DIY Nursery Banner

Banners are all the rage as kid’s décor these days.  They are often used in parties, photo props or as room décor.  They are also incredibly easy to make.

Supplies needed for this project:  twine, ¼ yard of navy chevron flannel fabric, ¼  yard of  green dotted flannel fabric, ¼ of a yard of green chevron flannel, iron on letters, an iron, scissors, a piece of paper, a pencil or marker, a straight edge ruler, a hot glue gun

To begin, I made my triangles out of three different patterned flannel materials.  I purchased my material from JoAnn Fabric when it was on sale for 50% off.  I chose flannel, because I could cut it without having frayed edges.  I didn’t want to have to hem my triangles.  Felt is also a good material for this project.  You can buy felt by the sheet in the craft section, making it really inexpensive.  Burlap is also a good material that wouldn’t require sewing.  I chose the flannel, because I wanted the pattern and colors for our nursery.  I purchased ¼ a yard of each fabric, so the material only cost me a few bucks.  Obviously, I have plenty of material left over, because the triangles are small.  I may make a few small pillows in the future.  You could also just buy the sheets of felt material

To make sure each triangle was the exact same, I made a pattern from a piece of paper.  I just used a straight edge ruler to make a perfect triangle and cut the triangle out as my pattern.   Then on the back side of the felt, I traced all of my triangles. Then I cut my triangles out using a good pair of sewing scissors.  I made sure to cut about an inch above each triangle, leaving excess fabric to fold onto the twine. 

Once my triangles were cut, I ironed on my letters.  I bought my iron on letters from Hobby Lobby, using a 50% off coupon from the weekly ad.  I spent $3 on my letters.

Lastly, I folded the top of each triangle over a piece of twine and hot glued it into place.  

And that’s pretty much it.  I hung my banner underneath a chalkboard that we used as a photo prop in a maternity session.  I think the banner and chalkboard gives the room character, and I am pleased with how it looks.

I'm linking up at:
Tater Tots and Jello
Serenity Now
The Thrifty Home
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Remodelaholic
The Shabby Nest
The Cottage Market
The Girl Creative
The Crafted Sparrow
A Creative Princess
Handy Man Crafty Woman
Someday Crafts
Not Just a Housewife
Elizabeth and Co.
Lines Across My Face
Domestically Speaking
DIY Show Off
Nifty Thrifty Things
Create With Joy
Flour Me With Love
Boogie Board Cottage

Coastal Charm

DIY No Sew Kid's Bench Cushion

 

This is a project that I really wished I would have taken pictures  of as I went along.  It’s not a hard project, but I’m not so sure it is going to be easy to explain.  I will do my very best to make it sound as easy as it was.

The first thing I did was cut a piece of one inch foam to fit the top of my bench (bench was purchased from Amazon and the canvas totes from Target).  I had the foam from a previous project so I didn’t have to buy it. Then I cut a piece of batting from a previous project. The batting needed to cover the top and sides of the fabric, so I cut a little extra and tucked it under the bottom of the foam to secure the batting to the underside of the foam using hot glue. Because I didn’t want to sew anything for this project, hot glue was my choice of adhesive. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear it works. 

Once my foam and batting were attached, it was time for the fabric. I basically wrapped my foam with the fabric the same way I would wrap a present. I took a piece of fabric that was probably two inches longer than the width of the cushion and two inches longer than the length of both the front and back of the cushion. And from there I just sort of wrapped it. Making sure everything was glued nice and neatly, and that all of my edges looked hemmed even though they were glued.

When the boys get older, I will probably Velcro the bottom of the cushion to the top of the bench to keep it secure, but for now the cushion just sits on the bench.

And that’s pretty much it. I bought the fabric from Hobby Lobby using a 40% off coupon from the weekly ad. I purchased one yard of fabric.  Like, the fabric for the curtains and the crib skirt, this fabric was thicker fabric for upholstery.  I loved the little blue and green automobiles.  I thought it went perfect with my blue and green canvas bins.  The fabric was marked $7.99, so this cushion cost me around $5 to make.

DIY No Sew Crib Bumper

Today I want to share with you how I made no-sew crib bumpers for our twin boy nursery.  Before I begin, I know that bumpers are controversial these days.  Some people are not comfortable with bumpers, due to recent studies saying that they can be a suffocation hazard.  Others prefer the mesh bumpers that they sell separate from crib sets.  Some still prefer padded bumpers, so their babies don’t bump their heads when they start moving around.  Personally, we have kept our babies in bassinets in our room while they are small, and will not move the babies to their cribs till they are bigger and sleep through the night.  We feel comfortable using bumpers on our cribs, but it is a personal choice that each individual parent needs to make for themselves.

Having said that, the first thing I had to do when making my own bumpers was to buy the following:

1) crib bumper inserts - You can find them at most craft stores. They are called Nu-Foam bumper pads.  I bought mine from JoAnn Fabrics. They are packaged as six foam inserts that fit the inside of a standard crib.  Regular retail price is around $30 for one standard crib. Remember, I had to purchase two packages, because I was making two crib sets.  I waited until inserts and pillow forms were half off in the weekly ad, and then I purchased two sets for around $30 total.

2) fabric -  I actually found my fabric on Ebay for $3.99 a yard. Unlike the crisp upholstery fabric I used for the crib skirts and curtains in the nursery, the fabric I purchased for the bumpers was a basic cotton fabric.  I bought two yards of the navy and white polka dot fabric and two yards of the white and navy polka dot fabric.  I spent $16 on all of my fabric.  That was enough fabric for both cribs, and I have fabric left over if I want to make some pillows in the future.  Fabric.com is also a good place to buy fabric, as well as Hobby Lobby, Michael’s or JoAnn Fabrics.  Just be sure to use a coupon from the weekly ad or wait for the fabric to go on sale, if you want to get the best deal.

3) ties for the bumpers -  The ties were navy blue ribbon and bias tape. I chose to use ribbon on the front of the crib and bias tape on the other three sides of the crib. I bought my ribbon from JoAnn Fabrics when ribbon was half off.   It took two spools of ribbon for each crib. The spools were regular priced around $3-4 a spool. You can find bias tape near the quilting section of craft stores. It is fabric cut into long strips. It usually comes with three yards in a package and cost about $2-3 per package. I used three packages total for both cribs. I spent close to $25 for all of ribbon and bias tape. Of course, you don't have to use ribbon at all. Bias tape on all four sides will work just fine.  I personally love the way the ribbon dressed up the front of the crib.

Making the no-sew bumpers was really easy.  First I cut my material to fit my bumper, allowing an additional one inch on all four sides of my fabric.  I ended up with eight pieces of cut fabric for each crib. Two short navy and white polka dot pieces, two short white and navy polka dot pieces, two long navy and white polka dot pieces, and two long white and navy polka dot pieces.

Second I cut my ribbon for the front of each crib.  I chose to use six bows on the front of each crib, three across the top and three across the bottom.  Each bow took two pieces of ribbon, so each crib took 12 pieces of ribbon.  I don’t know exactly how long I cut the ribbon.  I cut it just long enough for a good sized bow, but if I had guess it was maybe a foot long.

Next, I cut the ties for the remaining three sides of the crib.  I chose to use four ties for the sides of each crib and six ties for the back of each crib.  Each tie took two pieces of cut bias tape.  I cut each piece just long enough to tie a double knot.

Once everything was cut, it was time to start ironing with the Heat and Bond.  I started with the sides of the crib.  I turned two pieces of my fabric for the side of the crib inside out and ironed three sides together with the Heat and Bond (keep one shorter side open to insert bumper pad), leaving an inch opening on each side where each bow and each tie needs to go.  Then I turned the fabric right side out, and inserted a foam bumper pad.  Next I neatly tucked my fabric in on the remaining side and sealed it with my hot glue gun.  Lastly, on each of the openings I left for the ribbon and bias tape, I secured my ties to the inside of the fabric using my hot glue gun.  As with any bumper, store bought or home made, make sure the ties are secured well.  You don’t want babies pulling them off and choking on them.  I feel as though mine are secure, but you may choose to make them more secure by sewing each one on with needle and thread.  I repeated these steps for the remaining three sides of the crib.  With the two longer sides, I inserted two foam bumper pads instead of one.  Again, my version of my entire crib set was a no-sew version, but the steps would be the same if you were sewing with a sewing machine.  Just replace the Heat and Bond with thread.

 

The total cost for the finished crib bumper was close to $70 or about $35 each.  I know what you are thinking, that’s kind of high for a DIY project.  Maybe it is, but keep in mind that I only spent $15 for each DIY crib skirt and $10 for each green polka dot sheet from Target.  My mother-in-law made the crib blankets, for a cost of $40 for each blanket after shipping and supplies.  And in case anyone is wondering where I found the green and navy elephant fleece blanket, those were from Burlington Coat Factory for $15 each.   So the total cost of each crib set with a bumper, skirt, sheet, quilted blanket and fleece blanket is about $115 each.  Now I know that is about the same cost as a crib set from Wal-Mart or Target.  But I didn’t want a crib set from Wal-Mart or Target.  Unfortunately, I have a little more expensive taste when it comes to design.  I really wanted this crib set that I saw in Carousel Designs, which would have cost me a total of $500 a piece.  Rather than spending $1,000 for two navy blue and green chevron crib sets from Carousel Designs, I ended up spending about $230.  And I have to say that I actually like the look of my finished crib set better than what I saw in the catalog.  Plus, my MIL made the boys their quilted blanket, so my finished product even has a little sentimental value.

I'm linking up at:
Liz Marie Blog
The Thrifty Home
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Remodelahol
The Shabby Nest
The Cottage Market
The Girl Creative
The Crafted Sparrow
A Creative Princess
Handy Man Crafty Woman
Someday Crafts
Not Just a Housewife
Elizabeth and Co.
Lines Across My Face
Domestically Speaking
DIY Show Off
Nifty Thrifty Things
Create With Joy
Flour Me With Love
Boogie Board Cottage

Coastal Charm

DIY No-Sew Chevron Curtains



 

I knew I wanted navy chevron curtains in the nursery to coordinate with the crib bedding.  I decided to use a valance instead of panels, because in my mind I could see two rambunctious little boys pulling panels down from the wall.  I also chose a flat valance, because I liked the look of the crisp clean lines of a flat valance.

Using the same fabric I used to make the crib skirts, I made an easy no-sew crib valance.  With my 40% off coupon, I purchased one yard of navy chevron fabric from Hobby Lobby priced $7.99 a yard. 

 

 

To figure out the width of fabric I needed for the curtain, I measured the width of my window, added three inches to each side so the curtain was a little longer than my window, plus one more inch to each side for a one inch hem.

 

To figure out the length of fabric I needed for the curtain, I decided I wanted my valances to be the standard fifteen inches. I multiplied fifteen by two (for the front and back of the curtain), and added three inches for the slip hole, plus one more inch for the hem.
 

 

Once I had my fabric cut, I ironed a one inch hem to the length of the fabric and using Heat and Bond, I “no-sewed” a hem.

 

I then did another hem on one of my widths.

 

Then I took the other width of fabric and folded it over three inches to create my slip hole for the curtain rod. I applied the Heat and Bond to the width of the fabric, as I made sure to leave a three inch gap for the rod.

 

Lastly, I folded the width of the fabric that already had a hem line and brought the hem up to the bottom of the slip hole on the back of the curtain. Using Heat and Bond, I “no-sewed”it into place.

 

So essentially, I just hemmed three sides of fabric, folded the top unhemmed side back to make a slip hole, and then folded the bottom hemmed side up to meet the bottom of the slip hole. I chose to do this, so that the front and back looked finished. If I were looking from the outside of the house into the nursery window, I wanted the curtain to look just as good from the outside as it does from the inside.

 

And that’s pretty much it. Total cost for the curtain was less than $5I wish I would have taken pictures as I made them. Hopefully this post makes them sound easy to make, because this was not a difficult project. Honestly, if you can measure, cut and iron, you can make a no-sew valance in no time.

DIY No-Sew Chevron Crib Skirt

I loved this crib set from Carousel Designs, but there was no way I was going to pay $500 for one crib set.  I even looked for similar pieces sold separately online but didn’t have much luck.  The cheapest navy chevron crib skirt I could find was $40, so I decided to use the crib set as my inspiration, but make my own version. 

Step one:  To make my own no-sew crib skirt, I had to first measure the width of the sides and front of the crib, and the length from the mattress frame to the bottom of the lower panel on the front of the crib.

Step two:  I purchased three yards of navy chevron fabric from Hobby Lobby. Remember, I had to make crib skirts for two cribs, not just one crib. They have the navy chevron in both thin cotton and thick upholstery fabric. I chose the thicker fabric, so I would have a nice clean and crisp crib skirt. The fabric was $7.99 a yard, but I used a 40% off coupon found in the weekly ad (find the ad online for a printable coupon).

I decided to make three pieces for one crib skirt, one piece for the front and one piece for each of the sides, rather than one long crib skirt. This gave me cleaner lines when attaching the crib skirt to the crib. I chose not to make a piece for the back of the crib, since no one would see the back of the crib.

Step three:  Making the three pieces was pretty easy. I just used my crib measurements and added a half inch for a hem. Then I cut my fabric according to my measurements, ironed a hem on all four sides of each piece of fabric, and using Heat N Bond adhesive tape I “no-sewed” the hems. When cutting the fabric be sure that the chevron lines up on both sides of the crib and the front, so it looks like one piece of fabric.

When I began cutting my fabric for the front of the crib, I ran into a dilemma. Because I wanted the chevron pattern going straight across and not up and down, I only had 44 inches of fabric to work with and the width of my crib was longer than 44 inches. In order to make it look like one piece of fabric in the front of the crib, I had to use two pieces of fabric, align the chevron pattern of both pieces of fabric up perfectly, and then attach both pieces together using my no sew adhesive tape. In the end it worked, because you can’t tell I used two pieces of fabric in the front.

Step four:  Once I had three pieces of “no-sewed” crib skirts, I attached each piece to the crib by using Velcro tape I had in my craft closet. I cut pieces of the tape, attached one side of the Velcro to the part of the crib mattress frame and the other part to the back of my no-sew crib skirts. I used a piece of Velcro tape about every three bars on the crib. If the adhesive part of the Velcro is not sticking very well, hot glue does wonders.  

In the end, I am happy with my finished product. The crib skirt cost me around $15 for each crib after supplies, and it only took a little bit of measuring, cutting and ironing.

I'm linking up at:
Embracing Change
French Country Cottage
The Idea Room
Liz Marie Blog
Tater Tots and Jello
Serenity Now
The Thrifty Home
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Remodelaholic
The Shabby Nest
The Cottage Market
The Girl Creative
The Crafted Sparrow
A Creative Princess
Handy Man Crafty Woman
Someday Crafts
Not Just a Housewife
Elizabeth and Co.
Lines Across My Face
Domestically Speaking
DIY Show Off
Nifty Thrifty Things
Create With Joy
Flour Me With Love
Boogie Board Cottage

Coastal Charm

Five Minute No-Sew Napkin Pillows

One of my most popular posts was “No-Sew Pillow Cases - Made from Napkins”.  In that post, I shared with you a way to inexpensively and creatively make pillow cases by using cloth napkins, no-sew adhesive, a zipper and a pillow form.  You can find that post here.  Today, I am going to show you how to make no-sew napkins pillows that are even easier to make than the previous post.

The benefit of the previous tutorial was that pillow cases can be changed throughout the year.  In today’s post, I am not making pillowcases.  Today I am just sharing pillows that coordinate with the bedding on our guestroom bed.  To start this project, I bought two pillow forms from my local craft store (half off with a coupon of course) and four Waverly napkins from Burlington Coat Factory for $1 each. 

Now for the fast and simple part.…..I took two napkins, and using hot glue.....yes, I said hot glue, I attached three of the four sides of two napkins together.  Then I inserted the pillow form and sealed the fourth side with more hot glue.  I followed those same steps again, and within five minutes I had two pillows.

I know that some of you are saying to yourself….hot glue….really?  To be honest, this isn’t exactly a new idea.  I’ve seen several bloggers use hot glue on fabric.  I’ve seen some make curtains with hot glue, and I have even used  hot glue for my no-sew felt flower pillows seen here and here.  The truth is that for a project like this, ie: a project that will get little use and is pretty much just for looks, hot glue is a great inexpensive, durable and super-easy option:)

More No-Sew Fun With Felt

        The other day, I shared this post about my no-sew felt flower pillow.  Today, I am sharing with you two more no-sew felt pillows that I made to go in the same sitting area as the other pillow.  Felt is very inexpensive, so I couldn't help but use it again for these two pillows. 
        Once again, I don’t have a tutorial to share with you, but I made these pillows the same way I made other no-sew pillows I’ve created, with the exception of a few minor details.  I used the following materials to create these pillows:  2 pillow forms (one large, one small), ½ yard of grey felt, ½ grey lace, beads and a hot glue gun. 
        The larger pillow was really simple.  I made it like any other no-sew pillow, only I used felt as the back and lace as the front.  I chose hot glue as my no-sew adhesive for reasons previously listed in the above post.  The smaller pillow was made just like the larger one, only I created felt flowers to put on the pillow by cutting and arranging felt petals and then adding a small bead in the middle of each flower.  The smaller pillow was more time consuming than the larger, but I think it was worth it. 
        I hope these pics inspire you all to have some inexpensive, practical crafting fun with felt.  The next time you see felt on sale at your  local fabric store, just think of all of the possibilites;) 

No-Sew Felt Flower Pillow

         It seems like I've seen felt flower pillows everywhere lately, and I’ve really been wanting to make one.  Felt is very inexpensive.  I knew I could make one for a little over $5 if I used coupons.  I used the following materials to make my pillow: pillow form, black felt and a hot glue gun.  Yes, you read that correctly…I used my hot glue gun.

          If you recall, I have not invested in a sewing machine and have come to adore no-sew adhesives.  However, felt is a porous material, so I knew that no-sew glues and iron-on adhesives would be difficult to work with.  Having nothing else in the house to use, I called on my trusty hot glue gun to the job.  Now, I don’t necessarily recommend this, but I can tell you that it works.  The problem I see with using hot glue is washing and drying the pillow.  Since my pillow cost around $5 and is only being used as an accent pillow on a chair that rarely ever gets used,  I didn’t fret over this problem too much.  I did discover this product at Micheal’s after the fact, and might suggest it for no-sew projects when working with materials such as felt in the future. 

           I don’t have a tutorial for this pillow, although I’m sure there are several out there.  I’ve seen enough flower pillows on store shelves that I  had the basic idea in my head of how to create one.  I made the pillow just like many of my other no-sew pillows seen here, only I used a hot glue gun.  After the actual pillow was created, I cut out several felt petals, arranged them on the pillow until I liked what I saw, and then I began gluing. 
           This was a quick, easy, inexpensive project that I think turned out pretty darn cute, and I really like the way it looks on the black and white chair.   In fact, it was so easy that I have more felt projects to  post about in the near future.  Until next time, happy crafting everyone!

More No-Sew Pillows

Someone recently asked me where I purchased the pillows from on this loveseat.  I told them that I purchased the tan pillow from Kirkland's years ago and the other two I made a few months ago....

....using heat-n-bond.  Would you really expect anything else from me?

I found this fabric in the JoAnn's scrap fabric pile for half off the reduced price.  $3 looked like a good deal to me, and I still have plenty of fabric leftover for a different project.



I fell in love with this Waverly home decor fabric, and the cheapest place I could find it was from fabric.com.   Waverly fabric is not cheap, but since I only bought half of a yard, I justified the price;)



Using coupons, I purchased two pillow forms from JoAnn's 40% off the regular price.

I "no-sewed" the pillows using the heat'n'bond and an iron, the same way that I would have sewed the pillows with a sewing machine.

After three of the four sides were "no-sewed", I turned the pillow right-side-out and stuffed the pillow form in the pillow.  Lastly, I "no-sewed" the fourth side of the pillow.

Not too bad for a "no-sew" project, huh?  They were easy, cost-effective, and they look pretty good in the room too:)

No-Sew Seat Cushions

       

       A few months ago, we ordered a bistro set for the deck from Amazon, but we ordered the table and the chairs from separate sellers to get the best price.  The chairs arrived in timely fashion, but a few short days after ordering the table, I received an email saying that the table was sold out.  I eventually found the table from another seller....or so I thought.  I ordered the table, but to my surprise it arrived much smaller than I imagined.  That's because I didn't clearly read what I ordered.  The table that I ended up ordering was a matching coffee table to the bistro set ~ oops!  Soooooo, I had to return the small table and begin my search all over again.  After a two month wait,  I eventually settled on a table from Target.  I say all of that to say this ~ the table and chairs have arrived and are on the deck, which means I got to make cushions for the chairs last week!  Here's how I spent my afternoon this past Wednesday :)

I bought two of these foam cushions for $2.99 a piece at Hobby Lobby.

I already had the ribbon, but I bought one yard of outdoor fabric at JoAnn's for $9.00 after the 40% discount.  I also bought one packet of heat-n-bond for $1.99. 



After measuring and cutting two pieces of fabric to fit the foam padding, I applied the heat-n- bond to the backside edge of one of my pieces of fabric.



I placed the second piece of fabric directly on top of the first piece of fabric backside up, and then I apply the heat to the heat-n-bond.  I repeated this process for three of the four sides.

Once the heat-n-bond was applied to three of the sides, I turned the fabric outside-in.  On the fourth side, I created a hem on the top and bottom pieces of fabric using the heat-n-bond

I stuffed the foam in the fabric and cut four small holes in the edges of the fabric (left, right, top and bottom).  Then, I tied ribbon to the fabric using the holes.

 I hot glued the two hem lines together to seal the fourth side of the fabric shut.

The finished project......

.....fits perfectly!

I secured it to the chair by tying the ribbon to the chair.

This project was less than $20 ~ Love it!

The cushions definitely make the bistro set look better! 

And of course, we broke in the new table and chairs by having dinner on the deck.


Tilapia, shrimp scampi and peas....yummo ;)

This week I'll be linking up at The Thrify Home (http://www.thethriftyhome.com/2011/05/88th-penny-pinching-party.html) and all of the other link parties on my link page.