DIY Edition: Indiana Artwork

Our family is huge. Not huge like the McCallisters on Home Alone but big enough that my husband’s siblings and their significant others draw names for a Secret Santa gift giving. This year I didn’t think I would have too much time to get crafty with my lucky pick so I decided to keep it simple by shopping on Etsy. Why not buy someone else the things that I'm too cheap to buy for myself; right? I knocked $24 off of our $30 limit with this little beauty from HappyHeat. Five years ago or so I got my very own and still use it faithfully. It’s a hot/cold pad for the neck and when microwaved smells heavily of lavender. When I’m feeling off it’s my go-to remedy.

Photo courtesy of Happy Heat

After perusing Etsy a bit more I found just the inspiration I needed to finish my gift. My pick happens to be my sister-in-law. A crafty, shabby-chicster at heart (see her blog here), her draw to monograms, chevrons and personalized pieces gave me enough to work with to make her the framable piece below. I knew that frames in her house were mostly white, so I hit up Kohls and around Christmas and got the frame for $6. Here's the print:

From the template I also made her a secondary print just for fun.

Download your copy of ‘Home Sweet Home’
Download a copy of Indiana in pink 
OR download a copy of Indiana in blue :)

Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock and do come back!

Cara

DIY Edition: Fort Kit

This fall I not only got a husband but three nephews! Over the last five years I’ve helped pick out some pretty cool Christmas presents for these little boys but this year I decided that as an official ‘aunt and uncle’ we had to get something for the boys on our own; not with the other uncles. 

Leave it to me to wait until a week before Christmas to finally get my rear in gear and think of something really really cool. After scouring Pinterest for what seemed like hours, I decided to modify an idea that would be sure to keep any house full of young boys occupied - A FORT!  I then found myself in Wal–Mart on December 15th (you’ve got it, payday for the entire population – big mistake!) with arms full of supplies in a line nothing short of 35 minutes long.

Here’s what I purchased:

• Three 50x60 fleece blankets (pinterest recommended flat sheets but I couldn’t find any sold separately)
• A matching tub for fort storage
• Extra reinforcement clips (clothespins)
• A  small lantern to use inside the fort 
• 4 AAA batteries for the lantern
• Pajamas for all of the boys to wear in their fort
• Ribbon (I had this already, but be sure to buy this to sew to your fleece blankets)

To begin, I unrolled the blankets and cut ribbon into roughly 6 inch strips. I angled the ends and counted them into groups of six. Each blanket received six of the strips (all four corners and one on the middle of the 60” side). 

I then secured the ribbon with four passes on my sewing machine to make it more durable.

I threw in the other goodies and laid the tag on top so that it didn't get ripped off during the rigorous gift opening that always seems to occur and stuck everything into a matching chevron storage tub for easy storing.

I polished the fort making kit off with these nifty tags from KIN. Watch their DIY fort crafting video here.

Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock! Do come back!
Cara

Sew: Dresslift

This little gem became too short after a couple of washes (and drys - oops!) It had been in my Goodwill pile for awhile but before this last donation I decided to see if I could lengthen it a bit more. With a little scrap fabric I was able to to turn this....

Before

into this!

After

Now I only have to wait four more months until spring when I can wear it! Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock! 

Cara

DIY Edition: Koi Pond Removal

Koi ponds are probably wonderful when maintained. However, this was a mosquito cesspool, animal drowning, ant breeding nuisance. We got distracted by tackling shedding first, but knew getting this Rubbermaid agricultural tank (that's right, it wasn't even a real koi pond) out before winter was a must. We aerated and over seeded our yard this fall too - so it was critical to seed this area so that it wouldn't be behind the rest of our yard come spring. 

Here lies the 300 gallon poisonous water hole with it's equally disturbing shrubbery and (not pictured) endless flat rock. 

To empty the tank, we recruited our families and five gallon buckets. It took about 20 minutes of emptying the tank by hand to get to the bottom. Much like the Rubbermaid containers used for leftover food, it was quite flexible and rubbery, making removal quick. The 2x4 board (pictured below) was used to shake the tub loose from the ground where it had settled.

Once removed, our yard still left plenty to be desired.

My parents brought fill dirt from back home and we used an entire trailer load to fill in the hole. The dirt was then tilled with top soil from The Home Depot to prep it for seeding. 

And here is the finished product!

Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock! Do come back :)
Cara