Thursday, June 16, 2016

Father's Day- DIY Barbecue Tool Hanger


Father's day is quickly approaching, and finding something creative to give Dad can be a real hassle.  Dads all over the world are getting shirts, socks, and underwear, and while useful, clothes are not an exciting gift to receive.  This year, I made my father a personalized gift that I know he will love, and for under $20!

For this project, you will need:

  1. Fence Posts or Wooden Stakes
  2. Towel Hangers
  3. Lots of Screws
  4. Paint
  5. Some way to connect the boards
  6. Sandpaper 
  7. About 4 hours of time 


To start, I took a trip to the local Home Depot and found myself a bundle of six 2" x 2" stakes and six towel hangers.  When I got home, I sanded the stakes and painted them white, then laid them out to dry for a couple of hours.


Once they were dry, I laid them out side by side to determine how the shape of the hanger would be.  I sanded the outside edges further, to ensure there would be no chance of anyone getting a splinter.


Now was the tricky part; how can I connect these boards to each other?  I first found some long nails and tried to nail them together, but it was taking way too long, so I searched the garage for another solution.  Eventually I found this copper tape stuff with holes in it, and laid it out across the stakes.  I screwed it onto each of the boards on the bottom area, then repeated on the top.


Once that was done, I cut a little strip and screwed it on top of the top tape so that it can be hung on the wall.


As you can see, some of the screws have washers, and some don't.  This is due to the fact that some of the holes were too big for the screw heads to hold down.  Depending on the size of the holes in your tape, this may or may not also be necessary.

Next, I proceeded to write "King of the Grill" on the top half of the front in pencil.


Then I pained in the words with black, and sanded the whole front to make it look more aged.


I finished the project by screwing the hangers onto the boards, and sanded the edges some more, to ensure maximum smoothness.


Once you finish, wrap up your present and you can be sure to surprise your dad on father's day!

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Crochet- Slouchy Beanie Hat




Prepare to stay warm and cozy by making this cute slouchy beanie hat!  The pattern is simple, and doesn't take too much time to make.

To begin, you're going to need:
  1. One skein of yarn for each color you want to use
  2. Size I crochet hook
  3. About a week of time

To make the ribbed edge:

Ch. 20
Row 1: sc in second ch from hook, sc across
Row 2: ch 1, turn, sc in back loop of each sc across
Row 3-?: Repeat Row 2 until the band fits comfortably around your head
Finish: whipstitch the first row to the last row, tie in ends

To make the hat:
Row 1: take your contrast color and ch. 3 where you whipstitched the band together.  2 DC in each stitch around.  sl st in first st of the round
Row 2-3: ch. 3, DC in each DC around; sl st in first st of the round
Row 4: Without cutting the contrast color*, change to the original color and ch. 2.  HDC in each DC around; sl st in first st of the round
Row 5: chg back to contrast color and repeat rows 2-4 once, without changing colors in between 
Row 8: chg to original color and repeat row 2 once
Row 9: chg to contrast color and repeat rows 2-3 once
Row 11: chg to original color and repeat row 2, then repeat row 4
Row 13: chg to contrast color and repeat row 11
Row 15: chg to original color and repeat row 2-3
Row 17:chg to contrast color and repeat row 2
Row 18-?: chg to original color and repeat row 2-3 until satisfied with the length and level of slouchy-ness
Fold your hat in half and tie the top together at the center; fold in half the other way and tie the edges so the top view of the hat looks like an X.  Secure tightly
Tie in ends and flip hat right side out
*never cut the yarn when changing the colors for this hat, just allow the yarn to run up the side of the work as you change colors.  However, make sure the running yarn remains on the same side of the hat as you intend to be the inside.  This makes finishing easier, and saves a lot of time and yarn.