Dress Up Your Drawers!

As you may know, I am redoing my daughter's bedroom.  Yesterday I showed how adding a little fabric dressed up THIS bookcase.  Today I'll show you how I fixed up the open-backed spaces in the shelf.  I picked up four of these small canvas storage drawers like THESE.  I added a little paint and...Voila! I had this....

My daughter saw her shelf and said, "I LOVE IT!"

My canvas drawers a slightly smaller than the ones linked above.  That was important because I had some electronics connectors and plugs taking up some of the space in the middle right square.  See...

The smaller sized drawer doesn't even touch the plug!

O. K.  Here's what you need to make these cute drawers...

Four canvas storage drawers.

I picked up mine at Walmart.  They come in several different colors.  Choose the ones that match your decor.

One smiling girl, some acrylic paint, stencils, spouncers.

It was all I could do to work on this project without this girl on top of me.  She wasn't interested in the Super Bowl which you can just make out in the background playing on the television.  

This plate is left over from my son's first birthday.  (He's seven.)  I'm not a hoarder, really I'm not!

I needed only a small squirt of paint.  I used the medium and small sized spouncer to fill in the stencil.  The medium-sized spouncer fulled in the larger spaces easily.  I needed the small spouncer to get into the corner details.  You could also use a sponge brush. 

I laid out the stencil and held it down while I painted.  The stencil was small, and the canvas took the paint nicely so I didn't need to tape the stencil down to the drawer.  I know, I was living on the edge.  I am just lucky it worked out.  

Here are the finished drawers.

Close-Up!

All four drawers

Left and right drawers

Top and bottom drawers

The finished shelf is perfect!  My daughter can't wait to fill them up with all of her precious treasures. 

I would love it if you became a follower of my blog.  You can find me HERE on Facebook and HERE on Pinterest.  Come check me out there!

If you enjoyed this post you might enjoy my post for this 4th of July Wreath.  Find out how to make your Toddler his or her own textbook HERE.  Get ready for Easter with some Thread-wrapped Easter Eggs.  

Thanks for visiting!

Dress-Up Your Bookcase!

For Christmas, my daughter received a paint bucket, roller cover, and a paint brush.  Her face was priceless.  She had gotten the shaft in the present department, and she knew it.  However, once I explained that she was getting her room redecorated, she was excited about her present.  The task was supposed to take up the vacation time between Christmas and New Year's.  Illness made that impossible, but the room makeover is underway!

We painted the walls white and added lots of pink accents.  I have been looking for decorating ideas for the last several weeks.  I even set up a secret board on Pinterest!  She needed a bookcase to hold all of her treasures.  I wanted it to have some personality.  I came across THIS, which gave me the idea to do this....

A quick fabric makeover for a build-yourself shelf!

I picked up THIS little kit at the store and set about putting it together.  It was a really easy project.  It took about an hour to assemble (and that includes my extra work covering the backs).  Four of the nine cubes are open to the back.   The other five have a closed back.  I covered the cardboard backs before I nailed them to the back of the bookcase.  Here's how...

Assemble your bookcase.

 Use a large open space in your house to put your bookcase together.  It is really simple.  

These are the fabrics my daughter chose for her room.  They are absolutely perfect! 

My daughter always wonders why my favorite color is green.  She says that it is not a girl color.  I disagree.  Green is an awesome girl color.  She prefers pink so with these fabrics we have the best of both worlds! 

Fold the fabric several times.

I laid a cardboard back on the folded fabric and cut several covers at once.  I opted to use the paisley fabric on the four corners and the green in the center.  I left about two inches on each side for folding and securing.  

Cut the fabric at least 2 inches larger than the cardboard. 

Fold over the corners and secure them with packing tape.  Pull them tightly.  The cardboard pieces came folded in half.  I weighted them down with my pinking sheers to keep them from folding while I did the taping. 

I had to use my pinking sheers because I could not find my sewing scissors.  Can you believe that!  Shameful, truly shameful.

The cardboard backs had tiny divots to show you where to place the nails when securing the cardboard to the back of the bookcase.  I used a pen to transfer the marks to the fabric from the cardboard.  That way I would know where to pound the nails. 

Look closely,  you can see the marks.

I started by nailing the center panel because it was the most difficult to reach AND because it needed to be in place before the outer panels were secured.  Each panel took 12 nails.  It is a wonder that I only have one bruised thumbnail.  It did not feel good. 

Securing the panels!  Watch out for your thumbs. 

I LOVE how the bookcase turned out, and more importantly, my daughter LOVES it.  It is perfect for her dolls, books, jewels, and such.  Here are a few close-ups of the cubby holes. 

Corner squares

Center square

The center square fabric is difficult to see, but it looks awesome especially as a contrast to the paisley fabric at the corners.  It looks great peeking out from behind her books and toys.  See...

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the lamp.

I have plans for the open-backed cubbies too.  My plan involves these canvas drawers.  Check back or click HERE to see what I do with them.  

Canvas drawers

I would love it if you became a follower of my blog.  You can find me HERE on Facebook too, and of course, I'm HERE on Pinterest!  

Here are some other crafty things from my blog you might enjoy!

Make your own Hide And Seek Bag!  This headband looks great on little heads and even not-so-little heads - Twisted Flower Headband.  Put together a Lined Canvas Backpack just in time for travel season. 

Thanks for visiting!

Is that Ironman?

My daughter was invited to a birthday party yesterday.  It was a superhero party.  The invitation instructed attendees to dress as their favorite superhero.  There really was no contest.  My four-year-old daughter was going to be Ironman.  There had to be a mask.  That was a must.  She also wanted eyelashes and sparkles.  Hmmmmm......Eyelashes and sparkles.   How about this...

Red tinsel eyelashes - just what Ironman needs.  Don't you think?

 Tough with a touch of femininity!

Profile!  Look at that smile!

 She was so excited!

Pair the awesome mask with a pre-printed Ironman t-shirt and you are cooking!

She looked so CUTE!  The mask didn't last long on her face.  (The party had a bounce house after all.)  I also must add that I think Tony Stark would approve of the pink tennis shoes.  She fit right in with all the other superheroes at the park.  Our neighborhood is definitely safer with all these super kids living so close to us!

I would love it if you became a follower of this blog!  You can also follow me on Pinterest!  Thanks for visiting!

Let Us All Give Thanks!

Halloween didn't turn out so well here at the Greetings From the Asylum.  It involved some gastrointestinal distress followed by a garbage bag full of bathroom mats.  (In my defense, they were really old and beginning to fray before the "incident."  I put "incident" in quotation marks because that is the word my seven-year-old used when asking if it would keep him from trick-or-treating.  Yes, unfortunately, it did.

Instead, we carved our jack-o-lantern on November 4th.  It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon activity.  Roasted pumpkin seeds were followed by fresh banana bread with chocolate chips.  MMMMM!  I don't have a photo (sorry) we ate it too fast.  Stay tuned for the recipe...

Here is our delightfully happy jack-o-lantern.  It made me smile for days!

I dare you to look at this photo and NOT smile!  You can't do it!

I just love the freckles!  In my humble opinion, all jack-o-lanterns should sport freckles!

Then it was time for Thanksgiving decor:

One Thanksgiving display

I have this strange space-sucking shelf in a long hallway in my house.  I usually use this space as a catch-all of junk.  (You know you have one in your house, we all do!)  For the holidays I try to keep it clean-er.

Here are some close-up shots of the fun:

Do you see my "junk" in the background?

A close-up of some of my junk. 

Funny (now) story:  All of my smoke detectors went off at 3:20 in the morning a few nights ago.  Can you say adrenaline rush?  Whew!  The batteries are out because they continued to scream even after they had been forcibly ripped from the ceiling.  They each gave a final plaintive cry as the last of their power drained away.  SIGH!  It took my husband and me over an hour to go back to sleep after that, but our children slept right through it all!

It turns out that smoke detectors are only good for about 7 years.  (We got 5 extra years out of ours.)  SO, if yours are  older than that you need to replace them!  (If only to avoid a late-night non-emergency wake-up call.)  The electrician came today and fitted us with a big batch of brand spankin' new smoke detectors.  My son wanted to know if the new detectors will be able to tell when I am cooking.  That gave the electrician a good laugh, but I swear, I have never set off the smoke detectors while cooking!  ;)

Alrighty then...back to the decor...

My cousin made these glittered pressed leaves and sent them to me.  They look great scattered around with the other holiday stuff!

We won this centerpiece at a company picnic several years ago for my husband's previous employer.  It still looks great!

I have had these little metal pumpkins for YEARS!  I love putting electric tea lights in them and watching the shadows dance on the walls. 

This is my FAVORITE thing!

I made this write-on thankful plaque two years ago when I got the inspiration HERE from Bev at Flamingo Toes.  It has been a big hit ever since!  My kids love to write what they are thankful for! 

UPDATE:  I used embroidery to make the words after choosing a cute font on my computer to use as a pattern. 

Use colored Dry Erase markers.  I like the fine point!

You can write on your favorite thankful thing and wipe it off tomorrow and write something new!

AND speaking  of Bev.....I got to meet her!  You heard that right.  I met the world-famous Bev from Flamingo Toes!!!

Yes, I know I have a big, cheesy grin, but I am meeting one of my bloggy heroes after all!  :)

Bev was a few miles down the road so I simply had to go and say hello.  She is super nice and has  a great smile!  Seriously, check out her blog.  She has TONS of fun ideas especially if you like jewelry or sewing or home decor or whatever!  Highlight of my November!

Here are some more shots of my other Thanksgiving decorations...

I made these Pilgrims several years ago.  My kids just love them.

See, they love them.  They did  question the pumpkin and the pie though.  I don't know why, they make sense to me.

I made this Mod Podge masterpiece about four years ago. 

Here are some close-ups of my favorite letters.  The letter and background are smooth, but the flower, button, and cord are 3D.  

I love the sparkly leaf stickers and the square brads. 

When I made these I had to put everything away before I could finish.  I had all of the letters laid out just right.  Unfortunately, I needed the stove to cook dinner.  I took pictures of each letter before cleaning up my supplies.  It made it so easy to come back and remember what I had designed in my mind.  Also,  I used sticky back felt on the bottoms of all of the letters.  This keeps the letter blocks from sliding around on the shelf and also keeps any of the paint from coming off on the counter.  It is a win-win!

Well, there is the sum total of my Thanksgiving decor.  I am open to any ideas you have to make my house a little more festive!

I would love it if you became a follower of Greetings From the Asylum.  I can also be found on Facebook and Pinterest.  Come check me out!  Remember to add Greetings From the Asylum to your news feed on Facebook so that you can see all of the latest updates!

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Need a Sack for Your Back?

My kids are great travelers.  My son has been great since he was a little guy.  My daughter has come around this last year.  :)  We are planning a longish vacation this summer that will include car travel where my children will be strapped into booster seats.  While they travel well, we don't want to push our limits.

I had this idea to get them special bags in which I would put fun activities to amuse them and also for them to stash the treasures they will invariably attain along the way.  My mother made me such a handbag for a trip to Disneyland when I was just 4 years old.  She made one for my cousin too.  We loved those bags and traveled all over the place with them for years to come.

My bag was simple - just two rectangles with some handles and an applique' of my name.  I wanted my kids to have a special bag like that.  I thought of the pre-made handbags that one can purchase at various craft/fabric stores and decided that I would start there and dress them up with a pocket (maybe from old denim jeans).  My mind was spinning.  I had my project all planned out!  And then, I didn't.  :)

It turned out this way instead:

All tricked out and ready to travel.

I went into my local Joann's looking for just the right bag.  There were several great options from which to choose, but then I spied THESE.  Well, they weren't those exactly, but that link is the closest thing I could find to these...

Green for my son, and black for my daughter.

This style of bag is called a "sackpack."  I abandoned my handbag with a pocket idea as soon as I spotted these for several reasons.  First of all, they are bigger than the handbags that I was looking at.  Second, once the top is cinched shut, they are more secure than the handbags.  And third, once the packs are on their backs, the loose ends are long enough to tie around my children's hips.  AWESOME!  These were WAY better than my crummy handbag idea. :)  These sackpacks will be perfect for schlepping (my son's new favorite word) around souvenirs and such on our trip.  I certainly wouldn't recommend using these for hiking or purposes like that. 

I decided to sew a liner with pockets to the inside of the bags complete with pockets and secret hiding places.  To begin, I turned the bags inside out and drew a pattern on freezer paper.

I designed the configuration of pockets to be one large pocket with a flap on one side.  The flap stays closed using a magnetized purse clip that I had in my stash.  The other side has a triple pocket.  The small sections are perfect for pencils, a bookmark, sunglasses, or any long, thin item.  The center pocket is held closed with Velcro.  I cut the liners from more of the leftover sheet fabric from my project making Sleepy Shorts.  The bags are dark so the light fabric of the sheets really brightened up the interior of the bag, and I still have tons of fabric left for more projects. 

Here are the finished liners.  (Notice my "helper.")

You will notice that the original bag is rectangular in shape.  I cut the corners of the liner so that the liner would not interfere with the grommets at the bottoms of each bag.

Inside/outside view of the corners.

The magnetized purse clip, again with help!

This clip is very strong.  I reinforced the pocket and flap by sewing a circle around each side of the clip.  

I sewed the liner together completely with all of the pockets and fasteners before attaching it to the bag.  To attach the bag and the liner together I turned both inside out.  I pinned the seams of each together and sewed them together.  I sewed along the bottom of the bags and then along the sides.  I sewed in the seam allowances so that the stitching would not interfere with the stitching of the original bag.  To finish the top of the bag I folded down the top edge of the liner and stitched the liner to the bag along the seam of the drawstring.  That way I didn't interfere with the ability of the drawstring to tighten.  I did have to be careful to keep the strings out of the way of the sewing machine, but it wasn't difficult. 

The top edge.

Look at how bright the inside of the bag looks!  It is a real change from the dark original unlined bag.

I think it looks a little like flower petals.  The top of the picture shows the large pocket with the flap.  The bottom of the photo has the segmented pocket. 

Before I sewed the bags together, I decorated the outside.  For my son's bag I made a stencil out of freezer paper and colored in the space with Sharpie marker.  I wanted a weathered look for his initial because I was looking for a military duffel bag look.  My daughter got some iron-on bling and pink paint for her initial.  Her initial was so much more difficult than I thought it would be.  I got the template from HERE.  Isn't it cute?  I love it, and so does she.  I went over the "C" three times with paint pen, but I had to pool the paint in a small plastic bowl and use the paint pen like a brush to apply the paint.  The silver paint pen was much more cooperative.  I'm not sure what the hang up was.

I LOVE the finished bags!  (And so do they!)

Travel ready!

Here they are ready to go exploring!

Here she is, ready for adventure!

Check out the tie!  ( I had to get the shoes in the picture.)

I love the faded look from the marker, and the stencil made the lines very crisp.

Tie Close-Up

I can hardly wait to stuff these cute sacks full of road trip treasures! 

I purchased the bags for $4.99 each, but everything else to make this project came from my stash of stuff.  What fun things can you make from your stash?  I'd love to hear about them!