Dry Erase Board Tutorial

Two things have recently happened. First, I was looking at buying a dry erase board for my husband's office for work (he works at home and requested one for brain-storming/flow-charting and other things). If you've looked at the store for a decent sized dry erase board (not a junky one that is so light it falls off the wall when you breathe), you may have noticed they get pricey fast - 24" x 14" = $54.99. Um, that's more than I was planning on spending, for something not that big.

Second, I've recently started writing notes to myself on my closet door mirror in my bedroom. Important things, that I need to see first thing in the morning before I even get out of bed. Dry erase markers work great on glass, and I think I actually prefer it to a dry erase board because there will never be ghosting if you leave something up too long.

These two things, floating around in my brain simultaneously, slammed into each other one day and I made something out of it! Using things I had mostly laying around, I created an awesome dry erase board, it's actually one of my most favorite things in my office right now! So here goes.

You need:

• A good sized picture frame & glass to fit
• Spraypaint (if you want to paint your frame)
• Fabric of choice, a piece big enough to cover the area inside frame
• Trace paper or vellum
• Hot glue & glue gun
• Glazier points

The frame I started with had no back, glass, or way to hold the back and glass in. It was an old frame, in a not so pretty color, from some art I reframed. I spray painted it with a primer and a plum color that coordinates with my fabric. I purchased a piece of glass at my favorite home improvement store. It was a little more than $4 for a 16"x20" piece, but if your frame already has glass you're set. I also cut a backer board out of some left over mat board I had from a previous framing project. After your frame, glass and backer are ready to go, lay out your fabric, with the backer board on top to use as a template, and cut a piece of fabric with a 1" to 2" border on every side.

Starting with the corners, fold the fabric over the backer board and glue corners down, diaganol from each other and pulling the fabric into place as you glue to avoid wrinkles.

After the corners are glued tight, follow with the four sides, again gluing opposite sides first and smoothing the fabric to make sure there are no wrinkles. Set the fabric board aside.

Next, lay out the trace paper or vellum, and use the glass as a template to cut it down to size. Layer the glass in the frame first, with the trace paper or vellum on top next, with the backer board last. If your frame already has clips to hold everything in place, you're set!

Mine didn't, :( - so I used glazier points to hold everything together. Hang it all up on the wall, and write away!

This is what a glazier point looks like. They're usually used to hold the glass into old single pane windows.

If you want the full boldness of your fabric, or if your fabric is more neutral, you can skip the vellum/trace paper. I needed something to mute my patterned fabric so I could see what was written on my dry erase board.

This isn't a good photo - it is night, and I have very poor lighting in here, but here's my board hung on the wall!

Here's the Deal...

A great deal.  Since July, I've been making my own laundry detergent, and love it.  It was painful to buy two large bottles of Tide BJ's Warehouse every couple months, and when some girls at my church started making it, I decided to give it a try.  My husband was 100% against it when I pitched the idea, since he does SO much laundry (NOT! He's had to turn the washing machine on maybe 1 time in the past 2 years).  So I started with 1 gallon, and told him I just wanted to "try it out." As clothes moved through the laundry room, he could find no complaint, so cooking up detergent became part of my to-do list, and I'm no longer dependent on my Tide habit.  Here's my recipe:

1/3 bar of Fels Naptha soap
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Oxi Clean

In a large pot, heat 6 cups of water.  Grate soap on cheese grater into small shavings, and add to water.  Stir until shavings dissolve.  Add Washing Soda, Borax & Oxi Clean to hot soapy water, and stir to dissolve.

Pour soap mixture into 2 gallon bucket with 8 cups of HOT water and stir.  Top bucket with COLD water totalling 2 gallons of the soap, hot water, and cold water.  Let mixture setup overnight.  To use, stir mixture to incorporate gel clumps and liquid, and use 1/2 cup per wash load.

Now here's where the deal comes in.  I've been doing this since July, and just finally today did the cost breakdown.  I knew I had savings in doing this, but I had no idea I was actually saving this much!  Here's the math, if you want to see it, if not, scroll down.

These prices are roughly what I paid, at my stores.

Fels Naptha - $1.79 per bar (5 1/2 oz) = $0.32/oz

Borax - $4.75 per box (76 oz) = $0.0625/oz

Washing Soda - $2.95 per box (55 oz) = $0.0536/oz

Oxi Clean - $8.99 per bucket (96 oz) = $0.936/oz

In the 2 gallons of the recipe the cost is:

Fels Naptha = $0.58/ 2 gallons

Borax = $0.25/ 2 gallons

Washing Soda = $0.42/ 2 gallons

Oxi Clean = $0.27/ 2 gallons

Also, for the quantities that are sold of the ingredients, you can make this many recipes of 2 gallons of detergent:

Washing Soda: 6.875 times - or 12 gallons

Borax: 19 times - or 38 gallons

Oxi-clean: 24 times - or 48 gallons

Fels-Naptha: 3 times - or 6 gallons

The total is $1.62 for 2 gallons (which is 256 fl. oz.), and you're supposed to use 1/2 cup per load (4 fl. ounces), so there are 64 loads in 2 gallons homemade, for $1.62, or $0.025 per load.  No, your eyes are not deceiving you, and that is not a typo - I wrote that my homemade laundry detergent costs me two and a half cents per load.

If I weren't making the homemade, my choice of detergent is Tide, and I have a front loading washing machine.  Tide is $17.97 for 150 fl. oz. of 2X Ultra High Efficiency, for 96 loads at Walmart, which is $0.18 per load. So roughly speaking, Tide is seven times more expensive than homemade laundry detergent.  That's like a bottle of water costing $7 instead of $1.  Craziness!

Ok, here are my personal experience tips.

1. I have two buckets, so when I start running low on detergent, I don't have to relocate what's left to use my bucket, I just use the clean one to make a new batch.

2. I didn't buy my buckets, I got them for FREE!  Go to one of the grocery stores with a bakery that makes cakes and decorates them in-house.  All of the bright pink, blue, green & yellow frosting comes in buckets, mine happen to be 2 gallon buckets.  When they finish the frosting, they don't recycle them or send them back to be repacked with weird hot pink frosting, they get thrown away.  I stopped by the bakery on one of my regular grocery trips, and they gave me two empty buckets that hadn't made it to the dumpster yet.  I had to clean them myself, but that didn't bother me.  If you have to clean your buckets, I recommend scraping them into the trash first to get all the dry frosting out, and then using hot, soapy water.  The frosting is pretty greasy, so if there's a lot left in the bucket, it's tough to de-grease once you add water.

3. Use a big enough pot.  I really need to get a new one to accommodate my detergent making.  Once you add the borax, washing soda and Oxi Clean in, it starts to suds and foam, and mine boils over almost every time.  At least it's just soap, so it makes me think everything is getting cleaned while I'm wiping it up!

The initial investment (using my prices, I don't know what the price difference will be where you are) is $18.48, assuming you don't have any of these ingredients already living in your laundry room.  You'll be able to make 6 gallons of detergent (or 192 loads of laundry) before you have to go buy another bar of Fels Naptha,and you'll still have all of the other ingredients left.  To do 192 loads of laundry with Tide, I would have to spend $35, and then that's it, you go buy another big bottle of Tide.

As far as a time investment goes, I don't think it's that involved to not be worth your time.  Now that I've made it a few times, I can whip up a batch in about 20 minutes.  I actually spend more time cleaning up after my pot boils over because I haven't bought a new one that's big enough, than I do making the detergent.  Yes, dumb, and writing it down makes me want to go buy a giant, cheap stock pot because I realize the silliness of how much cleaning up I do after I get soap all over the stovetop.

I grabbed my recipe off a site called Tipnut that you can see here.  I used Recipe #3 and doctored it up by adding Oxi Clean (not necessary, but I'm saving so much money I didn't feel guilty spending a couple more dollars on some extra cleaning power).  Tipnut has 10 recipes, different variations of liquid and powdered, so see what works best for you!  I chose liquid because I have a front loading HE washing machine and can't start my water before adding clothes to dissolve the powder - just a preference though.  As a follow-up to the recipes, Tipnut also has a great FAQ answer page here.

I still keep a bottle of Tide on hand just in case, but only resort to using it occasionally, like when I run out of homemade and don't have time to make more when I have to wash something I need to wear in an hour.

Next time, I'll talk about my fabric softener, and rehabilitation from Downy.  Enjoy!

A Baby Thing (or two...or three...or ten)

So I'm officially 20 weeks pregnant (well- I was 30 weeks this past Wednesday.) Which means less then 10 weeks until Baby Boy gets here which means less then 10 weeks to get myself (and my family AND this house) organized and working like a well oiled machine (riiiiight- just wanted to see what it felt like to write that....) Anywho- maybe because it's the holiday season or maybe because of the baby's imminent arrival or maybe because I know my time will be at a premium once he gets here but I'm feeling rather crafty lately! I thought I'd post a few things I'd like to do before Baby Boy arrives mainly to organize it in my own mind and so I don't forget the things I'd like to make. So enjoy and if you have a bun in the oven too or are looking for some fun baby gifts, then check out the tutorials I found!

Nursing Cover

Changing Pad Cover

Binky Straps

Wooden Monograms

Easy Swaddle Sheet

Crinkle Toy

Blanket with Mitered Corners

Baby Hat

Crib Sheet

Wet Bag

Fabric Covered Lamp- Tutorial

Ahhhh- our first official tutorial! So I'm officially obsessed with Mod Podge- it's a wonderful creation and I've been mod podging everything- my husband is a little scared- I can see it in his eyes. Anywho- the other day, I was organizing The Beasties playroom (for about the 50th time this year) and I noticed the sad little lamp sitting on their book case. It's from Ikea and the base is black and the shade is white. If you know me at all- that's so BORING!! So I decided to introduce the lamp shade to my new love- Mod Podge! The result? A super cute, girly lamp shade that looks awesome in their playroom. Check it out below!

Tape 4 pieces of scrap paper together (recycle baby!)

Set the shade to the edge of the paper and using a pencil, along the outside edge of the shade, trace the path of the shade as you roll it.












like this...
(like my posed hand? I'm not left handed...but I needed to be for the picture...)












It should look like this when you're done...












Cut out the pattern and lay it on your material (isn't this material super cute??)
(make sure the pattern is going the right way- I cut out two that were upside down...scrap pile!)












Cut it out leaving about 1/4 inch clearance on all sides...












Get your Mod Podge...hello love!












Using a nasty foam brush leftover from another craft (and apparently not washed in time...) smear the Mod Podge on your shade- one row at a time (so it doesn't dry on you) and adhere the fabric- rubbing it to get any air bubbles out.












Run some Mod Podge along the lip of the shade and fold the material over the edge.
(on a side note- I've realized I'll never be a hand model...)












Set the shade right side up and admire your work.


















Attach to the lamp base and show all your friends- viola! You're done -go you!

Tutorial Time! Building a Fountain

I recently put together a small pond/fountain as a gift, and since it wasn't too dificult, I thought I would post a tutorial to take some of the mystery out of it.  First, my materials.

-1/2 Whiskey Barrel or Wine Barrel (often used as planters, look at your garden store)

-Round Pond liner, mine was 15" deep and fit my barrel perfectly (Lowes Hardware)

-Pond Pump or Fountain Pump* (Lowes Hardware)

-Flexible Pond tubing, to fit your pump (check the package of the pump, it will specify) (Lowes Hardware

-1"x8" Cedar board

-Decorative water element (I used an antique hand pump that I already had) & bolts or screws to secure it

*A NOTE ABOUT THE PUMP: I purchased a Pond Pump, because I suspect that this water feature may end up with pond plants, goldfish, and most likely a turtle.  The pond pump is built to handle debris in the water that its inhabitants will create.  If your water feature won't have any living creatures or plants in it, and you're happy with a slower flow, you could probably purchase a fountain pump for less money.  The best bet is to read the package and make sure your pump is strong enough for how much water you'll be using (my 210 gph is good for 3'x6' of water, and up to 7.8 ft high) and will tolerate anything living in your fountain.

STEP 1: Place the pond liner into your barrel.  If your pond liner doesn't touch the bottom of the barrel, you may want to support it from the inside by adding gravel or styrofoam packing peanuts in the bottom of your barrel before setting the pond liner inside.  Water weighs 8 lbs per gallon, so assuming you have 20 gallons in your fountain, that's 160 lbs, and the plastic lip could crack if that's the only support.

STEP 2: Mark with a pencil and straight edge on your cedar board the length you want it across the back of your barrel.  Cut your cedar board long enough to fit across the back of the barrel to hold your decorative water element.  I used a Compound Miter Saw, but you could use a circular saw, or even a hand saw for this.  Often at Lowes, they'll make one cut for you if you know your dimensions.  Mine was 25.5" long, and I mitered the corners.

STEP 3: Mark on your cedar board where your element will sit, and where the flexible pond tubing needs to come through.  I drilled a 1/2" hole with a paddle bit, since I was using 1/2" flexible pond tubing, a perfect fit!

STEP 4: If your element needs to be secured to the board like I did with my antique pump, mark the holes where the bolts need to be secured.  I used 1/4" bolts with a flat washer and hex nuts, so I predrilled my holes with a 1/4" bit.  Predrilling is important, even if you're just using regular screws, to keep the board from splitting.  If you're using regular wood screws and not bolts, predrill your holes slightly smaller than your screw diameter.  Finish securing your element to the board.

 

STEP 5: Feed your flexible pond tubing through the board and attach to your decorative element, or with my antique pump, I fed it to the top so it will dump water on the spillway.

STEP 6: Place your pump in the bottom of your fountain, and cut your pond tubing to length, leaving a little extra to be able to move your pump around.  A box cutter worked well for this, I broke my scissors trying to cut the pond tubing.  Attach your pond tubing to the pond pump outlet

STEP 7:  Add water to your fountain, enough to cover the entire pump.  The pump isn't supposed to run outside of water, it will burn up the moving parts and break, so try to keep it in the water.

STEP 8:  Plug in the pump, and adjust the flow valve on your pump and where the water is spraying as needed.  Watch out that you don't soak yourself!

STEP 9:  Place your fountain in a favorite garden spot where you'll be able to hear the pouring water.  If you're interested in Pond Plants, a local nursery will usually be able to help you determine what kind of plants will grow in your area and in this small space.

Most fountains I looked at purchasing before I decided to make my own were well over $200, and nothing fit the style I was looking for.  This project was well under $200, and took me less than 3 hours to complete.

If the whiskey barrel isn't your thing, you could also use a good sized fiberglass or plastic flower pot (not clay).  Just plug up the drainage hole in the flower pot with expansion foam (look for Great Stuff or equivalent at your home improvement store) and you'll have a beautiful custom water feature to fit the style of your yard.  If anyone makes one of their own, I'd love to see pictures and get some feedback on the tutorial.

Enjoy!