-7 minutes so some of the water would evaporate letting the plaster set-up. Then my daughter Sophi placed her hands carefully in the plaster and I pressed each finger firmly in the tin. To add a little extra pizzazz I used red food coloring while the plaster was still wet and dripped a few drops of it in random places to look like flowers. I wrote her name and date in the corner with a toothpick and let it dry over night. Voila! The perfect gift for Daddy!

Happy Crafting, 

Paula

The Weekend Make-Over!

Now don’t get too excited ladies it’s for your garage door!

Our garage doors were in serious need of a facelift. They looked faded and worn out, the only issue was they were in great condition. We looked around at several garage door companies and contemplated replacing them, but what a waste of perfectly good doors! For months we agonized whether to replace the steel doors or just live with them the way they were. I even secretly wished the kids would throw a ball or ride their scooter or bike into them and make a huge dent, so we would have the decision made for us. No such luck…. Finally, I decided to give them a make-over. I am so happy I did, I just wish we would have done it months ago!  Now, would be the time the kids will ride their scooters into the doors damaging them….

Wash down your garage doors with dish soap and water and make sure any grease and dirt are removed.  Following the manufacturer’s instructions use a Bondo product to fill in any dents in the trim or the garage doors and sand until smooth. Next paint on a good all purpose exterior primer from your local home improvement store coating the door and any trim you want painted well. Let this dry over night. The next day roll on two coats of exterior paint color or a coordinating color to your house and let that also dry over night. The final step is my favorite, adding garage door hardware. Measure and install the handles and straps. The make-over is complete, it easily took 10 years off my doors…. Now if I could only take 10 years off my face!

Before

 After

Happy Renovating!

Check out my latest craze on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/listing/492968336/dog-window-seat-pet-bed?ref=listing-shop-header-2

Princess Coco Chanel Vonfluffenpaws sporting her custom made Christmas attire.  I know I know... what it up with that name? We thought it would be cute to have a big name for a little teeny tiny dog. Coco is 4 lbs.

Here it is laid out flat. This probably took me a total of two hours to make.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/479974470/adorable-dog-pet-harness-pleated-dress?ref=shop_home_active_4

Loving all things puppy!

I recently made this window seat bed for my fur baby Coco. She's too small to be able to loom out the window. ;)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/492968336/dog-window-seat-pet-bed?ref=pr_shop