Showing posts with label natural. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

DIY Headboard- Burlap and Old Wood Flooring


I am beside myself with the newest addition to our bedroom! 

I have been wanting to make a headboard forever! I have had a interest board just for headboards so that I could sort my ideas and pinpoint what I really wanted. I knew that I wanted fabric of some sort and Happy Hubby wanted steel or wood of some sort... I decided we would compromise! I haven't been able to make my headboard because we never had a car big enough to carry home the materials. Well, guess what?!

We bought a new car on Saturday, but that's a whole other post! 

We woke up on Sunday morning and Happy Hubs asked, "what do you want to do today?" I said , "Make our headboard." I mean, why waste time?! We got the car finally!

We visited my favorite place in the whole world, The Rebuilding Center! Now I knew I wanted some sort of fabric and some sort of frame, but I decided a long time ago, to be very open minded when shopping at the rebuilding center and allow the project details to truly manifest themselves (yoga teacher language lol) once I see what is available. 

Materials:

We found a sheet of plywood for $3!!!!! It was almost the perfect size too, we only had to cut off 4 inches. I thought initially that I wanted raw wood as the boarder, but then we found this chipping white wood that looks like it used to be old tongue and groove wood flooring. We paid $7.20 for plywood and frame wood, ya can't beat that! I purchased a twin sized foam mattress cover for $10, 1 1/4"nails for $3, flush mounts (to hang the headboard on the wall) for $4. We already had an old fitted sheet that I cut up as base fabric and the burlap was leftover from our wedding last year. 

Tools:
We used a miter saw, hammer, screw gun, a staple gun, and a tape measure.

Here is how we put it together:

I didn't want pieces of white paint to chip off of our frame wood, so I sanded it with a 220 grit foam sander block. Then slapped on a coat of Mod Podge (I'll use it on anything I can!!) and then sealed it with a coat of Minwax Polyacrylic. These steps are not necessary, we have children and I did  not want them picking off paint chips... One child in particular has been known to do this already lol!

Cut Plywood to desired width and cut foam to fit. 



Staple foam to plywood. Note: Because I knew we would be using the old flooring frame, I did not fold my foam over and staple it to the back. I knew the frame would cover any bumps.


Cover foam with old sheet, staple on the back and cut off any excess fabric. Because this was a fitted sheet, I had to cut off the elastic band, which you can see in the background of this next photo.


Lay burlap on top of headboard structure and cut it leaving 4-6 inches all of the way around. Iron burlap then lay it out on the floor I didn't get a shot of that, but it was important to lay the burlap on the floor then place the headboard structure on top of it face down. The burlap shifts very easily and this keeps it straight. Pull the burlap tight around the edges, staple all the way around, taking care at the corners to keep them tidy.

Measure the boarder of the headboard and cut your wood to fit, and cut the ends of the wood pieces that will come together to make the frame at a 45 degree angle. 


Here is where it gets tricky, you will need 2 people. One person holds the wood down while the other person hammers in the nails to attach the wood to the head board.

We screwed the frame onto the headboard from the back for extra security. We didn't want wood falling on us in the middle of the night!
**Make sure your screws aren't too long or they will poke through the frame wood.


Measure and attach flush mounts to back of headboard and the wall. I can't give you too much information on this as it was Happy Hubby's job and I was just the eyeballs... We were off by about 1/2" initially and had to adjust. my advice: Have patience.

Let's look at the final product again!


I love how rugged yet elegant the frame looks!
It goes great with the pin tucked duvet cover that I made :)


I love that this burlap was in our wedding. 
It's a little reminder every morning of that special day that we promised each other our forevers!


I'm feeling a little stenciling coming on. I have no idea what color(s) or pattern I'd use, but I think a little pattern on the burlap would soften it up a bit. 

Any suggestions on what I should stencil or what color you think would look good?


I linked up:
Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Friday:





Thursday, March 8, 2012

Gluten Free Playdough Time & A Winner!!


Mr. P is almost 18 months old! He is now into playing more specific things now, even if only for a few minutes. Happy Hubby is not so into play dough, so we have never really had it around for the girls, plus store bought playdoh is not gluten free!

I searched over the internet to find a recipe for Gluten Free homemade play dough and found a recipe here at the Parents magazine website!


Cut and Paste from here...

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup rice flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 cup water 1 teaspoon cooking oil
  • Food coloring, if desired
Directions:
Mix ingredients. Cook and stir on low heat for 3 minutes or until it forms a ball. Cool completely before storing in a sealable plastic bag.



Just a warning, it does not take long for the dough to get thick!! It gets very hard to stir, my arm was getting tired and Happy Hubby had to hop into the kitchen to help out! lol


Busy hands squeezing play dough!


Cheesy grin hidden behind play dough :)


Now that is one satisfied, sensory stimulated *almost* 18 month old!

Any other homemade gluten free goops or other sensory stimulating items I should make for Mr. P to play with?


**Congrats to Kristi Marriott who won the My Memories Suite!**

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Natural Laundry Detergent

Yay! First blog post about what I have been doing with my life recently. I have mentioned a little business endeavor to some of you- well I am "sweetly inspired" and I'm working on my etsy shop as I type this. Literally, my etsy page is minimized as I compose this blog!!! Must keep this short and sweet, but I made the most divine cleaning powder for our laundry:

Grate one 8oz or two 4oz bar of dr bronners or mrs meyers or what ever natural bar soap you like 
2 C wash soda
2 C borax 
I shred mine up even finer in the food processor, but it's not necessary. I used mrs Meyers lavender soap it smells amazing! It ends up being only like 2 cents a load and you have all the stuff to make other natural household cleaners. Preston's (my baby boy) skin is super sensitive so we are going to give this a whirl!

You only need to use one tablespoon for a full load.

I put my natural detergent to the test on the first load- Sweaty and stinky yoga clothes! They came out smelling fresh and so clean! btw: the cool star jar came from ikea :) Happy Laundering!