DIY Life

You will need: a canvas drop cloth, upholstery fabric for the appliqué designs, and some other decorative fabric for the trim. You will also need a few sewing essentials: fusible web, iron, sewing machine, and scissors. Interested? Check out the step-by-step instructions here.

I have to admit the finished product looks amazing, atlhough I don't think it would work well in high-traffic areas of the house. A piece of non-slip foam backing underneath would be a must for safety's sake.

For more rug-related advice, check out Debbie's post on rug flipping.

I usually forgo the iron in favor of a few extra minutes in the dryer. When I actually do haul out the ironing board and iron, you can bet that we're needing to press our clothes for a wedding or some other event.

Bringing out the iron only a couple of times each year, and typically only an hour before rushing out the door, means that if it ever did break down, I'd need an immediate fix -- one that I could do myself.

Fix-it Club offers this iron repair tutorial. The comprehensive tutorial reviews how the iron works, what could go wrong, diagnosing the problem, and finally the tools and methods for repair. Given that irons are simple appliances, well-made ones won't need regular repair, and when they do, you'll often find that the problem lies in the cord, handle, or steaming vents.

I don't imagine that I use my iron often enough for it to fail, but if it did, Fix-it Club would be my first stop. Better yet, I think I'll take their maintenance advice and prevent a problem before it starts.

[via:Dumb Little Man]

I often wish that the pretty fabric I find could somehow be protected from sticky little fingers or grown-up messes. If only that pretty cloth came as an oilcloth or was water or dirt resistant. I could finish so many more projects if I could just preserve the cloth using oilcloth or vinyl.

Jessica at How About Orange has a tutorial on how to make iron-on vinyl coasters. She found the iron-on vinyl at her local craft store, and decided to try it out by making the gorgeous coasters, using some heavy weight fabric and glossy vinyl. She sewed the cloth and vinyl together, and then used pinking shears to give the finished coasters a nice edge.

The iron-on vinyl is flexible, water repellent and UV resistant. Imagine all the nice gifts you can make; after all, Christmas will be here before you know it. I can't wait to finish making giant bibs and smocks for my 3 year old, laminate my scrapbook paper, and finish the chair seat covers.

via: Craft

I always cringe when I throw out an empty bag of chips, and not just because I'm mourning the emptiness: those shiny packages seem like they could be re-purposed somehow.

Well, here's how... Make a chip package patch. Instructables contributor Wocket fuses recycled material and original fashion to create this project.

Along with an empty chip bag, you'll need double-sided fusible interfacing, some backing fabric, a sewing machine with thread, scissors, and oil based paint.

The instructions and accompanying pictures will give you the general idea, but there is lots of room to exercise your own creativity and make a piece that is uniquely you.

Did you have to cover all your wood tables with tablecloths this Holiday season, due to stains you didn't have any clues on how to remove? White heat stains, steam marks and water rings can make wood downright sad and want to hide from prying eyes.

You can use an iron to remove white heat stains from your wood tables. By placing a towel over the offending white mark, placing your iron that is set to "steam" on the towel, and removing the iron after nearly one minute, the stain should be gone. Wipe up any moisture left by the iron, and you should have a stain free table that should show no damage from the steam iron.

If you don't have an iron, you can try toothpaste, baking soda, olive oil, salt, vinegar and these other stain removal methods. I don't know about you, but I'll stick with the iron. I know that all the methods mentioned do work, but I like to do things in a hurry, and a steam iron is the fastest method for me. How do you remove stains from your wood furniture?

Funny thing about men: when it comes to choosing what to wear, you can be just as vain as most women. Surprisingly though, unlike women, most men have no problem wearing those same clothes with the 'just-slept-in-look'. For whatever reason -- cultural, spiritual, X-chromosome deficiency -- men don't like to iron.

Here's why you should make the effort:

Wrinkles can make clothes look cheap, and the way you dress speaks volumes about who you are as a person. Let's face it, clothes talk. Whenever you enter a room for the first time, it takes only a few seconds for people you've never met to form perceptions about you and your abilities. You don't have to utter a word; people peg you one way if you're dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, slacks and a sports coat, and yet another if you're wearing any style in a wrinkled mess.

I love laundry starch. It makes ironing so much easier. However, store-bought starch often can damage old linens or have a synthetic that does not decompose. Good news: it's super easy to make homemade ironing starch with natural ingredients that easily decomposes.

1 pint cool water
1 tablespoon corn starch

Dissolve corn starch into water and put into spray bottle. You can use other starches as well, but corn starch is most convenient. Also, the best kind of corn starch is organic starch since it doesn't have the extra chemicals that come with generic corn starch.

Regardless of what starch you use, make sure to shake before each use to redissolve the starch. If you don't plan on using it often, make small amounts or refrigerate the unused portion; however, make sure to let the mixture return to room temperature before you use it. See? I told you it was easy.