My Top Five Flooring Faves - DIY Edition

In light of yesterday's post, where I showed you how I solved a flooring design dilemma with just $2, I decided to share with you some of my other fave ideas for DIY rugs.  Lucky for me, I still have a few more flooring faux pas I have to deal with before I allow company over, so you can bet I will be puting some (or all) of these to work.  When I do, i'll share the results and how to here with lots of pics!

First up, is this great DIY felt rug brought to you by ReadyMade.com:

Tutorial Link:
http://www.readymade.com/projects/felt_rug

Wool felt is amazing to work with and incredibly durable.  However, it's not the cheapest fab either.  Wool felt is different than your typical craft felt, which is an acrylic felt.  I can only find wool felt in quilt shops and occasionally in your chain fabric store like Jo-Anns.  The other great plus to the wool felt are the colors it comes in.  There are a lot of great shades, not your standard rainbow.  It's a natural fiber of course, therefore you can call yourself 'green'..'green'=enviromentally concious chic :)  I would imagine that acrylic felt would work if you used that stiff kind.  The regular acrylic wouldn't be a good option since you will get little 'peelies' all over it right away and it's just not as durable.

This next one would be fun for a kid's room or bathroom.  Lion Brand Yarn's DIY 'Grass' rug, via Craftzine!

Tutorial Link:  http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2010/05/how-to_crochet_or_knit_grass_r.html

WARNING: This requires skill in knitting or crocheting..or your grandma/sweet old lady down the street.  Unfortunately,  I don't have any of these 'ingredients' available to me where I am currently livivng, so stay tuned for my hack tutorial on this one.  I have a few ideas in mind on how to achieve this same look minus the knitting skills I should have been tought as a child....

I am sooooo in love with this DIY via HandmadeCharlotte.com.."Rope Twirl Rug"

Tutorial Link: http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/

Ummm...HOLY CUTENESS!  Endless possibilities here.  I originally thought I would do this in either a square or round shape for my twin girls' room, but then I came up with another idea (not related to this one at all) that I will be doing there (more to come on that in another post).  But this would be fun to do in any kid space, or as a wall hanging, or even a table runner.  Customize the colors as you would like!

This is a MUST-DO for my Family Room or mabey the Living Room..from the DIY diva at VintageRevivals.blogspot.com:

Tutorial Link: http://wearetheraddest.blogspot.com/2011/06/amazing-diy-rug.html

Dosn't this look so expensive?!  Trick your friends and neighbors into thinking you know about the hottest rug boutique in town and dropped some 'Benjamins" to get this rug-a-licious dream :)

This last one is so simple, 'Woodgrain Chic'..from ABeautifulMess:

Tutorial Link: http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/11/diy-woodgrain-rug.html

I want to do this for my porch in fall and/or winter.  I might be thinking crazy here, but I sort of want to layer this on top of a rug made from green astroturf.....  hmm..would this be 'Retirement home chic' if I did the layering?...  that isn't exactly the look i'm going for (although my husband is 10 1/2 years older than me ;) )!

There you have it, my Top 5 Flooring Faves!  Which one is your favorite? 



DIY! Coffee Filter Roses

I love making something beautiful out of 'garbage' or something unexpected and/or mundane.  This is how I live green... which in my mind makes me equal to all the 'green' celebrities out there that are driving Prius'.  If you are wanting to make this project even more eco-friendly, you can use those tan colored recycled coffee filters.  I wish I could say this was my reason for using them in this project along with the white ones, but it was more about the visual effect and less about my carbon footprint...I do drive a big SUV after all, so there is no sense in trying to fool anyone out there!  Back to the flowers now... these are so incredibly versatile and look like those overpriced ones you see in stationary, home decor, and other types of cute little boutiques.  I think these would look fab organized in a tightly snug group and framed in a restored vintage frame! 

If you're anything like me, you'll start this project, get overly excited about the turnout of your first one because it looks so darn cute and professional.. then have some coffee (sparring one of the filters of course), which leads to you staying up all night making so many of these little babies and thinking up the million and a half ways you can use them and the millions of dollars you are going to make selling them!  Don't worry if this happens to you, you'll tire of the flowers within a few days after you have made soo many you could vomit..then it will be on to the next fun thing! 

I got this amazing tutorial from an adorable Polish blog (http://kuchnia-pelna-cudow.blogspot.com), which is written in all Polish of course.  I don't speak Polish and it's a fair guess to say that the majority of you don't either,  so i've done all the translating here for you on how I made these, and have pics to go along with it (I am totally a visual learner, I hope you are too)! 

Coffee Filter Roses:

*You can use both the bleached or natural filters for this project, the bleached ones are best for soft pastel roses, the natural work well for a more aged (antiqued) looking flower.

 Process:

1. Cut the seam off the filters so that it opens up wide, exposing both the front and the back of the original filter at one time horizontally.  You can cut one spiral out of this or 2 depending on the size of the flower.

2.  Cut one or 2 (one for average flower size, 2 for smaller) spirals out of the filter.  The lines on the spiral should be 1-1.5" wide.
  
3.  Spray the filter with water (this will allow the color you are about to apply next to penetrate the filter and 'bleed" for a natural dye effect).

4.  You can use a variety of inking, paingting, etc. methods for this step.  If you have an ink pad on hand, take a small spounge with ink from the pad on it and apply it to the spiraled filter in a random pattern, completely covering the entire thing with the ink.  With paint, you can apply it with a small folded paper towell, paint or spounge brush, or whatever you see fit.  Just as long as you use a dabbing method with any paint or ink and tool to which you choose to apply it with.


I suggest adding a darker shade of the main color you use, in some areas in the spiral.  This gives it more depth and realistic appearance.

5.  Allow the filter spiral to dry completely.  This can be done in nature's timing by not tampering with it at all, or you can speed the process along with a hair dryer or fan.

6.  Now you will begin to wrap and form the rose.  I like to use pliers to hold the center of it secure, this can also be done with tweezers I suppose.
7.  Do not spiral this too tight as you go around, be sure to do it fairly loosly.  You will begin the spiral (which will eventually be the center of the rose) in a much tighter twist, than you will end it. be sure that as you spiral your make it looser and looser with ever 2-3 twists.  Ater every coulple turns (full spirals), pause to arrange the "petals" of the flower to look as they should.  This is where you will form it as best you can. You can adjust it in the end to your liking, but it's best (easiest) when done along the way.

8.  Now that you have fully formed the rose, you need to secure that baby so that all your hard work dosn't come unraveled.  Of course my first go-to adhesive and crafty cure-call is hot glue, which is agian what works best on this project as well.  Add a little dot of glue to the very end of the spiral which will attack it the flower, then put a big glob (not my fave word...) on the bottom of the flower where you can see the actual coil and raw edges of it. This should seal the deal into place.

IMPORTANT:  Do Not despair if your first attempt at this flower was a frustrating flop!  You will for sure get better with the next one, and all others after that.  It may seem a little annoying doing the wrapping around and forming part of this, but it will for sure feel more natural and simple after your initial attempt (which we applaud you for, new thigs are always fun and worth trying as long as they are healthy and legal).  I really doubt that the first time Martha Stewart made an apple pie it turned out as masterful as we see it today online, on TV, or in mags.... for real.

Enjoy the process and the outcome!

*Photos and basic tutorial idea provided by http://kuchnia-pelna-cudow.blogspot.com.  La Dolce Villa used a translated version of the instructions to describe the process in their own words.

We admit it, we love a great DIY tutorial on anything that can really save us more than a buck, one that is something that we truly would like for our home (or for ourselves to wear), but most of all DOES NOT look like we made it ourselves!  This excludes anything that you would make with macrame, has a teddy bear on it, or says 'Live Laugh Love'...we're not judging anyone out there with anything of that nature in their home because your space is after all a reflection of who YOU are and everyone is great.  So, because our parents raised us right and we learned how to share, we're passing the tutorial goods on to you!  We've gathered up some of the best of the best DIY's available online or in books, that are available for sharing, and are not overplayed ideas that you are soooooo sick of seeing in every one's home and as such have lost all clever or cuteness about them.

Today's DIY is a springy one, (as in the season, not anything that bounces).  I admit, I am NOT a green thumb (but I am green with envy that Haley is)!  However, I do love pots and other garden accoutrement (this word has been randomly stuck in my head for days now, it's a fun one to say so I had to insert it somewhere...).  They are great re-purposed decor items when used indoors too. 

So when I stumbled upon this fantastically easy and expensive looking idea, I was ALMOST encouraged enough to start a full spring cleaning of my house so I could decorate for the new season from a fresh canvas.  I say 'almost' because I didn't end up cleaning, I skipped right to the dessert of the situation and made the pot..which later served as a cute catch-all for small clutter (so some cleaning did happen).  Anyway, this idea and tutorial is from  Suzonne Stirling of UrbanComfort.typepad.com and "B is for Baby" crafty book fame.  She has a great blog jam packed full of worthwhile reads, is a wonderful writer, and overall creative genius.  Project pics are posted below along with the direct link to the tutorial on her blog:

Direct link to tutorial on her blog:
http://urbancomfort.typepad.com/urban_nest/2011/04/decoupaging-with-lace.html

If your anything like me when you see a fun new idea, you will get totally obsessed with making these things and expand the idea beyond the original tutorial after the first couple hours making them.  Then you stay up all hours of the night making six for everyone you know as well as people you might meet one day..just in case they happen to need an eyelet wrapped vase, then you can be the hero of the day and present one to them that you have on the ready.   Then, just when you tire of this DIY we'll have another project  posted so the cycle can start all over again...  Is this just me????


DIY disclaimer: It is not chic, fabulous, or cool to rip-off someone else's design that they have worked hard at developing, obsessing and losing sleep over, and spent countless hours and money building the brand/idea to the success that is today and/or will be in the future...all so you can see it, make it, and sell it at a below market rate.  So please respect other people's thoughts and talents and do not open an online shop selling wares you've pirated.