Primitive Rolling Pins with Homespun

A few weeks ago, I had an idea after watching an “Everybody Loves Raymond,” episode. If you haven’t seen the show, over at Raymonds Moms’ house, she has a rolling pin on the wall that holds mail.

So I went and bought a handful of rolling pins at the Dollar Mart for only $1.19 each, the wooden ones. And I tried my hand at making them. Well, turns out I’m not great at cutting the back off of the round rolling pins to make them flat against the wall. And the cuts to hold the mail…..well, they turned out awful. Take a look:

See how the lines came out all uneven? I had used a table saw for that and apparently it wasn’t the right tool. lol.

And anyhow, I then came up with an idea to use some country homespun fabric and cover up my mess. That way I could try to salvage the wooden rolling pins. And here’s what I decided on doing:

As you see in the photo above, I cut a piece of fabric to fit over the pin itself. Then I used a hot glue gun to glue it around the pin. I only glued the back of it. And it has held fine like that.

I also painted the handles in a flat back with some craft paint from Michaels. It just gave them a little bit more prim look.

And I took some craft wire and attached a metal star just to prim it up a bit more.

Lastly, I attached a sawtooth hanger on the back, which is the flat side, to make for easy hanging. I nailed in the small tacks that came with the kit. The kit was found at the Dollar Mart also, for only $1.19.

And that was pretty much it. After taking the pics, I decided to take some sand paper and rough up the handles a bit more. And they did look better after that. And that’s all there was too it.

It was a craft fail that actually turned out salvageable. lol.

Old Window Makeover

Here’s what I started with. I found 5 of these old windows at a yard sale for only $2 each.

  I knew I either wanted to make mirrors out of them or display racks like I’ve seen in a few craft blogs.

Well, I went with the display racks because I need some more display room in my Peddlers Mall booth.

 I very carefully knocked out the glass in two of them by putting the windows down inside of a big ole cardboard box. A very skinny one. The wicker table had came in it and it was perfect. I then hit on the sides of the box with a rubber hammer until all the glass was pretty much broken out. This way the glass didn’t fly around and I didn’t have a mess to clean up afterwards either.

 Next, I put some chicken wire on the backside of them both. I stapled it on with a big ole staple gun from Lowes. Then I stenciled on the “Primitive” saying at the top. On one of them I cut some fabric and added a little curtain to make it more country. The other I left plain. And that’s the one I like best.

And here it is. I use those metal “S” hooks to hang items on these in my booth. They save me alot of space and look so cute for displaying about anything!

Small Homespun Candy Canes

These are great for the small primitive trees. And you can make these super fast with very little material. Always a plus!

I got the idea for these from the blog eyeballs by day, crafts by night. And immediatley bookmarked it because I knew it was a cute Christmasy craft to do. And best of all, they will even look cute on your little prim trees all year, if you wish.

Here’s how I did them. I started with the tiny little wire ones, that had some type of bakers’ twine wrapped around them on Etsy. I couldn’t find the more plastic common ones this time of year. But you can bet that at the after Christmas sales, this year, I will hoard them all. lol.

See how small they are compared to a normal sized pen. Super cute!

All I did was put some hot glue at the small curved end, and began wrapping a strip of cute fabric around in a circle. About mid way down the side, I put another dab of hot glue to make sure the fabric held tight.

Then I just finished wrapping and added some hot glue at the end, cut it, and pinched the ends together to kinda seal it. Notice I left the little strings of fabric sticking out. I like that look for the old country themed trees.

Here’s another pic to show the size.

These have already been a hit last week in my booth, and I’m gonna try to make some more over the weekend.

TIP: If you don’t have these little candy canes, you could always just use some of those rolls of wire either from a craft or hardware store. Just bend them in the shape, snap with wire cutters and cover! I did this when I ran out and it’s gonna be a way cheaper process!

Happy Crafting!

Grubby Votives with Homespun

Today I turned these plain votives:

into these cute grubby votives:

(sorry the pics aren’t so great, I was in a hurry and had hot wax on everything! lol)

How I did so, coming soon. Right now I need to go clean up my mess lol.
Okay, so back now and everything is cleaned up.

If you want to make these, this is what I did.

1. First off, go buy you a box of cheap, plain votives at biglots. Case of 24 for around $6.00 there.
2. Melt you some old candles or wax, any colors, in a candle warmer and have it ready for use.
3. Mix a bottle of cinnamon and bottle of nutmeg in a tin foil pan. The cinnamon and nutmeg usually turn out brownish in the end. So you need not worry about the color wax you’ve melted to use.
4. Be sure to do all this with wax paper underneath!
5. Now you’re ready for the messy part…. CAREFULLY dip some of the hot wax out in a dipper or whatever you can find to fit, and pour it into the mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg.
6. Wait about 45 seconds or so for it to thicken a bit, not much, just a bit, and then start rolling your plain votive around in it. Cakeing the wax onto the lil votive. Sometimes I use my hands, sometimes I use the old spoons you see in the pic. Just don’t get burned!
7. You can repeat this process until your little grubby candle is just how you like it, more or less. In the pic above, you can see, some has alot, and one has very little and is still grubbish~.
8. I then set it over on a new piece of wax paper to dry.
9. Then tied on a piece of homespun and hot glued a cute button on it. And then they are ready to go.

The pic below is what’s usually leftover after I make a batch. And be sure to keep these! You can melt them chunks down the next time you go to make some. And the cinnamon and nutmeg left, can also be used next time.

I also use the same process on the tiny tealights that comes in bags at the Dollar Mart for $1.00. Here they are:

Halloween Magnets ( Xmas Lights Repurposed)

 I was going through the phase this weekend  of making snowmen magnets when it hit me. Halloween is sooner than Christmas, so I need to get in gear for that at my booth! So I had an idea to use some of the white and orange Christmas tree bulbs I had sitting in a jar. Left the base color alone, even though it has imperfections, I like it. Painted on a face with some Folk Art craft paint, added some homespun and on a few, added an orange button. Then lastly, I glued on a heavy crafting magnet on the back of each. Don’t want these falling and breaking if holding too many papers!  And here they are:

Sorry the pics are all sideways…. I just realized that…

 Which one do you like best? The ghost or the pumpkins?

Primitive Night Light Makeovers

I saw a post from a fellow blogger a while back about these and it looked awesome. So I thought I’d buy some and give it a try in a few different ways.  And here’s the final product I came up with:

BEFORE:

These light sensor nightlights were only around a dollar at the local Dollar Mart. The silicone bulbs were running, on sale, $1.19 for 2 at the Peddlers Mall. So I have about a $1.50 in each one, I think. Not a great money maker, but it’s sure fun!

AFTER:

The first batch, I rubbed mod podge all over it with a brush and then sprinkled cinnamon on it to dry. And then repeated until I got enough on it. Then I sealed it with another coat of mod podge and then craft sealer.

I tied some homespun on it and glued on a cute button and that was it. 

Hint: Make sure not to get too much cinnamon in the switch area or it will not flick back and forth good.

On the second batch, the black ones, I simply painted them black with craft paint and stenciled on some yellow stars using Heritage stencil paint. A quick coat of sealer to finish off the paint. Then tie on some matching homespun fabric and wa~la. That was all. So very simple!

And they are great because around here you can’t find them ready made anywheres.

Price: Only $3.59 each & found in my Booth #555 at the local Peddlers Mall.

Old Lantern Makeover

Flicker Light Lantern

I took an old, green lantern and painted it black here and added a night light electric light. I then replaced the regular night light with a old fashioned flicker bulb. This way it looks as if a real flame is flickering.
I just love it. I also tied a piece of homespun fabric to the top.

Price: 24.99

Primitive Candle Holder

I had an old, woobly chair that had the cutest legs, so I broke it all up. And used the best parts to make a differenty kinda candle holder. I hot-glued a rusty metal star on it, and tied a bit of homespun fabric.

Theres a few more of the smaller pieces on the other side, but the photo got cut off. They sure are different, that’s for sure. lol.

Flicker Light Lantern

I took an old, green lantern and painted it black here and added a night light electric light. I then replaced the regular night light with a old fashioned flicker bulb. This way it looks as if a real flame is flickering. See video below.
I just love it. I also tied a piece of homespun fabric to the top. It sits in our home beside a wall of my husbands train collection.

Before & After | Primitive Night Lights

BEFORE:

I saw a post from a fellow blogger here (when I find that post again, I will definitely link to it!), and she had done this and it looked awesome. So I thought I’d buy some and give it a try. I just did a little different design. And here’s the final product I came up with:

AFTER: