DIY Fabric Sunglasses Case

The other day when cleaning out my bathroom I found an old glasses case. The liner had become unattached and it wasn't being used. It isn't much of a change from glasses case to sunglasses case, but giving it a cute facelift (for almost nothing!) was reason enough for me to break out my glue gun. I also don't have a hard case sunglasses holder for my purse so this is also a functional craft!

To begin, you'll need:

~ decoupage glue

~ fabric (fat quarter at Walmart for 97 cents!)

~ old glasses case (check goodwill)

~ pencil

~ scissors

~ glue gun

I started by removing the liner from my case. Easy work since it was already coming off ;). 

Next, I cut out two rough squares of fabric larger than the size of my case. I used my case as a guide to mark notches that I cut out for the hinged part of the case. Your cuts don't have to be perfect, just make sure you have enough to wrap around the outside of your case and into the inner side to secure. 

Cover the outside of your case with decoupage glue (Mod Podge). I did one side at a time so the glue wouldn't become tacky. Cover the side with your fabric and smooth out any wrinkles. Make sure your cut out notch edges match up with the hinges on your case.

You should end up with something like this. At this point, I used my scissors to trim the excess material from the inside. 

Next, I glued down the edges of the fabric to the inside of the case to make sure they were thoroughly secured. 

Now I could reattach my liner. Simply use hot glue to secure it. 

Here is the finished product from all sides! I'm very pleased with how it turned out, especially since I only took about ten minutes to fix it up. 

Just pop your favorite sunnies in and throw them in your bag or car! This is a really quick and cheap DIY (or facelift) that still lets you be creative. You can find these cases at goodwill ALL THE TIME for cents. And the Walmart fabrics are endless with some really cute options. You could even use scrap fabric if you have some. The case kind of reminds me of the fabric cases you can buy at Vera Bradley! But for a huge fraction of the cost! Like my funky sunglasses up there? Check back next week for a tutorial on how to make your own, inspired by my favorite blogger!

Quick and Dirty DIY: Recycling Sorter

Hey guys!

Today I wanted to share a quick project that will tidy up your current recycling set-up. For the past year, we've gotten by with two trash cans: one for trash and the other for all types of recycling. It's worked alright until we saw what my dad had to go through on "Dump Days". We'd get confused/lazy and throw recyclables into the trash can, forcing my dad to dutifully sort through both our main recycle bin and our trash. YUCK. So, my mom and I went to stores to find a better option. Problem is, recycling options are expensive!!! So, this is what we bought to handle our trash.

Yes, that is a clothes sorter! However, it makes the perfect recyclables sorter! We bought this for $18.99 from the best store ever (Target, of course) but Walmart also sells the exact same one here. 

So, next we bought these trash bags we use in our regular trash can. They have drawstrings and odor protection. Awesome!

Simply fit the trash bags around your sorter the same way you attach the drawstring mesh bags and you now have three lined compartments!

To make things color friendly, we use the blue bag for plastics, the white bag for paper, and the gray bag for metal. We don't discard much glass so we simply use a grocery bag for that. It may not be the most attractive choice but it does the job and when it comes time to take out the trash, simply remove your trash bags and pull up the drawstrings for a one step recycle! You'll be going green in no time :)

Floral Initials - The quick and dirty version

Hello again!

I'm sure many have seen this idea floating around Pinterest as I did. It's so cheerful and customizable, I knew I had to make my own! There are so many uses for this craft as well: personal décor, wedding décor, photo props, etc. I'm re-doing my bedroom in the near future so I wanted to have a personalized touch ready to go. Now, the Pinterest version uses cardboard Hobby Lobby letters with the faces carved out and floral foam to house the silk flowers. As I've stated before, I am on a budget. A boxed wine kinda budget. So here is what I used, all purchased from the Dollar Store!

~ one small styrofoam cooler with lid

~ 4 bouquets of silk flowers in varying colors (app. 16 flowers)

~ any writing utensil

~ scissors/exacto knife/steak knife (which I used :) )

~ hot glue gun (optional)

~ ribbon (optional)

So, first decide which letters you want to use. The styrofoam cooler, counting the lid, has 5 sides to use as a template. Using your writing utensil, draw your letters on the sides in bubble form. Your drawing skills don't really matter here because the petals of your blooms will cover the edges. If you don't want to freehand, you can always make a word doc. with the letters of your choice one per page.

Next, using your carving tool of choice (I found the serrated edges of a steak knife worked best) follow the lines of your letter and cut it out. Warning: there will be styro-snow. Next, gather your flowers. Where the bloom is attached to the stem, pull to remove the petals and green stopper that holds them together. Discard the stems. Using the green back of your blooms, poke holes into your letter where you want the blooms to be placed. After you place them all, it should look something like this from behind. 

The flowers are pretty secure in the styrofoam without glue, however I wanted mine to be a little more durable. So, I pulled each bloom out of the foam one at a time and placed hot glue around the back of the flower and replaced them. This secured each flower in its hole. Both initials finished look like this.

Now you're finished! Another option is to add ribbon of your color choice to hang your initials or just lean them up against something since they're very light. You could also use command strips to cleanly hang them on a wall. I'm thinking about using this ribbon later to hang them in my room.

So, all in all this project cost me $5! If you don't have a dollar tree in your area (where EVERYTHING is just $1!) you can purchase these same items at Dollar General, Walmart, or any craft store. Let me know how yours turns out!