Burlap Bin Craft Success

So we bought a new glass cabinet for our dining/living area and I really wanted to put a cute bin or basket on the middle shelf. I decided to get some cheap burlap and cover a box with it. Of course, I had to add some fabric flowers too. It turned out exactly as I envisioned! Here's the finished product:


And here's my shot at a tutorial...


Materials Needed:

Box - any size, any color, but in decent shape

Paint - any dark color if you have a colored or printed on box

Burlap - I had a 2 yard piece and I used about 1.5 yards in length foor my box, but only about 1/3rd of the width, so I have plenty leftover for another one!

Hot Glue Gun & plenty of glue

Ribbon & scrap fabric for embellishment


1. Perfect size box: recently purchaseed at Costco, filled with lovely pullups. I cut the top flaps off, make sure to cut them straight, but a little jagged edge won't matter much. I laid the burlap on the box & you could see the pink & purple right through it, so I painted it quickly with some grey acrylic paint. You could use any dark color, just anything that would mask the printing on the box. I had a large bottle of white & black, so I used what I had the most of & I was afraid black would be too dark. One coat was plenty and dried super quick:

2. Once the box was dry, I began wrapping my burlap around the box, starting at the back. I left about 3-4" on top & bottom to wrap around. I simiply put a bunch of hot-clue on the box, then pressed on the burlap, pulling it tight so there weren't bubbles. Be careful, the hotglue comes through the holes of the burlap, but you do need to push it down or the burlap won't stick to the hotglue. I kept going around, making sure to tack the corners and top & bottom well. I was able to keep it pretty even as I went, but a little crooked doesn't matter much, as long as there's enough to wrap around the top/bottom: 3. I left about 1.5-2" overage once I had reached my starting place. I then folded about 1" under, hotglued that and then glued it to the box/burlap underneath so I had a nice edge that wasn't rough. This picture is where I folded the edge over, but hadn't glued it yet:4. I then started on the bottom. I folded in the 2 long sides and glued them to the bottom of the box. I then trimmed the excess off the corners and wrapped them very tightly so there wouldn't be a big bump on the corner. Think wrapping a present or recovering a chair seat. Then I glued down the entire flap so it was neat, tight and as flat as can be so it would sit even:5. Then I moved onoto the top. I wanted a decent amount of hangover so you couldn't see the cardboard inside from the outside. I just started pulling it tight and moving arouond the box, glue-ing it at the top of the box and the bottom of the burlap. I was picky about making sure there weren't any folds or bubbles in the fabric:

Box = done!

Now time to make it pretty

6. I had some ivory satin ribbon, perfect for simply wrapping around to add a little embelishment. I wanted neutral/browns, but any color or a fun fabric would work depending on it's use. I started the ribbon in the back where my burlap seam was. I only glued it at the corners because sometimes the hotglue makes a mark and you may be able to see it through the ribbon. The glue is completely hidden on the corners. When I reached the end, I did the same thing, folded about 1/2" over and glued it down. The one thing to make sure of is that the ribbon is even the entire way around so it lines up perfectly in the back, don't want it crooked. 7. Then time to add a little pretty. I made 2 fabric flowers. 1 from another ivory ribbon and another from a linen fabric scrap I had. For the flowers I took about a 1" wide piece and twisted it, then glued it together, like in a swirl. Sorry I don't have a tutorial for the flowers, but there's tons of flower tutorials (check pinterest if you need some). I added some burlap scraps and additional ribbon/fabric scraps behind and glued it all on...pretty:

Hope that tutorial was clear and easy enuf to follow. If anyone makes one, show me please :)

To the Beach We Go!

Finally...a new blog post!!

We had a great trip to Galveston, TX over 4th of July weekend! We decided it's a great place for us because a: it's an easy drive, b: it's inexpensive and laid back, c: Charlotte LOVES the beach (we found out).

Besides playing in the sand and "washing off in the ocean," Charlotte's favorite thing was surely the candy and ice cream shop.

Enjoy our photos!

April is Almost Over

'Twas the end of April and all through the Millay house we were busy!! We started the weekend off dying eggs for Easter, then headed to Lone Star Park for some horseracing on Saturday. Charlotte absolutely loved both of these activities. Here's some pictures to enjoy.

(ps -she's not a "ham" at all)

Stay tuned...Easter post coming soon!

Our Weekend at "The Farm"

We had what I'll call "our first relaxing vacation weekend since Charlotte was born" this past weekend. And let me tell you, it was way overdue! Our weekend completely proved that you don't have to spend tons of money or go somewhere exotic to have a good time and appreciate the little things. The best part of all was just watching Charlotte explore, react and have fun being a silly 2-year old, outside of the schedule of everyday. She noticed every little thing and had so many hilarious little comments. It made me appreciate and realize how fun it is being a family and how amazing it is to simply watch Charlotte.

We headed to a cabin (or "farm" as Charlotte hilariously insisted on calling it) in Broken Bow, Oklahoma (Beavers Bend State Park I think) with the Millers. When this weekend planning began I have to admit, I wasn't too keen on going to a cabin in the woods for our vacation - I totally pictured the camp in The Parent Trap and made jokes about Meghan and I being like the girls in Troop Beverly Hills...Kudos to Mark who did all the planning-you proved me wrong buddy (don't get used to that)! We had a great time and the cabin (or "farm") was perfect!

We all piled into Mark's truck - 4 adults, a 2-yr old, a Cali dog and plenty of food and beverages to keep us happy (yes, it's a big truck). The drive ended up much longer than expected due to our navigation system-'cough'-Doug-, but Charlotte couldn't have been better. We spent the weekend pretty much just hanging out.

Saturday the guys made breakfast and we went for a hike. We ended up playing in the creek, throwing rocks and letting Cali roam - Charlotte could've done that for HOURS, she is still talking about throwing "wocks in da wader." We did a little paddle-boatin', then Meghan and I headed for the local ladies place: Girls Gone Wine winery. It was Meghan's mission to find a wine she liked. Mission accomplished, she found several, while we both enjoyed some girl time. Mark made us indulge all evening (he does have some culinary skills): fried quail legs (yes, even I ate them and see the photos, Charlotte devoured the dip), bbq bacon wrapped shrimp with pineapple and amazing huge steaks topped with some ridiculously delish pepper butter. Oh, and how could I forget the molten chocolate cakes...yum! Nope, that's not it, we roasted marshmallows too! Charlotte more than enjoyed her first marshmallow roasting experience and that's another thing she's still talking about.



Between Mark, Meghan, Doug and me we all agree that Cali had the best time of all (no leash, a creek to play in, attention), Charlotte probably had the second best (rules were broken, junk food was O.K. and she was absolutely in love with "the farm"), and the 4 adults are all at a tie for 3rd. It was just over too quick, like most vacations are.

Snow Day...um, let me rephrase: SNOW WEEK

Maybe it was due to my boasting on facebook this past weekend about the 75 degree weather (yes, I do think my personal comments affected mother nature), but it's completely obvious that a bit of winter weather shuts this city down. Those poor people who came in for the Superbowl - I'm sure the Steelers/GreenBay fans think so highly of Dallas now that the city has basically been shut down all week from some ice and now 3-5" of snow - that's like a minor dusting to them.

I'm not complaining though, while it's been a pain, it's been a nice change of pace to be locked up with my family at home. I did make it to work yesterday and realized that I'm happy I didn't go the 2 days before that. It was 3 days post-ice storm and most major roads were still only showing small patches of pavement through the ice...Then we got 3-5" of snow overnight.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that the sun comes out and some of this crap melts so Scott & Dave can make it in tomorrow - can't wait for some great nky friends to visit!

Here's a little glimpse of our snow day in Texas!
Charlotte has come down with a horrible cough and runny nose, so we've stayed inside. We did pull out the winter-wear and have some fun though:

We went Krogering - Meghan, Charlotte & I and had a successful trip. Here's Meghan hiking back home sporting Mark's fashionable hunting boots and on the way back, we witnessed this hilarious site of a family of 4 trecking back home with some Little Caesar's pizzas in tow. At least Cali likes it & it looks pretty!

She's a Big Girl Now!

So with my lack of posting over the past 6 weeks or so it seems like Charlotte has become a little girl. Christmas, traveling, her second birthday all came and went ~wow~ then we headed down the potty training path and most recently, her first haircut! My apologies to all for the lack of posts (seems to be a common apology for me here), but I thought I'd jump right back in with some pictures from Charlotte's first haircut (well, first non-mom cut). We went to a kids cuts place called Sharkey's. Sharkey's is a pretty cool place: cars, TVs with Dora or video games, and it even included the "star treatment" (painting fingernails, a fancy ring and glitter star on the cheek). Have I mentioned that Frisco is soooo built for families?!

Before...all scraggly and mullit-like:

Dad got a cut too, he actually declined the offer to play a video game. See Charlotte in the background? Also notice how still she is, that's cuz Dora was on TV.

It's time for nails now...oh how daddy was loving this part. And as you can see, she was pretty excited and proud of her pink nails with "spaaarkles."

Ready to go shopping now Daddy!