DIY Oven Mitt Potholders

It all started when Mom got these great potholders. At some point, I guess she decided that our conglomeration of square hot pads were either worn out, or just not good enough.

And that's when it started. My sister and I got spoiled.

The new potholders were the perfect mix of oven mitt and hot pad. They totally protected your hands while moving things in or out of the oven, yet were not bulky and hand-shaped like your standard oven mitt- so you could use them to set pots on at the dinner table.

One problem, however. You don't get to move the perfect things you grew up with when you move out of the house.

My first Christmas, guess what I asked my handy sister for? These potholders. Now, though, for some reason they were hard to find in the store, unless one wanted to pay at least $10 per each. Too much. My handy sister took a few quick seconds to look at it, and decided she could make some on her own. And so she did, and my kitchen is happily stocked with beautiful red potholders just like I grew up with.

This year, I decided my mother-in-law's kitchen needed some of these, so I embarked on a creative journey of my own. I'm not as handy as my sister, but thought I could figure it out.

Here's how I made them.

What you need:

1 bath towel

Seam Binding (about 1 yd per potholder.)

I was able to get 6 potholders out of 1 towel. I was giving these as a gift, and knew I could fit 5 on the towel, but 5 seemed like a weird number so I figured out how to piece together the last piece so I could get 6. She has a big family and 6 would suit her kitchen fine.

Ultimately you'll have to go by the size of towel that you bought. I got mine at Walmart, for 3.97

I could've spent more on a thicker towel but the next step up was about $15. When you use a thinner towel, you'll want to double up the piece that goes on the palm of your hand.

Making my own seam binding

I chose to save a little money and make my own seam binding. It comes in 3 yd packages, so for 4 or 6 you'll need 2 packages. This is up to you. Here's a tutorial from my handy sister of how to make your own seam binding. She says the width doesn't matter, but for this project, I'd err on the side of the larger, since three layers of towels gets pretty thick.

So for 6 potholders, you need 12 big pieces and 6 small pieces. I traced around the ones in my kitchen on a piece of scrap paper for a pattern. You can choose to fit enough for 6 on your towel, or go with 4 or 5.

1) Wash and dry your towel on hot. This will make your towel easier to work with, and prevents any shrinkage when washing your finished oven mitts.

2) Cut out pieces. Cut the small pieces along the finished edge of the towel. This saves you having to finish the edge, and gives you a bit of decor.

Here's the piece I pieced together to get 6 potholders instead of 5. The seam was mostly hidden, as I used it for the middle piece.

3) Sew 2 big pieces together, very close to the edge.

Sewing 2 layers together

4) Sew the small pieces on top- being sure the pretty side is on top/the outside. Again, stitch very close to the edge.

Sewing the small piece on top, making sure the wrong side is hidden

5) Starting at the corner, sew the seam binding around the outsides, securing all raw edges. When you come to the end, use the last bit to secure the first edge of the seam binding, and fold the last little part into a loop. Secure the edge with your last stitches.

Securing the  raw edge of the seam binding

Making the loop

Stitching down the loop

Completed project!

Ta-Da!

Homemade Chalkboard Do's and Don'ts

So, as you will likely soon gather, I am somewhat of a Pinterest addict. Mainly because it feeds my creativity, and also because it is the hub of all great DIY ideas on the internet.

I really liked the idea of a homemade chalkboard, and looked at a few of the tutorials online, and it did not look that hard, nor did it look like that much work. I decided to make one.
I was in for a surprise. It is more work that it looks like.

Sure, if you want to buy the special chalkboard paint, it probably would have been easier, but me and my creative self decided that I didn't want a black chalkboard, which most of the ready-made paints come in. No, I wanted a grey chalkboard. For more reasons than one, but that is another story.

I looked up all the recipes of homemade chalkboard paint, and they were all pretty consistent. 1 cup of paint + 2 Tbsp. unsanded tile grout."This we can handle." I thought.
I went to the store and bought the smallest thing of unsanded tile grout I could find, and spent less than $5 for all the grout I could desire- it should be well enough for several projects.
I almost bought paint, but undecided on the color grey I wanted, decided to go home with some paint chips instead, and decide at home. Then, my frugal self realized that I have several cans of paint from other home projects; including white and black. Yes. I decided to mix them. I mixed away, and when it got to a color I liked, I dumped out enough so that I was left with 1 cup of delightful grey paint. I added the tile grout and was quite pleased with myself for saving so much on a can of paint.

By this point though, I had someplace to be, so I put a lid on the mason jar I used to mix the paint in, and put it away for later. 

Chalkboard paint on glass

I had already done some research on whether or not I could paint this chalkboard paint on a glass surface, as the frame I had purchased at Goodwill was a print in a frame with glass. The few sites and blogs I looked at said that you could, given that the glass was very clean and that you buffed the glass a bit before painting, to "rough" it up.
This I did.
This did not work. See picture.
The paint peeled, and I was frustrated to have to start at square one. It also peeled when I tried washing off the chalk with a damp cloth. See picture.

DON'T: Paint latex chalkboard paint on glass.
DON'T: Wash chalk off homemade chalkboard with damp cloth.

Paint peeled off glass when washed

The next week I stopped at Lowe's and got a piece of the cheapest plywood I could find. At my Lowe's, it was the Birch plywood, 1/4" x 2' x 2'. I have nothing to cut it, so I asked them to cut it to 16" x 20" (the size of my frame). They were happy to do it. I also picked up a roller and paint pan, as I wanted to avoid any brush marks this time around too.

DO: Ask your hardware store to do some of the work for you.

I started over. I got out the roller, paint and board, and painted away. This time, however, I found out that the paint had sat too long, and there were lumps of grout in it. It had been about a week, but apparently that was long enough. I tried lifting them off with my fingertip while the paint was still wet, but that still tended to leave fingerprints. I gave up on the roller idea, and smoothed over it with a little foam brush. I just went over it lightly, and that was enough to get rid of the lumps and not take off any paint.

DON'T: Use a paint roller on paint with lumps.
DO: Use fresh paint.
DO: Use a foam brush instead of a bristle one for fewer brush marks

Finally! My chalkboard was done. I put it in the aged frame. Now it's time to doodle!
How to age a picture frame- post for another time.

One post I read said to condition the chalkboard by rubbing chalk all over the whole thing (using the side of the chalk) and then wiping it off before using it. So I did. I had come this far, I didn't want to ruin it now.
I used the dustless chalk, figuring it'd be less of a mess, but there was still a lot of dust. No biggie. I did notice, however, that my wet rag was getting a little bit of grey on it when I was washing off the chalk. I decided before I erased anything again, to actually get a chalkboard eraser.
Then I drew my picture and was pleased as punch.

DO: Condition your board with cheap chalk. It will use at least 1 stick.
DO: Use an actual chalkboard eraser, not a damp cloth.


In search of a chalkboard eraser... SO hard to find! I looked at Wal-Mart and several office supply stores. I did not want to pay shipping for such a simple thing. I finally looked at a local school supply store, and found one for $1.57. So today, I erased it, ready to draw something new, and was then appreciative of the dust-free chalk. There was NO MESS! Wow! I was very pleasantly surprised. The chalk just sortof "disappeared"! Hooray! One thing finally went right with this project.

DO: Get dustless chalk. It's wonderful.

Quickly, I will show you the difference in the off brand chalk vs. Crayola. I went ahead and got both boxes, because the Crayola did not have brown, and I thought I might need brown at some point, but check out how much brighter the Crayola chalk is compared to the off brand. Something you might think about when trying to save a few pennies- it may be worth it to get the name brand. When I bought these at Hobby Lobby, the Crayola products were 30% off, and I had a 40% off a regular priced item, which I used for the $1.99 box of chalk. Big spender, I know.

DO: Open the box of chalk at the store if it's not sealed, to check the brightness and color.  

So this long-winded story is my homemade chalkboard journey. I hope it saves someone somewhere some frustration. Just start with wood for your frame if you will be using Latex paint. If you're using homemade chalkboard paint, make sure you use it when it's fresh, as it doesn't keep very well.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Christmas is drawing nearer with each moment, and I'm starting to sort things on my to-do-list into "important" and "not so important". It's been good for me.
Shopping- check. All done by Black Friday weekend, and I'm so glad not to have to stress about this or think about this any more for this season- I'm glad because it helps me focus on things that are more important for this special Holiday.

Now all that I have left to do is finish up a couple projects- a couple are for gifts, and a couple are home-made Christmas decorations. If they get done, they get done, if not, we'll have some lovely things for next year.

This blog is going to focus mainly on those type of projects- home-made gifts and decorations, and organizing tools. The title of the blog comes from Proverbs 31, where it conveys the message that the husband trusts his wife with the home and the money, so that he does not have to have a "stash" hidden safely away from her.
I have taken my love for decorating, and trimmed down the cost by finding new, inexpensive ways to do it, by creativity and re-purposing things we already have, or have found at a thrift store.
Thank you for reading, and enjoy!
Nicole