Easy Trampoline PVC Sprinkler

  My kids LOVE to jump on our trampoline with the sprinklers on during the summer. But I get tired of setting the sprinkler in the center of the tramp then having to move it to water other parts of the lawn, then resetting it. So we came up with a great plan. This is our original idea and haven't seen it anywhere else.  

This is so simple to make all you need is:

2- 10ft sticks of 3/4" PVC Pipe

1- 3/4" PVC End Cap

1- 3/4" PVC Coupling

1- PVC Hose Connector

PVC All Purpose Glue

10-15 Zip Ties

Drill with 1/8" drill bit

PVC Cutting Tool/Saw

 

You need to connect and glue the 2 long PVC sticks with the coupling. On one end glue on the PVC Hose Connector. From here, find the best place that is closest to the water hose so that you aren't connecting the hose in an awkward area. You will zip tie the hose connector and PVC pipe to the trampoline at that spot. Then move around about 4 ft and put another zip tie there, and so on until you get to the end. Once you have gone around the whole tramp and secured it with zip ties you should be back to the hose connector. Cut the pipe and glue the end cap on here. Next, take the drill and drill holes slightly slanted to the center of the tramp every 2-3 feet. The closer the holes are the lower it will spray, the farther apart the hole the higher the water will spray. Make sure the glue is dry before you turn on the hose. Have fun and always supervise kids when they are jumping on a trampoline and are around water.

 

Happy Summer!! 

Jean Quilt Finished with Machine Quilting

For Christmas this past year, I kept really busy making quilts for two of my sons.  One of my boys wanted a Jean Quilt and has been asking for months.  So I kept putting him off and worked on it while he was at school.  You should have seen his face when he opened the present Christmas morning!  It was priceless!

 

I did this quilt a little different than the last one I made.  About a year ago, I made a Jean Quilt for my husband.  My mom and sisters helped me tie the quilt.  This year, I didn't have my mom or sisters around to help, so I decided to machine quilt it.  And I love how it turned out!

I started making the quilt by cutting the jeans into strips.  The length of the strips varied depending on how long the jeans were and where the holes were that I had to cut out.  The width of the strips were 4, 5 or 6 inches, depending on how wide the jeans were.  I divided them into piles and then sewed the piles of strips together into long rows.  Then I sewed the rows together, alternating the different width of rows.  I used another quilt that I had to get the dimensions.  He wanted to fit it onto his bed.

Now it's time to put the quilt together.  I bought some fabric and sewed it together to make the backing, I believe that it was about 5 yards.  The last jean quilt I did, I just used a flannel sheet.  My son requested a John Deere Jean Quilt, so that's what he got!  

First, put down the back of your quilt on the floor, then the batting and then the jean part.  So you have a sandwich of a quilt.  Smooth out the wrinkles and use curved safety pins to pin all over the quilt.  The safety pins will hold your quilt into place.

Now is the time for the sewing machine!  Above is a picture of the curved safety pins and the walking foot that I used.  I went to a local quilt shop and bought a generic walking foot.  They made sure that it would work on my machine before I bought it and it cost about $20.  The walking foot feeds the top layer of your fabric so it doesn't get all bunched up.  

I sewed down the quilt in straight lines.  But I didn't "stitch in a ditch"  because I didn't want to break any needles.  So I stitched about 1/4 of an inch away from each seam.  When machine quilting, it's best to start in the middle of your quilt to avoid bunching and tucks in your fabric.  

And believe it or not, I only broke one needle the entire time by working on this quilt!  And it was my own fault, because my needle was loose and I started sewing, which caused it to break. 

My son's name is Ashton and he wanted the letter A on his quilt.  So after I bound the quilt, I cut out the letter A and sewed it on.

The quilt turned out great, and is perfect for keeping warm.  Ashton said that he wants a jean quilt so when he goes camping he can wipe his dirty hands on it and not feel bad.  Hmmm...whatever makes him happy!  :)

Popsicle Shirt

Last week we were given a challenge by the Wayward Girls' Crafts.  They give us one word and see what we come up with.  The word they gave us was: Popsicle.    They also did a spotlight on their blog that you can go and check out here.  

So I thought and thought about what kind of craft I could make that went along with the theme.  We made all kinds of pudding pops.  My husband's favorite was banana.  My daughter loved the chocolate.  And my boys loved the vanilla.  But I didn't want to go with the traditional "popsicle".  So I decided to make a shirt.

I didn't have time to go to the store to pick up a shirt and taking all my kids with me didn't sound like a fun trip, so I decided to sew one.  I picked up some grey jersey fabric on clearance months ago.  I knew that it would come in handy one day...and this was that day!

I took one of my daughter's shirts that fit her good and used it as a pattern.

I cut out a front (the one on the right) and a back (the one on the left.

This fabric is nice because it won't fray, which means that I didn't have to hem the edges.  I just sewed along the sides of the shirt and the shoulders.  I added a ruffled strips for sleeves. The neckline and bottom of the shirt are raw.  You can hem them if you so desire.  (This fabric can be challenging to sew, so just take it slow and you will do fine.)

Once I sewed the shirt, I made sure that it fit and then moved onto the fun stuff!

I had a sheet of hot pink with white polka dots iron on transfer material.  I cut out a popsicle shape, but before I ironed it on, I used a brown ribbon for the popsicle stick.  I sewed the ribbon on and then ironed on the popsicle part.  After it was cool, I sewed around the popsicle part.  (You don't have to sew the iron on transfer, but I liked the way it looks with stitching around it.)

I used my Silhouette to cut out the "So Sweet" part.  I found the saying in the Silhouette store.  I had dark pink heat transfer material that I used for the words. ** Make sure you mirror the image you want to have cut.  Before you iron it onto the shirt, put a thin piece of fabric over the part you are ironing. **

My daughter absolutely loves her Popsicle shirt and I love the price!

Cinder Block Bench

After finishing our Cinder Block Sandbox I still had TONS of cinder blocks left over.  I wanted to make something that was usable, so I decided to make a Cinder Block Bench for our back porch.  It was super easy and super cheap (since I already had all of the Cinder Blocks).

I stacked the cinder blocks where I wanted them.  I used 1 1/2 x 5 cinder blocks to make the base.

I wanted some cushion for the seat.  So I went to JoAnn's and picked up some 2 inch foam and I picked up some vinyl at Hobby Lobby.  I used the same vinyl that I redid my Step Stool Chairs in. I also used some old plywood that we had around the house.

To make the cushion you first cute the plywood down to the size you want.  You then put the Foam on top and the Vinyl on top of the foam.  Then you just staple everything to the plywood.

I did the corners last just to make sure they looked the same and looked neat.

 The cushion fits perfectly on the cinder blocks.  For the cushions I made covers for 2 king size pillows and several 17x17 accent pillows.  You can find the tutorial for the pillows HERE.

I really liked how the bench turned out.  It is actually really comfortable and is really nice not have those cinder blocks stacked up where my kids can get hurt!

DIY- Easy Outdoor Pillows

I LOVE outdoor pillows!  They add a lot to any outdoor space.  The problem is that they are so expensive.  I decided to make my own Outdoor Pillow Slipcovers.  I am telling you- they are SO easy that you will go crazy making all sorts of outdoor pillows!

I used Outdoor Canvas that I bought at Joann's for the fabric.  Joann's actually has a pretty large selection of Outdoor Material.  When I saw this orange fabric, I couldn't resist it!  I did not want to spend a lot of money on these pillows, so I went to Goodwill and picked up some pillows that were in good shape.  

They were $1-2 a piece.  These pillows are all about 17in x 17in .

 I bought one yard of fabric- one yard made 3 pillow covers.  I cut the material at 18 in x 36 in.

You hem both of the 18 inch sides.

Next, I laid out the material so the sides are over laping about 1 inch and pinned it on both sides.  Make sure the right sides are together.

I then stitched up both of the sides and turned the material out.

Now, I stuffed the pillow in the cover.

You can leave the pillow just like this, but I wanted a little extra feature.  So I stitched on some wooden buttons that I won from a giveaway a while ago.

You are DONE!

These pillows cost me about $4 per pillow (the outdoor canvas is more expensive than regular material).

I LOVE THEM!

DIY- Bandana Dress

A couple months ago, we were at a farm show in Amarillo.  One of the venders gave me a couple of CASE bandanas that I thought were pretty neat.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them- a Bandana Dress for my daughter.  I am just now getting around to it...

Here is how I did it.

I got two of the bandanas and sewed them with right sides together.

Then I gathered the very top of the bandanas to make it flow at the bottom.

I then got out one of my daughters dresses and cut out a pattern for the top.  Then I stitched it together, I just eye balled it... 

When the top is all stitched up, just sew it to the gathered skirt.

This is how it looks when it is all stitched up.

I wanted a couple of red accents, so I had some red ribbon that I stitched on for sleeves, a ribbon etc...

Then you are done!

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Repurpose: Diaper Box into Denim Box

 My 12 year old twins go to middle school and have to wear uniforms and didn't have any room for all these extra clothes in their dresser.  So they have been keeping their clothes in a diaper box under the bed.  I promised that we would turn the diaper box into something else that didn't look like a diaper box, or have a baby on the front.  I am just now getting around to keeping that promise.  I don't know why it took me so long, it was so easy and quick!

I covered the diaper box with some heavy duty denim fabric that I bought at a yard sale a couple of years ago.  This was incredibly easy!  It only took about 15 minutes.  Making the liner in easy too.  There is a tutorial on Make it Love it if you are interested in making your own liner.  

When I made my liner, I just measured each side of the box and added an inch to the top and side for seam allowances.  Then I sewed all the pieces together.  Fold over the edges and sew a seam casing for the ribbon and you're done!  Easier said than done, right?  It's really not that hard.

Here is how I recovered my box.  This is actually the second one that I did.  My boys loved the first one so much, that I decided to make a second one.  They fit perfectly under the bunk beds and look so much organized than the system they are using now.

First, measure the top of your box.  Mine is about 11.5 inches tall.  So I made sure to cut about 15 inches around the box so I could fold over the sides into the box.  More on that later.  The first box I use was very sturdy.  So I cut off the flaps that fold to make the top.  This box has been used and abused by my boys.  They folded the flaps into the box and used packing tape to secure them, so I left it that way.  I figured that the box would be that much sturdier.

Cut your fabric around the box as shown.  I cut 15 inched around the entire box. Now cut a square out for each corner.  I measured 2 inches  out from the corner and then cut the square out.

This is the spray adhesive that I used.  There is NO sewing to recover the box, only to make the liner.

Spray the bottom of the box.  It is best to do this in a well ventilated area.  Outside would be best.
Place the box in the center of your fabric.  Then turn the box upside down and smooth the fabric over the bottom of the box.

Now for the sides:  I did the longer side first.  Spray the whole side of the box and smooth the fabric over the box.

 

Now spray the inside of the box, just enough for the fabric to cover.  You don't have to spray the whole inside. Then repeat on the other side.

This is what your box should look like now.  The long sides are done and now we are ready to do the short sides.  Before you spray for the short side, you need to spray a little to attach the remnant from the long side onto to the short side.
 

Now you need to make sure your fabric folds this way.  You are going to spray the short side of the box, but as you attach your material to the box you need to fold in the sides.

Here, my fabric is attached and the sides are folded.  Now spray into the fold and apply pressure.

Spray the inside of the box to attach the rest of the fabric and then repeat on the other side.

Now your box is done and the liner can be made.  So cute and easy!

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