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Mirror Makeover

August 21, 2011 in frugal, projects with 11 Comments

When we made an offer on our house back in March, I began planning the ‘new nursery’! Since Paxton was almost a year old, it was finally time to really personalize his space and make it a bright, happy place for a little boy!

Since I love primary colors, I decided to use some pops of red and blue in the room and needed some pops of red to go along with the blue curtains we had!

Enter this mirror:

We’ve had this mirror for years! Once upon a time it was in the living room of one of our apartments but was currently sitting in the donate pile in our garage. I thought a mirror would be nice in his room and a coat or two of spray paint would give it a totally different look!

It turned out even better than I expected:

I love this red mirror! It’s such a bright and cheery color and looks great with his room!

The best part is that this cost me nothing! The mirror was from our donate pile and we already had the red spray paint. You can’t beat a free project that you love.

Tutorial: Baby Tie

January 24, 2011 in baby, projects with 12 Comments

I was inspired to make a tie for Paxton a few months ago for him to wear to a wedding. The sweet baby tie turned out much cuter than I anticipated and he received lots of comments on it! {It’s hard to resist a baby in a tie!}

This little tie was so simple to make. It took about an hour and cost nothing since I used fabric in my stash!

Supplies

  • Fabric (around 42 inches in length)
  • Thread
  • Sewing machine
  • Needle

Directions

Step 1: Cut your fabric into a long strip. I cut my fabric 42 inches long * and it was 2.5 inches at the narrowest point and approximately 3.5 at the widest (I made the bottom a little wider).

*This made a long tie for a small baby but it was easy to tie and we just tucked the extra in his shirt, plus he can wear it for a couple years since it is longer! You also may want to cut it a little wider to make it easier to flip!

 

Step 2: Fold the fabric in half and pin.

 

Step 3: Stitch up the tie. {Be sure to leave a an inch or so at the beginning to make flipping a little easier!}

 

Step 4: Stitch the tie end. {I cut a crude triangle  to use as my guide!}

 

Step 5: Flip inside out. {This was the most time consuming part of the entire project! It took about 25 minutes to flip since it was so narrow. I used a crochet hook to help me! Again, you may want to make your tie a little wider so the flipping will take less time!}

 

Step 6: Iron tie. Tuck the open end and press to make hand stitching easier!

 

Step 7: Hand stitch the open end and you’re finished! {And then have your husband tie the tie!}

 

Your baby instantly looks like a handsome little man with a tie on! {Fair warning, you will want to take a ton of pictures!}

If you can sew a straight stitch you can make this baby tie!

What are you waiting for? Go make an adorable baby tie!

And, I’d love to see pictures of your babies in their ties!

Send me a picture if you make one: rachel (at) frugalandsimple (dot) com!

Happy sewing!

{Note: I am a Sweetbottoms Baby Affiliate}

Plate Rack Makeover

July 20, 2010 in frugal, home, projects with 6 Comments

My beautiful plate rack “makeover”! Complete with precious newborn pictures of Paxton!

This cost less than $20! I already had the plate rack (I bought it from my sister a few years ago) it held 2 of my regular dining plates (Mikasa French Countryside). However, having 2 of my 9 plates on the wall meant we were sometimes scrambling for plates when we had company over. It was time to use them for what they were intended for and I wanted to incorporate more family elements into the room! I do believe the pictures do just that!

“B” plate at Hobby Lobby :: $5

2-5×7 pictures frames at Hobby Lobby :: $10

2-5×7 prints :: $1.50

Total :: $16.50

Here’s a view of the wall! The plate rack is really the focal point of the dining room. (And isn’t the wall color just gorgeous? It’s called “Dill” and my fabulous husband picked it out when I was having a hard time deciding on the perfect color!)

Before ::

You can see the two dining plates on the wall…not as pretty or personalized! (And my table is leaf-less and missing a high-chair!)

After ::

My lovely dining room! (One of these days I’ll “makeover” my maroon seat cushions to match my white, black and dill dining room, but until then they’ll work!)

I do believe that $16.50 was (birthday!) money well spent!

Cloth Blocks

May 10, 2010 in projects with 5 Comments

I had fabric left over from making this quilt and I decided to make some cloth blocks. (I made this quilt over 2 years ago in anticipation of a future baby!) The backing is the frog fabric that I use for the blocks.

After seeing the cloth blocks that  Aliesha made for her baby girl, I was inspired to make Paxton some! (She shows how to make them step by step!) They were so easy and simple to make!

Here are the 3 blocks I made with different frogs on them!

I used these 3 different fabrics, the green polka dot, the frog print and the blue gingham!

I was very pleased at how adorable these turned out and I can’t wait until he starts playing with them!

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