DIY Life

I love to cuddle, so I can usually be found hugging a pillow if my 3-year-old or my husband are unavailable to be squeezed. Pillows are so comforting, and I just can't own enough of them.

Any project that requires time sitting at the sewing machine gets put on the back burner for me, especially in Summer. I found the perfect no-sew pillow project over at Craft Bits. All that is needed to make the pillow is fabric, filling, scissors, and plenty of patience.

You can use down feathers or other loose filling to plump up your pillow. Polar fleece is a soft, super cuddly material that doesn't fray. Lycra and knit fabrics do not fray, either. Young kids who know how to make knots would be helpful for this project; keeping them occupied on a rainy day.

Bandanas: they may keep the sweat off your forehead and look darned cute around your dog's neck, but they can actually be useful with a little creativity.

Anna has posted about bandana projects before, including no-sew window valances, toddler clothing, and pillows. If you are looking for a few more creative projects that use bandanas, here are some that might interest you:

Using two bandanas and some fabric scissors, you can create a bandana tote bag that requires no sewing.

Some canvas strapping and four bandanas are all you need to sew this star-spangled bandana tote.

If you can fold a bandana, then you can make this unique bandana visor.

Ten bandanas, some denim scrap fabric, eyelet lace, and two yards more fabric will get you a bandana baby blanket, something not every baby on the block will be sporting.

Bella Online has more ideas for bandana sewing projects: another tote, small appliance covers, and a ragdoll bear or kitty, just to name a few.

With all of these bandana ideas, you've got to have a favorite project that you are going to start working on -- this very minute. Which is your favorite?

Who knew not sewing could be so fun? I'm heading to SXSW (the interactive festival, not the film or music parts) and needed a secondary bag for notebooks and pens. My carry-on laptop bag is too bulky for just bumming around Austin, and I don't have the budget for a newer, sleeker bag. But I did buy some new jeans, which meant the ones with holes had to go. And since I have a hard time throwing things away, I made a nifty messenger bag out of those jeans, some duct tape and a handy shoulder strap from an Eagle Creek carry-on bag.

The bag itself will hold together without tape (see the gallery). So this would work in an emergency. While the shoulder strap is a bit of a cheat, I'm sure any strap would work, including one made of rope. The key is to make sure the legs wrap over the back and then close up in front so their weight provides enough strength to hold whatever is in your bag. Just to be safe, I decided to tape mine up. This makes it sturdier, more comfortable and stylish.

Read on for the how-to (it really is easy) and check out the gallery for close-ups of each step.

Everyone wants to wow their holiday guests this season, and if you are short on money, that can be hard to do. If you have just found out that someone is coming to town tomorrow and you happen to look over and see your naked table, have no fear, you can easily whip something up in a mere 10 minutes.

You can make your naked table feel fully clothed by making a no-sew burlap table runner. A piece of burlap long enough to cover your table, a scrap of printed fabric, an iron, double sided fusible webbing, a pair of scissors and 10 minutes is all you need to make your new table runner.

By the time you get done making your burlap table runner, you'll think it was so easy, you'll be more than happy to make a few more to give as Christmas gifts. For anyone that loves rustic decor, this is the perfect do it yourself no sew project.

We had a pair of taupe tab-top curtains in out office/craft room that were bland to say the least. To jazz them up a little, I figured I'd take a little inspiration from the current wall decal trend. Less than 2 hours later, we had some pretty hip curtains without a hefty price tag. Here's how you can create your own:

Materials:
- Boring curtains
- About 1/2 yard of contrasting fabric
- Paper-backed fusible web of your choice (I've used Pellon Wonder Under, Heat 'n' Bond, and Steam-A-Seam and Steam-A Seam is by far my favorite. Make no mistake though, once you iron that stuff down, it's not coming off)
- Printable cardstock (and printer)
- Silhouette of your choice (I got mine from the extensive collection at Stencilry)
- Scissors
- Pen or Pencil
- Iron

Instructions:
1. Print your silhouette in multiple sizes (unless you want them all the same size) onto cardstock and cut out.

2. Determine the number of each size you need and trace them onto fusible web backing. When tracing, remember that the silhouette will be the mirror image of what you trace. I wrote "up" on one side of all my silhouettes so I wouldn't mistakenly trace any backwards.

Are you still wracking your brain looking for the perfect Halloween costume for your little tyke? Or are you just procrastinating because your little one has decided they want the most expensive costume ever made? Never fear, you still have 2 weeks until Halloween, but I highly suggest you get your butt in gear before your child doesn't have a costume at all, such as is my case at the moment.

As I was browsing around trying to find ideas to make a costume for my 2 year old, I found an awesome article from Michaels.com. In this article you will find 31 costumes to make from T-shirts and sweatshirts. You can make everything from a pumpkin costume to a pirate costume, with just some very large t-shirts or sweatshirts, fabric paint, felt, and other crafting items, such as scissors and thread. There is little to no sewing required, which makes these costumes very simple to make. Even if you waited until 1 or 2 days before Halloween to do most of the costumes, you still would gave a great looking Halloween costume.

Halloween is just around the corner and with it comes the absolute need for a really cool costume. Often times your kids want a super trendy costume along the lines of Master Chief, Star Wars, or Spiderman but sometimes they throw you a curve ball and ask to be a carrot or a scuba diver. Spiderman you can easily find at your local Giganto-Mart but a carrot? Not so much.

Thanks to Parenting Magazine's Halloween Central you can easily make your little one into that carrot and oh so much more the DIY way. There are several off beat costumes for both babies and older kids that you can make yourself fairly inexpensively.