T-Shirt Dog Toys

So I have been in the process of making myself another t-shirt quilt (and they are the warmest, softest and easiest quilts to make!) so needless to say, I have a ton of t-shirt scraps laying around after I get through cutting the fronts off to make quilt squares. Most of the time I use the extra t-shirt fabric to make rags for cleaning or for my dad to use in his shop, but occasionally I make simple dog toys with the scraps.
All you have to do is cut strips of t-shirts, at least 2 inches wide (since they will stretch), then divide them into three groups. Tie all these pieces together, braid them, then finish with another big knot.  You can make them whatever length you want. I made one longer and one short. The more strips you use, the thicker the toy will be. Quick, easy, and recycling! :)

Mason Jar Soap Containers

Ok, I stole this one from Pinterest...but who could resist!  All you need for this project is a mason jar (with lid) of your choice and a soap pump. You can use a pump from an old plastic soap dispenser or you can find a chrome/brass one at Lowes. I bought one from there for around $3.50. It matched my silver lid perfectly. All you do is use a nail and a hammer to poke a hole into the mason jar lid, then use needle nosed pliers to pry back the metal and make the hole larger. Make it just big enough to fit the pump inside. Then use hot glue on the underside to keep the pump in place...and Wa-La...you have a new soap container! I also made a larger version for my lotion ( I loved this idea so much!) 

Heart Shaped Heating Pad

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I made these simple heating pads. All you need is a few sheets of felt in your color of choice, a bag of rice and some needles and thread. A 5 pound bag of rice will run you around $3.50 at Walmart and felt is around 20 cents a piece. Five pounds of rice will make several heating pads of this size. You will need 2 sheets of felt to make 1 pad (a front and a back). You will also need some scented oil if you would like to put a few drops inside the pad to make it smell wonderful every time you heat it up !

I folded my piece of felt in half and cut out a heart shape. Cut it as large as you can, using as much of the felt as you can. After you cut the first then unfold it, lay it on the other piece of felt and cut out another copy. 

Then, line up your hearts and sew them together. This is easiest on a sewing machine, but even if you decide to sew these by hand make sure you sew over the original seam, just to make a strong hold that will last.  

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Sew around the heart, leaving a small 3 to 4 inch gap on one side near the tip of the heart. You will use this hole to turn your heart inside out, and then add your rice.  

A large mouth funnel works best for adding the rice. You can always cut a small corner on the rice bag and have someone help you pour it in. Add enough rice to fill up approximately half the heart. Do not overfill. If you want to add a scent to your heating pad simply add a few drops of any kind of oil. I used a ginger oil that was left over from a diffuser that I had. It smells awesome when I heat it up!  After you add the rice and the drops of oil, simply sew up your heart with matching thread...then throw it in the microwave for around a minute and and half and ENJOY!!! 

A word for the ladies out there...the size and shape of this heating pad is PERFECT for cramps! 

Rapunzel...let down your golden hair!

Ok, in helping a good friend plan her little girl's upcoming birthday party based off of Disney's Tangled movie...I stumbled upon a really cute idea. We found an inexpensive, and very fun way to make Rapunzel hair for the birthday girl to wear!  All you need are several skeins of yellow yarn, around 4 skeins is a good amount, and in several different textures (some thin, some thick, several varying shades, etc.). You also need a headband that will fit the little princess's head. The plastic kind with the teeth on them work best because they hold the yarn in place well.

You will need a friend to help you do this....it is simply too much yarn to handle by yourself without ending up with huge "Tangles"! Decide what length you want her hair to be and then double that length. You will loop this length over the headband after you get all your pieces cut. This, again, will go much faster if you have a good friend to help you cut your yarn! As you can see we used quite a bit, so that Rapunzel's hair would be thick!  Be careful where you put the yarn while you are cutting more...hanging it up somewhere works best, to avoid knots. When you have all your pieces cut, find their mid points and loop through the head band. Have a friend hold the band while you even the yarn out across the band and tie knots on each of the far sides of the band (in the teeth) to hold the whole lot in place.  The next part is easy...section your yarn into 3 equal pieces and braid the hair! 

After you have your hair braided and tied off at the bottom...you can decorate it with flowers and leaves! We did this by attaching fake flowers with hot glue.  This hair piece is pretty heavy though...and ours was long enough for an adult, as Mommy shows below...so it will have to be pinned in, but what a simple, inexpensive way to plan for a party!  We are also in the works on some lanterns that were a central part of the movie...I'll post those when we finish!

Tiny Crochet.... :)

I miss making these little guys....they are called Amigurumi...a complicated name for what is basically a tiny crochet animal.  This is a little piggy that I made Mom when I was going through this crochet fad....

They are usually made by making the separate body parts according to pattern and then sewing them together. I used buttons for this little guy's eyes. 

Here is a good website for Amigurumi patterns if you are feeling frisky...

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/amigurumi.php

Simple Mail/Bills Holder

I found this simple, light weight mail holder at Michaels. It was unfinished so I painted it a flat white and sanded the edges so some of the original brown color showed through.  I then added a simple picture hanging bracket on the back and put some cute sticker on the front. Voila! A cute mail holder for my room...to help keep my bills in line. Best part...with buying the wooden piece, a small bottle of acrylic paint, and the stickers....you'd be around the $10 range (and it took less than 20 minutes to make).

Bottoms up....

My dad and I started making these cute little lamps a few years ago. All you need is an empty liquor bottle (how you obtain this is none of my business), a lamp kit from Lowe's or Wal-mart, and a drill with a glass drilling bit (although I've drilled them, very carefully, with a regular bit).

Make sure you get a lamp kit with a fitting as close to the size of the bottle opening as you can. In this case I used the bottle's rubber stopper to secure the lamp part in the bottle opening. I did this by drilling a small hole through the bottle stopper. After you drill a hole into the back side of the bottle you're using, run the lamp cord up through the back and out the top of the bottle. Their are directions on the lamp kit for hooking up the wires and it's pretty simple to figure out. After you've got it together and secured the bottle to the lamp parts, find a bulb and a cute shade...and a place to put your new lamp.  :)