Not your average pencil box....with tutorial!!!

School time is almost here, for many it's the first day of school of a new year but for my oldest daughter Rylee it's the first day ever of school! It's new and exciting for her and it just means it's one step closer to my little girl growing up :( but, no more sappiness! On to the good stuff!

I was out shopping for school supplies and I wanted to keep it budget friendly. We got everything on the list including a plastic pencil box which costed a whooping .50. Rylee picked out a blue one. I wanted to give rylee a chance to spruce it up. I brainstormed a few ideas and decided mod podge and glitter it would be. Then I realized I was out of mod podge... After my oh  **** moment I had to think on my feet. Then it hit me, I use to cover wipe cases with fabric and realized that would work perfectly! I took to my fabric stash and dug out some aqua chevron (rylees favorite print and color) and I dug out some glitter ribbon.

After a little cutting, hot glueing and accessorizing here it is!!

 

She loved it!!

We filled it with school goodies!

Wanna make one??

Here are the steps:

Supplies:

You need a fat quarter of cotton fabric.

A piece of cotton batting or white felt.

Scissors

Hot glue

Ribbon

Cotton, thread, needle for rosette (optional)

Appliqué name (optional) I created mine on my brother embroidery machine with felt and blue thread.

First I cut a piece of fabric the size of the top of the box.

Next I cut a piece of quilting batting to fit the top of the box and hot glued it on. (This covers those raised square areas on the box and makes the top soft)

After glueing the batting down I started glueing down the chevron a little at a time making sure that the glue was hot. I had extra fabric hanging off the front so I folded it under and glued it down instead of trying to cut the extra off. I wanted to keep the chevron pattern nice and even. I finished by glueing the corners down last.

This was a great project to do with my baby girl. <3

 

It should look rough but don't worry thats why I used ribbon!

Glittery pink ribbon!

I started in the front with the ribbon and carefully glued it down. I paid special attention to the corners as I worked my way around the box. Tip: make sure to glue part of the ribbon to the plastic and the other part the fabric creating a nice clean edge.

After working around the whole box I cut a piece that is half the width of the ribbon and glue it above the tab.

Now you I have a blank canvas!

I added an appliqué on the top by just hot glueing it on. I also added the hand sewn flower detail by simply stitching it on. There are so many ideas or things you can add the this box to make it special!

Total cost of project: Under $5

-Lizzy Sue

Make a box??? Post a picture with hashtag: #lizzysues

DIY kids table makeover!

I found this really cute princess table a few years ago for my daughter. Scored it for $10 on a black friday sale and I knew my rylee jane would love it. Well...her and her sister loved it to pieces...literally! I started looking around for something to replace the table and then one day it just hit me, I was going to make over the table!

It was pretty sad looking...

The total for supplies: under ten bucks!

Supplies:

Wash cloth

Spray paint (2 cans is what it took me)

Fleeced back table cloth (1 yd)

Quilting batting or a thin layer of foam

Staple gun + 1/4 6mm staples

Screw driver

Step one

Clean the whole table down, then flip it over carefully and remove all the screws from the top part of the table. 

Repeat this step for the chairs. I put all my screws in a Baggie and stashed them some where safe. (I have a habit of losing things.) Once you take all the screws out you will be left with metal frames.

Love my drop cloths! :)

Step 2

Time for some painting! I'm no master at spray painting, but I carefully put two-three thin coats of paint on the table then the chairs. I used valspar paint and primer in one in glossy black. 

Step 3 

Take the top of your table and lay it on the back side of your table cloth. For the table cloth I found this beautiful black and white damask at my local store. It was sold by the yard for 2.98. One yard worked nicely for the whole project.

Carefully cut around the table and leave about 1-2 inches extra to wrap up the side of your table.*note* I left the original princess table cover on. It added a little extra padding and prevented any staples poking through the new table cloth. 

Once you have your new table cloth cut out, wrap it up the side of the table and staple it down. Make sure your pattern is even so it doesn't come out crooked. I stapled around the sides first and left the corners till the end. Make sure to pull the table cloth tight while stapling. Once you've stapled the sides down carefully pull the corners tight and staple down. 

Repeat for the chairs, I added a layer of light quilting batting between the table cloth and chair to to just to add a little extra padding. 

*Tip* If any on you staples feel like they are poking through just lightly hammer them down.

Step 4

It's time to attach the tops back to the metal frames. Line the table up and put all your screws back in. Do the same with the chairs.

*Note* The chairs do have backs to them. They glue on. I have one of the backs but I stashed the other back and currently can not locate it. Once I do find it I will add the additional step on how to cover and reattach them. :)

That's it! All finished!!

It's time for a little dress up! They loved it more then the original princess table!

The cat had to photo bomb of course!

Check back for more fun budget friendly projects.

-Elizabeth