A Simple Fabric Covered Box

Hello again crafty budgeters. I had a free evening and a small annoyance to tackle recently and so I stopped procrastinating and got to work. Hubby and I sit daily on our full-sized couch. Its soft and comfy and gives us way to much space too plop things down on the cushion in the center. Seriously, remotes, cell phones, notebooks, mice and keyboards, etc. It gets to the point where we start knocking things off and blaming each other for pushing in back and forth. My solution comes in the form of a small cardboard box, two fat quarters, Elmer's glue, and and some foam padding.

This little box was the perfect size for my needs. Just big enough to contain the junk that made simply sitting down a chore. I colored the outside of the box black to avoid its previously white and black print to show through. Frozen juice concentrate is not the look I was aiming for after all. I then cut a piece of the black fabric large enough to cover the entirety of the outside of the box, as well as the inside upright edges. I affixed it to the box with a thin coat of Elmer's white glue as though I were wrapping a gift and adding more glue to the flaps. The patterned fabric was used to cover the foam pad I added to the bottom. This was done to reduce the noise and potential damage of things being tossed in carelessly (yes, referring to myself).

  

That last application of glue necessitated the extra inserts seen above. I simply sized two thin pieces of card stock from junk mail and glued a bit of the patterned fabric neatly to them. I glued them over the messy flaps. So much better.

Here's everything all neatly assembled. Since I literally bought nothing for this project I cannot accurately give an idea of the costs. I often pick up fabric remnants and fat corners on clearance, and I had these on hand already. I've also been known to re-purpose other sources of material from sheets, old clothes, etc. so get creative. Let me know what you think of this quickie craft in the comments below.

Also, I need a wall-mountable jewelry storage solution. Any ideas?

Flower Pots for Next to Nothing pt. 2

If you’ve been keeping up with my admittedly sporadic posts, you know that I have been working on killing the overgrowth in my garden by smothering it with potted plants. My first experiment with Folgers containers are holding up well, so I used them as the base for this new design.

I started by removing the label, then measuring bamboo skewers to fit into the straight parts of the container. It has bulges at the top and bottom, and I wanted to glue the skewers flush with the sides. I cut the skewers down to size using old wire snips from my jewelry making tools. I attached them as shown using hot glue.

I'm afraid I waited a bit long to transplant these last begonias. Most of the blooms have gone. Still...

The bulges in the can I covered using jewelry making cord. I attached this with hot glue too. Once cooled, I flipped the whole thing over and stabbed a few drainage holes in the bottom. The finished project turned out even better than the first design in my opinion. What do you think?

Flower Pots for Next to Nothing pt. 1

When I moved into my apartment a few years ago, I was thrilled to have a tiny garden area I could play with. Small doesn’t really even begin describe the space, but its mine. Problem is, that being strapped for money, I couldn’t afford to buy much for the space. My neighbor worked as a landscaper at the time and was able to get me canna lilies, some sort of bamboo, some purple flower that grows on long vines that look like twigs (don’t know the name) and umbrella grass. I love his initiative, but these are all plants that grow wildly out of control. Rather than digging all of this up, I have come up with the idea of limiting them by covering them with potted flowers instead. Pots cost money though, and there just isn’t much (well any) to spare.

I started looking through my collected odd and ends and realized I had a few usable containers around the house. The one I started with was a small plastic Folgers Coffee can. Its bright red and obviously and old Folgers container so that needed changing. I remembered a post where a woman covered her whole floor in paper bags. It looked a bit like leather when it was done, and I liked that idea. I pulled out my trusty Mod Podge, a paint brush, a small paper bag and got to work. I ripped the paper bags into smallish pieces and applied them to the container making sure to overlap each of the pieces and the top and bottoms of the containers. Then I coated the entire outside in another layer of Mod Podge to weatherproof it. I like how it turned out, despite the fact that the red shows through. I paired the two I made in this style with red begonias (under $2 for a flat of 6 at Walmart). They look cute in the garden.

The first coffee can planter all finished and filled.

The terra cotta planter I already had made a good home too.

I haven’t come up with a plan for the next few planters. I have a few large coffee cans, plenty of glass bottles, and a few plastic bottles and jugs to work with. Any suggestions? Please leave them in the comments below.

Money crunch!

This week I bought an almost new car. It is only a year old, has very few miles, and has all the fuel saving perks a frugal girl could want. While I got a great price given my credit situation (thank you recession), it still is a lot more money than I spend on things. Of course after the purchase, I panicked about money. So today, I am looking for ways to save even more money around the house. I already use dish soap, baking soda, and vinegar to do most of my cleaning (especially the floors) and shop sales for commercial cleaning products. I buy the store brand or equivalently priced item for nearly everything else. I also take advantage of various store perks and programs such as Wal-Mart Savings Catcher and grocery store member cards but still think I can do more.

Another step I have taken is to start an indoor herb and scrap garden. It's been slow going since I have been quite busy lately, but I have basil and cilantro going strong. I started them from those small $1 kid's growing sets. The containers are recycled tea cans. I also have onions, both green and yellow, growing from what was purchased from food we bought. Apparently this can be done with a number of produce items. I have some ginger that will find itself in a pot before the weekend is over as well. The most expensive part of this venture was the potting soil (yes Mom, Miracle Grow). Recycled containers help, but even the ones I purchased were only $1 from Wal-Mart.

This is a beginning, but by no means the end of this quest. Feel free to comment below on some of your container gardening adventures, and I'll keep you updated on my progress.

My herbs and green onions. 

Hard to see, but a small yellow onion plant is popping up here.