Tag Archives: DIY

Challenge: Craft it Forward Reveal Part 1

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Ages ago you might have seen several posts about a fun little crafting challenge/giveaway I participated in called “Craft it Forward”.  If not, check out this post for all the details.  I ended having a really hard time getting in touch with the 5 winners (who knew it would be so hard to give something away) and I ended up with only 2 participants.    Hopefully my next challenge/giveaway will be a bit more successful (hint, hint…there might be something coming up in September).

Today, it’s time to show off the goodies that the the lovely Lisa M found in her mailbox earlier this summer.  Using that large bolt of fabric I picked up at Goodwill for $2.00, I created this little apron for her:

And since the flower could get a bit dusty with all that baking, there is an extra flower pin to switch it up with from time to time:

And finally to help get her started on her own Craft-it-Forward projects I included a little bag of crafty items from my ever growing stash:

It was really fun getting back into sewing (this was the first project I had sewn start to finish in a long time) and it was especially fun to just sit down without a pattern and see what I could come up with.  Lisa, I hope you are enjoying your apron and have as much fun as I did when you do your crafts to pass along.

Check back on Monday to see the second project from my crafting it forward.  Have you ever participated in a crafting challenge?  And if so, did you have problems getting your winners to respond so they could collect their prizes?

DIY: Flour Sack Boo-tiful Pillow Cover

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I know Halloween is still a few months away, but I couldn’t resist posting this fun (and cheap) project now.  It was easy & cheap…plus it’s tied to the infamous  “envelope of doom“,  so that makes it even spookier 😉  My Boo’tiful Flour Sack Pillow Cover:

Supplies Needed:

  • Fabric for pillow cover, I used a Flour Sack Cloth from my local Dollar Tree.  You will one piece of fabric that is 14 x 14.5 inches.
  • Small Pillow or stuffing
  • Yarn or Other Trim to make letters
  • Sewing Machine with matching thread
  • iron & ironing board
  • glue (I used hot glue)
  • Ruler

Instructions:

  1. Gather all your materials and press the fabric to remove all creases.
  2. If using the thin flour sack fabric you will need to cut the fabric in half length wise.  If you remember I used the other half of this same piece of flour sack to make this fun fish pin board.
  3. Using your ruler pull the top edge of the fabric to the back 3.25 inches and stitch down along the bottom edge.
  4. With the sewn edge facing down, pull the bottom edge of the fabric up and over to the top 6.5 inches and press.
  5. Using your ruler pull the top portion down 7 inches.  It will overlap the pressed portion from step #4
  6. Take the folded fabric package to your sewing machine and sew both the left and right sides closed (leaving a 1/4 inch seam)
  7. Turn the pillow cover inside out and you are ready to use.
  8. If you don’t have a small pillow already you could either use a pre-purchased accent pillow form, or fill it up with stuffing 🙂

Then to make it boo’tiful:

  1. Place a piece of cardboard inside the pillow cover to keep any stray glue from gluing it closed.
  2. I wasn’t sure of my freehand skills so using a washable pencil I drew a quick outline of my letters.
  3. I took my spooky yarn from the “envelope of doom” and glued it around the letter outlines.
  4. To make it a bit more sturdy for future washings I added several stitches around the furry dots to hold everything in place.
  5. Let dry/cool
  6. Remove cardboard, stuff, and enjoy!

Total Cost:  $1.00 and up

Using Envelope templates…of doom!

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I love paper and I love office supplies.  There, I admitted it, so when I found a fun piece of paper in my envelope of doom I figured what better than to turn it into paper office supplies.  If you’ve followed my blog for a while you already know I love both lining envelopes and making my own envelopes, and some of my favorite tools are the templates you can purchase from Paper-Source.  I’ve more than gotten my money’s worth out of the ones I own, so when I was in the store a few weeks back taking a little class and saw the new baby sized envelope template I had to try it out.

This is the template kit I choose, the other option had pink paper selection but looking around here should explain how much I love blue and green so naturally I selected the “pool” color selection.

And this is the paper I found folded up in my envelope of doom!

Using their envelope templates is super-simple.

  1. Trace around the template on the reverse side of the paper.
  2. Cut out along the lines
  3. Score where the inner opening of the template are (I use a scoring board from Martha & love it)
  4. Glue the edges
  5. Put those babies to use, these just happen to be the perfect size for a business card!

So basically I used contents from my “Envelope of Doom” to create “Baby Envelopes of Doom” 😉  In keeping with the rules of the game, the items were to be gifted to someone else…and these just so happened to be included in a swap package I was sending out!  I love it when things work out like that!

** I have been in no way compensated for my options or the products referenced above.  These are purely my unsolicited options of crafty products I use and adore! **

DIY: No Sew Bow Tie

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I’ve been making these quick bow ties for years.  They are great for quick dress-up items and even Halloween costumes and had originally put this quick & easy tutorial together as a set of images to share with a local crafty bride.  The day before her wedding she was looking for some last minute bow ties for photobooth props and not finding anything to her liking.  So, I snapped a few photos to get her started and then she rocked them out in her true artistic fashion.    Below is the quick and dirty tutorial to whip up your own photobooth or next impromptu costume.

Supplies Needed:

  • 1 piece of felt (or other fabric) for each bow tie.
  • elastic headband or wooden dowel
  • scissors
  • hot glue

Instructions:

    1. Start by cutting off the piece that will become the center of your tie.  If using a standard size piece of craft felt, just cut down one edge vertically and approximately 2 inches wide.
    2. Fold each of the edges of the larger piece of felt to the inside.  Hot dog style. I leave a small opening in the center to make it a small bit larger, but this is not necessary.

    1. Take the long skinny piece of felt, and fold in half.

    2. Take the large piece from step 3 and squish it to the center (from both the top and bottom) to create the “bow” shape.
    3. Use the skinny piece to wrap around the center of the bow to hold it together.  Secure the piece to the back of the bow with hot glue and then trim the excess length off with scissors. If you are using an elastic headband for your bow tie secure it underneath this center piece as well.
    4. Ready to wear…either as a bow tie or a large bow headband.  Or if you are using for a photobooth attach a wooden dowel to the back as perfectly demonstrated by the Über creative Lauren (go ahead, link over and check out her super fun photobooth photos while you are at it)


So, there you have it a no sew fun bow tie in less than 5 minutes!  Try them out, you’ll have fun I promise 🙂  How will you use your no sew bow ties?  Wedding photobooth props?  Halloween costume?

DIY: Simple Napkin Wrap

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I received an email over the weekend from a bride-to-be working on ways to keep costs down for her upcoming 400 person wedding.  Her request was a simple napkin wrap template…no graphics, just elegant text.  So, Meredith this one is for you, and the possibilities of ways to use this wrap are endless!


Click to Download:  picklepicnic_textonlywrap

The template above use the Monterey BT font which is free to download from Sofontes.  New to Napkin Wraps?  No worries, visit this post for step-by-step instructions on how to use my napkin wrap templates!

DIY: Flower Power Dog Collar

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I mentioned the Envelope of Doom in a previous post, the part I’m not sure I mentioned was the second portion of the challenge.  The goal was to create projects you could gift to someone in your life…preferably not yourself.  So, with those rules in mind this is first of the 3 (or more) projects I created using several components from the  “envelope of doom“.  Don’t have an envelope full of supplies…don’t worry.  You could create this project using items from your local dollar store as well!

This gift is for a friend with a cute new puppy.  A puppy who needs a little something frilly to let folks around the dog park know she’s a little girl. 🙂

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Supplies Needed:

  • Collar
    (shhhh…don’t tell her it started as a kitty collar.  Just remove the bell and she’ll never know)
  • Felt Scraps
  • Plastic Scraps
  • Embroidery Thread
  • Silk Flowers
    ones with many small blooms work best to make a fuller flower
  • Scissors
  • Glue
    I used hot glue, but even double-sided tape would work to hold the plastic to the felt while you cut and sew.
  • Needle
  • Hole Punch (optional)

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Step by Step Instructions:

  1. Start off by taking your flowers completely apart.  Some crafty person could be able to use the stem pieces later, but I just tossed them in the recycle bin for plastics.  For this project I used 3 sets of the pink hydrangea “blooms”.
  2. Because this will end up on a collar for a fun, bouncy doggy it needs some stability so bring on those holographic Valentines (if you don’t have Valentines on hand you could use any sturdy bound for the trash plastic product).  Using a large spool of thread as a guide outline a circle and cut out with a pair of scissors.
  3. Using a rectangular hole punch make two punches to the center of the piece of plastic.  You will use these later to attach the flower to the collar so place them at least 1/2 inch apart.
  4. Attach your disk to a scrap of felt with a small amount of glue, and then trim around the edges.  Be careful to leave a 1/4 inch overhang to use for attaching it to the flower later.  Then use this piece as a template and cut a second felt circle.
  5. Take the non-plastic felt circle of felt, take a needled threaded with matching embroidery thread knotted on the end and bring through the center of the felt circle. Take 1 flower petal and sew it to the center of the circle with one stitch that goes on either side of the center hole.
  6. Fold one half of the first petal over hot dog style so that half of the felt circle is exposed.  Stitch down an additional petal to the side of the existing petal.
  7. Repeat Step 6 until surface of felt circle is covered (leaving space around the outer edges to attach to the bottom).   The more petals you use the fuller your flower will be.

  1. Thread your need with matching embroidery thread and bring both lose ends of thread together so it’s doubled.  Run needle through the finished side of the felt covered plastic disk and through the second hole back to the finished side.  (see photo above)
  2. Place the plastic disk side of the bottom piece on top of the bottom of the flower.
  3. Using embroidery thread & needles, use a blanket stitch to sew the two pieces together.  When finished the plastic disk should be completely hidden inside the felt/flower sandwich.
  4. Using thread ends left from Step 2 re-thread your needle and attach the flower to the collar.  You could either stitch it directly to the fabric of the collar…or I ran the needle around the plastic collar stay piece and tied it off after several wraps.  This holds it in place, but also allows the collar to “grow” with little Miss Lucy.
  5. OR…don’t have a puppy you need a collar decoration for?  That’s OK, you could use this same method and just attach a pin back and use it for a brooch, hat or bag embellishment.

Total Cost: $1.00 and up

CDog wasn’t home when I took these photos, and I haven’t received any of Lucy sporting it yet…so a large stuffed animal came out to model it for you 😉

So, there you have it….Project #1 completed.  So now let’s chat…do you craft things for your pets?

Bring on the Doom!

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The Crazy Crafty Wicked Cool Envelope of Doom that it!

Long ago (ok a few months ago), and in a land far away (hey, California is pretty far away from Georgia) the lovely Michelle L. won a Stash Busting give-a-way and created a blog.  There she created treasures from her winnings and posted them for all to see.  One day Michelle hatched a devious plan and decided to share with the world her “stash”. Using her leftover winnings and her own personal “stash”, the “Crazy Crafty Wicked Cool Envelope of Doom” give-a-way was born.  In her words, “I’m calling them ‘envelopes of doom’ because the items are going to be pretty eclectic. Okay, insanely diverse. And a few, possibly mind-bogglingly awful. It’s up to YOU to re-imagine and transform them into wicked coolness.”  The winners were to, “promise to make at least three interesting things from the contents, and post them online for us all to see.  Also, since this is kind of a “craft-it-forward” deal, I think your assignment should be to make things for other people – in other words, come up with three gift ideas, and tell us how you gave your creations away.”

Now, that sounds like a challenge I’m up for…and as luck would have it.  I was one of the winners!

After a bit of a technical glitch that put my envelope a bit late arriving, I opened my mailbox and was off to an immediate start, chanting “must catch up, must catch up”.  I ripped it open and spread out the contents quickly take stock of the monumental task ahead of me.  Honestly, I’m not sure what to think of some of this stuff.  There is some odd yarn-like stuff, a panel of hologram valentines, and an expired Starbucks card.

I put all that aside for a moment and focused on these odd-looking pink squares.   Interestingly enough they matched up exactly with the green pixie stick deal which makes me think they might be some sort of construction toys…. Wanna see?

Oh, TOYS!  That’s it… I have a friend who collects Barbie & her assorted stuff…so I quickly assembled the 3 pieces together.  Do you see where I’m going with this?

Yes, my first project was to create an action figure doll size set of weights.  I even gave it a try myself…


Now that’s my kind of workout!

Just kidding Michelle…I’ll be posting at least 2 of my projects from doom in the upcoming week.  Couldn’t resist kicking off this challenge with a bit of crafty humor!

If you want to see the other goodies these lovely crafters are coming up with, check out Michelle’s blog:  Mich L. in L.A.

DIY: Cute as Button Shirt

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So, let the April Stash Bust posts resume (Yes, I realize it’s now May).  Mid-April I had the perfect weekend to get a few stash busting projects finished up since the hubby was at his dad’s to attend the first Indy Car Race in Alabama.  Racing just isn’t my thing so I opted to stay home and tackle our weed filled flower beds instead.  So, Saturday after spending the majority of the day working in the yard and finding out my credit card number had been stolen, I retired to my little craft room to see what I could whip up.

I had originally purchased this aqua t-shirt with the intentions of making my niece a bunny shirt for Easter.  Since that didn’t happen, I decided I needed to do something quick with the shirt so I could include it in a package I was planning to mail my sister that day.  So I started digging around in a couple of the plastic bins of craft supplies I have stashed in a closet and came up with some leftover buttons from a wedding project and a massive stack of embroidery floss.  Put all that together…and you get this Cute as a Button Heart Shirt.

It was super fast to make and turned out much better than I’d imagined.  I like that it looks like a more expensive boutique shirt, yet cost me right around $5.99 to make.

To make your own version you’ll need the following:

  • T-Shirt
  • Buttons (I used (25) 1 cm buttons for this project)
  • embroidery floss
  • needle
  • pencil to draw outline
  • heart shaped template (optional)
  • embroidery hoop (optional)
  • hot glue/fabric glue (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Press the shirt flat
  2. Create Heart template and copy outline to shirt.  I used a regular pencil but a tracing pencil that washes away would have worked better if I’d had one.
  3. If you want to add a little bit of extra attachment of the buttons to the shirt, take a moment to glue the edges of the buttons to the shirt.  Take care not to glue the centers so you can stitch them down in the next step.
  4. Thread your needle with embroidery thread and tie off with a sturdy knot.
  5. Start in the center of the heart and stitch your buttons to the shirt with moving around the heart.  This is where an embroidery hoop might make the process much easier.
  6. And after about an hour….1 cute as a button heart shirt :

Oh…so about those cute pink shorts.  I have to admit I bought those Saturday on a trip to Target during April.  I know…I wasn’t supposed to be adding to the stash before I finish busting through it but if it was less than $1 does it count?  My local store had all their Easter goodies marked 75% off, but a nice lady watching me pick up a bag of Dove eggs told me it was actually ringing up 90% off.  Which included all their children’s Easter themed clothing.  So the shorts cost me a whopping $0.43 (including tax) and then I sewed a matching button in the middle of each of those cute little bows on the sides just to tie it all together.

Project Costs:
– TShirt –  from stash – otherwise Target – $5.00
– Buttons – free from stash – otherwise $1.99 for package, using 1/4 of package
– Embroidery Floss – free from stash – otherwise $0.99
GRAND TOTAL:  $7.98 if you needed to buy everything at once.
My Grand Total:  FREE from STASH (ok…$0.43 for the Easter Clearance shorts)

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Safety Note:   Make sure all buttons are glued and then sewn on securely.  Due to buttons, do not leave your baby unattended while wearing this garment.
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DIY: Flower Arranging Simplified

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I learned this trick from one of my high school friend’s mom years ago.  She is the quintessential southern mom and entertainer, so each time I have the opportunity to attend a shower,tea, or coffee that she is coordinating I make sure to take notes.  Want to see why….

This was from the Wedding Coffee they threw in my honor last Spring.  She just whips this up in a matter of moments.  It’s pretty amazing to watch!

I’m horrible at arranging live flowers.  It’s like I try to cram everything in the same place and end up with one side really over-weighing the other one…but using this little trick it’s a breeze to make sure you have things evenly placed.  It makes me *almost* look like I know what I’m doing….

Ignore the flowers in these photos, I used some leftover flowers my hubby gave me to get a bit more life out of them before they went into the trash and mixed in some of the knock-out roses & greenery from right outside our front door.

Supplies Needed:

  • Container to use for arrangement.
  • Floral Tape (or other waterproof tape)
  • Flowers & Greenery for arrangement
  • Snips or Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Take out your container and place it on a solid surface.  I like to use our milk glass leftover from the wedding, but a simple glass square from Dollar Tree would also work great.  Try to choose something with a wider opening so you can build your arrangement out with a bit more space.
  2. Use scissors to cut strips of your floral tape that stretch the width of your container opening.  If floral tape is wider you might need to snip it in half width wise for ease of arrangement.
  3. Starting at one edge of the opening carefully place tape strips across the mouth of the container making sure to evenly space them apart all the way to the other side of the container.
  4. Turn the container and repeat this process going the other direction to create yourself a grid of sorts.
  5. Trim the stems of your flowers to be the depth of your container.  Make sure to leave a couple that are a bit longer to use in the middle.
  6. Starting in the center, using slightly longer stemmed flowers, carefully insert one flower stem into one open square of your tape grid.
  7. Carefully add flowers to the grid working from the center to each edge to help create a rounded type of arrangement.
  8. Once finished with your flowers, feel free to go back and insert bits of greenery into the arrangement to fill it out a bit more.
  9. Display!

What about you, have you picked up any entertaining tips from your friend’s parents in your younger years that stuck with you?  If so, by all means share…

PS.  I just realized this was my 100th post!!  🙂

DIY: Mother’s Day Napkin Wraps II

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I can’t believe in my haste to finish up all my April Stash Busting projects (which I will begin to post this weekend) I almost forgot to post the second round of Mother’s Day Napkin Wraps!  Hope you enjoy Part II which we’ll call the “Mother’s Day Floral Set”


Click to Download: Pink Roses Napkin Wrap


Click to Download: Pink Daisy Napkin Wrap

All templates use the Monterey BT font which is free to download from Sofontes.  New to Napkin Wraps?  No worries, visit this post for step-by-step instructions on how to use my napkin wrap templates!What do you have planned for the mothers in your life to celebrate Mother’s Day this year?