Thursday, September 8, 2016

Two Minute Fix: Tie Clip Holder

Last night I went on a random decluttering streak, throwing away some loose receipts on the dresser, tidying up some spare change and organizing the nightstands. In the midst of the clutter I found a package of tie clips that Zach had purchased months ago from Amazon. He has been using them each day and (sometimes) clipping them back to the original packaging after use. I figured it made more sense to store the clips were the ties live in the closet, so I went to the craft room to hunt for a solution.


I quickly found some remnant fabric from our living room curtain project. A few quick snips with the pinking shears and my task was done. I cut a strip of the fabric, folded it in half over an open spot on the tie rack and attached the clips. I was careful to clip each one over both halves of the fabric so that it stayed in place on the rack.


Fabric + Pinking Shears = Tie Clip Solution


I will probably go back later and make something more “official” looking for Zach, but for now we have a storage place for his collection, even though its in a palm tree pattern. :)

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Simple Upcycled Canning Jar Project

I recently SCORED a boatload of canning jars for my Aunt and Uncle who can just about everything on the farm. Seeing as though they had so many, we agreed that I could keep a few from this stash for my finder’s fee. I decided to keep the “plain” canning jars that didn’t have logos or brand names. A few Christmases ago, I bought a couple dozen canning jars during a sale and I have been slowly making my way through them ever since. Instead of storing these new jars with the others, possibly risking their disappearance under the ever-growing pile of craft supplies upstairs, I decided to find a use for them immediately. After loading the jars into the dishwasher, I gave myself time to think of a project. I decided that my yarn stash would point me in the direction of a project. I decided that today these jars would become a centerpiece of my dining table. But since these jars could see different uses in the future, I decided not to use any kind of glue or adhesive to keep the yarn in place. I chose some yarn leftover from a previous project, but you could use any kind of yarn, twine or even ribbon.

Here's what you need:

On a serious note, if your jars have been sitting around for a while, give ‘em a quick run through the dishwasher before starting this project. First, tie the yarn around the jar, pulling it as tight as possible. Then, just wrap as much as you want. If you wrap more than one jar, the don't all have to look the same (unless you are going to symmetry). I chose to wrap each one of mine a little differently.

Wrapping!

When you have wrapped as much as you want, cut off your yarn, leaving plenty of tail. Then tie the end, cutting off the excess.


And voila! You have created one (or several) pretty jars!

I placed tealight candles in my jars and lined them up on the table.

Candlelight!

You can use these jars for just about anything. They would be great for decorative storage in the bathroom. They could hold your wooden spoons on the kitchen counter or be a fun gift for a friend. It would also be super easy to thread beads or a charm onto the yarn for a fun twist! Then, when you are ready for a change, just unwrap and start again! This project is a fun, quick and easy way to jazz up some plain jars and (possibly) use up some leftover supplies from previous projects!

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

New Life, New Hobbies, New Blog

Hello!

For those of you who read my old blog years ago, WELCOME BACK! For those of you reading it for the first time, WELCOME! In its first iteration, Nickelknacks was a blog for the craft experiments of a graduate student with a ton of hobbies and a tight budget. Now its a blog for the ridiculously wide range of hobbies, crafts, interests and insights of a (recently) new Mom on a budget. Join me and let's make something fun!