Burlap & Doily Luminaries: Rustic meets Romance Doilies are dainty. Candles are romantic. Burlap is rustic. Here I’ve combined all of them to make these pretty luminaries that would be great for a romantic Valentine’s Day meal or even as a wedding reception accent. I found my doilies at the thrift store for about $0.35 each. but they aren’t as pretty and they are solid in the center, missing the lovely designs that real doilies possess. Burlap and Doily Luminariesprintable version Glass jarsAdhesive spray (like Elmer’s Craft Bond) DoiliesBurlap Twine , buttons, and/or ribbon Make sure your jars are clean and dry. . Funny thing is I tried this project with paper doilies first and I DID spray the paper doily and then place it on the jar. Place the doily onto the jar and position it, making sure it’s not bunched up anywhere. Spray the rim with adhesive, then wrap the jar rim with burlap. You can also wrap the rim with pretty ribbon then tie a piece of twine around the rim as well.
DIY Centerpieces Made Out of Egg Cartons and Vintage Buttons Posted on June 2, 2009 by Christina I made these whimsical DIY centerpieces from egg cartons and vintage buttons. My Blue Box is nearly always overflowing with egg cartons. These were inspired by my post last month on Cute as a Button weddings. If you are looking for DIY centerpieces that are super cheap and easy to make (albeit a bit time-consuming), give these a whirl. Cost: $2 – $3 per dozen (Assuming you already have acrylic paint and buttons on hand.) Materials: One paper egg carton 12 pipe cleaners 24 gauge wire Buttons Acrylic paint in your choice of colors Floral tape Scissors Paper clip Varnish (optional) Glue (I used wood glue, but regular white glue should do the trick.) Find a paper egg carton. Remove the egg carton cups using scissors. Cut the egg carton cups into various flower shapes. Paint the cups using acrylic paint. Take the end of a paper clip and poke two holes into the back of one of the flowers. Glue the triangular shape to the middle of the flower and let dry. Presto!
Key ring notebooks... I am sorry, I can't show you the other ones anymore. I sold them at my first market (and had no time to take pictures before. Finally sleep won the battle! ^^) The sides are covered card boards. This one I made with a fabric I love... still have to try to make the edges a little bit better. From the side... And beetles on both sides... this one is covered with paper... ...and all the books got several layers of laquer! PS: I'll try to take better pictures at daylight.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Repeat - Mason Jars Yes, they are everywhere. Yes, I have posted on them before. And yes, I am still smitten! I should note...I'm a little obsessed with how the matte black came out and have more outside drying as I type this. Then, in my Pinterest crazed obsession, I found this little DIY image. This led me to trying my own version with a milk jar, fabric marker and glue gun.... She's not perfect, but I love that about her. For all you DIYers with questions on how to or the materials used for this project...I did a follow up post that can be found here.
Satin Flower Pillows I'll admit it - I'm not ashamed - I have a small obsession with making pillows! Eventually I would like to turn my obsession into profit by opening an Etsy shop, but for now I enjoy making pillows for my home, family and friends. So when my friend celebrated her birthday last month, it came as no surprise that I'd make her a couple of pillows(in the colors of her choice). Rather than cut out a bunch of felt I decided to purchase some polyester satin to embellish her pillows. I added the flowers to the pillows using a method I saw at Jones Design Company. Using my glue gun, I attached each flower to the pillow. So simple and easy to make!
Colored Mason Jar Tutorial Today's DIY project is painting mason jars your favorite color! I made mine turquoise. I love mason jars! They have an endless amount of uses and really just add an extra cuteness to everything. What you'll need: Vitrea paint in the color of your choice Paint thinner (optional) Paint brush Mason jar Small dish Squirt a pea-sized dab of the Vitrea paint onto the small dish. Put your mason jar on a paint-friendly surface. Once the jar is completely painted it needs to dry for 24 hours. After the jar cools you can add some pretty lace and twine if you'd like, and it's ready for flowers, or anything else you want to store in a pretty jar. Enjoy!
Happy Fall Leaf Bunting! (no-sew) Bunting is so popular right now, and I have wanted to try my hand at it for a while. I have been mulling over exactly how I wanted it to look though, and finally came up with this idea the other day. Since I live in New England, I felt that fall leaves would be fitting - because you see vibrant foliage everywhere, and this is a fun representation to have inside the house! Here is how I did it:This is the leaf shape, and stem shape - to use as a guide. For each leaf, cut a piece of fabric, a piece of heat-n-bond, and piece of felt, each big enough to fit one leaf. Apply the heat-n-bond to the wrong side of the fabric according to package directions. Trace the leaf shape onto the felt and cut it out. I chose scraps of yellow, orange, and green fabrics for my leaves, and used orange, brown, tan and green felt for the backs. Cut stems out of stiff brown felt. Using fabric glue, glue the stems to the back, top of the leaves. I decided to add decorative stitches to the outside of the leaves.
My yarn-holding coffee can cubbies! Well I know I said last week that my studio series would be this week, but I still haven’t been able to get in a good photoshoot of the whole room because there hasn’t been any freaking sunshine since last Thursday! Damn Portland, don’t you know it’s Spring already?! So, here is my coffee can cubbies yarn holder thing that I made, and I’ll probably do more studio posts spread out over the next couple weeks or something… The unit is made with 14 Trader Joe’s coffee cans, covered in faux bois contact paper, glued together with contact cement, then screwed into the wall… The idea came from a project in Readymade a few issues ago – they covered Pringles cans with contact paper, and made a desk organizer – it looked awesome! I carefully cut pieces of contact paper to size, covered all the cans, then cemented them together – this was easier said than done. View from the bottom: And straight on, with my new Ikea magnet board underneath, yay orange!
Inserting Spring into My Wreath Have you been following me for a while? Do you remember this base wreath (below) that I bought from Target a while ago? I challenged myself to use this wreath through every season for one year. Well, I’m now about 6 months in and I have given this wreath its fourth transformation. From Christmas – Valentine’s Day our wreath was red, white and green: For Thanksgiving, I added some feathers to the wreath: For fall, I simply inserted magnolia leaves into the wreath: Here is My Tutorial for a Spring Paper Flower Wreath: Materials: Two coordinating scrapbook paper sheetsButtons for flower centersScissorsWire cuttersFloral Wire Begin by cutting out flower shapes. Lay your flower on top of the coordinating paper and cut a flower shape larger than the first. Lay both flowers on top of one another and cut slits in toward the center of your flowers. Trim the edges of your petals if you need to round them more. Fold the edges of your flowers up to give them dimension. Thread the wire through your button.
Dream Big Butterfly Window – Resin Craft Phew, what a week. I’ve been working on about 5 different projects simultaneously. The biggest accomplishment this week was my screened porch makeover. One of the projects I completed for the porch was an old curbside window that I turned into a unique piece of art using a product that ETI sent me. I have to admit, I was a little scared of the EnviroTex Lite. The utility lighter was more within my comfort level. My beautiful butterfly window started out looking like this: Someone was throwing away these old windows. Creating the Art: Materials: Cardstock weight scrapbook paperCardstock letter paperButterfly hole punchReal Butterfly Wings (found in my yard from a cat’s discarded hunt remains)GlitterMod podgeSmall cup (to pour mod podge into)ScissorsPaintbrushEye bolts for hangingRope for hanging Start by cutting out paper letters and punching out butterflies until your thumbs are sore. When you are happy with the design, anchor everything onto the window using mod podge. Pouring the Resin:
it all started with paint: fabric flower ‘how to’ I have a new obsession to add to my growing list of obsessions … Numbers – check Hooks – check Board & Batten – check Drop Cloth as Fabric – check And now fabric flower rosettes … … check. I can’t get enough of them and will sew them onto anything that stands still. And on my present pillows here … I sewed them onto my daughter’s plain white school shirts … … and even made a giant one and put it on a pillow … In preparation for tomorrow’s post, I’ve been busy making these little rosettes. And be sure to check back tomorrow to find out how I’ll put them to use this time around … Linking up: Little Susan Days-Of-The-Week Motifs {1950s Here’s a pattern set from the 1950s for this month’s vintage pattern freebie, it’s reminiscent of “Sunbonnet Sue” featuring a young girl wearing a bonnet doing chores around the house. She also has a little friend tagging alongside her while she runs about, a sweet little Scotty dog. Pattern Cover – Click To View Larger Size There’s a different motif for each day of the week as well as one that is suitable for embellishing an apron and four little square designs to use on potholders. You’ll find the files at the bottom of this page (each in jpg format) but first, here are the original details from the back of the pattern envelope… Little Susan happily dashes through each day’s chores as easily as you embroider. There are four cute motifs to use on pot holders or kitchen mitts and an extra Little Susan to put on an apron or cloth. A delightful quilt can be made for a little girl by using the “day” motifs alternately with a plain color block. Suggested Materials: