Bottle Cap Pushpins & Magnets

I had a stash of bottle caps that I had been saving for a while JUST IN CASE a project may arise.  While I know that I could always buy bottle caps at a craft store, I just hate buying something that I have in my possession already for FREE.  

Back in July, I found an adorable cork board for kid's artwork and since my refrigerator was already taken over by my little artist's work, I needed a secondary "gallery."  I found a nice spot for it in the hall between our breakfast nook and the living room and covered it with art.  Except there was something just not right... AHA! Aside from not having enough space (I'll talk about that later), it was covered in BORING pushpins.  I thought about it a little and remembered my trusty stash of bottle caps!  Yes, I could have bought "cuter" pushpins, but why do that when I could make my own unique, inexpensive, easy pushpins!  Since I am also looking for summer crafts for Super Kid, I would be hitting two birds with one stone!  I decided to let him make bottle cap magnets to put by his homework desk.  We did these simultaneously, so the pictures are combined.  

How I did it:

What you need:

- Bottle caps (as many as you want to make)
- Hot glue gun
- Flat head pushpins
- Small round magnets
- Stickers 
- Scrapbooking embellishments 
- Mod Podge Dimensional Magic (we used the one with silver glitter)
- Cutting board (optional - I use this cutting board for ALL of my crafts!)

What I did:

Step 1: I told Super Kid to pick out a few stickers from his sticker pad that would fit inside of the bottle caps. I then let him take this over while I placed my scrapbooking embellishments (which fit PERFECTLY inside of the caps) inside of my caps.  You could do either way for your caps!  Scrapbooking stickers work great!  I found these adorable embellishments on clearance, so I went that route.  I did not have to use hot glue for mine, since they had a sticky back on them.  If it does not have a sticky back, then use a small dab of hot glue to hold your embellishment in place.

Step 2: Since my embellishments did NOT need Mod Podge, I went ahead and hot glued my pushpins to the bottom. 

Step 3: For the caps with stickers (or anything that needs Mod Podge), I hot glued magnets to the bottom and then filled the bottle caps with the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. 

Step 4: Let the caps with Mod Podge dry for 24 hours.  Once they are dry, they are done! The pushpin caps without Mod Podge are all done once the hot glue is dry!

On my "Works of Art" board: 

I mentioned before about not having enough space on this board!  I added a piece of jute string by attaching it with hot glue to the back of the board and then used these adorable mini clothes pins I found on clearance (part of the same set as the embellishments I used for the bottle caps) to hook the art to the jute!  Always try to alter an object to better fit your needs rather than buying something new! 

And just because they're adorable, here's those cute mini clothes pins :)

Lego Bracelet

I've been planning Super Kid's 6th Birthday Party, which is Lego themed, the last few weeks and while doing my Pinterest-ing and Google-ing, I came across an adorable bracelet made out of Legos.  Well, this bracelet costs WAY more than I'm willing to pay (about $80 more, actually) for a bracelet that is 1. made of Legos and 2. for a 6 year old that will probably lose it.  DIY to the rescue!

My version is cheap, easy, and won't make you or your bank account cry for days if your kid loses it.

How I did it:

What you need:

- Legos!  (Gather as many as you think you may need to fit your child's wrist.  I eyeballed this. I used the same sized square Legos, but you could use a variety of shapes and colors depending on how funky you want the bracelet to be.)
- Bracelet string (I used the kind you can find near the pony beads for kid's bracelets at a craft store. In my opinion, this type of string would withstand a 6 year old, but you could also use stretchy jewelry string if you'd like.)
- Dremel or drill with small hole drilling bit
- Cutting Board (I didn't actually drill into my board, but I had it there just in case)
- Scissors

What I did:

Step 1: Gather up your Legos.  I eyeballed the number of Legos I would need by placing them into a circle.  

Step 2: Use your Dremel or drill to drill a small hole through the center of the Lego.  Since I used the square Legos, I was able to drill straight through the hole on the bottom of the Lego.  I did NOT drill straight down into my cutting board.  I actually held the Lego up and applied pressure that way.  Be careful doing this, please.  If you have a piece of board laying around that you can sacrifice, then use that and drill straight down.

Notice the hole isn't perfectly centered on every Lego.  That's okay.  I found it didn't make any difference if it is slightly off centered.

Step 3: Cut your bracelet string to the size of your child's wrist.  Make sure to leave extra room for the Legos, since they are pretty bulky.

Step 4: String the Legos onto the bracelet string and tie a knot.

All done!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!  This ended up costing me about $2 total.  I had everything on hand, except for the bracelet string, which was $1.99 at the craft store.  Much better than $80-something if I do say so myself!

Front Porch Rocking Chair Plant Holder

Whoa!  That's a mouthful!  Frontporchrockingchairplantholder.  ANYwho, I wanted to share my frontporchrockingchairplantholder with you all!

Now before you judge my sad, half alive plant that is in my newly refurbished rocking chair, you must know that I have nothing NEAR a green thumb.  Gardening is not something I've ever been good at, nor is it something I enjoy.  The fact that this one plant still has a bloom on it after having it for a couple of months is beyond amazing!  Ok, that's my plant disclaimer. Moving on.

I found this rocking chair at a yard sale in my neighborhood for $10.  There was a piece of cardboard where the seat was supposed to be, so I decided to take it a different route all together.  The little square will fit a basic sized plant holder.  I will have to get creative during the winter and holidays, but I know I will be adding mums to it for the fall!

To start, I did a light sanding over the entire chair using a sanding block.  I then painted on a coat of outdoor primer.  Once that was dry (overnight), I did two coats of red paint with a paintbrush.  I let each coat dry overnight.  For SOME reason, this paint just would not dry and wasn't covering the way it was supposed to.  So then it was off to the hardware store to buy a can of my trusty spray paint!  I love spray paint. LOVE.  One quick coat of a matching red spray paint covered it perfectly!  Once it was dry, I stuck it on the porch, threw my half alive plant in it and voila!  :)

Moral of the story:  Don't be afraid to try non-traditional uses for your refurbished furniture finds!

Kid-Proofing Chairs

I recently had a great opportunity to do a guest post for the At Play Blog at AtPlayOnline.com!

You can find the tutorial for "Kid-Proofing Chairs" here.

While you're there, check out the At Play Blog!  There is everything from crocheting to crafts to knitting and you will find tutorials for just about everything you could ever want to make.  The website is compiled of tutorials and patterns submitted by At Play Blog readers, so you will find the best of the best there!  Make sure to check it often, because these are added every.single.day.  :)

I hope you enjoy my "Kid-Proofing Chairs" tutorial!