Amanda Hawkins

chairs for christmas

Two weeks ago I was in our alley and saw three chairs a couple houses down, waiting to be picked up by the dump truck. Sure, they were an awful warn out metallic gold but so solid and sturdy! I needed to get a present for my sister and brother ‘n law (who just got a new house and need chairs) and had been looking for an excuse to use the hand-me-down sander I got from my folks. Chair refinishing!!

First I sanded down the chairs, cleaned them and spray painted them white.

Then, I scuffed ‘em back up and painted the back red to match C and Z’s red and frosty blue kitchen.

I cut out a piece of cardboard the shape of the seat and very quickly (and roughly) made up some little chair cushions.

And here it is, my very first before and after! :)

diy, rushmore beekeepers

My brother ‘n law Zach, (aka Rushmore Beekeepers) released a brand new cd the end of October. I helped him out with the design and in true diy-fashion printed, cut, folded and sewed the booklets together myself! Zach and Carrie (most-awesome-sister) folded all of the cd cases together drew the RB on the front with a handmade stencil and stamped ‘Rushmore Beekeepers – Throwing Mud at Your Streetlight’ on the case and printable cds.

(more…)

Square Bag Tutorial

Supplies
Fabric: 2 pieces 34.5″x 17.5″ – 1 piece 48″x 4″ – 2 pieces 22″x 11 (or scraps for the pocket squares)
Thread & Sewing machine

Personalize it!
All of the sizes can be changed depending on what size you want the bag to be – so nothing has to be exact! The great thing about this bag is that measuring just isn’t that important, don’t tell anyone but I’m a pretty sloppy sewer! I never match the thread to the fabric either and love going back and forth with the thread so that it looks like scribbles!

Directions
To start you’ll need 2 rectangles of fabric 34.5″x17.5″ – one piece will be the outside body and the other will be the inside. Fold one side of the fabric in 12″ – from the unfolded piece measure in 1″ and cut the fabric away on each side (pictured below). This will be the flap of the bag.

(more…)

DIY Wedding Invitations

I love weddings. I got married last year and so did my sister, both weddings were amazing and most importantly – totally DIY. A few months ago one of my best friends announced that she was getting married the end of June outside of Chicago! I built them a wedsite and this weekend I finished their invitations, so fun!

The design, paper and everything came together so well I wanted to share – in case anyone else is looking for a simple, affordable solution for an invitation/rsvp!

I used blue 12×12 scrapbooking paper cut in half (12 x 6) – this image is of the front and back:

The bottom section is a detachable post card that people can personalize and mail back – made easily with a scoring attachment for my cutter bee (super cheap, especially if you have 40% off coupon). Then it just folds up, closes with a clear seal and it’s read to mail!

Download the template:

ILLUSTRATOR: DIY Wedding Invitations ()
PDF: DIY Wedding Invitation PDF (513.79 KB)

Here’s a short timelapse of the whole process!

Unfortunately, the clouds were too messy and didn’t make the cut… I still love the way they turned out and will definitely be using them on future projects! Oh, and thanks to my husband Sam for all the help – you’re amazing!