Tuesday, May 3

Inexpensive kitchen accessories

I'm really enjoying the new-sew faux Roman shade I created for my kitchen window (click here for tutorial). The black background of the fabric is great for blocking the strong western sunlight, and the cheerful colors in the fabric are light and summery-feeling. I wanted to add more of those colors to my kitchen, especially the aqua color. So I was excited to find these inexpensive towels at Target:


I went back to the fabric store and bought just a few inches of fabric (1/4 yard was more than enough). I cut two strips of fabric 5 inches wide and just a little longer than the width of my towels:


I pressed the top and bottom edges under 1/2 inch with my iron, creating nice neat edges. Then I simply hot-glued on the strip of fabric to the bottom of each towel:


I folded under the edge of each side, then folded the remaining fabric and hot-glued it to the back of the towel:


As a finishing touch, I hot-glued on some gimp to cover the top edge of the fabric. The gimp was just $1.50 per yard at my discount fabric store, and one yard was more than enough.

Aren't the finished towels cute?


Now, will the glued-on fabric hold up to washing? We'll see. I think it probably will, but I'll let you know if it fails. If my past experience with getting hot-glue stuck on fabric is any indication, it should hold up well. Of course, making these towels would be an easy sewing project, but I wanted to try this no-sew method.

**Update, one week later: I've washed and dried these towels twice now, and the hot glue is holding strong!**

And while I had my glue gun out, I completed another fun project. When I was buying my 1/4 yard of fabric, I noticed this fringe that went really well with my fabric:


The fringe was $5.00 per yard; I bought 1/2 yard, thinking I would make tassels for the lamps that flank my kitchen sink.

I came home and searched through my bits and pieces of trim, and came up with a pretty good combination:


As you can see, I used a candle cup as the base for each tassel. When they were complete, I added these toppers:


I bought these on clearance after Christmas; each one cost me 25 cents. I like the way there's both a male and a female cardinal, and both work with the colors of my fabric. (I neglected to take a photo of the tassels before I hung them on my lamps, so these pictures aren't the best. Sorry about that.)



Here's a little clearer photo with the lamp turned off:


And here's a late-afternoon photo of my kitchen sink with its new accessories:


All together, I spent about $11.00 and a little time for two new towels and two tassels. I'm pleased with my work. What do you think?

**I'm joining

Vanessa and Heather, At the Picket Fence, for Inspiration Friday

31 comments:

  1. Richella I love kitchen towels and tassels and lamps...and birds! So I LOVE what you have made!!!!

    I think we have the same granite...and I have maple cabinets. From the other pictures of your home that I have seen...I would say that I love your decorating taste! And your home is beautiful!

    Linda @ Truthful Tidbits

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, this is so cool! I'm going to have to get on the bandwagon of inexpensive DIY projects that make your home look good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! You did a great job with a small amount of money. Love those pretty towels!! The colors are perfect. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Consider me "wowed"!!! You are truly amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are so creative! What a great idea for the towels {and I love Target's towels, too}! Your tassels are very cute. I love the lamps next to your sink! You did a great job!

    XO,
    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  6. Richella,
    YOur projects gives your home a very custom look. I think those little bird tassels are so sassy!
    Wonderful and inspiring post!
    Yvonne

    ReplyDelete
  7. Super love all you did here and thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Richella, I love the fabric of your valance and it looks great added to your towels. Cute tassels, too. Thanks for joining my party again!

    ReplyDelete
  9. the towels have soooo much more personality now!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You have such a lovely kitchen! I really like the display areas above the cabinets and it also seems like you have a beautiful view from your sink. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the towels, Richella! What a great idea to dress up some plain towels. I would like to know if it holds up in the wash. I'd probably want to keep those for show, but I know my son or hubby would wind up wiping their hands on it, so it would have to be washed!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think both of these projects are adorable!!! Your kitchen is beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love the newest projects!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. wow its very beautiful posting and fantastic details share . creative sharing and amazing your idea . i love it and best info share so thanks

    ReplyDelete
  15. Richella,

    Next time, instead of hot glue, try ironing on a little Stitch Witchery and then running the "glued" down product through a sewing machine. The SW is more flexible and flatter and so will feel better in the hand when the towels are being used. The thread will hold it all together better when the SW inevitably starts failing.

    Don't ask me how I know these things.

    ReplyDelete
  16. What a nice way to tie it all in...I love how you have two lamps by your sink - so unique and pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Girl, you KNOW I'm loving those tassels! You did a great job! I have a jillion of those little birds...I couldn't pass them up at .25!

    Love the towels, too! I'm wondering if they'll make it through the wash, only to come apart in the dryer...something to watch!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Sooo cute, Richella! l love the way you embellished the towel.
    And guess what? I bought those same little birdies at Target after Christmas. I think I got tan and white ones, no red. But they were the cutest things ever!

    They work perfectly for tassels.

    Love you!
    Traci

    ReplyDelete
  19. Richella, your towels look so pretty and you gotta love that they're custom for your kitchen! The tassels are adorable, too!

    ReplyDelete
  20. SPECTACULAR!! You did an AMAZING job & you are amazingly gifted :) LOVE it!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wowsa!!! It looks fabuloso!
    I love, love, love the fabric! It's rich in color yet fun. Your tassels?? A-mazing!
    Love it all!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Love those projects! The tassels you made are so cute!

    Manuela

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love the towels...how cute and it looks so easy. You have a cozy and beautiful home.

    blessings

    ReplyDelete
  24. Love it...so easy yet added so much punch. I will most assuredly make me some towels... Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  25. What a great idea for the tassels! I have a bunch of ends of fringe left over from other projects and this would be a great use for them. Thanks for the fabulous ideas! :-)
    Vanessa

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your kitchen is gorgeous! I love all your warm colors.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Richella! I'm just coming back over to say thank you so much for linking this up to our Inspiration Friday party this week. We love having you join in the fun and we appreciate you being a friend to us at the Fence! :-)
    Vanessa

    ReplyDelete
  28. Richella, you know how much I loooove cute kitchen towels!!! Those aqua towels look fabulous with that fabric, which by the way, I ADORE! Looks GREAT! I love the tassels too. That's something I've never made before. Very cute!

    ReplyDelete
  29. You have a wonderful site with lots of useful data in it. I will indeed recommend this site to my friends as well.very good designs in your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I love love your kitchen and your shade and your tassels are so cute - what color paint and whom by on your kitchen walls - the green color - love it too !!

    Thanks so much.. mary

    weeksmary@ymail.com

    ReplyDelete
  31. Wow! You did a great job with a small amount of money. Love those pretty towels!! The colors are perfect. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! I read every one; they make my day. If you have a specific question, please be sure your email address is attached to your profile or leave your email address in the comment; I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Every blessing!