Baby Blanket to Doll Bed

PROJECT COST: FREE
PROJECT TIME: 10 MINUTES
DIFFICULTY: EASY
MATERIALS: Old baby blanket and a sewing machine.

Cut Down to Doll Size

Twin Size Blanket

My 13 year old daughter is the queen of not want to let something go. Every time we try to clean out her room she has a reason she needs to keep everything. Her biggest reason though is always sentimental. Every item she owns she can name where she got it or who gave it to her. This is an especially big problem when it comes to things like blankets since they take up so much space and she wants to keep them all - even if she never will use them. One particular blanket it one that my mom made for her when she was a baby. My mom past away from breast cancer 7 years ago so anything connected to her is especially hard for my daughter to give up. So we decided to upcycle the blanket into something she could actually use while still keeping the memory attached to it. We turned it into blankets for her American Girl doll bed. It was one of the easiest projects to do. I simply measure out the size we needed - 18" x 14". I sketched this onto the back side of the blanket using a fabric marker and then sewed up the lines. After that I just cut it out and presto - I had a doll blanket. My daughter has a bunk bed for her dolls so I made 2 of these. I could add some binding or lace around the edges for a more finished look but she liked it the way it was. She gets new doll items and I get more space in my storage room. A win - win for all of us!

Garden Bench Upcycle

PROJECT COST: $24
PROJECT TIME: 2 Hours
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: Moderate
MATERIALS: Outdoor Rust Resistant Spray Paint, Wood stain, Screwdrivers and wrench, 1 x 3 wood planks (if you need to replace your wood)

This project has been on my list for years. A few years ago when a friend of mine moved she gave me her wood and iron benches. Both were pretty run down and needed to be fixed up and I just haven't had the time. By the time I got to these several screws had already fallen out and the boards has splintered and a couple had broken.

Needless to say these probably were not the most safe seats to use. The first thing I did was to unbolt the main boards across the middle and up the back to pull the side off. Then I took all the screws out of the back panel and pulled the middle decorative iron piece out of the arched wood. I scrubbed everything down with a stiff metal brush and soapy water and then rinsed everything and left it to dry.

 Like I said several of my wood slats for the seat were slivered and broken so I actually bought new wood and cut it so the same length as the old wood and drilled new holes in the boards. If your wood is still ok you could skip this part and save yourself a few dollars on the project. The wood that is arched in the back I didn't replace. It is not weight bearing for the bench and the large decorative piece holds it together pretty well. I did however sand that wood really well so that any slivers or splinter pieces would be removed. Make sure to lay your wood on a flat and even surface when it is wet - otherwise you will end up with warping issues which none of us want.

Next I spray painted the iron pieces with my Valspar paint. You can see in the picture that there is some rust on the iron. If you use a good rust resistant paint that is meant for outdoors and your clean the metal really well you shouldn't have any issues with it.

 Next I worked on the wood. I purchased 1 can of outdoor wood stain and had more than enough to finish 2 benches. It goes pretty far when you are careful with it. I just did 2 coats of stain on all the wood pieces and left them to dry. You can see a slight color difference between the arched wood that I didn't replace and the new boards I bought but I was kind of ok with that.

Once everything dried I went ahead and put it all back together. I had lost some bolts when I first got the bench so I took a couple of the old ones into Lowe's and purchased some new ones to replace the ones I lost. You can ask anyone in the Hardware department to help and they will find you a match. It cost me less than $2 to replace everything I needed for both of the large benches and the kids size bench. 

And that's it! I love the makeover and am so excited to put these new benches to use. We have them set around our fire pit for seating and now I'm not worried someone is going to get stabbed by a splinted board. 

Kitchen Soap Stand

PROJECT COST: $11
PROJECT TIME: 10 Minutes
MATERIALS: Salad Plate, Candle Stick, E6000 Glue
DIFFICULTY: EASY
Being that I have a slight obsession about cleanliness in my kitchen especially when it comes to my sink, I hate having my soaps and my kitchen sponge sitting on my counter. I had been looking for some cute ideas of how to solve this problem without putting everything under my sink where it isn't as accessible. I decided to use the same idea that I have used in my daughters bathroom with all their skin care items - I made a plate stand.

Seriously one of the easiest things to do, but it did make for an amazing way to keep stuff off my counter. I headed over to my favorite store Target and found a cute plate and candle holder. I used a salad sized plate because the area I put this in is not super deep and the salad size was more than big enough for my items, but you could use a standard dinner plate if that works better. On the candle stick I wish I had gotten a little wider based one since it will make it a little more sturdy - but I also didn't want it to look to bulky so this ended up working great. The candle holder cost $7.99 and the plate was $2.99, I already had the E6000 glue so I just used the one I had on hand. I have seen a similar project done with items from the dollar store but since this was in my kitchen I wanted it to have a certain look. DO NOT go cheap on the glue! You want to make sure to use a permanent washer safe glue that will not dissolve over time since it is exposed to water. 

Once you have all your materials just make sure to wash your plate and candle stick well and make sure they are dry and then follow the instruction on the glue. I had to wait 24 hours before mine was ready for use but it was well worth it! I love my new kitchen stand!