Guest Blogger - A Mouse in my Kitchen - Car Track Dropcloth Rug

     Hey all! I'm super excited about this opportunity to guest post here at Someday Crafts. Let me start off by introducing myself a little bit. My name is Markell, I am a stay at home mother of two, a boy and a girl, and a wife. I run a blog with my sister in law, Traci, called A Mouse In My Kitchen. We live 2000+ miles away from each other and like to share things on the blog to keep in touch. We share recipes, crafts, advice, reviews, whatever we feel like, really.  A little while ago, I did a post on how to make a super cheap canvas rug from painter's drop cloth. It was a huge hit, so I decided to do another project kind of like it. I used the same material (a painter's drop cloth) and some paint to create a super fun car rug for my little guy. I want to teach you guys how to make it, too! By the way, painter's drop cloth (I'm talking about the canvas kind, not the plastic kind) is great for so many things! Besides a rug, I have made a baby carrier out of it, and I have a friend who has used it to make throw pillows and even to recover furniture. It's so cheap and it's so versatile.

 

So here is what you need for this project:  -a painter's drop cloth rug (You can buy a HUGE one at Home Depot for $10. One of these rugs is enough to make 3 or 4 car rugs, depending on how big you want them)  - paint in lots of different colors (make sure you have black or gray for the roads) - paint brushes (the sponge kind works good)  - painter's tape - a few paint pens for details  So, the first thing that I did was wash the drop cloth. There is some oil and stuff on it, so it's a good idea to wash it real quick first.  After it was all washed, I cut the cloth down to the size I wanted. One neat thing about canvas is it rips in a straight line. It does fray the edges a little to rip it, but I planned on hemming it anyway so it didn't matter.  Like I said before, the next thing I did was hem the edge that I just cut.

 

After the rug was hemmed, I started taping out where I wanted the roads to be. Don't use masking tape to do this, it is a lot harder to come off. Trust me. I taped out the roads, making it wide enough so each road could have two lanes.  Let me stop right here. Before I did any of the painting or taping, I thought. I thought and thought about all the things I wanted on this map. I knew that I wanted an airport, some train tracks, and a temple. I also thought it would be fun to have houses and stores and other business buildings. I sort of mapped it out in my head a little. I wish I would have drawn it on paper, even a rough sketch, because some of it didn't turn out quite how I wanted. I'll talk more about that later.  After I had all the roads taped off, I started painting them. Be careful with this step not to stick your elbow in any wet paint or anything like that (not that I have done that....). After I painted the roads, I stopped. I let that completely dry before trying to take off the tape or paint anything else.

 

Once the roads were dry, I painted some houses. My houses are all weird colors because all the paint I used were paint samples that were on sale for like fifty cents a piece. I didn't have a lot of colors to choose from, but I wasn't too picky. Plus, who doesn't want a pink house, right?  So I painted houses, an airport, a temple, some stores, etc. I only painted one color at a time, and let that color completely dry to avoid putting my hand or knee or elbow down in wet paint. (note! The paint CAN soak through the rug if you paint it on too heavily. So be careful and make sure that something safe is behind it) Once all the houses were done, I used my paint pens to dry detail like the road lines and doors and windows. I realized that I forgot to draw train tracks, which is something I really wanted on the rug. The only place I could really put them was around the farm house. What? You've never seen a farm house completely enclosed in a circle of train tracks before? Where have you been hiding all your life?

 

The main thing to remember is that it doesn't have to be perfect. I wish I had done things different (more roads, less open space for one), but my son doesn't care. He loves it. He spends hours driving his cars along the roads. Don't spend tons of time on every little detail, because kids don't care about that kind of stuff, anyway.

 

Thanks for letting me share my project! I'd love to see you over at my blog, and I'd love to see any pictures of painted rugs any of you make! 

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Thanks, Markell! Doesn't this fun rug look so fun! My little boy would have so much fun playing on this. Be sure to check out Markell at A Mouse in My Kitchen!

How to Make a Drop Cloth Rug

Are you in need of a new rug, but can't afford to shell out the big bucks for something super expensive? How about turning a drop cloth into a unique rug? A Mouse in My Kitchen has a great tutorial for creating one!

 

See How to Make a Drop Cloth Rug.

Paint Strip Rug

The Shabby Creek Cottage turned a plain old rug into a stylish rug that looks like a paint strip! This would be so cute do in the actual colors of the room where the rug is.

 

See the Paint Strip Rug.

DIY Rug Ottoman

Teal & Lime has a great way to give your ottoman a makeover! No sewing or gluing necessary. Plus, isn't that living room just gorgeous!?

Find out more about the DIY Rug Ottoman.

Kitchen Mat Re-do

 

 

 Do you have an old, ugly mat in your house that needs a facelift? Then check out this tutorial from Unoriginal Mom! She gave her kitchen mat a makeover with a vinyl tablecloth!

 

See the Kitchen Mat Re-do.

DIY Reversible Kitchen Mat

 

Making your own Kitchen Mat is such a great idea and Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy has a great tutorial for making your own. This fabric is so gorgeous and I love that it's reversible!!!

 

See the DIY Reversible Kitchen Mat.

DIY Rug Round-up

Head over to Cheap Crafty Mama to see a round up of 13 awesome DIY rugs you can make.  Many of them are from recycled materials like this rug made from t-shirts that looks cute on both sides!!!

See the DIY rug round-up.

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Upcycled Crochet Rugs

What do you do with your old shirts and scraps?  Have you ever thought of upcycling them into a cute rug like this?   King Soliel has made quite a few of these rugs and shows you how on her blog. Some were even made out of levis!!!

Check out how to make upcycled crocheted rugs!



Guest Blogger - Better Together - Rose Bath Mat

Hi! I’m Angela from
Better Together.
I blog with my two sisters Whitney and Lauren. We created our blog to learn from each other and to help inspire each other to be a little better everyday. You can find a variety of topics over on our blog. We talk about everything from crafting and sewing to cooking and nutrition. We even offer fun exercise tips.

 

I am so excited to be here on Someday Crafts to share my new rose bath mat.

Let me show you how to make your own rose bath mat. All of the skills needed to create this were learned in Kindergarten. Seriously, if you can cut and glue than you can make this rug. That is how easy it is to make. As far as materials go for creating this you will need a rug, an old T-Shirt, some felt or fleece, a hot glue gun, and some scissors.

You are going to start by cutting your T-Shirt into 2-3 inch strips.

Then you are going to cut out circles from the felt or fleece. You will cut them in various sizes depending on how big or small you want your flowers to be. Place your circles in the pattern that you would like on your rug. Originally I was going to have three large flowers and five smaller flowers spread across my rug. My husband wasn’t too sure about having a rug full of flowers, plus he was worried that the rug would loose some of its comfort. So we compromised, and I ended up only putting three large circles and three smaller circles on half of the rug. Now we each have our own side of the rug. I think the flowers are just as comfortable, if not more so than the original rug.

Next you will make your flowers. Take your cut T-Shirt strips and start wrapping them around the circle. Once one T-Shirt strip has come to an end, just add another. Keep wrapping the strips around the circle until you have the desired flower effect. Now all the while you are doing this you want to be gluing the strips to your circle.

Just keep making as many flowers as you want for your rug. Like I mentioned before, I went with three large flowers and three small flowers.

Once all of your flowers have been created, then glue them onto the rug.

I love the end result. It looks perfect in my bathroom!

Thanks for taking a look at my new bath mat! Feel free to stop by our blog Better Together for some other fun creations, like this napkin skirt or my new cork clock.

You can even check out our Facebook page. We are offer free printables every month and this month we are offering some free Halloween cake toppers.

THANKS, Angela.  I'm digging that bath mat.  It is so beautiful and that bathroom of yours is to die for.  Love the exposed brick and clawfoot tub!  The mat is the perfect addition to a gorgeous bathroom.   Visit Better Together today and say HI!!!!

Pebbled Rope Rug

This rope rug from Jame is so cool. Think of the possibilities with all those little rope circles! So many options for funky shapes rugs, table runners, wall art and more.

See the pebbled rope rug tutorial.

Doily Rug

Every now and then, I see something that is outrageously amazing, but doesn't have a tutorial accompanying it. I saw this rug fashioned after a doily and knew I had to share it with you. I'm speechless. I wish I knew how to crochet (both the regular way and this ginormous way)! It is hand crocheted using rope and was spotted at Stars and Sunshine.

See the doily rug!