Pumpkin-itos

Here is the project I worked on Saturday/Sunday. I cut out circles while watching TV with Shawn last night and assembled 1/2 of them during naptime today!  I think they are so cute!

TShirt Scarf

While browsing around the Interwebs today on my favorite site Pintrest.com I saw a tutorial on how to make a scarf out of an old Tshirt. I'm all about "no sew crafts", so I went to Schwin & Schwin's Blog and read the tutorial. Here is my journey replicating the idea:

What you'll need:

• an Tshirt
• Scissors

(Yep, that's it! I used this nice new shirt I had from Old Navy that I stained, because I wore it while cleaning with bleach)

First, begin by cutting strips off the shirt. (I cut them about an inch but was by no means careful about it.) 

Next, Roll the strips of shirt around your hand into circles and lay them out for later.
Use left over little pieces in strips for tying.

I took 2 circles and tied them together with the tiny piece. Here is a close-up of two circles tied together.  Repeat tying your circles together until you use all your pieces, or you like how long the scarf is.

Lastly, model for your husband, so he can tell you how cute it is. Well, that's not a required step, but it is what I do. :) LOL I usually also text a pic to my mom to show her. She's been getting a lot of texts lately because it is summer. Back to work soon...

Lace and Satin Flower Bracelet Tutorial

Beautiful bracelet = so easy!

I first decided to make this bracelet when I saw a beautiful cuff on Little Miss Momma's Blog. Her tutorial was very clear. Check it out, if mine makes no sense to you! LOL

Here is what you will need:

• satin ribbon
• felt
• lace (all same or coordinating colors)
• Satin flower Check out my flower tutorial to find out how to make one
• button
• thread

First, lay it all out, until you like the way it looks.

I started by hot gluing the edges of the ribbon to the felt, I now wish I had not done that. The felt makes it a bit stiff, especially with the glue on it. Next time I will skip that step. I was worried it would be too flimsy.

I began by adding the ribbon to the end of the bracelet that will loop around the button. I don't know why I started with this. It could have been the last thing I did as well.

Next, I stitched the lace onto the ribbon being sure to only add stitches where the lace pattern was to hide the stitches.  This worked out very well.

I was going to fold over the felt to hide the back of the bracelet like it says in the previously mentioned tutorial, but I decided it was too thick and cut it off.

Following that, I tacked the flower I had made to the center. I added the button to fit my wrist.  While this fits my beefy wrist, I am going to sell this bracelet at The Artisan Faire Boutique, so I cut off the button and re-positioned it to fit a non-giant.

Here is the final product. I think it is beautiful and I will be glad to wear it, if it doesn't sell. It makes my hairy man-arms look nicer. LOL

Burnt Edge Satin Flower Tutorial

These flowers are so surprisingly simple! 


What you'll need:
-polyester satin fabric (I guess it's just polyester. At the fabric store the ladies laughed at me when I asked for satin polyester and said, "If it looks like satin, but it's cheap, then it's polyester."
*1/8 of a yard will make about 4 flowers
-Thread
-Candle/match
-center embellishment (like a pearl)

First, cut out 5 circles of different sizes. The largest circle should be the size you want your flower to be.

Next, light the candle.  Hold the edge of the fabric directly over, but not touching the flame! I did this next to the sink, just in case. If the fabric lights on fire, blow it out.  After the first one you will see that it is very easy to curl the fabric. Turn the circle, curling each side. If you old the middle over the flame, it will curl too. Try it out to see if you like more crinkled. 

Once the pieces are all crinkled, layer them on top of each other.  I used thread and put a few stitches in the center to hold them together. 

Lastly, add your center trinket.

Stay tuned to my blog to see how I used these flowers to make this bracelet!

It would be prettier on a better arm; mine is hairy! LOL

Thanks a Bunch

I got the template for my awesome new header at: http://shabbyblogs.com/backgrounds.html

Fabric Necklace Tutorial

Here is how to make these beauties, in case you want to make you own.

You will need:

-3 strips of fabric (I ripped about an inch wide strips off of regular fabric whatever length the manufacturer made it. I like the look of the torn edges.)

-Odds and ends of fabric to make flowers

First begin by laying the 3 strips on top of each other and tying a knot at the end.

Then, braid the 3 strips together and tie a knot at the other end. Feel free to do this while watching "Trueblood" or "Falling Skies" as I do. Doesn't work so well while trying to watch a 2 year old (just FYI.)

Then Google "fabric flowers tutorial." You will find thousands of amazing craft blogs that will show you how to make fabric flowers. Use these until I prepare my own tutorial someday. :)

Simple and incredibly amazing final product!

Burlap Wreath

I saw a bunch of darling burlap wreaths online at craft blogs like this one: http://jonesdesigncompany.com/decorate/ruffle-wreath-a-tutorial/ I decided to make my own and found it very pretty do-able!

Shabby Chic Fabric Necklace

Anything would be beautiful made of this fabric. I chose a braided necklace after seeing this one here: http://mycakies.blogspot.com/2009/03/recycled-scraps.html

I love the way mine turned out!