The Budget Casa

Looking to bring a little bit of nature indoors with a stone mat? These Zen-like floor mats, which could work equally well as a spa-like bath mat or a rustic door mat, sell for upwards of $40 at home design stores, but you can easily make your own custom mat at home with just a few easy to find materials.

The stones, rubbed smooth by river water, are flat and feel surprisingly smooth and gentle on bare feet. We found bags of river rocks at the dollar store – just $3 will buy enough to make a mat (about 7 lbs of river rocks). You’ll also need a rubber mat and some glue.

To make:
Decide how you want the stones arranged on your mat, then put down some adhesive and lay the stones on the mat. Be sure to keep the stones as level as possible so that you are stepping down on a level surface with no stones jutting up. Allow to dry, then enjoy!

Most of us have a few old sweaters laying around that either don’t fit or just aren’t attractive to us anymore. Instead of throwing them out, why not give them new life as something else? It’s easy to take an old sweater and turn it into an attractive and useful pillow for the bed, for the sofa or even just for the dog. Here’s how.

You’ll need:
Sweater
Pillow form (measure the sweater and select a pillow form the appropriate or desired size, or bring the sweater to the craft store and stuff it into pillow forms til you find the one you like)

To make:
Turn the sweater inside out, measure it against the pillow form and mark around the sweater with a pen. You’ll want to stitch an extra ¼ inch seam around the marks to ensure that the sweater is big enough to accommodate the pillow. (If you can, use the side seams of the sweater -- that would save you from sewing up two of the four sides of the pillow. Also use the bottom hem if possible.)

With the sweater still inside out, stitch the seams together with a sewing machine or by hand with needle and thread, leaving one seam open. Turn the sweater right-side out and insert the pillow form into the open end. Hand stitch the last seam closed.

Tip: You can also use a felted sweater to make a sweater pillow. (Be sure to felt the sweater before measuring for and selecting pillow forms, as the material will shrink.) 100%-wool sweaters can easily be felted: machine wash the sweaters with detergent on hot/cold setting, then dry on hot setting. Repeat this cycle about 3 times. Test the sweaters for felting by snipping the hem an inch or so in – if it frays, it’s not quite finished; try running it through the wash/dry cycle again. Once felted, cut out pieces and sew as per the instructions above.

Learn how to pattern your fabric with a lace print. Watch this fun video, and you can put lace and florals on any fabric you choose. Our friends at Threadbanger made a tablecloth, shirts, and more.

All you need is:

Lace
Fabric
Spray paint of your choice

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Instead of buying a towel for the sole purpose of stepping onto it when you get out of the shower, watch this video from our friends at Threadbanger and learn how to make one yourself. It costs next to nothing since you're using materials you already own. Plus, instead of monochromatic beige or blue, get creative with different colors and simple patterns.

Note: You do need to know how to use a sewing machine for this project.

Necessities:
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Learn how to make votive candles from this video at about.com. This project requires several pieces of supplies, but once you purchase them, you'll never have to spend your money on candles again. Use your new skills as a candle-maker to create thoughtful gifts for others, too. Supplies like votive candle wax, molds, candle fragrance and color and wicks should be available at your nearest arts and crafts store. The other necessities like...

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