Sports Ribbon Display-Option 2

Do you remember the free crib I got from Craigslist? Do you remember the 1st project from it? The Sports Ribbon Display I made for my daughter from the free crib? Well, today's project is the same but different. Using the same free crib I have made a sports ribbon display for my son.

My son, Jackson is our track star and has a ton of ribbons from his 2 years of middle school track. He did like his sister's ribbon display, just not for himself, "it's too girly." So, instead of using the side of the crib I used the bottom-springy part that holds the mattress. I can't find my before pictures so just imagine the above photo in black. It would have been fine to hang it without painting it but he wanted to use a school color, so it got several coats of royal blue spray paint. My advice to anyone wanting to paint one is to spray a couple coats, let dry, then move it. Turn it upside down or something to get the springs to wiggle just a little or you could end up with unpainted lines under where the springs attach to the frame.

My husband hung the whole unit on the wall using 4 "L" brackets. I think you could hang it with 2 brackets at the top and let the bottom rest on the wall if you wanted. I like how the whole thing stands out from the wall. My son is 15 and in high school, if he hurts himself on the screws or any part of it then I might have to take the display away from him. (kidding) Seriously, if you do make this for a younger child it would probably be a good idea to put caps on the screws and have a no climbing rule.

None of the ribbons he earned came with a string to hang them with so we punched small holes in them and added some string. While I added the string Jackson put all the ribbons on his display. It was his idea to line them up, I think I would have just randomly put them here and there. He's already asked me to paint some frames to put certificates in around the frame-that's my boy! 

Now 2 of my kids have reminders in their rooms that hard work pays off and that Mommy is very proud of them. 

Thanks for stopping by At Home with Sweet T!

-Tracy

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Zipper Bracelet

What's a blogger to do when her husband finally gives up a badly tattered pair of shorts??? Salvage every last thing she can from them. Am I right? I could not believe how long it took for him to give up on these shorts, in places they were bare threads. Wish I would have thought to take a picture of the shorts before they were tossed. The left over fabric was so thin, it couldn't be used for anything. I kept all of the buttons (cargo pants have lots of buttons) and the zipper. As soon as I cut the zipper off I knew I wanted to make a bracelet from it. So here's what I did:

I cut as close to the teeth as possible to remove the zipper. I wanted the bracelet to mainly be the teeth and the pull. I loved this bronze-y color to the zipper.

Insert a jump ring at the end of the zipper between the last of the teeth and the stop. I used a pair of pliers to open the jump ring (I don't have jewelry tools yet) and it worked fine.

This mess is supposed to show you that I sewed another jump ring onto the other end of the zipper. It was sort of like sewing on a button.

From here I added a clasp to one of the jump rings. You could use the hole in the zipper pull instead of one of the jump rings but then you would have to wear the zipper open or closed depending on where you put it. I wanted to have an option.

Which way would you wear it? Zipped?...

Or unzipped?...

I ended up wearing it zipped for the evening.

Thanks for stopping by At Home with Sweet T!!!

-Tracy

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J, M, N - Yarn wrapped letters.

Have you seen all the great projects out there using yarn? Yarn is popping up everywhere, like on wreaths and letters. Well, here's how I joined in the yarn wrapping fun.

Awhile back I found a great deal on cardboard letters at Joann's. I didn't exactly have a plan but purchased each of my kiddos' first initial anyway. A few weeks later while cruising the tiny craft area of our local Walmart I spotted cheap gray yarn. That's when the light-bulb went off to wrap those letters in gray yarn. 

Jackson is my oldest so I started with the letter "J". It's a good thing I started with the easiest letter otherwise I'm not sure I would have finished the project.

I like how it turned out. I secured the loose ends on the back side with a dab of hot glue. Then I started Melissa's "M". Oh boy did I struggle, in fact, I stopped and hid the project for awhile because this "M" gave me such fits. At one point I put the "M" to the side and started on "N" and then hid it all again (heehee). I was determined to have some finished projects at my Craft Party, that's when I brought them out for the final time and finished all three. 

I think the "M" has as much hot glue as it does yarn on it. I'm pleased with the final result though.

Nolan's "N" wasn't as difficult as the "M" but still tough in those tight corners. At least it didn't have a point. 

When idea hit me to do this project I envisioned the letters being in our (small) entry on the shelf to the coat hooks. Last year my husband made the perfect combo of coat hooks and cubbies to set just inside our front door. The shelf above the hooks has been a spot for collecting random things - (like the baby's sunglasses that photo-bombed the "N").

I'm still playing with how to decorate and accessorize that space. I think the Yarn Wrapped Letters look at home there though. 

Some tips for anyone wanting to wrap your child's initial in yarn:

1. Only do so if your child's name begins with easy letters like "J". I think "C" would be easy too.

2. Change your child's name if it begins with "M". And probably "W". Nicknames are cute. 

Ok, some serious tips:

1. It's ok if the letter is a bunch of short pieces of yarn, hide the ends on the back and nobody will know.

2. If you were stupid enough (like me) to name your child a name that begins with a tough letter like "M", use  a pointy item like scissors to push (jam) the yarn into those tight corners.

3. Try the flossing technique-leave slack and wiggle and pull until the yarn is in the tight point then pull the yarn tight, slowly because it can jump out of the tightest corner. 

Hmmm, I am in a silly mood over yarn wrapped letters...too many long nights crafting and blogging already?

Have a sweet day my Sweets

-Tracy

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Photo door

I'm am so excited to show you why I am in love with Craigslist!!! I stalk Craigslist, yep I even have the app on my phone. I browse random categories looking for treasures. Recently, I found a 15 glass panel, old, and dirty door in the Arts & Crafts category. I wish I could post the original listing but I forgot to save it. :(
Once I saw this beauty in person I knew it would be the perfect "frame" for our family pictures.
Here's the door all set up and ready to be sanded and scraped:

It is so nice to be married to a carpenter, he's got every tool imaginable (even though he thinks he needs more.) He set me up with his sanders and scrapers and I got right to work.

Right away, a beautiful mint green color was revealed under the dirt and top coat of white. Sadly the mint color wasn't over that entire side of the door. I played with the tools and the mint side and eventually decided to see what the other side looked like sanded down. This was the side meant to frame my family portraits.
The door was a little too long for it's place on our wall. So, hubby measured from the top of the door to the first glass pane and cut the bottom of the door to be the same. Then, he remounted the hinges to be evenly spaced and used the hinges to carefully hang the door on our wall.
Here she is all sanded, scraped,cleaned and skillfully hung on our wall:

So, now we had the tough task of family portraits on a tight budget. It just so happens that my sister in law has access to a fancy dancy camera and we talked her into bringing it along to a family get together at my husband's parents. Their property is so beautiful and it was a perfect day. I was worried I wouldn't have 15 photos to fill all the spots but it turns out I struggled to narrow it down to only 15. I edited the pictures to the best of my abilities, left some in color and turn some to black & white. Then, I went crazy for a week looking at empty glass panes and waiting for the photos to arrive. I literally took these pictures from the mailbox to being matted and in place in about an hour. I love it!!!
What do you think?!?!

Have a great week!
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-Tracy