Umbrella Redo ... Wahoo!

I have had an umbrella in my back yard long enough that it had started shredding. Embarrassing, I know. It was time to get a new one. However, I wanted something special and I didn't necessarily love what was being offered in the store. So I decided to sew my own custom umbrella.  Here is a picture of my finished project. 

I did a complete tutorial on my other blog. Go here to see the tutorial with more pictures.

Pop bottle top -- Hangers?

I had a Big problem

My Beautygirl needed to be able to hang "whole" outfits up for school. If we do not have complete outfits, there is a fight in the morning....no thank you!

So I wanted to attach a skirt/pant hanger to a regular wooden hanger. But I could not find any good solutions. I looked on line and they wanted a buck each for the connectors.... again, no thank you!

I found my solution. The top of a soda can.... You know, the little pop top tabs.







They worked like a charm!
















See how they line up so nicely. Now the clothing is not all bunched up. The skirts/pants are hanging in plain sight. The tops are also in full view. This is really important when you are dealing with pre-teen girls!







To see more of what we did in Beauty girl's closet, click herehttp://whimsyfunk.blogspot.com/2012/10/organize-little-girls-room.html.

-Tara

Ribbon Flip Flops

Just thought I'd share these little flip flops on which I added ribbons.

Pretty easy. Great for summer.

Cut a few ribbons and tie them onto the straps.

Add a few embellishments.
I also used some tulle.

You need to put some glue on the knots to make sure they last.

Another chalkboard upcycle idea

I have a thing for chalkboards lately. It's not so 'lately' because it's been an interest for at least 5 years. But, something about the function and form of a cute chalkboard really appeals to me.








I found some old cabinet doors for $1 about a year ago. And they've been waiting for some new clothes.  So, I painted the inside with chalkboard paint, and taped it off to paint the outside frame a cream color.

Then I added hardware I found on clearance at Anthro 4 years ago that were just waiting for a use.

  I needed a way to hang it, so I popped of the little pull tabs on these soup cans and screwed them into the back of the cupboard door.

At Anna's request, here are some pics of exactly how I screwed in the pull tabs and the drawer pull. On the back of the chalkboard, I took very short screws and screwed them into the small spot on the pull tab.

I did this on both sides. And put dry wall screws into the wall to hang it just like a picture. Before I hung it, though, I found a stud in the wall to center the chalkboard on, because I wanted to screw the drawer pull into a stud for more stability.

I got a long wood screw (about 4 inches) and found a stud. Then screwed in the long wood screw through the drawer pull and through the hole in the cupboard door where the original drawer pull was drilled.

 That way the screw would hold the chalkboard into a stud for more stability.

There it is. Another idea to keep you up at night.

--Summer