You may have noticed that I am in love with painter's drop cloth. I've made a table runner, pillows, and even Christmas stockings from this wonderful (and ridiculously cheep) fabric and this weekend I whipped up some curtains for the bedroom.

 
The drop cloth was perfect because it comes pre-hemmed in 6' x 9' foot panels. I trimmed 6 inches off of the length of each panel, stitch witched a quick hem and hung them---so easy and I love the way they look. Very Restoration Hardware, I think. Here are links to some great Drop Cloth  Tutorials, enjoy!

Drop Cloth Curtains from Lovely.Crafty.Home.

Drop Cloth Dust Ruffle from Between You and Me

Drop Cloth Upholstered Headboard from Apartment Therapy

The older I have gotten, the more often I am reminded of the hard lesson: real friends are hard to come by. So, the good friends I have, the true friends, I do my best to really cherish. Good friends know you well enough to see right through a 'Susie Happy Pants' Facebook status and call you anyway because they know everything is not cool, no matter how cheery your profile picture is. A true friend will email you immediately to discuss something only you will find rip-roaring hysterical, like an epic breach of etiquette. A true friend will cheer your successes and help you through your failures. A true friend will see something that is not traditionally a gift-y thing, like a wacky gourd or a fabric remnant and know that you will LOVE it and just simply must have it.

Such is the case with my good friend Rachael from Lovely.Crafty.Home. Just in case you missed the last 20 or so posts, Rachael is my regular craft partner in crime and all around swell gal. Last week she was rummaging through a fabric remnant bin and purchased the MOST lovely fabric for yours truly. A liberty-of-london-ish vintage-y florally flourish all lime green and ocean-y blue and taupe to perfectly match basically everything that I own-so thoughtful. I am truly blessed to have such amazing friends in my life.

And now that I am done gushing (well almost)-check out the AMAZING pillows that Rachael and I made together out of the fabric she gifted me. Yeah, the back of the pillows are made of drop cloth {hard to believe, I know}





If I loved them more I would run away with them on a romantic get-away in Paris.

So today, dear readers, take time to thank the true friends in your life, just simply for being their amazing selves. Cherish them, because good friends are hard to come by!

This is a fun and easy DIY project that gives new life to that old hoodie sweatshirt you have hiding in your closet. You know the one you love but it really is not fit for wearing in public anymore? You can upcycle your hoodie into a protective sleeve for your laptop in no time, like this:

For this project you will need:

A sewing machine or needle and thread
An old hoodie sweatshirt
Pins and Scissors

Step one, cut the hood, arms and back off of your sweatshirt, making it as square shaped as possible, like this.

 
Next, fold the fabric right sides together.

 Using your laptop to measure, pin the fabric along length and down one side to form a pouch. Remove laptop. Sew long side and one end closed to form a pouch. Trim off excess sweatshirt material. Turn right-side-out.

The finished product is a lap top sleeve with your sweatshirt logo on the front and the hoodie pouch on the back, perfect for holding the power cord/and or mouse for your laptop.

front

back

I made this for my husband as a Christmas gift and he really liked it! I am always excited when I can DIY a good gift for a fellow, they are so much harder to craft for than girls. I would also like to thank Rachael with Lovely.Crafty.Home for the assistance in making this project. This is a product of one of our super fun joint craft bonanzas like the Drop Cloth Christmas Stockings. And trust me, if we can sew it, you can too!

Hello lovelies! I wanted to share my new DIY Christmas Stockings made from painter's drop cloths. Yes, you read that correctly. I have learned a lot of fun treats to make with this surprisingly pretty and durable fabric out there in the blogosphere. Here are a few examples:

Drop Cloth Curtains from Lovely.Crafty.Home.

Drop Cloth Dust Ruffle from Between You and Me

Drop Cloth Upholstered Headboard from Apartment Therapy

Not only is this fabric super duper cheep (you can get a 'contractor' pack that contains 2 hemmed 9 ft x 6 ft panels for $9.99), but it is the most lovely shade of neutral taupe-y gray and has great texture. I added a multi stripe cotton ticking fabric for the lining, grass green ball fringe as trim, a jingle bell for the toe and iron-on rhinestone letters to complete the look.

I just kind of whipped these guys up by free-hand drawing the elf toe stocking shape on to the drop cloth fabric and going from there. However, if you are looking for a more structured approach,you can check out the complete tutorial for this very project over at Tater Tots and Jello or Lovely.Crafty.Home. Congratulations on the sweet guest post by my good friend and partner in crime, Rachael!

 For more inspiration, check out this Tip Junkie post. I think I contains a link to every DIY Stocking tutorial on the web.

Oh, and a special thank you to Jen from Make, Do & Review who was kind enough to send the iron-on letters to me in a care package. Thanks Jen!!!