D is for Drawstring Backpack

Who's ready for summer and camp season?  I'm sharing a fairly simple sewing project today: drawstring backpacks.  I made these for my girls to take to camp this summer (I have blocked out the camp name for safety reasons) just so they have something to tote around small necessities when going down to the lake, taking a day trip, etc.

There are lots of drawstring backpack tutorials out there so this is nothing new but I thought I'd share how I made this version along with the personalization tutorial.  (I followed the Purl Bee tutorial here as a starting point.)

Also I used drop cloth canvas on the exterior and cotton gingham for the lining.  The pink drawstring poly rope can be found at Home Depot.

The finish size you see my girls (ages 9 and 10) wearing above is:

11 1/2"w x 13 1/2"h

This is the medium size from the Purl Bee tutorial.

If I were to make these again in the future I would definitely make them bigger.

Below are the materials and step by step instructions:

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P is for Project Poll

We want to hear from you!

As you may know my friend Jen from House of Wood and I will be teaching a building class at Haven this year and our class is specifically geared towards making a project that attendees can take home.

AKA: Make It / Take It

We want to know if you were to take our class which project would you like to build?

Create your own user feedback survey

We cant wait to meet up with all the Haven attendees in Atlanta this July.  (For more information about Haven click here.)  We want to make our class a fun and worthwhile time investment for beginner builders who are looking to complete a small project from start to finish and take it home too!

Thank you for your input and we look forward to seeing everyone at Haven. 

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D is for DIY Workshop Grill Cart

Its time friends for another Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Workshop at The Home Depot!

For this workshop we will be building a grill cart just in time for Fathers Day.

Please come join me at The Home Depot Store #1286 in Buffalo, NY on Saturday, June 20th at 10am.

The Home Depot is the place to shop for tools, supplies, lumber, and lawn and garden products and while youre there stop by to learn how to build this awesome grill cart designed by Ben Uyeda of Homemade Modern.

The Home Depot #1286

4405 Milestrip Rd

Buffalo, NY  14219

Click here to sign up.

New to power tools?  

Ill be co-teaching this workshop to show you how to make this beautiful grill cart with user friendly power tools.  Through a step by step demonstration we will make your outdoor space more functional with this grill cart and before long youll have the skills and confidence to do it yourself.

The Home Depot holds DIY Workshops on Saturdays and Sundays every month covering lots of different home maintenance and renovation topics.  We will be building a functional project for outdoors but they also have workshops on how to tile, gardening, deck staining and more.

Please come join me and The Home Depot team on Saturday, June 20th at 10am.

To register click here.

 *The Home Depot partners with bloggers such as me for DIY Workshop program.  As part of this program, I received compensation for my time.  They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts.  The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

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K is for Kids Cubby Organizer One Board Project

We have seven birthday parties next week during the last week of school.  Yes seven.  Instead of running to the store to buy more plastic toys wrapped in plastic I pillaged my scrap wood pile and built a kids cubby organizer.

This is a one board project meaning you could build this organizer from one (1x4) eight foot board which costs about $5.  Or you could use scrap wood and then it's a free project.

Two down, five to go!

I'm sharing the free plans down below including materials, cut list and step by step instructions.

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Mail Sorter

Nothing fancy today folks, just a simple mail sorter I built for my neighbor.  I thought I'd share the plans because it's a build with purpose that might be useful to some readers.

My neighbor has three kids so she wanted a mail slot for each one.  The boxes are 12" wide x 7" deep so plenty of space for papers and notes, especially once school starts up again!

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Field Day Station Signs

While summer is now in full swing and most field day events are long over I still thought I would share how I made the field day station signs for our school and you can pin for later.

These station signs are completely portable, self standing and the game names are interchangeable which makes them reusable from year to year.

To make 8 station signs I used the follow supplies:

8 - 2x3x8 studs

2 - 2x8x12 boards

1 sheet - 1/2" plywood

16 hooks and eyes

2 1/2" & 1 5/8" exterior wood screws

2" finish nails

Follow the step by step instructions below to build your own field day station signs:

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