I posted a photo of my project board a few months ago, and I got a few questions about my magnets. They’re enamel pins that I’ve converted to magnets. I love collecting enamel pins but I don’t ever wear them, so this is my way of finding a use for them.
I try to do the converting in small batches, and I took photos as I was doing it this last time around.
Welcome to my new website: confusedkittysewing.com!
I’ve had a lot of downtime in the last month to think about working on my website. One of the things I was thinking about was my url which I know can be difficult to remember and spell because of the many variations on “lys” or “lis”. I consulted some friends and they told me that even they cannot remember how to spell fleur-de-lys.net sometimes. That’s a bit depressing because if my friends can’t remember my website, pretty much no one else will either.
I figured it was time to change the url to something people can remember, and I already had the logo and name from my etsy shop so I might as well run with it.
So good-bye fleur-de-lys.net, hello confusedkittysewing.com!
It’s been a while since I posted about organizing my fabric, supplies and sewing area. The last time I posted about this was back in 2012 (photos at bottom of the post)! I’m still using the same system of ” bins for everything”. We’ve moved since the last time I did a big sewing area re-org and I have less storage space now due to the lack of a crawlspace. I can only look with extreme envy at all the gorgeous sewing area pins I see on Pinterest. Maybe some day, I can have a dedicated sewing room too! =)
My kitties like to sit at the patio door and sun themselves, and watch the birds and squirrels that come by. The birds don’t come very often though so I thought I’d put a bird feeder.
I then ran into the problem of trying to find a bird feeder that would work in our backyard. I didn’t want to nail anything to our fence or to the outside of our house in case it was against the HOA rules. We don’t have much dirt either so I couldn’t use one of those bird feeders that sits on a stake. What I really needed was a standalone bird feeder that could go on cement. I decided it wouldn’t be that hard to make one, so after a quick Target and Home Depot run, and a couple hours of work, I’d made my own standalone bird feeder.
Materials:
Not pictured: a drill and a 3/8″ drill bit
My total spent on supplies came out to about $26, including getting a 3/8″ drill bit because I didn’t have one of that size already.
Assembly Instructions:
The first step is to drill holes in the 3 bowls. For 2 of the bowls, you want the holes to be in one of the corners and on the 3rd bowl, the hole should be in the middle. You want to make sure there is room for the smaller washer to sit flat so I placed a washer and wingnut in the bowl to figure out positioning and then marked where to drill with a pencil.
Mark 2 of your bowls in the corner.
Mark 1 bowl in the center.
Drill a 3/8″ hole in each bowl where you marked. I find what works best for me is to start with my smallest drill bit and drill a small pilot hole. I then work my way up to the size hole I need, using progressively bigger drill bits. Any method works, as long as you get a 3/8″ hole into each bowl.
Now it’s assembly time!
Start with the base which is the terra cotta pot turned upside down. Wind a wingnut and one of the large washers onto the rod. You want the wingnut to be placed at about the same height as your pot.
Put the rod through the hole in the pot.
Place your pot with the open end down and make sure that it sits flat. Adjust the wingnut if your pot is not sitting flush with the ground.
Now place the other large washer on top of the pot and wind a wingnut down the rod to clamp the rod to the pot. This takes a while because the rod is pretty long, so watch some tv while doing this part. =)
Tighten the wingnuts and make sure the rod is secured to the pot.
Now you need to do the same process to add the bowls. Take a wingnut and wind it down the pole until it is about 10″ above the pot. Make sure your wingnut’s ‘wings’ are facing down. Place a washer on top.
Place one of the bowls with a hole in the corner on top, lay down another washer, and screw on a wingnut to secure the bowl.
And your first bird feeder bowl is now attached.
Repeat the process with the other bowl with a hole in the corner, placing it about 10″ above the first bowl.
At this point, your cat will probably decide he needs to investigate what is going on…
The last bowl, the one with the hole in the center, goes on the very end of the rod. I had to put the bird feeder on the ground at this point because I couldn’t reach the top of the rod.
And here comes the other cat to check out what’s going on…
If you want one of your bowls to be a bird bath, you’ll need to seal the bolts to prevent water from leaking out. Open your caulking tube and cover the bolt above and below with caulking. I used a toothpick to smooth it out a little.
I like to use clear drying caulking because I can tell when it’s completely dry. I would suggest spreading yours a little thinner than I did because mine took forever to dry.
Once the caulk dries, your bird feeder is ready to go!
Place it outside, and fill the bottom 2 bowls with birdseed and the top one with water. Now we just wait and see if any of the local wildlife come by to check it out!
And look: birds!
We needed some more fridge magnets and I thought it’d be fun to make some glass tile photo magnets of my fuzzy kids.
You can find a lot of tutorials for making glass tile magnets on Pinterest, and they’re all variations on the same theme. Here’s how I make photo magnets…
Materials:
First step is to print out photos that you want to use for your magnets and make sure they will fit in the tiles you have.
I’ve discovered that printing on regular paper or cardstock works better than printing on photo paper. Photo paper smears very easily and gets blurry when Diamond Glaze is applied to it.
Trace the tile onto your photo.
Cut out the traced shape. I’ve seen people use an x-acto knife for this step which might work better for you. I’m a little terrified of knives because I’m extremely accident prone so I try to stay away from them.
Put a dab of Diamond Glaze on the glass piece and spread it across the entire tile with a toothpick.
Place the photo facedown onto the glaze. Press down to make sure all the air bubbles are out.
You can also flip it over and press down to make sure all the air bubbles are out. Wipe away any excess that leaks out.
Diamond Glaze is water soluble so you can clean up any messes with a damp towel.
Repeat for all your photos. Wait 10-15 minutes for the glaze to dry.
Flip the tile over and put another layer of Diamond Glaze on top of the photo. Spread the glaze out with a toothpick, sealing the photo in.
Wait another 10-15 minutes for the glaze to dry.
Put a dab of superglue onto the back and drop the magnet on.
And that’s it!
Once your glue is dry, you can put your photo magnets on the fridge.
You can use the same technique with other printed materials like stationary or a design you print out yourself. If you don’t want to purchase resin tiles, you can also use flat backed marbles that are found in most crafts stores.
Here are some other magnets I’ve made over the year. Anyone else out there a World of Warcraft fan? =D
