DIY Fabric Flower Lamp Shade

As soon as I recovered my burlap ruffle lamp shade, I was itching to recover the other plain lamp shade in my bedroom. 

I  purchased this lamp on sale at Pier 1 Imports for $39.99. I loved the base, but the solid, cream-colored lamp shade was basically begging me to change it somehow. 

I purchased plain white fabric (similar to bedding sheets) and cut it into 1.5 foot by 0.5 inch strips. I folded the strips in half length-wise and ironed them to press the fold. Then, I curled the strips into a tightly wound coil. I slowly released the coil in my hand, and let the fabric spread out naturally to reach the size of flower I wanted to use. I then and applied hot glue to the back (folded) side. 

Easy! It really doesn't have to be perfect. The variations and imperfects actually make it perfect. This project probably took me around an hour. 

DIY No-Sew Curtain

This was a perfect project for my grad-school budget and time frame :) It took about 20 minutes, and I used materials I already had at my apartment. 

I used about a half-yard of leftover fabric to make this curtain for my kitchen window. The width of my window was 22" so I cut the fabric 25" wide. I also cut it around 20" long. 

To avoid pulling out my sewing machine, I used Iron-On Hem Tape from Hobby Lobby for all of the seams. Here's how I did it:

I laid the hem tape right along the edges of the fabric. 

I placed the sticky side of the tape against the fabric and ironed it to the fabric. 

Then, I peeled off the white layer of the tape.

I folded the fabric just over the tape, and ironed it again. 

I used that process for the bottom and both side edges. For the top, instead of folding the fabric just barely over the tape, I folded over 2 inches before ironing the seam. This creates the pocket for the curtain rod to slide through.

Now I see that I should invest in an actual iron so I can get those wrinkles out :)

The whole project only took around 20 minutes! 

Easy Decor for All Seasons

These hurricane vases were purchased at Target. Here's a link. It's a super easy decoration for each holiday or season by switching the contents. 

DIY Burlap Ruffle Lamp Shade

This lamp was purchased at a garage sale for $4. I bought it knowing I would do something to spice it up a little. I liked the base, colors, and size, and for $4, I couldn't pass it up! I wish I had a before picture of this lamp, but the original shade was a tan color with dark brown swirls on it. 

I found scrap burlap on sale at Hobby Lobby and purchased 2 yards. 

I cut the burlap 1.5 inches wide, and the length was 3x the length of the lamp shade. I folded the strips in half and ironed them so they would be pressed in half. I then put hot glue on the folded edge of the strips, and pressed it onto the lamp shade in different designs.  I didn't really have a pattern, I just pressed them down in randomly swirled designs. 

Honestly, the lamp doesn't produce an extremely bright light because the burlap blocks some of it.. but it actually looks pretty awesome when the light shines through :) 

Button-Top Box

I wanted to make something special for my cousin to store all of her sorority pictures, name tags, and other keepsakes. I love the size of the photo storage boxes at Hobby Lobby, which you can find here for $1.99. 

I purchased a bag full of assorted gold buttons (similar, here) and hot glued them onto the lid of the box. I found some sticker ribbon strips for the edges of the box (similar, here) and stuck those on. 

I tend to mess things up when I start free-handing letters, so I used more stickers to write lyrics from one of our sorority songs on the blank side of the box. 

It turned out great, cost less than $10, and took less than 30 minutes to make! And, it's a thoughtful, practical gift. What could be better?

Jewelry Organization Display

For me, if jewelry is out of sight, it's out of mind. I decided to make my own jewelry display from some wooden picture frames. Now, it's not only easy to find my jewelry, I also have a pretty wall decoration! It's easier than you might think. Here's what I did: 

I found 3 open frames at Hobby Lobby. Helpful hint, they have to be real wood or the hooks won't screw into them. Here's a link for the frames. Wait for them to be 50% off (I have found that this happens every other week), or use a "40% off one item" coupon from your smart phone. I used two 8x10, and one 11x14. I painted them antique white using acrylic paint. 

For the earring holder, I used a plastic canvas sheet found in the knitting section of Hobby Lobby. When I was wandering through the isles (I hardly ever go down the knitting isle), I found these and had a lightbulb moment! It makes the PERFECT earring holder. I have seen similar earring holders made with chicken wire, burlap, and other fabric, but seriously this is the best option. Its more sturdy than fabric. If the page is longer than your frame, it's super easy to cut to size with regular scissors. And did I mention it costs 37 cents!! Here's the link for that. You're welcome, everyone. :)

For the bracelets and necklaces, I used little tiny hooks that I screwed into the wood by hand. These just cost a couple of dollars. Here's a link for similar hooks. 

Finished product:

I love it! And it really was an easy project!

DIY Bench

Like I've said before, apartments = a lot of big blank walls and spaces. I wanted to make a low bench to take up some space. I also wanted to provide some more seating. I don't usually have a ton of visitors, but my friends and I have a bible study that takes place at my apartment sometimes. A decoration that doubles as optional seating is an A-plus in my book!

The only tools I needed to make this bench were a screwdriver and scissors. That's a good thing, because those are pretty much the only tools I know how to use :) The total cost was around $40. Here's how I did it: 

I bought 4 pre-made screw-top legs from Lowe's for $6 each. I then bought wood that was pre-cut to 12''x48", this cost around $10. This is a pretty narrow bench, by the way. So if you are bigger than me and my 5'2" friends, you might want to get one that's a little wider than 12". 

I purchased the fabric and quilt batting from Hobby Lobby. The home decor fabric seems to always be 30% off. When I am in the check out lanes at Hobby Lobby, I always google search on my phone for "Hobby Lobby coupon." The Hobby Lobby website has a weekly "40% off one item" coupon that you can use on anything in the store. Great deal!

I used a staple gun to secure the batting and fabric to the wood.

Then I used a screwdriver to screw these plates into the wood. I then put a light coat of antique white paint on the legs... and screwed the legs right into the plates. 

Kitchen Recipe Decor

I love thinking of ways to remember my mom... so this project is extra special to me. I found two of my favorite hand-written recipes from my mom's recipe box. I scanned and enlarged these recipes to fit in my 8 x 10 frames. I love how it turned out :) 

Coffee Station

I knew as soon as I moved into my apartment, I wanted to have a coffee bar. It was the first thing on my list of projects. I had seen pictures of personal coffee bars on Pinterest and I really wanted to make my own version.  My boyfriend built me this table to perfectly fit this short wall in my apartment. I love everything about it :) 

The inside contents:  

I love having all my coffee supplies in one little area. Like most things in life, the more organized and accessible things are, the more likely we are to use them. I can testify that this little coffee bar has lead to consuming much more coffee than I previously did! :) 

A Pocketful of Sweet Dreams

Well I noticed that apartments usually have windows along one whole wall... and ZERO windows on all the other walls. That leaves a lot of big blank (white!) walls. I'm constantly attempting to find cost-effective ways to decorate my big blank walls. Unfortunately, a lot of wall decorations that take up a lot of space are also very expensive. I figured that a wall collage would be a perfect way to take up some space, while not spending toooo much money.

This is result of the 2 hours I spent daydreaming at Hobby Lobby... For some reason when I shop there, the time just flies by. It's my happy place. 

These frames can be purchased for $2.99 each here. They are real wood too. What a great deal! I purchased some scrap book paper in coordinating prints, and some big stickers with sweet phrases. 

I kind of just guessed on the size when I cut the first piece of scrap book paper to fit in the frame. I then traced that first piece onto the other 3 pages and cut them all out. 

The "Love" design is actually part of the top right damask scrapbook paper, so I used 2 sheets to make each of those. The back of that paper is the red polka-dot paper on the top left. Don't forget to look on the back of the papers when you're at the store! They usually coordinate and would be perfect for projects like this.

Here's the finished product! That's a pretty big space on the wall that used to be so bare. I really like how it turned out. I removed the glass because I didn't like the glare from my ceiling light (apartment lighting struggles...). 

This one is my very favorite :) What a sweet phrase! I love having encouraging phrases around my apartment. I really believe it makes a difference to be physically surrounded by encouraging, positive, phrases.